free bird --- lynyrd skynyrd
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[JJ]
I stood watch with Maggie. The number of walkers lining the fence was discouraging. The fact that Daryl, Glenn, Sasha and Abraham hadn't returned was discouraging. The attack that Alexandria had just endured was discouraging. But Maggie. Her hope that Glenn was still out there was all the encouragement I needed.
"He's still out there. I just know it." Maggie assured with a smile. I remained silent but nodded in agreement. "And so is Daryl. And Sasha and Abraham. They're coming back."
"They are." I echoed, looking down to see my brother climbing up the tower ladder.
"You don't have to be up here so much." He told Maggie.
She continued to stare out into the distance, "I won't be. This is the direction he'd come in. If he sends up a signal, it'll be from out there. Or...it won't be."
"When we go out there, it's never easy. It's never simple. It's always a fight. But we've come back from harder things. From further away. Glenn, Daryl, Abraham and Sasha, they will too." Rick paused, looking around. "Maybe we don't wait for them to be back. We should start figuring out how to draw the walkers away. We have some food and water to last us a while and the walls are holding. We can take our time, really think this through. Do it right. Clear it so they can walk right in."
Maggie gave a half-hearted smile, "I saw Judith in the house the other day. She's starting to- she's starting to look like Lori. Made me happy."
I grinned as my brother agreed. There's no way to ever know for sure if Judith was my brother or Shane's, but I remembered looking back at pictures from when Rick and I were little. Judith had the Grimes' bright curly hair. My brother and I both had it at that age. Our dad and aunt did too.
Maggie and I watched as Rick climbed down and went about other business in the community.
"Does he know?" She nudged me.
My face twisted. "Know what?"
"You know what I'm talking about."
"You're asking if I told my brother about how I had sex with Daryl?"
"Well, not when you put it like that..." She rolled her eyes.
I huffed, returning her tone, "did you tell Glenn?"
"About you and Daryl? No, that didn't happen to come up in conversation."
"You know what I mean." I rolled my eyes.
Maggie smirked, "Actually, I did."
I proudly looked to her, "And?"
"And...he seems really excited about it."
"I figured he would."
"JJ." Deanna called from the bottom of the tower. "Can I speak with you?"
I turned to Maggie, silently making sure she would be all right.
"Go. I'm good."
After I climbed down, I was met with an exhilarated tone. "Come with. I want to show this to Rick and Michonne as well."
"What is it?" My curiosity was piqued. How could she be so encouraged at a time like this.
"Plans." She shook the rolled, thin paper. "Our future."
"That sounds important." I commented, "Rick and Michonne, yes. Me? No."
"You...yes." Deanna slowed down to turn towards me. "I told you one day you would be a leader. So, I'm going to treat you like the leader you're going to be."
I sighed, "you do realize the only thing I've ever led was a protest at the college towing company because their prices were outrageous, right?"
Deanna stifled a laugh as we neared our house, "weren't you the lead guitarist in a band called The Ragdolls?"
"That's different-" She shot me a look. "I mean, kind of...yeah, no, playing lead guitar is definitely different than leading a community in the apocalypse."
"You're missing the point, JJ." She smirked.
Rick and Michonne stood on the porch.
"Deanna." Rick greeted.
It seemed that Deanna could not wait any longer to show Rick and Michonne the plans. It was obvious by the way she hurried up the stairs.
"Rick." She returned.
My brother eyed the plans wrapped tightly in her fist. "What's that?"
"Plans for the expansion."
"We got a few other things on our plate right now."
"I know." Deanna continued smiling, despite Rick's attitude. Michonne gently took the plans. "These are for what Alexandria can be after this. Because one way or another, there's gonna be an after this."
And after that, she left.
I shrugged, "I really thought she was gonna go over the plans." I looked to Michonne, "Maybe at least open them."
Michonne chuckled, "come on, JJ. Let's go see what these are all about."
♮♮♮
[POV]
The plans were impressive. JJ and Michonne both thought so as they studied them with intent to one day move forward with them. JJ felt the excitement that Deanna did. So much so that she decided to walk the walls of Alexandria to envision the change that would one day happen.
When she did, she heard an uncomfortable scraping noise, and to go with it, Spencer climbing across the sea of walkers on a thin wire stretched from the tower to the top of the nearby church.
"You've gotta be kidding me." JJ mumbled, running to climb up the tower's ladder. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Something your brother wouldn't." He heavily breathed.
"Yeah, no shit." She spat. "He wouldn't be so stupid to do so. Get your ass back here."
"What the hell?" JJ heard echo from below her as she soon felt the tower wobble as Rick climbed up the ladder.
"Spencer. Get back here!" He shouted. "Spencer, get back here now."
JJ and Tara both noticed he anchor beginning to slip from the roof of the church. "Spencer!"
"Move!" JJ yelled. "Keep going."
Her brother joined her. "Hurry!"
Tara began to climb over the edge and shoot the walkers nearest to Spencer. JJ noticed and started to do the same.
"JJ!" Rick called for his sister to help him pull Spencer up. They soon had help from Tobin and Morgan and were able to hoist Spencer to safety. "Tara! You almost died once for these people."
"What?" She snapped.
"What the hell were you doing?"
Her only response was to flip him the bird. A great response in JJ's opinion.
"Lost a damn shoe. Crap." Spencer tried to catch his breath.
Rick seethed, "What was that?"
"I was trying to help. I wanted to get to a car, drive 'em away."
"You ever make a climb like that before?" Spencer remained silent. "You want to help? Don't make us come running to save you. You got an idea, you come to me."
"Would you have listened to me?"
Rick scoffed and climbed back down, followed by Morgan and Tobin.
"What about you?" Spencer nodded up to JJ. "Would you have listened to me?"
JJ crossed her arms, huffing, "doing some shit like that? Hell no." She shrugged. "But for the record, it was a good attempt."
"Really?"
"To get yourself killed." JJ reached out her hand, "Come on."
"Thanks." He took her help. "I don't think we've properly met other than in passing. I'm Spencer."
"I know." JJ pursed her lips. "I'm JJ."
"I know." He grinned. "You're killer at guitar. I used to wanna play back in high school. Never got around to it, though."
"Well, it's never too late to learn." JJ shrugged with her hands in her back pockets. "Your mom...she gave me Joe Perry's guitar. If you want it back-"
"No. You keep it. Trust me, a legendary guitar like that deserves some respect...not just picking Mary Had a Little Lamb."
JJ stifled a laugh. "Well, if you don't act so stupid, maybe I can show you some actual riffs."
"Yeah, that'd be cool."
♮♮♮
JJ stood adjacent to Michonne, overlooking the plans as she sat on the front steps.
"These plans." Michonne smiled. "They're gonna really change this place. I can feel it."
"Yeah, Deanna's really outdone herself on this one." JJ beamed, her eye catching something far above in the distance. "Are those..."
"Balloons?" Michonne finished.
JJ turned over toward Maggie, who had the same idea. "It's Glenn. That's Glenn."
"I told you!" JJ shouted across the yard. "It's Glenn."
If to ruin their moment of joy, the rickety, old, burnt clock tower toppled, right into the fence, right into the walls of Alexandria.