A cool air swept through the dense forest causing the old looming trees to moan with protest. No other sound to accompany the trees; no trickling streams, no cries of since had passed since anyone had seen any sort of wildlife, They had been the first to vanish. All that remained were the random occasional snapping of the trees, fighting for space in the fading didn't have the time to take note of this as he made his way through them. The lower branches of the trees reached out to him, lightly scraping his skin, joining the rest of the scrapes and bruises adorning his body, but he failed to react. He sped up his pace, breaking into a full run towards a light smoke cloud just a bit in front of him above the trees.
In only a few minutes it would be night, complete darkness would fall. It wasn't safe to be outside in the dark anymore.
Suddenly the trees broke, revealing a tiny stone cabin puffing smoke out of it the center of a rather large clearing. Old plants spat out long, jagged vines, crawling up the sides of the house, digging into the nooks between the stones every so often. Moss grew thick on the roof, only missing from the small part that had recently been fixed due to a leak from yesterday's rain. The windows were boarded up, with only a small slit in the front one for those inside to see the woods. Tweek let out a sigh at its sight, relieved to see it. He slowed down to a walk, and approached the dusty door.
Tweek knocked lightly, three taps, pause, two taps, pause, three only response he received was the slight click of the door being unlocked from within. He took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. There was nothing but silence as Tweek peaked his head in, not seeing anything at first in the darkness of the cabin's main area. As his eyes adjusted, He noticed Wendy standing there, half awake and looking as if the life had been drained from her. They silently looked at each other before she sat back down in the chair next to the door, curling up in an old blanket. Poor Wendy had been left on door duty again, Tweek would need to volunteer to take her place tonight or else she would be stuck there forever.
Tweek shut the door, double checking to make sure he closed the deadbolt correctly. He looked over to the fire, barely smoldering and clearly not kept up on. Only Wendy and the person currently passed out on the couch appeared to be in tonight. This was bad, so very bad. The chances of surviving outside at night was almost impossible. They had needed food so badly, someone had to go out in get it that day. Stan had volunteered, but he should have been back by was gone as well, Something must have happened.
Silently, Tweek made his way over to a figure sleep entangled in a giant blanket on the couch. He tugged on the blanket, getting no reaction. He tugged harder, unwrapping the blanket and tossing it onto the floor. A low groan came from the person laying on the couch, causing Tweek to flinch. Oh god, had he hurt Pete?
Pete looked completely different then he did back from their childhood, but then again, nobody looked the same as they had from even a month ago. It was hard these days to keep up with aesthetics, let alone looking presentable. The power had gone out soon after the first deaths, and most of the population in the area had been taken out within the first three days. Going into town wasn't safe, so they had to try their best to avoid it. All they had was this small cabin they had found, a well, and the company of each other that dwindled down ever so slowly. Some people couldn't take being out here and had left to go find something better,some had not been so lucky and simply vanished, and the others...
Tweek couldn't think about that now, he had to get to the only other person available ready for the night. As much as Pete loved to act as if he hated all of the others, he never actually left them and helped out whenever he could. And for that, Tweek gave much thanks.
Seeing that Pete was not going to wake up naturally, something he rarely did anyway, Tweek shook the sleeping figure. He prayed silently Pete wouldn't bitch him out for this.
Pete sprung up, instantly grabbing Tweeks throat, a wild look in his eyes. Fear engulfed Tweek, tears forming in his eyes. Words could not escape him, the others grip was too strong. What felt like an eternity passed before Pete woke up enough to realize what he was doing. His hands instantly fell to his sides, a frown covering his face.
"I told you not to wake me up unless it was an emergency" Pete yawned, his eyes scanning the room. "I thought you were a threat."
"It's getting dark out..." Tweek mumbled. His throat hurt bad, burning from the lack of oxygen he had just received. He could feel a few tears roll down his cheek. Everything was going terribly already.
"Really, you need to stop worrying so much. " Pete said, his expression shifting to one of more compassion. Carefully he reached out to tweeks face, wiping away the tears. He didn't mean to do it, Tweek knew it. Anyone would have attacked if they had been woken up unexpectedly. These days people were just as bad as the monsters.
"I couldn't find anyone outside. Kyle and Stan aren't back yet," Tweek informed the other, "And Wendy can't keep watch anymore." Pete nodded his head, looking over to Wendy. Out of everyone, she had had it the worst. Everyone else had been in school when the first attack happened just before the end of the day, but Wendy had been with her family. She had been the only survivor, having to witness it all first hand. Nobody knew what those creature were or where they came from, and nobody had had time to find out. The high schoolers were only lucky since the high school was away from the rest of town, giving most of the teens enough time to get away.
The creatures were hard to describe since they held no true form. They appeared different to every person who saw them, with little to no consistency. They were much less active during the day, only appearing out the first few days. If you ran into one during the day, the best way to protect yourself was to simply light a match. The creatures seemed to fear fire and nothing more. Nobody knew how many of the things were left, and nobody had had the chance to kill one. All anyone could do was hide and pray none would come to visit.
Tweek had yet to have a chance to see one, which he considered lucky. Whenever Wendy brought up her experience, she held such fear in her eyes. Her face would go pale, and she would clutch onto whatever object she had so tightly Tweek would think it would snap. As much as she tried to explain it to him, Tweek could not see an image in his head. It didn't help that she changed the description every time, seeming to get more and more confused with each retelling.
The two boys moved the passed out Wendy from the chair to the couch, adding another blanket to her. Wendy was the one who had gotten them all this far, and the one who had found out the fire aversion, so she deserved all the rest and more. Pete made an attempt to call Stan and Kyle from the walkie-talkie, but they got nothing in response. As much as Pete tried to reassure Tweek they were probably just out of range, Tweek couldn't calm himself. Nobody who had stopped responding had ever come back. They had started with 10 people, and now they only had three.
As Pete began to rebuild the fire there was a knock on the door. It was soft, and only 2 taps. Tweek went over, and peeked through the small crack in the window. He couldn't see anything in the pitch black from the outside. He looked over to Pete who mouthed the word "ask" Silently.
"Who-who is it?" Tweek asked the door, his voice cracking.
Nothing. Pete got up, joining Tweek at the Door.
"We will not let you in unless you say who you are and do the correct knock." Pete threatened, fire poker in hand.
Again, silence.
"It's me." An all too familiar nasally voice finally replied, sending a chill to run throughout Tweek. It couldn't be…
"Craig?" Tweek asked, reaching for the deadbolt. His hands were instantly stopped by Pete's, who was shaking his head vigorously.
"It's me. Please let me in, I can't be out here with the monsters." Craig said through the door. "I'm sorry I've been gone so long, I got stuck at the police station."
Tweek looked at Pete, his eyes pleading. It was Craig, Craig was back. A week ago he had gone to get some sort of weapons from the police Station with Kenny and neither had returned. Now he was back.
"Where's Kenny?" Tweek asked, fighting against Pete's grip. It wasn't safe for Craig to be out there, he had to let him in.
Silence.
"He's dead." Craig responded finally. "You need to let me in, It's dangerous out here. I don't want to die." His voice was full of fear, something Tweek hadn't heard before. Pete wasn't having it.
"Do the knock and I will let you in." Pete stated, not releasing Tweek. Craig did the same knock again, the incorrect knock. Tweek didn't know what to think.
"I'm not letting you in." Pete announced, pulling Tweek away from the door. Tweek fought against him, tears returning to his eyes. They couldn't leave someone out there to die again.
"You can't leave me out here to Die!" Craig cried out, "Please just let me in." Craig began to beat the door, shaking the entire frame.
"Pete, we have to let him in." Tweek looked to Pete, searching for a reason on his face why he would let Craig die like this. He found nothing but tired eyes.
"It's not Craig, Tweek. We can't let him in." Pete answered. Tweek shook his head. There was no way it wasn't Craig. It sounded exactly like him, Craig knew where they were. "He doesn't know the knock."
Tweek's entire body began to shake, the tears streaming down his face more. He didn't know what to do. Pete was right, Craig would know the knock, but It could be him just in a panic. The banging continued, and Pete guided Tweek to the other end of the couch, forcing him to sit. Pete knelt on the ground, setting down the fire poker and placing his hand on Tweeks knee for comfort.
"It's not him, We have to do this. You can do this" Pete repeated, lightly patting Tweeks knee. Tweek looked to the door, and to Wendy whom was still passed out. They couldn't open the door, none of them were in the state to fight if needed. They would die.
"Kenny, I'm terrified. I don't want to die." Craig's distorted voice rang out, slowing down on the banging. "I can't do this without you."
A look of horror adorned both the males faces, and Tweek let out a sob. That thing was mimking Craig, pleading. Had this creature killed them and somehow found the rest of them? How did it know where to go?
"I'm sorry." It cried out, now in Kenny's voice, "I'm sorry." The voice was in so much pain, Kenny's dying words. They had to have been. The creature continued to drown on, mimicking the cries of their lost friends. All the two could do was listen as it went on, taking many hours. At first Tweek simply shook and cried; He cried for his lost friends, He cried out of fear, he cried because it had been so long since anyone had. But as time passed, he calmed down thanks to Pete. Soon the two simply sat next to each other, Tweek leaning on Pete's shoulder, looking at the door.
"I should go try and kill it, It's not going to stop. " Pete commented. Tweek shook his head vigorously. As much as he wanted it to stop too, he didn't want to see the other get many people had gotten hurt, to many people were gone. Tweek touched Pete's hand, noticing he was shaking. Looking at his face, Tweek saw the expression again: regret. Pete had been the one whom had suggested for someone to get the weapons. Tweek's eyes widened, realizing what was happening.
"It's not your fault they died." Tweek said, squeezing Petes hand Lightly. "You've done everything you can to help us, even if you act aggressively." Tweek believed every word that left his mouth. He believed in Pete.
Pete tried to look away, but Tweek pulled his face back to the side. Typical goth behavior to try and hide emotions.
"It's going to be okay." A bittersweet smile formed on Tweek's face, something he didn't think he would be able to everything that had happened, it had felt like neither smiling or crying would be something he would have time for. "Thank you for everything"
Pete blinked, Before returning the same smile back. Who would of thought it would be during one of the most stressful times that they would be able to smile. They both looked at Wendy again, her expression rather peaceful in her sleep.
It was going to be a long night, but they would be okay.
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A/N : This was the first time I have written for both Pete and Twee. Please forgive me for any mistakes of character.