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Everything seems like a blur of events nowadays. One day, Percy could be sitting in the survivor base with the other survivors, calm. But then the next day, everything is complete chaos.
Blood splattered on the floor, weapons swinging left and right, bullets flying and some even almost hitting Percy. It was either raiders invading or zombies attacking. Despite all of that, Percy still lived.
Percy doesn’t express hurt anymore, all he could do was just think “At least I'm still alive.”. The possibility of Percy showing any signs of emotion was rare nowadays, it’s not because he stopped, it’s because he’s numb to everything, numb to the pain.
That’s what also made him an unofficial therapist to most of the survivors, Percy wasn’t the best at comforting with words but honestly, nobody wanted words, they just want to feel support, they want to feel something human.
Percy would always let them cry on his shoulder, not a single tear falling from his eyes, not a single sound or word coming out of his mouth, just pure silence. The only sounds that would be heard was Percy’s breathing and the sounds of survivors crying, occasionally mumbling about how they want this apocalypse to end.
The truth is.. Percy wanted this to be over too but all he could do was just live as long as he could.
Percy watched survivors come and go, some of them dying in front of him, but he didn’t flinch. He didn’t react. There was no point in getting attached to anyone here, they’ll all leave him anyway. Some survivors wonder why Percy stays distant but they don’t do anything about it. Percy doesn’t want to get attached and then have his heart ripped out when he sees their corpse the next day so instead, he stays by himself.
Alone.
..At least he does have someone that wants to be around him, Bandy. Despite how they’re on the opposite teams, Bandy is the only raider that was passive towards him. Bandy seemed to genuinely want to be with Percy due to how many times he would visit the survivor base just to see Percy, Percy allowed him to do it, although he didn’t understand why he was more special than the other survivors.
They all had unique personalities, Percy was like a cold shell that didn’t do much except exist. Percy wanted to know what Bandy saw in him but he would never ask him, that doesn’t matter to him right now.
All that matters to him is survival.
Now, Percy was out of y’allmart for once, in the house depot with the others. Everyone’s conversations were unintelligible but he didn’t care. Percy was searching for any medkits due to a survivor needing one, however a loud bang immediately made everything go silent, everyone froze like time stopped, including Percy.
Percy knew exactly what this meant, the raiders were coming. The raiders were relentless with their destruction, the barriers being broken down, survivors screaming, and everything was chaos.
Some raiders and survivors even began to fight, other survivors would flee. Percy attempted to flee however he got caught in the crossfire between a raider and a survivor fighting, he got punched really badly by the raider, unintentionally saving the survivor from the hit.
Percy fell onto the floor, nose already bleeding. The survivor was stunned while the raider turned towards Percy, being interested in his new target. Percy tried to sit up but was immediately met with another punch to the face and a kick to the stomach that made him stay down.
Percy looked up at the raider that was now after him, unsure on what to do, but he noticed something.. Or someone watching everything go down. Percy’s eyes looked at that person watching both of them, quickly realizing that it was Bandy. Bandy looked petrified, he clearly wanted to do something, but he didn’t know what to do.
Percy knew he was completely defenseless, he foolishly didn’t bring a weapon with him, but he accepted his fate. At least dying to a raider is better than dying to a zombie, he braced for impact in case the raider was going to kill him.
Instead, he was met with a sound of an empty bottle smashing against someone’s head. When he opened his eyes, the raider was knocked out. That same survivor that he saved.. They saved him.
But they didn’t say a word to him or help him, they just took off running. Percy was still on the ground, injured.
As the raiders began to run out of the now-destroyed home depot, one stayed.
Bandy stayed. Bandy ran towards Percy when the survivors weren’t looking. “PERCY!!! I’M COMING!!” He shouted as he suddenly lifted Percy off the ground, evacuating the home depot in a different way so the raiders didn’t notice him carrying a survivor.
Percy was shocked, he didn’t expect Bandy to run towards him like that, especially since he knew that Bandy wouldn’t like to be seen caring about a survivor. Bandy was now behind the house depot and placed Percy down, checking to see how severe his injuries were.
Percy had a black eye and a really bloody nose from the two punches, Bandy suspected that his stomach was fine but would eventually form a bruise.
For once, Percy actually asked for something.. Or tried to. “M- Medkit..” Percy’s voice trembled, unable to keep his voice steady due to the amount of pain he was in, Bandy quickly turned his attention to Percy.
“Oh! Uh.. I don’t have a medkit but I think I have some napkins and bandages!” Bandy dug through his pockets, pulling out napkins and bandages. “I’m not the best at helping others like this but I can’t let you stay injured like that!” Bandy began to wipe blood off of Percy’s face, sometimes mumbling to himself.
Percy caught onto what he was mumbling about, he could hear Bandy repeating the words “I’m sorry” and “I should’ve done something sooner” but he didn’t mention it, he didn’t blame Bandy for what he did.
They were on opposite teams anyway. Bandy wrapped bandages on Percy’s black eye and stomach, Percy raised an eyebrow.
“I don't think that’s the right way to treat..” Percy tries to say something but gets interrupted by Bandy.
“Man, cut me some slack! I did say that I didn’t have a medkit with me! I’m doing my best here!” Bandy responded. Percy rolled his eyes. “Alright then.”
Bandy put the remaining unused bandages back into his pocket, pulling Percy into his lap. Percy didn’t move away, he stayed still, unsure on how to respond.
“..God, I hope the other raiders don’t question my disappearance.” Bandy muttered but he felt his worries slip away when he looked at Percy, who was staring at him.
They both remained silent for a bit until Percy spoke up. “Thank you.” Percy’s voice didn’t sound monotone this time, it actually had some emotion behind it. Bandy’s eyes lit up but he tried to keep it together. “Of course dude!!”
The two sat there together for some time, with Bandy occasionally ruffling Percy’s hair. Percy still remained stoic but secretly, he felt noticed for once. Maybe having someone around wasn’t so bad after all.
Percy’s stoic facial expression eventually gets replaced with a soft smile, he had a new motivation now.
He was living not just because he had to, but also because he was doing it for Bandy.
Bandy was willing to give him the care he needed this whole time, so Percy was willing to continue surviving for him.