Chapter Text
Sharp eyes traced the horizon of a charred city skyline as the sun rose up into the sky. A young woman sat perched on the roof of an old corner store, enjoying one of the far and few moments of silence that had come upon her. Although she was alone, the city never seemed empty. It wasn’t empty.
Although she’d practically grown up in the strange landscape that was the city infested with mutant beings, she remembered what life was like before. When she was younger she had gone to school, eaten out with her mother, sat out in the sun without a care in the world. Now, she was an adult, sat outside in multiple layers and a mask to filter out the dusty, polluted air that surrounded her. Ever since she’d been separated from her family and friends during the disaster, she’d learned quite a bit. She knew how to loot and ration and treat her own wounds. After years of practicing, she could shoot like a pro. And, though it may have seemed superficial in the post-apocalyptic setting, she knew how to cut her own hair; keeping a pair of scissors in her backpack for whenever she could find a mirror. Monsters, aggressive mutants, could grab hair longer than shoulder length. She had learned that the hard way.
Sometimes, in moments like this, she wondered what her loved ones would think of her now. She knew how she looked, how she was Before. Before, she’d been the shy one of the friend group. She was the quiet, gentle, intelligent girl who was willing to help anybody with their homework. Her mother was always scared for her, worried somebody would come along and take advantage of her kindness. The way she wore her heart on her sleeve made her seem vulnerable. She was... Well, she was Niki.
Now... Now, she’s still Niki. She still has her sleek black backpack that she used for track, only now it was used to store the essentials to her survival. She’s the same Niki, just with the added bonus of a sniper rifle slung across her chest and a knife holster on her thigh. As opposed to Before, people knew her now. Maybe not by name, but her presence was well known in the city. Niki wasn’t one for having her own territory, unlike Technoblade or Dream, she earned her respect through her silent power. People knew her. People saw her. They feared her, even.
Slipping her backpack on and adjusting her rifle (which she’d taken to calling Michelle) across her front, Niki brushed non-existent debris off of her cargo pants before making her way down to the cracked sidewalk below. Although nobody was around to see, a small smile was spread across the woman’s face, hidden behind her mask. And if anyone did happen to be around, they didn’t need to know that Niki had found brand new, warm, fuzzy socks yesterday. They didn’t need to know that even as the woman tugged on her skin tight gloves, a bit worn around her trigger finger, she was wearing those brand new socks. They had no idea that the socks with bright patterns and colors that were almost vacant from the rest of the city elevated Niki’s mood a stupidly large amount.
Stepping around a suspiciously large pothole in the ground, Niki made her way further into the city. The woman tended to spend most of her time towards the center of the city, after all, that’s where the action was. In the center of the city was where most of the newbies flocked to when they arrived, Niki had no clue why. Overrun with monsters and covered in graffiti, the center was where all the big names of the area resided. Niki, although she spent her days hunting and gathering there, didn’t live in the center. She didn’t need that target on her back.
After scaling a fire stairwell, Niki scouted out a building that seemed to have resources left behind inside. Readying her knife, she hid herself in the shadows, cautiously making her way to the back entrance of the building before stepping in as silently as she could. The loot wasn’t as good as she had hoped, but she managed to score a few bags of dried meats and some trail mix that hadn’t expired. Just as she was about to leave, the blonde noticed a doorway other than the one that she’d entered through. Hidden behind a shelf and a section of fallen drywall, there was a basement door.
Shoving a packet of trail mix into one of her pockets, Niki made her way over to the door. Although it was shut tight, a well executed shove got the door to swing open, revealing a small open space with a set of stairs leading downwards. Deciding it was best to close the door behind her, Niki pulled out a flashlight, illuminating the room in artificial white light. Taking a deep breath, the woman made her way down the stairs, flinching slightly at the echo of her footsteps. Stopping for only a second, Niki pulled down the hem of her sweatshirt and centered herself, appreciating the quiet of the hidden staircase. The only problem was, the staircase wasn’t quiet.
Straining to hear, a soft sob catches Niki’s attention. Normally, considering she was pretty much cornered, the masked woman would make a run for it, but as she heard another cry, she realized something.
Those were the cries of a child.
Moving faster downwards, Niki found herself faced with another door, which she opened quickly. Shining her flashlight around the room, she found herself face to face with a small, blond boy who looked no more than 3 years old. She stood there for a moment, stunned and confused as to why someone would leave their toddler alone in such a place. Then she saw it.
Horns.
The small child had a mutation, tiny horns starting to grow on the boy’s head. Poor thing, Niki thought sadly, Completely abandoned because of something he can’t control. Slowly, the woman pulled down her mask and discarded her rifle by the door, making her way over to the toddler. Even after seeing her, the child didn’t make any attempt to move away, which Niki took as a good sign. Tear-filled eyes met her own as she knelt down in front of the child.
“Hello,” she greeted softly, as to not scare the kid, “My name’s Niki, what’s yours?” There was a moment of silence.
The child shifted to sit back on his feet, “Mama?” The confused boy questioned, looking into Niki’s eyes.
Taken aback, Niki stuttered out a reply, “No, no, I’m not--” She never got to finish her sentence, getting the wind knocked out of her by a tiny child catapulting himself into her chest.
“Mama!” The little boy exclaims, nuzzling his face into her shoulder.
Trying her best to stay calm, Niki thought back to everything she had ever read about baby animals. Why was this child hugging her, of all people, like his life depended on it? Didn’t animals imprint on their mothers and not random 19-year-olds in dark basements? Wait, she thought.
Then, it made a bit more sense. The poor kid’s horns were just coming in, meaning his hybrid instincts probably were too. And, oh God, she’d just walked up to this abandoned hybrid child. Of course it’d imprint on her. Just her luck. But, while she might not have had the best of luck, Niki wasn’t cruel. She wasn’t going to abandon this kid, she couldn’t.
“Honey,” She started once again, “What’s your name?”
The happy, slightly muffled voice of the child responded with an energetic “Tommy!” soon after followed by a fit of giggles as Niki shifted the boy onto her left hip as she stood up.
“Alright, Tommy. Do you wanna go outside?” The older asked in the kindest tone she could manage. If she was being honest, it had been a while since she’d spoken to someone who wasn’t an immediate threat to her survival.
“Yeah!” the boy responded animatedly, bringing his head up to look at Niki, “Outside! Outside!”
“Okay, we’ll go outside, but you need a mask like mine to keep yourself safe,” Niki replied, pulling a bandana out of her bag’s pocket. It’d work until she could get Tommy an actual mask.
Setting the boy down for a moment, she tied the cloth around his nose and mouth, positioning it so it wouldn’t irritate his developing ram ears. As she moved to the door to collect her sniper rifle, she found herself stopped by a certain clingy toddler attached to her leg. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to walk home, so the blonde lifted the boy back up, checking the safety on her gun as she positioned it as far from Tommy as she could. The boy leaned his head against her shoulder, obviously exhausted after his crying episode earlier.
Making her way out of the building was a bit difficult with a dozing toddler clinging to her, but Niki managed. The trek to the top of the stairs was tiring, but the little mumbles of child gibberish reminded her of the end goal. Taking a deep breath, she set her shoulders and stuck to the shadows, making her way back to where she had been staying for the past 3 or so years.
When she finally reached the outskirts of the city, Niki let out a sigh of relief. Making her way to the old church at the end of the street, she fished her key out of her pocket. Walking around the back, she gently woke up the sleeping boy in her arms, much to his dismay. After setting him on the ground, the woman opened the underground metal doors that lead to an old fallout shelter.
Once inside, Niki set the small hybrid down on her bed (mattress covered in a too-big fitted sheet with multiple pillows, comforters, and blankets on top), brushing his hair out of his eyes and untying his bandana. The shelter was about the size of a classroom, with two mismatched shelving units pushed up against the left wall next to an old-looking wardrobe. The opposite side of the room had Niki’s bed in the corner, the right wall covered in old posters and adverts from Before. A medium sized dining table stood in the middle of the room, a large tin wash basin with towels, soaps and detergents was stored underneath it.
Niki threw her mask and Tommy’s bandana in the basket by the entrance, which was neatly labelled ‘To Be Washed :)’. Moving to light the lantern on the dining table, the older realized how cold the kid must have been without long sleeves. Glancing over to him, she realized that he was indeed shivering. As Niki started to become lost in her thoughts, Tommy’s eyes met hers and her heart immediately melted.
“Do you want something with long sleeves until we can get you new clothes?” She asked the boy as he looked up at her from the bed.
After receiving a tired nod, she moved to the wardrobe that she kept her spare clothes in. Picking out the smallest hoodie that she had, Niki helped Tommy fit his arms into the sleeves. The clothing was too large on him by far, but it was the best they could do until the morning came. After storing away the food from her bag onto the shelves, she measured out a serving of nut mix for both her and Tommy. Grabbing them each a granola bar and a glass of clean water from the dispenser she was lucky enough to have found in an abandoned locker room, Niki sat down on the bed next to the small hybrid and started to eat. She made sure to offer Tommy a bit extra, the poor boy looked awfully malnourished.
Evidently, this was the right move. After only a few minutes, Tommy was finished with his nut mix and had moved onto the granola bar.
“Mama,” Tommy pulled on Niki’s sleeve, “Help me?”
Niki, of course, wouldn’t refuse, “What do you say first?” Gosh, she sounded like her mother.
Tommy sighed, “Please?”
“Of course, Tommy,” Niki said, taking the food out of the toddler’s grip and opening it for him. “Don’t eat too fast, or you’ll make yourself sick,” she warned.
“I won’t!” Tommy responded.
As the moon rose above the city, Niki was no longer just “Before Niki” or “Survivor Niki.” For a moment, she was free from the hellscape of the city. Right now, she was just a person with a hybrid kid fast asleep in her home. As the hostile mutants came out to roam in the darkness, she slept a little less fitfully than usual.