Work Text:
Rain pattered on the top of an old train car, echoing through the emptiness of the world. The train car was painted a faded red, rust climbing up the cheap metal sides. The train tracks underneath it were facing a similar fate, as they were decaying too.
Tommy always wondered what this place must’ve looked like long ago, when there were still people left to care for it.
It might’ve been where he’d been living for the past few days, but it wasn’t like he knew how to prevent metal from rusting or keep wood from rotting. That had never been his job.
The world was falling apart, being overtaken from nature again. Some might’ve seen that as a good thing. If Tommy hadn’t been able to see the full picture, he might be celebrating too.
Instead, all he ever felt was a huge sense of grief, when he saw homes caved in and covered in vines, when he spotted old roads with grass and small trees breaking through the tough pavement. Everyone had been gone for a long time, that much was clear.
As far as Tommy knew, he was the last human left on earth, or anywhere at all.
He could still remember the sickness. The way that people had begged doctors to do something, anything to stop it. To end the apocalypse, to stop the end of their world.
But nobody could do anything. There wasn’t a cure. No matter how hard anyone tried, nothing ever came from it. They just kept going in circles, begging for cures that could never be found.
In some ways, Tommy could relate to them. He kept begging for someone, anyone else to be alive too. He didn’t want to alone anymore. But he’d had to accept long ago that he was completely and utterly alone.
It had been four years and he hadn’t seen another living person in a long, long time.
Tommy sometimes wondered why he hadn’t died. Why he had to have been the one person in this world to be completely immune to the sickness.
Some people might’ve said it was a blessing to still be alive.
Tommy had always considered it to be more of a curse. He’d watched so many people die, knowing that there was nothing he could do, nothing to stop it.
Tommy shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He’d already been through this way too much and knew that if he let it go for too long, he’d up a shaking and crying mess.
He let his gaze wander around the train car. Observing the tattered blankets covering the floor in a useless attempt to make it more comfortable to both sit and sleep on. The stained and flat pillow laying at one end, the various items both pinned to and hanging from pins on the wall. The pins had been a bitch to dig into the weathered metal.
His eyes finally landed on his backpack. It had been bright red once, long ago, in what seemed like another life. Now, the color was dull and faded, the threads fraying at every end, various stains littering the fabric.
Tommy sighed, knowing that he definitely had to get some exploring done today, despite the chill in the air and the constantly pouring rain. He was still new to the area and it was always a good idea to gauge the amount of resources he had nearby.
With a large amount of reluctance, Tommy picked up his backpack and threw it over his shoulder before exiting the train car.
Most people who survived the apocalypse probably would choose to live somewhere nicer than an old rusty rectangle of metal. Tommy had tried to live in nicer places, in the beginning, but it always felt so suffocating and so much lonelier, so he stuck to staying in odd places that weren’t technically meant to be lived in, but could work temporarily.
Tommy stepped out into the rain, letting it wash over him as he walked into the woods surrounding the railroad tracks. He had yet to make it out the other side of the woods, although yesterday he had caught sight of a small town that seemed useful for getting supplies from.
He pushed bushes and plants out of the way as he walked across an overgrown trail. Tommy assumed that this forest must’ve been a park at some point, based off the many paths going through it.
The journey through the woods was shorter than he remembered. Before he knew it, the trees were thinning and blurred shapes of buildings were coming into view through the steadily pouring rain.
Tommy took a moment to study the area once he was out of the forest.
The town was small, but he’d known that already. It didn’t look like there was much in terms of actual stores or restaurants. There was mostly just houses, all made out of the same identical brown and grey painted wood. There was what looked to be a severely overgrown golf course off to his right, and an algae covered pond to his left.
It must’ve been a nice area before everyone had to leave it behind.
Tommy walked across the golf course, not bothering with being quiet as he walked. Each snap of a twig, or scuff of a shoe against the ground didn’t matter.
He was the only one who ever made any noise. The rest world was always silent aside from the currently pouring rain, which was beginning to lessen in intensity.
The houses got bigger and bigger as he got closer. They practically looked like mansions. Tommy knew for sure that this had to have been a richer area, long ago.
There was something weird he stared to notice though. Some of the houses, specifically the ones overlooking the pond weren’t caved in, missing shingles in the roof, or even somewhat covered in overgrown vines.
They looked like they’d actually been taken care of.
Tommy scoffed internally at the thought. He was the only person left. He was the only human still in existence on this measly excuse for a planet. It was foolish to believe otherwise and he knew it.
He walked farther into the neighborhood, turning towards the seemingly well-kept houses. He knew that if they’d managed to make it out of the apocalypse looking decent, that they must have some decent loot.
Just as he reached the first house overlooking the lake, he heard an unfamiliar sound behind him.
Tommy froze, eyes widening. It had sounded like… footsteps and a gasp from another person who definitely didn’t exist.
Tommy was alone on this earth and that’s how it would be until he died.
That simple fact didn’t stop him from turning around, and instantly feeling like he was hallucinating.
Standing in the rain, a mere few feet away from him was… a man, another person. The man had short curly brown hair that hung slightly over his light brown eyes. He was wearing a long brown trench coat with a bright yellow sweater underneath. The man was gaping at Tommy in disbelief.
It was impossible. It had to be impossible. Because Tommy couldn’t be anything other than the last person in existence. But there was someone right there. Right in front of him.
“Oh my god.” The man whispered, his voice hardly audible over the rain.
Tommy unconsciously took a step back, his entire body trembling in a mixture of shock and fear. He took another step back when he saw the gleam of a knife in one of the man’s hands.
The man, seemingly noticing his fear, slipped the knife into one of his trench coat’s many pockets. “Please don’t run. I’m sorry for scaring you.” He whispered, a kind expression on his face.
Tommy felt like he was going to throw up. It felt like the entire world had been turned completely sideways in the span of just a few moments.
He was hallucinating. Tommy had to be fucking imagining this. It went against everything he’d known for the past four years. He felt tears begin to slip down his cheeks, as his entire body trembled.
The world was silent around them as the rain created a light mist, blurring the distant trees and buildings. Lightning flashed in the distance, a quiet rumble following.
“I-“ Tommy stammered before breaking out into a loud coughing fit. He hadn’t spoken properly in a very long time. The words felt odd and almost unfamiliar on his tongue. “I-Is this… real?” Tommy’s voice was quiet, sounding foreign to his own ears.
The man seemed to hesitate for a moment, his eyes widening farther at Tommy’s words. “This is real.” He whispered, pausing for a moment before continuing to speak. “My name’s Wilbur, what’s yours?” The man- Wilbur asked softly.
Tommy hesitated, still convinced that he was imagining things. Nothing made any fucking sense to him right now. “I-I’m Tommy.” He choked out, pain spreading through his throat.
“It’s nice to meet you, Tommy.” Wilbur said, the kind look on his face never leaving. He took a few steps towards Tommy until they were only an arm’s length apart and held out his hand.
Tommy drew in a shuddering breath. He stared at the hand in front of him, clearly held out for a handshake, but his thoughts were going too fast to process anything.
There was a bright flash of lightning in the distance. The sound of thunder that followed was almost deafening.
The sound startled Tommy out of his spiraling thoughts. Slowly, he reached out with his own trembling hand and grabbed onto Wilbur’s steady one. They shook hands to the sound of rushing water and booming thunder.
“We should probably find some shelter.” Wilbur stated quietly once they both let go. “This weather is nasty.”
Tommy nodded mutely, still in shock over the whole situation. The rain began to pour again and the wind picked up, swirling through the cool air.
Wilbur glanced over at the houses by the pond before turning his gaze back to Tommy. “C’mon, let’s get inside before we get more drenched than we already are.”
Tommy followed stiffly as Wilbur walked towards one of the nearby houses. Wilbur held the door open for him when they got there. Tommy stepped inside the house, hardly processing what he was doing.
It had been a long time since he’d been inside a house, much less one as nice as this. His old house, the one from before the sickness, had been small and cramped, but it had been home. It had been a well loved house, one with memories spread through every room.
This house, despite its fanciness, was clearly less well-loved. It looked more like someone had moved in very recently, if the boxes left by the entrance were anything to go by.
The house was almost entirely open concept and modern looking. The walls were painted light grey, most of the furniture was dark grey or black, and the counters were bright white.
“Home, sweet home.” Wilbur laughed quietly, walking towards the dark grey couch and sitting down without any hesitation despite his drenched clothes. “We just moved here.”
Tommy hardly processed anything Wilbur said, other than the fact that it sounded like- Were there more survivors? Was that even possible?
“Are th-there more survivors?” Tommy stammered, slowly sitting down on the other side of the couch from Wilbur. He had no idea how he was going to process it if there more people other than just him and Wilbur. Tommy was already struggling with just coming to terms with the fact that there was even one other person left.
Wilbur smiled, seeming excited. “Yeah, there’s not many of us but it’s still a fairly sizable group. You’ll get to meet them later probably, when they’re done exploring.”
Tommy choked on his breath, feeling the world start to spin on tight circles around him. Tears began to flow freely down his face.
He was hallucinating. He was definitely just high or something. It wasn’t unlikely that he could’ve eaten something laced with drugs. This couldn’t be real. Any moment now, Tommy would wake up and have another mental breakdown over the fact that he was alone.
Tommy was fine though. Being alone was fine. Even if he missed having other people around so much that it ached. It was alright. It was just how things were.
But if he was honest with himself, he was just so fucking tired of being alone.
Even if he just met Wilbur, he had a feeling that this was real, he wasn’t hallucinating, and he wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.
Tommy wasn’t the only person who had survived the apocalypse.