Atlas Abandoned

PJ (6 months since the crash)

"Atlas! Wake up, Atlas!" It felt like he had only just closed his eyes when Atlas was abruptly awoken by AGS-9's alarming yells. The android was standing over him, extending his one remaining arm, which was holding out his other, removed arm for Atlas to grab. AGS-9 pulled him up and let go of the limb. Atlas was wielding it like a club, like he always did, and he knew why AGS-9 had woken him. Rats were coming.

As Atlas psyched himself up to do some quality rat-bashing like he had been used to doing by now, he also struggled to fight off the weariness that was overtaking him. He wasn't able to focus. It was that damn gas.

'Just concentrate on killing these rats and then you can sleep,' Atlas promised himself. It seemed as if as soon as he thought that, a rat-creature he didn't notice before came from behind and charged through his legs, knocking him back over. He tried to swing at it as he fell, but missed. Several giant rats converged on him and one bit his arm like a tinny clamp. He screamed out.

"Help! Aegeus!" the android kicked another rat away and ran to Atlas, rolling over one in order to grab the one that had bit Atlas by the tail and throw it 10 yards away through the air. With the technique of a karate master, AGS-9 kept his back to Atlas, protecting him as best he could, as more rats kept coming at them. It wasn't long before the excitement calmed, the remaining few rats scurried, and AGS-9 helped Atlas inspect his wound.

"I think you'll be okay, Atlas. This will heal on its own if we keep it wrapped," it said. Having learned their lesson the hard way before, both Atlas and AGS-9 were still keeping one eye each on their camp's surroundings. Sure enough, the glow of the rats eyes reappeared. This time, though, there were more- a lot more.

"Aegeus..." Atlas didn't know what else to say. There were more rats facing them here than they'd ever seen in one place so far. This wasn't good. The rats did something else new, too. They all stood on their haunches, revealing the unique designs that each one of them had. Swirls, stripes, and patches of blue and green marks vividly reflected light from each rat-creature's stomach. Atlas had never noticed how mesmerizing they were since whenever he did get a good luck he was either trying to kill or eat the things. Atlas swiveled his head around. They were completely surrounded by these rats. One of them started making the mechanical whining noise Atlas had started interpreting as a battle cry. The countless others joined in until the whirring was deafening all around. The dizziness from before started creeping back up into Atlas' head, but he shook it off and took a deep breath.

"Scream, Atlas! Scream bloody murder!" the android reminded him. It was a trick AGS-9 taught Atlas early on to get his adrenaline pumping to help him fight off the rats. Atlas screamed. AGS-9 screamed too, if only to support Atlas. The android kicked their newly-started fire towards rats at one end of the perimeter and they ran towards the other, engaging in combat. Atlas and AGS-9 worked well together after fighting so many of these creatures together over the months. One of them would flip a rat onto its back and the other would strike hard while it was vulnerable. For others, they would just hit them in the head as hard as they could and hope it worked out. Atlas never enjoyed these fights- especially the killing- but as it was a matter of survival he knew by now that holding anything back was a mistake. They had had many campfire conversations about creative ways to kill the creatures and it was so ingrained in his mind by now; so second-nature to the 14-year-old that what happened next left him feeling very strange.

Atlas had collected his fair share of injuries, cuts, bruises, and bites on this planet, but this fight had accounted for 3 bites already and he saw that two of them were bleeding significantly. He fell to one knee while AGS-9 approached him. "Stay there, I'll take care of the last couple," the android comforted Atlas before moving towards the stragglers.

"Wait," Atlas gasped, exhausted from the fight. He felt something different about one of the few remaining rat-creatures in particular. He watched as it almost seemed to comfort one of the dying rats next to it. It grabbed a limp paw in its own before turning and making eye contact with Atlas. Why was it looking at Atlas? What was it thinking? What was it feeling? Was it in pain- emotional pain? Did it lose a loved one? A brother? Guilt, sorrow, and shame washed over Atlas. From far away Atlas couldn't be sure if he was hallucinating or not, but he also could have sworn the markings on this one's stomach were arranged in a spitting image of Earth.