no way out {eddsworld survival au}

seven

—matt's pov—

matt walked through the forest miserably, tears poking the corner of his eyes. i'm not worthless! i can do things just as well as edd and tom can! he sniffled and glanced around, trying to get an idea of what to bring back. his smile returned as he got an idea, mindlessly crossing the creek. i know! i'll make a spear and hunt something. something better than tom's ever caught before.

matt praised himself for getting the idea, soon stopping as he heard a squelch and felt a strange feeling underneath his foot. he looked down and let out a short scream, staggering back and falling on his ass. he'd stepped into a strange, lumpy pile of blood with fur scraps, the dark red liquid staining the bottom of his shoe. matt's eyes widened in fear. what even is that!?

it took a couple minutes to regain himself, but matt got the courage to stand up and walk away from the pile. what caused that? he wondered while he continued on. a shiver ran down his spine. whatever. for now, i have to find the perfect stick. matt glanced around the ground and found a pile of long sticks at the base of a tree, kneeling there and sorting through them. soon enough he reached the bottom disappointedly, rolling his eyes. when he moved to stand up, his hand brushed against something that felt like coarse fur. matt furrowed his eyebrows, blue gaze lowering.

his breath caught in his throat as he realized it was a dead squirrel cut open on its belly, blood drying around the wound.

"i keep finding dead things today!" matt exclaimed, jumping to his feet in disgust and wiping his hand off on his jeans. "gross!" he gave the squirrel a quick kick and it rolled off underneath a bush.

matt grimaced before he looked up and noticed the trees starting to thin out and lead onto the beach. he tilted his head and squinted, seeing something in the distance. it was a red clad figure hunched over and making a... spear? wait, red.. huh... why's that so familiar? wait a sec, is that tord? matt scrambled over to the edge of the forest and crouched behind a tree, watching the other male. he noticed how many spears were lined up and leaning against the base of the large overhanging rock. geez, that's so many!

then an idea hit him.

what if i steal one? matt dug his teeth into his lip nervously. would he notice? he's gotta have at least six over there... a small smile reached his face. it wouldn't be too hard! i'd just have to wait for him to leave. as if on cue, tord stood up and leaned the spear he was working on next to the others. he looked around, cracked his knuckles, and disappeared into the forest.

matt counted to 30 before sprinting all the way over to tord's camp, trying to hold in laughter despite his nervousness. i can't wait to see the look on tom's face!

—tord's pov—

tord didn't know whether to laugh or roll his eyes at matt's stupidity. did that pathetic ginger really think he would go unnoticed? what an idiot. he thought while leaning on a tree (in plain sight), watching as matt tried to choose a spear indecisively.

this is sad to watch. tord scoffed under his breath. he began to walk over to matt, amazed how the other male hadn't noticed him yet.

"matthew."

matt yelped and jumped in shock, dropping the spear he was holding. he looked at tord with wide eyes as his cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment. "o- oh- hey, todd- i mean, t- tord!" he stammered frantically.

tord raised an eyebrow. "were you trying to steal my shit, matt?" he asked, taking a step forward.

"n- no! i was just looking, of course! i haven't seen you in a while, y'know, so i was just- haha! yeah!" matt visibly grew nervous as he backed away.

"oh, really?"

"yep!"

tord held matt's fearful gaze as he continued to take steps forward, eventually causing the latter to be cornered by the ocean.

"did tom or edd send you here to steal my stuff?" tord asked and furrowed his eyebrows.

"no, i- i just wanted to prove to tom that i'm not worthless," matt insisted. "i didn't mean any harm."

amusement flickered in tord's eyes. "why don't you show them how well you swim?"

at first matt looked hopeful, but then confused. "wait, what?" he tilted his head.

tord grinned as if he found the situation funny. he suddenly grabbed matt by the arm, twisted it around his back, and pinned the ginger male face-down into the water.

—matt's pov—

matt's yelp was cut off as saltwater stung his eyes and filled his nose and mouth. he struggled in tord's iron grip, the norwegian simply pushing him down harder and nearly breaking his arm.

help! HELP! matt tried to yell, but it only came out as shrieks in his head. his lungs screamed for air as he felt tord shove him down further to the point where his face was buried in the sand. he shut his eyes as they began to sting even more, feeling his strength being sapped away with each wave he felt crash over his head. the pain in his chest grew until it was unbearable and he eventually stopped his attempts at saving himself. red and black spots danced behind his eyelids. matt heard muffled laughter; it was most likely tord's, but it sounded a thousand miles away. all his senses numbed and a small smile came onto his pale face. it's over.

—tord's pov—

when tord felt matt's body weaken and fall limp, he couldn't help but smirk. "i always sort of hated you." he murmured, a growl in his tone.

tord lifted matt's dead body over his shoulder and carried him to shore with some difficulty. he dropped him on the sand before trying to catch his breath. tord took off the soaking purple hoodie that clung to matt and left it on the side. a reward for my kill. he thought while starting to drag the body back towards the ocean.

tord watched as matt's body started to float away, carried weightlessly by the ocean. the crazy look in his deep green eyes was now permanent.

—timeskip/edd's pov—

edd sat atop the large rock and gazed at the night sky speckled with bright stars. matt still hadn't returned. it felt like forever since he'd last seen the ginger's bright smile. what happened?

he turned around after hearing the crunch of sand, realizing it was tom walking towards him.

"you okay?" he asked gently.

"not really," edd sighed. "i'm not resting until he comes back." if he comes back, a small voice in his head told him. tears formed in his eyes but he blinked them away.

tom leaned on the rock, watching the ocean. "i'm gonna be honest, edd..." he spoke quietly.

"huh?" edd looked at his friend.

"i... i kind of told him he was no help," he sighed stressfully. "then, he ran off. i- i'm sure he's fine, though."

"what!?" edd's eyes widened. he turned to look at tom. the surprise in his brown eyes turned to anger. "what the hell's wrong with you!? why would you tell that to him!? matt can be sensitive at times, tom!!"

tom took a step back. "edd, i'm sorry! i was just really pissed at him for not helping you out with something!"

edd gritted his teeth. he buried his face in his hands as he felt the tears return. this time, they rolled down his face. possibilities raced through his mind, each one striking more fear into his heart.

"listen, edd, if matt got lost, tord would've found him. the island isn't that huge! i'm sure tord's keeping him safe." tom insisted even if he didn't believe the lie himself. "we can form a plan tomorrow to find him. you need to sleep."

edd sniffled and hopped off the rock, pulling tom into a tight hug. "o- okay." he nodded.

"good." tom smiled softly and hugged him back. "matt is perfectly fine, okay?"

sorry if that drowning description was shit
i've never actually drOWNED BEFORE-