Once, there was an island.... // MPHFPC one shots, imagines, and misc !

REBEL GIRL! { Apocalypse AU! Emma Bloom}

set 10 years in the future, present day for us, mildly inspired by TLOUp2
this is a pretty long chapter!! 
Inspired by Rebel Girl ( Bikini Kill), Another One Bites The Dust ( Queen), and Trigger of Love ( JAWNY). b/c my music taste is a mess 
CW for guns and mentions of gore! nothing explicit but if thats not ur thing this wont be either <3 //

After the world ended, Emma stopped giving a shit. 

Her peculiarity became a weapon, and a damned strong one. 

It ended later than expected, in retrospect, but nevertheless. 2020 had broken out hell. A third world war had left the planet in ruins, a majority of the population left to die and the rest of it in chaos. Maybe in some reality, this shit didn't happen. Maybe it remained some inconvenient threat. A joke, even.

But not here. Not now.

Emma Bloom trudged through the streets of what used to be Seattle, adjusting a heavy bag at her shoulder. Her hair was cut short and choppy, sticking to her face in the damp early morning. And she was alone. It was very important that she was alone.

26 now, Emma had seen some shit. She had left the loop on Cairnholm when her body was 19, later 2014 if her memory served, with the full intention of taking on Abe's old work. Hunting hollowghast. Saving people. Maybe having some fun along the way. Jacob was firmly against it, but he had been against her a lot those last few years. 

So she did it anyways. Spite is a shockingly powerful motivator.

Emma set her pack down under an overhang, collapsing beside with a heavy sigh. Rain clouds were rolling in over the overgrown city, smothering the world in grey.

" Great." Emma mumbled. " Another fucking obstacle."

There was a reason she had been wandering through Washington State for the upper half of the year. She wanted to get to the ocean. If the rumors she had picked up over her travels harbored any sliver of truth, there was a group of "strange" people forming on the western shore. People who called themselves "Birds", like a flock of some kind. People who could do things others couldn't. Peculiar people. She had first heard about them while restocking at a small northwest settlement, about 6 months and countless miles ago.

" Back already, traveler?" The sales woman asked, leaning against the counter with a friendly smile. Trade posts were pretty common these days, especially in settlements with lots of people. An upwards of 600 lived here, and judging by the surplus of building supplies scattered around, that number would soon increase. Doesn't matter if the world ends or not, people will search for any scraps of normalcy. Must be nice.

Emma shrugged. " Cleared out that old hotel about a mile east, like you asked. I'd sweep the woods around it too pretty regularly, if your people wanna use it."

" Awh. Thanks bunches, sweetheart. We should keep you around, you're far more efficient than the men we've got now."

" Mm. I've got places to be. Where's my stuff?"

The woman reached under the counter and pulled up a large duffel bag, dropping it on the counter with a heavy thunk. " Enough ammo, food, and clean water to last you to Oregon. There's another settlement not far past state lines, you can restock there. An easy trip if you stick to the roads rather than the woods."

Emma took the bag and slung it over the shoulder, wincing at the familiar yet annoying tug in her muscle. " How long will it take?"

" Couple weeks at foot, especially if you're focused on avoiding hoards and other people. Packed you enough for that, darlin'. It would be so much quicker if you went on horseback, though, if you're in a hurry."