Stay Alive For Me (TordTom)

16

It's been ten minutes, the constant whirring of a plane above us never going away. I began getting anxious, thinking the bombers were playing with our heads. They were above us. Directly above us. They were probably just waiting for us to beg for death. That was probably what I would've done anyway.

An angered yell left my mouth as I let go of Tord's embrace, standing up and walking out of our concrete shelter. My plan was to scream at the bombers, tell them to get over with what they were going to do.

As I looked up at the sky, my mouth was already opened wide, a deep breath taken in to give the bombers a piece of my mind. The plane was flying relatively close to the ground at a very slow pace. I was confused by it, wondering why the bombers would take such a risk by flying so low.

Though when I saw a rope ladder dangling over the edge of the opened plane door, I screamed in joy.

"PAU! PAT! THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE FINALLY HERE!"

Running over to Tord, I gave him the biggest hug I could muster, trying my best not to hurt his broken foot. He gave a confused, yet relieved smile in return, though he hissed in pain as I tried pulling him up with me.

The plane came closer, a figure standing beside the open door could be seen. The rope ladder hung carelessly from the aircraft, my worries sinking in as it came closer.

"Tord, how are we gonna get you up there?!"

Panic was written over my face as I turned back to Tord, seeing him try to shuffle and stand on one leg.

The ladder wasn't too far away, coming closer at a speed slow enough to grab onto it and get dragged along by the plane.

A painful yell was heard from Tord as he used the wall to support himself, his broken foot hanging down limply. It looked incredibly painful. Honestly, I was surprised by how he wasn't crying already.

Tord reached his hand out to me, I grabbed it and pulled him closer. He hopped on one leg, the other being held up with blood dripping onto the ground below. As I turned back to see the plane, we were almost in reach of it. Tord wrapped his arms around my torso tightly, my expression determined as I held my arms out, ready to grab the ladder.

The sound of another plane was heard in the distance, out of the corner of my eye I could see another military aircraft. Flying much higher and faster, I could tell what it was.

The next bomber plane.

As soon as I saw it, panic ran through my system, my eyes hardly straying from the enemy aircraft flying towards us at a terrifying speed. I was snapped out of my thoughts as I heard Tord yell, the rope ladder hitting my body as I didn't know what was happening.

Without slowing down, the plane kept flying, the ladder going over my body and being dragged behind the aircraft. I was too dazed at the moment to grab on, too shocked to realize what was the ladder was there for as all I could think about was the next bombing plane getting much closer to us.

With a small yell, I was lifted into the air, Tord's grip around my torso tightening, holding me in place as I looked to the side, seeing Tord struggling to hold onto the rope ladder by himself.

Quickly grabbing the ladder myself, I held onto the bars as Tord let go of his grip on me, bringing his other hand to the ladder and securing it as well. Pau yelled inaudibly before the plane slowly climbed the sky even more, the ground below us getting further away. My eyes didn't dare stray from the streets under us, my mind lost in the sea of destruction until I felt something on my arm.

Tord was nudging me to the best of his ability, my eyes meeting his shoes as he tried climbing up the ladder with one foot. I followed what he was trying to tell me, attempting to climb the ladder too. The wind was strong and forceful, my grip almost lost on many occasions. Though when two arms lifted me up, I didn't struggle against them.

Pau and Tord helped me through the open door, my body sprawled on the floor as I calmed my deep breathing. A light chuckle was heard from Pau, my eyes darting over to see Tord beside me on the ground, out of breath, but smiling. It must've been contagious, because for whatever reason, I was smiling as well.

"Did you get them?!"

Pat was in the front of the plane, calling out to his teammate who gave him an affirmative answer. Once I caught my breath, I sat on the built in bench, helping Tord up before turning to face the copilot in front of me.

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!"

My face was cherry red, my voice squeaking slightly as I was very agitated. Pau stared at me wide eyed, his eyebrows raised in surprise by my change in character.

"Well the navigation was damaged, so we had to fly the plane based on what we remembered about the area. Mr Pattycake was stupid enough to fly in the completely opposite direction."

An offended scoff was heard from the cockpit of the plane as Pat looked back at us.

"Well if you didn't say anything, you can't blame me!"

He scowled, Pau chuckling a little and blowing a teasing kiss before Pat turned back around.

Tord's eyes darted around the plane, mumbling to himself slightly.

"So... where are you taking us now?"

Pau sat beside me, turning to face the two of us with a soft expression.

"To our base, where you'd each be assigned an apartment for you to live in. And because there aren't many spaces left, you two would most likely be neighbours."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tord smiling widely. It was obvious we were going to see a lot more of each other.

Questions gathered in my head as Pau continued talking, wondering how much things will change for us all. I wondered if Edd and Matt were also in their base. Perhaps they were survivors as well, their information saved in the Red Army's database. I made a mental note to ask someone later, hoping to see my old friends once again.

But for the rest of the ride, I looked out of the window light-hearted, a soft smile on my face. The derelict ground below us was all I could see, buildings and rubble covered in grey dust. We were finally leaving. Finally escaping this nightmare and going to living among other people once again.

Though I had to admit, I was glad Tord would still be with me. I had a gut feeling to trust him. Keep him around. Maybe even forgive him. But for now, I smiled happily, the buildings blurring together until I finally fell asleep on Tord's shoulder.