The Apocalypse [Dreamnotfound AU]

Are We The Bad Guys?

"We saw them," Bad cuts in and Dream's gaze snaps to him. "Techno, when you sent us to find Dream and George we found two people fighting a group of zombies. It looked like they needed help, so we stepped in, and - "

"And they dipped!" Skeppy exclaims. "They fucking dipped and left us there with the zombies."

Bad doesn't even bother languaging him. Not when he looks equally annoyed. "We had to fight our way out, so we couldn't stop those bubbleheads."

To his credit, Dream has never heard Bad sound so upset about anything.

"So what did they look like?" Sapnap presses, leaning forward a little.

"Well, they were both tall, and one of them looked really young. Like, a teenager," Bad says. "He had blond hair, and the other guy was brunette."

Techno chokes on nothing and all of them turn to him. "A blond teenager?" he asks and, when Bad nods, he looks shocked. Or as shocked as Dream has ever seen him.

"What is it?" Dream demands, stepping forward, his fists closing on instinct.

Techno meets his gaze, and there's such a mix of emotions there that Dream doesn't know what to make of it. "As I was telling Sapnap, before I met Montero and Quackity, I was with another group. We were at a community center not far from here - the one that might still have Sapnap's cure. And if you're talking about who I think you're talking about..." Techno looks around at all of them. Dream's heart is in his throat, waiting for him to continue. "The teenager - that's Tommy. He's part of the reason I left. And the brunette is Wilbur, the guy who designed the cure."

For a solid minute, everyone is frozen and silent, staring at him. Then, they a burst into speech at once.

"What's he doing kidnapping people then?" Skeppy demands.

"You know them?" Quackity asks, accusingly.

"What if they're still at the community center?" Bad wonders aloud, and his words shut everyone else up.

"Oh my God," Karl breaths. "If they're still there, then we can save George and get the cure at the same time!"

Even Quackity looks happier at the idea. Dream's blood thrums in his veins, and he feels like if he speaks, he might choke on his words. But hope blooms in his chest as he locks eyes with Sapnap, who grins back at him.

Techno looks a little uncertain, and Dream suddenly remembers that he left that other group for a reason. But he seems to shake himself out of it as he smirks at Dream.

"Let's do it," Techno says.

George's POV

"We're here," Wilbur sings, about fifteen minutes later.

George glares at him in the reflection of the rearview mirror and deadpans, "You're saying that like it's a good thing."

"Of course it's a good thing!" Tommy says, clapping George on the shoulder. "You get to meet the rest of the gang!"

George wonders, honestly, how these nimrods managed to kidnap him. "I don't want to meet the gang."

Tommy's face falls a little, but he shakes his head. "Wilbur!" he calls. "He's being mean to me!"

George groans and buries his head in his hands, wishing for Dream, for anyone to save him from this fever dream.

Wilbur opens back of the van and George squints against the light. When his eyes stop watering, he realizes they've stopped at a building. It looks like some kind of a community center. And, George realizes, it's not far from the school. Maybe Dream and the others will come and save him.

"We're back!" Wilbur calls, and George almost snaps at him to be quiet. Until he notices that there aren't any zombies around. Actually, it's suspiciously empty, like they've cleared the whole place.

"And we're busy!" a faint voice yells back from inside. "Are we just gonna narrate what we do from now on?"

"Let's go inside," Tommy says, voice jolly as he grabs George by the arm and practically drags him through the doors.

Tommy leads him into a big, open room that's probably the lobby of the community center. Crouched in the center of the room over a pile of weapons, are two other teenagers. One of them is shorter than George and looks up when they enter. The other one is wearing a weird mask and glasses and is busy adding more weapons to the pile.

"You brought a guest!" the shorter one exclaims, jumping up to run to them.

The guy wearing the mask finally looks up. Even though his face is covered, George gets the weird sense that he's disappointed as he looks between Tommy and Wilbur. "Did you guys kidnap someone?" he asks, and George wonders if it's somehow obvious.

Tommy kicks at the ground, mumbling something, and looking suddenly embarrassed.

"Actually?" the guy wearing the mask asks, sounding in disbelief. "You kidnapped another human being and you thought this was a good idea?"

"No one asked for your opinion, Ranboo," Wilbur says. "But, if you need to know, yes."

Ranboo throws his arms up in the air. "Why?"

"Because he's the enemy," Tommy states, and Ranboo looks like he wants to strangle him.

At least someone understands, George thinks.

"Hello," the other teenager says, stepping up to George and sticking out his hand to shake. "My name's Tubbo. Sorry about them," he adds, gesturing vaguely to the rest of the group. "Are you okay?"

"If you count being kidnapped as okay," George mutters, but he shakes Tubbo's hand. "I'm George."

Tubbo smiles. "Don't worry, we'll get you back. Ranboo gets super pissed off whenever they do something stupid. He'll convince them to unkidnap you."

George snorts and glances toward the others. Ranboo is still lecturing them, gesturing wildly. Tommy's cheeks are red, and even Wilbur looks like he's regretting what he did.

"Tommy," Wilbur whispers, turning to him. "Are we the bad guys?"

"So, where have you been staying?" Tubbo asks, conversationally. "Do you have a group?"

George's attention snaps back to him and, suddenly, it hurts to speak with the lump in his throat. His eyes sting as he thinks of Dream and Sapnap and Techno... even Quackity. But he blinks back the tears.

They'll come for him, he thinks. Or he'll escape. Or maybe Ranboo will actually convince them to let him leave.

He realizes Tubbo's still staring at him expectantly, and clears his throat before opening his mouth.

And, despite his worries, despite the fact that Tubbo is a literal stranger, he tells him about his best friends and his boyfriend and the school they've been staying at.

(1770 words)