Atlas Abandoned

Rule #3 (3 years since the crash)

Back when Atlas first found The Persephone he had an encounter with a Risen just before it burst into green energy, but before it did it slammed some sort of metal crystal into the ground. Atlas figured it was just a show of power, but over the months that seed grew into something Atlas had seen many times before- a giant, round, hollow tree stump with a doorway; a stump-house! Seeing as the alien being left, Atlas figured it would be okay to repurpose it into a storage shed. Atlas rolled the improvised door to the side and stepped in. There were crafted casks of collected drinking water, a huge section of the shed dedicated to drying out rhino meat to make jerky that would stay edible for a long time, and the newest additions to everyone's diet: radishes and potatoes.

That was something else the three survivors were proud of- their crops. Closing the shed's door, Atlas left with one radish in his teeth, another in his hand and a potato. He inspected the crops as he walked towards the mountainside to get up to camp. They had cleared many trees to form a wide path between The Workshop and camp. This gave them a lot of space to work with, so Atlas' mother started the farming project by designing the way they'd use wood planks to cover raised platforms with extra sand, allowing for the roots of vegetable plants to grow. So far the only crops that would take were radishes and potatoes, but Atlas' mother felt good about the blueberry bushes and apple trees that would take much longer to grow. She said it was because the 'soil' they were forced to use was so acidic from centuries of rainfall.

None of the alien wildlife seemed interested in their crops, so as Atlas and Gressam worked to build a protective wall along the entire path they didn't feel the pressure of protecting the crops, so there was currently just sections of wall- which were tree trunks roped together- by The Workshop and by the stairs leading up to camp The stairs were pretty cool, too. Gressam fashioned them in what he called an ancient "fire escape" technique.

Atlas made it up to the campsite and found his mom starting up the second fire. They liked having the light of several fires when it got dark out during the event after a relatively harmless rat had snuck up on them during one such night and scared the hell out of everyone. He took over the fire duties for his mom and handed her a radish.

"How's it going down there, sweetheart?" she asked she she relaxed on a wood-crafted chair and took a big bite out of her radish.

"Really good! I think I'm just about ready to start the blade," Atlas smiled and sat down across from her.

"That's great to hear. You've worked really hard to make sure you do this right. I can't wait to see it when it's finished!"

"Gressam's being an ass, as usual," he added as the sunset finally cast its warm, orange glow over everything. His mother rubbed her arm uncomfortably at the mention of Gressam's name.

"You know he's just trying to help," she said softly. Atlas walked up to her and gently pulled her right hand away from her left arm. There was a faint bruise on the skin. He gave his mother a concerned look.

"Did...did you slip again with the equipment in The Lab?" Since it wasn't the first time Atlas had called his mom out on a bruise, he offered her a chance to give the same explanation she had given last time, referring to the makeshift laboratory that was set up inside the front half of The Persephone up at the campsite. His mother looked like she was holding back tears. Atlas knew the question he really should have asked, but he also knew how delicate the balance was for the survivors. Rule #2 was 'Be Patient,' so Atlas pocketed his follow-up question for later. His timing was good.

"Listen, son, the most impor-"

"Looks like this shitshow's about to start!" Gressam finished climbing the stairs and joined them around the fire. He grabbed some rhino jerky and started chewing noisily.