Apocalypse? So what I got a 5 year old to raise!

9

I glanced at the boy in my arms and felt my motherly instinct act up but not in the way one may expect. As I laid my eyes on the snivelling child my protective instincts flared and my head seemed to be screaming that this boy was a danger to her child.

"I... I got lost! My... My big brother he... He disappeared and then... And then those yucky, mean zombies started to... To... To chase me!" the boy wailed as he buried his head into the crook of her neck.
"Shhh, hun it's okay~" I coaxed with practice from my years of raising Danny, suppressing my unusual vigilance to the point it was unnoticeable to the child himself.

Before I knew it the boy had dropped off and fallen asleep from my comfort, I noticed from the corner of my eye that Danny appeared to be upset by something. Placing the boy on a nearby bench within my eyesight and reach, I stood up and turned to ask my bun what was wrong.

"Danny, what's wrong baby?"
"Nothing..." he pouted as he huffed and turned his head away from me, I noticed at this point that he had turned to face the little boy.
"Are you jealous that I made friends with him before you?" I teased as the realisation dawned on me that this boy was the first person around Danny's age we had met since the apocalypse began.
"No!" he screamed with a mortified expression that completely caught me off, guard. He turned to face me and saw my surprise before I could recover my composure and ran over to give me a hug as he apologized.
"Sorry mam, I didn't mean to yell..." he quietly apologized as he nuzzled his face into my shoulder where the boy had just laid, I felt a sense of peace flow over me as the previous discomfort from earlier was completely erased.
"it's okay baby," I replied back as I gave him a light squeeze before carefully breaking free from the hug.
"I love you mommy!" my bun exclaimed as he separated from me with a light blush from embarrassment on his cheeks.
"I love you too Danny," I replied as I stood back up and lightly patted my legs to bring the feeling back before I glanced back at the now-resting boy.

"I think we should look after him till we can find his brother," I announced as I stepped towards the boy and effortlessly lifted him into my arms before I turned to face Danny. He was pouting again.
"What's wrong Danny?" I asked as I was left completely clueless as to why he was so upset.
"It's nothing..." he huffed before turning to face away and mumbling under his breath, "you just like this new boy more than me." When I heard his badly hidden complaints it dawned on me that until now the only person I've shown this level of care to is Danny, I've helped people before but normally I wouldn't go out of my way like I am now so Danny is jealous!
"Danny, I will always love you, you're my baby boy and no one can replace you!" I said with a classic mushy mam tone as I picked Danny up with my other hand and then proceeded to pepper his small and childish face with light pecks like my mother always did to me when she wanted to act all mushy like I was now.
"Stop it, mam!" Danny complained cheekily whilst a grin broke out happily on his face following my onslaught.

With my dose of sappy, mushy, loving care for now felt with and a now content and happy child I continued to explore the city with a boy in each arm. The sleeping child was pleased in his dreamland and my bun was elated after I explained away his fears.

It takes about an hour to get from one end of the city to the other usually and with the disruption of zombies that is now unavoidable it usually takes 2x the time, of course, this wasn't an issue for me.

Strolling casually through the ever-popular streets I noticed an unusually crowded spot a 10-minute walk away.

That's probably where this kid's brother is, and based on the falling zombies I think he must still be doing fine. Well, I'd better head over and disperse this traffic block and give the boy to his brother.

With my plan of action clearly in mind I lightly coughed into my hand, clearing my throat to catch the hoard's attention.

"What's going on over here?" I asked with a smile on my lips alone towards a nearby zombie. In response, the zombies all froze in place before stiffly turning to face me like a little child that was just caught misbehaving by their parents.

Due to the zombie's actions, I was finally able to see what was gathering this large crowd and as I expected I saw an older boy clutching an old metal bar for dear life with uneasy eyes that stared back and forth so fast they almost made me dizzy. The boy looked around 17/18 years old but you can never be sure anymore, I certainly understand that with my unique circumstance.

The boy had black hair and silver-grey eyes with pale skin. He looked very similar to the small boy in my arms so I felt safe in the assumption that this was the before-mentioned older brother.

"Is this your brother?" I asked the boy who hadn't said a word whilst gesturing to the sleeping child in my arms.
"Huh? Yeah! Aiko is okay right?" he responded in quick succession as his eyes landed on the sleeping child with obvious concern.
"Don't worry, he's fine. Just tired after running from zombies until I found him," I explained as a stepped closer to the teen. Having finished my sentence I arrived next to him and handed him his brother carefully.

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