The woman's voice had faded, leaving an echo of herself. The woman that was mother, a daughter, a person; and now she was no longer any of those. She was gone. The man watched as the woman took her last breath, and he had never felt more alone. His hands trembled while picking up Marisol. She was so tiny.
The man was unsure what to do. The world ahead was different from the world he once knew. Everything had changed, and he knew nothing about what had happened. The world had collapsed on him—both figuratively and literally. Now, with Marisol in tow, he felt a little more comfortable. The company was always nice, even if for a little bit. Once he made it out of here, he would hand her off to a police station to find a proper family. However, that wasn't what he needed to worry about right now. Right now, he needed to figure out where he was.
"Hey," he gazed down at Marisol, "you have my phone…" The little babe blinked up at him, sucking on his phone. Perhaps she was toothing? That would mean she would be about…four-ish months old..?
He would figure that out later. For now, he snatched the phone away from Marisol and clicked the light button. Mariosol looked a little somber, losing her new toy. The area was illuminated, and it seemed as if he was inside someplace. No moon or stars were viable, so he had already assumed that he was indoors. The woman's body lay on the concrete floor; Next to her was a train.
Were they in a train station..?
The train was old and rusty, almost broken down. It might have some switch to turn on the lights….meaning that he wouldn't have to waste his phone power. The man decided to look inside the train. After bumping a few things and looking inside with his phone light, the man concluded the train was safe. He took Marisol and lightly jumped into the train. It shifted a little, so he couldn't be rough with it. Within the train there were rows of seats where passengers would have sat; It felt a little empty with no one on board except him.
"Hello..?" The man looked around, as if expecting a response.
Hello..?
Hello..?
Hello..?
The man's voice echoed through the train car. the hairs on the back of his neck rose, and he felt a frigid shiver racing up his spine. After a short pause, he sucked in a breath and went forward. One of his feet went forward, slowly moving so as to not make much noise. In the distance the man spotted a small receiver blinking on and off. Perhaps he would be able to contact the outside with it..? he tip-toed across the train floors, supporting Marisol with two hands. His eyebrows squeezed tight, and his arms wrapped around the babe tighter.
"It's…fine. No one is here…" He muttered to himself under his breath. He was going to be fine.
The man's feet inched forward, slowly moving towards the receiver. His hand grasped the communicator, and he quickly scanned it to see how it worked. There was a microphone attached to a small cilinder at the bottom. on the circular peice, there was a red blinking light with a button. Thr man tapped at the mic, trying to see if it would work.
"Hello, hello..? Is someone there?" The man held the button while speaking into the microphone. Suddenly, the speaker played from above the train.
"Hello, hello..? Is someone there?" The man's voice echoed throughout the halls.
Damn it. It wasn't a transmitter.
The man sighed audiably, forgetting his finger was still pressed in the button.
"Siiigggghhhh." The speaker announced to the vast, infinite void of nothing.
That's…definitely a speaker.
The man definitely felt a little more calm now, not having an action movie as a life—however thoroughly he was disappointed. He expected something to pop out at him, but seems like nothing did. Thankfully.
He retracted his hand from the microphone, and squinted down at Marisol. She seemed content with snuggling into his chest—a good sign. She seemed like an easy kid.
"I promise I'll get you to a proper family." He patted her head and slid down the back of the train wall. The man was only 31—he didn't know how to take care of a kid. Hell, he didn't even know how to take care of himself. How was he supposed to get out of here..!?
The man sat silently for a moment his head in his hands and his eyelashes lowered. He fealt utterly doomed and pathetic.
"Baah..bam." The small girl looked up at the man, and glared at him. "Bah."
"Ah…what?" The man didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Was she trying to cheer him up..? Or maybe she just needed food… "Ooh, I have food..!" He shuffled in his coat (s) and found a bag of cereal. It would be okay… right?
Marisol stared at him, scrunching her eyebrows (if there even were any) and hit him in the head. "Bah..!" The bag of cereal fell on the ground and spilled.
"I guess not." He chuckled a little bit, a smile returning to his face. He ruffled Marisol's head, and decided he could keep going on. He dusted off his coat and started to stand up. Marisol was sitting on the ground. Her hair was a mess and her clothes had been torn up. She did not seem to have anything together.
The man unwrapped his scarf around his neck, then pulled Marisol's arms out. He winded the scarf around her like tinsel around a Christmas tree. Then, he smoothed her hair out. There. she looked better now..! He picked her up and tucked her within his coat (s). She was very snuggled up, and he was content with this arrangement.
"Ready..?"
"Babah..!"
The two marched forward, moving out of the vehicle. The man thought it might have been a bit of a waste of time, but at least he was able to get Marisol a little more relaxed. A smile hung upon his lips—they would definitely make it out of here. The man and Marisol continued upon the train tracks.
—
The two had continued to wonder, finding themselves at forks in the road, dead ends, and eventually found themselves lost too. On their two day trek the man had learned two things about kids:
1) Kids are damn hard to deal with.
2) Kids are really cute, but they are damn hard to deal with.
Marisol had definitely cried more that fifteen times by the end of the second day. Sure, she was really cute when she cried, but after two hours of intense wailing, the man was absolutely exhausted. She refused to eat any of the stuff he had with him, unless he crushed it up first. Then, when she got nice and rested she would throw up, and he'd have to feed her again. However, he still found himself growing closer with Marisol. He was a little reluctant to part with her, and honestly was not looking forward to handing her over to the police. But, the man knew he would not be able to provide for her.
A flame flickered in front of the man's eyes. He had to set up camp within the train tracks, as he had not been able to find the way out yet. Marisol was resting on the man's coat (s). She was napping silently while he was trying to mash up some left over goldfish snacks he had in his pockets. At least she would be able to eat it. He had only a few more rations left, as a grown man he didn't need food as much as a growing child. The man looked at the babe sleeping in front of him.
"Night, Marisol."
The man fell asleep with his hands outstretched towards the babe.
…
…
…
"Bah…aba.."
Marisol's hand had clung onto the man's hand. Her eyes lowered with melancholy. This man was her new father.