Lone Stowaway

16

ughhhh writing blockkk

recently got sick but i'm back

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Notes:

requests are (kind of) open! ask in the comments about anything before the current chapter :)

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- 349 days later -

Dawn broke across the sky, and Shadow breathed in the cool morning air. It'd been almost a year now. 

Birds warbled away in the distance, and the camp was starting to stir. Scarecrow plodded over to her, his back spines shifting a little.

Shadow sighed. "Well," she said softly, "Might as well make the log," she said, starting to record on her mobile device.

"Traveller's log, day 349," she began.

"Well, we're still here. Wherever here is. The rest of the planet died a long time ago. How or from what, we kind of do but still don't know, but the Jupiter's computer found a spot deep in the valley where life was able to survive, and so far, so have we. The corn yield is up 3% from last week. The solar arrays have been optimized. Batteries are back to full charge. Scarecrow's doing fine-"

"Hello," he whirred,

"-We even have a school now. Doctor, or should I say, Madame Smith... seems to have found her true calling. The threat from falling meteors is ongoing, so we're still monitoring the skies day and night."

"So far, none have reached us down here in the valley. For us, that counts as good luck, but none of it stops anyone from missing their parents or wondering if we're even gonna make it to Alpha Centauri."

"Turns out recasting a damaged engine out of raw titanium ore doesn't go very fast... we've switched to three-hour shifts, but to date, we've only managed to refine 72.312% of the material Will says we need to make the Jupiter flight-worthy. I'm sure he's working as fast as he can."

"It's just going a lot slower than anyone wants. It was supposed to only take a few weeks, and it's turned into a year. Will seems to be taking it personally; He doesn't look like he's had a good night's sleep in months. He doesn't talk to us about it. We don't really talk much about anything lately... It seems like none of us do."

Shadow sighed.

"Penny seems distant, distracted. I'd say it's just the the stuff going on, but I think there's a bit more to it than meets the eye. Even General, he genuinely wants to be helpful, but he seems to be searching for what his purpose is here. I guess, in a way, I am too. Shadow out," she reported, pressing the end recording button on the screen.

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An alarm suddenly buzzed through Shadow's radio. "Oh," she said shortly, making her way towards the bunker.

"Incoming meteor! Everyone head to the bunker!" yelled Judy. Shadow sped up, feeling the alien energy rushing through her limbs. She ducked under the rocks and rushed underground, a pang of fear left from nearly getting crushed.

A moment later, the alarm stopped.

"Okay, we're all clear," reported Judy.

"Good job. We just need to be a little bit quicker next time, okay?"

Shadow gave her a little nod and headed off to the streams, now the new source of titanium with no threat of landslides.

Shadow plodded alongside Scarecrow, warily glancing at Robot, who was carrying two baskets of titanium to the refining facility on the shattered planet. She gave him a little wave and he whirred happily.