Chapter 16
As usual I'm woken twice during the night to feed and change Anneliese. And like every other day she's my morning alarm clock as well. The sun is just starting to peek through the curtains when her whines rouse me from sleep. I'm quick to prepare a bottle and change her before her whines could turn into wails.
Once she's eating contently, I settle against the headboard and contemplate not leaving the RV until someone comes to get us. I briefly wonder if they would even make breakfast or if that would be the reason that they come to get me. Shaking my head at my thoughts I decide that I will not stay in the RV and I will go out to make breakfast if only because it's a way I can contribute while watching the kids – well that and laundry. Although it would be nice if Carol and Lori helped, maybe I'll be missing for lunch and they'll have to make lunch.
"Mama?" Penny's voice pulls me from thoughts
"Yeah honey?" I ask turning my head towards her
"Morning time?"
"Just about, you can sleep a little more" I tell her, and I try really hard not to laugh when she nods her head, sticks her thumb in her mouth and goes right back to sleep.
Not 10 minutes later, Anneliese is finished her bottle and I can hear a few people moving around outside the RV.
"Do you think we should go start breakfast?" I whisper to Anneliese, whose wide awake, cooing and kicking her legs. Taking her lack of cries as an affirmative I lay her on the bed and quickly change into some jeans and a t-shirt; while it was nice of Beth to loan me shorts, I feel much safer in pants that cover more than an inch below my ass.
I lightly swaddle Anneliese in a blanket to ward off any lingering chill and head out of the RV to make breakfast.
"Morning" Rick greets me as soon as I step out the door
"Good morning" I greet back and join him standing next to the fire pit
"How're the kids?"
"Good, Penny and Jack are still asleep, and this little one just had her breakfast" I tell him stroking a finger down Anneliese's arm as she coos up at us
"Good, are you up to making breakfast this morning" He asks, and I almost laugh it's like he's been in my thoughts
"Of course, Rick" I tell him, and he nods
"I can hold her while you cook" he says reaching for Anneliese before I can even say anything. Knowing that I can trust him with her I don't even bother trying to protest.
"Thanks" I tell him before getting to work making breakfast.
Within half an hour I have the fire going, a bot of water boiling for tea or coffee, oatmeal almost done and a pan of powdered eggs that could definitely use some work. At some point in my cooking Rick sat down in one of the lawn chairs and has Anneliese laying on his lap while he moves her hands and feet talking to her. It's kind of funny that the world is ending around us but here I am making breakfast and he's talking baby talk to a baby whose looking at him like he's lost his damn mind.
As soon as breakfast is done, I ask Rick if he would mind waking up Penny and Jack while I serve the food. And when I turn around to dish out another serving it's to the sight of a barely awake Penny clutching Ricks hand while he holds Anneliese with his other and a sleepy eyed Jackson all clambering out of the RV. Unsurprisingly Jackson ends up sitting between Lori and Carl and Penny after glancing around the group ends up climbing onto Rick's lap as soon as he's seated. I smile sympathetically at him and he smiles right back, perfectly content to cuddle the two little girls, one wide awake and one trying her hardest to fall back to sleep.
Once I'm done serving the food, I usher Penny off of Rick's lap and into her own chair and instruct her to eat. And then I trade Rick a plate of food for Anneliese and take my own seat and attempt to eat with a wiggle worm of a baby in my arms.
Breakfast is quiet, save for Anneliese's coos, as everyone is still waking up. But as soon as it's over I get the kids up and moving.
"Alright Carl, Jackson you two start gathering dishes and washing them; and wash them good. Penny you come with me we're gonna go change the baby" I instruct and without pausing to see if the kids are doing what they were instructed I grasp Penny's hand and go to the RV.
Not 5 minutes later we emerge from the RV. Carl and Jackson are washing the dishes, Andrea is on the RV, Dale and T-Dog are off to the side talking, Daryl is no where to be found – and come to think of it he wasn't at breakfast either – and the rest of the group including Carol and Lori are seated in a group around the fire with a map and seem to be discussing runs.
When Carl and Jackson are done with the dishes I have them go around camp with me and collect everyone's laundry and then I have them go get their schoolbooks from the RV.
I settle Anneliese on a blanket near where the kids are set up with their books, and have Penny trace some letters in a notebook, and then I start on laundry, all the while thinking how long of a day it's going to be.
I'm humming an old song when my attention is pulled to the rest of the group at the sound of Shane's surprised yell. I turn and watch as Glenn breaks off headed to the house, while the rest of the group moves en masse to the well where T-Dog and Dale just were. I don't see Rick anywhere but decide that's not my issue right now. Furrowing my brow, I swoop Anneliese up and instruct the kids to stay put, that I'll be right back.
I follow the group's path as quickly as I can, to see what's going on and I come to a stop beside Carol.
"What's going on?" I ask glancing from Carol to where the rest of the group is huddled around the well
"There's a walker in the well"
I blink once, twice; "What?!"
"It's been in there a while they think" she says with a slight shudder and I struggle to hide my own disgust
"That's gross, I'm gonna rejoin the kids and get back to the laundry" I say having no desire to be involved with a well walker.
"I think I'll join you" she says and together we start heading back to the kids. About halfway there I urge her to go on ahead while I swing into the RV to put Anneliese in her baby carrier and grab her pacifier, as she's starting to get whiny and tired.
On my way back to the laundry area I pass Glenn and Maggie heading towards the rest of the group.
"How's the schoolwork?" I ask the kids
"Fine, why'd the group all go over that way" Jackson asks gesturing vaguely to the area of the well
"There's a walker in the well"
"Ew" Jackson says at the same time Carl asks, "The well we get water from?"
"I think it's a different one" I tell them but I'm not entirely sure myself "Now get back to work, we'll take a break in like an hour or so, so I can make lunch" I tell them and join Carol at the laundry tub.
True to my word an hour and a half later I stop with laundry, gather the kids and lead the way to the fire pit, where there's a pretty clear view of the well. It looks as if they're tying a rope around Glenn. What they were going to do after that I had no clue.
"Why don't you guys go get a board game to play while I make lunch" I suggest to the boys and they do, heading off to the RV.
I notice that Andrea has joined the group at the well, and I still don't see Rick. I try not to wonder where he is and begin making lunch. It's much the same of what we've eaten for almost every other meal, but with some pasta and leftover vegetables instead of rice. Deciding to be adventurous I take a can of cream of chicken soup and mix that with the pasta. It's not pasta sauce but it'd do.
All of a sudden yells come from the direction of the well. Carl and Jackson fly to their feet at the same time as me, but I hastily tell them to sit down and not move as I run to the group that's frantically grasping a rope that's sliding out of their hands too fast.
Paying no heed to the baby strapped to my chest, I slide to a stop next to Lori and grasp the rope and start pulling. I can hear Glenn's yells from inside the well, mingling with T-Dog yelling for him to hold on and Shane yelling for us to keep pulling.
What seems like hours later but is actually just seconds Glenn emerges from the top of the well and hoists himself out with the help of Shane. I fall to my knees in front of where Glenn is on his hands and knees taking heaving gasps of air.
"You Okay? You get scratched?" I ask running my hand through his hair, instead of trying to answer me through his gasps he just shakes his head no and I close my eyes in relief. I may not have known the group for long, but I cared for many of them. Glenn reaches up and rests one of his hands on my jean covered knee and I open my eyes to meet his and he's looking at me with the most terrified eyes I've ever seen, he may not have been hurt but he was definitely scared out of his mind.
"You're okay, we got you" I whisper placing my hand over his, after a moment he nods and lets his head fall as he tries to control his breathing.
"Back to the drawing board I guess" Dale comments from my right and I barely hold back my scoff, yeah, we almost lost Glenn to the well walker but sure let's think up another plan to get the damned thing out.
"Says you" Glenn huffs sitting up on his knees and holding a rope out for Dale to take
"What? What? That means…" Dale trails off giving the rope a light tug and walking over to peer down the well, "Well I'll be damned" he mutters and the rest of the group moves to join him looking down at the walker while Glenn shrugs the rope off of his hips.
I'm still sitting on the ground with no desire to get up and see what is probably an utterly disgusting sight in the well, I've just started poking at a few of the rug burns on my hands when a hand, that is not my own pops into my eyesight. Following the hand up, my eyes meet Lori's and I raise an eyebrow at her. She raises one back moving her hand even closer. Deciding not to look too deep into it I grasp her hand and allow her to help me to my feet.
"Thanks" I mumble, and she nods
"Well while y'all deal with that, I'm gonna go finish lunch. Feel free to join me when y'all are done doing whatever it is you're gonna do" I tell them walking back to the kids
"What happened?" Carl asks frantically
"They almost fed Glenn to the well walker" at their incredulous looks I just nod as if to affirm that I'm telling the truth.
"Hey, which one of you moved the pot?" I ask upon seeing that the pot of pasta and vegetables that I was cooking is no longer on the fire
"I did, we didn't want it to burn and didn't know how long you'd be" Jackson says, and I nod
"Thanks for that bud"
Just as I'm about to serve myself and the kids food Rick emerges from, somewhere.
"What's going on over there?" he asks gesturing to the group still at the well
"Well walker" I state simply and watch as Penny walks from where she was attempting to play sorry with Carl and Jackson to curl up on Rick's lap.
"I'm sorry a what?" he asks looking at me as if I've lost my mind
"A walker got into the well I don't know all the details except that they tied a rope to Glenn to lower him to tie a rope on it and they almost lost him to it" I tell him and his eyes seem to widen with every word
"Christ, can't we just have a few good days with no drama? Is that too much to ask?" he sighs irritably and runs a hand down his face
"Maybe tomorrow will be better?" I suggest handing both him and Penny a bowl of food and taking my own seat to eat.
Not even halfway through eating our lunch the group at the well, once again starts yelling. The difference is that this is not a panicked type of yell but a frustrated on. Turning towards them I can faintly make out what looks like a blob on the ground just over the lip of the well. Upon seeing Lori throwing up into a bush I assume that the blob is the walker or at least part of it.
"Oh, that's gross" I mutter and make a face turning back to face the fire just as Rick sees what's going on and sighs very loudly.
Shortly after the well group joins us at the fire and I gesture to the pot
"There's food there if you want it" I tell them, deciding that they can serve themselves, but of course when they don't move, Carol steps up to the pot and starts serving everyone I missed.
After lunch I took a break from laundry and started working with Penny on her numbers and letters more and let the boys take a break from the workbooks.
As usual I make dinner, which is even more lean than usual, a few cans of vegetables and some beans make a vegetable soup kind of meal. Glenn seems oddly shift at dinner, but I don't pay attention to it, he's probably just hoping that no one noticed him sneaking off with Maggie earlier. Sucks for him though because we all saw it.
Daryl gets back just as I'm about to start cleaning up dinner.
"Did you find anything?" Rick asks as he approaches, and Daryl just shakes his head
I watch as Carol runs off to her tent, more than likely to cry. Shaking my head to myself I fill a bowl with some food and walk to hand it to him, he nods his thanks still discussing with Rick what he saw, or rather what he didn't see.
The sun is setting by the time I'm finished cleaning up from dinner, so I usher the kids into the RV and get them ready for bed. Before I settle into bed with them, I give Anneliese her bedtime bottle and hope that she doesn't wake me too many times.
I wake before the sun with Anneliese and decide to feed her outside as she's being unusually whiny.
Settling in a chair, I can see Daryl moving around his tent, it looks like he just came back from somewhere. Deciding to find out where he went once Anneliese eats some, I relax into the chair.
After burping her, she doesn't seem to want the rest of her bottle, instead she's squirming, whining and beginning to cry. I prop her up on my shoulder as I stand and decide to walk over to Daryl.
"Morning" I greet, and he grunts back
"You go somewhere this morning?" I ask
"Went hunting"
"Get anything?" I question still rubbing the baby's back and trying to calm her down
"A few squirrels and a rabbit" I can't help but curl my nose at the sound of eating squirrel, but I guess beggars can't be choosers
"she okay?" he asks a few seconds later
"Yeah she's just a little more whiny than usual" I tell him and just as I'm about to ask what his plans are for the day; I hear my name called softly from behind me.
Turning I spy Beth walking up with a basket of what looks like eggs
"Good morning Beth" I say as she comes to a stop in front of me
"Morning, Daddy sent me to bring yall some eggs" and I raise my brow but nod
"Well tell him we said thank you"
"I will, where do you want the basket?" she asks
"You can put it on that bin right over there, I'll be starting breakfast soon" I tell her with a smile, and she nods before going to do so
"Well eggs sound good for breakfast" I say turning back to Daryl and he nods
"You gonna sit with us?" I ask and before he can answer Anneliese lets out a particularly loud cry and throws up down my back. Closing my eyes in resignation I pull her away from my shoulder.
"You just had to do that when I didn't have a burp cloth didn't you?" I tell her and she's just staring up at me, apparently content now that she's thrown up everything, she ate
"Here lemme hold her so you can change her" Daryl says standing and plucking the baby from my arms.
"Thanks" I mumble and without even thinking bout what I'm doing I pull my shirt over my head, leaving me in a sports bra and jeans, and use the inside of my shirt to wipe Anneliese's chin.
"I'll go change real quick, you should come sit at the fire" I tell him already walking away
I pass Rick coming out of his tent on my way to the RV and try not to laugh as his brows furrow at the sight of me walking through camp without a shirt. Peeking behind me I see Daryl trailing after me.
I throw on a new shirt and wake the kids, practically having to drag them out of bed and to the fire. Daryl is sitting in the chair where I abandoned Anneliese's bottle and Rick is sitting not to far from him, both seemingly discussing plans for the day, and it doesn't take long for Penny to find Rick and curl up on his lap.
It's not long before the rest of the group is up and waiting for me to serve breakfast, and once everyone has been served I secure Anneliese in her sling and am just taking my first bite when Glenn standing up out of the corner of my eye causing me to look up.
He looks even more nervous than last night but deciding not to dwell on it I resume eating.
"Uhm guys" he says moving form foot to foot and bringing everyone's attention to him
"So" he pauses looking around and meeting my eyes making me raise my brow at him
"The barn's full of walkers"