Chapter Eighteen: Others
It was April now. The weather had done a complete one-eighty compared to the temperatures during March and early February. There were still three rotters trapped in the garden, though they were useful in keeping larger herds away... as proved by a herd made up of twenty rotters disinterest in the daycare three days ago. Esme and her brood had gone through about eighty-five percent of their remaining preserves, and considering the fact that Esme can't fix the fence any time soon (she had no intention of finding out who this 'Governor' asshole is, seriously, the world fucking ends and men are still the biggest threat to her livelihood) they wouldn't be able to get fresh fruit and veggies like they did during the warmer months.
In other words, Esme was fucked.
She wasn't blind or stupid enough to pretend that she wasn't terrified of going out on another run now that she knew for a fact that there were other, volatile, survivors scoping the area. Esme was realistic enough to know that any confrontation between herself and a group of men would not go in her favor. She was too short and too skinny to do any real damage. She'd only just started training with a bow and could only hit the bullseye two out of ten times, sure Esme had gotten rather good at throwing her hatchet but that still required for her not to be too far from her target. The reality was that Esme was afraid.
For the first time in years, she was afraid of what these men could do to her.
What they might do to her children.
(She wasn't stupid, blind nor deaf, her babies were a blessing but they could also ring the metaphorical, hell literal, dinner bell for rotters).
Esme had always been careful about rationing their food, now she was even more fanatic about it. Not a single morsel went to waste, they couldn't afford it. If push really came to shove, she would have to go through the emergency supplies inside of the car, but Esme did not want it to go that far. Thankfully Peep and Pio were still producing enough eggs to feed them all, but once their feed was finished and she couldn't feed them anymore... well, she had learned how to pluck and prepare a chicken.
"Mami why Drey went peepee on the bed?" Lilac asked curiously, her head tilted to the side as she watched Esme strip the mattress.
Even before Andre had been welcomed into her fold, Lilac had been sleeping with Esme in the bed for a couple of months now. After all, Esme couldn't fit another crib into her room and it made Lilac happy to be close to her at night. It had only made sense that Andre would sleep with them on the comfy Queen as well. Unfortunately, any night that Andre had a nightmare, like last night, the toddler would wet the bed in his sleep. This only meant that Esme would have to wash the sheets and their clothes before the three of them take a quick bath to get the urine off their skin.
Andre sniffled, "I didn' mean to."
Esme smiled at the three-year-old gently, "I know baby, it's okay. Lilac, it was just an accident, but mama's making it all better now."
"Okay... mama quiero ver tele." Lilac requested hopefully.
She swallowed an amused chortle, the babies were still thankfully asleep. "Alright, after our bath, I'll put on Tarzan."
Andre and Lilac exchanged excited looks before running to the bathroom. Tarzan was their new favorite movie.
The morning continued on in the same peaceful manner. Lilac and Andre were playing with the blocks she'd brought up, while her youngest three were in the playpen with their own soft toys. Bailey was winding her thin body between Esme's legs as she prepared lunch. Of course, that was when Esme heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching the daycare and parking around the back of the building. Esme turned the stove off before running to her bedroom and peeked through the blinds. Two figures, a man and a woman, quickly took care of the rotters in the garden before they approached the back door.
"Shit." Esme hissed before running into the living room, "Lilac and Andre go inside the bedroom." she demanded before grabbing Primrose and Bora, "We have to hide from the monsters okay."
Lilac whimpered as she followed Esme into the bedroom, "The monsters here?"
"Yes," Esme responded calmly before going back to grab Thomas and plop him down beside his younger sisters, "Remember what mama said, we have to be quiet."
"They gonna come eat us!" Andre whined in fear as he rubbed his eyes. Lilac gasped clutching her nighttime plushie to her small frame.
Esme pulled the scared toddlers into a hug, "Shhh, it's okay mama's going to make it all better."
The back door downstairs splintered open. Esme went into the kitchen and brought the kids their snacks before depositing a disgruntled Bailey, her cat had been angling for a treat for the last hour with her 'cute' antics, in her room and shutting the door. She only hesitated for a moment before slipping her boots on grabbing her weapons, Esme crept down the stairs avoiding all of the squeaky steps and pressed her ear against the door. She could hear footsteps and quiet whispers on the other side... they were looking for something.
"Clear." a deep male voice murmurs, "You find anything?"
"Not yet. Check the cupboards. There has to be formula in there." the female responded.
Formula.
You didn't go searching for formula unless there was a baby they needed to feed.
"Someone's been living here." the man stated factually.
Fuck.
The doorknob jingled as one of the intruders tried to open the door. Esme's hands trembled. What was she supposed to do? Were these intruders with the Governor asshole? But, they couldn't be that bad if they were scavenging for formula right? Was she willing to risk the lives of her children if they decided barging into her apartment was the right way to go about it?
That one was easy, hell no.
Esme steeled herself over before unlocking the door and opening it a crack, the chain wouldn't allow the door to open any further unless she unhooked it, she could hear another set of footsteps approaching.
"Who the hell are you?" the male voice growled.
She gripped her machete tightly, "I could say the same thing, asshole." Esme snapped, "What do you want?"
"We don't want any trouble." the woman responded, "We, we just need some baby formula. Please, do you know where they had it?"
Esme peered through the gap to look at the intruders. The man was tall and imposing, he had his crossbow aimed at her in a warning manner. The woman looked unkept and stressed, dried blood was on her arms but the look on her face was genuine and filled with grief.
"There isn't any formula left on this floor." she stated bluntly, "Why do you need it?"
The man scoffed, "Why do ya think?"
Esme ignored him, locking eyes with the woman, "How old is the baby?"
The woman hesitated unshed tears brimming in her eyes, "I-I today..."
The mother must have died during the birth, it was the only reason Esme could think of for them knocking down her door for formula. Her stupid bleeding heart broke for the faceless infant.
"Fuck." Esme whispered, not really caring if they heard her from the other side of the door, "Wait here."
She ran up the stairs and into her storage room before snatching an unopened can of formula. Esme was about to go back down before she decided to open the fridge and grab three bottles that she had pumped earlier in the morning before putting them into a tiny portable cooler and going back down. The intruders had been heatedly arguing about something before she had approached, she swallowed down her nerves before trying to thrust the can through the crack in the door only to sigh in frustration when she realized that it was too big to pass through.
"I-I am going to unlock the door. If you two try to hurt me or get passed me I won't hesitate to kill you." Esme promised before struggling to unlatch the chain with her hands full and nudged the door open a little more with her foot. "Here." she whispered, dumping the can in the woman's arms.
"Thank you." the brunette murmured. Esme chewed on her bottom lip, her right hand clutched the machete while her left hand still held the cooler.
"Do you have a way to heat milk?" she asked.
The man's eyes had never left her form though he had lowered the crossbow slightly, "Yeah."
Esme nodded before instructing, "Than take this. I pumped it this morning, you'll need to boil it for three minutes. Newborns need to eat once about every hour for the first few days."
"Pumped?" the man asked while the woman grabbed the cooler.
A cry, Primrose's from the sound of it, coming from upstairs made Esme's blood run cold, she'd forgotten to shut her apartment door like an idiot, while the two intruders gaze turned to her apartment. "Pumped." Esme repeated bluntly, masking her fear, "It's breast milk. Now get out of my home."
Another cry, Bora's this time, joined in.
These people need to leave. Now.
"Ya got kids?" the man asked, almost incredulously as if he couldn't believe that someone was stupid enough to have young children during the apocalypse.
Esme narrowed her eyes, "You've put us in enough danger as it is. The noise you've made will have attracted rotters."
The woman approached her tentatively but stopped when Esme flinched back, "We don't mean any harm..." she said soothingly, "I-My name's Maggie. This is Daryl." she gestured over her shoulder at the man.
"Esme." she returned after a moment.
"How many kids ya got up there?" the man, Daryl asked again.
"Does it matter?" she snapped in annoyance. All Esme wanted was to go back upstairs and calm down her distressed babies, "You need to go and I need to get back upstairs. Close the back door on your way out."
Maggie moved closer once more, "Is there anyone else here? To help you?" Something on her face must have given her away since the brunette's features softened, "We have a safe place. You can come with us. We can help you."
Daryl's incredulous eyes snapped towards his companion before they moved to observe her once more.
"No, you don't." Esme whispered, "Now leave, I got five babies that need me and you two need to get back to that newborn."
"Five!" the archer exclaimed, "How the hell- You know what, she's got a point the baby's not gonna last much longer."
The brunette looked conflicted, and if Esme was being honest so did Daryl, "We'll come back."
It sounded like a promise. One that Esme wasn't sure that they would follow through with or that Esme would even want to leave with them. She didn't know them, they might be with that Governor asshole even if they did have a baby, and she didn't want to be involved with that bullshit. The intruders, Maggie and Daryl peeled off on the man's motorcycle towards their group, while Esme just battered down the hatches and prepared to spend the rest of the day in knots as her anxiety continued to ride out at the 'friendly' encounter she had with the survivors.
It appeared that Esme may not be the only decent adult left alive.
Was it weird that she didn't know how she felt about that?
Words 2022
(Hehe!)
(It's finally happened!)
(She's met Daryl!)
(I wasn't sure that I liked this chapter too much, made Maggie or Daryl to OOC considering the events going down at the prison right now, but then again I really can't see them turning away a distressed young mother with babies... so, yeah)
(Anyway, extra-long chapter in celebration of the Holidays! Sorry for the wait!)
(Merry Christmas!)
(Happy Chanukah!)
(Happy Kwanza!)
(Merry Whatever-Holiday-You-Celebrate!)