In the Apocalypse

Heart of Darkness Part 2

I walked to the back to the car with Jeff still in my arms. I pulled out a blanket and his bag. I laid the blanket down in the shade created by the car. I sat the bag beside it.

I sat down on the blanket and put Jeff down. I caught him when he tried to crawl away though. After getting tired of having to continuously catch him, I held his hands so he could used my hands to pull himself up into a standing position.

He couldn't stand on his own yet but he could stand with help. He could walk with help too. I have to be holding his hand, pulling up to keep him on his feet, for him to walk.

I let Jeff stand for a bit before he wanted to sit down. I let him down and caught him again when he tried to crawl away.

I reached in his bag and pulled out a stuffed bear that he loved to play with. We couldn't get him many toys that a lot of baby's usually get because they make noise. I wanted to be able to keep him entertained as quietly as possible. 

Jeff and I sat there on a blanket beside the car for a while. Jeff played with his bear and I watched him with a smile. When he lost interest in the bear ,he looked up at me and started babbling. I smiled at him and listened to him babble, chatting back to him randomly.

Well, I did until I heard the click of a gun. I looked to see Hopper with a group of men with guns. I grabbed Jeff and pulled him to me.

"Sorry about this ,Mama." Hopper said.

"You are with the Red Hand." I put the pieces together.

"Yes, ma'am. Now come on. I think Escorpion might want to see you before you go with the others." Hopper told me.

I sighed and looked at the other guys. I stood up with Jeff still in my arms.

"Now, we'll have to kindly ask you to hand over the baby." Hopper said.

"Over my dead body." I snapped at him.

"I'm sure that can be arranged." Hopper chuckled. I glared at him.

Two people grabbed my upper arms but I tightened my hold on Jeff ,still making sure not to hurt him. Jeff, sensing the danger in the situation, started crying.

"Shit. Let's get them inside before the kid attracts Zs." Hopper said. He led the way. There were a couple other guys ahead of me with him. There was a guy on each side of me and a couple more behind me.

I started bouncing Jeff in my arms as we walked. I leaned in to hum by his ear. He started to calm down and listen to my humming.

I followed them down into some tunnels. It was pitch black until the guys lit some lanterns. I was still caged in by them as we made our way through the tunnels.

We passed zombie hands that were in one hall of the tunnels. Then there was a room with dead zombies. Finally we stopped in a room with more people in it and it was more lit.

"Now you get to meet the man behind the madness." Hopper stated.

There was a man walking into the room. He had his hood up so I couldn't see his face. He reached up and removed his hood.

I gasped in surprise as I saw who it was. It was Vasquez. He had a bandanna around his head ,covering most of his forehead. He had a hoodie with no sleeves under a dark grey blazer. He looked me over ,not seeming to recognize me.

"Vasquez?" I questioned. A dark look came over his face.

"Escorpion." He countered ,stepping closer to me in an intimidating way. I fought the urge to step away from him. "So you were with the group that just came in?"