Tommyinnits Unbeatable Method Of Avoiding Sudden Death

You Took This Broken Melody

alright TWs for this chap are as following:

//arson/burning buildings
//gunshots and shooting/being shot
//major character deaths

____________

Tommy wakes up to the smell of smoke.

And the beeping of the fire alarm.

He scrunches up his nose in confusion, the world blinking into focus. He can feel Wilbur next to him, head smushed into the pillow, snoring.

Is dad making breakfast already? Tommy frowns, tiredly glancing towards the closed curtains. It's dark out. Too early for breakfast.

What the hell?

His frown deepens and he sits up, clumsily pawing at the covers. The smell of smoke heightens and Tommy lets out a cough.

He shakes Wilbur roughly on the shoulder, "Wilbur, Wilbur."

Wilbur slaps him away sluggishly, "Wha? Go ta' sleep,'' He mumbles.

" Wilbur, " Tommy insists, "Something's burning. Did you leave the oven on?" Had they even used the oven last night?

Wilbur opens his eyes, startling into awareness. Tommy watches his brother inhale before letting out a cough.

Wilbur's eyes widen and he sits up abruptly, shrugging off the covers and stumbling towards the bedroom door.

Wilbur yanks the door open and Tommy's breath hitches, caught in his throat.

The hallway is flooded with a fiery orange hue.

Wilbur turns back to him, eyes wide and panicked. "Tommy, we need to leave."

______

"Where's dad?" Tommy questions as Wilbur drags him through the hallway, on the opposite side closest to the front door flames crowd the exit, "Wil, Wil, where's dad? And we need to get Techno."

"We need to hurry, before it spreads," Is all Wilbur says.

They clamour into Techno and Wilbur's room, where Techno lays soundly asleep.

Just like him, Tommy thinks with vague amusement, to sleep through a fire.

He watches as Wilbur roughly shakes his twin awake, practically dragging the teenager out of bed.

"There's a fire, we've got to go now."

_______

By the time they leave the bedroom, the heat has spread further, flames licking at their heels.

Tommy's heart beats out of rhythm.

"It's fine, we'll go out the fire exit!" Wilbur shouts over the incessant beeping of the alarm.

"Where's dad?" Techno asks, voice rough with disuse as Wilbur shoves the fire exit open.

"In the office, he stayed overnight, remember?" Wilbur replies as they stumble out into the open air.

Tommy is not quite sure what he expects to see, or well, feel when he steps outside. Cold perhaps, it can't be any earlier than three in the morning. The sun has not yet risen. He does at least expect the smoke that cloys in his lungs to lessen, does expect to take in a mouthful of fresh air and breathe.

He doesn't expect to walk out into a burning city.

_______

For a moment, they all stare. For a moment that's all they can do.

The streets are bright, but not with streetlights.

There's an incessant stream of screaming and Tommy suddenly wishes all he could hear was the beeping of the alarm again.