Jamie Fawkes was a victim of circumstance. At least, that's what her Mum liked to say. She was born on the outback and would always be an outback girl at heart. Mum liked to say that, too.
Even during the Omnic Crisis, when everyone fled to the sea caves to get away from the hordes of robots, Jamie remembered her and Mum staying back and hiding the best they could. And for an outback girl, her best was enough to stay away from the robots.
When the Omnic Crisis ended, when she was 7, she and her Ma thought they were out of the woods. They were, right? Jamie was sprawled over on a broken couch, watching political negotiations through a static-y screen. A group of forty different omnics were on screen, unarmed. But were they really, Jamie asked herself. On the other side of the room, a group of fifteen people stood in front of a bunch of suits. They were dressed in bright clothing, each of them contrasting the other. Medals shone at their chest. She immediately recognized them. "Overwatch," Jamie whispered beneath her breath. They were the ones that turned the entire Crisis around, fighting the bots back until they called a ceasefire! Jamie jumped off the couch at an explosive speed, her hair trailing behind her in greasy strings. "Mum! Overwatch is negotiating with the omnics!"
Overtop a fire, Mum melted some lead down into small circular pellets. "That's… great, honey."
"And on August 24th, 2058, these should be the final negotiations. The omnics are finally starting to see sense. They're asking for a rather sizable plot of land, though," The reporter with an American accent commented loudly.
Mum's eyes widened and she immediately stepped away from the fire, taking the remote and turning the TV off. "That's enough TV for now." She put the remote on a high shelf, where Jamie couldn't even see it. "Just go on and play, alright?"
Jamie nodded, hair bobbing up and down with her. "Sure, Mum!" She turned and ran out the house. The door got stolen a few weeks ago, and there weren't any trees to cut down to build a new one.
She booked it until she hit a grove where a creek was. Sometimes, she'd drink from it and try washing her shirt because nobody was looking. Mostly, she'd just use the mud around it as a safe place to light fires. She sat down at the creek and bent over to drink the water, but then realized the water was black. She stopped, breath catching, but didn't say anything. Coating the surface was a gooey black liquid. She dipped her hand in it, and the liquid slid off her hand but left black marks on her palms. She stepped away from the creek, holding her breath in case the water was dangerous. Who was she kidding? Of course it was dangerous! She should tell Mum. She waited for a second to see if the water was going to clear up. It didn't, so she looked upstream. She followed the creek. More and more black water. She ran until the creek finally met up with the river. The river was black too. On black rocks, black fish were spread out, dead. A black snake lay stomach up, dead.
It was dangerous, she realized. Very dangerous.
She stepped back away from the river and turned around. In front of her, a huge omnic hid in the grass. She tried to keep a scream in, like she did when they were near their hiding places. She froze. It couldn't see her if she didn't move, right? It didn't move at all. It didn't even have any blinking lights. Was it dead? She waited another minute, then stepped closer to it. It didn't respond. She kicked it. Again, it didn't move. She kicked it again, amazed she was able to do this. Again, not even a blink. Its turret was down-turned. So it was dead!
She laughed loudly and kicked it, hard. Then out of childish instinct she ran back to the river. She looked back at the black water and remembered it had been poisoned. She remembered she needed to tell Mum. So she ran away from the riverbank to the creek, and then back to the house.
She stopped at the sound of a reporter with an Australian accent. "Breaking news for August 25, 2058! Reports from every state in Australia state that their rivers have been covered in oil!" Her breath hitched, and she didn't enter the house. "After the omnic crisis, this is the only source of water for 75% of the population. Are the omnics trying to kill off what's left of Australia's humanity? After they've recently acquired our continent, it seems likely."
She hugged herself, teeth clenching. Acquired meant got. So the omnics got Australia? The omnics did that to the river. She felt tears streaming down her face. She was got by the omnics too? They were going to come back? She leaned against the wall, her knees shaking. She felt dizzy. She heard her heart thumping in her chest. Then, she fell to the ground, unconscious.