In the large REC room located underground in the CDC, Molly James was grinning at her son; Chuckling under her breath. Around his shoulders was a small quilt worn as a cape would be. The young boy acted as though the fabric gave him superpowers. He had a smile plastered on his fragile face that ignited laughter within Molly as his eyes sparkled while he ran and jumped around the room.
For Jacob, happiness was simple.
It's hugs from his mother. It's pages upon pages of blank paper in which he could draw whatever came to his imagination. It's playing pretend and having books read to him while he drifts of into whatever dream occupies his mind that night. It's walks in the woods and splashing in the stream and of course, it was so much more.
Sometimes, Molly wished that she could see the world through his eyes. If you showed him a gold coin or a stray kitten and asked him to pick one, he'd take the silly cat every time. He had a simple wisdom that Molly adored.
Jacob threw his head back and giggled like only a young child could. It's that infectious kind of laugh that lights up adults; like an echo of the children they once were. Almost exactly as he finished laughing, a loud alarm blared throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and echoing out.
Standing from where she had been sat, Molly looked around quickly, trying to figure out just where said alarm was coming from. "Thirty minutes to decontamination."
"Decontamination?" Molly muttered under her breath, trying to figure out just what was going on in her mind for a second. "Jake... Stay here and play for me, okay?"
Jacob muttered a quick okay and knelt down at the table, grabbing a fresh piece of paper and some crayons and beginning to scribble in concentration. Molly slid out the room, closing the door behind her as she wondered down the hallway and entered the room in which Jenner had showed them the footage of his test subject earlier that day.
Frowning as she walked, she eyed everyone standing close to Jenner by the computers and made her way towards them. "What's going on?" She asked Carol who shrugged while looking slightly anxious about what was going on.
Molly eyed her arm that was snugly wrapped around Sophia's shoulders.
"Will you shut that goddamn alarm off!" Shane's voice was heard amongst the anxious chatter.
Molly couldn't help but gawk at everyone trying to get their voice's and questions heard by Jenner who looked as though he had no bother with zoning out and doing his own thing.
Rick's voice seemed to boom through-out and cause everyone to listen to what he was saying. "Everyone get your stuff! We're getting out of here!"
Molly, still having no clue what exactly was going on but understanding that it had to be something drastic, spun on her heel and began to make her way back to the hallway in which she came through. She didn't bother stopping in her track like the others did, looking towards Rick to see if what he was saying was what they should be doing.
It was just as she made it back to the hallway that she winced and ducked slightly as though someone had thrown something at her. She shot forward, feeling the tips of her hair blow harshly against her face as she spun around and watched as a large, thick metal door slammed down and closed off her only exit.
For a good ten seconds, she stood stark still, staring at the metal as though she had conjured it up out of thin air and if she stared long enough, the metal would disappear once more and the faces of the others would reappear.
However, the longer she stared, the more she realised that the door was in fact real. She marched up to it, her heart beginning to beat a little faster in her chest. Molly pressed both her hands on the cold, hard metal and pushed. She pushed and pushed as though she was capable of pushing it off it's hinges.
She huffed and huffed, her heart rate picking up the more she pushed until finally, she let out a scream and kicked at it.
Vividly, very vividly, Molly could hear the shout's of the others who had more than clearly been locked in the main room with Jenner. She jumped once more when a series of bangs erupted from the other side of the metal. She frowned, breathing deeply as she tried to keep her emotions at bay.
A small, timid voice was what made the tear on the edge of her eyelash fall. "Mama?"
Molly was quick to bring her hand up and wipe the tear from her cheek, spinning around and forcing a smile to Jacob who was standing in the doorway to the REC room, his own eyes full of tears.
"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, making her way towards him and crouching down so that she could look directly into his eyes.
Jacob was gripping onto the doorframe as if his life depended on it and though it broke her heart, Molly knew that the reason he seemed so scared was due to the amount of noise that was being produced. The alarm was still blaring and though it wasn't as loud as it was out in the main area, it was still louder than necessary. Pair that with a three year old's hearing and it was a disaster waiting to happen.
"I-It's scary." Jacob spoke with one of the most quiet little voice's Molly had ever heard him use.
"I know and I'm sorry." Molly found herself saying, trying her hardest not to feel the same way he was feeling. "You see, things are not always as scary as they may seem." She reached out and gripped his forearms gently. Molly moved Jacob so that he was stood inches in front of her crouched form. "Everything's going to be alright. The others... They... They're getting everything ready because we have to leave this place."
"We going?" Jacob's small head tilted, his brows frowning. "Why?"
"Because what we once thought isn't true." Molly admitted, sighing for a moment. "Come on." She murmured, standing to full height and taking his hand.
Molly lead him back into the REC room in order to at least try and block out some of the noise. She smiled as she did so, trying to show Jacob that everything was fine and that he shouldn't be as worried as his little self was in that moment.
"We need to get all our things ready to... Leave." Molly said, not knowing in that moment if what she was saying would be a reality or if they simply wouldn't be making it out. "It's not safe for us to stay here anymore."
"We leavin'?" Jacob asked, pushing his coloured crayons back into the bag along with some fresh paper.
"We are." Molly nodded.
Jacob was a good kid. He always had been. If Molly were to ask something of him, he would more than likely do it on the first ask. This case was no different. He grabbed his backpack and stuffed lion he had fostered from the shelf and stood in front of Molly, waiting to follow after her in order to get the rest of their things.
Molly was quick to lead him out the room and down the corridor towards the one in which they were using a their own room. Jacob climbed up on the sofa and took a seat while Molly walked back and forth across the room, picking up the pairs belongings as she did so. She grabbed the duffle bag by the door and shoved their clothes into it. Once she had all her things, she made her way to the sofa and dropped the bag beside Jacob and reached for the zipper.
It was as she had the zipper half way zipped that she eyed the articles of clothing on the arm of the sofa.
Daryl's.
She reached out and snatched them up, shoving them into her bag before, finally, she zipped the duffle bag shut. Once she had it shut, Molly reached out and grabbed the handle, pulling it from the sofa and letting it drop to ground before she lowered herself into the spot beside Jacob who was quick to reach out one of his hands and grip her own.
Together, the two of them say in silence, listening to the constant wailing of the alarm.
The alarm itself rotated between about six different annoying noises of varying pitch and volume. After the initial wave of upmost terror passed, Molly's frustrations at the whole ordeal they were all being subjected to was beginning to wind her up. It was as though the noise and the clock was trying to cause her to become more than angry.
She knew, deep down, that the timer counting down wasn't anything good. Everything the automated voice had spat out sounded as though it was nothing good.
It was just as she was wondering how she was going to make Jacob feel as safe as possible when it came to the end that a mechanical whirling filled the air. The exact same noise that had shocked her to the core when the large metal door had shut behind her.
Molly froze, squeezing Jacob's hand a little tighter as she tilted her head so that her right ear was facing where the door once. She closed her eyes, listening closely for any and all noise that wasn't the alarm. Seconds later, she heard frantic voices growing louder and louder as what she hoped had happened, must've happened.
The door was finally open.
Molly let out a deep breath, reaching her hands up to brush some of the loose strands of hair behind her ears. She looked to Jacob who was already watching her, his lion clutched tightly in his arms. She forced a smile, tears seeping from her eyes as her left hand coming to cup his cheek softly as she murmured that it was time to go.
She stood from the sofa, reaching her hands out to pick Jacob up and set him on her hip while she grabbed his backpack and the duffle bag from the floor. Molly moved quickly, making her way towards the open door.
Just as she was about to exit into the hall, she ran full force into a body and if it wasn't for the arms that reached out and gripped her, she and Jacob would've hit the ground. "You alrigh'?" It was Daryl who was reaching out and brushing his hand over both Molly and Jacob's hair as though he wasn't sure if they were actually in front of him.
"I-I've got your things." She motioned to the bags in her hand that wasn't keeping Jacob sturdy on her hip.
"We gotta go." Daryl told her, his hand reaching around her to push at her lower back in order to keep her in front of him. "We gotta go now."
Molly walked at a brisk pace, following the direction in which Daryl was pushing her. As they made it through the main room she had been cut off from, Daryl picked up his crossbow that was resting against the wall. He was quick to usher Molly along once more as the trio made it to catch up with the others who were making their way up the several flights of stairs.
Once they had cleared the stairs, the group manoeuvred through the hallways and towards the doors in which they had entered from when they had first entered the CDC. However, as soon as they were in front of the over-sized doors, it was clear that what had once been an entrance, would no be their exit.
The doors were made out of some of the most strongest, unbreakable glass known to man and though the windows weren't made of the same glass, it seemed to be made out of something just as strong. That became clear to them when T-Dog had taken his axe to it, leaving behind not even a mark on the glass.
Despite T-Dog's failure, the other men seemed to feel as though their own axe's could do much better and before she knew it, Molly was staring at the group of men who were swinging and making no dent in the glass windows.
"Keep hitting it!"
"Swing it harder!"
"Get down, get down!" Shane all but screamed, loading his gun and taking his own few steps back from the window.
Molly insured she and Jacob were out of harms way, turning so that her own back was facing the window to insure that Jacob had himself some double protection.
A serious of gunshots went off, followed by Jacob's body stiffening in her grasp at the noise.
Once the noise had stopped and she heard the shooter swear, Molly spun back around, feeling as though the air around her pleaded with them all to just give up.
"Rick!" Carol shot up from where she had been huddled with Sophia. "I have something that might help."
"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Shaun all but spat out. He was clearly winded and loosing his patience.
Carol ignored Shaun and made her way up to Rick. "Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket."
Molly wasn't entirely sure what she had thought Carol would pull out. An advanced pocket knife that Carol assumed he would use to pick the lock? Some type of gun that was more reliable than the ones they were currently using? She wasn't entirely sure. However, what she was sure about, was the fact that never in a million years would she have assumed that Carol would pull out a grenade.
A fucking grenade.
In the time it had taken her to comprehend what she was seeing, Rick had taken the grenade from Carol and made his way to the window.
Once more, she was being ushered back against a wall with the others as a series of shouts rang out followed by one of the loudest noises she had ever heard.
The glass had shattered along with Molly's eardrums and as she looked up, all that could be seen was the raining fragments of shards of glass that were sharp enough to cut on contact.
Before she could think any longer, the others were shouted for everyone to run.
Molly stood to full height, keeping her grip tight on Jacob as she moved to the broken window with the others. Daryl jumped down, motioning with his hands for Molly to pass Jacob down. Once she had done, she chucked the two bags out and pushed herself out to follow.
Molly gripped the bags and followed after Daryl who had kept Jacob in his own arms. The three of them made their way to Daryl's truck and was quick to climb inside.
It was as though a chain reaction had taken place. Molly had leaned over Jacob, insuring his small body was covered by her own. Daryl had followed suit, all but pinning the two to the seats in order to protect them as best he could.
Seconds later, it happened.
The grenade going off was nothing compared to the explosion that claimed that of the CDC. It rumbled the very ground beneath them and bellowed through the air.
The heat that followed was unlike any Molly had experienced before. It nipped at her skin even from within the truck.
When she felt Daryl pull away from her back, she slowly sat up, helping Jacob to sit up.
Her heart broke, however, when she saw the streams of tears that were falling down his face and the sobs that wracked his body.
"Shh. I-It's okay." Molly's voice cracked as she reached out with shaky arms and pulled the boy into her lap.
She sat back, allowing Jacob to grip at her and cry his heart out while she muttered to him in a soothing tone. Her hand ran trough his hair, trying her best to comfort him.
She felt eyes on her and turned to look over at Daryl who nodded towards the R.V in front of him that had begun moving away from the burning building. Molly gave a curt nod, indicating that he could follow after then while she comforted their son.
Their son.