Where Is Your Rider (OFFICIAL WATTPAD UPLOAD)

Chapter 5

The explosion was unlike anything Tommy remembered feeling.

He dimly heard himself scream as the missile hit the wood and concrete tower. Fire erupted across his vision as the shockwave hit, flinging him backwards.

And then he was on the ground.

He heard screams.

Tommy groaned. His ears were ringing as he laid in the mud, the entire world spinning like he was on some kind of amusement park ride.

Was the ringing in his ears from the explosion, or from the terrifying rattle of gunfire?

He grimaced, spitting out a splinter of wood.

And then he saw Tubbo, sprawled on his side on the ground a few meters away. He wasn't moving, and blood trickled from his ear.

"T—Tubbo!" Tommy choked out.

He forced himself upright, yelping at the pain in his knees as he crawled through the rubble of the watchtower. When he reached Tubbo, however...

"No," Tubbo was mumbling, sprawled out limply, his eyes wide and his face slack and shaking like a leaf. "No no no no no no no no no—"

"TUBBO!" Tommy shrieked, slapping him across the face.

Tubbo yelped, jerking away and hissing in pain as he forced himself up, eyes wild with panic.

Well, he didn't seem badly hurt, Tommy thought, wincing at the trail of blood leaking from Tubbo's scalp. Sure, the guy was shaking even worse and he had his hands clapped over his ears and was practically hyperventilating, but he wasn't dead.

"Tubbo what the hell do we do?" Tommy blurted.

The soldiers had come through the broken gates. The L'Manberg citizens seemed to be putting up a fight, but it definitely wasn't going well. They were simply outgunned and outmanned, and with those hovercrafts approaching...

A very bad idea popped into Tommy's head.

"Let's steal a hovercraft!" He blurted.

Tubbo looked at him like he'd just suggested they jump in the rivers. "Are you fucking insane—"

"Maybe!" Tommy yelped. "But we could—"

"BOYS, GET DOWN!"

Tommy tackled Tubbo just before another shell whistled over their heads and smashed into Niki's storefront.

"Oh, you pieces of shit, it's on now!" Niki yelled, and Tommy saw the woman scrambling out of the rubble with broken glasses and a busted lip, a snarl on her face as she racked her shotgun.

Tubbo seemed to snap out of his haze somewhat. "Ooh, shit, those guys are in trouble."

Tommy let go of Tubbo, awkwardly rolling over, and was greeted by Sam looming over him like one of those huge muscle-bound Greek statues, except with considerably more clothes on. "You boys okay?"

"Great," Tommy blurted.

"Fantastic," Sam grunted, whipping around and plunging his trident into the chest of one of the soldiers in black. Tommy flinched in horror at the awful scream and the shgink of metal tearing brutally through armor, flesh and bone.

"The drive," Tubbo blurted, his eyes widening in horror. "Shit, they've come after the drive!"

"No shit!" Wilbur snapped, stumbling up and hissing in pain as he pulled a piece of shrapnel out of his shoulder, and then shot another soldier dead with his gun. "Tubbo, get your glider and try and pick 'em off from above! Sam, get us a ride out of here!"