New Mother

Greta never envisioned herself being the one to take care of a child in her life. Little Apollo gave her the hope that she had thought that she had lost. She also thought that he was also proof of how horrible the war could be to the people that lived near it. She held Apollo close to her chest as she began walking from the cave that she used to protect them from a snowstorm that had come through.

"We will get you safe soon." She smiled at Apollo even knowing he couldn't see.

The cold began biting at her bones as she came across a hill that overlooked what seemed to be an open field. In the center of the field was a lone farmhouse. Quickly she started to make her way to it feeling that she could provide a safe haven for Apollo, so that they may rest without their masks for a while. As she closer to the farmhouse the happier she got until she got close to the house. Before she could get her foot onto the first step a red dot appeared on her chest.

"Who are you?" A voice called from inside the house.

"My name is Greta and I have a child in my arms named Apollo." She called back as loud as she could.

"Why are you here?" The voice called back.

"I was hoping we could take shelter here. Please?" Greta called back with her voice starting to turn ragged.

"You may but if you do anything funny I will kill you both." The voice called back as the red dot vanished.

She hurried up the front steps as the door opened for her. As the airlock hissed signaling the air being cleaned. As the fog cleared from her mask she saw an elderly couple standing in front of her. The old man was holding what seemed to be an older military rifle that was taken out of use ten maybe twenty years ago. The older lady was holding what seemed to be a pistol of the same age.

"Thank you both so much." Greta said uncovering Apollo's head as she started to become warm.

"You're in need and we can't allow you to suffer. That being said please be no trouble to us." The older man said as he removed his mask.

"That is fair sir." Greta responded as she removed her mask then Apollo's.

"Let me fix your filters young one while you feed that child. We have some baby food in the kitchen. Chad go show her to it please." The old lady said holding her hands out.

"Yes, Martha." Chad said in a gruff annoyed voice.

"Quit being such a grouch you old goat." Martha yelled after Chad as he left the room.

Greta quickly caught on that the old couple had both been from America before ending up in Europe. Their relationship made her think back to her grandparents before they had passed away. As she followed Chad she found herself in a rustic-looking kitchen with placemats and mason jars. The look of it gave her a feeling of being in one of the old sitcoms her mom used to watch.

"Well, young lady this is where we keep the baby food. It was left here when they called our daughter off to some base in the middle east. Sadly she was killed in a bombing a while back. She and her child perished when they bombed the base and its nearby residents. Glad that we could help you." Chad said gesturing to a pantry that they tucked into a small corner.

"Thank you both for your kindness. It is something much needed in these hard times." Greta offered a warm smile.

Chad started to walk away but stop with one last thing to say.

"Please, Feel free to stay as long as you would like." With this said Chad offered one of those old, wise smiles.

"I will keep that in mind thank you." Greta's voice was soft this time.

Greta opened the pantry and saw a wide assortment of baby foods from formula to some sort of applesauce. On the left of the pantry on the bottom shelf, she saw baby bottles. Not knowing what to do she just grabbed a bottle and some formula. That is when Martha walked in with both of their masks paired with a large smile.

"Would you like some help?" She asked Greta with a soft youthful voice for her age.

"Yes please." Greta chuckled a little bit.

"Well, first you need to put water into a pot and boil it. This will warm the milk and make it a bit easier for the baby to drink. At this age, they would be more adjusted to breast milk." The old lady sounded as if she missed having someone to teach these things to.

"Oh, I don't know anything about being a mom. I actually rescued Apollo from a house before it collapsed. I tried to save his mom as well, but I wasn't fast enough." Greta dawned a solemn look on her face after her statement.

"Well, for his mother's sake you have now taken up the task of raising the child in this world. While you are here I will teach you what you need to know about raising this child. Step one is feeding him." Martha placed a hand softly on Greta's shoulder.

The chance Greta had been offered something that she couldn't pass up. She felt that it was not going to come up more than once in a life. Maybe it was something that she was put on the path to come in contact with. Was this what death meant by her purpose? Was it for her to save this child and bring him up in this world well enough to become a man?

"Don't worry Apollo you will grow up big and strong. I promise." Greta said as she and Martha went on with the rest of the steps to finish learning how to feed baby Apollo.