Chapter Thirty-One: Stangers Amongst Us
Dawn came surprisingly quickly. Like they'd suspected before in the early evening, the supply group had probably decided to spend the night at the daycare and travel in the morning since their wayward members had yet to return. Surprisingly the children slept rather soundly throughout the night. Primrose hadn't woken even once, and Andre had only stirred for a few brief moments because he had to use the bathroom but he immediately went to bed right after doing his business.
Since Esme hadn't fallen asleep at all last night she was able to attend to Judith the moment she showed any discomfort. In other words, no one woke up during the night because of the cries of a wailing infant. Esme didn't feel as fatigued as she expected she would be, much to her relief since her children were all now awake and energetic. Judith was napping in the sling against her chest as she helped Bora and Thomas change out of their warm pajamas and into some day clothes. Lilac and Andre were both taking turns petting a content Baliey while they waited for her to be finished dressing their younger siblings. Primrose had hauled herself up on shaky legs inside of her pack n' play to stare at them better.
Esme smiled gently at her youngest daughters babbling before turning back to Thomas and fastening his sneaker. Bora was already standing somewhat shakily by the entrance of the cell block as she peered her head out curiously. Thomas soon joined the Korean toddler at the doorway as Esme grabbed Primrose and began changing her for the day as well. She placed the soiled cloth diaper into the changing bucket before fastening a new one onto Primrose and quickly pulling a clean onesie over her head. She would need to wash the older cloth diapers today when she got a chance. Primrose was easy to manhandle in the morning so it only took her three minutes to get her completely dressed before she propped her onto her hip and began leading the children out of their Cell Block.
(She had surveyed the cafeteria before getting her kids ready for the day, mostly because she did not want to bring her kids in there if they had left the body of the deceased woman in the middle of the room. Thankfully one of them had wrapped up the body with an old sheet and dragged it to an unlit corner of the room closest to the exit).
Lilac and Andre were dutifully helping Thomas and Bora walk like she'd been teaching them as they slowly made their way into the cafeteria. Hershal was tending the white man that had been bawling over the dead woman the night before, it looked like he'd needed stitches in his leg. She carefully led her children away from them towards where Beth was beginning to serve oatmeal into tiny bowls.
The blonde teen shot her a small smile, "Good morning!" before she bent down to grab Bora and place her in her high chair and then do the same with Thomas.
"Good morning." she greeted back. Lilac and Andre chirruped their own adorable greetings as they climbed over to their seats at the table. Carl hovered by them protectively as he stared at the strangers he'd saved suspiciously. It was then that Esme realized that the others were staring at her gaggle of children incredulously. Beth was kind enough to grab Primrose and sit her on her lap as she began to spoon-feed Esme's youngest while Esme herself helped Thomas and Bora with their own oatmeal.
The woman, Sasha, approached her with wonder in her eyes. "I- Wow. How old is the baby?" she asked referring to Judith snoozing against Esme's chest.
"Barely a week." Hershal responded.
"I haven't seen this many kids... in a really long time," Tyreese added as he stared at the toddlers now tucking-in to their meal.
"To be honest, we never thought we'd see another baby." Sasha's voice was wistful, "Not to mention so many."
Esme eyed the woman before admitting, "Yes, I guess it can be surprising."
"Beautiful." Sasha complimented, "They are just beautiful."
"Thanks," Esme replied honestly as she scooped up the side of Thomas' mouth where some oatmeal had escaped.
"Mama!" Lilac piped up. "Quiero jugar!"
Esme turned around to look at her oldest daughter, "You can play when you finish eating."
"Me too!" Andre requested cutely as he hastily stuffed another spoonful of the oatmeal in his mouth.
"You have to finish eating first too, Andre." she instructed before turning back to Bora who was hungrily trying to get her attention. "You two don't want to feed the chickens first?"
"Si!" Lilac bounced, "I has to gib Peep comida!"
"An-And I help too!" Andre added excitedly.
Hershal laughed softly, "After you two finish eating and your mama says it's okay I'll help you."
"T'ank you!" the two oldest toddlers chorused.
Sasha had now completely sidled up to stare softly at Judith, "How are you feeling? I can't imagine the labor was easy even with Hershal's help."
Startled, she turned to look at the dark-skinned woman, "Oh! This little one is not mine."
"Where's the mother?" Sasha asked curiously. At their quiet grief-filled looks and the hitch in Carl's breathing, Sasha turned away apologetically, "I'm sorry."
"What about the other babies?" the white man, she'd heard be referred to by Allen earlier, asked. There was something about the man's intense gaze that made Esme uncomfortable, the man may have just lost his wife, but there was just something about him that set her off. Esme had long learned to trust her instincts. Her instincts were telling her to wrap up this conversation and get her kids away from him.
"Those are mine," Esme admitted after noting the curiosity on the other strangers' faces.
That immediately earned her some incredulously looks.
"A-All of them?" Tyreese asked.
Esme sighed before explaining, "I worked in a daycare before everything, some parents never came to pick up their kids. I've been caring for them as my own for the last year."
"Man, you people have been through the mill." Tyreese murmured.
Hershal grabbed his crutches and stood up, "Haven't we all?"
"It's only getting worse out there. Dead are everywhere. And it's only making the living," Tyreese sighed tiredly, "less like the living."
Esme wiped Thomas and Bora's faces from any sticky oatmeal that may have stuck to their chubby cheeks, "Carl can you help me get these two inside the Cell Block?"
The preteen nodded before lifting Bora out of the high chair and setting her on the ground and doing the same with Thomas. He grabbed the one-year-olds hands and began leading them to their cells dutifully. Esme checked to make sure that Andre and Lilac's bowls were empty before telling them to follow the older boy as well.
"You're the only decent folk we've come across," Sasha added.
Esme ignored the conversation happening between the strangers and Hershal, "We can feed Peep and Pio a little later." she promised them before turning to Beth, "Let's get them all inside for now."
The blonde teen nodded as she perched Primrose on her hip and began to follow the Spaniard out of the cafeteria.
"You've been out there all this time?" Hershal asked behind them.
"Our neighbor Jerry, he was one of those survivalist nuts..." Tyreese began explaining.
Esme didn't really care to hear the rest of their story, despite her lingering curiosity over how they survived out in the open for so long (Esme wasn't a fool, she knew that she had gotten lucky to be living in the apartment above the daycare, she'd been spoiled with the indoor plumbing and electricity). It was a shame too. Tyreese and Sasha seemed like good people. Tyreese, despite his bulk and intimidating muscles and height, practically screamed that he was a gentle soul. And Sasha, despite her anger from the day before, demeanor revealed that she was a just woman with a kind side especially around young children.
It was too bad really.
They seemed like good people.
Honestly, she couldn't wait until the others got back. She would feel safer with having these new strangers around when they did. For now, though, she would concentrate on caring for the little ones. Judith, in particular, was starting to stir and smack her lips in a hungry fashion, nothing a little one-on-one time wouldn't fix.
"I'm gonna go outside to Carol." Carl informed them as soon as they reached him, "She hasn't had breakfast yet, and my dad and the others will be here soon. They'll need help."
"Are you taking the keys with you?" Beth asked.
The preteen knawed on his bottom lip for a minute in contemplation, "You guys stayin' inside?"
"I definitely am." Esme murmured as she began to rock her body to stall Judith from having a crying fit, "I don't want the children outside until the others get back. Safer here."
Beth nodded, "Daddy said that they could bury the woman in the fields where the other graves are. I'll probably go out to help them or keep watch. I think daddy wants some fresh air too."
Carl turned his piercing blue eyes towards Esme, "When we leave I'll lock the gate so they can't get in the Cell Block."
She shot the preteen a small smile, "Good. Let me know when you guys are heading out, I'm goin' to feed Judith."
Words 1640
(Translation of Spanish Words or Phrases:
Quiero jugar = I want to play
Comida = food)
(Wow, guys... this virus has really exploded in New York. I just found out today that the archdiocese has declared that masses are to be canceled until further notice. I never once in my life thought that church would ever be canceled. My family is going to drive to Connecticut tomorrow and see if we can attend a mass there.)
(I hope everyone is staying safe!)
(I just started watching Fear the Walking Dead and it's actually pretty good. It's really good at showing what the start of the zombie apocalypse really looked like, something that is absent in the Walking Dead since it really follows or starts with Rick's point of view and he was in a coma during the first two months.)
(I'm still working on the Mitch/Daisy one-shot that was requested, and I wanted to ask you guys if you think it should be posted here as a bonus or side chapter or if I should post it as a separate one-shot linked to this fic... LOL, it would be easier to do this if I was posting this story on AO3... Maybe I'll actually post this fic there... We'll see...)
(Guest1/Anon: Thank you! I hope this settled some of your curiosity!)
(time-twilight: Honestly... same!)
(Beachgirl25: Yup! This chapter stayed mostly canon with a few small changes. I've definitely started to warm up to the youngest Green. I think Beth had a lot of potential to be a full-blown badass and now I'm disappointed that we'll never get the chance to see that happen. Carl is definitely very lucky to have two strong female presences in his life! And, thank you! I feel a lot better now!)
(itsprettyboy: OMG! That is a lot of work! I hope you got everything done on time... Honestly though SAME! There are certain fics that I follow that when I see they've been updated I literally drop everything to read... I'm flattered to know that my fic is one of those for you!)
(Guest2/Applebloom: I understand your concerns regarding Andre, and I can definitely see some hesitance on Andre's part when Michone recognizes her son... After all, it's been a long time for him since he's seen his mother that many of her features have probably faded from his memories and Esme, on the other hand, had been taking care of him for the last two months since Cindy died.)
(Guest3/Kirstin: Aww, thank you! And congratulations!)
(hourhercrevan: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!)
(DarylDixon'sLover: 1) I love your name. 2) I love your profile picture! I'm a huge Bucky Barnes fan! Thank you so much for your two reviews! Not going to lie, I've been going through your fics and they are pretty awesome!)
