Chapter Text
Marceline sat on the floor of the apartment she shared with her mom, coloring. Her mother was pacing around the room on the phone, speaking in hushed but firm tones. That had been happening a lot more recently, Marceline had noticed, and she seemed stressed more and more. Whenever Marceline tried to ask her if something was wrong, she insisted that everything was fine, and she had no reason to worry. Still, though she was young, Marceline wasn’t stupid, and a pit formed in her stomach every time she saw her pick up that phone.
“Today? But that’s not enough time for people to evacuate!” She insisted over the phone, and Marceline looked up at her, trying to piece together what she meant. “We need to tell people, we can’t have a drop with no warning!” she insisted frantically on the phone. “I can’t, have a daughter to think about. Please, reconsider,” she begged. Whatever the person on the other line of the phone said seemed to darken her mood significantly. “I understand. We’ll get there as soon as we can, sir,” she said solemnly, before turning to Marceline.
“Look mom, I drew a picture! That’s you, and that’s me, and that’s a cat with sunglasses, and that’s the sign from that one show, Cheer!” Marceline said happily. Her mother smiled at her, and at the drawing, but she could tell there was something sad behind her eyes. She took the drawing and folded it up in her pocket, ruffling Marceline’s hair as she seemed to try and figure out what to say next. “What’s going on?” Marceline asked as she started to search around their small apartment for something.
“It’s called Cheers with an ‘S’. And… we’re going to go to a special clubhouse, sweetheart,” her mother said as she packed some things away in a book bag. “And we need to leave right now, because we don’t want the party to get started without us,” she explained and even though Marceline believed her, she wasn’t sure if she was being told the whole truth. Her mother grabbed a small thumb drive and placed it in the corduroy pocket on the front of Marcy’s dress. “That’s very important, okay. I want you to make sure you hold onto it.” she said seriously.
“Alright mom! I’ll pack up all my toys,” she said excitedly, at least a little interested in the prospect of meeting some new people. She didn’t go to school, though she did see other kids her age walking down the street with their bookbags. When she asked her mother once when she could start school like them, her mother had given her an uncomfortable look, and told Marceline that because she was special she couldn’t do all the same things those kids did. It didn’t matter much to Marcy, though, she was content to learn from her mom.
“No!” her mom said suddenly, and Marceline stopped in her tracks, suddenly feeling embarrassed and like she’d done something wrong. Her mother softened immensely and quickly explained what she meant. “We won’t have time,” she said gently. “The party is starting soon, and so we have to go right now,” she said, and Marceline nodded. Her mother put something around her neck, a necklace with a plastic card on the end that said her name and had her photo. “Let’s go,” her mother said as she took her hand and they left the apartment.
“Will it take a long time to get to the clubhouse?” Marceline asked as the two traversed the city streets. Her mom seemed to be looking for something desperately, and seemed to spot it as she grabbed their bicycle which was chained up outside their building, and put Marceline’s helmet on, strapping her into her seat before she climbed on and began peddling as fast as she could. The city disappeared behind them quickly, and she finally started to answer Marcy’s question, though it was clear her mind was elsewhere.
“I’m not sure, sweetie,” she said as she peddled. Though Marceline could only see the back of her head, she could already imagine the look of panic on her face as she seemed to push herself incredibly hard. The plastic tag on her necklace swung against her body as Marceline watched as they passed an old looking building and civilization seemed to fall away. A loud ringing began faintly in the distance, and her mom suddenly stopped the bike. “No…no, not yet,” she seemed to say in a panic.
“Mom, what’s going on?” Marceline asked as her mother grabbed her from the bike seat and ran towards the old looking building they’d passed. “Is this the clubhouse?” she asked, but her mother didn’t answer, kicking at the boarded shut door until it opened. The place was empty and covered in spider webs. “I don’t see a party; where’s that noise coming from?” she asked again, still feeling that same concern bubbling inside her that her mother felt incapable of defusing. Her mother leaned down and looked at her seriously.
“Marceline, I need you to go into that building, and stay far away from all the windows okay? And if there’s a desk or anything else, I need you to hide underneath that. I’ll tell you when it's safe to come out, I promise,” she urged, and her mother looked so desperate that Marceline did was she asked without following up. As she entered the building, her mother pushed against the broken doors, seemingly trying to hold them closed from the outside. With the doors closed, the old building was incredibly dark, and Marceline crouched herself away from the windows.
The boom that followed only seconds after was so loud it made Marceline’s ears burn, and the windows shatter. From her safe little corner, none of the broken glass hurt her, but she began to panic as she thought about her mother. Still, she stayed put just as she was instructed when two more loud, painful explosions occurred, tossing dust and other stuff through the broken windows of the building. Marcy’s ears were ringing, and she knew tears were streaming down her face when the doors opened and her mother walked in.
“Mom!” she called out, rushing towards her and grabbing tight to her shirt. Her mother’s face looked paler than it had before, and her eyes seemed a bit more sunken in. She squeezed her eyes tight as if she had a headache, but she was there and that was what mattered. “What was that?” Marceline asked terrified, and her mother didn’t answer at first, just looking her over and checking her arms for any signs of injury. She scanned the building for any indication of breaches, and then spoke to her.
“Were you hurt? Did anything glowing touch you?” she asked and when Marceline shook her head she gave a simplified explanation. “That was… a big monster. A lot of big monsters, actually, and they’re gone now, but we really need to get to the clubhouse to make sure we don’t get hurt by anything they left behind,” she explained and Marceline nodded even though she wasn’t sure what anything she said meant. “Come on, let’s go back to the bike,” she said, but as they walked outside, it seemed whatever monster had attacked had taken the bike as well.
“Did the monster hurt you when you were standing outside?” Marceline asked, and her mother just gave her a weak smile as she took her hand and the two began walking the wasteland. The two traveled for what seemed like ages, as they stopped only occasionally to rest in overturned trailers or abandoned buildings they found. Marceline’s mother developed a nasty cough, but didn’t acknowledge it when asked about it. And when her mother had been in danger and Marceline had saved her, she’d seemed afraid.
Her mother had told her a long time ago that she was special, different from other kids her age. She’d told her that she’d have powers, and be able to do things that other people couldn’t do. And, that because of it, she needed to be very careful with how she used that power. Marceline thought she’d been doing a good thing when she stopped the mean dog, and protected her mother, but now she wasn’t so sure. That was one of the last times she saw her mom, before she sent her away, and now she was sure that she knew the reason why.
When she’d finally gotten to the clubhouse like her mom had said, there was no party like she’d said, just a bunch of skeletons. She stayed there for only a few days, but when she realized that her mother wasn’t coming back, she set out to find her and apologize for scarring her. She started back to her old apartment, but ended up turned around and lost. That was when she’d first encountered the oozing monsters, which had tried to attack her. When she tried to hurt them the same way she had the mean dog, it hadn’t worked, and she had to run.
When she found the camping supply store, she grabbed the first weapon she could find and hid out in a tent, hoping that her mom would find her before the monsters did. When she’d heard movement outside the tent, she’d been ready to wack whoever she found with her fishing rod, only to see that they weren’t monsters. Although she would have preferred to see her mom, the two of them seemed normal, and the man gave her a toy so she’d feel better. She was going to ask them their names, when what she’d been afraid of happened.
“They found us,” Simon said seriously as he turned towards the two mutants walking towards them, knife in hand. Betty readied her shotgun and took one down, but the loud blast caused the second one to lunge. Marceline screamed in panic as it almost grabbed her, only for Simon to slash it across the neck before it could touch her. Both laid still on the ground, and Simon and Betty panted for a moment, taking stock of what they’d just done. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” he said with a shutter.
“Don’t feel bad.” Marceline said quietly. When both of the adults looked at her, she explained her reasoning. “They don’t… they don’t have souls. I know, I tried to eat one of their souls once, and it didn’t work, so…” she admitted. She knew her mom had told her not to mention the specifics of her powers to strangers before, but they had saved her, so she was sure it was fine. Both of them looked at each other curiously, and Marceline figured they’d be afraid of her. “What are your names?” she asked, hoping to distract them.
“I’m Betty, and this is my fiancé, Simon.” Betty explained and Marceline nodded, though she didn’t know what a fiancé was. “Do you know where your parents are?” she asked and Marceline shook her head even though she did know where her dad was. But her mom had told her he was a bad man, and that she should stay away from him, and she didn’t want to break another one of her rules. “Well, you shouldn’t be out here alone. This is no place for a little girl,” she said, before offering Marceline her hand, which she cautiously took.
“Where are we going?” Marceline asked as the three of them walked through the remains of the store. Simon grabbed a jacket and held it up in front of her, before nodding and giving it to her. “Can I have the black one instead?” Marceline asked, pointing to the jacket hung up next to the one he’d grabbed, and he relented, handing it to her. “Thank you!” she said pleased. “Can I have a knife too? Yours is really cool, Simon,” she offered, and he shook his head quickly, explaining something important to her.
“No, you don’t need one. Adults are supposed to protect kids, not the other way around,” he said before ruffling her hair on impulse. It reminded her of the way her mom did it, and Marceline decided that she was glad she was with Simon and Betty. “It's a long walk to our next stop. I can carry you, if you want,” he offered, and Marceline took him up on the offer immediately. Simon had always liked kids, and Marceline was adorable despite the circumstances. He knew intrinsically that he needed to protect her like she was his own.
“We should try and get to the old hospital. Best case scenario, there’s more people. Worst case scenario, maybe there’s some medicine that we could use,” Betty suggested and Simon nodded in agreement. She was proud of Simon for how quickly he’d stepped up to help little Marceline, but she couldn’t help but feel conflicted. After all, she’d never been particularly close with any kids, and now for the foreseeable future she was going to be in charge of one. It wasn’t that Betty didn’t like kids, completely the opposite, in fact.
Kids didn’t tend to like her. Maybe it was her way of thinking, or maybe they knew that there was something wrong with her and gravitated away. She tucked her arms inward as she thought about the fact that when that mutant had lunged at Marceline, she’d frozen in panic, and Simon had to save her. How was she supposed to be a half decent caregiver when she wasn’t able to protect a kid from the hazards of this new world. She wondered if maybe Marceline would be better off with Simon on his own, when he spoke to her.
“She’s already dozed off,” Simon said quietly, and when she looked over, Betty found that Marceline was snoring in his arms. “Poor thing, I can’t imagine what she’s been through,” he said, and Betty nodded in acknowledgement without saying much else. Simon stopped in his tracks and held her hand with his free arm. “What’s on your mind princess?” he asked and Betty knew that she couldn’t tell him about the deeply complex feelings in her head, because he’d probably think she was a horrible person. Still, she found it impossible to lie to Simon.
“I just… I’m worried. When that thing lunged at us, I froze up completely both times. How am I supposed to keep either of you safe when I’m like this,” she offered and Simon looked at her sympathetically, gave her forehead a kiss, which made her tear up. “I mean… the world ended, Simon. Us three might be the only people left in the entire world. If…if we’d gone to get Chinese food, we’d be… we were so close to being dead. What if this is how life is forever? What if I make a dumb decision and someone gets hurt?” she offered.
“Betty… I love you so much, princess. And think back, you’re the one who said we should go back for the Enchiridion, you’re the one who picked the lock that let us into the basement. You’re the one who saved us. You don’t have to worry about keeping me and Marceline safe, we’re both going to keep her safe, and we’re both going to keep each other safe. Plus, you looked gorgeous taking down that mutant,” he added with a smile, and Betty laughed because even now he was finding a way to make her blush.
“You are everything, Dr. Petrakov,” she said with a smile, and the two continued their walk to the nearby hospital. The door was completely blown off and the windows were smashed, which was a bad sign for it having any human life, but the mutants hadn’t made their way there yet. Marceline woke up as they made their way inside, though mostly she just looked around the place, in seeming awe of the state of it. Simon and Betty had to agree, it felt wrong to see such a massive hospital emptied out.
“It’s getting dark out there,” Simon noted, before adding something else. “I’ll try and board up the doors and windows so we don’t have to worry about mutant attacks for the night. Why don’t you two go searching for some medicine,” he offered as he went about looking for smashed furniture to barricade the door. Marceline reached unconsciously for Betty’s hand, which she offered, and the two began searching empty patient rooms for any useful medications. The skeletons which littered the halls made Betty shudder, but Marceline didn’t seem to mind.
“Yes, jackpot,” Betty said as she located a bottle of penicillin. Considering the current state of the world, this was probably the second-best thing they could find, behind radiation medication. Marceline looked at her curiously as she shoved several bottles of it in the bag she’d taken from the camping store. “It’s medicine that helps you not to get sick if you get cut,” she said before grabbing several bottles of over-the-counter cold medicine, bandages, hypodermic needles, and a few cans of soup which were still labeled as good.
“Wow! You’re really smart,” Marceline offered, and Betty looked away, embarrassed. “What does this medicine do?” she asked, holding up a bottle of something called “Sildenafil”. When Betty saw it, she took it away and put it back, only mentioning that it wasn’t going to be necessary for their journey. “What about this?” she asked, holding up another bottle of pills labeled ibuprofen, which Betty looked happy about. “My mom takes these!” she said happily, and Betty put them in her bag. “Can you teach me how to shoot that?” she asked, pointing to Betty’s riffle.
“I… maybe when you’re older,” she offered, and Marceline seemed to accept that answer. “And… I’m not really that smart. Simon’s a genius though.” she said as the two walked back over to where Simon had boarded up the door and dragged some mattresses from patient rooms over to the main hall, where he’d also managed to start a fire. “Look, he even made us a little camp for the night,” she pointed out, and Marceline shook her head.
“Yeah, but you found all that good medicine, and shot that scary monster. So you’re both great,” she justified before yawning and sprawling out on the mattress Simon had laid out for her. Betty let her words sink in a little bit, letting out a sigh of relief and laying down on the mattress next to Simon, thinking about how it’d been several days since she’d slept on one. Laying there, with Simon’s heart beating next to hers as they quietly drifted off to sleep, Marceline snoring quietly next to them, Betty could almost pretend the world hadn’t ended at all.