Stay Alive For Me (TordTom)

3

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?!"

My hands were in front of my face as the gun hovered in front of me. A man with some kind of foreign accent held the weapon, shouting his questions at me. My mind could hardly process what he was saying, panic rushing through my system as I tried looking at the man's face.

"Wh-at are you t-alking abou-t?"

The gun inched closer to my head, the freshly used barrel getting dangerously close to my forehead.

"I won't ask you again. Who are you, and why are you still in town?"

I squinted my eyes, looking to the right. It was only now that I realized the campfire a few meters away. Even I was surprised by how I failed to notice the smell of it before. Maybe this man was a survivor like me. But that hardly explains why he's pointing a gun to my head.

"I'm Tom Rigewill. Who the hell are you?!"

"I'm not answering any questions until you tell me who you're working for."

"WHAT? WORKING FOR?!"

By now I had my eyes opened again, hands lowering slightly to get a good look at the man in front of me. His hair was a strange caramel colour, styled up in two cowlicks making them look like horns. His clothing was ripped, a red jacked draped over a grey shirt. Like myself, he had multiple scratches over his body, blood seeping through some of his clothing. My void eyes locked with his silver ones. I let out a forced exhale before speaking again.

"I'm not working for anybody. I have no idea what you're talking about. All I'm doing is trying to make it to the next town over. So please. PUT THE FUCKING GUN DOWN."

The man in front of me growled lowly, walking up to me slowly. Eventually his face was close enough for his breath to hit my skin, the gun propping my chin up.

"Why didn't you leave the town like everyone else? How did you know about the bombs?"

His voice was menacing, though my confusion cancelled out the fear I had.

"L-listen I have no idea what you're talking about. And I sure as hell didn't know about the bombs until they hit. But how did everyone else know to leave the town?"

A slightly aggressive sound was heard from the man as he backed away, pulling out a piece of newspaper from his jacket pocket.

"There's no way anyone can be this stupid."

I took the paper from him, ignoring the last comment he made. Checking the date on it, I noticed this article was published three weeks ago. A day before the bombing started.

'EVACUATE THE TOWN. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.'

My eyes widened as I read the article. The words were printed big and bold, taking up most of the space on the page. It warned everyone to leave as quickly as possible, planes waiting for the townspeople to board them before they fly off to take everyone to safety. The only information given about the reason why, was that neighboring cities were being attacked. Our town, as harmless as it was, would never have been safe from the bombs. Which I found out first hand.

When I finished reading, I looked up at the man again, seeing his arms folded and an unreadable expression on his face. I handed the paper back to him, trying to process everything I just learned.

"That explains it..."

I mumbled under my breath, looking at the floor for a while. So everyone left without me...

Honestly, it didn't surprise me all that much. It was my fault for not reading the newspaper or going outside. I stayed in the shelter at the worst possible time. All because I wanted some peace and quiet.

"So how'd you survive if you didn't know about the bombs?"

Sighing, I faced the man with an annoyed expression.

"I'm not telling you anything. I don't even know your name. How do I know you're not working with the bombers, huh? How'd you survive?!"

A chuckle escaped the man's lips as he turned around, walking towards the fire.

"Yeah there's no way you're working with them. You're too naive. The name's Tord. Tord Lisston. You've probably never heard of me, have you?"

I shook my head reluctantly. Why on Earth should I know him? Unless he's the president or something. I don't follow the news.

"Hmm well, I'm an inventor of sorts. I like tinkering around and building things. So when I found out about a house for sale with an underground lab, I couldn't turn it down..."

Tord added a log to the fire, sitting beside it and watching it burn.

"When the bombs hit, I was deep underground in my lab. I didn't know about them until I came back up to see the place destroyed. You're the first person I've come across in a few weeks."

I nodded absentmindedly at his story, watching the embers in the fire spark and the flames dance in front of me.

"I've told you my story. Why don't you sit down and tell me yours?"

My eyes met his again as I hesitantly sat down across from him. Somehow I still didn't trust this man, even though part of me knew I should. He was the first person I've run into as well.

"My roommates went on a road trip a few days before the bombing. At first I was pretty excited to get some peace and quiet. I basically locked myself in my room and played my bass. But one day I heard yelling from outside. Now, don't get me wrong. If it wasn't my neighbour I heard, I would've checked out what was wrong right away...

But my neighbours have yelled at our house just to be annoying before, so I didn't assume it was serious."

I took a breather from my story, still trying to sort out every detail that had happened. It wasn't too long ago, but my memory never worked well under pressure. Especially if I'm remembering something traumatic.

"After a while, I got sick of the yelling and wanted to relax, so I thought it was a good idea to go into the bomb shelter under our house. My friend Edd had it installed a while back in case something ever happened. I guess I should thank him. I probably wouldn't have made it out of town by the time I found out."

Glancing at the man before me, I caught him nodding as well. He was looking to the side as if deep in thought.

"You're the first person I've run into, too. And... Even though you pointed a gun at my head, I'm willing to try working with you or something. I'm trying to get to the next town. Maybe we could run into other survivors."

My thought process wasn't hard to explain. Our chances of surviving would be a lot better if we helped each other. I didn't want to die in a wasteland. So when Tord grinned and stood up, sitting down next to me with his hand out, I shook it and smiled.

"I'd love that. I've missed having some company."

He reached to the side and grabbed a pot, setting it up to hover over the fire. He turned to me, pointing to a bag on the other side of the fire pit.

"I'm sorry I can't offer a delicious meal for dinner, but I can offer some rice. Compared to everything else, it's the tastiest food on the planet.

Although I was still skeptical, it felt nice to laugh with someone. Even someone who pointed a gun at me only moments ago.