Chapter Text
It's been a long time since the city was alive. Etho kind of missed it. He missed watching people rushing to their destination or perhaps taking a slow stroll. Friends laughing and joking around.
He was not a people person, but it had been quite some time since he saw someone alive. If anyone is still alive. It's been a year—two years? Etho had not known himself for a long time, having lost track of time since the apocalypse began.
Perhaps the fact that he was the only one alive right now was because of his lack of social interaction. He wasn't sure whether this was a blessing or a curse.
As he wandered through the lonely streets, it began to rain lightly. Draping his cloak over his white hair, Etho looked around to make sure nothing was around. He did not want to be ambushed from behind.
He needed more materials, food, medicine, and whatever else he could find. Of course, living alone reduces the amount of resources you use, but it still runs out eventually. And Etho, having survived a horrible apocalypse for a few years, was not ready to die of starvation.
He chose to turn away from the main road and go to an ally with whom he had never previously met. Yes, traveling to unfamiliar places in bad weather was not a good idea, but he had limited time to spare.
Etho grabbed his axe, just in case. He knew his hearing was good, and even with restricted vision, he could catch things sneaking up on him; he didn't want to take the risk.
It was also evening, and the tall man knew he needed to find a safe place to spend the night.
Even though there are rain puddles everywhere, his steps are gentle. He doesn't want to get his boots wet.
Many of the buildings in this city are unstable as a result of their long periods of neglect. The windows were shattered, and the walls were damaged. However, Etho discovered a relatively steady structure.
The windows were damaged, but the inside appeared to be rather stable. He didn't want to stay out here for too long because he was starting to get soaked from the rain. He opened the door and after getting in Etho acidently slammed it.
"Shit."
He exhaled. It's alright, he was still alone. He took the hood off. Getting a complete picture of the room he was in.
The place was completely wrecked, with loads of trash on the floor and shelves. Prior to everything happening, it looked like it was a store.
Etho strolled around, careful not to step on any broken glass pieces. His eyes catched a glimpse of something, discovering several bandage rolls, which made him extremely pleased about coming here. It was fairly gloomy inside, with the clouds outside growing denser as the storm continued, getting the room darker each minute.
As he squatted down to pick the bandages, his fingers brushing across the soft cloth, he heard a slam.
Etho tossed the bandages into his pocket and quickly whirled around, his axe ready. His breathing was labored, but he was ready to face whatever monstrosity was behind him.
"Meow."
There was a black cat on a shelf staring at him, which scared him.
Etho exhaled, realizing he had been holding his breath in. Setting down his axe, he lifted his hand to the cat, patting its fluffy fur, "You scared the hell out of me, little fella."
Etho didn't see animals very often but whenever he got a chance to see one, it made him feel better. Not that lonely.
The cat purred at Etho's touch. It enjoyed each pet he gave it. However, after several pets the cat instantly turned around and hopped off the shelf, fleeing to the darkest corner of the room. How huge was this building?
Etho watched it run, not knowing why it was doing so, until he heard a loud groan he recognized.
Oh snap.
He twisted around, only to be met with a zombie attacking him as he turned. Etho's arm swung to its head, forgetting the fact that he was not holding his axe. Right, he had settled it aside for the cat. Etho, you made an excellent choice. He crashed down, the zombie on top of him. The creature growled at Etho, foam oozing from its mouth. Nails like claws, attempting to dig into his face. Etho was desperately trying to keep it away from him.
Even as the adrenaline and panic crept in, he tried to think. He attempted to form thoughts on how to escape.
Etho looked around, and there was a wooden plank on the floor. He knew he was tall, yet even he didn't believe he could reach it. Still, Etho didn't have any other options, did he?
Holding the zombie, he extended his other hand, attempting to grasp the plank. He was really near. The zombie continued to growl at him, making it increasingly difficult to hold it with one hand. His fingertips touched the rough texture of the wood and taking the plank, he swung it at the zombie, smashing its head.
As soon as the board collided with the monster's head, Etho kicked it away from him.
The man immediately stood up, ran to where his axe was, and finished off the undead after regaining control of his weapon. Finally the body collapsed on the ground, Ethos jacket and axe smeared with blood. He was too panicked to respond to the blood on him. Etho adjusted his backpack and raced out of the building, not wanting to stay there any longer.
The door he had slammed previously was now jammed. "C'mon open!" Etho kicked it. His adrenaline was still running. The door crashed open, and he dashed out, the rain hitting his face.
He simply stood in the center of the street, breathing heavily. Etho spotted blood on his hands and clothing. But as he heard numerous loud groans in the small street he was in, he couldn't be bothered by the blood anymore.
There was a horde.
Etho looked at where the sounds came from. There were approximately 20 or more zombies. And they all spotted him.
Etho began to run, not knowing where he was going, but simply running. The zombies began shrieking and running after him.
He regretted coming here; he didn't know this place, and he's simply walking farther into his street. Etho sprinted despite the pain in his legs, scanning the environment for anything that could help him.
A ladder was on the wall of one of the buildings. He could probably reach it. No, he has to reach it.
Etho hurried to the ladder, but it had been raised from the ground. He had to jump to get there. He tried to jump, but his fingers barely touched the ladder.
Time was ticking. Zombies are sprinting towards him. Etho jumped a second time but failed to get on it.
A zombie attacked him from behind. Claws slashing his arm. Mouth foaming next to his face. This time, Etho had his axe with him and swung it at the creature's head, killing the affected brain. His left arm ached from the fresh cuts. Bleeding into his clothes.
The man stood up and, seeing the approaching horde, jumped once more. His fingers eventually gripped the rusted metal, and he lifted himself up.
He quickly scrambled to the top of the roof and brought the ladder up to him. He knew the zombies couldn't jump that high, but he's not going take the risk it. He sighed once the ladder was up.
Etho saw the horde stare up at him, howling loudly. His arm ached extremely, but the new blast of adrenaline was temporarily relieving the pain.
He looked around, readjusting his backpack. There was a smaller structure on top of this roof.
Etho stepped carefully towards it. It had very few windows, they didn't look too damaged.
He tried opening the door, but it appeared to be closed. He rammed his shoulder on the door, hoping to open it. After several attempts and severe shoulder pain, the door finally opened, revealing the entrance.
It was still raining heavily, and Etho had become soaked to the point that he just simply wanted to get inside, so he proceeded without thinking about what might be waiting for him. Etho could deal with anything but now he just wanted to rest.
The room was... weird? It was also highly wrecked, although not as bad as the other buildings. He was amazed that this room had survived.
There was a massive table at the side with enormous monitors on it. Perhaps it was a tech room? Etho approached them, stroking his hands across the smaller laptops. He missed being an engineering student.
There were plenty of radio communicators on the side. He held one in his palm and looked at it. Maybe Etho could disassemble it and use the parts somewhere?
His fingers touched the buttons of the device and the radio crackled to life. Loud static could be heard and Etho jumped, almost dropping the radio.
He rushed to turn down the volume, pressing every button he could. After finally managing to lower it down, Etho couldn't believe this thing actually worked after several years of not being used.
He was on the fourteenth channel. He had never used a radio communicator before, but he had seen his father use one once. He was aware that there were numerous channels connecting to various persons.
Etho switched the 14th channel to the 16th. Still static. He had no idea what he was expecting; someone talking? Some music playing? Anything? He turned on every single channel, and every single one was static.
However, Channel 27 was not. It was completely silent. There was no static, sound, or anything. Etho thought the radio had finally died, yet the channels still remained on the screen.
"Why you don't have a static sound?" He questioned. Perhaps the radio was actually broken. Nothing from technology actually survived the outbreak.
"S-.. tal- real?"
Etho gripped the radio. He wasn't sure if he was imagining things. The signal was probably not good; it was distorted, but it produced sound.
"H- o", terrible connection.
The man ran outside, unconcerned about the rain. He turned the volume up while standing in the pouring rain.
"H- llo, an-.. ne h-"
Still a terrible connection. Etho didn't want to bother with the device, since it became very important to him. Despite it, he attempted to regulate it in order to hear the spoken words. "C'mon. Come on, please."
"Anyone here? Did someone just talk?!"
"YES! Yes! I- I'm-", Etho screamed. He didn't even realize just how loud he was.
"Hello?"
Right, he had to press a button to talk, didn't he? Void, Etho think. What were you pressing before?... He pressed anything while rambling, "yes, yes, I- I am here, I am talking-"
"You're real?! You're real! No... No way. You're real!"
Etho had to relax his hand to avoid crushing the radio due to his grip on it. He held on to it as if his entire life depended on it.
"I am real," he said, his voice shaking.
"How did you find this radio?! No, that's not important! Where are you?! Are you- you alone?" The voice seemed as panicked as him.
Etho gulped, "I am alone. But I- I am alright. Found several... radios."
"Void, I can't believe it!" He could hear a laugh coming from the radio, "I can't believe I found someone!"
Etho was... shocked? He didn't care that his hair was soaked, or that it was already becoming dark outside. He didn't care. There was someone speaking to him.
"You're real," he said.
"Hell yes I am! Void, uhm- where are you?!"
He needed to think. Etho needed to recall where he was. That he was currently standing in the rain and was in some sort of city. "I'm- I am several days distant from the HermitCity. I'm coming from the- West."
There was no voice coming from the radio anymore, just absolute silence. Etho grasped the radio, desperate to hear the voice again.
"I think I'm in- in the East side. We could- yeah we could meet in the capital! We could- meet."
Meet? With someone? Someone alive.
Etho's mind was racing. He was unable to comprehend what was going on.
"Hello? Don't tell me this stupid thing lost connec-" the voice was loud, the person was panicking.
"Hermitcity it is then," Etho responded.
"Amazing! Void, I can't- I can't believe it!," the person was happy.
Etho simply stood there. Raindrops on his face masked his tears. There was someone talking to him. Someone alive is meeting up with him. He wondered whether he'd finally lost his mind; was Etho hallucinating? No, he couldn't; he could feel his arm aching from the previous slashes.
This was real.
"What's your name?"
"Etho," he said silently. Was his name really Etho? He hadn't said it out loud for so long that it didn't sound right.
"Well Etho, I am Bdubs!" The voice said cheerily.
"Bdubs," Etho tested out.
"Is it raining for you? I can hear it," the voi- Bdubs asked.
Right, he was still outdoors. It rained. "Uh- yeah, I went out to improve the connection," Etho said as he slowly but gradually returned inside. Still holding the radio, not daring to let go even for a little moment, "I am going inside though."
"That's good. It's- it's about to be night, sleep's important," he could hear the smile coming from the man.
Etho stepped in and brushed the rain off his face with the tears that were staining it. He sank down to the floor after closing the door with his back to it. His legs were no longer holding him up.
"Etho you're still here?"
"Yeah.. yeah I am. Just- just in shock," he admitted.
"Oh- that's, understandable. Void, I still can't believe myself you're- you're alive!"
"I'm alive... And you're- you're alive."
"Well you can't kill Bdubs so easily," Etho could hear the man grinning.
He couldn't believe he was... speaking with someone. He was no longer alone.