Night Terrors -(TordTom)

Goodbye, I'll Miss You

We set out at dawn, leaving everything we knew and loved behind.

We were supposed to go back to the base while Edd and Matt hung out at a hotel, but on the way to check them in I realized that the red army could probably figure out that we weren't the only ones in this situation too.

A few hours in the car later, we found ourselves where my adventure first started.

We started scouting out the area behind my old house.

Or what was left of it anyway.

The old, ashy remains were now overtaken by weeds and tall grass. My once warm and inviting home brought back memories that I had buried long ago.

Tears had flowed silently down my face as I unconsciously walked down the overgrown path towards the half standing entrance, its door ripped from its hinges and thrown to the side.

Probably from the soldiers who were called for backup that night.

I could imagine those soldiers kicking the door down of a flaming house in a panic to save their leader. Their faces as they saw the gruesome sight of their once empowering "god" now a heap of burning flesh and bones.

Of course they payed no attention to the body of a woman a few feet away. The leader comes first. Always.

I carefully stepped through the debris and into the remnants of the kitchen.

There on the floor was my mother's charred remains. Still untouched to this day. I wasn't able to tell if they had taken my father's body or if it was too late and they had no choice but to abandon him to the flames.

Tom

I watched Tord slowly make his way down the path toward the burnt skeleton of what I presumed his house.

"Well I be damned." Edd mumbled as he stopped next to me. "He was telling the truth the whole time."

I gave him a skeptical look. "How can someone just make this up on the go?"

He shrugged. "Some people have a talent for that kind of stuff."

I rolled my eyes and turned to look for Tord when I had noticed he had disappeared into the skeleton of the house.

On instinct, I ran down the path to catch up to him.

He was kneeling over some kind of debris, his hand resting on something round and an ashy gray.

As I moved closer, I began to make out more of the strange debris in different shapes and sizes.

I knelt next to him as he whispered something that made my blood run cold.

"I love you, mom."

Tord

As I whispered to my mother, I swore I could hear her soft singing echoing around me.

Of course Tom was next to me, rubbing my back, but I knew he couldn't make his voice that high if he wanted to.

The singing continued as my tears dripped onto her skull, making a little plink sound.

Even though I've gotten my revenge by killing my father, I couldn't help but wonder if there was more I could do. Mentally, just by looking at my mother's bones, I felt like I could rip that entire fucking army to shreds.

But I'm only human.

Unless.

We rip apart their stabilization.

Piece by piece.

Tom

Now I could see the skull clearly. It had a single hole through the middle of its forehead.

His mom, I realized.

He's mourning his mom.

I tried to console him by rubbing his back in small circles, whiched seemed to unphase him.

"Tord?" I gently asked him. "Are you okay?"

He turned to me, a small twinkle in his eye as he cupped my face and gave me a small peck on the lips.

Afterwards he got up and made his way to a small patch of wildflowers by the house. He started picking some orange flowers speckled with black dots all over its petals.

He must've seen me staring in confusion as he chuckled and said, "Tiger lillies were her favorite."

After we collected a couple handfuls, we went back to the remains and arranged the flowers in the shape of a heart around them.

The others must've walked in and seen us putting down flowers, because when we turned around and realized they were here, they had each collected some flowers of their own.

"It was Matt's idea," Edd motioned to him, who blushed in embarrassment.

As we circled around my mother for one last goodbye, the others threw down their flowers while Tom put his head on my shoulder. I leaned into him amd rested my head on his as the final flower landed on my mom's skull.

As we exited the building, I remembered why all of a sudden I'd gotten up too happily to be mourning.

I stopped and turned to the others, who were now wondering why we weren't on the move.

"Guys, I have an idea."