Holding You
Chapter 5
Slipping out of his restraints wasn't hard. Especially since the pretty brunette who was supposed to be his guard seemed much more interested in making time with the woman who ran the medical bay than she was in watching him. Jesus stuffed a pillow under the thin cotton blanket the doctor covered him up with, giving the appearance that he was still there sleeping to anyone that didn't bother to look too closely. Then he slipped out a window in the back of the building.
He snuck around the place first, taking some extra time to mentally inventory their armory and food storage. These people had guns in excess. But not enough food. They weren't in desperate shape yet. And there were gardens everywhere. But Jesus knew it wasn't enough to hold a group this size for long.
He poked through Rick's house first. Beth, the little blonde girl he met earlier, was sleeping with her head resting on Rick's chest and her slim arm stretched across his chest. An empty crib was set up against the wall. Jesus thought maybe they just had it setup because they were expecting a baby. But it looked like it had been used recently. And there was a stack of freshly laundered cloth diapers on top of the dresser nearby. Jesus wondered where the baby was that those items belonged to. He hoped nothing bad happened to it.
Two more teenagers were sleeping in the next room, cuddled up in a similar fashion. Jesus saw wedding rings on their hands, which he found curious. They looked a little young to be married. He supposed people wed younger back in frontier times. But that tradition had not become popular again. At least not at any of the communities he was familiar with. And definitely not at Hilltop.
Jesus thought about waking Rick up. Rick was one of the people Jesus wanted to speak with. But he still had a little more sneaking around to do first. The next house he let himself into was significantly messier and more chaotic than the last. Baby toys were strewn across the living room, leading to a large wooden toy chest that was still half full. There was a deer carcass hanging in the garage. And from the looks of the tools that were spread out across the kitchen counter, someone was planning to butcher it soon. A few pairs of well worn cowboy boots had been kicked off near the front door. And the top of the fridge was stacked with weapons and various other sharp or dangerous objects in an obvious attempt to keep them away from the children that made the mess in the living room. Jesus crept up the stairs. There was an unfamiliar couple sleeping in the first room he checked. A black man and a woman with wild curly red hair. The next two rooms were empty. He had to stifle a laugh when he opened the door to the room at the end of the hall.
Jesus wasn't sure what he was expecting to find there. He supposed just RickyJo and Daryl sleeping together. The most shocking thing he prepared himself for was seeing one or both of them naked. Jesus knew this was her house because he recognized her cowboy boots downstairs. And she was there. With Daryl. But they weren't alone in their giant bed. Not only was there another man sleeping with them, there was also what appeared to be an entire pack of children piled into the bed with the three adults. Daryl and RickyJo were cuddled up together on one side of the bed with a toddler wedged between them. A young girl with a dark complexion was sleeping with her back to RickyJo's and her arms wrapped around another toddler. This one had the same red hair as the woman sleeping in the other room. The other man had his arm around the pair, his one good hand resting on the girl's back. Another boy, who appeared to be close to the age of the girl, was curled up near the foot of the bed like a cat. He was covered in a throw blanket. And when he stepped closer, Jesus could see a gaping vacant hole where the boy's right eye should be. A bowl with a few popcorn seeds left in it was on the floor near the side of the bed. Along with a few discarded books. Jesus smiled, thinking the whole mass of them must have cuddled up together for some sort of storytime and then fallen asleep. Given the rough way he was treated by RickyJo and Daryl earlier in the day, he found the whole scene endearing and maybe even a little sweet.
Jesus rubbed the back of his head and considered his next move. He was planning to wake these people up. But with all the kids in their bed, he wasn't sure if that was a good idea. He didn't want to startle the children or get any of them hurt. Jesus decided he better head back over to Rick's house and wake him up instead. He took a step back. But before he could turn and head back towards the stairs, he was tackled roughly to the ground.
Morgan threw his full weight into the intruder, slamming him to the floor of RickyJo's bedroom with a hard slap. The man twisted in his grasp, fighting back with surprising force for someone that just took such a hard hit. Jessica was behind him with a handgun, clothed only in her underwear and screaming loud enough to wake the entire town. It took about five seconds before the entire room erupted into chaos. Merle leaped out of bed, stepped down into the empty popcorn bowl, and went flying down on top of both Morgan and Jesus. Desiree started screaming. Both babies started crying. And Dwayne nearly got trampled by Daryl as the man pistoned himself across the bed to get between the babies and whatever assorted violence was happening on his bedroom floor.
RickyJo grabbed Judith and MJ, pulling them into her arms and moving towards the bedroom door. Jessica took Judith, positioning the girl on her left hip so her dominant hand was still free to hold her gun. Once RickyJo had a free hand she darted for the nightstand and yanked the emergency walkie out of the drawer. Rick had the other one and she held the button down as she screamed into it, yelling for help.
By the time Rick and Carl arrived from next door, Jesus was tied to a chair in the kitchen. It was clear from the marks on his face that he took a few hard hits. His lip was split and one of his eyes was rapidly swelling shut.
"Caught him sneaking around in our house, staring in at the babies while they were sleeping," Morgan said, keeping his voice low in an attempt not to start up more of the redneck hollering that was going on in his kitchen before Rick arrived. He already calmed Jessica and RickyJo down. They were currently more interested in rooting through the fridge for a midnight snack than they were in throwing another fit. And Morgan preferred to keep it that way. Daryl was guarding Jesus. And Merle was lying on the couch with ice on the knee he landed on when he slipped on the popcorn bowl and fell. Judith was sprawled out across his chest. And MJ was in the kitchen, poking Jesus in the leg with a fork.
"Would someone mind getting this tiny killer off me?," Jesus asked. Morgan sighed and lifted the boy up into his arms, pulling the fork from his hands before he could do any further damage with it. "I think we got off on the wrong foot…," Jesus suggested.
"That's all you got motherfucker," RickyJo said, piping up from in front of the stove, "...two left feet and a stupid ass nickname." Jessica snorted out laughter. She directed her next comment towards Rick, pointing at him with the spatula in her hands. "Get whateva information ya want from him now. "Cause when I'm done with my pancakes, I'm gonna take his ass out back and shoot him."
Jesus felt a surge of concern at her statement. But he also noticed no one else in the room reacted to it. The young man that came in with Rick was much more worried about getting some pancakes cooked for him than he was about anyone being shot outside. But just in case, Jesus thought he better get to his point. And fast.
"I looked around a little before I stopped here for a visit. You have quite an armory. But not much food for a group this size. I think our groups might be able to help each other."
"We might be open to that," Rick said, glancing at RickyJo to see if she had any objection. She only shrugged her shoulders and flipped her pancake over.
"Well then I guess you better prepare yourselves," Jesus said. "Your world's about to get a whole lot bigger."