Stay Alive For Me (TordTom)

12

'You trust too easily.'

If more time had passed from when I left Tord, his words would've probably stopped me from taking the man's hand. Maybe it was out of spite that I ignored what Tord had told me, taking the stranger's hand as he pulled me off the dirt-ridden ground. I took in the men's appearances as they told me their names.

The man who helped me up had slightly long, brown hair which was parted in a strange way at the front. His clothing looked like a uniform, his companion wearing the same. A blue overcoat with a red sweater and some baggy pants, military boots to complete the look. He had a slight accent, though I didn't pay much attention to it as he told me his name. Pat.

"We've been going around the bombed areas for a few weeks looking for survivors. We found a few others and brought them back to our base, like we did when we had to evacuate everyone."

The other man, apparently named Pau, lead me up the ramp into the plane, sitting down on a built in bench next to me. He had relatively short hair, a slightly lighter shade of brown than his counterpart. His right eye was covered in bandages, a scar partially poking out from under them. His eyebrows were large and sat comfortably above his eyes, a red turtleneck hugging his throat.

"You two helped evacuate the town?"

Pat nodded and smiled, bringing me a blanket that I never really asked for.

"Well we weren't the only ones, but yes. We flew this plane around a few towns, bringing the people to safety."

I raised a brow at the two, questions building up in my head.

"Where did you take them?"

Pat walked away before coming back with a jug of water and three glasses, pouring each of us a drink.

"There were unoccupied apartments built a while back by our army for this occasion. We have everyone safely housed in a one bedroom flat with room to spare...

Well not much. But there are still a couple of empty apartments for survivors."

"What army are you working for? How did you know to build the apartments? Are you working for the bombers? How do I know you won't kidnap me?"

The situation reminded me a lot of when I first met Tord. I was skeptical of him as well, though I had a gut feeling to trust him. That was the first time my gut was ever wrong. At this point, I didn't know who to trust.

I held the glass of water in my hands, waiting for the other men to take a sip before doing the same. Pat let out a tired chuckle.

"If you think we're gonna kidnap you, you're welcome to stay behind. But I can assure you, we're telling the truth. We're soldiers of the red army, and the 'bombers' are working for the grey army."

Pau mumbled something under his breath along the lines of 'Pretty fitting name if all they leave behind is ash.'

"You've been asking us a lot of questions, Tom. May we ask you a couple, too?"

Hesitantly, I nodded at Pat's question, still very skeptical of the two in front of me.

"How did you survive the bombs?"

A sigh left my lips, the situation becoming more and more like meeting Tord. Which kept me cautious about what I would tell these two men.

"I was in a bomb shelter when they hit. But it was honestly a stupid reason to go in there. I have no idea what I was thinking."

Pau raised one of his giant eyebrows, while Pat was sitting at an open laptop on a desk, typing up something.

"Uh... What are you doing?"

Pat looked back at me, a soft smile on his lips.

"Whenever we find another survivor, we're required to fill out a form about them, which gets saved into our database. It's just easier to get an idea of where and how to find other people."

Pau turned to face me, his resting face seeming like a glare as he opened his mouth.

"We do need to ask you, were there any other survivors with you at some point?"

My shoulders tensed up at the question, eyes going wide for a moment before a frown took over my lips. Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked away, as if trying to avoid the question altogether.

"There was someone with me. He got hurt, but told me he'd be fine because he designed the bombs. So the next bombers would pick him up."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Pau and Pat exchanging looks of confusion.

"Do you mean he designed the bombs that were dropped?"

I nodded, confused at the tone used in asking the question.

"That's what he told me..."

Pau turned to face his companion, his majestic brows furrowed in thought.

"Please bring up all the information we have on the XS-271 bomb."

The sudden seriousness in Pau's tone had gotten me worried, afraid I may have said something wrong.

"What's going on?"

"Who was this man and why did he tell you he designed the bomb?"

Pau completely ignored my question, looking into my eyes sternly. His voice was rough, almost making me shiver with fear.

"His name is Tord Lisston. H-he broke his foot and told me to leave him behind."

Pau looked at the floor as if deep in thought. His head moved up and down slightly, his eyes never straying from the dust ridden floor. Pat perked up and signaled Pau about finding the information. My mind was still riddled with questions, though I kept quiet, not sure if they were even relevant to what they wanted to know. After moments, Pat started reading out loud. I listened, not entirely sure as to what was going on.

"The XS-271 Bomb was designed and developed by the Grey Army. It's purpose was to obliterate any buildings, making residency impossible for the population-"

"Yeah, yeah we've already been over this, Patty. Tell us more about the designer."

Pat scrolled through the page he was looking at, clicking his tongue in impatience before he found what he was looking for. I sipped more of my water, finally enjoying the lack of a metal taste, as the water I've been drinking for the past 5 weeks had owned.

"The designer of the XS-271 Bomb was a polish woman that goes by the name of Angela Danni."

Almost chocking on my drink, I let out a surprised yelp, getting the attention of the two men.

"A WOMAN MADE THE BOMB?!"

Pau gave me a slightly agitated glare.

"Wow, way to sound sexist with no women around."

I shook my head, eyes wide and white as I looked at them in panic, my mouth moving faster than my mind.

"No, no! I mean... Tord didn't make the bombs.."

As I spoke those words, my mind finally caught up to what I saw saying. My mouth went dry when I realized the horrible truth.

"Tord didn't make the bombs!"

I started panicking even more, my heart beat erratic as I stared wide eyed at the two men in front of me.

"TORD DIDN'T MAKE THE BOMBS!"

Pau walked up to me, gripping my bony shoulders with his hands before roughly shaking me.

"Why is that a problem?!"

I placed my own hands on his shoulders, getting closer to his face with a serious expression.

"Tord won't be picked up by the bombers! He won't be safe! HE'S GOING TO DIE!"

Although Tord was an asshole, that didn't change the fact that he was innocent.

And I left an innocent man to die.