Receeding Tides (mcyt)

Chapter 7

Tommy hopped into the front seat searching for the keys. Dream pointed to key still in the ignition. Tommy started the engine.

"I knew that was there."

"No you didn't."

"Yeah, I didn't," Tommy admitted as he guided the car back onto the freeway. "Isn't it not smart to leave the keys in the ignition?"

"Well, yes," Dream admitted, "But I wasn't the one driving, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

They drove under uncanny blue skies and fluffy clouds. In every novel, movie, television series, post-apocalyptic society is duller than pre. The clouds never leave the skies, and all life seemed to have lost its vibrancy. That's what every media outlet predicts.

Logistically speaking though, wouldn't the planet regain is life and colour? With humanity's footprint shrinking by the day, wouldn't nature redeem itself? Heal? The clouds revealed blue skies each day. Wildlife reappeared, and oceans cleared. No one could have predicted a paradisal, post-apocalyptic dystopia, but the world thrived. Sometimes the things we see and hear hold little to no probability, but when enough people believe it, it eventually becomes the truth.

Tommy drove to the Brighton beach where he and Wilbur met up. The bustling seaside town had been robbed of its residents and people, but its memories remained.

Since Brighton had become a ghost town, Tommy and Dream stopped often to scavenge through eerie, empty buildings in search of whatever they could find. There wasn't much left to take though. People obviously took with them their things. Tommy did however stumble upon several expired identification cards. Useless but entertaining. Swerving to avoid a poorly-parked car, Tommy accidentally drove onto the rocky beach. The truck collided with a dock post leaving them both hanging from their seats. Tommy released a hefty sigh and banged his head on the wheel out of relief and frustration. He jerked his head up scaring himself with the horn.

"Holy fuck!"

Dream wheezed at the boy and rolled out of the car onto the rocks. Several dug a little too deep into his skin for Dream's liking, but he couldn't feel each and every stone. what he thought was only a handful of pebbles was really hundreds of stony grain. Tommy followed his lead getting a nice glance at his parking job. His landing was far more graceful.

"So..." he trailed off, "I won't be driving again anytime soon, I assume?"

Dream nodded, "We'll try not to drive."

He laughed and coughed at the same time. His sleeve hid the blood a decent amount, but Tommy still saw a glimpse of it. It was larger than last time, but it was taboo topic neither spoke of. Dream smiled.

"Come help me get the car under the dock."

Tommy chuckled to hide the worry for his friend, and together, they slowly pushed the car under the soggy, creaking wood. As the only capable, yet still undernourished, bod, Tommy did much of the heavy work. They eventually managed to get it under enough for their liking.

"If one of the boats were to stop by, we'd see them since we're right on the water, right?" Tommy asked.

Dream nodded, "Yeah. But it's also unlikely anyone would come here. We're in a ghost town that's practically a flood zone."

"Maybe we could go to Tubbo's house," Tommy suggested, "He wouldn't mind if we stayed for a little. Maybe snoop around for shit?"

"How much you wanna bet his PC is still there?" Dream laughed.

"Oh please, no one would take a computer set up," Tommy reflected on his words. "No, no. someone definitely would. But they'd end up regretting it so fucking much."