He stared blankly at the baby. The baby blinked its tiny eyes, staring blankly back at him. Four eyes met, and both of them looked incredibly helpless.
"What are you looking at?" Flint hugged the infant tighter, shrinking further into his corner as a barrage of bullets ricocheted off the walls. He frowned, complaining under his breath, "I haven't stretched my legs in months, and I finally get a good fight. If it weren't for you, kid, I would be out there—"
"Waaaaaah—"
The baby stared at Flint's moving mouth, its lower lip quivered, and it let out an ear-piercing wail.
The cry was deafening, practically shaking the room.
Flint felt like his eardrums were going to burst.
"Hey! What are you crying for? It's not like I hit you!" Flint panicked, instinctively reaching out to cover the baby's mouth.
Then he realized he might accidentally suffocate it, and he yanked his hand back in terror.
"Stop crying, come on." Flint lowered his voice, rocking the baby gently. "If the gunfire and the smoke weren't bad enough, you're going to get us both killed with that siren!"
"Waaaaaah!"
Under Flint's 'comforting' threats, the baby only screamed louder.
"Please, little lord, I'm begging you." Flint held the kid like a ticking time bomb. "I'll get on my knees if you just shut up!"
"Waaa—hic!"
At those words, the baby actually stopped mid-scream, staring up at him with tear-soaked eyes.
Flint's mouth twitched, utterly baffled. "Wait, do you actually understand English?"
Before Flint could process it, the baby struggled to turn its tiny head, rooting against Flint's chest, its little pink mouth making desperate sucking motions.
Flint was horrified. Was this tiny gremlin hungry? Was it looking for milk?
Not only was he the nanny, but he was also supposed to be the wet nurse.
More importantly, where exactly was he supposed to get milk?!
After rooting around and finding absolutely nothing, the baby's lip quivered again, and the wailing resumed at full volume.
Flint slumped against the wall, defeated by an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
He thought for a second.
Then he shoved his index finger into the infant's mouth, sighing, "Here, use this as a pacifier."
—
The lab was engulfed in thick smoke.

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