Chapter Twenty-One: Promises Kept (pt 3) (Alternatively titled: Send Me On My Way)

Things started moving rather fast after that. Daryl and Glenn helped load the stuff she'd left in the cubby room onto the bed of her tuck as Esme and Maggie grabbed all of the foam tiles from the daycare and stuffing them in a plastic bag. The prison floor was all made of concrete and it would make a good safe rug for the kids' room. Esme packed all of the medicine she had collected over time into a crate and brought it down, while Maggie started to bring down the food she'd been collecting.

Daryl and Glenn had given her incredulous looks when she led them down into the basement and introduced the men to Peep and Pio. They were definitely taking the chicken coup with them and the two men loaded it onto the bed of the truck they had brought. The three potted plants (cabbage, lettuce, and celery) were also brought up since they were planning on making a crop field in the fenced prison yard as well as her unopened packets of seeds. Daryl, in particular, was thrilled when she showed him all of the archery equipment she had pilfered at the thrift shop.

They grabbed five pack n' plays and loaded it as well as crib mattresses to fill the bottoms and make them more comfortable. Maggie had expressed her relief at the sight of the bassinet for Lil' Ass Kicker, apparently, the newborn hadn't been named just yet and they'd had to place the infant in a padded box to sleep in last night.

(Esme instructed Lilac and Andre to choose their two favorite toys to bring with them to their new home. The toddlers predictably chose their dinosaurs, blocks, cars, and barbies so Esme put them away into a bin and brought them down. Daryl had looked at her oddly when she asked him to load it on the truck, but he had thankfully not refused her.)

She gathered linens and blankets for everyone in the prison group and dumped them into a plastic container that had once held Halloween decorations. Maggie and Glenn were impressed with her collection of food processors/canning supplies and convinced Darly to help them load it in their truck (not that the man needed much convincing when he learned that she could make jerky with the dehydrator). Esme prepared a bag filled with smaller baby clothes, most of which had once belonged to Primrose, for the new infant before taking a small break to pump breast milk.

Daryl and Glenn had gotten red so fast, tripping and pushing each other out of the way like children, when they'd walked in on her pumping one breast and feeding a cranky Bora on the other (the babies would take their afternoon nap in the car ride to the prison, so they were all a bit groggy and cranky now). Maggie had burst out into laughter at Esme's unimpressed look before going back to preparing some snacks for the kids.

(Esme wasn't really body shy anymore, Mitch had walked in on her pumping milk or breastfeeding too many times for her to feel shy about it... besides, it was like Daisy had said: it was a natural thing and nothing to be embarrassed about... Men were just weird.)

"This is a rather impressive place," Maggie commented. "We haven't had electricity since... well the beginning."

Esme nodded, "This was a hippie community. My boss, D-Daisy, was no exception. She had solar panels and a water system installed the moment she could. I-I'm gonna miss this place."

Maggie looked at her curiously, "Why did you decide to come with us? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you decided to come with us, but when we offered we didn't realize all the advantages this place has."

"I said it before," Esme shrugged trying not to let the crippling loneliness appear on her face, "I'm tired of being alone. It's been really hard... on my own. I love my kids, but I can't really talk with them you know. Our supplies have been dwindling. And now, with this Governor character scoping the area, I just don't feel safe anymore."

"I understand." Maggie murmured, "You won't be alone anymore."

It took another hour for the group to get everything they wanted to bring with them packed and loaded onto the bed of the truck. Bailey was already in her cat carrier and in the back seat of Glenn's truck, now it was only time to strap the kids into the car seats and leave.

"Lilac. Do you remember what mama said about going outside?" Esme asked seriously. The two-year-old bobbed her head.

"Es peligroso. Have to be quiet and talk with hands." Lilac nodded once more as she responded in the same serious tone.

"That's right." Esme praised before turning to Andre, "We have to be very quiet alright? So that the rotters can't hear us."

The little boy nodded, his eyes wide with fear, "Promise. Cindy say we has to be quiet, shhh."

Esme nodded sadly, "That's right."

Her fellow adults looked at her questioningly, but Esme ignored that in favor of depositing a wide-eyed Bora into the arms of Maggie before doing the same to Thomas and Glenn (Thomas was handling it much better than Glenn, who was eyeing her son like he was a bomb waiting to go off any moment, men). She picked up Lilac and held Andre's hand as she led them downstairs, they quickly strapped the kids into the truck (well they strapped in Bora and Thomas into two of the car seats while Andre and Lilac were sat in the front, they would sit on her lap for the ride since they didn't have any more seats in her truck and Esme didn't want to be separated from her kids during the ride) while Daryl watched their backs. Three rotters had appeared earlier when they'd been loading supplies so now they were all on edge now. Esme ran back upstairs to pluck a dozing Primrose from her stripped mattress.

This was it. They were really leaving. As she turned from her bed her foot caught onto an object underneath the wooden frame. Esme's heart leaped in her throat as she crouched on the ground, carefully maneuvering Primrose so she wouldn't wake, to see what she almost tripped over. Her guitar.

Mitch's teasing expression and Daisy's smiling face popped into her mind. Unbidden tears sprung to her eyes as she pulled the black case out. She had packed the Harry Potter and Narnia books in the glove box of the car already, but she'd left her acoustic behind. It was an instrument, loud and not becoming for survival situations where silence and only necessities were needed. It hurt.

"You wanna take it with us?"

Esme whipped her head around to look at Daryl from where he was hovering in the doorway. "Please." she whispered.

The man gruffly bent over and grabbed the handle of the case before motioning her out the door, "Let's go, 's getting late."

She nodded, giving the man a gentle smile as she got up and stood by his side, "Thank you, Daryl."

Esme gave her barren looking apartment one more once-over before locking the door behind her and going downstairs. She locked every single door, ignoring the amused look she got from Glenn, before strapping Primrose into the last car seat and getting into the passenger's side of her truck as Daryl got into the driver's. Esme sat Lilac onto her lap and snuggled Andre into her side, Daryl started up the truck and began following Glenn and Maggie.

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(Anyone else like that song by Rusted Root? Who do you think of first when you hear it? Matilda or Ice Age?)

(celia azul: LOL! Were you waiting for me to update? That was fast! All jokes aside... thanks for reviewing! We never learned what Daryl did for a living before the apocalypse but considering that he was keeping his brother's bike running I'm pretty sure he had some sort of experience with machines... Besides, Axel also has experience in that area so...)