Apocalypse Orphans

23

Eventually Andrea left and Rick gave her a car from the prison a handgun and a knife and everyone but Nick and Jay said goodbye to her. They didn't know her and didn't really like her and the others didn't blame them.

No one really talked much for the rest of the night and it made Nick increadibly bored and so he went to annoy Jay.  He rummaged through one of his rucksacks to find a small rubber, very life like looking snake, that he had found in one of the houses and stuffed in his bag when Jay wasn't looking.

After struggling down the stairs, he entered Jay's cell and positioned the snake on the pillow, like it had just moved there. He then left Jay's cell and sat next to the boy and started to poke him in the side, and just repeating Jay's name and saying he was bored over and over again.

Eventually Jay got fed up and went to his cell to get away from his brother and when he let out a very many scream, and Nick grinned and started laughing until Jay yelled, "Game on Nicodemus!"

Jay stormed out of his cell, looking pissed and Nick scrabled to his feet, thinking that Jay had lost his sense of humor. Everyone was confused until they saw the rubber snake in Jays hand and Glenn jokingly told Nick to run.

"That was weak Nick." Jay said standing infront of his brother.

"You think you can do better, Jacob?" Nick questioned smirking.

"I know I can." Jacob gave Nick a sinister smile and turned around and walked back into his cell, devising his plan.

Later that night there was a tense silence, no one knowing what to say or do and Beth started to sing and Rick, holding Judith, walked over to Daryl and Hershel and started talking about Andrea. Merle listened to Beth from the door way into the cell block.

Nick listened from his matress on the perch, whilst sketching. Jacob was still trying to think of a way to prank Nick, and the others were scattered around the cell block until Beth finished singing and they all went to bed.

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The next morning, Rick took Carl and Michonne for a run, to Ricks home town, not far from Atlanta and left Daryl in charge of babysitting everyone. Daryl put everyone to work. Getting some on watch, some on baby duty and sent Glenn and himself to attmept to fortify the back wall, whilst making sure, Nick and Jay understood that they still weren't allowed to leave the cell block.

When Rick, Carl and Michonne came back from their run, they came back with plenty of guns and amo, a crib and other baby supplies for Judith and Rick with a stab wound in the shoulder. Nick worked on the shoulder as Hershel was feeding Judith and Jay started on the crib with Carl.

"Right you know how this goes, take it easy for however long, yada yada yada, you'll ignore the advise anyway so I'll see you back here in three days to restitch it."  Nick mumbled washing his hands.

Rick gave a small chuckle and thanked him before going to see Judith and to help with the cot, and Nick went to help sort out the weapons, clean them and count the rounds for each different caliber.

After Nick had finished that, supper was ready and so he ate and went up to his matress on the perch, where there was a book sitting on his pillow. A book on how to make friends. Nick chuckled knowing it was Jays doing.

"Really Jay, that's all you got?" Nick scoffed at his brother, who was walking up the stairs.

"Oh, not even close little brother. Just you wait."

"Yeah, well jokes on you Jay, cause actually have a pretty good use for this."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"Throwing it at you." Nick smirked before he threw the book with an innocent look and Jay stuck his hands up just intime to catch it, or at least would have, if it didn't hit Daryl first.

Their smiles instantly dropped and Daryl picked up the book and slowly turned it over so he could read the cover. Both boys look to eachother, unsure on what was about to happen, they knew they weren't going to get hit. Daryl wasn't like that, but that meant that they had no idea what was to come.

"Nick, you have 10 seconds to tell me why, I just got hit by a book, labled 'How to make friends'." Daryl said very slowly and quietly.

"We, we were goofing off. I threw the book at Jay. I didn't see you." Nick said quietly.

"Okay." Daryl said sitting down on his mattress.

Nick and Jay looked at eachother, confused having a silent disscussion, and Jay lost.

"So, that's it? Just okay. Nothing else?" Jay asked nervously. "No shouting, no reprinding us, or saying how stupid or irresponsible it was to throw the book at someone?"

"Nope." Daryl answered and again the boys looked at eachother even more confused.

"Why?" They both asked at the same time.

"Because no matter what I say, or how long I punish you, you will still throw shit at eachother. It's what sibilings do. Ain't no point in trying anything to stop it cause it won't work."

"But, I hit you, not him." Nick said still very much confused, this was very new territory for him and he wasn't sure if he liked it.

"Yes,  and you explained why and no halm was done. So there is no need to repremind you and there is no need to lecture you."

"Right." Jay drawled and cautiously got up and went back downstairs to his cell, ignoring Nicks silently pleading to not leave.

Nick sat there tense for a good minute watching Daryl carefully as he cleaned an arrow.

"So you're really not going to yell or anything?" Nick blurted.

"Nope. I told ya, ye ain't in trouble, so shut up and go to sleep before I turn this damn light off." Daryl grumbled.

"Why would I care if you turn a light off?" Nick said nonchalantly.

"Ya really think that I didn't notice ya trying to sleep when the fires were still lit? Or that when ye and yer brother would slpit of a take a room for yerselves in those houses that I didn't notice that the flashlight was still on through the cracks in the door?"

"Didn't think anyone would notice." Nick admitted shyly.

"Cause ya did a decent job at hiding it. But that shit gets hard to hide after a while. Now go ta sleep. I'm turning this thing of in 10 minutes. If ya ain't asleep by then, tuff luck."

Nick laid down at that and evened out his breathing with his eyes closed and within those ten minutes he was out.