A Future War ~ Future Au TomTord Eddsworld FanFiction

Chapter Eighteen: Past Mistakes

There are none.

Tord smirks at my obvious nervous tendencies. He makes no effort to hide that he was staring at me. 

"The new outfit seems to fit well. It suits you." He pauses and chuckles to himself. "No pun intended." Was that a compliment? 

"Uh... Thanks." We hit a bump that lifts me off my seat slightly. My digital eyes go wide, and I grip the seat for dear life. I looked up from the death grip I had on the seat that was causing my knuckles to turn pure white to Tord, who was sitting back calmly, seemingly without a care in the world. He even already had a cigar lit and was dramatically blowing smoke forming a small 'o' with his mouth. 

"Heh... a seat belt is the least of your worries right now witness," Tord smiles in between puffs of smoke. I look over to Paul and Pat, trying to avoid being too awkward. The two are whispering and giggling about something like teenage girls. Paul looks back and notices me watching their conversation. He quickly turns to Pat again, who suddenly jerks the wheel from losing attention to the road. 

Being my clumsy self, of course, I fall out of my seat, but with how big the bump was, so did Tord. I land hard on the metal bed of the truck on my back with Tord falling seconds behind me. There is a loud clang as Tords metal arm collides with the metal surface as he prevents himself from fully collapsing on me. Despite his efforts, he still awkwardly hovered over me, his body parallel to mine. His lower half was still pressed against me with his face only inches from mine. If not for the fact he caught himself, he would have been completely on top of me. 

My face heats up, and I turn to look away a little too quickly. The sudden movement causes us to hit foreheads, and Tord sits up with his head in his hands. 

"Ow.." He mumbles, re-positioning himself on his seat. Still feeling uncomfortable from what just happened and knowing I would probably just fall again, I decided to just stay on the floor. That is the second time today he has been all up in my face. I, too, rub at my own sore forehead. It probably hurt more for him, though, because of my visor. 

We continued the rest of the ride in silence, only hearing the rev of the engine and the wind as it rushed past us. It was kind of peaceful. That is, until we heard the gunshots.

They weren't directed at us, and they were quite distant, but they were still there. The closer we got to our destination, the louder and more clear they got. We finally arrived after only a short time of driving, and they finally stopped. The jeeps stopped in a line, parking next to each other behind the wall and a guard tower with a few lone soldiers in it. One by one, the engines died, and silence fell. 

Then my vision went black with a click. 

The first thing I saw when my vision loaded back up was Tord smirking and kneeling over me. 

"Are you ever going to warn me before you do that?!" He only responds with a chuckle as he places the familiar gun in my hands that he had plugged into my visor. It seems like the more I use it, the faster it loads. 

"Time to make our entrance." He stands and walks out of the jeep heading for the guard tower. He didn't say so, but by the "our," I'm assuming I'm supposed to follow. Behind us, the soldiers take a formation they seem all too familiar with, awaiting orders from their leader. We make our way in and up the tower, finally exiting into the top section through a hatch in the ceiling. We haul ourselves onto the platform, and the soldiers pause to salute their leader. A few of them give me odd looks, but no one says anything. 

Looking out beyond the platform, I can see both armies lined up in oddly similar formations on each side of the wall. Another thing I note is the height we are at reminding me of how I felt during the paintball fight in that building. I shiver slightly and attempt to hide my cowardice. I'm about to possibly fight in a war yet I'm more concerned about heights. Obviously, I have great priorities with my worries.