ethreal | the walking dead

XXV

     Daryl brings the motorcycle to a stop in the woods, "Company's close. Stay tight."

     Daryl gets off first, then [Y/n] gets off the bike. There's a set of swings in a fenced play yard, to which [Y/n] forces open the fence gate. There was also a jungle jim dome, bringing memories to [Y/n] of him playing with one of his sisters when he was a kid. And there was a seesaw, [Y/n] hasn't seen one of those in a hot minute.

     [Y/n] stands in the middle of the seesaw, pushing one leg down to move one side of the seesaw down and then the other.

     "Been a while since I've seen a playground.", [Y/n] mutters, watching the seesaw go up and down under him before hopping off it.

     "Come on.", Daryl says quietly as he places his hand on [Y/n] back for a moment to get the boy back on track.

     [Y/n] and Daryl approached what seemed to be a daycare with caution. [Y/n] peeks through the window and takes his hammer to shatter the glass. Daryl keeps watch outside as [Y/n] climbs through the window, first thing he sees are cribs. 

     Toys littered the ground as he took slow steps, hand turkey's taped to the wall. [Y/n] walked up to the small cut out hands, names written on them: Lydia. Thomas. Benjiman. Parker. Samantha. There was one he looked at longer than the others, Sofie.

     [Y/n] looked around the room again, seeing cabinets in the dimly lit room. He opened a cupboard under the counter and sat on his knees. He gabbed a baby bottle, diapers, he got to work on basically emptying the cupboard as Daryl climbed through the window. 

     [Y/n] zipped his bag and stood, watching Daryl pick up a stuffed doll. Daryl looked at the boy and nodded his head towards the hall, gesturing to continue their search. There was scratching in a closet in the small kitchen of the daycare and [Y/n] slowly walked towards it.

     [Y/n] looked back at Daryl and then opened it, Daryl pulling the trigger of his crossbow to kill a possum.

     "Hello, dinner.", Daryl says around the flashlight hanging from his mouth. 

     "You can put that in your bag.", [Y/n] states, looking around the small kitchen. He opened the top cabinet and spots baby formula, smiling to himself.

     [Y/n] unzips his bag as he sets it on the counter and puts every thing of formula in his bag.

~•¤•~

     The gate to the prison opens as the motorcycle pulls in. [Y/n] is the first to get off the bike this time, running into the prison with Daryl not far behind him. The baby is crying when they enter the cell block, Daryl setting his crossbow down and going straight to the baby, "How's she doing?"

     Carl hands the baby to Daryl, [Y/n] emptying his bag. The baby's cries quiet down and [Y/n] walks over with a bottle full of formula, handing it to Daryl. [Y/n] stood behind Daryl as the man rocked the baby and fed her the bottle. 

     "She got a name yet?", Daryl asked Carl. [Y/n] looked down at the baby in Daryl's arms, smiling and keeping the same smile as he looked at Carl.

     "Not yet.", Carl admits, "But I was thinking maybe Sophia."

     [Y/n]'s smile slowly falters, a stinging in his heart that he hadn't felt in a little bit.

     "Then there's Carol, too.", Carl continues, "And Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or... Lori. I don't know."

     The cell block is silent as Carl names the women the group had lost. Daryl looks down at the baby, [Y/n] looking down at her, too.