raspberries and dirt

5. stories of l'manberg

Wilbur was exhausted.

As he walked the long stretch of asphalt, carrying only what he could afford to, he questioned all of the decisions that had lead him here.

He would never abandon Tommy and Tubbo, of course. He wasn't an asshole. But being a fourteen-year-old trying to take care of two immature children was hard, especially with no responsible adults, a good source of food, or a home.

He wondered, sometimes. What it would be like if the floods never happened. If his entire family didn't drown. If he was a normal teenage boy who could spend his summer afternoons with his friends, messing around like teenagers do. But he couldn't. That had all changed. Now, at fourteen, Wilbur was an adult. He was forced to grow up faster than anyone should. And he would spend his time making sure that Tommy and Tubbo had at least a semi-normal (and if not normal, at least happy) childhood.

Wilbur had tried settling down. It never worked. Anytime he found a relatively safe spot, soon enough, someone would come along and force the group to move.

Not only was he exhausted, but he was also freezing. The warm spring weather had quickly turned to a mind-numbing cold. Wilbur had given his coat to Tommy, and Tubbo had the only good blanket wrapped around him. He didn't know where they were going, just that they had to get somewhere before they all froze to death.

Tommy and Tubbo were playing I Spy, which was quite a dull game when the only things around you were cornfields and a long stretch of road that seemed to lead nowhere.

"I spy, with my little eye, something that is grey," Tubbo told Tommy.

"The sky?" Tommy guessed.

The sky should be the bright blue of springtime, but Tommy was right. The sky was overcast. Wilbur heard a rumble of thunder in the distance.

Of fucking course. It had to rain. Wilbur shouted at the boys to hurry up, and they went down the long road to nowhere.
____

The road went somewhere, of course. It's not like it stretched on infinitely. But the road was long, and when Tommy, Tubbo, and Wilbur finally reached a small ghost town, crumbling apart around them.

They searched the town, looking for a building with at least a bit of roof that could shelter them when the rain came. Tubbo found something better, though.

"Food!" he shouted at them from across the road. Wilbur looked over at Tubbo.

"Is it expired?" Wilbur yelled back.

Tubbo inspected the label. "Doesn't look like it. I don't think this stuff can expire."

"That's slightly concerning," Tommy butted in. "What is it?"

Tubbo pulled open the lid of the container. Inside was a pinkish substance that did not look entirely edible.

"I could go for some McDonald's right now," Tommy told Wilbur.

"I'd like fast food, too, Tommy," Wilbur replied. "But I don't think I've seen a functioning McDonald's since before the floods."

Tommy looked at him in surprise. "You haven't seen an open McDonald's in two years? That's a long time without a good meal."

"You know there are other edible foods other than McDonald's, right Tommy?" Tommy was always a picky eater, which wasn't good for a post-apocalyptic world where there were no fast-food restaurants.

Tommy pointed to the lump of meat in the container. "That doesn't look edible."

And Tommy was right. The SPAM meat looked downright nasty. But Wilbur hadn't eaten in three days, and even this was better than nothing.

Wilbur looked at Tubbo and Tommy.

"Who wants the first bite?"
____

Wilbur was wrong.

Nothing was better than whatever the hell was in that container.

The meat was both raw and overcooked, and Tommy almost had a fit trying to eat it. Tubbo took one look at the beef and puked on the floor. But they had food in their stomachs, no matter how disgusting, and the rain had moved past them. It was time to continue their journey.

After walking for another two hours, the group reached the outskirts of a crumbling city. Strolling through the ruins, they stumbled across the entrance to the metro.

The subway station was filthy, and the concrete floors had massive cracks all along with them. Wilbur jumped over the ticket collecter and went downwards toward the subway platform, beckoning Tommy and Tubbo to follow him. He lowered himself onto the tracks and helped the boys down. Wilbur didn't know where he was going, exactly, but he had a vague knowledge of the subway layout from the large maps plastered on the walls. He went down the train tracks with his companions, and they continued on.
____

Tommy and Tubbo dragged their feet.

"Wil, I'm exhausted," Tommy complained.

"Just a little farther," Wilbur replied.

It was a lie. Wilbur hadn't the vaguest clue where they were going, or how long it would be until they got there. He eventually spotted an alcove in the train station, covered in ivy and surrounded by tall plants. They would be safe there, at least temporarily.

Tubbo started snoring the second he stopped moving, but Tommy needed a little more convincing to get to sleep. He kept asking Wilbur for a story, and so Wilbur told him one.

"So there were these two kids, right?" he started.

Tommy interrupted almost immediately. "You can't start a story like that, Wilby," Tommy chided. "You have to start it like: 'Once upon a time'."

So Wilbur started again. "Once upon a time, there were these two kids. And they ran away and made a little home for themselves in the middle of the woods. They invited their friend to join, too. And all was well."

Tommy groaned. "There was to be some action, Wil. You can't just have a happy story all the way through."

Wilbur added onto the story. "And then, an annoying child by the name of Tommy decided to join them. And he invited his friends Wilbur and Tubbo. So the annoying child decided to start a nation with his friends. And, just for the hell of it, he started a war for fun."

Tommy interrupted once more. "You can't have a nation without a name, Wilby. Give it a name."

Wilbur sighed. "The nation is called.... L'Manburg. Will you let me continue?"

Tommy nodded.

"As the annoying child fought with the ruler of the little community, he found these discs. The discs became very important to Tommy, and he fought with his friends for the independence of his country and for his discs..."

Tommy began to drift off to sleep. "Don't stop, Wil. I like your stories."

And so Wilbur continued his story until Tommy was off to sleep. Before Wilbur himself could fall asleep, he heard a group of people running past him, shouting. And as he sat up, making sure it wasn't anyone dangerous, he saw two people chasing a man in a bright blue sweater.