Fracking Apocalypse - a ZNation 10K/Tommy Fanfiction

S7E03

"You mean aside from the usual apocalypse stuff and now having a fugitive on the loose?" Bailey asked as she laid back against the cushioned medical chair she was sitting in and tried to relax. She couldn't resist fiddling with the bottom of her peach tank top, the flowy material kept her cool and comfortable even with her larger then usual stomach. She was happy she'd at least been able to put on her favorite pair of brown yoga pants which would probably be the only thing she'd wear from the waist down until the baby came, jeans just wouldn't fit her anymore.

Red smirked knowing exactly what she meant, "10K being away taking a toll on you?"

Bailey sighed taking a deep breath, "It's just harder when I have to rely on other people to keep him safe. They don't love him like I do, they might not try as hard as I would to save him if something went wrong."

"I know how you feel." Red told her as she took out her chart and started putting in Bailey's vitals that she'd taken. "I felt that way about 5K. Back when we were living at Mercy Labs, other people would keep an eye on him, but there was just something inside me saying I'd do a better job. That I cared a little bit more than everyone else, like I couldn't relax if he wasn't in my sight."

"And Murphy here isn't helping me either." Bailey admitted. "I can't shake the feeling that he's up to something. Usually, I don't have to worry about it, Warren always kept him in line. But she was here for half an hour before she was done talking to George and both her and Cooper took off south after Estes."

"Yeah, Murphy seemed a little off to me too." Red told her putting down the clipboard and sitting on the stool beside her chair. "I mean, more than usual. He was asking questions about Sun Mei's research, if there were any notebooks I'd found that might help. I gave him what I had but it wasn't much. I thought Sun Mei would have left more, but she probably stopped writing things down once she got suspicious of Estes. Maybe she even threw a lot of it out. But even when I gave Murphy what he asked for he seemed so. . . disinterested. Like he didn't care about the answers I was giving him, like his mind was someplace else."

Bailey took another deep breath and looked at her lap trying to piece together the new information, she brushed her hair back over her shoulder. Since she'd cut it she could no longer play with it like she used to and she tried to keep herself from playing with the crochet part of her tank top; the detailing was only on the shoulder of the inch thick straps right where her hand had automatically gone. Then Red shoved her shoulder, clearly seeing her distress. The small gentle push forced Bailey to look up at her.

"But don't worry about Murphy. Focus on TJ and your baby. You need to get your blood pressure down, doctor's orders."

Murphy POV

He was standing in the hall of the community building on the floor that had all the classrooms. He was watching through one long wide window that looked in on the preschoolers. Inside, 10K's little brat was standing at an easel with a little girl as they finger painted. The girl had blonde hair that was pulled back into two pigtails, Murphy couldn't look at her too long before his eyes fell to his shoes. That little girl made him remember Lucy. He never got to see her so young, she'd been a baby when he left her with Ma and Pa Kettle, then the next time he'd seen her she was a teenager. He wondered if she would have liked to finger paint, or if she would have made friends like the Squirt. Then he shook his head and stepped away from the window heading back down the hall to the glass staircase. Maybe he'd stop at the Tavern on the first floor and get himself a drink, he didn't want to wait to get back to Limbo before he could get a buzz. Now with his mind on Lulu his plans were changing, he couldn't hurt the Squirt, he couldn't even hurt Hawthorne, or Beck-Hawthorne or Hawthorne-Beck, whatever she went by now. Instead he was back at square one waiting around this shit hole for the one-handed wonder to come back.