Chapter Text
(Scout's pov)
...
It's crazy how things can happen without any prompting, like woah, ha, look at that, there are 16 odds skeletons that just popped out of nowhere that exploded our whole garage. Then suddenly they become your closest and new family... Huh, well, would you look at that? Yeah, sure we weren't a family right away, there were oh so many fights between us and ourselves. (I guess they didn't get along even before they came to ours).
It was getting so bad that the fences didn't even need to get fixed for four weeks, as zombies kept breaking it down with the amount of noise we were making. I mean anyone, alive or not could've walked straight into our territory and probably startled as really bad and started a massacre. That was also about the same time my mental state got really bad, well, I wasn't really in a stable state to begin with but nevertheless, after the machine malfunctioned and the comments that started from Razz, Edge and sometimes Black really got to me, to the point all I did was work for hours, and eventually went on my own runs to get parts, which was a really bad idea from my end, since, I was operating on like six hours of sleep for that whole week, and I couldn't really think properly, and thought if I'd died, I didn't care.
Of course, Paps noticed and was reasonably concerned, practically the whole house could feel the tension and depression at that stage, stopping the fights completely. The last straw broke when I finally collapsed from exhaustion after being awake for two weeks on eight hours of sleep when I got back from a scavenge. I never want to scare Paps like that ever again. I was on my deathbed, having a really bad fever and losing too much HP. I think that was the moment everyone realised that if we had a bad relationship with each other things could end up terribly bad. So, after some scolding and reprimanding from Wine and Sprout, giving them more work than the others on purpose for more than three months, and some team-building exercises from Swap and Clem, that everyone must do, we were finally in the right direction, actually bonding with each other. Plus, this is the chillest we have seen Razz and Edge interact with each other. Heh, maybe they finally understood the situation. My relationship with them has also changed for the better. It took me eight weeks to recover from that situation, and now they all stalk me around, taking turns to make sure that I don't do anything reckless, Edge telling me that "If you do anything stupid then, I'll kill you myself". Telling me to also sleep for a good amount of time, no matter how much arguing I do, "I haven't done that for so long and, plus, it wasn't for that long the last time", or insisting that, "I've done this for thirteen years and I haven't bit the dust yet". Alas, it didn't work and made everyone even more concerned for me. It feels so foreign you know. Having so many people caring about my wellbeing. When the barrier broke, Paps and I were practically alone. Most of our friends died from that attack and for ten years we had to fend for ourselves.
Escaping was the hardest and best choice I'd ever made. I've never told Paps this, but, I saw how Undyne died. Murdered right in front of my eyes, eaten like she was swift cheese. Her blue skin was being torn off her body like it was some inconvenience, and oh gosh...The dust. There was just so much of it. I don't wanna know if she died right there or slowly and painfully got turned into a zombie, either way, that was the moment I realised that life was never gonna be the same, and it wasn't. It was hard and gruesome, to defend ourselves for that long, at this point. I'm just tired. But even with the other skeletons coming into our lives accidentally and terribly, things are finally changing for the better. Finally starting to look up for the first time in ages. Heh...Finally.
Now everyone has their jobs to do for the house and some may not like doing it all the time but it was actually working out. Classic and Red is the dedicated fishermen/foragers for basically anything that was edible and grew in the wild. Trust me when I say for several weeks they gave Sprout and me more poisonous ingredients than actual edible ones. I had to teach them basic knowledge about foods that grew in the wild. Which ones were poisonous, not poisonous, the ones that had to be grown for a certain time, and the ones that you can't take too much of or else it depopulates, etc. Basically everything. Soon enough they were heading in the right direction and started to bring more and more edible ingredients.
Now they have a notebook that records everything they learnt over the past few years so that it would be easier for them to remember and scavenge for. Sprout even found some books about mushrooms and other various foods in the wild which was perfect for them. They now really have a knack for fishing/foraging ingredients and that made me come to the realization why all those years ago Mutt, Gold and Coffee chose to group Classic and Red together. I always wondered why they didn't group them with their brother cause I would’ve chosen that brothers should always stick together. But now I finally see it, they practically act like an old married couple, teasing, and making each other laugh. Heh, but that would be weird if they actually were a couple... Thankfully they are not and just really good friends.
Edge, Razz and Black were the people who would go with Sprout to do more intense and harder scavenges. (Typically not food unless it was hard to find where we were stationed) Just trying to make life easier for everyone. They would find anything for the machine and make sure we have enough for the next winter. They would also insist on helping with the cooking from time to time as they were still salty that they weren't picked to be the designated cooks.
As time went by, we all realised that it was problematic to just scavenge with one vehicle as it meant only one person could come with Sprout. We needed more people with Sprout so that it would take less time to scavenge. We would need an escape vehicle as well in case anything goes wrong. So the search began, obviously the broken-down car wasn't an option as even if we did try to fix the thing, it would take too long and unnecessary materials would be wasted. it's easier just to try and find one and that was pretty difficult to find. We couldn't find anything decent and even the majority of components that were missing couldn't be found, but eventually, we found two motorbikes and a pickup truck. All of them were in decent shape and the motorbikes even worked. Black used to have a thing with fixing up broken parts of machines and loved reading and learning about cars. So when the opportunity struck to fix the pickup truck he took it. We gathered all the parts needed and let him do his magic. Thankfully he knew what he was doing and quickly finished it and got it working. Now we have more vehicles to add to the collection.
Aster and Cin were the people who usually hunted for live bait, using various traps like bear traps, body grip traps, glue traps, etc. Making more contraptions to help with the process. Animals are not too common to see nowadays especially with everyone trying to survive and the whole apocalypse thing. But the few that we do see and catch, Aster and Cin are skilled and get the job done efficiently. They also get a surprisingly fair amount. Besides helping to get live bait, they also make sure there is plenty of water for everybody and that it's purified so that it's safe to drink and use. Just so that no one can get diseases. Yeah, even though we're monsters, it doesn't mean we're immune to everything. Aster and Cin were the ones who travelled every day to the river to grab about 18, 10-litre buckets for everyone. Which also includes water for the washing that Wine does. Making and getting all the buckets by trading took a lot of materials but was necessary for survival.
Blue and Clem are usually the designated cooks of the family, to ensure that a minimal amount of waste is made. Being able to feed 18 people is really hard to scavenge for but we do manage. We all agreed that we should skip lunch cause it uses too many ingredients. I mean we can have lunch but most of us rather save it. It’s not like before Sprout and I ever had lunch. It was more like a snack, well snack for me as Sprout is usually out at that time. Besides being the designated cooks throughout the day they would be the ones who repair and build anything we needed. Stretch would also help along as apparently back when he was still in his universe, he started to learn woodwork. Carving literally anything. First starting off with pretty small things like animals, spoons and such. But after fifteen years of constant work, he began to build more unique and intricate things. I can say he's rather skilled. Most of the time they are the ones who would stay home (along with me).
Stretch as well as Wine and Coffee also started to go with Sprout to the Trade post where Evander and his kids are. Stretch, Wine and Coffee really liked Sprout's human friend. I've only visited Evander about 7 times over the 6 years we've known him. I don't think he's a bad character. He gives respect to both sides and can hate monsters but at the same time hate his own kind as well. A more neutral person. It's the actions you do that he will judge, not your race or ethnicity. Sprout told me that when hanging out with Evander he noticed that Wine was really good with Kids. Making them laugh, being patient with them, teaching them new games and a whole lot of other things, which makes sense. I mean he does act like the dad in the family, actually, he's more of a mother. Yep, definitely a mother-hen. Evander was so grateful to Wine as now there were more people who could play with his kids.
Speaking of Wine, he actually contributes in many ways. I think he does too much sometimes but he says he doesn't mind. He likes to sew which means he would fix and make new clothes for all of us, which does now extend to Evander and of course his kids, Chaya and Ravi. He also has hinted many times that he likes dress-making, and I think that's extremely cool. Ha, I actually would never believe that this stoic and classy version of me would like dress-making. He would also go out of his way and go with Sprout to scavenge from time to time. Usually, the ones he goes to are the 2 to 5-day trips Sprout occasionally goes to but since there are a lot more of us now, it's becoming more frequent. Like I said before Wine does all the washing. Clothes, plates and anything that comes home that looks unusable and smells really bad. I still think he does too much. He should really take a break.
Surprisingly, it was easier than I thought to find Coffee a job to do. It felt impossible back then since he was so skittish and jumpy and hiding himself behind people to look smaller. But as time went by he started to warm up. Though I haven't seen him say a word this whole time he has been here. It was kind of worrying and weird cause speaking usually is key for manipulation and bribery. After a bit, Wine explained everything to me and my brother that Coffee is mildly autistic. He can speak but prefers expressing himself by writing notes, only speaking to him and sometimes Gold and Mutt. Which is understandable.
It was actually Evander who considered Coffee for this job. One day when Sprout took Coffee and Mutt to the trading ground Coffee decided that he wanted to draw something on the wall cause it looked bland. Someone noticed that he was drawing and started to praise him for his art. Evander then encouraged him to keep doing what he was doing and start a store. I would actually never ever consider drawing as a job opportunity if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Drawing has never been something people would trade for as it just seemed a waste of resources but ay, I guess I was wrong. The kids, adults, and other traders, all loved it. Sprout told me that people were saying how it brought light back into their lives. That's when he actually became the one who would bring the most supplies back home. Everyone praised him. Heh, I think he got too overwhelmed sometimes with all the comments as he started to pull his hoodie strings to close his hood up and cover his face. He started to do commissions at the trading post and eventually branched out to other places that were starting to hear about his art. Drawing pictures for children, adults, monsters, people who wanted artworks of loved ones who had passed, literally everything. But that's not the only thing he does with his talent for drawing. He also started sketching and drawing structures that we were planning to build in the near future.
Gold and Mutt usually hang out with Coffee, which is good cause Wine expressed how proud he was of Coffee for finding friends because back when he was in his universe he was shy and mostly stayed with Wine the whole time. But when they were not hanging out with Coffee and going with him to do his job, they were the ones down with me fixing the machine. full-time. Classic, Red, Stretch and G also come to help as well first finishing their jobs.
Now the nightly patrols are usually done by G, Merlot and me. It's usually calm, with only a few zombies here and there but in a few instances, we had some close calls where almost everyone had to help. Luckily, no one was majorly hurt that we had to amputate or kill them cause they got bitten.
They haven't encountered any Mithvs or monster zombies yet. That's a blessing. They are definitely not prepared for that. I probably have to give them a full explanation of all of the different zombie types there is. That would be very useful now finally after three winters of staying together. I didn't think it was necessary to explain back then since monster zombies aren't very common and Mithvs zombies are mostly populated in the eastern and southern coast and never really leave the territory unless a burst of magic is released. Humans probably already killed most of them if not all of them.
So yeah, over the years sprout and I have trained everyone on how to use more human weapons so they can protect themselves, and to never, I mean never in any circumstances use their magic. Using magic can cause zombies to get attracted and find you more easily by locating the energy. The only time you would want to use your magic is if you want to lure it to other people and fuck them up. But what I do find interesting is that teleporting is a different circumstance from all the other magic moves monsters have. Since magic energy can be sensed from the moment you summon it, till the moment you stop, it does what it's intended to do, disappear. To zombies, a spark of magic is sensed at the direct spot you started teleporting from and then just stops, giving no hint that you were even there in the first place. This means that teleportation is the only magic source you can use, too bad that I'm the only one who can use it. I don't even know if my counterparts can use it. Probably have to ask. Why haven't I thought about asking?
Heh, Let's just all hope that the machine is fixed in 5 years instead of 15, cause I don't think they would want to encounter anything worse than this. It's a big world out here and so many other humans we don't need to meet any time soon.