my tears ricochet

Chapter Twenty Two

Daryl's head couldn't help but snap up when Glenn said that he and Ivy were planning on making a run that afternoon.

Rick had stumbled out of the catacombs drenched in fresh gore, looking sallow and worn to the bone, like the grief was finally drowning the man out. He checked the room like he was counting bodies, eyes skipping over the babies with intention and Daryl tried not to make any sudden movements that might startle the man off.

They were down three people and now had a newborn. Selfishly, Daryl had always known that Lori slowed the group down in her later months of pregnancy. She never complained but it all got to her anyways, the hunger and sickness, the way she stood looking for somewhere to curl up. A nastier part of him had hoped Maggie, Beth, and Ivy might pay good attention and come to the wise conclusion not to get knocked up at the end of the world and Rick had clearly shared that thought to some degree, tossing boxes on condoms in Glenn's bag whenever the boy wasn't looking.

"We need formula and bullets," Glenn said, a horrible combination of words. "Maggie found a phone book with some places we can hit up. Give Ivy a chance to practise taking down walkers with a knife."

Ivy didn't need practice and she wasn't looking at Daryl. She was across the room sitting very still, gazing at a candle burning on the table. "We can leave soon."

He wasn't sure if someone should be asking him permission for his kid leaving for the first real security they had seen in months but he stayed quiet, hand clenching around the can of cold soup.

Daryl had gotten back late the night before and had shoved all of his belongings into Ivy's cell. She had chosen one from the others and he took the top bunk, wary of the newcomers settling into the beds their people had slept in. Waking up to the bars had been a sorry sight but it had been easier for sitting up all night, Ivy curled up on the mattress below.

He hadn't even bitched at her for wasting batteries reading books. Soon he had would have to start laying down a routine like he had in the farm but the grief had been fresh, a sore spot right to the heart. Ivy had obsessively turned pages, refusing to sleep until the weariness got her in the low light of the morning. He had heard the flashlight tumbling from her grip and Daryl had taken it and the book -even folding down the page she was on with a slight crease- before setting it on the side of her mattress so she'd see it when she woke up.

Ivy was good about sharing but sometimes got fussy about her belongings, insisting on carrying her own bag and checking to see everything was how she had left it. Daryl understood that kind of wariness and made sure she wouldn't spook when she woke up.

"We need someone on watch," Maggie said. "I'm gonna post up in the tower by the gate, keep an eye on anything. I'll be waiting for when you two get back."

Normally Maggie would be the one with Glenn but Daryl supposed Ivy needed a turn to escape the bleakness. He felt an itch to speak up and shut the plan down but he didn't know if it was fair. If they had T-Dog, Daryl would have gone with them but they had so few shooters left and he didn't want Hershel alone with the kids and two strangers.

"Good, good," Rick muttered. He set off and turned back to the darkness. Glenn had mentioned the bodies Rick had taken down in the catacombs, a trail of dead leading a broken man.

"You be back before dark," Daryl grunted, setting the can aside. "Roads aren't bad heading west of here."

Glenn was sturdy and Daryl could trust him with most things but taking his kid out there solo was a stretch. "Found a shop a few miles from here," Glenn said evenly, like he knew what Daryl was thinking. "Should have what we need."

The meagre start they had brought back wasn't much and it would take so much to raise her inside the prison. There wasn't any shape of comfort to be found.