Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[May 14th, 2001]

It was a normal day in Gravesfield Connecticut. The sky was blue after a long rainstorm outside the previous day and people were out of the house running errands and enjoying the springtime weather.

5 year old Luz was outside playing in the yard with her Azura action figures while her mother Camila was inside making lunch in the kitchen. School was out that day due to a suprise case of lice and Luz's mother decided to stay home to look after her while her dad Manny went to work.

The family had lived in the town since before Luz had been born and always thought the area seemed right to settle down in. They got the place dirt cheap due to their realtor being tipped off by someone who gave the offer at the right place at the right time. Manny wouldn't stay quiet about how it made "all the difference in the world" for a few days after the sale. The house also had low property value due to an old shack that had been run down near the property.

Whatever luck they had seemed to be paying off and life couldn't really be better for the Noceda family within the small town of gravesfield.

Camila had the tv on in the living room adjacent from the kitchen as she and Luz were going to catch the new episode of The Great Witch Azura TV animated series while they snacked on lunch. For now it was just the news channel, spitting it's random daily news reports covering whatever event was happening around the world. One story however seemed to be quite serious and interrupted the standard news report on NBC.

https://youtu.be/e-6Niw_ZTJo?si=bUY1YykjiHDlwLCc

[May 21th, 2001]

Luz, her mother, and her father, have been sitting inside for 2 days now. It seemed that whatever was going on in New Mexico was spreading around the United States, Mexico, and even Canada. The emergency order for everyone to stay inside was given out on the 19th as the sky began to darken with thick clouds and weird events that almost seemed like magic started happening accross the country.

Weird creatures began strolling accross the street and otherworldly plants started to grow all around the continent. Small crablike creatures would pop out if thin air with a loud fizzle and begin to pounce on animals or humans alike, while what looked like large 4 legged bugs started to pass by houses, using their wings to jump high in the air.

Right before the lockdown order was sent on the 19th, Luz was out playing in the back yard when she saw a little creature slowly crawl it's way toward her. Luz didn't sense any danger, opting to approach the little creature. Camila was watching from the window and instinctively came to pull Luz away while it lunged at Luz's head. Camila was incredibly curious of the creature too, as she was a vet after all but quickly made her way back inside to call animal control. Of course, no one from animal control came as the order to stay in doors from the government was issued.

In the present, things looked bleak, and both Luz's father and mother were committed to keep Luz distracted from what looked to be a worsening situation. Ever since Camila saw the haunting body of a human shambling around with one of those crabs on their heads, the curtains of the house stayed closed.

For now the family trated this time at home like a family vacation. They had plenty of food left in their emergency kit in the basement and small propane stoves to cook with when their power and gas was cut. Luz's favorite game was Pictionary and would love to help with the stories that her dad created for the little Dungeons Dungeons & More Dungeons games they played together.

Overall, the Noceda family had hope that their life would return to normal. Only time would tell if that was the fate that sat in wait for them. As long as Luz was happy and comfortable, things would be ok.

Sounds of distant gunfire was heard from the house that night. Luz stayed up to try and get a sneak peak of what was going on outside through her window due to her youthful curiosity. Her mom forbid her to open the curtains but if it was for just a peek it would be ok, right?
She peeked under the curtains and gazed out into her neighborhood. It was impossible to see much due to it being night with clouds blocking the moon, but the street lights lit up enough for her to see some crazy plant life and the odd alien creature. In the distance she could see a large blue glow in what looked to be a spot of swirling clouds. It was in that direction that she could hear the odd pops and bangs from the military fighting something in the distance.

Before looking away to head back into bed, she saw something odd that suprised her. A tall man with a breifcase appeared on the sidewalk outside, walking down the road. He looked to be wearing some sort of formal suit, like what a businessman would wear. He was out of place, walking around at night along a suburban street. Did he have family here? Walking home from work late?

"Mom and dad sometimes got home late" thought Luz, trying to rationalize in her head.

Before she could ponder any further, the man did something truly eerie. He stopped for a moment to realign his tie under the light of a street lamp and turned to look at Luz directly in the eyes. Luz ducked to hide under the window with a chill rising up her spine. How could he have noticed her? It's not like she was blatantly giving away where she was? Had he been following her?

She didn't want to peek again, but her curiosity got the better of her and she slowly raised her eyes to peek out the window. This time the man was gone, like he had never been there at all. Luz ran to her bed and covered herself in the covers, shaking with fear. After witnessing the scary man outside, Luz ended up asking if she could sleep with her parents. In the end, the whole family slept together in the same bed.

[May 23rd, 2001, 7:00am]

Luz was eagerly waiting at the door. Today was the day she could go outside and play in the front yard again.
The United States Military arrived the day before, clearing out the populations of alien creatures from the town. It wasn't a large amount of personnel but it was definitely enough against the seemingly unintelligent creatures roaming around like animals. The biggest challenge they faced was the hoards of the 6 legged giant bugs that kept digging up from under the ground.
However a perimeter around the town was established and a forward operating base was set up near the town's center.

"How about we go get some fresh air?" Said Camila taking Luz's hand.

"Mama... It's safe outside, right?"

"Of course mija, the nice men and women in uniform will keep us safe ok?"

"Ok."

"Oh, honey? See if you can find out how long the lockdown is going to be ok? We are running out of a few things in the house." Called Manny, poking his head out from the kitchen before Camila and Luz could step out.

"Don't worry, nothing that Captain Noceda and the Great Witch Luz can't handle, right?"

Luz looks up at Camila with a large smile, one that just mealted the heart of her mother.
Both gave a little wave to dad as they roamed around to complete their mission.

Camila and Luz began to head towards the main civilian camp at the center of town. They passed many damaged buildings and homes, some looking like victims of breakins or collateral damage when the Military arrived to kill all the hostile creatures. Camila made sure to keep Luz close as she already seemed to be getting distracted by the little things all around her. The two passed military personnel as they walked, giving little waves or nods in greeting while they passed. It seemed the soldiers liked seeing Luz around her mom, the notion that what they were doing was actually helping people put smiles on their faces.

Quickly, Luz and Camila arrived at the main camp. The place was busy and filled with military men and women of all ranks asking questions and answering questions/concerns from the townsfolk. A gurney rushes by with two medics carefully moving a wounded soldier into a medical tent nearby. It seemed everyone was running at full capacity, it would be a wonder if they could get what they needed to do done.

Camila kneels down infront of Luz and puts a hand on her arm.

"Luz, I'm going to need you to be a big girl for me and stay here with the other kids ok? I'll just be talking with the nice man for a few minutes."

"Ok, I promise!"

"Good, now be safe ok?"

"Ok!"

Camila then gets up and walks over to the military tents currently hosting people's questions.

Luz watches her mom leave and starts to stroll over to the hastenly built playground made for the area. A couple other kids are playing around in the sand making sand castles while others play on the monkeybars and swings.
Picking what to play on was the hardest thing to do for Luz as this was her first and possibly last time she had to play outside on her own. However something caught her eye laying in the corner of the park, an empty snake skin.
Luz's eyes widened with excitement! This was the first time she had seen this before in person and she couldn't hold herself back in trying to show the others at the park.

"Ooo! Ooo! Guys! Look what I found!" Luz says running over to the kids in the sandbox

"Ew! What is that?"

"That's gross!"

"Don't touch that dead thing!"

Luz was too excited to take in what the kids were saying and continued with passion

"It's not dead, this is the skin of a garter Snake! They shed their pajamas as they grow! It means there's a snake near us, and it just got a lot bigger!"

"Ew!!" They yell, running away.

Luz's excitement fades as she is left alone in the park.

Letting out a chuckle from behind their gas mask, one of the military soldiers walks over to Luz with a small flower in hand.

"Hehe, that was pretty funny kid. Never heard someone call it pajamas before." Said the solder.

her voice seemed kind and understanding even under the thick gasmask which made her sound like she was talking through a phone. The soldier squats down and hands Luz the flower.

"Here kid, hope this cheers you up. If there is anything we need more of right now, it's smiles."

Luz smiles and admired the flower. It was a small daisy that was picked off the grass only a few seconds ago. Of course Luz didn't know this but to soldier, it was the perfect thing to cheer her up.

"So, got any more facts about snakes?" The solder said taking a seat beside Luz on the ground.

------

Camila was able to get the answers she was looking for, but none of them were good. The commander in charge was already busy trying to answer the questions and concerns from other adults when she got there and had to painstakingly wait until she found an opening. Eventually she found one and forced her way toward the commander.
The commander was sitting in a military green lawn chair within his command tent with a look of exhaustion on his face. You could tell that he has been up fighting for a good few days now and would really like some coffee or time to sleep.
The chair was stationed right outside the tent and had been taking questions and having conversations with people while sitting down.

"Hello, sir, I was hoping you could tell me how long you think the lockdown will continue for? Me and my family are starting to run short on important goods."

"(Sigh) look, I'm sorry ma'am... but the way things seem to be going, the lockdown is gonna stay in affect for the foreseeable future. If your looking to restock on supplies I suggest you go to the stockpile of food and medical products we set up over there before it's all taken."

The man looked done. It was obviously the millionth time he had been asked that question and was beyond tired of answering it.

"How many of you are out hunting down these creatures? It couldn't just be us that's been infested with them."

"It's all of us ma'am, the whole bloody U.S Army is scattered around the country trying to get everything back in control. I haven't gotten a meaningful break for longer than I'd like to admit."

The commander then begins to sit up from his chair and quickly straightens his uniform. He gives Camila a stern look before continuing.

"That's going to be the last question I can take unfortunately. Pleasure talking to you ma'am but I have some duties to attend to."

"Wait! Will your troops be stayi-" Camila was cut off by his subordinates shutting the tent closed in her face.

"Hey! I demand more answers as a citizen under your protection!" Yells Camila doing her best job at knocking on the draped canvas infront of her.

She would have preferred more time trying to coax the man out but ended up getting stopped by two armed soldiers who escorted her away from the tent. She was mad, but had to accept it was the most information she was probably going to get. In the meantime she should try and get back to Luz who she could see sitting in the side of a sandbox with a soldier.

-----

"And then, Azura took out her- her witches staff and... Blew up the evil serpent!"

"Oh my goodness! What a heroic ending!" Said the soldier, taking in the whole story of the Great Witch Azura tv show from a 5 year old.

It was remarkable how enthusiastic this kid was, first Luz was talking about snakes but quickly changed topics to dragons, griffons, witches, writing, all the way to Azura in the span of a couple minutes. Luz didn't really care in the moment if the person beside her couldn't keep up half the time, she was just happy to talk about the things she loved to someone other than her parents.

Camila approached the two right before Luz started to act out the cool moves she saw in the show. The soldier talking to Luz, now with the gas mask off quickly introduced herself to the mother of this child she was with.

"Thank you so much for keeping Luz safe while I was gone Miss."

"Oh no need to thank me ma'am, your daughter is quite the infectious bundle of joy." She says with a smile, clearly in a better mood than she was in before.

Luz runs to her mother's leg and gives her mom a big hug which easily melts the heart of this lady in full uniform.

"I hope that this crisis ends soon and your normal lives can continue, your both such good people." The lady says putting back on her mask.
"Please stay indoors whenever there is trouble, from the things I've seen everywhere, whatever we're up against is probably far worse than anything on earth" she says under her mask.

Before Camila could press the question of what exactly she meant, Luz calls up to her with the snake skin in hand.

"Ma ma! Look! I found snake pajamas!"

Camila lets out a laugh, "oh my gosh! How neat is that! Looks like this snake needs new pajamas!"

The giggling of between the two of them stops however as the kind lady begins to frantically prep her weapon and gear before urgently walking off to the rest of her group.

"I'm so sorry ma'am but looks like something critical is happening! I wish you luck!" She yells before running off to her group.

Both Luz and Camila wave and say bye to their new friend with Luz visibly upset. Camila gives her daughter a kiss on the forehead in reassurance as they begin to walk back home.

Walking home was tedious, you could feel the tension in the air as military personnel began to speed up and move erratically to their positions as it looked like they were moving into defensive positions around and in the town. What just was happening Camila didn't know but she was determined to keep herself and Luz safe by getting back to the house and settling down again.

{May 24th, 2001}

It was quiet at first...
The Noceda household was peaceful with a game of dndnd and quality family time... until it wasn't. At around 11:00am yesterday, Luz's parents made the decision to turn off their radio around Luz to keep her from the carnage being reported in news reports. The situation within the U.S has spread around the world while a new organized hostile force began their war on humanity just as they began to walk home that day from the military camp in town. Hope was running out and both adults were ready to keep their child safe at all costs.

After it became too difficult to maintain a signal, Camila and her husband stopped trying to listen all together. The only thing transmitting over radio was static and the odd tune of distorted trumpets. What spooked Camila more than she had thought was the sounds from the radio only happened when Luz walked by. After the 5th instance in a row, Camila turned off the radio for good. Whatever was happening outside didn't need a reporter to explain anymore anyway and spending what free time they had together with Luz was more important. As the sounds of distant fighting came closer, all that was left to do was hope that this crisis would end.

Chapter Text

(October 1st, 2001)

"Are you sure about this Manny?" Whispered Camila at the diner table. The two of them had been sitting alone to discuss the families future privately between eachother.

"It's the best option we have, or else we might not be able to survive much longer." Replies Manny, visibly anxious to carry out his plan.

It's been 5 months under the occupation of earth's new rulers.
The "Combine" as they are were named, swept through every single country in earth in 7 hours, laying waste to any major city or military target that was too much of an obsticle for clearing out on foot. Their superior technology and ability to travel into our universe wherever they wanted, quickly caused every world military to be overrun and their governments overthrown.

Gravesfield wasn't spared in the fighting. Most of the soldiers that came to the city previously had left to join in the defense, or stayed behind to keep up with civilian aid. What ended up happening was more of a desperate scramble to put up any sort of resistance.

The Combine seemed to have an infinite supply of energy and resources which did nothing for humanities struggle for survival. When one vehicle or cybernetic creature was destroyed, another would take its place in the fight. The tall figure of the striders struck fear into earth's soldiers as one cannon shot from it's weapon could obliterate any vehicle or building it came across. Drop ships and gun ships made through the merging of technology and organic beings made them deadly and precice, quickly making short work of any human equivalent. The worst were the advisors, grublike creatures with abilities akin to telekinesis. Soldiers wouldn't have a chance as whole platoons would be picked up into the air and effortlessly crushed by the alien creature floating before them.

In the end, every earth military and government found their end the same way, utterly defeated.

The Noceda's stood firm in their home, hiding in  their basement until the commotion passed. It was the same story for billions across the world. Humanity was at the mercy of the Combine and the threat of immediate extinction was only a matter of time. However the Combine never killed off the human race, instead they did what gave them their namesake. The combine began to forcefully integrate humanity into their empire, not before ruining the lives and spirits of humanity itself.

When the war ended, an unlikely man by the name of Wallace Breen was chosen as humanities representative and negotiated treaties that ended up stopping the struggle. Now the human race can only watch as the Combine begin to strip the earth of it's recourses and hold every human on earth captive against their will.

The Noceda family had been doing their best at staying alive and out of trouble as food began to dwindle in the US. For the past two months the Combine have been forcefully relocating every North American citizen to new cities in Europe which Camila and Manny did not want do to under any circumstance. There is no telling what the Combine would do to their family if they moved with the rest of humanity into one concentrated location.

On the other hand however, living conditions in their house have gotten worse since the end of the 7 hour war. With dwindling supplies and lack of upkeep of infustructure from hostile creatures and frequent Metrocop raids, it was only a matter of time before it would be too late to find somewhere truly safe to live. After all, a sense that someone had been watching them was really starting to get to Camila and Manny.

"We will leave at 4am when it's still dark and leave out our back door. There were people in the neighborhood across the forest in our back yard rumored to be planning an escape into the exclusion zone."

"Are you sure about this Manny? If your ready I'll be behind you every step of the way."

"I'm sure if it. It's not safe here anymore, not with the combine litteraly at our doorstep."
Manny sighs and grabs Camilas hand,
"Look... I don't know what other choice we have. We can't reach our families and fleeing our home is the only thing I can think of."

Manny glances at Luz, prompting Camila to turn to her daughter.
"Besides, it's for her sake."
Both parents now watched Luz playing with her Azura action figures on their living room couch. The sounds of Luz playing seems to calm their nerves as both Camila and Manny got up to send Luz to bed.

"Come on my little witch, it's time to get ready for bed."

(That Night)

Luz had been rushed into bed earlier than usual and she knew it. She wasn't tired at all and reeeally wanted to continue the epic battle she was acting out with her action figures. Azura would have swooped in and saved her friends from the dreaded aliens if it wasn't for her mom and dad.
"I wish I was a witch, then I could beat the bad guys!" She thought. "I wanna be just like Azura!"

Luz sits up and climbs out of bed to stand next to her window. She had been trying her luck every night to see if she could catch sight of a shooting star to make a wish. The clouds never seemed to let up though, and we're getting thicker and thicker by the days. It seemed more and more likely to Luz that she would never see the stars again with every night that passed.

Before going back to bed, Luz spotted a familiar man talking to some metro cops outside by the road. A tall pale man in a blue suit with a briefcase was conversing with one of the Combine! Luz quickly ducked below the window, scared to look again. That man had given her nightmares previously after she first saw him outside a couple months ago but soon got over her fear. However seeing the weird man again reminded her of her nightmares and she definitely didn't like it, even if it looked like he hasn't seen her yet. Luz waited a couple seconds before checking to see if he was gone before poking up again, knowing he disappears helped calm her nerves. This time though, the man didn't disappear and Luz was able to watch him walk out of sight. The man finished talking talking to the Metrocop and turned a full 180° until he was facing away from the Metrocop entirely. He kept walking until she couldn't spot him anymore allowing Luz to take a sigh of relief. The scary mystery man was gone and she could finally go to sleep.

(October 2nd, 2001... 3:30am)

Luz was Woken up by the sounds of her mother entering her room. it was still pitch black outside and Luz very much wanted to continue sleeping in her warm bed. However, Camila was right at work packing clothes from her closet into a suitcase on the floor

"Ma ma... why are you taking my clothes?"

"Because we are going to move Mija! Somewhere far away from the scary people"

Luz gasps at the answer but continues to persue with questions "All my friends are here though! Will they be ok?"

Camila stops packing and grabs Luz's hand.
"Your friends will be ok Luz. Their parents are strong and will look after them, but me and Manny agree that it's not safe for us here anymore; not safe for you..."

Luz may have been 5 years old at the time but she could hear the emotions in her mother's voice. Before Luz could say another word, Camila wrapped her arms around Luz in a hug.
"Promise me you'll be big and strong like Lazura for me today?"

"Mhm!" Luz rubbed her face against her mother in agreement.

"Alright, put what you want in your backpack and we'll both walk to the back door where daddy is."

"Okaaay!" Luz answers cheerfully, quickly grabbing her favorite book and action figures to place in her bag.

After only a couple minutes, Luz and Camila emerge from upstairs hand in hand with their bags. Manny is alone standing with his hiking bag on his back and a flashlight in his hand.

Luz and Camila take one last look around at their home, fully taking everything in before they make their way into the unknown. Before the Combine, their home looked so lively, bright, and comforting. Now in the darkness with a cold chill racing down their necks, their home looked barren... dead... The bottom story windows had be boarded up due to shattering from potential thieves, their carpet uncleaned and spotted with dirt stains from Metrocops entering their home for a head count, the walls showing visible wear like the whole building was rotting. The sight made Luz stay close to her parents as she struggled to put in her heavy coat.

Manny, already ready to leave and helping with final checkups, took a moment to retrieve a flower from their backyard and put it in Luz's hair.

"Here you go little lady, this should give you good luck." Manny said, lifting Luz onto his shoulders.

The group exited the house, turning off all light sources and locking all doors before setting off. For a second they all stood still, anxious about what they could run into ahead. With a couple deep breaths, they all steadied their resolve just as the first snowflakes began to fall...

(October 2, 2001, 4:25am)

The Noceda Family began making their way through the forest situated in their backyard, passing by the creepy old house on their property. The property was less expensive due to the unfenced border of the property leading out into public land but for this one cenario it turned out to be more valuable than ever. With the snowfall picking up and the ground quickly collecting a large layer of fresh, soft snow, navigation slowly got more complex.

Their goal as planned by Manny was to meet up with some fellow runners a half hour away and find safe directions into the exclusion zone where the Combine didn't have a presence. However things have quickly gone awry as the group lost track of their path. Land marks were hard to spot at night within a dark forest and using a flashlight risked getting spotted by animals, aliens, or combine. Walking along, they had found themselves entering more and more unfamiliar forest with Zen plant life becoming more and more frequent along the forests floor. The Noceda's never knew that their back yard bordered on such a large stretch of forest and underestimating it has become their biggest problem.

All the while Luz had been dozing off on Manny's shoulders. She couldn't move very fast compared to her parents, let alone in her current outfit, so hitching a ride on her father was the fastest option. The sun wasn't going to come out for another hour at most and the silent sound of an empty forest muffled by the puffy snow was incredibly soothing to the ears. What kept her up was the talking between her mother and her father on what exactly they were going to do.

"Come on Manny, we should have found the clearing by now!"

"I'm trying my best honey, but you know I couldn't freely scope out a path without being detained by the Metrocops. Plus all these alien plants are showing up more and more, I don't recognize where we are!"

"I just hope we find a way out of the forest soon, it will be easier to get our bearings among the houses than in the snow covered ground-"

Just then in the distance, a long agonizing howl echoed through the forest. The noise didn't sound like any earthly animal and definitely didn't give the impression it was anything safe. Both Manny and Camila stood silent like a deer in headlights, silently hoping that whatever caused the noise wasn't actively after them.

"What the hell was that..." Whispers Manny, frantically glancing around with his eyes, scanning the forest for dangers.

"Manny... Manny, do you see anything?"

"No... We're still safe..."

"Come on then! That noise is only more proof that we need to keep moving!"

Camila was right, they needed to keep moving, anything was better than becoming an easy target by standing still. With haste they began to make their way through the trees, scanning their surroundings for signs of danger. It was only a couple minutes later when Manny saw something in the distance.

"Wait! Shh! Look over there..."

Camila notices Manny's change of tone, like he had spotted something up ahead. His face didn't bare a concerned look so Camila eagerly asked what caught her husband's attention.

"Do you see something Manny?" Asks Camila, lowering her voice in an excited whisper.

"Look! In the distance... Those are lights right?"

Manny pointed out in the direction he was looking, eagerly hoping it was somewhere out of the forest. Quickly Camila spotted the lights too.

"Those look like they could be street lights or house lights!" Exclaimed Camila, invigorated with new found energy.

"Let's go see, maybe we will find some help!" Said Manny, gesturing to follow.

Luz definitely didn't have the energy to do much, especially from waking up so early. However, it was impossible to not feel excited as the energy from her parents rubbed off into her as they quickly made their way over to the lights.

The closer they got to the houses, the greater the volume of Zen plant life became. The change had been gradual throughout their treck into the woods but it was quite obvious now that they were venturing into dangerous territory.

As they ran, it became more and more obvious that it was a clearing into another suburb. The view of houses became clearer with every step forward.

"Manny! Stop!!" Camila whispered, loud and stressed enough to sound almost more like a hiss. "Look! Strider legs! The combine must be here!"

Manny stopped in his tracks to take a good look at where he was running towards. Camila was right, about 60ft infront of them was a main street filled with Combine. What looked to be two Combine APC's and two striders were standing there patiently at a barrier.

"Is this a checkpoint?" Manny asked himself, curious to why they were here.

Camila was the one to put the pieces together. It was so obvious that she couldn't believe that it hadn't dawned on her earlier. While moving through the forest getting lost, they ended up treading the border of the exclusion zone while looking for their escape group.

"Manny! Manny!" She whispered to get his attention, "that's the border of the exclusion zone!"

Before they could react, another gurgling howl rang out through the trees which the combine seemed to hear as well. Manny put Luz down behind some bushes and they all took a moment to hide. They sat still, trying not to be noticed knowing that whatever made that noise was on the move. It was then the Noceda's heard gunfire, rapid shots of smgs, pistols, AR2s, and heavy weapons on the striders and APC's. Manny covered Luz's ears as sounds of screeching from multi eyed 4 legged creatures ran towards the blockade with large beefy versions of the antlions started actively breaking their line. Some were taken out by the striders heavy gun which made a massive sound when firing making Camila shake and Manny sweat from how terrifying it sounded.

The Noceda's stayed put as fears that they would be shot filled Camila and Manny's heads. Making their escape within the forest that currently has eyes on it by the combine during a firefight didn't seem like the best idea. Once the shooting ended and either the combine were distracted regrouping or dead, they would make their escape into the forest. Venturing into combine controlled space would be a death sentence anyway.

For 10 minutes wave after wave of antlions, eyedogs, and headcrabs tried to push their way through the combine barrier but ultimately failed as their numbers finally dwindled. Damage had been done by the antlions and eyedogs with their strength and abilities, while the headcrabs had good chances of coupling with combine heads. Ultimately the combine prevailed to the dismay of the Noceda's and probably the zen creatures who tried to spread further into town.

Camila poked her head up from cover to check if they had a chance to escape. All she saw were combine regrouping and dealing with wounded, perfect.

"Alright Manny, grab Luz and let's go!" Said Camila, hushing her voice to stay hidden.

"Alright... Luz, time to..."

...

Manny stopped and stared at the creature to his left. A bloddied man with blue jeans and a winter sweatshirt stood a couple feet away. His most distinguishing feature however was the headcrab that was latched onto it's head. The man groned as it reached for it's head, fruitlessly attempting to gain enough energy to grab the creature on its head with its cracked, bloddied, extending fingers. Camila saw it too and slowly grabbed Manny by the shoulders to pull him backwards away from the creature. It was like a standoff that the Noceda's wanted nothing to do with.

Manny picked Luz up into his arms, protecting her from any harm as they retreated. The creature noticed the movement and began to shamble toward them ever so slowly, like a zombie from a movie.

*Snap*

A large twig snapped under their feet as Camila and Manny backed into the brush. The sound was louder than they would have liked and echoed around them. Camila and Manny glanced at the combine in unison to check if they hadn't been spotted yet while backing away from the zombie-like creature. They were still preoccupied and making their own noise from the constant movement of supplies, meaning the combine still haven't noticed. However what did notice the snapping and also most likely the shootout, other zombies...

Other zombies resting in the grass off the forest path began to get up from the ground and began moving toward the source of the snap.

"Manny, we need to leave... Now..." Camila pleaded to Manny, hoping he would have some sort of plan.

"On three, we run into the forest..." Manny said, focusing totally on the shambling remains of humans slowly limping towards them.

"One"

Manny began.

"Two"

Manny spotted an opening in their encirclement of zombies, and right in the direction they wanted to go.

"Thr-"

Manny couldn't finish in time. He was focusing so hard on the enemies infront of him that he never thought to look down. If he did... he would have seen the headcrab about to jump at his head.
He instantly dropped Luz to the ground as he quickly raised his hands to remove the parasite off his head.

"MANNY!" Camila cried out, running to her husband's side to pry the creature off.

It was a horrific sight, Manny screamed in pain as the headcrab dug it's spiked limbs into the back of his neck and his collarbone. The parasite was locked onto his head, and it wasn't coming off until either the headcrab was killed or Manny was killed.

Between being muffled by the headcrab on his head and the desperate yanks to get it off, Manny was able to get one last word out before being unable to find the strength to fight back.

"...Aughhhh... Run!!..."

Luz landed on the ground, not hurt however. She had experience falling off of park equipment so catching herself was easy. Mentally however, Luz couldn't comprehend what was happening. Right infront of her eyes her dad was being hurt by this alien and his now muffled screams bore into her brain. Camila, unable to pry the headcrab off Manny with just strength alone, started to reach for Manny's survival knife he brought with him in his bag. She fought to get Manny's bag off so she could grab the knife and kill the thing in its head.

"Don't worry Manny!... I'm not going to leave without you!" She said, tears welling up in her eyes as she rushed to find that knife. Luz clung to Camila as she searched, watching Manny go from desperately trying to remove the headcrab, to slowly losing all energy and limply raising his hands in a last ditch attempt to survive.

Either because the knife slipped further down into the bottom of the bag while they were walking, or Camila being blinded by tears, when she found the knife and held it up... It was too late...

Manny had collapsed unmoving on the ground. Blood began to pool under where his head lay as the headcrab began to wriggle and shake like it was feasting.

Camila felt her legs go weak as she stood heart broken above her husband. Gritting her teeth, she fought to keep strength in her legs as she grabbed Luz and began to run just as Manny said. Within a moment, Camila and Luz were gone from the encircling zombies as Camila pushed through brush, trees, and zen foliage to find a safer place. Luz had grabbed on to her mom for dear life for comfort as they ran further into the trees. She was soaking her mother's jacket with tears as she sobbed into her mother's arms. Camila eventually broke down too, falling to her knees and embracing her daughter tightly next to a large tree. It was then that the Camila and Luz cried together for a long time.

It was like time was at a standstill... Both of them couldn't comprehend why this happened, Camila didn't know what to blame. Was it his plan that was to blame? Was it her stepping on the twig that was to blame? Should they have just stayed home? Thoughts raced through her mind as she held her face in her hands sobbing.

Camila stayed like that for a long time, wanting to stay how she was forever. She didn't want anything more than to just be at the house with Luz... With Manny. As she cried, Camila noticed something that frightened her. Luz was gone from her arms. Somehow Luz was gone from Camila's tight embrace, and the worst part is she didn't know when it happened.

"LUZ!?!" Camila yelled, perking her head up from her tear-stained sleeves. She expected to see Luz right infront of her but she was nowhere to be seen, nor... anything. looking around there was nothing in sight, the world around her was pitch black. She was alone in a dark infinite void in which she couldn't see an exit from.

"Luz?? Luz! Can you hear me!?!? Manny?!?!" She called out, now desperate and confused.

Interrupting her, a white light opened up infront of her. Like a automatic sliding door, the darkness parted to make way for light on the other side. Camila stared at it infront of her, tears still streaming down her face.

A tall figure slowly emerged out of the open doorway and continued to slowly and calmly walk towards Camila. He wore a blue suit and black tie, with a short and proper hair cut and a briefcase in hand by his side. His eyes were glowing a slight teal with a face that made Camila feel uncomfortable when looking at him. The man calmly aproached Camila until he was a couple feet away, giving proper distance while still being able to speak. He reached up to adjust his tie like someone preparing to speak at a meeting and cleared his throat.

"Miss... Noceda..." The man spoke, his voice raspy and spoken like someone who was struggling to imitate the English language.

"What... Who are you? Where is my child?" Camila responded through the choking of her voice. She didn't intend to give this man any time to speak until she knew Luz was alright.

"You better tell me who you are and what brought me here or I won't be giving you a single minute of my time." She states, now with alot more resolve.

"Miss. Noceda I can... Assure you that your daughter is in... safe... hands." Replies the man. His akward stutters and pauses make Camila's spine shiver.

"For who I am, I cannot say... My... e-employers are quite clear with their... in-tentions of my services. I'm sure you can understand Miss. Noceda."

"Answer the other question. Why am I here?" She asks with vigor.

The man gives a smile as he begins to walk in a circle around Camila. "Miss. Noceda, as it turns out you are someone who is just... One deal away from... securing, something which I know you really want to ensure."

His voice was disorienting Camila as it seemed like he was talking in multiple places at once. Camila had her head on a swivel as the man's voice eminated from different directions.

"Humanity as a species is stronger... together, heh... Usually, one person is no more than a single drop of water among a vast ocean. However, There are those who exist that defy the odds and... Influence the world around them."

The man reappears through the darkness infront of Camila, like a spectre emerging from the shadows.

"Influence... depends on what actions individuals might take, making time a-and location critical in changing the world. My employers allow me to nudge these individuals on the right path... You could say that someone in the wrong place could make all the difference in the world."

The man begins to walk off into the darkness. Camila tries to walk after him but stiffens up when his voice appears right behind her, causing her to gasp in fear.

"That said, I have a proposition for you that I would bet is... Irresistible for a caring mother like yourself."

Camila quickly stands up onto her feet to turn around and face the man. Her tears have now since stopped and her thoughts of grief were now completely overrun with concern for her and Luz's safety.

"W-What do you want with me and my daughter?" She said, doing her best to keep a brave front.

The man simply stared back motionless with a facial expression one would have during a professional in a job interview.

"Me and my employers would be interested in... facilitating your child's safe upbringing. I can understand how attractive such a deal is in such extraordinary times..."

Facilitating Luz's upbringing? Camila didn't like the sound of that, especially when it came from the mouth of a man who couldn't be any more terrifying. But his logic was sound... How could she think to safely raise Luz on her own in the exclusion zone? With Manny gone it would be almost impossible.

"You can influence the world right? At a crazy level! Why not bring back Manny? Why include my daughter?" She asked. It was a reasonable question since this man WAS holding her in some sort of pocket dimension and obviously held incredible power.

"Ahhh... That... is beyond what my services entail. The passing of your... husband, would only be delayed as his body would soon begin to malfunction and die off."

"What? Manny dies nomatter the outcome?" Camila was crushed. Having her husband die infront of her was one thing, knowing nomatter what she did would lead to the same conclusion made her feel truly helpless.

"Precisely Miss. Noceda, that is why me and my employers are inclined to offer you this proposal."

The man slowly began to walk closer to Camila as they both stared directly into eachothers eyes. As he approached, lights began to fly by both of them like someone going through hyperspace in a science fiction movie. They filled the empty void in which the two were standing in. The man stopped walking and extended his hand asking for a handshake.

"Me and my employers will help facilitate the safe upbringing of Luz Noceda, allowing you two to continue as a family alone... for the time being. Does this sound like a good deal?"

A sly smile came across the man's face as he gave his proposal, fully willing to take the deal. Camila hesitated, she couldn't stop feeling like this was a dangerous decision yet her better judgement was being overwritten by the offer given by the mysterious man. Camila paused and decided to ask the man for another demand.

"I'll take your deal... IF... at any time, at MY request, you send me someone compitant who can help keep my child safe when I am unable to." Camila demanded. Her face showed no signs of fear or doubt, it was an expression of pure conviction. This man was shady, it was like a deal with the devil, so she came to the conclusion that there needed to be something else added to the agreement as a safeguard.

The man took a moment to think. it wasn't long, but enough for Camila to notice. As the man made up his mind, a faded green glow slowly pulsed behind him. The man grinned and gestured his hand infront of Camila once again.

"That can be arranged, Miss. Noceda... I have been looking for a use for a certain individual, and I am positive you just gave me the perfect one. Now... Do we have a deal?"

Camila gave no reply, she extended her hand outward and shook his hand in one clean motion. It was like ripping off a band aid, yet it didn't help her worries from growing in her head again. Before she could speak up one more time, the dark abyss she was standing in began to fade to forest right where she had just been before. "Let's... meet again, Camila. Noceda" the man said before completely fading from view along with the inky blackness that surrounded her.

Before she knew it, Camila was back in the forest staring down at Luz who had grabbed onto her leg.

"Luz! Thank goodness your still here!" Gasped Camila as she lifted Luz into her arms again. Luz looked excausted and struggled to keep her eyes open, digging her face into Camilas collar bone.

"Please rest mija, today was way too much for a child like you... You stayed as strong as you could have been and I am very proud of you." Whispered Camila as she began to continue her way through the forest.

Manny may be gone, but their plan to keep Luz safe was still something Camila needed to do. They were too far gone to head back to the house or the run down shack as the combine would already be searching for them. They also couldn't make their way back in the direction of the suburbs due to hostile creatures and combine. With that, the decision was made. Camila now walking into the zen infested forest with the rising sun to her back, would begin to find a place for a better life.

And a better life they would find... Just in a place no one would expect.

Chapter Text

[June 30, 2010: 9 and a half years later...]

*Somewhere in the overgrown forested ruins of Connecticut...*

"Are you sure you saw them over here, mom? It's pretty close to our camp."

"It shouldn't hurt just to check, Mija. The last thing I want is our potential dinner showing up and eating us when we're asleep."

"Damn headcrabs... I'll keep my eye out if any of them decide to leap at us, you keep tracking"

"Got it. I'll let you know when I spot anything"

Camila and Luz have been hunting together for half an hour looking for food. Their food stock is in desperate supply as they and their small community were on the move.
In the years after Manny's death, the remaining members of the Noceda family found themselves fighting to survive in the cold harsh environment they were now subjected to. Constant portal storms across the planet blotted out the sun with cloud cover making Earth fall into a mini ice age as winter weather became an all season occurence. The Zen fauna that poured through rifts in space continued for awhile too, eventually spreading completely throughout the North American continent. Within a year or so, planet earth had completely changed.

Long gone where the greens of simple forests and common Earth plant life. In there place was a mixture of alien plant life composing every variety of colour seen by the human eye and size; overwhelming the last remaining remnants of Earth's native plant life. The most common earth flora left in between the numerous amounts of dangerous alien plant life were trees, the odd grass patches and weeds.

In the early days of the collapse, when every human the Combine could get there hands on were moved to numbered cities in Europe, Camila and Luz survived alone. Together they weathered snowy nights under the stars and defeated challenging zen wildlife along the way.
By all accounts, Camila had become quite the skilled survivor. She got lucky when she stumbled across some left behind winter gear from an old suburb and her baseball bat was highly effective at killing headcrabs and severely damaging the moving corpses of zombies with some good clean hits.
Luckily, when things started getting really tough, the Nocedas ran into other groups of survivors who also chose to evade the Combine relocation to Europe as well. Sometimes it would be a small group of humans, other times it would be a community of aliens called Vortigaunts who had been placed on earth against their will during the Incident at Black Mesa. Their own history with the combine and a placed hope in someone called "The Freeman" had given the alien race a new resolve and sense of hope for a future which Camila and later an older Luz didn't think could happen.

After 10 years of survival and adaptation, the sky's began to clear little by little. Portal storms began to disappear becoming a thing of the past allowing the seasons to begin working as they should. Luz and Camila were happy to see that June was, for the first time in many years, a warm month.

"Shh shh! Look, in the bushes!" Whispers Camila.

Luz and Camila had stopped in their tracks to observe their prey. As it turns out, just as Camila predicted, a small group of head crabs were huddled in a large shrubbery. Luz cringes a little at the sight of them.

"Here Luz, take the crossbow this time. You're the better shot." Says Camila, handing Luz the crossbow.

The crossbow itself is simple yet built quite well, made with scrap metal, makeshift wire string, and a projectile made from a stick of rebar. Luz grabbed the weapon in both hands and took aim at the first headcrab. Swallowing her nerves, she pulls the trigger and sends the rebar projectile into the body of the first headcrab, pinning it to the ground. Quickly, the others began to move out from the shrubbery towards Luz and Camila. 4 in total were now slowly waddling toward them to get into jumping range.

"Remember how I taught you, turn the crank on the crossbow and place the new bolt in." Instructs Camila.

"Yes, yes, I'm trying!" Luz says, slowly getting more and more anxious from the impending headcrabs.

Ever since her dad was claimed by a headcrab all those years ago, Luz had always had a fear of headcrabs. Since she hasn't been unable to fully avoid them however, she has gotten better with her fear over the years. That's not to say they still don't make her feel comfortable though. It's why using her creative side to make traps was her favorite pass time.

After Luz looses her second shot, Camila could notice Luz's growing panic and decides to take the crossbow back from her. Luz may be the better shot, but losing your cool during a low risk hunt was not ideal.

"Alright mija, you did good. Let mama do the rest."

Camila quickly dispatches the final two headcrabs in half the time, ending the encounter with a final gurgle from the final headcrab on the ground. As the two collect their kills, Luz still makes sure she's cautious, always holding them upside down in case one was still alive.

"I'm not sure this will be enough, mom. Do you think Kev's group will come back with something bigger?"

"I think we'll be fine for today. we should be getting closer to a roaming pack of bullsquids. Tobias pointed it out while we were traveling."

"I can't believe Tobias knows how to find anything edible on those things. I swear it's like magic!"

"Either Vortigaunts are natural cooks or their big eye helps them see whats edible." Says Camila with a chuckle.

Camila and Luz share a look and a laugh as they walk back to camp.

The Noceda's current travel group wasn't half bad and the camp they set up was just as solid. For a group of 6 people, the place had been put together efficiently and effectively. Everyone's bags had been placed in their perspective shelters of assorted tarp and wood with some people's small carts and wheelbarrows parked outside. A large fire had been constructed in the middle of it all with a setup for roasting prepared over the flame. To the side, Tobias the Vortigaunt was busy prepping his tools for cooking.

Their group consisted of mainly humans, but one member of their crew were of the affirmationed Vortigaunt race. Vortigaunts are human sized creatures with two legs, two arms, and a smaller arm coming out the chest. They have two weird breathing holes on the side of their head, and 4 eyes oriented with one big one right above their mouth and three smaller ones evenly placed above and across the main eye. Vortigaunts feet resemble triangle shaped hooves, have an incredibly hunched neck, and lanky proportions. Overall, Vortigaunts look scary and all sound the exact same, sharing the same deep voice between all of them. but are friendly to humans.

"Hey, Tobias!" Luz calls out with a wave. "We got some food for cooking!"

The Vortigaunt Tobias quickly looks over and warmly gestures to Luz and Camila as they return.

"Ahhh... The, Luz Noceda! You have returned!" Says Tobias in a deep cheary tone.

Luz loved the way they spoke. It was something about their interpretation of the English language and their unwavering, deep and raspy tone that made them so endearing. Camila, being a science fiction fan, thought Vortigaunts were cool as well. Always helpful to have a group of people familiar with Zen animals and fauna within the community.

"Sorry we couldn't find any more, we are kinda hoping to see if the other hunting party can pick up our slack" Luz says, scratching the back of her head.

"Do not worry, this shall suffice." Tobias says, quickly starting to butcher and prep the headcrabs for cooking.

"Come now Luz, let's finish unpacking everything before it gets any later."

And with that, Camila and Luz go off to finish setting up their sleeping arrangements for the night.

------------------

[June 30th, 6:17 pm]

Disturbing the peacefuly quiet night of the North American wilds, Luz and her mother sit around the campfire with their fellow survivors, enjoying a night of levety and safety. Luz had always liked the nights she and her mom had company. The constant tension and seriousness of life on their own was exhausting and having more people around didn't just mean more hands to help out but another friendly face to talk to.

"Let us give thanks to The Luz Noceda and her mother, Ms. Noceda, for this humble feast!" Spoke Tobias, handing out his (by now) famous roasted headcrab to the rest of the party. With enough headcrab to share and interesting vegetable(?) sides, everyone was definitely satisfied with their meal.

"Oh man! Hey Tobias, since when did a Vort like you learn to cook these so well?" Said Kev, another survivor staying with the group. He had been extra hungry after coming up empty handed when Luz and Camila finished hunting.

"The humble creature you call 'headcrab', is native to zen, a place we have inherited for generations. It has been cooked in our traditional manner for us to dine on." Tobias explains.

"Heh, I knew this one guy who tried to eat one of those... ant-lions you call them? The big freaky bugs that can fly. It didn't go well for him." Remarked Kev.

"Don't tell me he tried to eat it raw! Camila joined in.

"Of course he did, I'm sure Tobias here might know a way to cook em but he definitely didn't. Had the shits for days!"

"Oh poor thing, having a bad stomach these days is terrible. I hope he recovered."

Kev just let out a sigh and stared into the fire, obviously by his body language the guy didn't last long after that. A girl beside him placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Her name is Maxine and had arrived with Kev to join the group a few days ago.

"Come on Kev, you know deep down he's alright. He may be an idiot but with his luck, he probably found safety with another group somewhere else." She says.

On the other side of Kev sat a older man no older than 50. He looked beaten by the world with a wrinkly but tough face and a bushy grey beard. He didn't talk much but seemed content with his food. The group didn't know much about him since he never shared his name, said it didn't matter anymore so the group just calls him Houndeye. Of course taking the name of the Zen creature.

"You look like your enjoying our catch today Houndeye. Happy to know my hunting is paying off!" Says Luz, trying to cheer the man up.

Houndeye simply sat there eating his food, though he did let out a small smile.

As everyone finished their food and let the fire start to die down people began to feel like it was ready to rest for the night. Tobias had already cleaned his cooking station, doing it while preparing the meal. Meanwhile the group had picked clean all the meats and veggies on their plate. Only thing to do now was set up a perimeter of traps and set watch times.

"I'll take first watch, you spry folk need your energy" said Houndeye in his gruffy monotone voice.

"I'll take second then" piped up Maxine

"Third"
"Fourth"
"Fith"
"Sixth"

After everyone had called their number, Luz and Camila separate from the group and begin to lay noise and lethal traps. Like a team they both begin using simple tools and resources to jerryrig pit traps, spike traps, and noise traps with scraps of metal they keep with them. It might seem mundane, but Luz always found a way to put her own spin on things.

"Luz, did you make sure to mark your hidden pit traps after you completed them?" Camila asks.

"Oh... Uhhh yea!" Luz replies, now frantically trying to look for a rock to place next to her now complete pit trap.

Camila sighs and goes over to inspect Luz's handywork and can only respond with another sigh.

"Luz, what is this?"

Camila points to the Rube Goldberg looking contraption infront of her with a wind up flashlight. In an ideal world, it looks like whenever it's triggered, a net is supposed to catch its prey then lift up to hang like a bag. Camila knew the trees around here were probably not strong enough to hold any real weight, nor was the trap in its preferred terrain. Looking back at Luz, she looks proud of her own work.

"Mija, why did you use up so many materials for this? It's most likely never going to work."

"Whaaat? No it totally works, watch."

Luz proceeds to pick up a large stick and throw it at the triggering mechanism of her very elaborate trap and activates it as a demonstration. However the net did not seem to react as intended as the string and supporting branch she used snapped and flung the makeshift rope into further tree branches above.

"Ohhh, maybe I should have used those leftover metal bars instead..." She grins, already deep in thought.

"Luz, baby, what was that supposed to be?"

"My net trap? I think I knocked it out of the park."

Camila just looked up and saw the already frayed hemp rope dangling from the tree branches above.

"Luz, that was the last of our spare rope in the camp"

"Ohh so that was the backup rope... I thought we had more..."

"And what where you going to do with this?" Camila poked and tapered with some sharp sticks.

"That was for the act three closure... Once we wake up in the morning and see a zombie in here or something, we drop it into the pit."

Camila gets on one knee infront of Luz and grabs her shoulders warmly.
"Mija, I love your creativity but it's gotten out of hand. Do you remember the last three times your imagination ran wild?"

Luz pauses and thinks for a moment back to her past. The first incident was when she piled a bunch of assorted boxes on top of eachother when she was young while looting an old building with her mom. She almost fell off and gotten hurt, only to be save by her mom rushing in and helping to catch her.

The second incident was when she was using different things she found to make a sculpture of a gryffin that she used to see on TV a long time ago. One piece of leaf she found from a tree that was still fully alive had a spider egg on the bottom which she used to great effect in her sculpture. "And now for the anatomically correct touch... Spider breath!" She said, moving the mouth of the gryffin and allowing spiders to crawl out of the egg. Camila was in for a scare when her tween daughter was covered in spiders.

Finally, the third incident was when she was traveling alone with Camila. Luz found a book version of her childhood favorite show The Great Witch Azura and has been nose deep into it all day. So deep into it Infact that she forgot to look where she was going. Right infront of her was a bit of a drop and was only saved by her mom who yanked her away before she could fall. Sadly, the book didn't make it. It fell out of Luz's hands and out of sight.

"I do remember... But why are you bringing this up now? I've always been the imaginative type and things like this are my only outlet in this world."

"But Mija you have to know that we can't take very many chances when surviving out here. I don't want to take any chances and lose you."

"But I'm 14 now! I have proven to you on many occasions that I'm more than capable of holding my own against basic predators and other zen wildlife."

"I'm just worried that sometimes your in your own head too much. Like the book incident, I don't know if you could separate yourself from the fantasy you were reading back to reality."

This conversation was annoying. Her mom has already talked to her about focusing on surviving and the basics, but a lot of the time she simply couldn't help herself from exploring or doing something new.

"Well sorry for wanting to escape from all this just for a little bit" Luz says, jesturing to everywhere around her.

Camila couldn't fault her daughter for feeling this way. Luz's childhood had been interrupted and erased so thoroughly that it surprised her and comforted her that Luz continued to radiate some sense of happiness and whimsy as she grew older. But she was beginning to second guess herself. Maybe it is a traumatic response to Manny's death and their harsh living conditions than her true nature?

They both stood silent for a few seconds, gathering thoughts through their growing drowsiness from staying up late.

"Say, Luz. If you would like, we could visit our old home in the old suburbs tomorrow. We are really close by, just a few minute walk." Camila offers, looking to ease the small bit of tension that had sprouted.

"I guess..." Luz responds unenthusiastically, like all the cheer she had was now just replaced with tiredness and everything else she was holding in.

Camila now stands back up and starts walking back to camp. Luz however seems to notice something... A distant sound like a large bug. Was she hearing things? Luz turned to her mother again and saw her frozen still, like she had heard it too.

"What is that?" She whispers before the ground starts to rumble under their feel quite fast. Camila knows exactly what's coming and grabs Luz by the hand before running as fast as she could to camp.

------------

{June 30th, 7:00pm.}

"Mom! What's happening!"

Luz yelled, frantically trying to keep her balance as Camila ran at full speed.

"Antlions, Mija! They are coming up to the surface from beneath us!"

Camila knows the danger of these zen creatures all too well. Not only did she see the swarms of them clash against the US military the day the world ended, but she also ran into them a few times while traveling the now empty east coast of America with Luz.

Antlions are giant, 4 sharp legged bugs with a hard exo skeleton and wings that help them jump high and long distances. Their bodies are fast and can easily take down an unarmed human. What really makes them dangerous however is that they work exactly like ants, making huge underground nests with thousands being born to hunt for food and protect their "queen". If the ground shook underneath you abruptly, it was most likely an antlion attack.

Camila and Luz make it to the clearing of their camp already noticing their party members gearing up for a fight.

"qué sucedió! What happened!" Camila calls to the group.

"Camila! Luz! There you guys are! I thought you guys went missing!" Replies Maxine, holding what looks like a mace made of scrap and a axe handle.

Camila and Luz regroup and ready their weapons, Camila taking out an Old glock 17 from her small shelter and Luz brandishing her crossbow. Now holding a parimiter with their friends in tow, their little team feels ready to brace for the fight with the antlions which are approaching fast.

"The antlions do not attack without provocation. Perhaps a disturbance has befallen the hive." Ponders Tobias.

Kev nervously brandishes his shotgun, anxiously waiting for danger. "Fuck... Camila, Luz, don't tell me you guys started poking around a buggy looking cave while trapping." He whispers.

"Of course not! Why would we do such a thing?" Camila replies, checking her pistol again before spotting the first antlion digging up from the ground infront of her.

*BANG BANG BANG BANG*

Before any more talk could continue, Camila blankets one antlion with 4 clean shots before it falls dead. Following that one antlion, more begin to show up signaling the beginning of the attack.

"Let's forget about who started this and just fight these things!" Yells Luz, nailing an antlion to a nearby tree with her crossbow.

"The kid is right, let's get rid of these pests first" Chimes in Houndeye, using a pickaxe to defend himself.

The fighting is chaotic, when two antlions go down, three more appear either from the forest or from underground.
Luz calms herself and loads a fresh piece of rebar into her crossbow and flicks on a switch. In almost an instant, the rebar bolt begins to glow a bright orange in the slot, heated up by an electric current being fed through it by a attached battery. The design was Luz's idea and worked quite well against anything organic.
Bringing the scope up to her eye, she takes aim at the next antlion ready to jump at her from the tree line. With a calm pull of the trigger, the glowing hot bolt shoots out the end at high speed with a satisfying *thump* from the release in tension. The projectile cuts through the air and strikes the antlion straight in the head with a thud and sizzle. Waisting no time she loads and fires another, taking out another engaging Houndeye.

Camila empties her first clip into three more antlions who dared to get in close to her and Luz. A new mag is loaded into the gun as the barrel continues to smoke with a satisfying click.
Without rest, an antlion bears down on her from above making a deep, haunting, buzzing sound from its wings. Camila takes aim with both hands and pulls the trigger multiple times sending sounds of 9mm gunfire echoing throughout the battlefield. Each shot strikes the target causing the antlion to land right infront of her limp with a crunch of it's exoskeleton.

On the other side of camp, Kev, Maxine, and Houndeye take their stand. Kev's shotgun sheers pieces of the massive insects off their bodies in satisfying cracks of his remington pump action shotgun. Each shot being valuable, he leaves the more agile targets to Maxine who lands heavy strikes to the hard carapaces of the antlions. Houndeye keeps up as best he can, taking two out with one swing of his pickaxe. In truth, the thing tireing him out the most is getting his pickaxe unstuck from antlion bodies or the soft ground.

Luz keeps herself away from danger while reloading between shots while Camila covers her and vice versa, keeping their backs to their tents.
Without warning, Luz's crossbow string snaps when in the process of reloading, almost injuring her face.

"Aw shit!"

A antlion takes the opportunity to pounce, jumping high in the air, it's sharp pointed legs ready to lay a deadly blow. Luz goes to dive out of the way when a loud crack of energy flies overhead with a neon green glow. Looking back, Tobias stands ready with an alien green energy emanating from his hands.

"I shall be of use to you, Luz Noceda! Quickly, retreat to your mother!" He shouts preparing to let out another blast.

Luz watches Tobias chant out a word in his native language before shooting out a pulse of green energy. The beam of what one could mistake to green lightning, shoots out in an instant, blowing an antlion into small pieces and stunning a few others.

"*Galangal!*" *FZZBOOM!*

Luz gets up and follows the directions, running over to her mom.

"Mom! My crossbow string snapped!" She reports, yelling over the gunfire from her mom's gun.

"Damnit!... Mija, I thought you restrang it before we set up camp!"

"We didn't have any metal wire after I let Maxine fix up her mace! She just seemed so enthusiastic!"

The two now begin sweating with exertion and nerves. Luz no longer has a working weapon while Camila feels her ammunition reserves.

Empty.

A quick glance over at the other three fighting on the other side of camp doesn't bode well either. Antlions keep coming and everyone is beginning to slow, even Kev's shotgun is out of ammo.

"Mija, we need to get you out of here." Says Camila, a focused look on her face.

She takes out her bat and hands her pistol to Luz.

"Mom, we can't just run away with everyone still here!-"

Camila interrupts her daughter with a swing of her bat, clocking a lunging antlion with a hit to the head sending it back a few feet stunned.
Luz also has to refocus on the fight, taking out a small dagger and plunging it into the head of the stunned antlion.

"Luz, look at me." Camila grabs her daughter's face with two hands. She softly looks into her eyes with her full attention.

"I need you to be safe, and unlike other times when we had Houndeyes chasing us or zombies shambling towards us, this is different."

A crack of green from Tobias's energy lands on an antlion encroaching on both Camila and Luz, exploding it into pieces.

"These antlions are fast and deadly, impossible for just us to take on in a horde like this."

"Mom... What are you talking about..." Luz says with a wave of emotion enveloping her.

Camila steels her resolve and kisses her daughter on her forehead.

"Luz, when I see an opening I want you to take my gun and run in the direction of our old suburbs, you know which way it is right? I'll come pick you up when the fight is over, okay?" Camila isn't joking and isn't showinh any fear, just a great concern for her only daughter.

"No, mom! You're coming with me!" Pleads Luz, a tear falling from her cheek.

"Miss Noceda! I cannot keep our adversaries at bay alone!" Yells Tobias, struggling to keep antlions from overwhelming him. If it weren't for his abilities, he would be dead.

Camila looks away for a moment to look at her party. Tobias is occupied, Kev is beating antlions to death with his gun, Maxine has resorted her backup knife due to her mace breaking (so much for that metal wire), and Houndeye is next to his tent holding his side. Each one of them is slowly backing up from the constant attacks. It's only a matter of time before something breaks.

For a moment however, Camila sees an opening in the direction of their old home. The antlions have grouped up due to Tobias and the others taking up their attention. Camila recognizes this as Luz's only chance.

"Now Luz. Wait for me at our old home! The one with the old shack behind it!" She says, letting go of Luz and swinging her bat at an antlion behind her.

Luz hesitates for a moment, not wanting to leave her only parent behind. "Come find me! As soon as you can!" Luz replies with tears in her eyes.

Camila looks back giving her daughter a soft look. "I promise, as soon as I ca--..."

"MOM!!" Luz yells, as a sharp antlion leg stabs clean through Camilla's abdomen, cutting her words off. Luz rushes in to kill the antlion who hurt her mom, sending a knife through its body and shoving it off of Camila.

Camila is on her stomach, struggling to get up as her stomach begins to bleed profusely. The sight almost sends Luz into a panic as she rips pieces of her clothing off to be used as a makeshift bandage to stop the blood.

"Mom! Your ok, your ok! Just breath!" Whispers Luz, trying to calm both her mom and her herself.

Camila doesn't want to hear it however, grabbing her daughter's hand.

"Luz, please... Run away, i don't want to see you hurt." Camila says softly, audibly exhausted as energy is quickly sapped from her body.

"I won't let you die mom! I won't!" Luz says between sobs, tears now freely falling from her face.

"Oh, Mija... I won't be able to forgive myself if you were to die here." She says with sincerity, gazing up at Luz. "If I'm unable to protect you... Then the others will... They will come for you in my stead."

"Luz Noceda!" Tobias yells from behind, running up to the two of them. His skin is absolutely covered in the dark green blood of antlions. "You must make haste and run to safety like your mother wishes. The antlions are few in number now but will no doubt be replaced by many zombies attracted to our plight."

Luz looks up at the Vortugaunt and back at her mother, gaining resolve from her mother and Tobias's words.

"Do not fret, Luz Noceda. I shall do my best to care for your mother."

*Sniff* "you better, Tobias... Remember, meet me at our old house right?" She says with a somber smile, holding her mother's hand.

"Of course, Mija."

And with that, Luz stands up and begins to sprint into the forest, gun in hand, directly towards where the rough location of her old house is. She gives one last wave to her mom, looking back as Tobias tries his best to tend to tend to Camila. He is quickly overwhelmed by constant attacks from antlions trying to make Camila into a free meal.

"*I'll be safe mama.*" She thinks to herself while running into the dark.

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{June 30th, 7:45pm}

Luz's chest heaves from exhaustion. She had been running and walking interchangeably for around a half an hour before thinking to slow down. Only when she saw the clearing of an old suburb infront of her did she think to take a rest. The forest was thick and maneuvering it at a good speed was tough. It was times like these when she was happy for her more athletic body from living in the world she did.

"*I need a place to sleep. I can't stay up all night, not when I need to be ready for my mom to find me.*"

Luz carefully makes her way into the clearing where rows of houses lay, all significantly weathered and in disrepair from 10 years of constant cold weather and no upkeep. Some had their roofs collapse while others stood together like a brittle house of cards. Luz racked her brain, trying her best to find the old house from her childhood. It was tough with only the light of a crescent moon to illuminate her path around. Eventually however, she found what she was looking for. A house sitting next to a treeline with a path leading to the old shack in the back forest.

"*The house... It doesn't look too broken down. I'll stay in there for the night.*"

Inside was a mess. Dirt, old leaves, and zen fauna filled the old living room and kitchen along with old tracks of animals that also made the old home a refuge for the night. Being in her house, old memories began to flood into her head. Times when she watched TV with her dad, or breakfast with her mom, even playing with her action figures on the floor. It hit her like a truck, more than she was expecting.

"*Oh god... My mom is probably dead right now... My family... It's all my fault...*" Luz can't hold back the tears from filling her eyes as she takes a seat on the old, ruined sofa to hold her head in her hands. She needed the time to let everything out, all her emotions all at once.

Unknowingly, the stress, the fighting, and the tears tire her out more than expected. Luz's eyes clear up as she calms herself down and begins to feel drowsy sitting on something so soft. She really did need to get some rest and the couch was looking like a very tempting sleeping space. As she rested her head on a part of the padding that was the least wrecked and stained, she eventually fell asleep, dreaming of sleeping in her parents bed when she was just a small child.

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{July 1st, 7:30am. Noceda family household}

Luz wakes up to the sound of skittering rats along the floor of the house. Rubbing her eyes and sitting up, Luz is slow to remember the events of the day prior.

"OH MY GOD." She says out loud, quickly rushing to grab her things and running out the door.

Expecting to find Maxine or Tobias, maybe even her mom, waiting for her. However her smile receded as quickly as her hopes shot up after waking. No one has yet to come for her. Her mood quickly saddens as she saunters back to the house, unable to think of anything but the worst outcome.

"*When will they get here? Are they all... Gone?.. no, they can't be...*"

Luz sits herself in the old kitchen which has definitely seen better days and gazes out the window. Bright beams of morning sunlight shine through, illuminating the dust that had been disturbed and flung into the air due to Luz's presence. The godrays that are produced capture Luz's eye as their beauty keeps her mind calm and collected. Old pots and pans still sit on the counter next to the oven which has been completely wrecked. The fridge and ice box now a host for many different plants filling the white tiled room with colour. It's pieceful, nature slowly reclaiming what remains of humanity. Luz can't help but sigh.

*Shuffle shuffle*

Luz's train of thought is interrupted by a dragging noise. Like something is trying to move a large bag of items across the grass and dirt. Luz slowly gets up from her chair and brandished her pistol, carefully moving towards the door to leave out the back.

"*What the heck is going on outside?*"

She slowly opens the door and peaks out. She expected to see a zombie moving a corpse, or a Houndeye moving it's food to safety. Instead she saw something crazy. A small brown owl was hopping on the ground with a bag in its beak. Luz stood there in the doorway dumbfounded and a little more curious than she knew she should be.

"*Woaaaahhh! Where is it going?*"

Luz fights with herself on whether or not to approach or not.

"*I should go and introduce myself!*"
"*To an owl? Are you crazy?*"
"*Of course! What's the harm? It's not like it can understand me.*"
"*This is a waste of time, you need to wait for the others to find you!*"
"*Ugh! I'm so curious though! I'm gonna follow it.*"

Luz steels her courage and walks out of the doorway and stands confidentiality next to the owl. The owl instantly noticing her and freezing.

"Um... Hi little owl! I'm not here to hurt you, I'm just-- hey! Wait!"

Before she could finish, the owl straight up ignores her! It begins making a dash in the direction of the old shack at 2 times the pace from before. Luz, not wanting to be left behind, goes after it.

"Hey! Wait up! I've never seen an owl in person before!"

Luz chases the owl for a short time until they get to the old cabin, the door cracked open slightly. Luz is in full chase mode now, not wanting to miss out on this amazing opportunity to hang out with a cute little owl. Quickly, the owl enters the door with its bag of mystery items and disappears Before Luz can see.

"Huh? Where did you go?" Luz says, disappointed.

Not to be one to quit, Luz begins to look around the cabin. Sadly, she didn't find any evidence of the small owl. What she did find however, was an old skeleton with its old military garb still on. Luz stopped and looked down at the corpse, all of its flesh already long gone from it's bones. She could swear the body had some meaning to her but she couldn't be so sure. What Luz was sure of however was the armor it was wearing. In bright green above the right breast plate lay the words P.C.V. Luz was told if this by her mom on their travels. It was super rare and very protective, as long as it had enough charge... In any case, Luz brushed away the many daisies that were growing around it and put it on, finding it fitting quite comfortably, if only a little loose.

"Thanks... Dead person..." She says, wanting to honor the fallen soldier.

A small creaking catches her attention from the front door. Luz waists no time getting around to the front where the front door should be. Turning the corner, Luz spots the owl in the door frame, checking to see if it was clear. Obviously, it wasn't, as the owl spots Luz's face swooning at how cute it was, it turns around and dashes back inside. Luz makes a B-line for the door as the owl mistakenly leaves the door wide open.

"I have you now adorable little owl!"

Luz dashes into the door, without looking back.
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{June 30th, 7:15. The previous night.}

Camila lay there in a huge amount of pain. If it wasn't for her desire to look strong infront of her daughter, she was sure she would've passed out from shock right about now. It warmed her heart that her probable last view of Luz was her running to safety where their home truly was. In Gravesfield.

"This would be perfect... If it weren't for you getting in the way of my rest." She says as her surroundings melt away into complete blackness, lines of light passing slowly all around her.

Camila looks up into what now seemed to be the same void she saw all those years ago. The same one with the same man who was now standing above her.

"So... Are you here to send me off? Or do you wanna strike another deal." She says with a small bit of sarcasm.

"Miss... Noceda, I am not here to Arrange... A deal. My only interest remains... The same."

The uncanny deep voice of the man and his awkward pauses continue to creep Camila out. In the meantime, she begins to feel her injuries healing. Quickly, Camila finds enough energy to come to her feet.

"Wha... Are you healing me? I don't want to owe anything more to you than I already do." Camila said, now with strength in her voice.

"Do not... worry Miss Noceda. Your body is being... Tended... To, by the remaining batch of your... Friends."

The man continues, now walking in a circle around Camila like it was a business meeting.

"So they survived..." Camila felt her heart spike from relief. If everyone is safe, then that means
her daughter should be as well.

"If that's it then I would like to kindly ask you bring me back."

The man holds back a snicker, only letting out what sounded like a hitch in his voice, a more amusing one compared to the regular sounds of him struggling to speak.

"I'm affraid... That will have to be up to you... Miss Noceda."

As he says this, Camila can feel her wounds begin to open up again, like they began to revert back to how they were just before she started talking to the man. Before Camila can compose herself to speak, the man continues.

"In the world where you go back right now... You... Unfortunately pass away... And leave Luz up to g- reat harm, hm?"

Camila feels the surge of pain continue to pulsate in her gut wound, sending her to one knee.

"But... If you were to ask me to... send you the person who you made a deal for... To help you rather than your... Daughter... Then you will survive and guarantee Luz's survival..."

The man walks off, disappearing into the dark void, only to return with his office briefcase. Camilla's wound slowly begins heal back again, but only enough for her to feel the weight of her choice.

"Why... Would bringing the person meant to protect my daughter, save her by sending them to me?" Camila asked, genuinely worried and admittedly a little curious.

The man adjusts his tie and clears his throat before answering.

"It seems your... Daughter... Has gone down a Different... path, than the one intended by my e...employers. However, this... Job is without a hire and must be properly ad-dressed... It just so happens that your daughter is the... Right girl in the wrong place to make such a... Diff-erence."

Camila looks down in thought. Of course she doesn't want her daughter in danger or employed by this... Thing. But her safety is still guaranteed... The man said it himself, didn't he?

"Why am I more important to save now than Luz? I still need that answer." Camila says, the answer would determine her decision. She wanted, no, needed to know why.

"You know the... Answer, Miss Noceda. I told you last time we... Talked face, to face. Humanity is stronger... To-gether." The man says with a smirk. As he finishes his speech, he slowly walks right up to Camila, her body becoming stiff as a corpse.

"What do you... Say, Miss Noceda?"

"Fine... Send them to help me."

The man smirks and slowly fades from view along with the void. Replacing her surroundings is the roof of a tent... Her tent.
Quickly, she sits up fast, feeling her wound patched up and almost completely healed.

"Luz?!? Tobias?!? Houndeye?!?" She calls out, hoping to get a response.

"Oh shit! She's awake!" Says Kev from outside, quickly running over. His footsteps a welcome sound as they quickly approach her tent.

Kev opens the door to the makeshift tent and peers inside. His face now covered by a new scar and covered in bandages.

"Camila! Oh thank God your doing alright, we thought you were dead." He says, heaving a sigh of relief. Behind him more people come rushing to the tent to peek their heads in. First it was Maxine, then Tobias.

"Ahhh... The, Miss Noceda stirs... Your vortessance was thankfully not damaged beyond my capabilities. I was able to give you ample treatment along with access to human first aid."

Human first aid? Right, Camila and Kev were covered in clean medical bandages... Since when did they get those?

"T-thanks Tobias... Just... Where and when did we get first aid equipment?" Camila asks with confusion I her voice.

"Oh... Well... I don't think your gonna believe me when I say this but... Here, ya know what? Lemme just show you." Kev says, stumbling over his words obviously excited about something.

Maxine and Tobias help get Camila on her feet and outside the tent. Outside wasn't much different from last night, just a large pile of antlion corpses and zombie corpses. If anything, the air was a little fresher than before, but that is nothing to write home about.

"Hey Maxine, go grab our new friend while we sit Camila down next to our campfire."

"Gladly, make sure to feed her something too, I bet she's starving." Maxine says while running off to Houndeye's tent.

Tobias and Kev complete their easy mission of moving her to the firepit, wrapping her in a spare coat they had lying around to make sure she wasn't getting chilly.

"Feeling better?" Kev asked, adding another log to the fire and pouring some soup made of antlion meat.

"I'm doing way better thanks you two. thank you so much for your efforts Tobias. You have my sincere gratitude." Camila says. Tobias just nodd with what could be the closest thing to a Vortugaunt smiling.

"Hey Camila!" Shouted Maxine, getting Camilla's attention.

Camila looks up taking a large bite of antlion stew, the taste pleasantly surprising her. She would have preferred to savor that bite instead of spitting it everywhere in the biggest spit take of her life.

She couldn't believe it...

"Meet our new friend! He doesn't seem to like talking, or taking off his helmet, but he does have a name which we found on his patch... I think it's pronounced...

Adrien Shepard."