Chapter Text
His head pounded as he walked, rain lashing against his face. If he could just find some form of shelter. A house or a cave or even a tree, just somewhere to hide from the terrible weather. The bag on his back weighed heavy, full of cans of beans and other foods. He knew had gotten lucky with that small shop. Without it they would have died; Him and the small bundle in his arms. Without that child, he would've left long ago. But he stayed. He had to. The 3 year old could barely walk, let alone survive on his own.
It had been almost 3 years. 3 years since 'the disease' broke out. He hadn't been alone for all of it. He had 𝘩𝘪𝘮 for a while, but after he left, Wilbur- No. He wasn't going to think about that. Right now he needed to find shelter for him and his son before they froze to death.
He had been walking for an hour when he finally found some shelter, a small house on the edge of a village. The weather was starting to get worse as his entire body ached from lack of rest. He walked up to the door and closed his eyes. "Please be safe" He whispered to himself as he pushed the handle down. It was in times like these where Wilbur wished he had a gun. He stayed as quiet as possible while he scouted out the house. He walked into the hallway and made his way through each room, checking for any signs that someone was already staying here.
When he got to the last room, the sitting room, he realised that the fire was lighting. The fire guard was up, the flame slowly dying, but it was lighting. Someone was staying here. Panic began to rise through his chest. As he turned around, trying to leave quietly, he accidentally hit the coffee table in the middle of the room, sending an empty coffee mug flying to the ground. It landed with a thud. Wilbur prayed to whatever was out there that whoever was staying here was out, but he knew better. Who would leave their shelter in the middle of a storm?
Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from upstairs. He could hear people talking and was about to leave the room when he heard faint footsteps walking slowly down the stairs. He decided that he couldn't leave this room right now and began to look for a place to hide. The only place big enough was in the corner of the room, behind the sofa. It wasn't the best, but it would have to do. He climbed into the small space, trying to make himself as small as possible, legs curled up against himself. He pulled the still sleeping Fundy up in front of his face as a single tear trailed down his cheek. "If anything happens, I love you so much and I'm so sorry I couldn't give you the life you deserved" He pressed a gentle kiss onto the child's forehead and held him tightly against his chest, shutting his eyes and hoping for a miracle.
All of sudden, he heard the door click and slow, soft footsteps entered the room. Wilbur held his breath. "I still think you two should wait outside" A monotone voice whispered. "IN THAT WEATHER?! Fuck off! Back me up Dadza" A more animated voice whisper shouted. "Tommy shut your mouth for 2 seconds this is serious. I agree with Tommy, Techno. It's safer that we all stay together. Strength in numbers and all that crap" Tommy, Dadza and Techno. The people who were going to kill him and his son. Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe they could die and get away from all this stress. Maybe he could have a good life in the afterlife with his son. Do all the things he wished he could've done with him.
Wilbur's hopes started to lift when he heard the door quietly click shut once again. He let out the breath that he had been holding, but he was celebrating too early. Fundy had just woken up, sending a splitting scream through the air. Wilbur tried to get him to stop again, knowing that it was useless hope, but he had to try. He couldn't give up, there had to be a way. There had to be- There it was. The door was thrown open slammed against the wall as he heard the three men hurry back into the room.
"SHOW YOURSELF NOW" The monotone voice from earlier, Techno, shouted. Wilbur could tell he was scared. He was good at hiding it, but Wilbur always had a way of reading a person better than anyone else he used to know. He could see things from their body language and hear things in their voice that no one else could pick up on. "Techno, that sounded like a baby. Calm down a bit maybe they mean no harm" An older, calmer voice began to speak. "Come out, we won't hurt you" 'Dadza' spoke softly. "Keep your hands where we can see them" Techno clearly wasn't very keen on this course of action, but he listened to Phil.
Wilbur shakily rose from behind the sofa, eyes screwed shut, the only noise in the room was the sound of the cans in his backpack clattering as he got up. He slowly opened his eyes, first looking down at Fundy, who was completely oblivious to what was happening. Wilbur let another tear roll down his cheek as he smiled down at the boy. He looked directly at techno, gently closing his eyes and speaking, "I'm ready."