Imagines [Book Three]

Love&Monsters [Joel X Reader] pt. 1

Imagine that the boy you've been talking to for years over a radio sacrifices everything to meet you for the first time ever.

. .

. .

"This is 7045. Come in, 2237."

The staticky voice warbles over the speakers and you rush towards the comms room.

"I repeat, come in, 2237. Over."

"Joel? That you?" You ask, grinning. It's been a few days since you last heard him.

"It's me, YN. How are you holding up?"

"I'm, uh, I'm okay." You say, grin slowly falling. "Sucks being the only survivor in my colony, but hearing your voice always brightens my day." His laughter comes over the radio and it warms your heart greatly.

When Agatha-616 was headed straight for Earth and everyone decided to nuke the asteroid, your father called and told you to get to New York asap. You tried, but you couldn't make it and you ended up finding a colony willing to take you in when the humans were suddenly being hunted by enormous ants, cockroaches, lizards and basically every small creature you could think of.

The colony was outfitted for long-term survival, but your numbers quickly dwindled after the first year of living underground. Your colony lost more survivors on hunting trips and even more survivors when they attempted to start their very own garden outside (something about plowing the Earth attracted some gnarly creepy crawlies and you were forced back to living off MREs). Everything was going okay for a while, but the people you were living with just couldn't handle it. So they left and you stayed behind, fiddling with the radios and doing your best to get a stronger signal in hopes of finding your father somewhere out there.

Then when your thoughts turned dark and gloomy, Joel's voice over the radio was your saving grace. And he's been your saving grace for the past three years.

"..and then we had this breach down in the bunker, but the guys got it all patched up. Hopefully it was just a rare occurrence."

"God Joel, that's so scary."

"Yeah. Yeah it was."

A moment of silence hangs between you and then you can't help the following words that tumble from your lips. "God I wish we could have met before all this shit went down."

Another moment passes, then, "Yeah. Me too."

Before you can say anything, your wristwatch starts to beep. You sigh. "Sorry, Joel, but it's time for me to go. Gotta catch some Z's if I want to wake up early and fiddle with my radio tower again."

"Okay. Be careful. I'll talk to you soon."

"Talk to you soon, Joel. 2237, over and out."

◈◈◈◈◈◈

The next day you become so immersed in your work that you nearly forget to eat lunch and then forget all about your daily check-in with Joel. The only reason you remember is because your bedtime alarm beeps and your stomach rumbles to let you know you skipped a meal. You feel terrible and want to reach out to him, but you know Joel's colony only has a signal during certain hours of the day.

So praying that Joel isn't too upset about your absence, you eat a quick dinner, bathe, and then climb into bed.

When you wake up the following morning, it's raining out so there's no use in trying to fiddle with the radio tower. You eat and then grab a book to pass some time, and when the rain stops later that evening you go over to the look-out dome to watch the Sky Jellies (iridescent jellyfish-like creatures) that take flight after a good downpour because they thrive in the moisture in the air.