Apocalypse
Craig X Tweek
Written by JEL
Craig P.O.V.
I hated the idea of having to take Ruby out to find anything to eat. I'd of rather just venturing on my own, but I couldn't just leave her alone. I had to take her with me. So, I lead her around like a dog on a lease to make sure she didn't wander off. Of course she hated this, but I couldn't take any chances.
I gripped Ruby's hand, and she made some annoying sound.
"Ow-! Ugh, you don't have to death grip me!" She complained.
I shot her a look. "Shut up..! You're gonna attract attention..!"
She shot me a look right back. "Then let go of my hand!"
"No! Just shut your mouth and suck it up!"
Ruby grumbled and intentionally tried to squeeze my hand really tight. I ignored her, and we made our way down the street. I honestly had no clue where I exactly intended us to go, but I had a couple ideas. The what-was-once-a-town wasn't very big, so if I circled it a few times, I was sure I'd find something.
It'd been - what? Three months since the people cleared out of South Park? I didn't really know. I didn't really CARE. As long as me and my sister were still alive, I didn't care about anything else.
A sound snapped me out of thought. I looked up, seeing a cluster of zombies near the post office. I quickly pulled Ruby down a nearby alley, only to get stopped by the sight of a single one making its way right for us. Fuck, that thing was fast. Zombies aren't supposed to be fast. What the FUCK?!
I tried to run back the other way, but I tripped and fell, bringing Ruby down with me. Ruby screamed sharply, and I tried to stumble to my feet. I could feel my heart beat in my throat, and I could visibly see myself shaking. I turned, to see the zombie suddenly drop with a thud, dark blood splattering on the pavement. I looked up, a figure huffing loudly. The axe they were holding dripped with fresh blood, and their… blonde… hair… and green shirt… messy green button-up shirt… It - no… it COULDN'T be…
"…Tweek..?" I asked blindly, still inspecting every inch of him.
He looked down at me. "… C-Craig..?"
I stood. "Yeah…"
Tweek dropped the axe and wrapped his arms around me. "Craig! I can't believe it! You're ALIVE!"
I think I was more shocked that TWEEK just bashed a zombie's skull in, rather than just seeing he was still alive. Of all the people I knew, Tweek was the LAST kid I'd expect to save me, right next to Butters, or Pip. And the fact that he just completely ignored that fact almost creeped me out.
"YOU'RE alive?" I more of stated than asked.
"This is amazing! I never thought I'd see you ever again!"
"Yo-" I was cut off.
"Tweek!" A voice echoed from behind us.
Tweek jumped and turned immediately. "Y-yes, ma'am!"
A girl with almost boy-short bright blue hair approached us. Damn, she looked pissed. "What've I said about leaving like that?!"
"I-I'm sorry, Mira! I-I-I just- I was trying to- they were in t-trouble!" Tweek rambled, trying to explain.
The girl; apparently "Mira", looked over me and Ruby. She crossed her arms. "Well, I suppose it's alright, then. Now, come on. We've gotta get going."
"A-actually! I was thinking… why don't we take them in with us..?"
She gave him a sharp look. "Why?"
"Well, th-they're my friends… I knew them before the outbreak."
"Friends?" She was acting like this was hard to believe. She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I guess they can join us."
Tweek lit up. "Thank you so much! Mira, I owe you like, twenty!"
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go." She turned and walked out the alley.
Tweek pulled my sleeve. "Come on. We're heading to our new settlement."
"Settlement?" I grabbed Ruby by the arm. "Does that mean there's more people?"
He picked up his thrown axe. "Uh huh. They're all mostly kids. Some older than us, some younger. I joined them about a week after the outbreak. They've all taken good care of me."
It was then that I noticed Tweek's speech pattern was different. It was smooth, and actually kinda nice. I'd never heard Tweek's voice when it wasn't all nervous and stuttering. He actually… had a pretty cute voice.
"So… where exactly is this whole settlement thingy?" Ruby tried to wriggle from my hand.
"It's an abandoned military set-up. You know, the ones they put up to sustain order in town. When everyone in town evacuated, the military left, too. From what some people have said, they left a bunch of supplies. Food, clothes, medical equipment. It's got everything we need."
"Then, why go there NOW? Why not three months ago?"
Tweek pulled me faster, I guess trying to catch up with that girl. "Well, that's the thing. We couldn't get into it, because it was all locked up with no way in. We finally found a way to scale the wall and open the gate, so now we can all go there. And now that you're here, I couldn't be happier!"
It made me smile, how Tweek was acting like I was some kind of celebrity. Wait a minute… wall?
"There's a wall, and gate?" I blinked a few times.
"Oh, yeah, from what I've heard. Supposed to be a huge concrete one, too. No way any undead are getting past that."
We walked and talked for a little while, until we suddenly stopped.
Tweek bumped into the blue haired girl's back. She gave him a glare, and Tweek backed into me. He seemed scared of this "Mira" girl.
"Tweek, I know you're happy that you found your friends, but I still need you to keep an eye out." She said, pointing at a few zombies ahead of us.
"Oh, right…" Tweek turned to me. "Craig, if I say so, take Ruby and run as fast as you can. Okay?"
This puzzled me, but I nodded. "Okay…"
"… Good… I'll be right back." He clutched the handle of his stained axe, and began to walk towards the group of undead.
There was only three, with one already dead on the ground. So I wasn't all too worried, but I still clutch my hands into fists. I didn't have a clue what happened to Tweek, or why he seemed so different now, but it concerned me. I hadn't been with him for twenty minutes, and I already knew he had changed. Tweek's voice barely stuttered, his constant twitching wasn't even a thought, and the obvious fact that he was murdering zombies as if it was nothing. He wasn't even Tweek anymore.
Tweek busted one of the zombies in the back of the skull so hard, it got stuck. He kicked its abdomen, pulling it loose, then busting it again. As that one fell, he struck the second one in the side of the neck. It didn't fall though, and it lunged forward. Tweek used the handle to hold it back, but he was struggling. My eyes shifted to the zombie that had been dead on the ground. Or, I THOUGHT it was dead. It had started moving, and it clawed at Tweek's heels. It grabbed his leg, making him stumble.
I dropped Ruby's arm and fucking ran, and kicked it right in the face. I swung my arm around Tweek's skinny waist, and yanked him back with me. I could tell it startled him, because I felt his whole body tense at my grip. I pulled us back a few feet to make sure we were safe enough. I huffed as my heart beat in my throat.
I was still holding Tweek in my arms. I looked down at him. "You okay?"
His face was bright red. "Uh, y-yeah… thank you…"
I was going to ask why his face was that color, but I heard Ruby scream behind us. I whipped my head around, seeing Ruby on the ground. Mira had a knife stabbed straight through a zombie's head, they both hovering right over my sister. She had shoved the knife right through the back of its head, the blade poking out of its mouth. She pulled the knife out, and the zombie fell to the concrete.
I released Tweek, and went to my sister. I dropped to my knees on the ground next to her, fussing over her like my mom would of. Mom…
"You okay?! You're not hurt?!" I held her shoulders.
Ruby actually hugged me and started sniffling into my jacket. "I was so scared!"
"But you're not hurt?" I asked her again.
"My… I twisted my ankle… but nothing else…"
I looked over to the blue haired girl, who was drying her knife with a dirty cloth. She didn't even give me a glance. I turned to look back at Tweek, and I was glad to see he'd finished off those two undead. He sat on the ground, staring off at nothing. He was covered in blood. And I mean covered. Face, hands, clothes, everything. His eyes met with mine, and he quickly turned away. What was with him? Was he embarrassed that I saved him or something?
I put my attention back on Ruby, and matured to my "responsible big brother" voice.
"Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you?" I asked her sincerely. I didn't mind if I had to carry her, it's not like she was heavy, she was only eight.
"I can carry you." Tweek suddenly appeared over me, making me jump a little. Damn, he's quiet.
Ruby looked up at Tweek like he was an angel. "Wo- *sniff* would you..?"
Okay, so apparently, I'm fucking invisible.
Tweek set down his axe, and gently helped Ruby hop on his back. She wrapped her arms around his collar, and nuzzled her face into his back. He turned noticeably red, and held her up with an awkward look on his face.
He looked over to me, with a pleading smile. "You think you could carry my axe, please..? My hands are kinda full… N-not that you HAVE to…"
I didn't understand why he was acting so sheepish, until I realized what kind of face I was making. I'd been making some kind of angry expression, I was sure. I tried my best to smile a little, hopefully reassuring Tweek that everything was fine.
"Sure." I tried to bring my tone up, too. I grabbed his axe from the ground, and almost fell over. That fucking axe Tweek's been carrying around like It's nothing, is heavy as fuck. I lifted it, and couldn't help but feel like either I'm a weakling, or Tweek is stronger than me. Both, I don't understand how. The dripping blood stained my hands, making them sticky. I cringed a bit at the feel. It was weird to think I literally had blood on my hands.
Mira returned her knife to the holster on her leg. "Tweek, let's get moving before it gets dark."
Tweek nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
It irritated me how he called her "ma'am". She didn't look like she was too much older than us, so why did Tweek act like she was some all knowing adult? And I found it insulting that she only talked to Tweek, as if Ruby and I weren't even there. It was obvious that she didn't appreciate the extra company.
We went on walking, Mira in the front, Tweek and Ruby at her heels, and me, wandering in the back. I was thinking, and that axe didn't help my speed either. I at least caught up to Tweek, a particular question I wanted to ask.
I cleared my throat. "… So, you're okay?" ( Not the question I wanted to ask )
Tweek took a second, then looked up at me. "O-oh! Yeah, yeah… You're okay?"
"Yeah… I've been considerably better, but I'll live."
He smiled a little, and stared at the ground. "… I'm sure you will…"
I made a hummed sound, rethinking my pressing question. Awkward silent rang over the two of us. I pulled my gaze away from him for a moment, and looked at the building in the background. Tweek saw it as I did, and he stopped in his tracks. There it was: An old, wrecked memory that was somehow still standing. Broken and almost unrecognizable, the sign lie half hanging and half fallen, that read "South Park Elementary". We'd left that school a few years before all this, but it still had a painful nostalgia of the happier times. All of our friends, every memory we had with them, pretty much gone now.
I looked over to Tweek, and I could see his eyes watering. Ruby patted his back, trying to comfort him. I wanted to comfort him, I guess, but that wasn't what I was thinking about at the time. My life was involuntarily flashing before my eyes. The time Tweek and I kicked the shit out of each other, the time when being "metrosexual" was cool, the time I shot lasers out my eyes to stop an evil guinea pirate mastermind, everything. I saw it all as if I was reliving it. It was really weird.
I snapped myself out of it when Tweek had begun walking again. I followed him, trying to keep up with his faster pace.
"Hey… you still okay?" I asked him.
He smiled at me really big. "… Yeah… I'm fine…"
Liar. I could tell he wasn't.
END PROLOGUE
I'm dropping you guys right in to this one. Enjoy
