Chapter Text
Tommy felt as if he was floating, heat encompassing him as he drifts through his life- his memories. Before the alternate worlds, before the apocalypse- Tommy saw every moment of his life play out before him. He knew he was dying.
Did you know, that in your final moments your mind desperately throws memories at you in hopes of finding a way to survive? A spider-web of information shattering before your eyes, searching within the depths of consciousness for a clue, a way to fight whatever death has sent your way. Tommy knew there was no fighting the infection. He was going to die sooner or later.
The groans of his zombie army surrounded his steel cage, ignoring him as he rests against the warm concrete beneath him. He raises his eyes towards the base before him, catching the gaze of the only person who truly had trust in him. Tommy felt he should say something- anything. A farewell maybe, a final goodbye before he lost himself.
“Goodbye, Charlie”, he said, resting his head back on the pavement. He was unable to fight the heat surrounding himself anymore. And with Charlie’s next words, Tommy knew the man was still in denial of his fate.
“Goodnight, Tommy.” He said. Goodnight, not goodbye. Tommy grimaced, no longer caring about what the future held for him. His body may continue on, but his mind was fading. He was immune to the zombification of the virus, somehow, but the mind was fragile, and sensitive.
And with that, Tommy surrendered, letting the coldness of death embrace him, leading him away from what remained of that putrid world. He couldn’t help but notice the gentleness in which Death had held him, a gentleness he had rarely been shown while living. Maybe things would have turned out differently otherwise. Maybe he wouldn’t have become patient zero.
Maybe, just maybe, if he had a family who stuck by him, he could’ve been happy.
Kristin was nearly heartbroken. An infinite amount of possibilities and timelines, and yet in nearly every one she had to endure the pain of her golden boy. Why must her child suffer countless times?
Kristin was not allowed to interfere with human affairs, with certain exceptions of course. The other Gods forbid contact. She was no fool, however, and knew of the gods which disregarded the rules.
Wiping a single tear from her cheek, she felt determination settle within her astrial form. She was going to interfere.
It was then an opportunity presented itself to the Goddess. Two timelines, matching up closely enough for her to swoop in. An apocalyptic world, and a world bathed in war. One where a child was fading to illness, and another where he stood in the clouds, ready to step off.
She gave a sad smile and entered their worlds.
Salt was the first thing Tommy could taste when he regained consciousness. That, and the feeling of wood pressing against his back. His eyelids began to flutter open.
A blinding light greeted him alongside an explosion of senses. His mind struggled to keep up, but he swore he could hears waves distantly lapping at shore, the wind whispering it’s travels as it moves across the world. Something wasn’t right. He was supposed to be dead, but the chills convulsing throughout his body disproved that theory.
Despite the deep cold settling within his bones, Tommy looked around. All he saw was clouds- wait... He began to panic as clarity returned to him, quickly taking in his surroundings and yielding no results as to where he was.
Tommy tried sitting up, but the wood that was pressing against him turned painful as it dug into his skin. How did he even get here? Out of the cage? Did Charlie decide he didn’t trust him after all and moved him? Tommy didn’t know what had happened.
“The fuck?” Tommy cursed, nothing except him and the sky to hear. He shifted his position and realized he was stationed on a pillar hundreds of feet in the sky. How is that even possible? He couldn’t see a way down, never mind how someone got him up there in the first place. Maybe he did it himself- but he had no memory of it.
Tommy noticed a beach in the distance, meaning he was far from the city. Putting that observation aside, Tommy began to think of ways to get down from his perch. He patted himself down in search of materials and felt a stack of blocks in his inventory. Tommy felt relief flood through him. He could speed bridge his way towards the water. The only issue was estimating how far he needed to jump.
With a plan in mind, Tommy stood up, but he underestimated the stability of the tower, and immediately began slipping off as it swayed.
“Oh shit- guess we’re doing this now then!” he yelled, materializing the wood planks out of his inventory and speed bridging like his life depended on it- which it did. A string of curses followed the shaky bridge forming in the sky, exclaims of, “Why is this suddenly more difficult??” accompanying it.
Tommy’s momentum carried him forward until he was just over the waves. Without missing a beat, he lept towards the sea and braced himself. As the wind rushed up around him and the world burst into view, he tried to recall the last time he went swimming. His surroundings fell to silence as he plunged into his memories.
A young Tommy, maybe around the age of five, filters into view, the sun high in the sky as the rays burn into the sand. He hears a woman’s laughter in the distance and seeks her out- but the walls of his memory are distorted, and the sound glitches and screams. It’s loud-too loud-too much for Tommy. He doesn’t want to remember anymore. Whoever the woman was had left him a long time ago.
The impact of the water wakes him from his mind, as he feels a stinging pain on his skin. The coolness of the ocean relieves the burning heat he wasn’t aware of. It takes him a moment to come back to himself, but he begins swimming towards the light. As he breaks the surface, he takes a moment to breath the salty air- to feel the rush of oxygen throughout his body. The warmth of the sun on his face was relaxing, but Tommy needed to get to shore.
He looked around, spotting the tower he was on like a beacon in the night, and began to swim. As the sand manifested under his feet, he fought the waves until he was free from the ocean’s grasp. Tommy collapsed onto the shore, his wet clothes irritating his skin. He could feel the sand beneath him, and briefly wondered if it would taste as good as flesh.
Tommy listened to the sounds around him, and noticed it was quiet. Not a single groan was heard, the sound of rotting flesh shuffling around was absent, as was the stench of meat. Now that he was safe on the ground, he needed to figure out where the fuck he was and what happened.
As Tommy sat up, he began to go over what he knew so far; he knew he wasn’t in the city, that’s for damn sure. Where the fuck was he? Part of him wanted to not find out, to live on this island in bliss and forget what he left behind- but he knew he had sacrificed too much for his goals to do that. After all, he brought the virus into the world to save it and abandoning his cause would accomplish nothing.
Pushing his thoughts away, Tommy began to explore. He investigated the tower first, noticing no signs of someone else building it. He must have built it himself and forgotten.
Turning his attention to the craters, he found he didn’t really care about the story of this place. Sure, he was curious to an extent, but there were barely any people left in the world anyway.
Tommy was no stranger to explosions and craters. This could have been a settlement that was overrun for all he knew. He began to scavenge the remains of whatever camp this had been, but ultimately found nothing but burn marks and scorched earth.
It was clear that these blasts were from humans, as zombies hadn’t evolved enough to rig TNT. Perhaps he was the one who set up the blasts, and towered above to avoid them? It was a good theory, but it didn’t explain the lack of zombies and most importantly corpses.
Where to go now, Tommy didn’t know. He decided he would venture through the woods, hoping for a nearby camp he could charm his way into. Leaving the ruins behind him, he set foot into a wilderness untouched by his virus- a world still brimming with conflict, countries, friendships, and families.
Tommy stared at the creature in front of him, face morphing into disgust, curiosity, and wonder. He stood behind a tree, just watching the creature shuffle around through the forest. It wasn’t a zombie, that much was clear.
The smell of gunpowder hung in the air like a death sentence. It intrigued Tommy, but his past adventures amongst survivors had taught him to observe before acting. Too many times had Tommy almost been shot charging out to greet humans.
Tommy has never seen a creeper before. Skeletons, yes. Spiders, kind of. They were smaller in his world. Zombies, of course. But a walking stick of dynamite? Not at all.
What the fuck was that thing? Tommy watched as the creature turned towards him, deep eye sockets staring him down. Had the creature finally noticed him? What would it do now? Tommy stood with bated breath.
The creature had no arms but seemed to compensate by having four legs- if he could even call them that. The appendages were more spider-like. It also had grainy, green skin which reeked of sulfur. There’s no way that this was some sort of mutation, right? He has seen zombies explode before, not to mention the zombie with fucking sword-arms back in the lab. The smell is what threw him off. Sure, there were exploding zombies, but they still had that rotting stench around them.
Tommy started to grow bored, still in a staring contest with whatever the fuck was in front of him. He decided to show this thing who was boss around here, he’s the Biggest Man after all. Tommy stepped out from behind the tree, false bravado carrying his every step.
“OI! DICKHEAD!” he shouted, “The fuck are you?”
The thing didn’t respond to him. If anything, it almost seemed annoyed with his shouting. Tommy continued to step closer and closer, watching for any sudden movements. So far, the creature seemed harmless, albeit creepy.
The stepping around and creepiness of the situation could only entertain Tommy for so long. After determining that Mr. Creepy over here was harmless, he decided to convert him to his cult, AKA the ZomBros.
“Now listen, I’m awesome- you’re creepy, but we can make this work. I have some friends you’d get along great with-“Tommy began, throwing his arm around the creature’s torso as he spoke. Turns out, you shouldn’t touch random creatures you meet in the woods, as a hissing sound slowly filled the air.
Confused, Tommy only watched as a lightning patterned glow began to crack through the thing’s body before flashing. It was amazing to watch, how the light spread like blood from a wound. However, when it finally clicked for Tommy that the glowing meant danger, he rips his arm away and cursed.
He attempted to run away, but didn’t get far before an explosion ripped through the space around him, sending him flying towards the trees- heat tearing at his back as he was propelled forwards. Tommy collided with the base of the tree, vision spinning and back aching. He managed to turn his head towards the now scorched crater where he had been a moment ago, smoke rising towards the sky.
What is with this place and explosives? Tommy began to cough violently, the pain mixed with his blackened vision causing him to feel ill. He clawed at the snow beneath him, hoping the cold would combat the heat.
Tommy may have been wobbling on the edge of unconsciousness, but he could’ve sworn he heard concerned shouts in the distance. A voice faintly echoed as it grew closer, a transparent silhouette came into view.
“Tommy? Tommy why are you so far from-“the voice stopped suddenly, noticing the small form curled up at the base of a charred tree.
“Oh, Oh no. This isn’t good, you’re hurt!” The voice spoke, echoing in Tommy’s ears as he struggled to stay awake. He could feel a cold hand shaking his arm, and something get shoved into his palm. The worried voice stayed by his side, fretting over him before getting up.
“Tommy, I’m going to try and carry you, but I don’t know how far I’ll get before it starts snowing.” Tommy felt himself being lifted slightly, his body leaning against what appeared to be a yellow sweater. He could tell through his delirium that the person was struggling to hold him upright.
He tried to ask how he knew his name, but his mouth felt like lead, his whole body weighing him down as pain mixed with fire and ice. The black spots in his vision grew worse, and he could tell he was about to pass out again.
Time seemed to pass strangely. He knew that he was being spoken to, but the voice of the stranger seemed to bounce around his head. As the duo breeched the tree line, Tommy finally let his eyes close, too tired to keep them open. As the wooden house in the distance began to blur, he thought he saw a flash of pink dart towards him.
The world melted away once more.