The Mitchell's and L/N vs. the Machines

Uncomfortable reassurance

We all watch as the elder Furby crash through the wall, screaming. Dad shoos us away, his eyes staying on the monstrosity. "You guys stay clear."

Mom grows worried. "Rick, where are you going?" She asks, but Dad runs up the broken escalator with a look of determination. "To catch some wild game."

The rest of us huddle together and back away from the Furby waddling its way to us.

"Hey!" Dad shouts, grabbing the toy's attention. "You, over here! Hey! Hey, look up here!" The robot keeps its eyes on Dad, not noticing the circle it just stepped into. "You wanna mess with my family?" With a smile, we watch Dad jump and grab the makeshift rope.

His victory is short-lived when Dad looks to see the rope barely going over the creature's feet. Our smiles fall and I grip Katie's sleeve. Dad jolts on the rope as he repeats, "Take you down!" But the rope doesn't go up. He tries a few times, but the robot grows tired and opens its mouth, and bright sparks of electricity.

As Dad prepares himself, he grunts at the sudden weight of all of us jumping on the rope or his back. "Guys!" Mom tightens her hold on Dad. "We've got your back, hon." Katie, Aaron, and I laugh at this. "Literally." But I then gasp. "We're not heavy enough!"

Eric and Deborah gasp. "Mother! Sister!" We then feel the beam from the pal robot surrounding us and we jolt down. We all laugh again as we watch the Furby go upside down, its beam hitting everything in its path.

Like the tidal wave, all the machines stop in their tracks. With a final sentence, the Furby turns off, closing its eyes. We all get up and Mom smiles at our robotic friends. "Thanks, guys. Nice work."

"Thank you, mother." Eric straightens himself. "We are now your beautiful baby boys. We all once again laugh and run. "That was amazing!" Katie woops. "Mom, who knew you could handle yourself so well in the apocalypse?"

Mom shrugs her shoulders. "I'm a first-grade teacher. This is like a normal day for me." 

Aaron chuckles and holds up a Furby with its head on fire. "I can't stay mad at this guy." Katie holds the screen of the laptop close. "I can't believe the beam happened to hit the... the router." Katie stops in her tracks, and I follow her gaze. Dread fills me as I see the screen shows that the upload is incomplete and failed.

Katie taps on the keyboard before slamming her fist on the device and she shouts. "Dang it! We went through all that!" She then meanders her way to a wall and tosses the computer. We all watch in dismay as the girl curls herself into a ball.

I stay in place, not sure what to do, but Dad puts a hand on my shoulder. He motions to my girlfriend, and I realize what he means. I rush over to Katie and get down to her level. Katie takes off her glasses before looking at me with sorrowful eyes. "I'm sorry, guys. This was my idea." Katie leans into me, rubbing her nose on my neck. "Ugh, I'm so stupid."

Dad notices something and walks off while Mom comes close to us. "Hey, my daughter is not stupid. A little optimistic, maybe." Mom goes to say something else, but glass shattering grabs our attention. Mm gets agitated by this. "Rick, there is a time and a place for looting."

Dad ignores Mom and rolls a wheel to the car, making Katie confused. "What...what are you doing?" She asks Dad, who is replacing the flat tire. "Well, how do you expect to get to Silicon Valley without new tires?"

I tilt my head, not seeing what he means. "Silicon Valley?" Katie straightens up, confused as I am. Dad just smiles as he raises his car. "Well, those robots said we could go straight to their leader, remember?"

Eric leans in, holding out a finger. "Technically, you can." He then shows the layout of the area in red. "But you will never survive!"

"Hey, bud, not now, okay?" Dad softly put Eric down making the metal man pout. Aaron holds out the USB stick. "And we still have this kill code thingy."

"Exactly." Dad gets up and makes his way to us. "Katie, it was yours and y/n's weird plan that got us here. We're here because we don't think like normal people. We don't have a normal dog. Or a normal car. Or a normal son, no offense." Aaron stops copying his dino today and responds in a robotic tone. "None taken."

"The Mitchells have always been weird, and that's what makes us great. Back at that dinosaur place, you said you believed in me." Katie nods, looking away from Dad. "Yep. Uh-huh."

"Well, I believe this group of weirdos is the best hope humanity's got." Once he is done, he holds his hands out to us, to which we both take and stand up. "So, let's get weird."

We watch as Dad goes to fix his tire, Katie walks over and places her hand on top of Dad's hand. Aaron and I quickly join in, not noticing Mom is taking a picture until I heard a snap.

I look over to Mom who's laughing at her new picture joyously.  "Eat that, Poseys!" Mom then perks at this. "Oh! They're nice. So, I'm sorry I said that out loud."

Eric tilts his head. "Purple glasses woman, why did you and the f/c hoodie girl save me?" Mom scoffs at this. "Oh, come on. You boys are family now. And you saved my daughter's girlfriend's life. It wouldn't be fair if we left you behind." At this, Eric draws a tear under his eye. "I feel...emotion. I made eye water just like you."

I go to snicker at this but stop when Katie speaks up. "We might actually do this. I wish there was, like, footage of us walking out of the mall in slow motion, fire behind us, like heroes." Dad places his hands on Katie's shoulders, a serious tone taking over his voice. "Katie, that would be a waste of time and absolutely unnecessary.

Later, we are all walking away from a building on fire, our faces stern. We all laugh at the footage, admiring it. "Pretty good, kid." Dad remarks as he looks back at the road. Mom then shows her hands, each finger holding a star sticker. "Stickers for everyone!" With swiftness, she boops a sticker on our faces and we chuckle at this.

"And done!" I chirp, holding out the kill code to show I drew it as a little guy holding a bomb. Katie takes it and smiles brightly. "This looks great, babe!" She then looks smug, staring at the road ahead of her. "We're coming for you, Pal.