Chapter Nineteen: Promises Kept (pt 1)
Esme was right. All the commotion the intruders had made, attracted the unwanted attention of rotters. There were ten walking corpses idling around the vicinity of the daycare, so far the rotters hadn't seemed too interested in getting into the building but they weren't leaving either... It only served to add an extra amount of stress to the whole situation.
Either way, Esme spent the rest of the day calming her scared children and trying to ignore her own rising panic. Had she'd been a fool for helping Daryl and Maggie? Giving them a precious can of baby formula, and then letting them go? They knew where she was now. They knew about her children. What if they came back? What if they wanted to hurt her? What if they stole all of her hard-earned supplies? What if they were a part of the Governor's group? What if? In the end, Esme convinced all of the kids to take an extra-long afternoon nap, mostly because she needed one too.
The next day, Esme decided to be prepared for anything. Even if the intruders from yesterday decided to adhere to their promise and come back... She was starting to think that it would be better if they weren't there or at the very least ready for them. She started to pack the necessities and pile them up by the door. An entire suitcase was filled up with the clothes she had gathered for the kids (winter wardrobe and cloth diapers included, as well as their blankies) and their favorite plushies. She started gathering all of their dry food in a pile on the counters, before serving everyone a hearty breakfast.
Her kids seemed to know that something was different or maybe they were still feeling the effects from Esme's fear-induced scramble from yesterday since they were all rather subdued today. Bailey was curled around Lilac and Andre as she enjoyed the rough pets from Esme's toddlers. Bora was chewing on a frozen teething ring while she ignored a semi-hyper Thomas as he builds towers up with only to have them knocked down by a mischevious Primrose.
Esme smiled before going back to work. She filled her backpack full of hygiene supplies and left her breast pump on top of the bag for easier access. Esme rummaged through her closet as she chose out the most useful articles of clothing (three longsleeved shirts, two newer tanktops, five bras because one can never take a good clean bra for granted, a dozen underwear, thermal longjohns, one jeans, two sweat pants, and as many socks as she could fit) before carefully folding them into one of her heavy-duty bags, she only hesitated for a moment before adding her photo album and Spanish bible.
There were still rotters loitering her property so she wasn't too keen on loading things onto her truck just yet but Esme did start bringing stuff down into the cubby room as quietly as she could. She even grabbed one of the newer bassinets from the newborn classroom in case the intruders came back (their newborn was going to need it).
It was lunchtime, a chaotic event as usual, when Esme heard the tale-tell signs of company pulling up to the daycare. Anxiety thrummed through her body as she peered through the blinds in the living room to see who was parking in front of her home, some of that panic lessened when she saw the woman and man from yesterday exit from one of the trucks. An Asian man in dirtied clothes accompanied them this time and the noisy motorcycle from yesterday was thankfully absent. The three survivors quickly dispatched of the rotters that had been hovering before they began to go around the school to enter once more through the backdoor.
Esme moved away from the window before deciding to go downstairs to meet them, she did not forget to close the door behind her this time. The trio had entered the garden when she opened the backdoor. She threw her hatchet expertly at a crawling rotter that'd been about to take a bite out the Asian man's leg, before watching as the three survivors took care of the last four rotters.
The Asian man was observing her quietly before he grabbed her hatchet from the skull of the dead rotter and offering it to her with a small grateful smile. She returned the smile uneasily, before letting them pass inside and closing the door again.
They were all quiet for a moment, simply observing each other. Maggie and the Asian looked to be around her age in their early to mid-twenties, while Daryl was probably already in his early thirties. The apocalypse hadn't been good to the intruders. Their eyes were hallowed with grief but there was a certain strength hidden in their eyes.
"You came back." Esme murmured in slight disbelief, breaking the silence.
Maggie smiled, "Yeah, we did."
An awkward silence fell upon them once more before it was interrupted by the new man she didn't know, "I-I'm Glenn." he introduced himself.
A small smile pulled on Esme's lips, "Esme." she offered before turning back to the brunette, "Yesterday you said that ya'll have a safe place?"
"It's a work in progress." the archer answered gruffly, "Used ta be a prison, but it's got fences and walls. Keeps walkers out."
"It's lunchtime," Esme informed them bluntly in a manner that must have startled them since they were giving her strange looks, "I left the kids upstairs. We should finish talking about this up there."
The weird looks seemed to vanish before Maggie nodded encouragingly.
Esme led them to the stairs before stopping them as she hung up her hatchet next to her machete, "Leave your weapons here, I don't bring them up where the kids can touch them."
Daryl grumbled for a moment before dropping his crossbow while Glenn and Maggie complied without hesitation after her explanation. When Esme unlocked her apartment door and walked in with three strangers behind her, all of her children got quiet and stared.
Words 1040
(HAPPY NEW YEAR!)
(celia azul: LOL. Same. I think that was the moment that my love for this character solidified. I mean I was already partial to him and he was my favorite character along with Glenn, but that was the moment he reached LEGEND status.)
(Guest 1: Aww! Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
(Merry Limp: Thank you so much for your reviews! I definitely saw a mental breakdown coming along on Esme, it is a lot of pressure to be the sole-provider of so many children. I love writing the fluffy moments with the kids, and these small moments that I share with you guys are Esme's reason for living so I'm glad you are enjoying them! Oh and YAY! I'm glad that you didn't think that Daryl and Maggie were too out of character. I'm definitely a bit afraid of not doing the TWD cast and characters justice but I'm going to do my best! I'm glad you liked the part with Andre's accident, one of my sister's used to wet the bed when they had nightmares too so I thought that it was a nice touch to the possible messes that children make. I'm currently debating the best friend status but I can say this confidently: Esme will be very fond of the Greene sisters and Michone when she eventually makes her appearance. Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I love reading them!)
(Guest 2: LOL! Thanks!)
(rankagi: Thanks! I wanted to write in about Woodberry but not really have them impact the plot so much just yet. I'm not sure if you guys have noticed but the plat of the series is already changing because of Esme... after all, Maggie and Glenn were kidnapped by Merle the day after Judith was born while they were looking for more baby supplies, however they are no longer at a grocery store but at the daycare... so... yeah! Kudos to Esme for acknowledging her emotions and fears! Oh, and the Governor is definitely going to impact Esme and the Prison group's interactions. I hope you also enjoyed your holiday! )
(CullenMia: I'm glad that I was able to stay true to their characters and personalities, hopefully, that will stay true throughout the fic! Thanks for reviewing!)
(Beachgirl25: Thanks! I thought that depression made sense for this fic. It's a pretty serious issue in our world even without a zombie apocalypse, and I thought that it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities for Esme to suffering from some mental health issues. I will definitely be implementing back-up plans (even if Esme has to scream and nag until she's blue in the face), I also thought it was so freaking stupid that they didn't have one. Honestly! I'm a bit nervous about writing Carol, she's a pretty complicated character. I understand that abuse victims suffer pretty terribly, and although I've never suffered in the manner that Carol has, I cannot forgive the way that she let Sophia be raised. Or the way that she didn't try harder to find her daughter. Our mama-bear is going to be something to be reckoned with if Carol tries to cross her! Thanks for your wonderful reviews!)
(Kyr: Esme will definitely be making waves! Thank you so much! I hope you had a Great New Year! And a wonderful first start this year!)
(Guest 3: I have the same concerns about the survival of all the kids. But if I'm honest, I have more faith in Esme's meticulous planning and packrat ways that I believe that she won't have much trouble in keeping them safe. We will see what happens because even I have no clue! Thanks for reviewing!)
(I have a present for you all!
I spent the last two months looking for this fic again and I finally found it yesterday on AO3: "A cursed world" by Ksfly180, it is the first part of her series "The Cursed Walkers". (Daryl/OC, with a splash of Merle/OC)
The premise of this story is pretty similar to mine and it is pretty well written... not to mention finished! I think you guys will really enjoy it! Her original character Charlie is a planner just like Esme is and she also has a gaggle of young children to look after. Let me know if you guys like it as much as I do!)