Alas, Babylon
Summary: In a world where Rick left early on, Earth was over run by aliens and now exists in a post-apocalyptic state. Fifteen year old Summer Smith and her brother Morty struggle to survive until a Rick sent by the Citadel of Ricks shows up on a mission which involves the two of them.
A/N: WIP (work in progress), intend on it to be rather lengthy. I'm all about that fluff.
Warnings: Rated T for violence mainly, maybe a bit of cussing but not much, there will be no explicit material.
Summer Smith held the gun up, running a hand along the barrel and then beginning to dismantle it. Summer was fifteen, she had brilliant red hair and had lost count of the number of people she had killed in the last few years since the Verdunkeln. There was the soft, tinny sound of the pieces clinking together and the gentle slide of the parts of the gun against each other. Her hands were rough and callused, scars running over a lot of her body. Beauty was foreign, forgotten from the time she was eleven and still wore pink princess dresses for tea time with her dolls.
Summer looked across the room to where her little brother was curled up on a ratty old blanket, eyes closed and soft, breathy exhales and inhales making his chest rise and fall. He was twelve, but still so small, unbelievably thin and still smaller than Summer had been when this whole thing had happened.
It was just Summer and Morty, ever since her parents had been gunned down by a terrifying group of aliens. Now the world was overrun by lawless creatures and desperate humans. Summer had learned real fast that the best way to talk was with a gun. Summer finished cleaning the gun, quickly putting it back together. She slid off the table she had been sitting on and looked out the window of the abandoned house they were squatting in. The streets outside were dark and littered with debris. They were in a suburb several miles outside of L.A., Summer had been trying to get them to some camp which was supposed to be safe for humans.
Moving from the window, Summer headed over to where Morty was asleep. Laying down, she hugged her brother to her, the gun nestled in one hand and the other curled around Morty.
Rick didn't consider himself the smartest Rick in the multi-verse, however he was willing to claim the name of most sensible. So really, it could be said he made the smartest decisions, at least when it came to self-preservation. For one, he didn't drink, probably one of the few Ricks who didn't. Rick PL-1109 also didn't use any substance to alter his mind, nothing. As such, he usually got stuck with the worst missions from the citadel. Due to his level headed thinking, he had never met Diane, let alone married and had a kid. He had no Morty, and had never felt much of an affinity for Mortys, they were a lazy Rick's last resort, a stupid Rick's need. He could cloak his own mental signature, thank you very much.
Rick glared down at the paper in his hand, it was another order from the Citadel, one which would bring him to an Earth where aliens had come and fucked the whole place over. Now it was a mere blip on the highway of the galaxies, a place bad aliens went to hide away from the federation.
Rick glared a little longer at the paper, as if that would help it to disappear and never be put in his hand. Still, the Citadel gave him everything he needed and supplied him with a place to stay, all in all it wasn't a terrible trade off.
Rick took the paper and pulled out his portal gun, the paper had a code on it which would program his portal gun and carry his directive on it. He didn't get to know exactly what he was doing until the moment up to it, some Rick in a high place obviously had some sort of paranoid streak, more than the average Rick.
He glanced at the time, he had time to go now, hopefully this wouldn't take more than a few hours. Without a thought, he opened a portal and stepped through, not knowing that everything he knew was about to change.
"Wake up, Morty."
Summer gently pushed at her brother's shoulder and Morty's eyes instantly flew open, a small smile graced his face and the tiny twelve year old sat up from the pile of blankets he'd been sleeping on.
Summer smiled back, she'd woken up earlier than him, preparing everything for them to start on their trek toward the heart of L.A., where the supposed camp was at.
"You sleep alright, Morty?"
It seemed a silly sentiment, all but lost in the cacophony of their life and the absolute absence of happiness or security. They experienced death on a regular basis, alongside hunger and many other sorts of pains, having a good sleep seemed obsolete, unimportant. But for Morty and Summer it was like making sure the other was okay, that both were alive.
Morty smiled and gave a small nod. He didn't talk much, and he really only talked for Summer.
"You?" Morty said quietly.
Summer smiled back, not really giving an honest answer. Neither slept well anymore.
"We're gonna head off in a little bit, try to get to a little farther into the city."
Morty nodded, standing up and folding the blanket, beginning to tuck it into a burlap backpack. They cleared everything up pretty quickly, Summer pulled out one of their last cans and used a small knife she carried with her to cut it open and push back the jagged edges. She handed it to Morty, both cross legged on the floor facing each other. Morty always ate first, Summer made sure of it.
He dutifully ate exactly half of the can, Summer wouldn't let him take less, he'd tried enough times to know.
Handing it over to his sister, Morty then scooted over to Summer and ducked under her arm, settling against her side.
They stayed that way until Summer was done eating, then the two got up and headed outside, beginning to pick their way down the littered street.
It was chill, and damp, the middle of winter in L.A. with temperate weather nipping through their clothes but not dangerous. The heavy overcast sky didn't reveal the sun and the hours passed by with the miles.
Soon enough the suburbs made way for bigger buildings and the remains of commercial and corner stores. It was eerily empty, however there was some signs of life, small scavenging animals passing their view and carrion digging away at various corpses that were scattered sparsely. Usually night time was when most beings were active, the by product of the universe's worst aliens and the few surviving humans who went about to hunt or search for safety.
Morty let out a small sound and Summer stopped. Morty was frozen, eyes focused off to the side where an alleyway was. Summer looked over to it surreptitiously, before suddenly breaking into action. There was the heavy sound of a laser; harsh heavy reports causing Summer's ears to ring as she pulled her brother behind the safety of an abandoned car.
Morty was shaking and Summer already had the gun in her hand. With a quick glance at her brother, Summer rose above the car, her gun ready, she fired a few shots in quick succession before ducking back down where her brother was. She barely heard the high short scream of whoever had attacked them. Morty was looking at her imploringly, implicitly trusting her judgement.
She didn't speak, silence having a tight hold. A few seconds passed, the ambiance from before suddenly back: silent wind whispering in the leaden landscape and gloomy sky above quiet. Summer held Morty's gaze, both tensed, still against the cool metal of the car. She gave a tiny nod and then slowly moved so she could see out at the street and into the entryway of the alley.
A body was on the ground, there was no other movement. Summer stood up carefully, senses heightened as she took in the surroundings. She looked back at Morty, ignoring the plea in his eyes for her to stay. She walked into the street, gun ready, before approaching the alley where the shots had originated from.
In the shadow of the alley her eyes adjusted and she saw the body of an alien, its green blood now spreading over the concrete floor. Summer kicked it. The body lolled, slumping onto its side so wide unseeing eyes stared up into an empty heaven. It was dead.
She trotted back over to Morty and he stood up, relief evident in his face. Words passed without being voiced and they were once again headed down the road.
They made more headway, the buildings growing in height so that their roofs scraped the clouded sky above.
The sound of voices made both of them freeze, moments spent determining in what direction they were coming from. The voices were raucous cries, plentiful and earsplitting, not with terror but with savage enjoyment. Summer gripped Morty's hand and they began running. A bright purple creature jumped in front of them, partially clothed and obviously an alien, it had inhuman speed. Summer faltered and yanked Morty in another direction.
More aliens came, a few humans spread among them. The jeering cries grew more pronounced, subjectively honing in on the two. Soon they were surrounded by a crowd of monsters, all hissing out in foreign languages and the few English speaking humans shouting things which made the two terrified.
One stepped forward, a tall amfiddian.
He shouted something out and an alien stepped forward, roughly grabbing Morty, Summer screamed flashing her gun so that the alien quickly backed away. The amfiddian considered her for a moment.
"Put gun down, girly."
Summer shook her head, wielding her only line of defense wildly as she clutched her little brother to her.
The amfiddian opened his mouth then shut it, angrily shaking his head. He jerked a hand harshly at the group, shouting something out. A human stepped forward, a huge man covered in hair and with sharp blue eyes.
The amfiddian spoke again and the man turned to Summer.
"He says you should put the gun down."
Summer shook her head, mouth trembling.
The amfiddian spoke again and the man translated.
"You're outnumbered little girl, if you use your gun we will make the end for the tiny one very very painful."
Summer seemed to hesitate, gun faltering for just a moment.
The amfiddian spoke again.
"We will give him a painless death, there is much we can inflict on him. Make only one suffer."
The human man's eyes were pitiless and blank.
Morty shook his head furiously, clutching to his sister and brown creasing in distress. Summer however was considering the offer, gun beginning to fall.
The portal let out in the ruins of a city. Rick blinked, he vaguely recalled this place. He didn't have time to think about it though, the coordinates had brought him to the center of a group of aliens, two people in the center of it and obviously at odds with the huge group of vicious looking aliens. He had two thoughts run through his head, one, he was pretty sure he had gotten a killer donut from that broken down store over there at one point and second, he was totally screwed.
Quick note, this obviously isn't about the canon Rick, Rick-137, or his Morty.