Apocalypse Grumps

In The Woods

"Can you say Ross?" he asked River.

"Ross." she responded with no trouble.

"What do you plan on accomplishing with this?" I asked.

"To rub it in Dan's face that his kid can say my name better than his and Mark's." he cackled a bit and then went back to playing with River.

Danny and Mark told us to play with River while they tried to figure out when to celebrate her birthday. She didn't remember, so they thought to choose for her. So they asked Ross and I to look after her while they discussed. Surprisingly enough, she isn't scared of Ross. In fact, she seems to really like him. Odd considering his cybernetic half.

"Why do you think she isn't scared of you?" I asked.

Ross shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe she's seen worse? I mean, judging from what she's wearing, she's probably been through a lot."

Now that he pointed it out, I noticed that she was wearing a military uniform similar to mine. It was buttoned down and had His insignia on the chest. She had to be in the military, but why would they have children? What was he doing with... kids??

"Jack?"

I snap back to reality; Ross was staring at me with genuine concern as River made dirt castles, which was something that Danny had taught her how to do.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Y'know, I've been thinking," I began. "I know I've been with you guys for the past few months, and I honestly didn't understand any of you. I didn't understand why you would go against Felix. But now... now I don't understand why you guys are even wanted criminals. You didn't kill me or Mark on sight without a second thought, you welcomed us as rebels. You didn't treat us like prisoners, you treated us like people. So you know what?" I stood tall in front of Ross, who was on his knees next to River. I grabbed the patch on the left of my chest, "I don't belong to him anymore." I then proceeded to tear it off, and throw it into the dirt. Ross stood so that he could look me right in the eyes, as he did so, I could feel my face heat up for some reason.

"Well, I don't think we can call you an honorary rebel yet."

My face twisted into confusion.

"You see," he continued. "you're still in uniform even without that patch. So how's about we go someplace to find you some new clothes that fit you?"

I contemplated for a second, then smiled, "Yeah. Let's do that."

Our celebration was cut short when I went to look down at River, but she wasn't there. I began to panic, "Where the fuck did the kid go?" I asked. Ross shrugged, sending me further into my frantic state. I kept repeating, "Oh god," over and over as my eyes darted around trying to locate her. It wasn't until Ross' organic hand was placed on my shoulder. I stopped, and looked at him, "Let's calm down, okay?"

I took a calm breath in, and exhaled, "Okay." "She's pretty young and we were only not paying attention for a couple minutes. So she couldn't have gone too far." I relaxed my shoulders and he took his hand away, "I guess you're right."

"Jack, Ross," Danny called to us, making me tense back up. "where's River?" I fumbled trying to come up with a valid excuse, but Ross just signaled for me to stop with a sly smile. "We're teaching her how to play hide and seek. She's pretty good at hiding." he calmly lied. "If you two lose our kid, I'll snap your guys' necks myself." Danny threatened. We nodded, and when they looked away, fled into the forest to look for her.

"What makes you think she's in here?" I asked. He just hushed me, "Let the cyborg detect the small child." He then began scanning the area around us, looking at the trees and the dirt ground, then he would motion for me to follow him.

As we walked I began to get lost in my thoughts in our silence. Now that I think about it, I don't remember my life before He brainwashed me. What was I like? Did I have friends? What did I do for a living? Why did I join Felix? Did something happen to my family...? Are they... are they dead...?

I stopped in my tracks and began to tear up as Ross kept walking. After a couple steps, he looked back, "Jack?" I couldn't control them. They just started falling. I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, making Ross rush to my side. "Jack? What's wrong?" I sniffle and look him in the eyes, seeing how concerned he really was. "What was I like?" I manage to get out, choking up in the process. It confuses him. "What do you mean?" he asks. I wipe away another falling tear, "Felix wiped my mind of any memories I had. I can't remember anything. That's why I don't know what anything fucking is! All he taught us was to serve him. He permanently put himself in my head and there's nothing I can do to get him out—"

I was interrupted by Ross hugging me. "That's why I draw Holly so much... I don't want to forget her. I've already forgotten her voice, I don't want to forget her face too." I didn't think it was possible, but he began to cry into my shoulder. I had an urge to push him off, but instead I wrapped my arms around him. We sat there and wallowed in each other's pity for what seemed like hours. It wasn't until Ross was the first to end the comfort hug that I let go. "Now let's find that kid." he declared.

As soon as I began to walk, I slipped and fell through a bush and down a steep hill. Gathering leaves, twigs, and new mud stains as I rolled down. Once at the bottom, I could hear Ross calling my name and asking if I was okay.

"Hello, Jack," a voice spoke tauntingly. I looked up and was met with a sight I didn't want to see. Him. "F-Felix..." I stuttered.

"Is that what you call me now? No longer 'sir'?" he cackled softly. "Oh Jack, you were one of my favorites, y'know. Always following orders and always having a smile on your face, I never thought you'd be one to rebel." I began to sit up, to show him I wasn't afraid of him, "Well, you were wrong. And don't think that I'll ever come back to you!" I didn't expect him to be trembling, but I still wanted him to be somewhat afraid of me. He only chuckled, making me feel... smaller. "Why would I ever want a foot soldier back? You've already been replaced. Oh, and don't think tearing off that patch means you're free from me. Remember, I'm still there. I will always be there. Every moment of every day," he stepped closer and closer with his evil grin getting wider and wider with every inch closer to me. "no matter how safe you think you are with your little rebel friends, I'll still be here in your head. Waiting, watching. You aren't even safe in these woods! I've already sent sentinels to your camp's location. They'll be there any day now. Ready to bring you all in for the torture you deserve. Tick tock, Sean. Tick. Tock."

I lowered my head between my knees and put my hands over my ears. It was only a hallucination. He couldn't know where we are... right?

"Jack?"

I raised my head at the familiar voice of Ross. He held out his hand, and I took it and stood. "Aw Jack," he picked a twig out of my hair, brushed a couple of leaves on my shoulder off, and used his thumb to try and rub dirt off of my cheek. "let's get you back to camp. I'll clean you up." I followed him around to the top of the hill where I fell, "What about River?" "I located her. She's back at camp." I stopped in my tracks, "You mean to tell me we went in here to look for a kid that wasn't even lost in the first place?!" Ross shrugged and I rolled my eyes.

As much as I wanted to punch him, him and I did share a tender moment and are now better friends because of it, so I guess I can forgive him. I just hope that the Felix I saw was a hallucination and not the real thing.