Stay Alive For Me (TordTom)

5

"Hey, Tord! I found something you might be interested in!"

The sound of loud footsteps accompanied by huffing were heard as my red wearing counterpart ran to me, holding a packet of unused paper plates. I pointed in front of myself, directing his attention to the large backpacks on a shelf. His eyes lit up and he let out a small victory cheer, hugging me before turning to the backpacks.

"Now we can take even more supplies with! I swear, are you eyes magical or something? I've walked past here a few times and didn't even see these!"

My answer just came out as a few incoherent mumbles, as I was too surprised by the embrace and my heated up face. When I came back to reality, I realized Tord was holding up a red backpack, trying it on for size. He smiled in accomplishment, holding a dark blue backpack out to me.

"Try this on! These are really comfy."

I took the bag from him, placing it around my shoulders and letting it sit on my back for a bit. I smiled back at him, nodding in agreement. With these backpacks, we'd be able to take a lot of supplies with. Not to mention, it was my favourite colour.

By the time we had made it out of the hiking equipment store, we had a few new jackets and flashlights, as well as spare batteries to replace. Tord lead the way through the mall quickly, as I trailed behind, looking at the destruction around me. This mall was in very good condition, considering what every other store and building I've come across looked like. But there were still many broken windows, crumbled walls and giant, gaping holes everywhere I turned. It left me feeling broken myself, taking note of how long people must've spent building everything up. And how little time it took other people to destroy it. Tord's voice snapped me out of my thoughts as he called me over to him. Picking up my pace, I made my way to him, looking at the partially demolished grocery store in front of us.

Minutes later, the two of us were stuffing cans of food, as well as bottles of water into the bags. Among other things, we had enough room for band aids and bandages, hydrogen-peroxide, and especially more paper plates. You can never have enough paper plates. My attention was drawn to Tord as we cleared the shelves of food.

"So since we're probably going to spend a long time together, why don't we get to know each other?" I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes, a small smirk playing on my lips.

"To think. You wanna get to know someone you almost shot."

"Geez I guess not."

I let a small chuckle escape my lips as I walked closer to him, reaching for a few cans on the top shelf.

"Ok, ok. What do you want to know about me?"

I saw Tord shrug, his silver eyes darting around to find anything else to pack in his bag.

"Well the usual stuff, you know? What job you had, hobbies, any pets? Just some stuff about your personal life."

While continuing to pack my own bag, I thought about what answers to give Tord. I still wasn't sure if I could trust him, but getting to know him would be a big help. If we were going to work together, we needed to become friends.

"The only question I can really answer is I like to play bass. Apart from that, I listen to music a lot and-"

I cut my sentence off before I could continue. It was probably best to leave my drinking habit out of this. He didn't need to know about it. Every bottle of alcohol here was shattered anyway, their contents creating a puddle of mixed poisons on the floor.

"...And?"

My lingering had kept Tord waiting for a while, I shook the thoughts of telling him out of my head.

"And nothing. It's not important. But I'd love to hear more about you."

My foot slipped slightly on a liquid on the floor, Tord catching me before I could fall down. We shared an awkward smile before he helped me up completely, making sure I wouldn't fall down again.

"Th-anks."

"Don't mention it."

His smile got somewhat friendlier when he started talking about his life before the bombing. He shared some stories about past inventions of his and how a lot of them failed. I found the giant robot particularly intriguing, though I was upset to hear it didn't stay intact after the first test run.

The sun started setting as we searched for a new hideout. By then, we'd been talking for hours on end, sharing stories and laughing. Although I'd only met him a day prior, it felt like I was talking to an old friend.

"And of course I couldn't pass up an opportunity like that! So I went onstage and played Susan until the cafe was cheering my name!"

"Susan is your... bass. Correct?"

"Hey! You remembered! Good job."

A hardy chuckle left Tord's lips as we made our way through a broken doorframe, avoiding the cracks in the ground as we carefully made it to our destination: a small bedroom with two beds.

"Well it's not like knowing what my neighbour's dog's name is something I need to remember now. It's good to learn the important stuff."

It seemed as though my emotions were becoming more fluid while being with Tord. Before I met him, I kept on a stone face, finding no reason or use to feel anything apart from pain; mental and physical. So when I found myself laughing over nothing, I realised something. The impact Tord had on me, was a lot stronger than the impact anyone else had made. And when Tord laughed with me, it was incredible. Amazing. As if my heart had opened for someone new. For a new friend.