"Hey, Tavbrooo" Gamzee hangs down from his bunk to yours. His fingers graze your cheek, causing your face to twitch lightly. When your brown eyes open and look upon Gamzee, he gives you a bright smile.
"Rise and shine, friend." He says before he topples off his bunk and onto the floor. Makara rubs his head.
"Are-are you okay?" You scramble out of bed to help him.
"Will you two PLEASE keep it down? Jesus christ!" Vriska yells. With a little grimace you hoist Gamzee onto his feet again. So far, these past couple of weeks you've spent with Gamzee were surprisingly fun. It's been more like hanging out with friends than simply surviving. There is simply something about Gamzee's personality that makes you temporarily forget that the world is being ravaged by monsters. Very in the moment, but somehow also galaxies away.
"Hehe, thanks." He grinned, rubbing his bare shoulder.
"No problem." You reply, grinning back to him. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Vriska get up from her bed and put on shoes. You look at her.
"Uh...are you going somewhere?" You ask. She narrows her eyes at you.
"I'm just going out, I don't have to tell you where I'm going." Vriska grabs her bag and shoots a quick smirk your way. "I'll be back soon. Stay here." Then she simply disappears through the tunnel. Gamzee looks back to you after pulling a shirt over his head. The two of you gave eachother a look.
"Uh, how long do you think she'll be gone?" You wonder aloud. The only thing Gamzee offers you is a shrug.
"Breakfast? I can make some motherfucking...ehhh...somethin' outta the cans." You both walk to the very back corner where your food is kept. The canned goods you've gathered on your trip to the CCMP are almost depleted. All that's left is two cans of pea soup and one can of water chestnuts.
"I'm not disrespecting or anything, Tav, but what the motherfuck did you grab water chestnuts?" Gamzee inquires as he picks up the can. "What even is this anyway? Like, a vegetable? Nuts?"
"I don't know, I just kinda grabbed it." You shrug and start opening a can of pea soup. Once you're done with the can opener, Gamzee opens the water chestnuts. He grabbed one between his thumb and his pointer finger. After popping it in his mouth, his face cringed.
"Shit, man, I wasn't expectin' it to be all up and crunchy!" Gamzee swollows it and smiles. "But still tasty as fuck!"
"Uh...there were a lot of things you never did, huh? Like eating water chestnuts." You kind of just tilt the can and drink it.
"Didn't motherfuckin' go out much. Stayed inside, smoked weed. Got my religion on." The you teen explains. You raise an eyebrow.
"Uh, what did your dad think of that?"
"He was always out motherfuckin' working. I barely saw the guy. I mean it was a motherfucking miracle if I saw him once a week. Didn't even know what he did for a living..." you give him a look of pity and sit down, he notices your looks and sits with you. A smile creeps across his face.
"I never let that shit get me down. Gotta think back to when I had some good fucking times with him, like when he took me to the beach. Not a lot of moments, but they make me happy." Gamzee pops a couple more in his mouth. You don't want to pry into his personal life, but his story seems interesting.
"And...er...what about your mom?" He's a little taken aback from the question, however not in the least bit saddened.
"Never really met her. She all up and left when I was ehhhh...fuck I can't remember how old...I was a toddler. Apparently she did that before, I've got a half bro. We don't talk though...What about you Tav?" You don't think your story will interest him, but he told you his so it's time to tell him yours.
"Uhh...hmmm." you take a moment to gather your thoughts. "Well, my mom and dad were both there. My dad works for an animal shelter and my mom's a lawyer. I, uh, have a brother too, named Rufioh. My parents were obsessed with that movie when he was born...so yeah..." he already knows well about your own little obsession with anything related to Peter Pan. You go on to tell him about your family, that you used to be in a wheelchair before the shit hit the fan. He nods along, enthusiastically asking questions, and looking at you with his full attention. You don't think you have ever had such a good listener...or really any listener. The two of you end up sharing stories and laughing with eachother until you hear an unfamiliar voice coming through the tunnel.
You both go silent and listen. It sounds like a small group about to invade your hideout. Without a word, Gamzee grabs a club and walks to the opening. Through the opening comes Equius, your former teammate.
"Wait, Gamzee!" You yell as he makes a motion to bash his head. Equius turns his head and grabs the club, disarming him.
"Serket, what is the meaning of this? Were you planning to ambush us and steal our goods?" He growls. A petite girl with red hair and a blue cat hat came out next. She looks to be shorter than you are. Then in came Vriska.
"That's just our stupid clown guy, Tavros decided to pick up a stray." Vriska replies, crossing her arms and looking at Gamzee. Equius looks to you. You never really bonded with him in the single week you've known him. In fact, you kind of thought he was creepy...in fact you could clearly remember Vriska saying the same thing and that she was glad he left. You want to ask about the change of heart, but don't feel as if now is the time or the place.
"It is nice to see that you are still alive, Tavros" he says it as if he wasn't really expecting to see you alive again. You rub the back of your head and grin weakly at him.
"You...too?" You still don't know what to make of him. You assume the girl who came in with him was the friend he left you to find. An odd person for him to be friends with indeed.
"Now, Vriska, we must get down to business." Equius states as he sits on the floor cross legged. The girl sits as well, she looks up at you and Gamzee.
"I'm Nepeta, by the way." She says with a grin.
"Um..I'm Tavros, this is Gamzee." Gamzee waves to her.
"Alright, you said it was important, so we'll hear what you gotta say. It better be worth it though." She also sits with them.
"We found a radio station. This is happening everywhere around the world as we speak. We are getting many transmissions looking for survivors..but we have no way to contact them back. The microphone is broken." The strong boy explains.
"Equius practically ripped it off the wire by accident." Nepeta growls in a spiteful manner. After giving Nepeta an annoyed look, his eyes move back to Vriska.
"They have a refugee camp. Guns, safety, plenty of food. A sanctuary we have all been hoping for." Your heart pounds at the thought. Hope. Finally, we have hope.
"Where do we come in?" Vriska asks, trying not to sound too excited.
"We were hoping you had come across a replacement. The radio station was in sore condition, that was the only functional microphone." Alas, you knew it was too good to be true. Where the hell could you find a microphone for a radio like that?
"No. We haven't." She sighs. Nepeta fidgets and bites her lip.
"No one?"
"I had one in my motherfucking apartment." Gamzee offers. All eyes turn to him. He smiles widely.
"I lived in the city. Shouldn't be too fuckin' hard to get there. I mean, Tav and I made it to the CCMP with no kinds of trouble. With the five of us, it'll be a motherfucking cakewalk!" Hope flutters back to you. Gamzee really is proving to be useful, no matter what Vriska says otherwise.
All of you prepare to head out, mainly filling bags with water and preparing weapons. You still have not found a weapon, Equius sees that you are unarmed and gives you the bow and arrows he had on his back.
"Wh-why are you giving this to me?" You stutter.
"You are unarmed. Going into the city is very dangerous...and I can handle myself." He crosses his arms and walks to Vriska. Nepeta smiles at you.
"That's his fancy talk for 'Every time I try to shoot a bow, it breaks.' He carries it around to look cool, but he usually uses his fists." She giggles. You sling the quiver full of arrows around your chest.
"So...uh, what's your weapon?" She puts on gloves that appear to have kitchen knives attached to them. They resemble claws, much like Wolverine.
"These are mine. I made them. Muuuch more sturdy than the look. I killed a bunch of those monsters with these. Hehe!"
"Alright people!" Vriska yells. Every face turns to her. "No screwing up. The plan is to get the microphone. As soon as that is done, we're heading straight to the radio station." She looks at Gamzee. "You're gonna have to lead the way." He nods, knowing what he has to do.
You all walk together in a tight group. Occasionally, stopping to fight a single monster, but thankfully each time was a success. Walking together in a larger group like this seems to discourage looters from stopping you. Because of this luck, the group makes it to Gamzee's apartment building with little difficulty.
"I'm up on the fifth floor. No motherfucking electricity, so I hope you guys don't mind the stairs." Everyone climbed the stairs, Gamzee joined you in the back of the crowd.
"Careful, this shit is old and steep" he warns.
"It's not too bad-" an uneven step causes you to trip and fall forward. Before your chin hits the sharp edge of the stair, Gamzee catches you.
"I warned you, bro." He chuckles. Your face goes red, and you don't say a word as you continue climbing.
So fucking pathetic. Stop embarrassing yourself, Tavros. You're not going to survive if you can't even climb a few stairs.
"Sorry" you say as the climbing is finished. Before he can respond, he is interrupted by Vriska.
"Alright, fifth floor. Now the room, Chuckles." Gamzee quickly walks to the second to last room in the hall. The door is already cracked open. The apartment was dark and truly malodorous, much like the smell that fills the city usually. Someone must have died in here. Gamzee seems to ignore it.
"Do you know where it is?" Vriska asks through a covered mouth and nose. In the corner you spy a bloody blanket over the corpse of a man.
"No...up and lost it weeks before this shit even began. We'd better start motherfucking looking." Gamzee quickly makes his way out of the room. You decide to follow, daring to ask him the question on his mind. Gamzee looks a little more agitated being here. He rummages through his desk and dressers, taking out the drawers and dumping them.
"Gamzee...uh." he doesn't respond, only looks through his mess.
"Gamzee...sorry to ask...um...was that your dad?" Gamzee goes stiff. You slowly approach him and put a hand on his shoulder. He brushes your hand off and continues searching, you immediately regret asking.
Seriously, how can you do that? That was private!
Instead of bringing it up again, you help. Nepeta comes in, holding the microphone.
"We can get out of here now, right?" Gamzee stands and looks at her, forcing his usual big smile.
"Yeah, sis. Let's hit the road."
Once on the road again, Nepeta and Equius lead you to the radio tower. You all took a route that led out of the city first, so to avoid any risks. Hours pass, they have led you way out of town, past all of the housing.
"Jesus, where is this place?" Vriska moans.
"It is in the distance, I can just see it over the horizon." Equius states. It's dusk. You feel a bit of fear creep over you. It's important to get inside before night hits. That's when the monsters are most active, the darkness of the night makes great camouflage for there dark tar-like skin.
Night had fallen by the time you finally make it to the station. Inside you all go, one by one. Equius immediately goes to the radio and turns it on.
"Survivors...please...sanctuary is waiting...alert us...save you." A broken female voice made its way through the static. Equius wastes no time at all hooking up the new microphone. He is about to speak into it, but Vriska takes it from him.
"Hey. We've got a group of five over in the Henry County Radio Station." The whole group waits in agony for the reponse. Finally, the speaker says back:
"On our way...provisions...thank you...helicopter...soon."
(Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter more than I did. It'll pick up, don't worry.)