Chapter Thirty: Hypocrite


Beth helped her move Judith's bassinet into her cell after Esme stated that she wanted all of the babies to be in the same area. Judith was thankfully now deeply asleep when she transferred the babe into the bassinet and closed the cell door for extra protection. The only being awake in the other cell was a tense Bailey, whose luminescent eyes blinked up at her warily from where she was curled around Lilac. Thank god for small miracles, since she really didn't think that having screaming or crying children would really help the situation they currently in.

All of the prison's heavy fighters were out on that supply run.

A twelve -or was it thirteen- year old child was their first line of defense.

A small ugly feeling of inadequacy and self-hatred bloomed behind her chest, how dare she allow herself to be complacent and let a child run into danger on his own without back up. It took all of her self-restraint not to run after Carl into the bowls of the prison. That would truly help no one. She didn't know the layout of her new home, and Esme wouldn't help anyone out by getting lost in the tombs and then killed (leaving her babies motherless once more and dooming them). Hell, maybe if she even caught up to Carl she'd startle him so badly that he'd mistake her for a rotter and he'd shoot her.

No.

As much as she absolutely hated it, Esme's best chance of being useful was staying right where she was. That didn't mean that she was going to allow herself to be unarmed in a hostile situation. She quickly retrieved her machete and stood stoically in the cafeteria as she waited for Carl's return. She could hear distinct voices now in the shouts that were echoing out of the tombs. Beth and Hershal were hovering at the entrance of their Cell Block cautiously, concern painted across both of their features.

She tensed as the voices and running got closer. When Carl burst through with a gaggle of strangers in his heals she didn't flinch, nor did she relax her grip on her machete as she took in the new strangers. A pale-skinned man with sweat-drenched brown hair moaned behind the muscled black man carrying a woman over his shoulder fireman style.

"Oh god! Donna?" he shouted as the other man laid her gently on the ground, "Is she dead?"

Esme ignored the drama unfolding in front of her as she approached Carl's side and inspected him for injures while he locked the gate they'd just run through. "You okay?" she asked him softly. The preteen nodded as they both approached the kneeling strangers on the ground.

"Baby?" the same man questioned before breaking out into sobs as they all took in the woman's blank sightless brown eyes.

"I'll take care of it." Carl whispers softly as he cocks his gun and points it at the stranger's head. The preteen isn't wrong in wanting to get rid of a possible threat, but it broke her heart, all the same, to hear how normal the phrase slipped out of his mouth.

"Whoa!" The black man protested as he raised his hand up towards Carl, Esme stepped up behind the preteen protectively as she raised her own weapon of choice threateningly. The man lowered his hand, "Whoa, kid. Wait a minute."

"She doesn't have that long." Carl shrugged apathetically, not moving from his position.

Esme warily watched as the other two members of the group approached, "Who the hell are you?" the black woman holding a shovel questioned exasperatedly. "How did you get in here? Who else are you with?" she questioned as she eyed Esme suspiciously.

"Look, we can help you." Carl acknowledged the stranger before looking back down at the ticking time bomb of a corpse at their feet. The inflamed bite mark on the dead woman made Esme's hair stand on end. She wanted the potential rotter gone. Now. Before it reanimated. "First things first." Carl continued as he gestured to the cooling body.

The African-American still kneeling on the ground shook his head and in a gentle voice refused, "No, we take care of our own." as he turned around to grab a hammer from the crying teen behind them.

"No, Tyreese!" The sobbing man protested as he clutched onto the corpse's hand futilely. At least Esme now had a name for the muscular man.

"I gotta do it. Look, just take Ben and lean against the wall. It'll be quick."

Carl gently grabbed Esme's arm and motioned to the gates of their Cell Block, she nodded in understanding as they both quietly moved away from the situation unfolding in their cafeteria.

"It's okay. It's okay." was whispered mixed with heavy breathing and sobs.

Esme ignored it all as they were finally inside of the Cell Block, away from the danger the new strangers could pose to them, with Beth and Hershal. Where her babies were sleeping. The sound of the swinging gates and the jangling of Carl's keys as he locked up their block from the cafeteria quickly got the attention of the strangers back to them.

(Esme felt like a hypocrite. She was a mere stranger to these people not even two days ago. But she had children to care and protect. Her babies, Judith and Carl... even Beth to an extent were children. She would not hesitate to kill for them or turn others away if it meant keeping them safe. It didn't matter if that made her a hypocrite or an awful excuse of a human being as long as her babies and the rest of the children were safe.).

"Hey, what are you doing?" the black woman questioned as she stared almost unbelievingly at the now locked gates.

"Kid, did you just lock us in here?" Tyreese questioned as he stood up from where he'd been crouched on the ground. Esme watched them in trepidation, he hadn't disposed of the threat laying on the ground yet.

"Open the door." the woman demanded as she gestured to them with her shovel.

Carl shook his head confidently, "This room is secure. You'll be safe." Beth came to Esme's side and grabbed the back of her tanktop not unlike a small child would for comfort as the woman marched towards them angrily, "You have food and water."

The woman grabbed one of the bars and stated firmly once more. "Open this door."

Carl met her gaze without hesitation. "I can't."

"Come on, man. We're not animals... Don't do this." she pleaded. When she realized that they hadn't been moved her anger consumed her face once more as she banged on the bars with the shovel, "Hey! You can't just leave us in here! Open this door! Open it now! Don't just stand there!" she accused Esme as she banged against the bars once more, "You're an adult. Open this door! Now!"

Esme glared at the woman angrily, at this rate they were definitely going to wake up one of the little ones.

"Sasha!" Tyreese scolded her, "Back away from their door and let the man go. Look around you." he stated in almost wonder as he basked in the safety of the cafeteria, "This is the best we've had it in weeks. His house." he referred to the stoic little preteen with the keys as he turned to look at the corpse still cooling on the floor of the cafeteria. "We got other things to do." Tyreese turned back to look at them, "We don't want any trouble." he stated genuinely as he led the woman away.

Esme patted Carl's shoulder proudly, "Good job." she praised.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Beth asked cautiously.

"I did." Carl replied.

Esme nodded in agreement. "They'd be dead if Carl didn't save them. There is water and some snacks in there. They'll be fine Beth." she reassured the blonde teenager. The girl nodded.

"Let's get some sleep." Esme suggested as she led the two tense adolescents away from the gate, "I moved Judith to my cell earlier Carl, want to bunk with me for the night?"

The preteen looked up to peer at her from underneath the brim of his sheriff's hat, "Alright."

Hershal smiled at Esme gratefully from where he was heavily leaning against his crutches in the doorway of his cell. She shot the man a small tired smile back as Beth made her way back to her father and she led Carl to her cell. She'd let the boy have her bed for the night. She really wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight after all of the adrenaline-inducing commotion going on in the cafeteria.


Words 1513


(Sasha is not happy!)

(But not as pissed as Esme will get if she wakes up her babies!)

(Never poke a mama bear, you guys!)

(OMG you guys, last week was sooo freaking intense! I had to cover my co-worker all week because her house burned down. Everyone made it out safely but the damage on the inside of the house was pretty substantial and it'll take eight to nine months for the repairs to be finished. I'm surprised that I had any time at all to update these fics! Especially since I was sick again. I'll be covering her a lot again this coming week so I'm not sure if I'll be able to update again soon. Plus, I have to go do a sleep study in a hospital on Wednesday after work, those bastards are going to wake me up at five! Can't they let me sleep in!)

(Please let me know if there are any mistakes in the comments or if I missed a Spanish word/phrase that you want to have translated!)


(HorrorFan13: I have to say that one of the best parts about deciding to publish this fic was discovering how many fanfiction users also work in a daycare like me! I hope you feel better! And same, honestly there are some kids who seem to have the sniffles year-round.)

(apegasaurus: LOL. Honestly same! Merle had so much potential! I found his character to be so freaking fascinating! I would have loved to see Merle and Daryl repair their bond and become an awesome Dixon Brother Tag Team with the support of the Atlanta group. Beth's death was also so freaking unnecessary in my opinion, like geeze... You brought up a very good point about oriental stores, so thanks for that little nest egg of an idea! I loved your rambling review!)

(DarkFireNyx: We'll see their reactions to the gaggle of babies in the next chapter, though it probably won't be too different from cannon... I have an interesting plan for Rick and the others... In cannon, Rick was having an epic mental breakdown... and while I'm still planning on some sort of event like that happening, it probably won't go the same way it did in the original storyline. I have a plan already set in stone in my mind for Merle and Michone, we'll probably see them come in about 4 to 5 chapters!)

(Beachgirl25: Thanks! I definitely have a plan for the breach in the back of the prison so... never fear my good citizen! LOL. Man, you know some really cool facts. Renaissance History isn't even something that I was contemplating in the back of mind, hell I didn't even know that you could major in that. I'll have to do some of my own research on the matter before I decide anything permanent, but I think that I would like to have at least one of the siblings fascinated by all things renaissance.)

(Guest1/30yrsoldgirlie: LOL. Thank you! I hope you'll enjoy what is to follow! We'll be seeing it all unfold very very soon!)

(SciFichikie: Hahaha, yes they do. Ah, the importance and baseless righteousness of adolescents... god, I miss it... NOT! LOL. Anyway, I don't want to give anything away but I have already decided how that scene is going to go... so yeah... I really don't like Allen, that's the older man, or his son Ben too much either. They are freaking pigs. But I do really like the Williams' siblings, ie Sasha and Tyreese, so some of that bias might bleed over. Sorry, not sorry.)

(Guest2/Seris: LOL. Your review was extremely entertaining to read! And thank you! One of my biggest concerns, when I decided to publish this fic, was writing a Mary Sue, I like to create realistic characters that aren't too unrelatable for the readers, especially since it's already unrelatable to survive through a zombie apocalypse. I think the biggest Mary Sueish aspect about her so far was her ability to stay undetected from rotters for so long, and finding Andre... So, I'm glad to hear that other people appreciate this aspect of my character! I'm also thrilled to hear that the pace of my story isn't making people too antsy...)