It was quiet.

So terribly quiet.

That was the first thing Niki had noticed when she had woken up, opened her eyes, looked at the grass around her, felt the shift in temperature and felt her insides churn as the gears in her head turned.

When she realized what had happened. These idiots had detonated a fucking nuclear bomb. A bomb! In an attempt to rid themselves of the tyrant who Niki had broken out of prison not that long ago.

She shivered. Oh, nothing would ever be the same.

And it wasn't. Even now, as she looked over the hills and valleys, it felt different. And it was so quiet.

She'd longed for this kind of piece. Heck, that was the reason she'd built her city in the first place, as a safe haven, away from all the screams and desperate reaches for power. But now that it was only her, well, that was somehow even worse.

She could see Manberg- l'Manberg in the distance. It was ruined too, now. The grid still filled the sky and sent a bolt through her heart every time she saw it. Techno and Phil. Where were they? Had they survived? They had to. Of course. If she survived, why shouldn't they?

After the initial shock, the hours of running around in former l'Manberg — now, a huge crater — and everywhere else, screaming names and desperately hoping to find someone (without success), she'd returned to her city, her kingdom, which… was still intact. It didn't show any signs of decay.

Maybe it was because it was underground. Or maybe, it just wasn't allowed to die right there and then, just like her. Maybe it survived through some supernatural force Niki didn't bother believing in. But, either way, this meant she still had equipment. So much, in fact, she thought she could give it out to new refugees, before realizing that was a thing of the past.

There wasn't anything she could do against the dangers lurking outside, she had no armor or protection or a way of finding it. However, it seemed like most of the contamination was kept inside the prison due to the materials used. Lucky me, Niki thought wearily.

And after that, well, what was left, really? She built up a few farms inside the city — which more so resembled a bunker at this point —, with artificial light and automatic watering systems. She installed doors and re-enforced the walls. She built a few rooms she'd always wanted, including guest rooms which she knew would be vacant the moment they were finished. She organized her chests. She set up an automatic sorting system. She built more farms and took in a few mobs.

All of that took months, certainly. But… no one had showed up, so she just kept adding, building, securing, expanding, all in the hopes that one day she could show it off to someone. And yet, it remained quiet, and that broke her heart a bit more every day.

Yeah, she was going crazy. So, she began to write. She noted her daily expenses and gains. She made a floor plan of the city. She tracked the items in her storage.

And she made a map of her surroundings. And for that, she went outside. And that was the best decision she had made in months, for in the distance, she saw a tall, lanky figure appear. She drew her sword thinking it was an enderman and then-

"Ranboo," she breathed. The tall figure turned, and red and green eyes stared back at her, right into her soul. "Ranboo!" she screamed and dropped her sword before sprinting toward him.

She crashed into him at full speed and hugged him tight, so tight he'd never leave her alone in this desolate wasteland again. She'd never be alone again. Not now. She had Ranboo, and Ranboo would not leave. He wouldn't die.

They were a team after all, weren't they? Just like the old days. Not like the old days, a voice screamed in the back of her mind. Without them it'd never be the same.

Ranboo stood still as a pillar while she hugged him and only whispered a faint "Niki?" when they were face to face again. Then he tilted his head. Oh no.

"Niki?" he repeated. He reached out, and even as she took his hand and grasped it tightly, his expression didn't change. It was distant, staring right through her. It was something she'd seen on him before, but… never her. It had never been her.

"Yeah, I'm here. I promise, I'm here." He nodded. He just nodded and continued to stare right through her. It seemed like the months of isolation had worsened his state of mind considerably and her heart ached.

But maybe she was also hallucinating. He- she saw him die. And yet he was here, floppy as a fish with cold hands while she refused to let go of him. He was here. He was.

It was no use asking how he'd been, where he'd been before the explosion, because even if he did remember it… what use would it be? It wouldn't make her seem more real, asking about things he already knew. So, she took his hand and turned right back, guiding him towards her city, her bunker, her safe haven. She shut the doors, told him to wait and threw on the stove for some fresh bread.

Finally, she stepped into the empty corridor of rooms which were supposed to be filled with refugees, people like her, people looking for a home, and wrote 'Ranboo' on one of the signs. The one for the room that shared a wall with hers.

When she returned with fresh bread and something to drink, Ranboo was staring at the balloons with lanterns hanging from them. She'd swapped them out whenever one broke, carefully preserving the place's beauty. She handed him the bread and water and Ranboo stared at it for a second, then took a sip of water and began tearing the bread apart and eating it… like he hadn't in days.

Maybe he hadn't. In his state of mind, would he be able to hunt, forage, or even remember he was hungry in the first place? She didn't want to think about it. All that mattered was that he was here now, with her, in a safe place where there was plenty of food and water and where she could protect him. She resisted the urge to hug him again. Finally, finally she wasn't alone anymore.

"How are you feeling?" she finally asked after moments of silence.

"Good, good," he said, and she felt as though she heard a bit of himself in it. Of course he wasn't feeling good, of course he wasn't fine (who was, in an apocalypse, really), but… he probably wasn't sure of how to say it, so he didn't. Sometimes words weren't the thing that actually showed her how he felt.

So, that was how it was for the next few days. She showed him to his room but noticed him start to dissociate and lose himself whenever she left the room, so at last, she just took his bed into her room and stuck close to him all the time.

She didn't mind. If anything, it was concerning how fast she had become accustomed to human — okay, humanoid — company and was at the risk of missing it again. Vulnerable. As she had been far too many times, when she'd hoped and dreamed.

But what was there left to fear, really? Dream was gone, Wilbur was gone, Schlatt was gone. All these tyrants that had ruined her life. And she hadn't gotten the chance to stab even one of them. And if one had survived the bomb, Niki would shove a dagger through his cold, dark, twisted heart. So, there was nothing to fear, really.

Being vulnerable though, that was something in itself to be feared. But… for now, she allowed herself the pass. Just this once. If it meant Ranboo got better. And she tried everything else, too. She spoke to him, tried to get him to feed the sheep, introduced him to the resident endermen behind the glass pane. She made food for both of them everyday and made sure he ate something. If he didn't like it or showed restraint, she'd make something else. If that didn't work, she'd just give him bread fresh from the oven, something he always took without so much as a second thought.

Keeping him safe and bringing him as far away from death's door as was humanly possible was her top priority. Beyond that, she took care of the animals, the crops, and occasionally went outside for a bit of fishing. It was a simple life, but, even though she wasn't alone anymore, it was still quiet. Ranboo didn't speak much. And he was never one to begin a conversation, except on a day some weeks later.

"That plant has been growing for days and still hasn't produced anything," he noted.

"It's- that's the pumpkin farm."

"Oh."

And also when Niki went out fishing to her favorite spot. It was one facing l'Manberg. It made her feel close to Techno and Phil, with their grid hanging above her. And somehow, it felt like she was more lucky there, fishing up enchantments and shells.

"That's l'Manberg, isn't it?" Ranboo noted while staring across the water.

"Yes, do you remember it?" Niki asked carefully.

"Yeah… there were lanterns. And that's where they kept Phil."

"Who?" Niki asked.

"The butcher army. They were hunting Techno and kept Phil in his house. And that's where they found Techno's compass." She did him the favor of not telling him he was part of a group trying to murder Techno at some point. What did it matter today, really? Best to let him keep his peace of mind.

"Yeah, that happened. And then it all got bombed by Techno and Phil," Niki added, pointing to the obsidian overhead.

"Yeah," Ranboo replied, but clearly, he was off in some other memory again, so Niki left him to think and focused on fishing.

"Niki." His voice was dead serious. "Did you find Phil and Techno?" She just lowered her head.

"Did you?" she asked. He stopped for a second, then slowly shook his head. After that, it was silence again. She'd already thought he was unusually conversational today, but that had put the final nail in the coffin.

"Niki?" Ranboo whispered while they were sleeping. Who is she kidding. Neither of them were asleep. But they were lying in their beds with the lights turned off, which, in her mind, counted, since she was at least trying.

"Yeah?"

"Did I die?"

She stopped herself for a second, but… he had to know the truth — a slightly redacted truth anyway, but dying was a pretty important life event — if he wanted to gain a footing on reality again. Even if it was potentially more confusing than whatever world he'd made up. "Yeah. Sam killed you after we had broken you and Dream out of prison."

"I remember that. And I remember the water… there was just water, endless, everywhere. That's where the memories get really fuzzy. I don't really know how I got from there to here."

"But… you are here. Somehow you came back, and that is what matters."

"I guess. By now I'm like 24 percent sure I'm not imagining this."

"Well-" Niki chuckled, "that's better than nothing I suppose. You're sticking around, whether you like it or not."

"Trust me, there are worse things than this. For example, I could be in the rain." Both of them laughed a little. It felt good, whatever they were doing.

So, they kept going. Every day. And every day, it felt as though a bit more of Ranboo — and of herself, though she wasn't sure which version — returned. They joked. They talked. And slowly, they pierced together some more of what had happened. Ranboo had died, killed by Sam's hand, and after spending some time in an endless ocean somehow wound up here. He didn't remember anything between those events. Maybe he'd only returned after the nuke had gone off, but that was speculation at its finest.

Before that, he'd been in prison. And he'd been with the Syndicate. But, there was still one question burning in Niki's mind, one that she just had to ask when they'd found themselves discussing that day again.

"Okay, but, you- you stopped. And you did what Sam asked. Why? You could've kept your armor on and then you would have been just fine. Does it have to do with the picture of the piglin you gave Techno?"

Ranboo pondered. Then, Niki saw the gears in his head turn. "The baby piglin?" She nodded. "That's Michael. He had Michael! And he told me I'd have to do what he asked so he wouldn't hurt him. I need to find him!"

"Hold up, hold up, Michael?" Niki asked.

"Yeah, he uh, right, he was, I adopted him together with-" now, every inch of his face filled with an expression of utmost horror. "Tubbo."

She already dreaded the question that would come next. "In the explosion," she answered before he could ask, averting his eyes. "he was near the bomb. The blast got him."

"Are you sure?" Of course. With what she had heard of an atomic bomb, it was only natural for it to decimate everything even remotely close to it. It was a miracle already that she had survived.

A miracle, exactly. Who was she to say there wouldn't be one more? She really, really didn't want to give him a sliver of hope, just for it to be ripped away when they inevitably returned empty-handed, but… she wasn't certain, no.

"We can go check if we find a corpse," she muttered. She tried to shut down the thought, the sliver of hope, that was beginning to arise within the other, simply because hope was a dangerous thing. It meant being vulnerable, even more so for Ranboo who was already on the verge of losing what little sanity he had regained. "We'll go check in the morning."

Then, they went to the crater. It was… for how much of a fundamental shift it had caused, it was quite unremarkable. Like the l'Manberg crater, but… no obsidian grid, just a few pieces of scattered blackstone and lava left from the prison. There weren't even remains of the bomb. It was just… quiet.

Even more quiet than the rest of the world. Somehow, the animals seemed to notice the dangers lurking here and, as such, didn't go near this whole area. No trees either, just a few pieces of grass and some bushes.

"We'll stick together and do one walk around, not more, alright? Even if we don't find anything," she briefed Ranboo.

"Yeah, got it." He seemed to pull himself together today, something Niki was grateful for, even if it was only a temporary fix. It meant there was one less thing to worry about.

And so, they went in. By comparing the positions of other buildings and land features, it was sort of possible to tell where they were, but as soon as they lost sight of the horizon that method became obsolete. So, they were left to wander around the crater, climbing and carefully crossing ledges, all while Niki kept a close eye on Ranboo.

And slowly, the sun made its way over the sky and towards the horizon while they had barely scraped the surface of it all. She had underestimated the task they had assigned themselves. However, Ranboo didn't seem to have a problem with this and proposed they just put up camp and continue looking the next day.

Camping somewhere contaminated with radiation. Neat. But then again, what were their other options? Leaving the crater would take as long as it took to get there, and it would mean they'd have to start from scratch in the morning. So alas, she ignored the problem at hand, lit up a torch and continued trekking through the debris. She had gotten used to the silence by now, by which is meant she wasn't totally creeped out by it every second she spent here, but it was certainly not that welcome. It felt like temporarily losing her hearing after an explosion, something she knew very well and hated even more.

Of course, it only got worse when the night broke in with an impenetrable fog and robbed them of their ability to see beyond a few blocks. "Are you fucking serious, what is this? This isn't natural," she said. "Well, who am I kidding, a bomb went off here so-"

"It might just be the shape of it all," Ranboo noted. "It's formed like a huge cauldron so… the… air density is higher?"

"What?"

"Nevermind, but it comes from the bomb either way. Hey is that a light over there?" Ranboo asked.

"What?"

He pointed over and actually, there was… a slightly lighter section of the fog to be made out. A light, maybe. Lava left from the prison? Probably. But, seeing as it was a source of heat which would make resting more comforting, they might as well go have a look.

They climbed down more stones, avoided more narrow falls and arrived. It was a patch of even ground, and there was even some grass around. And… it was not lava. Before them was a crafting table with a lantern on it.

Niki drew her sword immediately, keeping the torch in the other hand. Ranboo went forward, inspecting the table and moving on.

"Ranboo, careful!" she whispered. "There could be people here!"

He turned around, confused. "We're looking for people, aren't we?"

Too trusting. Or desperate. She wasn't entirely sure. So, she stuck close by him as they inspected what seemed to be a campsite. And, lo and behold, they spotted a few slouched figures behind a small rock. Niki swallowed. At least their search would be over quick.

Ranboo carefully approached them and knelled down to… Tubbo. He looked as though he'd fallen asleep. Peaceful. But it didn't sit right with Niki. The nuke would've shred him to pieces, not left to die a peaceful death here. And then, it hit her.

Or rather, a knife to the throat hit her as she was pulled back into a tight grip. "Who are you fuckers?" a too-familiar voice screamed. Before she could answer, her survival instincts kicked in and she gave the other a kick to the knee and turned out of her trapped position, raising her sword and holding it to the other's chin in turn.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, sorry- can you… not?" Tommy said in turn, tone changing from angry to what would be considered polite for his standards. And Niki, finally seeing him, couldn't help cracking a smile. He was alive. Stupid reckless annoying Tommy was alive and well. He was here. She wasn't alone anymore. Her and Ranboo weren't alone anymore.

"What the fuckkk-" she heard from behind her and couldn't help turning around. There was Tubbo, as alive and confused and a little scared as Tommy.

"How- how are you alive?" she stuttered. It was the only thing that she could say, ask at the moment. How. How had they made it and no one else? They, who had caused this, who had brought about an apocalypse. How dare they survive while Phil and Techno didn't cause of what they did?

"How are you?" Tommy asked, almost in his usual irritated tone, but the sword to his chest meant he was showing a little more respect than usual.

"Well." Her gaze dropped for a second as she contemplated. "I just woke up near my city. As for Ranboo… God knows how. Neither of us do, anyway."

"Yeah so why are you asking us something you don't even know?"

Because you don't deserve this, Niki wanted to say. Because you caused this, because all of this is your fault, because I was alone for months on end because of you so how dare you be alive?

"Techno and Phil are dead 'cause of you," she whispered, closing her eyes to tiny slits and raising her sword higher, "so you better explain yourself right fucking now."

Silence. Ranboo stopped in his movements of helping Tubbo, raised his head for a moment and then let go of Tubbo's hand.

"We were trying to stop Dream, unlike you who-"

"Tommy," Tubbo interrupted him, "shut up." He turned to Ranboo and Niki. "We thought we were doing the right thing, but… there were complications. The blast was supposed to be contained to the prison, but it landed slightly outside." He lowered his gaze.

"And I'm- we're sorry… about it all."

Hm. Sorry won't bring them back, will it? But then again, it was a start. As maybe the last surviving members of the SMP, they'd have to work together.

"Well," Ranboo began enthusiastically, "and who knows, maybe they're alive." Before Niki could counter this, he raised his hand in a posture of confidence. "You also said we wouldn't find these two too, and we did."

She shook her head, but a small smile made its way across her face for the first time in forever.

Epilogue

"No, no you didn't!" Niki shouted in disbelief as she stared at the chests of her sorting system. All of them were filled with cheap wooden tools. "Do you know how long cleaning this is gonna take?"

"Happy April fools!" Tommy and Tubbo chanted in unison. Niki groaned. Those fools. She knew exactly who'd be in charge of the item sorter for the next few days. "But you're not quite done yet, there is one other surprise around to be discovered."

"Oh really. And does that one also entail destroying the infrastructure necessary for our survival?" Niki asked in a half-joking tone.

"Item sorting? That's not survival, you're just lazy." Deep breaths Niki, deep breaths.

"Yeah, if you only have one farm and eat bread everyday, but-"

"Oh… yeah… about the farms…" Tubbo smiled at her, a sweet innocent devilish smile.

"OW" Ranboo shouted from the corridor. Niki turned immediately, a reflex still leftover from when it was just the two of them, and took two wide steps out the door. And… sure enough, there was Ranboo, continuously trying to walk through a wall of… pumpkins.

Niki would never admit even she cackled a bit at that one. "Yeah, the farms Tubbo." She tried her best to sound annoyed, but a bit of good fun — less for Ranboo and more for all non-endermen unfortunately — was something she'd been missing for a while after the bomb went off.

It still wasn't easy. It was still too quiet, and she'd admitted to herself not that long ago that she was actually missing being around so many people. And sometimes, she still blamed Tommy and Tubbo for all of it. But they were survivors, and they had to make do. And the two of them brought a liveliness into the city that was too vibrant to extinguish.

And she still missed some people.

It hadn't been easy. It had been lonely. But little did she know, there were others out there, others who'd survived and were waiting to find a place to call their home.