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Tommy kicked his sleeping bag. It wasn’t the best way to get his anger out, but he was making do with what he could do.
The camping stove crackled behind him, but ‘no, we can’t start a fire, it could attract something,’ rang in his head.
Stupid Techno. He just wanted some s’mores.
Techno shouldered past him, heading for the truck. He hopped inside and closed the door harshly.
The tense atmosphere seemed to be closing in around him. He rubbed at his arms, finding the zipper of his raincoat, and started to fidget.
An idea formed in his head. It was stupid, but he was happy to do anything to get away from the older man.
Tommy didn’t plan to be gone for long, so he opted to leave his pack.
That was mistake number one.
𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
Techno fiddled with his knife, opening it and closing it over and over again.
He’d probably been sitting in the car for half an hour now. He knew he should probably get out and confront his feelings, but he made no move to.
He huffed and put his hands on the wheel.
Was he really afraid of a helpless teenager?
He bit his lip and put his head down on the wheel.
He hated that he had to be the bigger person.
Slowly, he opened the car door.
The first thing he heard was the sound of the cooker. Techno frowned.
He was sure Tommy would’ve turned it off by now. The kid should’ve figured it out easily.
The man looked over the bed and found out why.
He wasn’t there.
“Tommy?”
He picked up his rifle and began to run. All rationality was thrown out the window the moment he found muddy footprints leading deep into the wilderness.
It was stupid to leave the truck and all his stuplies; past him would ridicule him for how soft he’s gotten, but his kid was missing.
He wasn’t sure when he had gone from the kid to his kid, and it freaked him out.
“Tommy!” he yelled with his hands cupped around his mouth.
God, had he been gone the entire time?
“Tommy!”
Techno started to spiral— what if a runner had seen him? What if a raider had? A knife couldn’t protect against sharp claws, and bringing a knife to a gunfight was just idiotic.
He yelled again, heavy breaths obstructing his calls.
It didn’t take him too long to find him.
He heard voices, so he forced himself to stop.
They probably knew he was coming by now, but taking them by surprise would benefit him greatly, especially if there were multiple people.
“Tell us where your group is,” a loud, booming voice commanded.
He crouched down and stepped forward slowly.
“I’m not in a group!”
Tommy’s voice was strong and unwavering, but he could still sense that something was wrong.
“Bullcrap,” another one spoke. “You’re what? Twelve?”
He stepped closer, itching to get to Tommy. The blonde was smart, but irrational. He was going to end up doing something stupid if he didn’t save his ass soon.
“Mate, just tell them the truth so you can go.”
“But I am!”
Techno stopped at a bush, peaking through the leaves. There was a clearing, and in the middle of it, there was a gun to Tommy’s head.
He cocked his own. Those fuckers.
It went off before he could register what was happening. It hit its mark, and they fell to the ground.
“Tommy!” He screamed. “Take cover!”
But before Tommy could, another gun was lifted to his head.
“Just come out, man. Spare us the trouble.” A black-haired man spit.
He stayed frozen, brain moving a hundred miles a minute.
“Okay, if you say so…”
They pressed the gun right against the blonde’s forehead. It triggered something in him, and he stood up so quickly he got dizzy.
“Leave the kid alone.”
Techno made his voice as gruff as possible. He hoped he would be able to scare them off, but it was unlikely.
“Let’s make a trade,” they offered. “You give me your supplies, and I won’t shoot a bullet through his head.”
He grinded his teeth. There was no way he was going to lead them to the truck, but there was no way Tommy was going to get hurt on his watch either.
He didn’t think he would forgive himself if Tommy got hurt.
“Okay,” his voice dropped. “Okay. Just don’t hurt him.”
The black-haired man lowered the firearm and kicked Tommy’s shoe. “Get up.”
The other one came and stood closer to Tommy, making sure he couldn’t escape.
Tommy stood up and lowered his own hands. They went for his jacket pockets, and pulled something out.
The item shined in the setting sun. His knife, maybe?
It was then that he noticed the way he held it.
Techno kept his face neutral but shook his head lightly.
Tommy either took notice or chose to ignore him— it was probably the latter— and turned around and aimed the gun at the man.
And to his surprise, Tommy shot.
The man stumbled downwards, clearly shocked by the sudden infliction. Their hands flew down to the middle, leaving the gun to go toppling to the ground.
The other man raised their own gun, but he was faster.
He looked back to Tommy.
The blonde was standing still, staring right down at the man’s body.
“Tommy?”
Techno stepped towards him. He stopped right behind him and put his hand on his shoulder.
“C’mon kid.”
He pulled him away and took the gun out of his hands. Tommy protested a little and chased it, but then leaned back into his chest.
“Our foods gotta be burnt by now,” he joked lightly, trying to pull the kid back to humanity.
“Yeah.”
His voice seemed dead. All the usual spark was gone, replaced by drowsiness.
Techno kept his hand tightly clenched on his shoulder. He hoped it was as grounding as he thought it was.
𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
They reached the camp quickly.
The fire was licking up the side of the cup. Techno was surprised that it hadn’t started a forest fire. He let go of Tommy’s arm for the first time in a while to turn it off.
“Go get in the truck.”
Techno picked up their sleeping bags and shoved them in the truck bed. Then, he used a rag around the handle to dispose of the pot.
The puroges had turned to char, and scraping it out of the bottom of the pot would be more trouble than it was worth.
When he had finished picking everything up, he hopped into the car. Tommy was fiddling with his jacket zipper in the passenger seat.
They were off in no time. He found the road again and quickly pulled back onto it, speeding off into the night.
They needed to find somewhere safe to sleep, and quick. He’d been driving all day now.
…Maybe teaching Tommy how to drive would be worthwhile.
He shoved the idea to the back of his mind for later and turned his full attention to the road.
The cement was weathered, but they just seemed like normal roads. If he pushed everything away, he could imagine that he was just… driving.
No zombies, no raiders.
No death around every corner.
The sky was beautiful. In fact, the entire concept was beautiful— just driving into the sunset.
It dipped below the mountains, and he turned on the headlights. A sense of peace overtook him.
For a split second, he looked over at Tommy.
He was pretty sure the kid had been seven at the time. Techno hoped he had some good memories from the time before everything.
When he was sure they had gone far enough, he pulled off and went deep.
Techno put the car in park and sat there for a moment.
Darkness washed around them when the headlights went off.
“You okay?”
Tommy looked up, clearly startled by the sudden attempt at conversation. He collected his bearings and responded quickly.
“Yeah. Just some scratches on my knees.”
The sound of his zipper going up and down filled the car.
Techno was shit at comforting people— his brother was always the more charming one. But now, stuck inside the truck with a traumatized teenager, he knew he would have to turn into his twin.
“Tommy…”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
The brunette sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Tenseness made the car feel absolutely suffocating, but he didn’t back down.
“If we don’t, it’s just going to sit here and fester, and then it’ll turn into a big argument.”
Tommy snorted.
“Oh no! An argument! We’ve never had those before!”
“Look, I’m sorry about what I said,” Techno admitted. “But you wandered off without even thinking about it, and then ended up shooting someone in the chest.”
“Techno, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. I know what it’s like.”
“I’m fine,” he repeated. Stress tainted the words, giving away the fact that he definitely wasn’t.
“Kid, I’m just trying to keep you safe. There was a reason I didn’t want you to have a gun in the first place.” He hoped Tommy could feel his glare through the dark. “I still remember the first time I did that. It haunts me, Tommy. I don’t want that to happen to you.”
The blonde stayed quiet.
“So please, talk to me,” he stressed.
For a moment, it didn’t seem like he was going to respond. Techno started to reach over to the door handle, but was stopped by someone clearing their throat.
“That— That wasn’t my first time.” Tommy’s voice wavered awkwardly.
…Techno hadn’t expected that.
He knew that Tommy was experienced in surrounding fields, but he was just a kid. A kid with a heart probably three sizes too big.
He couldn’t really imagine Tommy doing something like that.
But then again, they were in the middle of the apocalypse.
Techno should’ve known better.
“Oh.”
They sat there in silence for a moment before Tommy beat him to exiting the truck.
Techno put the keys in his pocket, hand landing on the gun. He paused, and made a decision he hoped he wouldn’t come to regret.
He hopped out of the truck and found Tommy setting up the cooker. His flashlight was laying on the ground, illuminating his face perfectly.
If he looked close enough, he would’ve seen tears.
“Here, let me show you how to do it,” he offered.
The blonde nodded and moved to the side.
“So you want to keep cranking this thing right here. It takes a moment for it to light.”
As he spoke, it lit up. “Want some Chef Boyardee?”
“Sure.”
“Can you grab it from the bed? It’s under the sleeping bags.”
Tommy got up wordlessly. When he turned his back, he realized that Tommy had taken the flashlight with him, leaving him in darkness once again.
He heard the clanking of him shuffling around things, and the sound of something inevitably falling.
He sighed fondly.
God, he was going soft.
Tommy returned to his side and handed him the pot wordlessly. He also gave him the can opener. Techno put it in the pot that Tommy had set out beforehand.
“And that;” he adjusted the knob a little more, “is how you use a camping stove.”
“I thought you were going to have to light it or something.”
“Nope. It runs on gasoline,” he answered.
“The same thing that powers the truck?” Tommy jammed his finger in the direction of the teal Ford.
“Yep.”
“That’s fuckin’ weird.”
Techno raised an eyebrow, but didn’t choose to continue the conversation. Tommy had only been a young kid when the apocalypse started after all, so he probably didn’t remember how certain stuff worked.
…He did have a point though. It was weird that the same thing powered something as big as a truck and something as small as a stove, now that he thought about it.
“Want to set up the sleeping bags while we wait?”
“Yeah, I can.”
Techno got up and followed after Tommy, but went to the backseat instead. He knew he had stashed the old lantern somewhere, he just could remember exactly where.
He let out a small woop of victory when his fingers snagged on the handle. He lit it and went back out to where Tommy was.
The sleeping bags were placed a decent amount of space apart.
It was like their relationship, in a way. There was still a decent amount of space between them, but they were closer than last night by a lot.
Techno appreciated the sentiment, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t be crawling into that sleeping bag tonight. He was too hyped up from what had happened, nerves strung on edges.
He placed the lanterns in the middle of the two and muttered a quiet “thanks,” to Tommy. Then, he moved to the stove and shut it off before any more food got burnt.
He scooped half of it into the can, leaving the other on the stove.
“Here kid.”
Tommy snatched the can out of his hand and plopped down on his bag.
“Watch out, it’s hot,” Techno warned. Of course, Tommy paid no heed to what he was saying and dug right in.
He was going to have to stop giving the blonde food as soon as he got it off the burner.
“Ouch!” Tommy yelped. He placed the can on the ground and waved his hand on his tongue.
“I told you so,” Techno sighed. He was met with a harsh glare.
For a moment, he swore he saw Wilbur.
Techno tore his gaze away. A memory he had thought he had locked in a metaphorical safe resurfaced against his will.
“I told you so,” the pinkette sighed.
Wilbur only yelped in pain.
The ramen had probably come off the stove less than a minute ago, and of course, the dumbass he had chosen for his roommate had dug right in.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be so hot!” Wilbur exclaimed.
“It just came off the stove!”
“Yeah but—“
He trailed off and started pouting dramatically as if that was his excuse.
“Man, you really are just a child.”
“I am not a child,” Wilbur huffed. A laugh teetered on the edge of being released.
Techno started to laugh himself, causing the brunette to roll his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it off.”
“Techno? Tech-nooo,” Wilbur— no
Tommy drawled. Tommy was speaking. It was Tommy, not Wilbur.
“Oh, uh, yeah?”
He tried to bring himself back to the ground. Techno stuffed his hand into the fabric of his coat, balling it up into a homemade stress reliever.
Why was Tommy of all people giving him deja vu?
“Why do some cars work and others don’t? Like, I know it has to do with not having gas, but why couldn’t we have just put some in another car?”
The question was like a dunk of cold water. His bearings were collected to him in a basket and delivered by a teen who asked a bit too many questions.
“Well,” Techno started, finding his footing. “Cars also have a lot of parts in them. They need more than just gas.”
“So that’s why you pop the hoods of cars?” A mouthful of food made Tommy’s words hard to decipher, but Techno understood all the same.
“Yep. The main component of a car is the car battery. They hold a lot of materials in them though, so people like to take them apart and use them for something else.”
“So can cars die?”
There was never a dull moment with Tommy.
“Kind of.”
“So if they have all that shit, why do they need the gasoline?”
Techno bit his lip. He wasn’t really a car person— he only knew the basic stuff. He probably knew the exact reasoning at some point, but it had been lost with time.
Wilbur had probably said it. He knew all sorts of random facts.
“I don’t actually know.”
Tommy made a noise of disappointment.
“Dude, you could’ve made up something.”
Techno raised an eyebrow. He finally made his way over to his sleeping bag and sat down on it.
“I’m being honest,” he reasoned.
“Yeah, but now it’s going to torment me!”
“Bruh.”
Tommy wrinkled his nose and crossed his arms.
Okay, now he could totally see why Tommy reminded him of Wilbur. They even had similar hair…
Nope. He wasn’t going down that rabbit hole.
“You should’ve lied to me.”
Techno bit his lip. He didn’t want to get mushy again tonight, but he couldn’t stop himself.
“Tommy, I won’t lie to you. Ever. I promise.”
“Really?”
“Really. And you know what? I’ll make sure to look out for books on cars from now on if you’re interested in them.”
Tommy started to fiddle with his fingers, something Techno had recognized as a nervous habit for the kid.
“Thank you.”
It was the most sincere he had ever heard Tommy be. But then again, this was also the most open he had been with him.
Techno didn’t make promises lightly— hell, he tried his very best not to break them.
And, if one read between the lines, it would be easy to see that the promise had another meaning.
I promise I’ll look out for you.
“Now hurry up and finish your food so you can go to sleep already.”
A pout formed on Tommy’s lips. “I’m not a child,” he frowned perpetually.
“Hate to break it to ya, but you’re only eighteen.”
“I’m a legal adult!”
“Look around us, Tommy. There is no legality.”
It went silent for a moment as the teen tried to find a rebuttal.
“Touché, I guess.”
Techno smiled down at his food.
“And besides, you were the one who took me telling you to get sleep as childish.”
“Hey!”
Even as Tommy began to sputter and throw curses, Techno continued to smile.
Later that night, while he was watching over their makeshift camp, he would question why he had smiled so wide.
But now was not later, and he was too caught up in the moment to think about something as small as smiling.
It didn’t matter if it had been a long time since he had smiled like this.
It didn’t matter if he hadn’t felt this joyful because of a conversation in over a decade.
Because right now, he was content to sit and eat and laugh.
Because right now, Techno was happy.