Chapter Text
Things were starting to fall into a new normal.
The terrors they’d faced together on their journey to the Signal Tower and the hardships they’d struggled through while adapting to a new area to survive in had all been crossed, and a somewhat domestic life was starting to fall into place, albeit a bit more horrific than what may be ideal.
Finding food that wasn’t expired or rotting was the first major hurdle. Scavenging from fridges that still had a little bit of coolness left had worked for a while, and they’d been lucky enough to find plenty of canned foods, but preparing a stock to minimize going out into danger was tough. So, every few days, they’d venture together into the woods or to Pale City to recover food that could be eaten. They’d devised a plan — perishables would be eaten as soon as possible while canned food would be saved for when scavenging would be too dangerous or too difficult, like in the cold or storms (they’d learned to trek the Pale City through rain properly after the time spent there, it was just the wind that had to be taken into consideration).
Water had been easy, what with the constant rain. All they’d have to do is set out some buckets and they’d be fine. Shelter had also been surprisingly easy. The suburbs on the outskirts of the Pale City were more so in one piece than the apartments or piles of rubble that threatened to topple nearby. A moderately sized house with boarded up windows and doors had been perfect, and plenty of child-sized entrances were available for ease of access for them. Old clothes and blankets left behind solved the problem of warmth easily, and if it ever wasn’t enough, it would be easy to pry off a few dry boards for fire from the neighboring houses’ floors or similarly blockaded windows.
The new routine brought about a comfort Six had never felt before, and one Mono probably hadn’t either. Knowing that the next day would be the same as the last, and you would be safe, even if something bad happened, was… a good new. One she didn’t mind. Back at the Hunter’s, she’d always vaguely felt as though she wouldn’t be killed, instead provided for, but the routine was painfully boring. She was fed, she slept, she paced, she scratched out doodles of things she’d dreamt of, and she wound her music box. It was agonizingly bland. Safe, but bland.
But this routine was never promised safe, always teetering on completely cushiness and peril at every corner. And Mono was always there to add something new to the mix, even when nothing particularly interesting happened in days.
Living with him just made things… better. Short and simple: better. He was a wonderful companion and just added so much life to the world.
“See anything neat outside today? ” Six would sign in greeting to him.
“Just the usual ominous bwaaaa from the Tower nearby and people screaming around me. You didn’t miss anything exciting,” he would respond while shaking the rain out of his coat. She would smile at him, he would smile back. Because that’s just how Mono is. And it’s perfect.
When they went to sleep there’s only one real problem that couldn’t be fixed. Both of them had nightmares. Not ones that left them mildly unsettled in the morning, but ones that woke them up screaming in the middle of the night. More often than not, their night terrors were the same as they were every night.
Mono dreamt of killing himself. Not in a suicidal way, but in a… time loop way. From what Six knew, she understood that the dream often consisted of the same variables: Mono fights his future self again, and as he delivers the final pulse of power, his present self is revealed under the static image of the Thin Man, and fades with a haunting grin. The City crushes into a small, confined room, and he’s alone. Apparently in his dream, it feels like days go by. He’d wake up crying and desperately reaching for Six, who had become accustomed to groggily putting her arms around a sobbing Mono, clinging to her like she was as fragile as air.
Six dreamt of dropping Mono. In that split moment she had broken inside of the Tower, seeing Mono as the Thin Man, she’d loosened her grip by a fraction of its usual strength, but both she and Mono had noticed in a horrifying way. In reality, the fear of losing him had scared her more than the possibility of relief, and she’d pulled him up. But in her dream, a swarming fog blurs her mind and she lets go of Mono without a single emotion. She watches him fall far from her, with tears lingering in his wake, and an echoing scream ringing in her ears. Mono would shake from her kicking and mumbling sleep talk until she fully awoke, to which she would look at Mono with guilt weighing her heart down, and he’d hold her through the waves of emotion, promising her that he wasn’t angry at her.
Though, more recently, a new nightmare had crept into her dreams. The old one was still persistent, but some mornings had Six waking up confused.
This new dream was vague, and not at all as pristine as the one she’d consistently had. It was out of focus, and out of her grasp — the opposite of the too-clear image she had of Mono’s heartbroken eyes staring at her as he fell into the abyss. In this dream, she felt the world sway around her, somewhat nauseatingly, and a subtle rumble was somewhere near. The rumbling wasn’t like thunder or machinery, but like talking… animalistic grunts and growls concentrated into one area, far away, reaching her ears. Something was in her hands, and it was warm and breathing and wet. She vaguely registered an energy coursing through her, but when she woke up, it vanished.
Six opened her eyes slowly, scrunching her face up in bewilderment. Again?
She sat up from the bed, glancing around her surroundings. It was still the bedroom she’d demanded they set up in upon arriving at the house — one with plenty of blank wallpaper for her to doodle onto, somewhat of a habit she’d established at the Hunter’s, as well as a bed that wasn’t excessively big while still fitting them together. Early milky-blue pre dawn light flowed into the room through the gaps between window boards, accompanied with the familiar sound of rain dripping from off the roof and Mono’s deep, slow breathing.
She looked down at him fondly. Without his paper bag (which she oddly sorely missed) he was very handsome. His hair was soft and relaxing to run her fingers through, his face was naturally kind, and he just… looked so friendly. He always had the ghost of a smile on his cheeks, and his eyes always seemed crinkled with a grin. It was contagious.
Her own face lifted in a soft smile, and she instinctively carded her thin fingers through his soft hair. The ghost on his face became real as he squinted his eyes open. They were so lovely.
“Good morning,” he whispered. She just chuckled lightly. “Sleep well?”
She swayed her head in a so-so way. “Weird dream.”
“The rumbly one?” She nodded. He hummed, and took her hand into his with a gentle squeeze. “It’s better than a nightmare.”
Six sighed in agreement. He looked up at her with sympathetic eyes.
“Do you wanna sleep more? We don’t really have anything planned for today.”
She considered for a moment, then nodded. He opened his arms to her and she happily cozied up to his chest. The rise and fall paired with his heartbeat were already soothing enough to lull her back to sleep, but the quiet humming of her music box’s tune from Mono made it even easier. He pet her hair and the melody resonated in his chest, and she let her eyes close again to sleep.
Waking up was somehow easier and harder than before. She felt well rested, more so than when she’d first woken, but Mono’s warmth and the temptation of more sleep was weighing her down. Luckily, Mono was already up to solve this problem.
“You’re up again!” His voice was cheery, but blessedly quiet. Six answered with a yawn. “You slept for a while, it’s gonna be noon soon.”
Six looked at the window again and saw brighter light seeping in, though still watery with rain. The two had learned to tell time despite the constant showers, even if it wasn’t exactly pinpoint accurate.
“Have you eaten yet? ”
“No, I didn’t wanna risk waking you up.” Six’s shoulders shook with a short, quiet laugh.
“Let’s see what we have.” She wiggled herself from Mono and the blankets before padding out of the room to the kitchen. She could hear him following.
They looked around the cabinets and the somewhat-cool fridge to see what was available. In the end they settled for eating cereal (dry, they didn’t have milk) and sitting on the damp porch as the rain poured down.
“I think it’s gonna start getting cold soon,” Mono said with a mouthful of cereal. Six glanced at him expectantly. “It’s already chilly at night, we had to go get more blankets, remember? And the leaves in the woods are starting to fall a lot more.”
Six hummed in contemplation. “We already have a lot of firewood.”
“Yeah, but we’re gonna need other things too. Like more stuff to light the fires. We didn’t really need to worry about lighters since we didn’t have to keep ourselves warm or cook meat since everything was bad.”
“Isn’t everything still bad? ” Her hands moved cleanly as if to convey a smug tone. Mono rolled his eyes affectionately.
“If we find any good meat, we could save it better now. Like, with snow and stuff.”
“And if we can’t find any food? ” He nodded towards their house behind them.
“We’ve got like… a gazillion cans inside. I just think it’d be good to have some other food so we don’t get sick of everything.” Mono shoveled another handful of cereal into his mouth with a dopey grin, to which Six laughed wholeheartedly at. She rested her head on his shoulder contently.
“Okay. So what’s today’s plan? ”
“Look for stuff that’ll help us. Like lighters and maybe some hunting tools.”
“When do you want to go? ”
He shrugged. “Whenever you wanna.”
She stood and headed inside, with Mono watching her go, before she popped back out from the doorless frame with her yellow raincoat and a little grin.
“I’m ready if you are. ”
Mono slid the bowl under the boarded entrance and brushed himself off, then offered his hand to Six. Their intertwined fingers swung between them as they headed off to scavenge around the houses again.
There was no luck in the neighborhood with finding anything useful to them. They hadn’t found any lighters (they assumed the former residents had taken them upon fleeing) and the only things that could be considered as tools for hunting were guns too big for them to properly utilize.
So, with worse coming to worse, they arrived at the City.
Neither of them had returned since their first adventure. They’d gotten close — close enough to hear the citizens shriek and howl and creak — but not enough to really be in the City. But they had to go back to concretely ensure survival.
It was difficult though. Finding anything salvageable in the rubble was a challenge, and it didn’t help to constantly be running and hiding from the adults. Uneasiness and growing frustration made the traveling even more unbearable, and the rain had gotten to both of them at this point, with it soaking through and through Mono’s coat and the puddles splattering freezing water on Six’s legs. She squeezed his hand in hers, and he glanced back.
“Mono, ” she signed. “Let’s go home.”
He thought for a moment, before shaking his head. “Let’s just find one thing, okay? Anything. Then we’ll go home.”
Six hesitated, but nodded tiredly. He shot her a sympathetic smile and kissed her cheek. The warmth reinvigorated her somewhat.
The search continued for some time, with barely anything found. Night was starting to fall over the City, and Six became increasingly anxious.
“We’ll go soon, I promise,” Mono said again as the two churned through assortments of trash and thrown out items. He was on the opposite side of the alleyway they’d been scrounging through for the past fifteen minutes, tearing through the variety of junk as Six did.
She huffed in exhaustion, but persisted. She knew it’d be worth it — Mono was great at making these sort of things up to her. He’d bring her a dry outfit, let her choose dinner, and he’d use one of those hot chocolate packets to make her a cup. It always warmed her up to sip her favorite drink by the fire with Mono cuddled up to her.
Something glimmered and caught her eye among the rest of the trash. Her fingers carefully dug it out and revealed a small little lighter in her palm. Her heart lifted and relief weighed in her. Despite her shivering and her want to stay curled up, she stood and turned to Mono.
“Hey!” Her small voice caught his attention, and a grin split across his face when he spotted the little trinket she held up.
But then he was gone within moments.
And he was screaming.
Six felt everything truly run cold.
His shrieks were pure horror and panic. She couldn’t see where he’d gone, but she could hear him clear as day. But her confusion diffused in an instant, the moment they stepped out.
Someone, or maybe something, with a sagging, rotting face stepped from the shadows in a looming motion, with a presence that could only be described as inescapable. The gaping holes where their eyes should have been seemed to be looking straight at her. In a thick hand was a canvas sack that writhed with Mono inside. Six understood exactly what was to happen.
She wanted to run, hide, anything but to just stand there. But she also wanted to save Mono. He was screaming for her, begging for help, louder than all the rain in the Pale City. She knew she had no chance against this oppressive figure, but she could never leave Mono behind. Never.
So, she ran up to the stranger, and pointed to the sack. They looked at it, then to her, as if asking for elaboration. To further encourage, she lifted her arms up in a wordless request to be taken. They showed no signs of being surprised, and instead simply picked her up with one hand and threw her in with Mono, who she painfully crashed into.
He was clawing hopelessly at the bag, making an awful scratching noise with his nails. Everything swayed with each step of their captor, and it didn’t help that Mono paced (as much as one can pace in a sack) with a panicked tempo. He rolled and tripped and stumbled, only stopping when Six was dropped on top of him. He’d yelped and floundered away clumsily. Every step had him falling over himself and pressing himself to their surroundings, then flinching at the contact.
“Six? No, no, you should’ve run… You…” His breathing was wild and unsteady as he pushed the fabric around them away from him anxiously. Six peddled backwards and gave him as much space as he could have in the bag.
“Mono,” she said as gently as possible. He looked at her with wide, teary eyes and a heaving chest. “I’m not leaving you.”
The tears spilled and he crashed into her in a sweeping hug while he sobbed into her shoulder. She held him tightly and gripped his coat with every ounce of strength inside her.
Six tried her best to calm him down with all the tactics he often used to calm her: brushing his hair, whispering kind words, squeezing his hands, anything to make him feel better. He eventually stopped crying, but he was still shaking and grabbing onto her like she’d disappear. His breathing was ragged, though steadily returning to a normal pace.
“Are you okay?” She would ask the question every so often, and the answer was always to bury his face into her chest. She wouldn’t push for anything else.
Hours passed, as told by the complete darkness now settled around them, and the real exhaustion seeping into Six’s bones. She wished for her bed, the blankets and pillows, the feeling of being snuggled up to Mono as they whispered goodnight and exchanged one last kiss for the day.
Not to be trapped in a bag as Mono quivered and whimpered.
“Mono, do you want to try to sleep?” She pushed the hair from his face to look at him. His eyes were red and sore from crying, but drooped with the same tiredness. With heavy eyelids, he slowly nodded.
“I hope this is just a nightmare,” he murmured brokenly. It pained Six to see him so cheerless. Still, she bundled him up in her arms and rested her cheek on his head. His coat fell over them like a makeshift blanket, and they were surprisingly able to get relatively comfy (as comfy as a bag could get).
“I love you,” Six said quietly, kissing his forehead.
“Love you too,” Mono replied wearily.
Darkness surrounded Six. She couldn’t see anything in front of her, not even her own hands. Then she came to the shocking realization that she didn’t have hands. She didn’t even have a body. The fear rolled over her in foamy waves until she spotted a light piercing the pitch blackness. Something was turning. Someone was staring at her. Their face was smooth and pale, like a mask, and was framed by well-groomed black hair. The world, what was left of it, rumbled at her, like a threat to keep looking at this person…
Before she was jolted awake by her own fear.
When Six opened her eyes, gasping awake, she was surrounded by something other than just canvas fabric. The walls around her were metal and dripping with water. It was dark, a little cold, and empty. She was also faintly aware of a steady dizziness in her head that made the room feel uneven. She laid in an open suitcase. And next to her was Mono.
“Mono,” she whispered. “Wake up.”
He stirred slowly, mumbling sleepily, then shot up within moments, as if remembering the events of the previous day, or however long it’d been. His chest rose and fell with quick, manic breaths, and his eyes darted around anxiously.
“Where are we?” Six clasped his hand with hers, pulling them close together.
“I don’t know,” she murmured, “but I don’t think it’s a good place.”
She tried to stand, but the dizziness caught her off guard, and she stumbled back to the cold floor. Mono came to her side, albeit a bit wobbly.
It slowly dawned on her, with the even swaying, the rumbling that was familiar but somehow off, the wetness of dripping water, the creaking around them…
“Mono,” she breathed. “I think this is my nightmare.”