CARLOS,
CHAPTER SIX

MIKEY sat in the train car alone with his knees close to his chest. thoughts rummaged through his head thinking about all the danger jill was currently in. "water?" mikey looks up to see carlos with a cold bottle of water. without saying anything, mikey grabs the bottle of water, unscrewing the cap.

"look, i know we got off on the wrong got back there but since i'm gonna be watching you until jill comes back, i'm carlos." he introduced, holding his hand out for the boy to shake.

mikey glances at his hand and then back at him. he screws the cap back onto his water bottle. he reaches out, shaking carlos' hand. "i'm mikey." he mumbled.

"you've been through a lot, haven't you?" carlos asked, resulting in mikey to nod softly. "where's your parents?" he questioned.

"my mom and my sister died years ago and my dad.." he closes his eyes, remembering his father's fleshy arm. "h-he was bit." the boy stuttered.

"i'm sorry about that, buddy." carlos frowned, feeling a lot of compassion for the boy. "you're one brave kid, i'll give you that for sure." he complimented, still not getting a reaction from mikey. "let's talk about something else, to get your mind off of— ya know." he suggested.

"alright." mikey shrugged, looking at the hairy man. "what do you have in mind?" he asked, looking at the man.

"well, i'll ask you questions and you'll answer them." carlos shrugged with mikey raising an eyebrow.

"so like an interrogation?" mikey asked, scrunching his nose up slightly. carlos chuckled, shaking his head at the young teen's head.

"no, i just wanna get to know you." carlos smiled softly. "anyways, did you play any sports before this whole thing happened?" he asked.

mikey shook his head. "i don't know if it counts but i used to skateboard. i was trying to do an ollie but then this shit happened." he admits.

"hey, when we get out of this shithole, i'll buy you a new skateboard. what do you say?" mikey's eyes widened slightly at carlos' offer.

"i-i— dude, would you really do that?" mikey was in awe at the man's act of kindness. "but i can't. i don't even know you like that." he rejected, shaking his head.

"no, no, i insist. you deserve happiness after this and if that's what makes you happy, who am i to not give you what you want?" a large smile grew on mikey's face.

"thank you, sir. thank you." he smiled, just receiving a nod from carlos. after a moment of silence, he looks back at carlos. "so uh you and jill are friends, right?" he asked with a small smirk growing on his face. "like, good friends?" he questioned.

"i wouldn't say 'friends.'" he started. "she doesn't like me and she's made this crystal clear." carlos chuckled, running a hand through his floppy black hair.

"no offense but your game is weak." mikey insulted, laughing softly. carlos raised an eyebrow at him.

"i don't know what you're—."

"look, i know you're itching to get into jill's pants." he started, causing carlos to shift in his seat uncomfortably. "stop with all this douchey flirting and just ya know, be real with her." he suggested.

"what do you know about love?" carlos asked with a small chuckle. the boy scoffs, crossing his arms at the ubcs mercenary.

"uh a lot." he starts. "in fact, i had my first kiss under a basketball hoop in the fifth grade." he informs. carlos gave the boy an amused look.

"and how did that turn out?" carlos questioned, clearly entertained with the boy. carlos was growing to like mikey. he was just a neglected kid who needed someone. maybe carlos could be that father figure mikey never had.

"awful. some kid missed and a basketball landed on my head. then i started crying and the girl i was gonna kiss started laughing at me." he laughed, thinking back at the memory. "i've been single ever since." he chuckles, growing comfortable. mikey was definitely warming up to carlos. for a moment, he forgot about jill. he was finally at ease during this stressful time.

the two spent an hour chatting with eachother. mikey grew comfortable with carlos, ranting with him and basically venting about how he felt. "thank you carlos for listening to me." he thanked. "i just needed to let it all out after what happened tonight." he looks down at his slightly broken converse.

"don't mention it, kiddo." carlos gave mikey a small smile, giving his shoulder a soft punch. "just know that i'll be there if you need to talk about... guy stuff." he reassured.

before mikey could open his mouth, carlos stands up. "i'm gonna go see if i could see jill outside. hang tight, okay?" mikey nodded, watching the man walk off.

after waiting for a while, mikey saw jill walk down the steps with carlos. "jill!" mikey runs out of the train car, engulfing jill into a bear hug. jill laughs softly, hugging him back.

"you're alive. just like you promised." mikey smiled with a small chuckle coming from jill.

"just like i promised." jill ruffles his hair, laughing softly as he let out of small whine. mikhail smiles at the two.

"good work. your reputation is well deserved." he complimented. "get inside, the subway is about to leave."

jill holds onto mikey's shoulder. "c'mon, go on in. i'll be there in a minute." jill whispered, walking after the young boy. mikey has a seat, looking out the window of the train.

"carlos, tyrell, you have your orders." he started, resulting in jill to stop in her tracks. "you need to go back out into the city and find nathaniel bard." he explains to the two.

"this isn't the last ride out of town, right?" jill asked with concern oozing out of her voice. mikey furrows his eyebrows, listening in on the conversation. was carlos not coming with them?

"do not worry." mikhail starts. "once the civilians are safe, the train will be back." he explains with mikey sighing in relief.

"it's alright, you go on ahead." carlos smiled softly. "i'm not gonna die on you and leave you in a cruel, carlos-less world." he joked. mikey playfully rolls his eyes at the man's comment, smirking at jill's reaction.

jill snorts softly, "okay." she smiled, walking inside the train car. she rolls her eyes seeing mikey's reaction. "don't start." she warns, resulting in mikey to let out a small chuckle.

jill listened to the conversation happening outside, trying to gather as much information as she can. nikolai claps at the girl's actions.

"you see? you're learning." he smirks with jill rolling her eyes at the somewhat obnoxious man. mikey shoots nikolai a glare before looking down at his lap.

"the only life that matters is your own." nikolai stated with mikey scoffing softly. jill rolls her eyes, looking away from the russian man.

mikhail enters the train, having a seat next to nikolai. the train starts moving but jill keeps her stare on carlos as it moves along.

maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

carlos is such a good dad to mikey, my heart 💗💗

also, i think it's time jill tells mikey about adela because i got plans and i got ideas 😳🤚🏼

i hope you enjoyed this chapter 💗

DATE PUBLISHED: 7/21/20
TIME PUBLISHED: 12:20 p.m.
WORD COUNT: 1247