Chapter Text
Tubbo and Ranboo got used to living with Tommy. They decided to stay with him because he wasn’t that bad, and they enjoyed his company. They managed to clean the town and it looks better than before. Tommy decided that watchtowers would be good to add to the town so there are a few scattered around. Tubbo and Ranboo helped with the house designs since as it turns out Tommy doesn’t know how to design the inside of a house.
The houses now looked decent inside and outside and they're all happy about it. Overall, it was a normal day Tubbo and Ranboo were outside trying to add a swing to the tree near their house when Tommy came running towards them. Ranboo almost dropping the wood when Tommy came barreling towards him.
“Woah! Tommy, be careful! I almost dropped the wood.” Ranboo scolded Tommy. Tommy smiled sheepishly and let go from where he was holding onto Ranboo.
“Sorry Ranboo.” Tommy rubbed the back of his neck. Ranboo sighed.
“It’s fine... Now what's got you in such a hurry?” Ranboo questioned with an eyebrow raised. Tommy smiled brightly.
“Well, I'm going to leave for a few days!” Tommy exclaimed. Ranboo blinked. A thud was heard from behind him, and they both turned towards the noise only to see Tubbo on the ground, his hair full of leaves and sticks.
“WHAT!” Tubbo shouted while getting up from the ground and rushing towards Tommy grabbing his shoulders and shaking him “What do you mean you're leaving!?!?! Are you coming back!!? Why are you leaving!?!?” Tubbo kept shaking Tommy, shaking him harder and harder with every question.
Ranboo put a hand on his shoulder stopping him from shaking Tommy even more.
“Why don’t we let Tommy explain.” Ranboo tells Tubbo calmly though inside he’s also freaking out. Tubbo sighs and let’s go of Tommy looking at him expectantly.
“Well... we ran out of some supplies that are needed so I decided that I would go and find more!” Tommy explains. Tubbo and Ranboo look at each other. It was to be expected but...
“Let us come with you.” Tubbo told Tommy. Ranboo nodded agreeing with Tubbo. Tommy sighed.
“Nope. You can’t come with me.” Tommy denied their request. Tubbo and Ranboo looked at him with a confused look on their faces.
“What! Why?” Ranboo asked Tommy wondering why they couldn't go with him.
“Well...” Tommy looked for an answer to give them smiling a bit when he did “Someone has to watch the town and make sure nothing happens while I'm gone.” Tommy told them. Tubbo and Ranboo thought for a bit not coming up with an answer to still be able to go with Tommy.
“Ugh, Fine.” Tubbo said with a roll of his eyes and clear disappointment on his face. Tommy grinned.
“Great! well I'm going to go now. I already packed a backpack with supplies. Also make sure to take care of Clementine while I'm gone. And don’t make a mess while I'm gone, I'll see you when I get back. Alright bye!” Tommy rushed out while jogging away. Tubbo and Ranboo blinked rapidly.
“Hey wait!” Tubbo called out “Anddd he’s gone.” Ranboo said while staring into the distance where Tommy ran off to. They stood there for a bit, the wind ruffling their hair. Tubbo sighed.
“Let’s get back to making that swing!” Tubbo said with a grin on his face and hands on his hips. Ranboo smiled and they continued to add a swing to the tree.
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Tommy had left the town about 20 minutes ago. He made sure to bring his backpack that had food, a first aid kit, a flashlight, some water, a blanket, and a few weapons. He was also carrying an empty duffle bag that he was going to put the supplies in. In all honesty they still had enough supplies. Tommy just wanted to get out and see if he could find anything interesting. Maybe he could even get something for Tubbo and Ranboo. He was also planning on looking for solar panels to put on the roof of the houses.
He hopes he finds some. If he doesn’t, he’ll have to use what’s left of the generator. Which isn’t much since it’s close to breaking, and Tommy doesn’t have enough skills to fix it.
He wanders around finding some stores and buildings but only takes a few things he finds interesting. When the sun is setting, he finds a huge mall that is at least five stories high and is about to head in when he realizes that it’ll be too dark to see anything even with his flashlight. He decides he’ll check it out tomorrow and goes to find a place to sleep.
He ended up finding a small bookstore and he looked around for a while to see if he could find any interesting books. He found a few and decided to take them with him, stuffing them into his duffle bag. He went behind the counter and set up his stuff to sleep there. Which was just taking out the blanket he brought and using his backpack as a pillow.
He lay there staring at the ceiling waiting to be able to fall asleep. The smell of books, wood, and dust filling his nose almost made him sneeze. That’s when he suddenly remembered something. He forgot to eat. He groaned and thought about if he should eat. He was already comfortable where he was and yeah, he could reach into his backpack and get something, but he was too lazy. In the end he decided he would go to sleep without eating. It wasn’t that bad, I mean it’s not as if he ate that much before the apocalypse, so what was the difference?
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He woke up early the next morning. He slept with no disruptions though he does think he heard some gunshots outside, but it was probably just his imagination.
He sat there trying to get the fog of sleep out of his mind and watched the sunrise from the window. Once he was awake enough, he got up, folded his blanket and put it in his backpack. He got out an apple filled cereal bar and ate silently while flipping through a book about flowers he found. He got so lost in the book that by the time he was finished with it, it was already 3:58 in the afternoon.
He cursed under his breath and put the book in his backpack. He stretched hearing multiple pops which wasn’t surprising since he was in the same position the whole time. He let out a sigh and swung his backpack onto his back and got his duffle bag. He checked he had everything and nodded with satisfaction when he did.
He dug into the pockets of his utility belt to check if he brought his favorite dagger named Clara and grinned when he felt the hilt of the dagger. He ran his fingers over the designs he engraved on the dagger. The designs were simply flowers and vines, and he was happy with how it came out. He closed the pocket that his dagger was in, making sure that he still had easy access to the dagger. He looked around one last time and then opened the door closing it softly behind him in order to not attract zombies.
He walked towards the mall while killing some zombies along the way. It felt like a normal afternoon walk. He looked up at the sky and saw the clouds slowly drift by. He also saw a bird! And wasn’t that strange? The last time he saw a bird was a few weeks into staying at his base. He saw the bird land on a tree branch, and he stopped walking. Staring at the bird blankly. The bird looked tired and about ready to topple over.
He took his backpack off and dug out a packet of nuts. He put his backpack on and approached the bird slowly. He stopped when the bird snapped his head towards his direction. He threw some of the nuts onto the ground and sat down. Watching as the bird looked at the nuts for a while, while also making sure Tommy was in its sight.
He wonders if the bird is a girl or a boy?
Maybe he could ask?
He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the bird slowly drift to the floor and land softly on the ground. The bird glanced at Tommy then started eating the nuts. Tommy happily watched as the bird devoured the nuts and after it was done looked at Tommy expectantly. Tommy smiled and looked down at the packet of nuts, pouring some onto his hand to throw onto the ground.
When he looked back up, he was startled when the bird was right in front of him looking at him with its beady eyes. How did the bird get here so fast? He shook his head and held out the hand with the nuts to the bird. The bird instantly started to eat the nuts and Tommy looked closer at the bird.
The bird was a black color and looked almost like a crow. It had ruby red eyes that Tommy thought looked a little creepy but what Tommy found strange was that the bird's wings are a brown color. He has never seen a bird like this. The bird looked up at him again and Tommy decided to give it water, so he took his water bottle out of his backpack and poured some on his palms.
It was hard considering he had to somehow pour the water into his closed palms, but he managed. The bird happily drank the water and Tommy smiled. He reached his hand towards the bird to pet it, but the bird suddenly flew away startling him. (He noticed how the brown feathers almost looked golden in the sun.) Well, it was expected.
He got up and dusted off his pants. He decided he should start heading to the abandoned mall before it gets too dark. He took only two steps when he suddenly felt weight added to his shoulder. He turned towards where he felt the weight and saw that the bird had returned and had something in its mouth.
“What you got there?” Tommy asked the bird and held out a hand so the bird could place the item on his palm. The bird tilted its head while looking at Tommy and then placed the item on his palm. Tommy looked down at his palm and was surprised when he saw a red silk ribbon with gold embroidery of chrysanthemums . The bird pecked at the ribbon and tilted its head displaying its neck.
“Oh! Do you want me to put this on your neck?” Tommy questioned. The bird nodded its head and Tommy ties the ribbon around the bird's neck making a bow. The bird hopped around happily and pecked at Tommy’s fingers. Tommy chuckled and pet the bird's head.
“Do you want to stay with me?” Tommy asked. The bird once again hopped around happily. Tommy laughed.
“Well, are you a boy or a girl?” Tommy poked the bird in its chest then remembered that the bird couldn’t respond to him.
“Oh sorry. Are you a girl?” Tommy tilts his head, and the bird shakes its head no.
“Oh, a boy then?” Tommy smiles, his head still tilted. The bird chirps and flaps his wings. Tommy coos and pets his head.
“Can I give you a name?” Tommy asks while still scratching the bird’s head. The bird nods with a chirp and Tommy ponders what name will best suit the bird. He hums.
“What about Henry?” Tommy looks at the bird questioningly and the bird nods in approval. Tommy smiles brightly and pets Henry under his neck. Henry coos.
“We should get going unless we want to run into zombies.” Tommy tells Henry. Henry chirps in agreement and Tommy walks towards the mall with Henry on his shoulder.
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They make it to the mall with no trouble and head in through the broken glass doors. It’s eerily quiet in the mall. You would have thought that there would be more noise since it’s a big mall. Maybe it was closed when the apocalypse started. He looks around at the stores and sees that there are multiple broken windows and doors. People probably went in to get supplies.
He enters a store that has toys and sees a lot of plushies that are in pristine condition except for the faint layer of dust. Guess no one wanted a comfort plushie. He spots a bee plushie and instantly thinks about Tubbo. He would love that it’s literally all he talks about these days.
He grabs the plushie and stuffs it in his duffle bag. He looks around more to see if he can find anything for Ranboo and finds a black cat plushie with purple eyes. He also grabs that and puts it into his duffle bag.
When he exits the store, he finds a lot of things in all the other shops. He gets clothes, candy, card games, art supplies, and many other things. How he was able to fit all of that into his duffle bag? Well... don’t worry about it. He was on the fourth floor when he spotted a jewelry store.
Henry starts flapping his wings when he spots all the shiny jewels. Tommy chuckles and walks into the store making sure to be careful of the dead zombies on the ground. Someone got to them before him. Looks like gun wounds.
He looks at all the jewelry in the store. There are many diamond rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings. He takes some to give to Tubbo and Ranboo. He also spots a lot of emerald jewelry as well and stuffs it into his duffle bag.
He is about to head out when something catches his eye. On display is a bright blue jewel that is an oval shape. It matches his eyes, and he can’t help but press onto the glass of the case it’s in.
Henry chirps and hops around on Tommy’s shoulder. Tommy looks at Henry and smiles.
“You want it?” He asks. Henry chirps even louder and nods his head.
Tommy turns back towards the case and raises his bat. He swings the bat down and the glass shatters. Tommy puts his bat back on his utility belt and wipes the glass off the jewel. He grabs the jewel and brings it up to his face. He notices that there seems to be a carving of a single chrysanthemums in the middle of the jewel and that it’s a pin.
Henry cranes his neck to also look at the jewel tilting his head this way and that way. Tommy hums and grabs Henry from off his shoulder. Henry is a bit bigger than his hand. He places Henry down on a counter and grabs a hold of the ribbon tied around Henry’s neck and fiddles with the lapel pin, taking the back off.
He clips it onto the middle of the bow while making sure he doesn’t accidentally hurt Henry. He clips it on and steps back to see how it looks. Henry hops around and tilts his head, the jewel on full display. Tommy grins and pets Henry. Henry closes his eyes and coos.
“It looks amazing on you.” Tommy hums. Henry opens his eyes and pecks Tommy’s fingers. Tommy chuckles.
He walks out of the store and Tommy is about to go into another clothing store when he suddenly hears the shattering of class, groaning from zombies, gunshots, and yelling. He looks up at the floor above him. It is the last floor, and the ceiling is made of glass. He tries to see what’s going on from where he is, but he can’t see anything.
He squints and he finally sees something. It's three people running from a hoard of zombies. Their shooting at the zombies but the zombies keep on chasing them.
He wonders if he should help them. Will Henry be fine? He turns to Henry who doesn’t even care about what’s happening. He’ll be fine.
“Hey Henry want to go kill some zombies?” He asks while grinning like a maniac. Henry tilts his head to look Tommy in the eye and chirps his approval while opening his wings in a threatening way. Tommy’s grin grows bigger, and he turns his head to watch as the zombies chase after the three people.
“Let’s go have some fun.”
