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Ray woke up with a throbbing pain in his head, an ache in his back as he stirred inside his small camping tent, unaccompanied. As his eyes flickered open, he noticed a heavy amount of light pouring into his tent, not white strobe light or flashlight light, it was the sun. The sun was back?! He sat up and looked around, seeing nobody sleeping next to him. It was also strangely cold this morning, even colder than the average temperature he had grown accustomed to. He groaned and rubbed his back before gently unzipping the tent, hoping to see someone awake standing outside, or anything… to know he’s not alone.
It was snowing, and the sun was high in the sky, it was… beautiful. Ray stood up and walked outside, rubbing his eyes as he watched the snow pile onto his black hoodie, it was cold, but it was nice. The smell of the freshly laid snow was amazing, but the feeling of his socks sinking into the slush was… interesting to say the least. It was unfamiliar to him after all these years but… he couldn’t bring himself to mind. As he looked around, he noticed small drops of a red liquid trailing off behind the tent. Is that blood?
He walked closer to the fluid and watched in horror as the frozen beads turned into crimson puddles, three bodies laying lifelessly where the trails end. Ray felt his stomach plummet to his feet as he recognized the bodies, it was his three best friends, Tucker, Nat and Danyon, laying dead in the snow. His vision blurred as he stared out at the carnage, his body rushing over to their sides.
It was horrifying. Tucker’s throat had been torn out and his arms and face were cut up. Danyon’s neck was gored and bloody with a giant gash down the center, and his chest was exposed and covered in cuts. Nat’s lip was busted open and her right eye had been ripped out, still attached to the vein while dangling out of her skull, and her arms were decimated with gunshots. What the fuck. What the actual fuck. Ray felt like vomiting but his mouth was dry. His eyes felt as if they beaded with tears but not a single drop formed. His heart was pounding and his hands were shaking as he pulled Tucker’s deceased body into his arms, nuzzling his chin into the crook of his mauled neck. Before Ray could react, he felt a gun push against the back of his head, and the click of the trigger before—
“AAAHHHH!!” Ray screamed, jolting up in his bed, his sweaty hands gripping onto his blanket, his eyes burning and bloodshot. He was in his bed, in his quarters, all alone. Before he could address where he was, he grabbed his phone and opened twitter, clicking on his dms and frantically began to type to Tucker, begging in his mind he’s still alive.
“Tuckker tucker are you ok”
“Tucker please answer me please”
“Are you ok are you ok please tell me you’re ok”
Ray stared at his phone as tears fell from his eyes, splashing onto the screen as whimpers left his throat. He felt his body freeze up as the three dots appeared at the bottom of his screen. He’s typing. He’s okay.
“What is going on?! Are you okay?!” Tucker replied.
“i’m ok i’m ok just please tell me you’re okay please please please” Ray responded, the impulsive repeating of his words demonstrating to Tucker that he was, in fact, not okay.
“Did you have another nightmare?”
Ray held his tongue for a moment before typing, “Yes I did I’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry for bothering you”
He watched in horror as Tucker continued to type.
“Do you need me to go over to your room? I can if you want.”
“I’ll be fine i’ll be fine I promise”
“I’ll be over in a minute. Just stay put until you hear a knock.”
Ray sniffled as he quickly emoted the dm with the thumbs up, before closing his phone and placing it down on his bed. God, he was pathetic. He wiped his eyes as he stared at his door, waiting impatiently for Tucker to knock on it. Minutes felt like hours as he felt his tears streaming down his face, his hands shaking and his heart pounding.
The knock of someone’s fist against his door snapped him out of his dissociation, he was here, he was alive. Ray leaped out of his bed, not bothering to put shorts or his sweater on, he just needed to know he’s okay, he needed to hug him. He fumbled with the lock for a few moments before eventually getting it to work, the door swinging open to reveal his best friend. Ray glanced at his throat and his face, only scars were the gore had been in the dream he had. He watched Tucker’s stern and serious face slowly melt into a smile, his arms opening outwards.
“Come here, ya big baby.” He snickered as Ray pounced into his arms, pulling him as close as he could and squeezing him as tight as his weak sleepy arms could possibly handle. “It’s okay, Ray, I’m okay.” He cooed, his hand trailing up and down his back, Ray’s chin nestled on Tucker’s shoulder, his fast and heavy breathing slowly quieting down.
It’s okay, Tucker’s okay, Nat is hopefully okay, Tucker would tell him if anything happened to her. Ray listened as Tucker lulled his fears away, his body still shaking and convulsing. He felt so small, so weak, so pathetic, but he didn’t care, he couldn’t bother to care after another surreal nightmare like that. He was okay, and that’s all that mattered.
After what felt like hours, Tucker finally spoke up. “You gonna be okay? Or do I need to stay the night again?” He laughs, but he and Ray both know he’s being serious. Ray sighed, holding Tucker tighter, unsure whether he’d be fine without someone to lay with him tonight. “If you… don’t mind… I’d like if you stayed the night…” He mumbled, closing his eyes, still drooping his head on Tucker’s shoulder.
“Alrighty man, go lay down, I’ll join you in a second.” Tucker said, letting go of Ray’s sides, hoping he’d unlatch himself from Tuck’s body. He hated to let go of him, but he did as he was told and walked back over to his bed, sitting down on the rough mattress, his face pensive as he watched Tucker from across the room. He was just adjusting himself and hovering over Ray’s desk, standing on his phone.
“Alright,” He said, closing his phone. “Was just texting Nat to let her know where I am so she doesn’t get all panicky later.” Tucker walked over to Ray’s bed and sat down next to him, turning his head to look at him, a smile plastered on his face. “So? You need me to tuck you in orrrr?” Tucker teased, poking Ray in the shoulder.
He sighed, weakly grabbing Tucker’s wrist. “Just lay down,” He said, pulling Tucker closer to him, nudging up the blanket with his other hand. Ray shuffled himself underneath the blanket and curled himself up into a ball, watching Tucker make himself comfortable from the corner of his eye. As he shut his eyes, he felt a warm hand wrap around his torso, and a head lean against the back of his shoulder.
“Comfy?” Tucker whispered into his ear, his grin being heard in his voice.
“I guess so.” Ray replied, cracking a small smile.
Tucker muttered out a final “good” before closing his eyes and relaxing into Ray’s dense mattress. Ray was particularly cold every single day, but Tucker was quite the polar opposite. He just has more meat on his bones than Ray, and also doesn’t have a blood-altering infection in his body that makes him permanently icy cold, but he didn’t care. It was nice for Ray, even if it makes him accidentally sweat up a storm.
“Goodnight…” Ray mumbled, adjusting himself, waiting for a response as he laid his hands underneath his face. Tucker rubbed his forehead into Ray’s shoulder and whispered, “Goodnight.” before allowing both of them to finally sleep.
“…I love you.”