THIRTY FOUR. sweet cheeks

Boots clashed with the thick concrete padding that made the prisons flooring as Adeline stepped foot into the small cafeteria like room outside of the cell block. With Daryl at her side and the duffle bag full of baby supplies in his hand, she spared a glance over to Carl who cradled the newborn in his arms. Fixing her grip on her own bag filled with items, she adverted her eyes and watched as Beth quickly fixed a bottle.

When the child let out a loud cry that bounced off of the walls, the widow shifted on her feet uncomfortably and moved farther away from the wailing infant. Hershel took notice of her movements while Daryl grabbed the bottle out of Beths hands and scooped the baby up in his arms with a soft smile. Glenn entered the room, Oscar and Axel quick on his tail with kind eyes which sprouted confusion in Adelines stomach at the sight.

The crying ceased as Daryl placed the bottle into the infants mouth, relieved smiles lacing all of the survivors lips but cautiously staying away from Adelines. The absence of Rick wasn't spoken upon, but the thought seemed to be the last one on the woman's mind while the redneck fed the baby. "She got a name yet?" Daryl broke the silence, casting his eyes to Carl who stood by him.

The boy shook his head - "Not yet." he answered truthfully as Adeline tiredly placed her own duffle bag against the metal table and leaned against it. Her nephew continued with his words, "But I was thinking maybe Sophia. Then there's Carol, too. And... Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Patricia, or Lori. I- I don't know." Carl spoke, his words causing his aunt to look to him with eyes filled by guilt and regret.

Pursing his lips, Daryl smiled down at the baby in order to brighten the mood. "You like that? Huh? Little ass kicker." He joked, causing light laugher to be passed around the room. The redneck looked around, taking notice of the empty look in Adelines eyes. "Right? That's a good name, right? Little ass kicker. You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart?" He cooed softly.

Pushing herself off of the table, the widow curled her fingers around the duffle bag and took a step towards the gate that would lead her into the cell block. Before she could make any progress, a voice stopped her from within the chuckles around the room. "You wanna hold her?" Daryl questioned, causing her to stop in her steps.

Looking back to the group, who now had all of their expecting eyes on the woman, Adeline ran a hand through her hair before shaking her head. That was Shanes baby. The moment you lay your eyes on its face, you'll see him. Her thoughts were haunting as she spoke, "No. No, I'm good." She assured quietly, turning around to enter the cell block.

"Who's on watch tonight?" Maggie's voice broke out, causing the widow to stop in her steps again. Breathing deeply, Adeline turned around to face the survivors. "I don't know. Whoever Rick wants, I guess." She shrugged, picking at the skin surrounding her nails anxiously.

Hershel looked to the woman - "Rick has been in the tombs since you left. We haven't seen him." The elder informed, sitting down on the metal bench bolted down to the concrete floor. "What about when tomorrow comes?" He questioned, furrowing his brows curiously.

"If I knew the answer to that, I would tell you. He said so himself, this isn't a democracy anymore." Adeline was quick to respond, catching all of the eyes that laid upon her. "What he says - goes. I have no part in that." She reminded the survivors with an exhausted expression.

"Carl," The elder started, motioning over towards Daryl who held the infant. "Take your sister into the cell block, make sure to burp her. We need to get her on a sleep schedule." Hershel instructed, the boy nodding hastily before carefully taking the baby from the rednecks arm and slipping past his aunt and into the cell blocks.

The veterinarian turned in his seat to face the widow, "Rick is far from being in the right mindset. Glenn tried to talk to him, ended up with an axe pressed to his throat. You know your brother better than any one of us, you should be the one to make the decisions until he's back." Hershel informed, causing the woman to shift on her feet and look to the agreeing eyes around her. "But if you fail to take that responsibility, then you need to go talk to Rick. If anyone can get through to-"

"Don't." Adeline was quick to cut him off, shaking her head at his suggestion. She clenched her jaw and tightened her grip on the bag she held before looking to the closed gate leading into the cell block, "Rick can deal with this himself. He'll be fine. He just needs to learn how to get over it. I did."

Her words caused to group to fall in an unhinged silence, not believing a single word that came out of her mouth. It was obvious that the widow never took in her grief, she never settled her problems with her brother and she never gave herself a chance to think. It was all bottled up inside of her, it changed and carved her into someone who would do anything to feel something other than grief. It was obvious to the survivors, because they saw it happen to her over the eight months on the road.

Not allowing the silence to get to her, Adeline walked over to the creaky gate and pulled it open. Turning to face the group, she slid her tongue over her lips before sighing deeply. "Glenn and Maggie, go on a run tomorrow, I'll tag along. Find more formula, supplies that will keep us going." She instructed, receiving two nods of agreement from the couple.

Stepping through the barred door, Adeline passed by Carls cell without looking in and rushed up the concrete stairs. Sparing a glance to Daryls thin mattress that laid against the ground on the perch in front of her cell, she blew a gust of air out of her mouth before slipping into her small room. Carefully, she placed the black duffle bag onto the floor and rolled the cell door halfway shut where she stuck a sheet through the bar for a sense of privacy.

Tiredly, she unbuckled all of the holsters around her legs. Placing the black pistol underneath her pillow, she allowed her throwing knives and machete to rest on the metal desk that was pushed against the cell wall. A yawn escaped her lips, involuntarily causing her arms to reach out to the ceiling which resulted in almost every bone in her body to pop. Rolling her shoulders, Adeline closed her eyes tiredly and pressed her back onto the cold wall.

After a silent moment of nearly falling asleep against the wall, she shook herself out of the moment and pulled the tight jeans off of her legs. Relief wavered over her body at the feeling before she grabbed a pair of black sweatpants and slid them up her legs. The light of the electrical lantern and moon was the only thing to keep her company as Adeline flopped tiredly on the thin mattress.

Grabbing the duffle bag, she laid it on her crossed legs before curling her fingers around the zipper and slowly opening it. The first thing that greeted her caramel eyes happened to be one folded picture, her hands slowly reaching out to straighten out the material. Nylon fabric of the bag brushed against her forearms as she unfolded the picture, eyes softening carefully at the ink that printed out to form an image.

A sob tightened in Adelines throat, carefully sliding her fingers across the smooth surface like it could break at the wrong touch. The wave of grief and denial rocked into her body without warning, tears welling in her eyes as she brushed her hand against Shanes face on the image. He's gone. The words whispered in her mind hauntingly, forcing her to accept the death of the man she loved.

Everything had become meaningless and overwhelming. For the widow, life made no sense. Over the past eight months, she refused to believe the fact that her husband was gone. Never able to come back, the words he wanted to say never given the chance to leave his lips. The rest of his life ripped away from him in the blink of an eye. It made Adeline Walsh numb. Wonder how she can go on, and if she were to do so - why should she? Denial was the one and only stage of grief she had allowed herself to feel.

Exhaustion threaded the bags underneath her eyes as she wiped the tears away and held the picture to her chest. Peeking into the duffle bag, her husbands clothes that had been left back on the farm resided teasingly inside. When she found herself treading inside the farmhouse, she collected Shanes bag that had been left behind. Adeline brushed away the thoughts, carefully sitting the heavy item back onto the floor and keeping the picture tucked to her chest as she twisted the knob on the electric lantern.

Darkness flooded through her cell, the only light being the moon that peeked through the sheet that covered the cells entrance. Tiredly, she curled herself into a ball on the mattress and clamped her eyes shut in attempts to get any amount of sleep. A groan aggravatingly left her lips when the thought that if something were to happen, she didn't have a weapon to protect the people she cared for. The feeling resulted in sticking her hand underneath the pillow, skin meeting cold metal.

Once her fingers curled around the black metal of the pistol, Adeline hugged it to her chest alongside the picture. A small amount of security greeted her until exhaustion took the wheel and her guilt threaded body faded into a short slumber that ended with a nightmare. Like every single night for the past eight months.

Sunlight peeked through the sheer sheets hanging from her cell door, eyes tired from a restless sleep. Adeline ran a hand through her tangled hair, settling on not dealing with it as she quickly tightened a hair tie around the brunette locks. Wanting to leave the cell and the remembrance of the nightmare that occurred, she hastily grabbed the dark black jeans from yesterday and slid them up her legs. Slipping the shirt over her head, she easily replaced it with the thin material of her black turtleneck.

Buckling all of the holsters back onto her body, Adeline placed the wedding picture on the surface of the metal desk before sliding her combat boots on her feet and leaving the cell without second thought. Shoes made contact with the concrete flooring, hand sliding against the cold metal railing as she made her way down the stairs and headed towards the common area outside of their cell block.

Pushing the door open carefully, her entrance failed to go unnoticed by the loud creak that followed her movement. All eyes turned to her, Adeline ignoring them by tilting her head to the ground and walking over to the cart that held all of the food. The presence of Oscar standing next to the stairs with a bowl in his hands made the woman realize the group had accepted the prisoners living with them. Surprisingly enough, she didn't feel the need to spark an argument.

Tiredly, she wrapped her hands around one of the bowls that contained (what looked like) oatmeal. Taking it in her grasp, Adeline turned to lean against the sturdy cart and dug her spoon into the substance. Her observant eyes caught sight of Carl staring blankly at his bowl of food, the substance going untouched by the boy due to the lost look in his eyes.

Carefully, she placed her own untouched bowl back onto the surface of the cart and made her way over to her nephew with guilty eyes. "Hey, bud." Adeline smiled softly, sliding into the seat next to him with placing her hand onto his back. Rubbing the grey material of his shirt, Carl reluctantly tore his eyes away from the food and turned to his aunt.

Expecting a set of sympathetic eyes like everyone else had been giving him, he received a pair of understanding ones. Adeline knew what loss was - to truly lose someone you loved right in front of you. "You have to eat, alright? You have to be strong for when I leave, who do you think is gonna be in charge?" She spoke with a playful smile, causing the boy to nod before picking up his bowl of food and digging into the oatmeal.

"That's my boy," Adeline praised while wrapping her arm around his shoulder and squeezing slightly. Sparing a glance around the room, she found Daryls worried eyes on her. Sending him a nod full of assurance, she looked back down to her nephew and made sure he ate the food.

"Everybody okay?" The echoing voice of Rick Grimes broke through the silence, causing heads to turn where he stood behind a barred door. His skin was clean, and he had changed out of the bloodstained shirt he found himself in yesterday.

Maggie nodded from her spot at the table, "Yeah, we are." she assured the leader - Glenn noticing as Adeline refused to turn around and look to her brother. Uncurling her arm from around Carl, she slid out of the chair and stood up, coming face to face with Rick.

Tightening her lips, her eyes trailed down to the object in his shaking hands. Shanes hat, the one she left in the boiler room. Adeline allowed her stance to falter, shoulders losing tension as he handed it to her. She was quick to take it in her hands, turning around without a word and walking back over to the cart. The grateful look in her eyes failed to go unnoticed by her brother, but as quick as it had come- it vanished.

"What about you? Are you okay?" Hershel retorted Ricks words back to him, changing the subject from what had happened. Adeline folded the hat in her hands, squeezing it repeatedly until her nerves calmed down and she could look to her brother without finding a surge of hatred and guilt towards him.

"I cleared out the boiler block." Rick informed, glancing over to his sister who sat on the last step of the staircase that Daryl and Oscar were at. "How many were there?" The redneck retorted, holding a small bowl in his hands.

The leader shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. A dozen, two dozen. I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl," he informed with tired eyes while looking down at his son. Turning around, he headed towards the door back into the corridors before a voice stopped him.

Glenn sprung up from his seat next to Maggie, "Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies. You don't have to." He assured - the group (including a quiet Adeline) collectively worrying about the man and what he would do to himself while in the stage of grief.

"No, I do." Rick spoke before walking over towards the set of stairs his sister sat on. "Everyone have a gun and a knife?" He questioned, eyes set on Daryl as he talked.

"Yeah," The redneck nodded in confirmation. "We're running low on ammo, though." He informed, causing Adeline to look up at her brother from her spot on the concrete stairs - "Going on a run this afternoon. Me, Maggie and Glenn. We'll find some stuff." She spoke up.

Glenn nodded in agreement from behind Rick, "Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula. Ad and Daryl brought some back yesterday but it wouldn't hurt to look, have extra." He motioned towards the two as he talked.

"We cleared out the generator room," Daryl started once again which resulted in Rick turning to look at him with curious eyes. "Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency." He informed with squinted eyes, "We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well."

All attempts to get Rick to help and jump back into his leader position proved to be futile as he nodded his head in confirmation and he rushed over to the barred door. "Rick." Hershel raised his voice, Rick only ignoring the elders words as he slammed the door shut behind him and left them to be in an unnerved silence.

Adeline allowed a deep sigh to escape her lips, her hands pressed against her knees as she stood up and grabbed the hat she had sat down on the stairs. Looking around the group, she took in their curious eyes and fixed the hat onto her head. "I'll go start the vehicle, you two get your stuff together. We should just go now." She informed, motioning to Glenn and Maggie who nodded and made their way into the cell block.

"What about your brother?" Hershel questioned from his seat at the metal table, causing the widow to shrug her shoulders. "Do whatever you want. I'm not his keeper." She spoke before turning around to Daryl who already had his eyes on her.

Lowering her voice, she stepped closer to him. "Can you keep an eye on Carl? If he's anything like his father, he'll be a loose cannon. Just please, make sure he's alri-"

"You ain't gotta worry." Daryl cut her off, standing up from the stairs and making his way over to the cart to set his empty bowl down on the surface. Adeline followed him with grateful eyes, watching as he turned around and squeezed her upper arm before walking away. "Be safe out there." He called out over his shoulder.

Picking the store clean was easy, seeing as there wasn't much left inside to gather in the first place. Adeline stood by the counter, sitting her backpack back on top the surface before grabbing the basket full of supplies she had found. Curling her fingers around the handle, she stuffed the formula and canned goods inside of the backpack.

Glenn and Maggie stood next to her, eyeing her findings with surprised eyes. "Talk about hitting the powdered formula jackpot," The boy spoke while showing her his basket that was also stuffed with the cans of milk. A smile laced his lips as Adeline turned around after zipping the bag up. "Woah," She whistled. "I think we're the holy trinity."

The words that left her mouth were laced with a playful tone, causing the couple before her to laugh before walking out of the store with the widow on their heel. Glenn sat the red basket on the concrete as Adeline slipped back them and popped the trunk open with ease. Slipping the bag off of her arms, she placed it in the empty back before looking over to the couple.

"I also got beans, batteries, cocktail wieners, honey mustards." Glenn listed, scavenging through the basket on the ground. Looking over to Adeline, he squinted his eyes from the sun - "It's a straight shot back to the prison from here. Probably make it in time for dinner."

The widow nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Hopefully Rick is out of the tombs. It's been a day and I'm already tired of being Leader Addy." She spoke in a tired tone while crossing her arms over her chest and looking around the parking lot.

"I like the quiet." Maggie informed, handing her boyfriend the red basket in her hands. "Back there, back home, you can always hear them outside the fence no matter where you are." Her voice was soft, just as Adelines observant eyes caught sight of something moving behind one of the parked cars in the lot.

Just as she moved to say something about it, an arm snuck around her shoulders while a sharp blade was pressed against her throat. Adeline froze in the strangers hold, hands restrained as a loud voice broke through the parking lot - "And where is it y'all good people are calling home?"

The hold on her was strong, voice sounding eerily familiar but unable to pinpoint the owner of it as Glenn and Maggie turned hurriedly around with their guns aimed high. Adeline struggled against the grip, jerking her arms in attempts to get out only for the blade to snap at her skin. Glenn looked at her capturer with wide eyes, a sudden realization blooming. "Merle?"

The name immediately pinged a source inside of Adelines mind, Daryls brother, her memory reminded her. She shifted uncomfortably under the man's hold, unable to reach any of the weapons on her side as his grip loosened and he pushed her forward, but not without slyly snatching the pistol out of the holster on her side . "Holy shit!" Merle laughed, eyeing the woman, "Sweet cheeks?" He reminded her of the name he had once called her.

Adeline rubbed at the sore skin of her throat before raising her middle finger towards the man. "Screw you." She spoke, her mind too distracted to notice her husbands pistol missing from its spot. Merle stepped closer to the woman, only for Maggie to cock her gun - "Hey, back the hell up!" She threatened, voice ringing out.

"Oh, okay. Okay, honey." Merle assured, raising his hands in a defense position. Adeline eyed the sweat stains on his shirt, and taking notice of the obvious absence of his hand. Glenn stepped closer to the man with his gun raised high, "You made it."

Nodding, Merles careful eyes took note of the familiar police hat Adeline wore alongside the wedding rings on her finger. "Can you tell me, is my brother alive?" He questioned, causing the widow to clench her jaw and grow a sense of reluctance towards the question.

"Daryl's fine." Adeline forced the words out of her mouth, her arms crossed over her chest with careful eyes. Merle breathed a breath of relief at her words, "Damn, sweet cheeks, you been bumpin' uglies with my baby brother? And I thought we had something..." He sighed, causing the widow to scoff and shift on her feet.

"I spoke five words to you. Besides, you ought to be polite to the ones with guns. Common sense." Adeline seethed, mocking him of his own saying.

Merle chuckled lowly at her words, "Here, you take me to him and I'll call it even on everything that happened up there in Atlanta. By everything, I mean when your brother handcuffed me to a roof and left me to die." Merle reminded, shrugging his shoulders with a sly smile. "No hard feelings."

His eyes caught sight of Glenn looking at the sharp blade attached to a hunk of metal around his arm. Merle laughed at the boy, "You like that? Yeah. Well, I found myself a uh... medical supply warehouse. Fixed it up myself," He informed the three survivors. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"We'll tell Daryl you're here and he'll come out to meet you," Glenn offered, causing Adeline to turn and look at him eyes full of denial. It was too much of a risk.

As she turned around, Merle took several steps towards her and inched his hand towards the gun he had stolen off her side. "Hey, the fact that we found each other is a miracle. Come on, now." He smiled, "You can trust me."

Adeline looked at the man with reluctant eyes, taking notice of the busted nose and cleanness of his fingernails. The lack of bloodstains on his shirt, and the way his skin lacked of dirt and grime. "How'd your nose get broken? Huh? You're not alone and we're not dumb. You're clean, Merle. I'm not risking the safety of my people."

A chuckle left his lips, Glenn and Maggie's grips tightening on their guns as Merle realized there was no way he was getting what he wanted by being nice. "Well," He breathed, "You said it." The words left his mouth.

In an instant, he pulled the gun he had stolen and fired a shot into the vehicle. Before Adeline could move out of the way, he roared the hilt of the gun into the side of her head. Darkness clouded her vision, a groan of pain leaving her lips as the cloud of unconsciousness blocked her vision and caused her eyes to roll back in her head.