Fanfictotron
The war has been raging for so long that nobody remembers how it started.
Europa, Eurasia, and Euruska grind each other into dust while scavengers pick through the bones of civilization, hoping to survive one more day.
Kid is one of those scavengers.
At seventeen years old, he's already seen enough death to last several lifetimes.
He hauls water back to the Innards, avoids firefights whenever possible, and somehow manages to stay on good terms with soldiers from every faction. Most people like him.
Which, in the Forever Winter, is almost a miracle.
Then people start disappearing.
Scavs.
Soldiers.
Civilians.
Taken by rogue Mother Courages that have abandoned the war and built something new within an ancient Arcology known only as the Nest.
A place whispered about in rumors.
A place with food.
Clean water.
Working lights.
Safety.
A paradise hidden within the apocalypse.
A paradise nobody is allowed to leave.
Watching over the Nest is Aiya, a rogue Mother Courage who has spent years observing the strange young scavenger who refuses to stop helping people.
To her, Kid is everything worth preserving.
To Kid, she's a sixty-foot biomechanical nightmare capable of crushing tanks with her bare hands.
Unfortunately for him, Aiya has already made a decision.
The safest place left on Earth has a room waiting for him.
And she's determined to bring him home.
Whether he wants to or not.