Chapter Text
It was a late September afternoon, and the air was quiet.
Three… Four… Five…
Tom counted his steps as the leaves crunched under his feet. He walked through the forest, clutching his gun strap to his chest and breathing heavily.
Walking was becoming harder.
He looked around cautiously, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything nearby. Though the woods were thick and hard to see though.
Tom yelled out a little, almost tripping on a fallen branch he hadn’t seen. He covered his mouth and caught himself with wide eyes, looking around for any sign of danger he could have attracted with his voice.
Seeing he was safe he continued on.
Tom was on a mission. He was looking for his friend- if you could call him that which Tom wouldn’t- who was rumored to have a high-ranking position in the infamous Red Army.
He didn't know what this position was or if he would even be able to talk to him, but he needed to try. Tom knew if he made it there he may just stand a chance at survival, hoping his… acquaintance… would take pity on him.
Pity. Tom thought. Even the word made him cringe. He didn't want anyone’s pity. Tom could take care of himself- or he’d like to think so- he would have been able to make that claim if it weren’t for the growing infection on his chest.
It was a stupid mistake he had made, he had turned around for just a moment- which happened to be the exact worst second he could have done so- to punch his friend on the arm. He had told some shitty joke about Tom’s ex-girlfriend. He was laughing, but then Matt’s face fell and his eyebrows furrowed, Tom followed his gaze.
The door had burst open, letting tons of zombies flood through.
How had this happened? The outside gates were locked and there was no way anyone living or dead could have gotten through.
Even so, the zombies stepped closer.
Tom and Matt drew their weapons and opened fire on the mob of corpses drawing close to them.
“Edd!” Matt yelled for their friend who ran down the hall, almost tripping due to his speed. He grabbed the wall and looked at the boys to see the situation.
“Shit!!” Edd screamed. He looked around and motioned to his friends.
“Fall back! We can take the side door out!”
Tom and Matt fired a few more shots before running down the hallway. Edd motioned them past him and took his spot running behind.
They dashed through the hallways, eventually leading to the carved-out tunnels through the nearby hill. Their base being an old mining ground. Tom made sure to watch his step, as the ground had become uneven and rocky. He turned back to make sure Edd was still with them.
“Tom, can you lend me your pistol?” Edd half yelled- out of breath from running.
Tom nodded and fumbled his second gun out of its holster, passing it to his friend who took it and tucked it into the pocket of his frayed green hoodie.
“It has a full cartridge-“ Tom almost finished saying as they were cut off by four men clad in green clothes. They stepped in front of the group, cutting them off from the exit.
Oh. Tom thought, putting two and two together.
The Green Army had infiltrated their base, likely trying to rob them of their resources, and had busted the gates open. They were infamous for their technique of releasing the dead into others' territory as a distraction.
Fucking idiots! We barely have any resources. And it’s just us. They’re doing this for nothing.
“Drop your weapons,” one of the soldiers spoke in a gravelly voice. He raised what looked like a rifle, the soldiers behind him following.
Tom could hear Matt’s breathing pick up pace, him being prone to panic attacks. Tom placed his hand on his shoulder and whispered to him.
“Do what they say, and we’ll get out of this fine.”
Matt nodded and removed his gun from his holster, setting it on the ground gently. Tom followed, pulling the strap over his head and placing it next to Matt’s.
“What about him?” One of the soldiers in the back gestured to Edd, who had his hands in the air.
“I haven’t got a weapon.” Edd lied.
Shit.
Tom breathed out, knowing how bad this could get in a second. He couldn’t blame Edd, he knew his friend was trying to give them a last resort and a way out. But Tom wouldn’t have ever had the balls to do the same thing.
“James, go pat him down,” said the frontman.
Shit…
Edd’s eyes narrowed as a soldier with short brown hair and a mustache stepped towards him, lowering his rifle.
The world seemed to move in slow motion as Edd reached to draw Tom’s pistol from his pocket and pointed it at the soldier. Who went to grab his rifle but paused when Edd jolted the gun toward him. The rest of the soldiers all aimed their rifles at the man with the gun.
Hoping they wouldn’t notice, Tom tried to act quickly and reach for his dropped weapon but stopped when a gun was aimed right at his head.
“Don’t even think about it.” Said the soldier.
Tom was frozen, his mind racing. Trying to think of any way he could get him and his friends out of this alive at the very least. Could they make a run for it? No, they would shoot. Could they explain that they have nothing? No, there was no way the Green Bastards would believe them.
Before he could finish his next thought, Matt dropped to the floor, looking as if he was struggling to breathe.
“What the hell?” Asked the lead soldier.
“Is he having a heart attack?” Asked another.
A soldier reached down to check Matt’s vitals when he snatched up his rifle and slid back on the floor, aiming the gun right at the man.
Tom took the opportunity to try and move the gun in his face to the side, but the soldier holding it thrust it forward, hitting Tom in the forehead.
Tom recoiled quickly, able to duck and avoid a second hit before standing up, grabbing the rifle’s barrel, and trying to wrestle it away from the soldier.
“Tom!” Matt shouted as the last soldier fired a shot directly aiming for Tom’s head. Tom flinched, expecting to feel the burn of a bullet entering his skin, but instead, the soldier he was fighting fell to the ground with his rifle in hand. Tom snatched up the gun and the soldier- realizing he had just shot his friend- aimed at Tom again, ready to fire. His eyes squinted and his finger tightened on the trigger.
Before he could shoot, Edd fired into the chest of the soldier he had in front of him making him fall to the ground, then aimed at the man in the front.
“You're outnumbered,” Edd told him and the other soldier standing. “And he doesn't have a gun.” He said, gesturing to the soldier slowly backing away from Matt with his hands in the air.
The soldier inhaled deeply and looked above the boys.
“Okay… you're right.” He said, raising his gun away from his targets before shooting directly into a support beam above them and yelling at his friend to run.
The ceiling above them shook and rattled as the beam’s wood splintered and fell away. Letting the stone ceiling cave into the tunnel. Tom dashed forward, trying to avoid any falling debris. “Follow me!” he yelled back at his friends. He spotted a large rock falling right in his path and jumped to the side before breaking into a poor excuse for a roll. His gun dug into his back as he rolled over it and made him hiss as the metal pressed on his spine.
When the ceiling had finished caving, Tom turned around to make sure that Matt and Edd were unhurt but were surprised to see they weren't behind him. Tom ran backward to the caved-in area, trying to move some of the smaller rocks.
“Edd? Matt?” he yelled, still digging for any sign that his friends maybe didn't make it. As his panic was setting in and his adrenaline died down, he heard footsteps behind him.
“Hands up.”
Shit.
Tom put his arms in the air and turned around slowly to find the remaining two soldiers. One of which had their gun aimed directly at his chest. It was just then tom realized his forehead was bleeding from earlier, making it hard for him to see out of one eye. He walked closer to the gunman.
“Listen, I know what you're here for. We barely have anything, please. Please. Just leave me alone to look for my friends.” Tom begged, but the man didn't lower his Rifle.
“Maybe we should-” one of the soldiers began, putting their hand on the other’s shoulder. “No, Elsie. He's the reason we lost Peter and Rick. I'm not letting him go anywhere.”
Tom took a deep breath and charged at the man and tackled him before he could fire. He heard the rifle drop to the ground and looked to his side, kicking it away. The man he was on top of gave Tom a harsh right hook, no doubt making the bleeding on his forehead worse. Tom rolled off him, seeing stars for a moment, then felt a sharp pain in his chest.
The second solder, “Elsie,” had slashed a knife across Tom's chest, ruining his blue hoodie and creating a deep gash across his front. Tom clutched his chest and fell into a sitting position. He looked up and the last thing he saw was the gunman with the end of his rifle held above Tom’s head before he brought it down on his head, hard.
Tom had woken up an unsure amount of time later.
He hung around the base a while longer, but Edd and Matt were either buried or escaped, and all their food had been stolen, so he left. He headed north, towards Red Army territory, caring for his wound the best he could, before two days in he realized it was leaking and radiating a red hue around the area. It had gotten infected.
Tom’s trip had begun its fourth day when he came across a shitty barbed wire fence, strung together with nothing but two lines of wire and the occasional wooden post. Clutching his gun close, Tom ducked under one string and stepped over the other, crossing the border. He hissed as he stood and made the gash on his chest move and send radiating pain through his body. He took a moment to recompose himself and press on, but he was growing weaker and weaker. Tom had only managed to catch two rabbits and gather a few handfuls of berries on his journey, adding to the fact he likely had a concussion and did have an infected wound.
“Stop!” a voice commanded and caused Tom to halt. “This is Red Army territory and you do not look like a soldier, nor was I informed of anyone coming this way.” The soldier held her weapon up to Tom, and boy was he getting sick of staring down the barrel of a gun. “Um… im-” Tom's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “I Tom, I'm here looking for someone. He’s in your faction.” He explained.
The soldier hummed and then spoke again. She had a thick accent Tom recognized as Norwegian “Do you have a name for this person?”
“Tord,” Tom answered. “I think he's like a general or something?” The soldier seemed to think for a moment.
“I don't know anyone by the name of ‘Tord.’ Maybe he's another soldier, why are you looking for him?” She asked, never lowering her gun.
Tom sighed. “I need help, I've been… separated from my friends, and I'm hurt. I just have nowhere else to go and I heard he was here last.”
“Were you bitten?” she asked and tensed her trigger finger, making Tom flinch.
“No!” he exclaimed and moved his hands to show her the gash on his chest.
She hissed and lowered her gun. “That looks bad, we can offer help, but you'd have to join The Army. We can't just give free care out to those who aren't our own,” she explained. “Maybe then you can search for your friend.”
Friend. Tom thought. The fucker had blown up his house the last time they met.
“Okay, deal,” Tom said, removing his gun and dropping it to the ground. The soldier nodded and reached to her belt for a radio.
“I have to call for someone to help pat you down and make sure you aren't infected before we accept you in, they’ll be here quick,” she told him and pressed down on the side of the device. “60 to 20, we have a possible recruit in the south field section b.”
The walkie-talkie was silent for a moment before it crackled to life. “10-4, well be right out there.”
When the two soldiers showed up Tom stood up and they patted him down, checking for any bites or hidden weapons. Both sported two different shades of brown hair. One had bandages over his eye and a scruffy face, and the other had long curtain bangs and deep brown eyes.
The second one pulled back the cloth on Tom's hoodie gently, inhaling through his teeth. “Jesus, this doesn't look good. We need to get you to the medical room quickly,” he said, hicking Tom up to his feet and letting him lean on his shoulder. “You said your name was Tom?” he asked and Tom nodded, being a bit tired to keep talking much.
“I'm Patryck, that's Paul, and the lady who helped you out is Norra.” Tom nodded again and started to speak. “I'm looking for my friend,” he told Patryck.
“What’s their name?” Patryck asked, handing Paul his weapon to carry.
“Tord,” Tom breathed out his name.
Paul and Patryck both stopped and looked at each other.
“He's like a general or something here? I'm not sure, I thought he had a good position but that girl over there didn't know-”
“What is his last name.” Paul interrupted.
“Lorentzen, Tord Lorentzen.”
Paul's jaw dropped and Patryck looked into Tom's eyes.
“Tom… Do you know The Red Leader?”