Chapter Ten
The sun is up and shining through the small window of the RV bedroom when I wake up. Anneliese only woke twice during the middle of the night and is still sound asleep in her mosses basket. Jackson and Penny are still asleep too, curled around each other. But it's time for us to get up and moving, as I can hear the group talking and can only assume, they've been up for a while. It takes about 5 minutes for me to get them both awake and changed. I have Jackson help me settle Anneliese into the carrier on my chest, and I prepare a bottle for her in advance. Then we emerge from the RV, Penny leaning against my side sleepily.
"Good Morning" Rick greets when he sees us
"Morning. Any idea what time it is?" I ask and tactfully ignore Andrea's whispered comment of way past time for us to get up
"About 8, Genevieve" Dale answers from atop the RV
"Thanks Dale" I say before returning my attention to Rick "What do y'all need help with today?" I ask him
"Well first you 3 can come get some breakfast, and then I believe Lori was going to do laundry so maybe you could help her with that?" he says glancing at his wife
"The more hands the merrier" Lori laughs giving me a smile that I return
"Laundry it is then" I agree leading the way to the chairs and handing Penny and Jackson both a can of fruit that Lori gestures too, and before I can even sit down fully myself a hand is pushing an opened can of fruit into my hands. Following the arm, I meet Rick's eyes and raise an eyebrow. "I'm a big girl Rick I can feed myself" I say jokingly
"Not too sure about that" he says before turning to join Shane, Daryl, Glenn and Jimmy at a truck. Rolling my eyes at his back I stab a piece of fruit and shove it in my mouth
Once we're done eating, I join Lori in gathering everyone's clothes -including ours- to wash. She had asked Jackson if he would want to go sit with Carl and play some board games, and he had gone readily. And Penny was tagging along with us, her thumb in her mouth looking way more exhausted than a 3-year-old should.
Lori informs me that Patricia and Beth had lent us a few buckets, some soap and the use of the clothing lines on the side of the house. Feeling even more appreciative of the family allowing us to briefly live on their lawn, I follow Lori both of us carrying large baskets full of clothes.
There's about 5 different clotheslines, each about 15 feet long. Not too far away is an old-fashioned water pump with 4 buckets and a container of soap near it. I spread one of Anneliese's receiving blankets on the ground and have Penny sit on, while I work with Lori to wash everything.
About half an hour in I have to stop to feed and change Anneliese, but I quickly settle her back into the carrier and rejoin Lori. At some point in our washing Penny falls asleep on the blanket, and I wake her when Lori and I break to prepare lunch. We make rice again with some cans of mixed veggies and no one voices a complaint, save for Penny who would rather be asleep.
After a quick lunch Lori and I get back to washing clothes, which is turning out to be a long tedious process.
"I wish it was more than just me and you doing all the washing" I complain to Lori moving to hang up a flannel, to whom it belongs I have no idea
"I understand. A washing machine sounds nice." She agrees scrubbing at the piece of clothing in her hands
"Well yea but even just a couple other pairs of hands would be nice" I say with a huff, shifting Anneliese in the carrier. Holding her for so long on my chest along with the almost constant bending over needed to wash the clothes was starting to make my back hurt.
"Well, Gen the men and Andrea are working to make sure we're safe here and looking for Sophia too" Lori says her tone taking an edge of rudeness making me scoff and barely resist looking behind me to where the men are back around the hood of the truck and Andrea is sun bathing on top of the RV. Deciding not to reply to Lori, I turn my attention to Penny as I pick up another shirt.
"Are you okay Penny?" I ask her as she plucks another dandelion and blows on it
"Yea, I'm okay. I'm bored" she says not quite whining but not sounding happy either.
"Well maybe when I'm done with laundry me and you can play a game. How's that sound?" I ask
"Okay" she says moving a few feet away to look at a butterfly on a bush.
It takes Lori and I almost 2 more hours to finish all the laundry, and by that point my back hurts too much to do anything, but since I promised Penny a game, I lead her to the RV. Where I quickly remove Anneliese from the carrier and begin playing candy land with Penny.
About halfway through the game I have to stop and prepare a bottle, but I feed Anneliese with one hand using my other to play with Penny.
"Gen?" Penny asks after moving her game piece two places.
"Yea Penny?" I say meeting her eyes as she looks up at me
"Are we going to stay with Mr. Rick?" she asks
"Well yea Penny I think we will, as long as we're somewhere safe." I tell her and she nods
"Good. I like Mr. Rick. It's your turn" she says smiling, making me laugh at her easy jump of topic
After we finish the game, I settle Anneliese into her mosses basket and begin reading a book to Penny. No more than 10 minutes later does Anneliese start crying. So, I stop reading to Penny and try to soothe her. Nothing seems to work, no bouncing, no shushing, no rocking. So, I decide to try walking around outside hoping that some fresh air might be the trick of soothing the screeching baby.
I lead Penny outside and over to the firepit where Lori is sitting.
"Hey Lori, can you keep an eye on Penny for me please? Anneliese won't calm down so I'm going to try walking around with her" I ask
"Yea sure, here sweetie you can sit over here on this green chair" Lori says gesturing to the chair next to her and I smile in thanks before walking away with Anneliese.
I walk in a line back and forth quite a few times before I start doing laps around the house. A combination of bouncing and walking with her seems to be working. But I don't stop walking until I've been walking laps for almost 30 minutes. Out front of the house I slow to a stop and shift Annelies who has just fallen asleep to a more comfortable position before turning and walking towards the fire pit.
It takes me a few seconds to figure out what looks wrong, but when I do fear and anger flow through me. The green chair where Penny was sitting is empty and her book is sitting on the seat. I walk faster until I'm directly in front of Lori.
"Lori where's Penny." I say and her head flies up from her magazine and she looks at the empty chair beside her
"She was just there" she starts to say but I cut her off
"Well where is she now!" I demand
"I- I don't know, she was just- "
"Dammit Lori! I asked you to keep an eye on her!" I say my voice rising to almost a yell
"I was Gen, I don't know where she could've gone" she says looking up at me
"Obviously you weren't keeping an eye on her. God Dammit!" I yell catching the attention of just about everyone in camp. I see Rick start to walk over to us out of the corner of my eye just as Anneliese starts crying again.
"Too busy reading your damn magazine that you didn't notice her getting up and walking off!" I say with a growl in my words
"It's not my fault- "she tries to protest
"Not your fault? NOT YOUR FAULT?! I asked YOU to watch her!" I say putting a lot of emphasis on the word you
"Now let's calm down, she couldn't have wandered far." Rick says coming to a stop next to me
"How can I calm down Rick. I asked her to watch Penny and she has no clue where she went." I say my voice rising to be heard as Annelies's crying increases
"Here let me have her." Rick says taking Anneliese from my arm and shooting a look at Lori who just lowers her head
And now with my hands free I have the sudden urge to punch Lori, but I don't; choosing instead to ask her a question
"You have absolutely no idea where she could've gone?"
"No, I'm sorry Gen, I'm so sorry" she says, and I open my mouth to say something back when Rick grasps my arm causing me to look at him
"Look." He says nodding his head toward the area behind Lori, which I focus my attention on
It takes me a second to register the two figures walking towards us are Daryl and Penny, coming from the direction of Daryl's camp. And then I exhale and start towards them
Once they're about 15 feet away, Daryl pulls Penny's hand from where it's holding on to his belt loop and gives her a nudge toward me. With a smile and a laugh, she runs towards me and I fall to my knees to meet her and pull her into my arms.
"Don't ever walk away from someone who is watching you ever again Penelope Grace. Do you understand me." I whisper pulling back to look at her face
"Yes Gen" she whispers back, and I pull her back into the hug, meeting Daryl's eyes over her head. Holding his stare for a moment I nod my thanks and he lifts his head in acknowledgement before turning away. I hug Penny for a few more moments before standing and grasping her hand. Together we walk back to where Rick is standing with an asleep Anneliese in his arms
"Thanks" I whisper taking her from him and placing a kiss on her soft hair
"No problem" he says back and before I can respond Lori starts talking to Penny
"You shouldn't have walked away from me. You could've been hurt- "and there I cut her off
"Thank you, Lori, but I already talked to her. I don't need you to parent for me" I say with a glare in her direction causing her mouth to drop open. Taking her silence for what's it worth I sit down in one of the chairs with Penny in my lap. And wait for Lori to make and serve dinner.
Just as she's finishing up dinner Rick goes inside the house and reemerges with Jackson and Carl. Carl finally getting the all clear to get up and move around but nothing too strenuous.
After dinner is over the sun is beginning to set so I have the kids get ready for bed and feed and change Anneliese before deciding to read to Penny and Jackson until they fall asleep. I pick Harry Potter: The Philosopher's Stone from Dale's vast book collection and settle with my back against the wall. And with Penny curled into my side, Jackson reclined on his pillow and Anneliese asleep in her mosses basket, I dive into the magical word of Harry and his friends.
The next morning Anneliese wakes just before the sun is up, for her morning bottle. I wake up Penny and Jackson before most of the group is up, so I lead them to the fire pit and begin making breakfast.
The oatmeal I'm making is about halfway done by the time everyone is awake. Dale has already ascended to the top of the RV, Carol is sitting right outside of her tent, Lori has made her way to the fire pit and it is sitting quietly while Carl is talking to Jackson. Shane, Glenn, Daryl, T-Dog and Andrea are standing around the hood of a truck a map spread out in front of them. And Rick has just come to a stop next to me.
"Want me to take her?" he says gesturing to where I'm holding Anneliese with my left hand while stirring the pot of oatmeal with my right.
"You don't have to" I say meeting his eyes
"C'mon let me have her for a while" he urges so I shrug and lift her up to him. Rick quickly settles her against his shoulder one arm resting under her bottom and his other hand on the back of his head.
"How well can she hold her head up?" he asks
"She's working on it, she can hold it up for a few seconds, but I think some more tummy time is needed" I answer with a slight laugh but before he can answer Shane calls him over to the truck.
When the oatmeal is done, I call everyone over and dish it out. I listen as everyone discusses the day's plans. Daryl is going to take one of Herschel's horses and head out into the woods to look for Sophia. Rick, Shane, and Andrea are going to search on foot. Lori and Carol are in charge of returning everyone's laundry. Dale and T-Dog on RV guard duty, and Glenn is going into a nearby town with Maggie.
"What would you like me to do today?" I say standing and approaching Rick before taking Anneliese to make it easier for him to eat.
Its silent for a moment before Lori speaks up "I guess stay with the kids, watch Carl? Maybe do some math or something educational" she says, and it takes every ounce of control in me not to snap at her that if I didn't watch Carl surely she'd lose him too.
"Okay that sounds good" I say before turning to the kids "You guys stay here, I'll go up to the house an ask if they have any paper we can use" I tell them and start making my way to the house. When I get on the porch, the door opens to reveal Maggie.
"Good morning Maggie" I greet with a smile
"Morning, did you need something" she asks with a slight smile of her own
"I was just wondering if y'all had any paper and writing utensils around that the kids could use" I tell her, and she thinks for a moment
"I think Beth has some notebooks. I'll bring them out to you in a little bit" she says
"Okay thank you" I say with a smile before returning to the fire pit. Most of the group have finished eating and has dispersed to get started on the day's tasks. Glenn is sitting by the kids and seems to be the only one who didn't leave them alone.
"Figured I'd stay with them 'til you got back" he says in response to my unasked question
"Thank you, at least someone has some sense" I say rolling my eyes making him laugh
"Do you need anything? I think we're going to a pharmacy" he tells me
"If they have baby Tylenol, or formula or anything baby related it'd be appreciated" I tell him, and he nods making a note on a small notepad
"Anything for Penny and Jackson?" he asks
"Coloring books, comics, anything that'll consume time." I laugh "but those things are not a necessity" I say, and he nods
"Did they have paper?" he asks nodding towards the house behind me
"Maggie said if they do she'll bring it out with her" I tell him before we settle into a brief silence
Its only broken when Maggie approaches with a handful of notebooks and a pencil case. After giving my thanks, I find out what was the most recent math Carl had learned in school. And then I set about writing down about 20 math problems; a mix of multiplication, subtraction, fractions and decimals. Once I give Jackson and carl notebooks they begin working on the problems. I give Penny a notebook too and help her practice the letters of the alphabet.
By lunchtime Carl and Jackson have done a total of 60 math problems and have listened to me read a chapter and a half from harry potter. Lori and Carol have finished sorting and giving back laundry. Shane, Andrea and Rick have all gotten back from searching. Of course, just as I'm beginning to make some lunch Anneliese starts to cry for her bottle. Surprising me at his quickness Rick swoops her up and asks me how many scoops of formula. Once I tell him he heads into the RV and emerges a few minutes later with a content Anneliese happily drinking her bottle.
Lunch is a simple meal of rice and lima beans, that's eaten quickly and then everyone gets back to their various chores. I secure Anneliese to my chest in her carrier and then I clean up the items from lunch. And just as I'm about to start reading to the kids again. The sound of heavy foot falls drags my attention to where Maggie is approaching Lori fast. Standing and moving closer in case I need to diffuse a situation I watch as she rips stuff out of the bag and throws it on the ground loudly naming each item.
"Got your special delivery right here! Got your lotion! Got your special conditioner! Your Soap Opera Digest! Next time you want something get it your damn self. We're not your errand boys." And as Lori tries to protest Maggie's pulls one more thing out of the bag and throws it at the ground
"And here's your abortion pills." She says low enough that I'm pretty sure only myself and Glenn heard her, and I can't help but let my jaw fall open as Maggie storms past Glenn and Lori hastily picks up the pack of pills making brief eye contact with me before going into her tent.
I turn to Glenn slowly to find him staring at me
"I got you and the kids some stuff, but please don't say anything about Lori" he says moving closer
"I won't." I tell him turning to walk back to the kids
"I was able to get you some baby Tylenol and formula. They also had a teether that I got cause shell need that eventually. They had a handful of comic books and few kid magazines that I grabbed for Carl, Jackson and Penny" he tells me holding out a bookbag full of things
"Thanks Glenn you're the best" I tell him pulling him in for a one-armed hug
"Now you best go calm down your girlfriend" I laugh as his face turns red before I take the bag from him and he heads in the direction that Maggie went
I get the kids into the RV before I hand out the comic books and magazines. I put the items for Anneliese in her diaper bag and relax on the seat next to Penny with Anneliese asleep on my chest and find myself dozing off.
I'm jerked awake by someone jostling my shoulder. I peer up at Jackson standing next to me and ask him what's wrong
"Andrea said something bout a walker"
"And then my dad grabbed his gun from the counter" Carl adds, and I stand up as quick as possible
"Shit okay you guys stay here do not come out until Rick or I come get you" I order grabbing my knife from its holster and making my way out of the RV. I come around the side where Dale is standing on the ladder
"Just one?" I ask
"Looks like it" he says before telling Andrea to put the gun down.
I'm staring out in the field at Shane, Glenn, T-Dog and Rick just standing in front of the walker wondering why none of them are moving when all of a sudden, a gunshot rings out making me crouch at the loud sound and my hands to instinctively cover the sleeping baby's ears.
I'm shocked to hear cries of no from the field and it seems Dale and Andrea are too as they take off in a run. I move to the other end of the RV where the Greene family along with Lori and Carol are just coming to a stop.
"What happened?" Herschel asks
"I have no idea, I was in the RV with the kids" I tell him honestly and he nods
We all watch as the group in the field make their way back, Rick and Shane supporting a body between them and as they get close, I realize why and can't hold my gasp. Its Daryl.
"Is he okay?" I ask when they're almost too us
"Knocked out. Got a nasty cut on his side" Rick says I don't hear Herschel's response as my attention is pulled to my side when a hand suddenly fists itself in my shirt and curse when I see Penny staring eyes wide and filled with tears at Daryl.
"C'mon Pen lets go back inside" I say trying to turn her around
"Is he dead?" she asks bluntly, and my eyes widen
"No honey Mr. Daryl is just hurt." I tell her crouching down in front of her getting her to look at me
"Are they going to fix him?" she asks
"Yeah he'll be okay. I promise" I say pulling her in for a hug as best as I can with Anneliese strapped to my chest
After hugging her for a moment I coax her back into the RV where I immediately begin reading again trying to distract myself and her from the gruesome image, we both saw.