Cosmic Castaway
627 words [SOLO1]
Word to mouth was what it was, with how much of a close community they were, the space-sprung civilians. Word had travelled quick, words of warning to them all.
The chaos monsters were still coming. They would most likely continue to come. Four of their own had been attacked. And two of them were in a coma, much like how one of the zodiacs were. Would they wake up ? No one knew, not even the zodiac themselves, it seemed.
He hadn't dared go too far from an outpost without an escort, and now time had proven him right in his fear – there still were... things, lingering. Things out to get them. But he would be safe, in the outpost... Right ?
There
had to be some place here where they could still be safe... right ? Probably not, but he had to hope. Joshua rarely did panic, but he could feel it coming on, now, and he had to bottle it, lock it away as much as he could.
He'd finally given up on his clothes, only keeping the ripped up tool belt vest, and instead settled for a dollar store t-shirt someone had brought up, as well as black jeans. Slightly more adequate to work in that his now ripped out black pants. He was thankful that someone had thought of it, since apparently Leo's people hadn't been broad-shouldered for the most part. Everything he'd found that had been in decent condition had been too tight at the shoulders.
Joshua was holed up on the second story of Leo's outpost, sitting in a newly repaired chair. He'd been sleeping here more often than not rather than in the sleeping bags. Sometimes others joined him, sometime they didn't, but now he was alone, and at the moment it suited him just fine. He needed to regather his composure, rebuild the walls that kept him calm and ready, then he could deal with the others again.
He was looking out the window, into the sea of black and stars that was the universe. The news had hit him harder than he'd allowed it to show, and it only made him want to go home even more badly.
But he couldn't even see Earth from here. Where was it ? It couldn't be one of those small glowing dots... Could it ? To be so far away from home, so impossibly far away, in a way he had never dared think existed....
He knew what it was like to be away from home. He'd grown up in Vancouver, a large Canadian city. From his youngest days, he'd always been good with his hands. His parents then sought out the best technology school they could find for him, the best their money could get for their child, which turned out to be Azure Valley in a town called Destiny City. This was the first time Joshua experienced being away from home, when he was sent there for his freshmen year.
But it hadn't felt like this. Never like this. Did his parents knew ? He could imagine his father, with his heavy and deep voice, demanding to know where the hell was his son and why they hadn't found him yet. He could see his mother and his paternal aunt worrying, silently holding and hugging each other. He could almost hear his brat of a cousin cry, wondering why her Joshie wasn't replying to her emails.
He hated being called Joshie, but he would certainly take it now. One hand went up, fingers resting on top of the glass.
He'd put up with anything if it meant he was back on earth, and not pondering if there was a monster in every corner, ready to jump at him.
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