Chapter Text
Scraggly dark clouds splattered the gray sky, debris and trash scattered about, empty cans and abandoned cars with a few animals poking and prodding at the garbage. The road was cracked and run down, hunks of asphalt missing or broken in pieces down the path. The air was chilly but the kind that wrapped around him and gently brushed against his hair. A few creaks and groans from the nearby town floated through the air, it was peaceful.
And he was ruining it.
Tommy screamed as he raced down the broken road, bookbag bouncing wildly against his back, a gun he didn’t know how to use stuffed in his belt, and an ornate pocket knife that drew his attention because of the shine held tightly in his hand.
Panic gripped his chest in a vice grip as the heavy pounding of footsteps grew closer behind him. He knew he shouldn’t look and that it would only slow him down but he couldn’t help himself.
His eyes flickered behind him and to his horror, he was still being pursued and they were gaining on him. The man's thick brown boots slammed against the pavement, black cloak billowing behind him, showing an array of weapons strapped to the person’s body, it made Tommy run faster.
Logically Tommy knew that the reason he was being chased was possibly because he might’ve grabbed just a few things from some totally random stash- the details weren’t that important- but seriously, how many weapons does one need?
He knew he wouldn’t be able to outrun this guy for much longer so he had to dodge him, make that could shake him off. His head snapped around as he desperately tried to find something in the area to help him. To his left was an off ramp from a highway to a massive metal bridge over the river that looked mostly clear. To his right was the dilapidated city, cars and broken chunks of buildings scattered in his path there.
So, the choice between a clean path that made him incredibly easy to spot with nothing to duck around or a city with hundreds of nooks and places to hide- the best option was obvious.
And yet he still darted left, internally cheering as he picked up speed as he raced down hill, then it hit him that his pursuer would also get a boost from this.
Fuck.
Tommy could feel his legs starting to shake, the adrenaline wearing thin despite the leverage the hill gave him. He willed himself to go just a little faster, just a little farther, reasoning with himself that he could make it to the bridge and could try and climb somewhere safe. It wasn’t one of his best plans but it was all he had in the moment.
As the rest of the road came into view his heart almost stopped, part of the ramp had completely broken, leaving a large gap between them, each ending in sharp, breaking, rocks. There was no way he could make it across and no way he could turn back.
Fuck.
His best option was to stop and try to reason with the man to let him stay alive, his literal only chance was being able to reason with someone he just stole from.
He sped up, heading straight for the edge.
Tommy knew he had about a 0.2% chance of making it across that gap but that was better than nothing. His legs ached and lungs were on fire, his lightning quick breath turned into desperate gasps as he neared the edge.
His eyes narrowed and he leapt forward without hesitation, feeling the wind whip around him, almost like he was flying.
Only to be ripped back as a hand snatched his hood and sent him flying back into the concrete. He landed roughly, while his backpack absorbed most of the fall he was exhausted, sweat running down his face and hands shaking, as he tried to get to his feet but could only manage to sit up. Barely.
The man glared down at him, despite part of the hood being over his eyes Tommy could feel his eyes boring into him, burning holes in his chest. The man was pointing a gun directly at him, Tommy could just barely see a tuft of pink hair sliding out of the hood, it confused him but then he realized he had much more important issues to deal with.
“Give me back my stuff.” The man said curtly, he hardly even looked phased from their chase.
“Hey-hey man! Let’s just- let’s just calm down for a moment!” He gasped out, a nervous smile forcing its way onto his face. He put his hands up, still trying to scoot back and catch his breath.
“Give me back my stuff.” The man repeated, “I will not ask again.” He cocked the gun and Tommy yelped.
“Okay! Okay! Here- take it!” He fumbled for his bag and threw out the tightly wrapped little bundles of food and supplies he had stuffed in. The man didn’t move.
“That’s not everything.”
“Wh- yes it is you jackass! I don’t have anything else of yours- you can check!” Tommy thrust his bag towards the man.
“The knife.” He took a step forward, “I want the pocket knife you took.”
Tommy could feel it in his pocket and, despite his better judgement, looked at the man in defiance. “No!”
“‘No?’” He repeated
“Yeah! I said no! Come on man, you have so many weapons already! What’s one little pocket knife? Surely you don’t need it.”
“I never said I needed it, I said I wanted it back.”
“Why? Why do you want this little dinky, probably useless, old knife back? I mean, it would only weight you down-”
“Give me the fucking knife before I throw you off this ramp.” The man interrupted, in one swift motion he had grabbed Tommy by the front of the shirt and wrenched him to his feet.
“Alright! Alright!” Tommy quickly fumbled for the knife, pulling it from his pocket, holding it out shakily. The man grabbed the knife and jammed it in his pocket, he set Tommy down then collected his things, tossing them into a bag. He started back up the ramp like nothing had happened and Tommy watched in a mixture of nervous hilarity and bubbling anger.
“What? No thank you? Or is that just too much to ask after you threatened me like an animal!”
The man stopped and turned to face him again, head tipped to one side, “Kid.” He said, sounding exasperated, “I’m not thankin’ you for stealin’ from me.”
Tommy’s face flushed but he couldn’t tell if it was from the wind, his exhaustion, or embarrassment. When he wasn’t able to get anything out except garbled stutters the man continued back up the ramp.
“Hey- hey wait!” He called, grabbing his backpack and jogging after him. “Wait up!”
The man kept walking as Tommy ran up beside him, “Hey man, wait! Wait up!”
“Why?”
“We- we should work together!” Tommy said, trying not to sound desperate. He wouldn’t admit to it but he’d like an ally, someone to have his back.
“No thanks.”
“What- why!”
“I’d rather not work with the little shit that tried to steal my supplies.” He said and Tommy shook his head, waving his hand.
“Bad start- that was just a bad start- come on, give me a chance!” He stepped in front of the other, who finally stopped. He put his hand out, giving him the biggest, most genuine smile he could manage.
“I’m Tommy.”
The man looked at his hand for a moment then stepped around him, getting onto the main road. Tommy frowned but quickly bounced back, matching pace with the man as they walked back from the way they came.
“Okay okay I see, you don’t want to admit you need help, don’t worry. I got you, we can work together, I don’t mind.”
The man groaned, shoulders slumping as Tommy continued to ramble.
“So what can I call you?” Tommy asked, stepping over a piece of rubble, when he didn’t receive an answer he crossed his arms.
“Okay fine, I guess I’ll just think of something to call you then since you’re so stubborn! Hmm, it’s gotta be something that fits-”
“Oh my god-”
“What about “The Knife”- because of your dinky little pocket knife! Wait no- that sounds dumb.”
Tommy put a hand to his chin, wracking his brain while muttering to himself, “Edge, Edgy, grumbly man, very fast old man,” Then it hit him,“Oh- oh wait I know! ‘The Blade’-It’s perfect! What do you think?”
The Blade sighed hard, putting a hand to his hooded head, as Tommy beamed proudly.
“Come on though seriously, what do you think?”
“Is there any way I can get rid of you?” He asked, very rudely avoiding the question.
“Ha! Probably, but I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
The Blade’s eyes were covered by the hood of his cloak but Tommy could see the resolve set of his mouth chipping.
“You got any special skills?” The Blade asked finally and Tommy grinned widely.
“I’m like the best fighter I know and I’m really sneaky too! I’m like Batman without the costume!”
“I just kicked your ass while you ran away screaming at the top of your lungs.”
Tommy’s face flushed, “Hey! That- that’s different! And-and that wasn’t an actual fight! You’re-you’re scary man!”
The Blade nodded, “That’s- sort of- fair. But it’s still not enough. I barely have enough supplies to take care of myself.”
“Oh come on please! I can help you scout out and loot and shit!”
They were cut off by the loud roar of an engine, Tommy looked up and down the ruined street but didn’t see anything.
“Fuck- that’s coming from the city- we need to get out of here.” The Blade said, then immediately started running towards the city- the place where the supposed danger was coming from. It took Tommy a moment to snap out of it before racing after him.
“Wait! Aren’t we supposed to run away from the danger!”
The Blade skidded to a halt behind an abandoned rusty car and crawled under, Tommy quickly followed, both of them making sure nothing was sticking out from underneath.
“There was nothing to hide us out there, they would’ve caught up to us in seconds.” The Blade hissed as the ground vibrated with the approaching cars and motorcycles.
They stopped a few feet away from the car and Tommy’s heart dropped.
“There’s nothing out here.” A gruff voice said, his steps looked angry as he paced back and forth, “What’d we come out here for?”
“That’s what you get for trusting the scout- told ya he can’t see shit.” Someone else commented lightly.
“Said he heard something though,”
“That’s on you for believing him then. Now let's go, I don’t wanna waste another second out here.”
Tommy held his breath, pushing his hand against his mouth as they loaded into the cars and sped away, someone revved their engine and hollered from one of them. He waited until he was sure the cars hadn’t doubled around.
“Are we running now?” He asked, the Blade shook his head.
“Not a chance ,” He said lowly, trying his best to look up and down the street without sliding out from under the car, “Don’t know if they are coming back or if they are just waiting for us to come out. We aren’t moving from here until dark.”
Tommy stared at him, mouth agape, “But isn’t that when the monsters start to come out?” He shuddered at the memories of the long lanky monsters with inky black and gray skin, long claws scratching against the ground as they walked. They may have looked harmless, if not a little creepy, but Tommy had seen them race after their prey, loud ear splitting screeches that haunted his dreams, they could scale buildings and walls with ease- he’d never known monsters until then.
“Yep but I’d rather deal with them over the lunatics in that town anyday.”
“Why? Those monsters will try to kill you on sight!”
“Exactly.” The Blade said calmly, an underlying tone of bitterness pricking the words, “We know what the monsters will do but can’t say the same thing about the humans. I’ve heard some things I hope to god aren’t true but you can’t be too careful.”
Tommy nodded, “That’s smart- I’m glad I’m with you Blade, we’re gonna make a great team.”
The Blade sighed and flopped his head on the pavement as Tommy held back a snicker, looking forward to getting to know his new partner better.