Chapter Text
There was no warning. It just...happened.
He'd been training his stances in his room, building up a light sweat while half-listening to whatever show was on the TV, when the channel switched. He'd stopped and looked at the screen only to see a frantic reporter on it. Confused, he turned the volume up and listened.
"Evacuate immediately! This is no joke! There are zombie-like beings flooding the city! Evacuate and escape now! Godsdamnit- Cut the fucking camera!"
Shit. Well, if it was being broadcasted over the entire city, it probably wasn't a prank. What the hell is he supposed to pack during a fucking zombie apocalypse?
Thinking quickly on his feet, he grabbed a bag and stuffed some clothes in it. Heading to the kitchen, he pulled out some plastic water bottles and food and stuffed that in too. What else should one bring when you're essentially going to be on the run from flesh-eating things? Pepper spray? Actually...
He ran to where his knives were stored and pulled out a few. Quickly wrapping them, he stored those away into his bag as well. It couldn't hurt.
In times like this, he wish he had a gun permit. Unfortunately, that wasn't high on his to-do list at the time, so he never got around to it. He regrets that now. How well would kitchen knives do against zombies? If only he had some sort of baseball bat.
Running outside, he saw hundreds of people running around like headless chickens. He could see multiple people sitting in feral positions and many others screaming about how the world was ending. Where were the police when you need them? Oh wait. They're also screaming their heads off. Honestly, some people just needed to chill. Maybe he's the insane one. After all, he really should be freaking out a lot more. He blames the adrenaline. That sounds about right.
Was there a sports equipment store nearby? He couldn't for the life of him remember.
He looked around, trying his best to avoid being run over by all the screaming and panicking people still trying to flee the city. Zombies can't be that fast, right? The movies and games always depicted them as slow and clumsy. Well, he'll take his chances.
After spending a few more precious minutes looking around, he finally spots a discarded metal bat laying near someone's abandoned apartment. Fuck yeah.
Securing the bat in a tight grip, he finally starts running out of the city, like a sane person would do-
Oh is that an axe? Yep. Definitely an axe. Nice and shiny too. Who would leave an axe lying around? Certainly not him. He runs over and grabs it quickly, debating whether he should take the lucky find or the bat. While he was mentally arguing with himself, a random person runs past him looking at him like he was crazy. And really, he probably did. Holding both a bat and an axe in his hands while looking as though he couldn't be bothered at all even though there was an apocalypse occurring at that very moment.
But when had he ever cared about what people thought?
Now apparently. The person had ran back and grabbed his arm, causing him to stumble a bit before he regained his balance.
"Are you fucking crazy, mate? You realize there's actual zombies in the city trying to kill us, right?!"
Now that he got the chance to look at his pseudo 'rescuer', he could see that they had a seemingly unassuming appearance at first glance. Blonde hair and blue eyes with a slight stubble growing, as though he'd forgotten to shave for the past week or so. When he looked closer though, he could see the way the man's eyes seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly light. Thinking it was still the adrenaline, he shook off the thoughts and kept running in the direction everyone else was going.
It finally set in that the person had asked him a question. Whether it was rhetorical or not, he wasn't sure.
"Well, I would consider myself a relatively mentally stable person. It'd also be kinda hard not to notice all the people running away. I mean, I know I can be a bit intimidating, but this is crazy."
His attempt at a joke seemed to fail miserably since the man still looked at him like he was crazy, which wasn't too far off. Although he did crack a small smile after a second.
"I'm Phil. Phil Watson, though people call me Philza too. Why were you standing still staring at a bat and an axe for so long?"
Had it really been that long? He hadn't wanted to bring both since he felt it would slow him down more, but it seemed to all be for nothing seeing as he ended up with both anyway. Now that he though about it...
"Eh, couldn't decide which one to take. Actually, here. Take this. At least then you won't be left defenseless. Oh, and I'm Technoblade, but you can just call me Techno. The full thing 's too long..." He shoved the metal bat in the stranger's hands without stopping his fast pace. He might've indulged in his more violent wishes, but whatever. It was a fucking axe! That's not something he could just give away!
The man scrunched his nose up at the strange name but said nothing, not that Techno could see him.
They ran in a comfortable silence, silence that friends would share. It wasn't awkward or anything which was strange for Techno since usually, new people make him feel uncomfortable. Maybe this person was just different.
"So, do you know what the zombies look like?" The man seemed to be trying to strike up some conversation. He must've found the silence stifling.
"Nope," Techno said popping the p. "Didn't really get the chance to, too busy packing and stuff."
He received another incredulous look. What did he do?
"Mate, you realize this is a zombie apocalypse? Why the fuck were you trying to pack? What if they'd gotten you?"
He snorted. "Nah, those things are probably slow, and even if they weren't, I could totally outpace them."
And he could. Techno liked to be in peak physical fitness which was why he would train his body daily. He had more endurance, strength and speed than the average person he knew. Speaking of which, the man, Phil, seemed to be tiring. It made sense. They'd been running fairly quickly for quite a bit now. The metal bat probably didn't help either. Thankfully, Techno only felt mildly winded, though he could imagine what the other man was feeling.
"You got any family?" Ouch. Had to be that question. Techno really didn't want to reflect on his past memories while he was running for his life. So he settled with a short answer, and an answering question.
"Nah, what about you?"
The man's expression saddened a little and Techno almost regretted asking, yet the man seemed like he wanted to answer.
"I don't really have any family. I had a wife, but she died to sickness. We never had any kids, though she would go on and on about how she wanted a large family."
Techno felt pangs of sympathy run through him, though he didn't let it show. Couldn't have a stranger thinking he was soft, after all.
"That sucks." He probably shouldn't have been that blunt.
Phil seemed okay though since he let out a light laugh. It was still tinged with a bit of sadness, but Techno ignored that.
They'd caught up to the rest of the people at this point. The only problem now was there were too many people trying to get out, and not enough space for them to go. People were trying to cram their way through and Techno spotted a few climbing over each other.
Desperate times called for desperate measures so he grabbed Phil's hand, making sure his grip was tight but not painful, and shoved his way through the crowd. Phil yelped a little but continued following.
It took a while, but they finally managed to push their way towards the front of the crowd. Looking back, Phil looked both amused and exasperated. Understandable really. He was basically just roughly handled by a stranger and forced to go through hundreds of people fleeing for their lives. Probably wasn't very comfortable.
There were only a few others in front of them which they easily passed. Phil might've not been as fit as he was, but he was better than the other people.
It was then that they heard the first screams of pain. It didn't sound like if someone fell and scraped their knees. It was pure agonizing screams of raw pain and terror. The zombies must've caught up. Thankfully, the screams sounded distant meaning the zombies were a lot further back, but that still didn't make the sounds any more pleasant to hear.
More screams could be heard. Did the zombies infect people like in the movies? Or did they just kill and move on? Techno wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.
Glancing over at Phil nervously, he could see the other man beginning to look sick. And he knew why. The sudden stench was overwhelming. It flooded his senses and washed out everything else. It was rotten and unlike anything he'd ever smelled before. It was the smell of rotting corpses. He gagged and put his sleeve over his nose. The fabric did nothing to block the odor and only made it harder to breathe. Phil didn't seem to be doing any better, visibly fighting back the urge to vomit.
Other people beat him to it though if the chunky fluids on the side of the road meant anything. Lovely.
The situation finally sunk into Techno's panic filled mind. He started to breathe heavily, feeling his senses beginning to sharpen almost painfully. If he could watch himself, he'd see his eyes dilating and his breaths becoming even more labored despite standing stagnant. His thoughts weren't keeping up, it was getting harder to breathe.
Just when his vision began blurring more around the edges, he distantly heard a voice asking for permission to touch him. A slight jerk of his head was his response, before a hand clamped down on his shoulder, grounding him.
It was Phil. Even though he'd only known him for about 15 minutes, he already felt calmer with him than he ever had with anyone else. Sharing near death experiences just did that he guessed.
Phil looked at him concerned. "You alright? Need a minute?"
And oh gods because thoughts only flooded him once more. They didn't have time. There was no minute to be had. They needed to run, now. Before they were either killed, devoured or infected like the others who'd already fallen before them.
His breath seized up again. The hand applied more pressure and he could feel the deep, even breaths Phil was doing, trying to get him to match it.
"It's alright mate. I'll be with you 'til the end of the line, promise."
Techno gave a light pain-filled smile in response.