TWs: feeling unnerved, mention of population decrease/mass weapon of destruction/nuclear fallout. Stay safe :)
Tom kicked a rock as he walked along the backstreets of England. It was dark and foggy due to pollution and the grey clouds in the sky. His visor was the only thing that allowed him to see clearly.
He stopped at the edge of an alleyway, peering out to see if he could spot any of the King's lackeys. It's not that he was concerned about getting caught; he didn't want to draw any attention to himself if he did. He knew Matt would be concerned if he were to go full monster in the middle of the red zone.
After he was done checking, he slowly stepped out of the alley, only to reel back once he saw a drone fly overhead.
'That was close.' He thought, watching as the drone swirled around before leaving the area. He perked up at hearing a noise close by. A voice. He raised an eyebrow, deciding to investigate.
Stepping out of the alley once more, Tom made his way down the street, glancing at the destroyed and broken-down cars that were left behind. The citizens of England seemed to have disappeared over the years; Tord had been trying to figure out why that was, only to come up empty. Some citizens remained, though, even if it was about five or ten million.
"No, of course not," Tom heard the voice again, "It's kinda hard when it's dark all the time."
He rounded the corner, his eyes widening, "Todd?"
Todd froze, peering over his shoulder, "Uh- I gotta go."
Todd quickly hung up, "Tom? This is unexpected."
Tom quirked a brow at the weird antenna attached to his phone yet said nothing, "Uh yeah, how've you been?"
"Good, good. I talked with Eduardo and the others and managed to tie any loose ends."
"Oh, yeah, Jon told me all about that. That's great."
There was a moment of silence in which Tom felt slightly uncomfortable. He didn't know why, seeing as this was his friend and the one who would serve him drinks. He shrugged it off, blaming it on the atmosphere.
"Anyway, I should go. I have something I need to get done." Todd spoke, shouldering past Tom.
"Oh, alright. See you around, Todd." The bassist smiled, only getting a nod back.
'Nothing to do...' Matt thought as he leaned against a wall. He was by the port, waiting for the shipment to arrive. He checked his watch again, 'I've only been here for an hour...? Ugh, I can't take this standing around and doing nothing business. How do the others do it so well...?'
As Matt was complaining and whining in his head, he heard something in the distance.
He sighed in relief at seeing the ships in the distance. He stood up and stretched, getting ready to explore the cargo further. He made sure he had his gun and that it had enough juice left before sneaking his way around the docks.
He moved behind a few shipping units, glancing around the area. He saw a few people shining bright lights for the ships to see and others speaking into walkie-talkies and radios.
The ships pulled in, docking and getting the shipments ready. The crew and someone who Matt assumed was the Captain came ashore, starting to talk to the others on the pier.
"We got just about everything the King asked for." He spoke, gesturing to the crates, "Those blokes from America were starstruck; they had never seen production for this stuff that high before."
The person he spoke to laughed, "America may have made nukes and atom bombs, but what we're doing... is more potent."
Matt questioned that, quirking an eyebrow. He noticed the cargo unit he was next to was opened slightly. Cautiously, he peered inside, curious about what they were planning. His eyes widened immediately, 'Holy...'
He quickly left the scene to tell Tord of what he discovered.
"A what device!?" Tord yelled.
"Afraid so..." Matt uttered.
"Dooms-" Tord turned to the whiteboard as he charted it out, muttering under his breath, "It's a hypothetical construction; no one's ever made one before. It can destroy all life on Earth- it can even destroy the planet! They would need salted hydrogen bombs or even cobalt bombs to pull it off. But even then, we're talking about nuclear fallout and the end of the fucking world!"
Tord pushed the whiteboard away, nearly knocking it off its wheels. Pat and Pau glanced at each other, worried about their kid's sanity.
"Tord," Pat spoke.
"What?" Tord's voice came out exhausted.
"All the components seem to be sitting at the dock, so they aren't making it yet. There's still time to stop them." He told him, trying to calm the leader down.
"Right." Tord rubbed his temples, "Right, obviously..."
"Maybe you need a breather." Pau said as he stood, "Come on."
Instead of arguing, Tord followed him to the stairs. They exited the underground bunker, walking a few blocks away before sitting on a bench.
"I know how hard this is for you." Pau started.
"You're sounding like Pat." Tord rolled his eyes, "I don't need another lecture."
"But what you do need is Edd."
Tord glared, "Can't you guys leave me alone about this?"
The shorter stood up, about to leave.
"You talked about him every day ever since you met him. It was clear you were thinking about him; you mentioned him in a quarter of the conversations you had with us, and you smiled more often. I haven't seen you genuinely smile like that in years!" Pau exclaimed.
Tord frowned.
"Tord, you're damaging your mentality by not being with the one you love. It's not good for you, and I bet Edd's feeling the same."
"How would you know?" Tord muttered. There was a long pause, "Pau?"
Glancing behind him, Pau was whirling his head around, seemingly looking for someone or something.
"What is it?" The Norsk asked.
"I hear-" Pau stopped, "There's a drone nearby; let's get outta here."
Tord nodded, following Pau back to the bunker entrance.
"Woah, what's with the rush?" Tom questioned, standing up from leaning against the bunker door.
"Close call with a drone," Pau answered, going back inside. Tom shrugged, setting his gaze on Tord.
"Find anything?"
"Nothing much, but I did run into Todd." Tom crossed his arms.
"Ah yeah... the Jason Dean wannabe." Tord smiled, "Been a long while since I've seen him."
Tom's virtual eyes showed them moving around in a loop, "I bet he doesn't miss that nickname."
"Whaaaat...? If anything, it's a compliment." Tord's smile turned mischievous as he followed Tom inside the bunker, "Everyone loves a bad boy."