Chapter Text
The world was ending, that Earth was sure.
Years ago, he didn’t really remember when exactly, our moon was mutated. Suddenly an eye opened in the middle of the moon and in that instance, the whole world began to transform into stone. Life was slowly dying, animals, plants, humans were all equally treated. Those who couldn’t get away from the eye, were now forever trapped in the same pose, dead in the eyes of the living. The chaos only happens during the night, so after hiding from the first wave of destruction, humanity was able to construct an area of safety during the day, the Bubble.
Thankfully, Earth was able to escape the eye and then went to the refugee area, built by the government. And ever since then, he lived inside of a bubble of isolation where it kept them alive. The place was very big, it had literally a functional and normal city, with buildings, stores, schools, parks. The Bubble simulated what was our world before. The ceiling was made by a technology that imitated the sky, blue as ever during the day, with the sun shining bright, and dark with little dots of the stars and the moon, not mutated, during the nights.
Hopefully, the government was able to keep some samples of seeds and plants to reforest the Bubble. This place was divided in the rural area, where scientists and farmers tried to replant and provide food for everyone, and the urban area, where most of the population lived. It was like the same old world that we used to live in, but smaller.
But Earth knew it was all to keep everyone sane. Everything looked normal, but outside, the world was dead. Ever since he got inside the Bubble, he’d never gone outside, it was extremely prohibited, except for the hunters. The hunters were groups of people that organized explorations to the outside to explore the dead world, trying to find any kind of food, clothes or even possible survivals. This service was obligatory for everyone that completed the major age, 20 years old, it was like military service. And Earth was excited because he’d just completed 20 this year.
Earth was waiting years for this day to come. He was already sick of the perfect and phony life that he had inside the Bubble, it was always everyone pretending that nothing was happening and that the world wasn’t ending. They all ignored the statues outside, all the missing persons and the terrible eye. Even inside the Bubble, at night, Earth could still feel like someone was watching him, waiting for the bubble to explode so it could petrify all the remaining livings.
He wanted to go out. He needed to see how badly the world was so then he’ll understand that the life he’s having is fake.
The grand day arrived, the hunter exam was today and Earth was summoned for it. The purpose of this exam was to test their abilities so they could be sorted into their specialties. He’d heard that the hunters were divided in different categories, such as the exploration, communication, sivellience, etc. It went pretty smooth, he tried his best to show all his skills so he could be on the front line, where he’d effectively explore the dead world, and he was pretty confident that he impressed the superiors.
When the result came out, Earth was with Mars, his current boyfriend, watching the news in his apartment. Mars has also listed for the service, so they were both waiting excitedly for the results. And as the reporter of the TV listed the approved ones, the name Earth was shouted, blasting through the television.
“Dude! You did it!” Mars congratulated Earth, but not longer after it, the name Mars was yelled by the reporter. They both looked at each other, a wide smile appearing on their faces. They jumped on their arms and rolled over the couch, yelling and commemorating. “We did it!”
The next day, they both went to the headquarters of the hunters and, after all the mess of verifying their presence, taking their new clothes and equipment and going through the rules and presentations, all of the approved ones were put into teams. Those groups were formed for organizing the hunters in each category and for the elders to train the newbies. As they yelled the names of the candidates and their team, Earth was put into team S, one of the front lines of the exploration, and to his surprise and joy, Mars also got put into the same team. He tried his best to hold his excitement, he couldn’t stop smiling.
Other two people were sorted in his group too, one way smaller than him with light brown hair – and he thought he was a kid – and one with almost the same height as him, red and orange hair and with a scary face. With that, after everyone got into their groups, they were oriented to go to a cabin of their respective group. Their cabin was kind of small, the shelves filled with the equipment occupied most of the place. When they first entered, they were greeted by the older members of the group.
“Welcome to team S, little ones! I’m Jupiter, the leader of this group,” the tallest one, with blond hair and glasses, introduced himself – he was very tall, Earth guessed he must be at least 6'3 feet tall. “This one is Saturn, our vice leader”
“Hi!! Welcome to the team Solar!!” Saturn appeared next to Jupiter with a beaming smile. He was as tall as the other, very long blond hair and a stunning outfit, the accessories shining like a star. Earth even thought he was a girl.
“Stop calling our team like that, it’s stupid,” a person that was sitting on the corner said. He had very dark blue hair and a very noticeable scar on his eye that was similar to an X. He had his arms crossed and an annoyed face.
“Aw! You’re no fun, Erebus! I think it’s a great name!” A lighter but still dark blue haired person said, he had a wide and bright smile, completely contrasting the previous person.
“Yeah, don’t be like that in front of our new members, Erebus,” the person who said that really had an effect on the very dark blue haired, since his posture completely stiffened and he looked away, mumbling something that sounded like he agreed with him. That person had long cyan hair and some accessories that also caught Earth’s eyes.
“My apologies for them, they are Erebus, Neptune and Uranus,” Jupiter pointed to each of them, who nodded and waved at them. “So, why don’t you four introduce yourselves?”
Earth was the first to speak, cleaning his throat and saying, “I’m Earth! I really wanted to be here so I’m very glad to meet you all!” He saw Jupiter smiling at him, almost like he was proud of him, and that made him more excited.
“I’m Mars, nice to meet you all,” Mars stepped next to him, his beautiful smile stamped on his face, which almost made Earth proudly yell out that he was his boyfriend, but he held himself.
“Venus,” was all the red haired guy said, his arms crossed in front of his chest and a face of annoyance – he really looked like Erebus now that he noticed.
“I’m Mercury! Happy to meet you!” The smaller one cheerly said, jumping out of excitement – are you sure he’s not a kid?
“Well, Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury, it is very nice to have such great members with us now,” Jupiter clasped his hands together and smiled at them, “come here, sit down.”
They all sat down on the available chairs, the four new members sat down together, Jupiter and Saturn in front of them and the other three on their right. “Today we won’t go on any missions, today we’ll just talk about the general rules and get to know you four better, okay?” the leader said and they all agreed.
“Why do we have so many newbies this year?” Erebus groaned, but as he caught Uranus's eyes, staring at him with annoyance, he quickly took it back, “nevermind.”
“Well, that’s because for the last two years, we didn’t receive any of them, remember? You three were our last members,” Saturn said, smiling at the other, who replied dryly, “whatever.”
“Anyways, do you have any questions for us?” Jupiter started, and all four immediately shook their heads and raised their hands. “Woah, okay lots of questions.” And they began to blast questions over them and that’s how the rest of the day went.
Earth couldn’t contain his excitement, asking many questions he could think of, as Jupiter answered all of them without any difficulty. The others also seemed just as excited as him, their eyes shining everytime Jupiter showed one of their equipment or told any story. As the fake sun began to set, everyone began to go separate ways and Earth went back home with Mars. The entire way there, they wouldn’t shut up about the day and how excited they were for the next day.
“Jupiter said tomorrow at 7am, right?” Mars nodded as he turned to face the other, who continued, “that’s pretty early so… since I live closer to the headquarters, do you wanna stay over at my house?” Earth said while smirking, he just wanted an excuse to spend a little more time with the other, who seemed to get it instantly because he laughed and nodded again, “of course, why wouldn’t I?”
Earth made a squeak noise and hugged Mars by the waist, spinning him around. “Aww i love you so much!” and then he placed many kisses over Mars, from the top of his head to his face and neck. Mars couldn’t stop laughing, “I love you too, Earth. But stop, we’re in the middle of the street.”
After placing one last kiss on Mars’s lips, he stepped back and said, “fine, but when we get home I'll give you more kisses!”
“I’ll look forward to it.” They walked back home, excitement still on their veins as they watched the fake non mutated moon appear on the phony sky. Tomorrow they’ll go on the first hunting mission of their life, they’ll go outside for the first time in years. They’ll see the real reality of what was going on outside, instead of being trapped inside a bubble. They’ll be finally free.
It was 7am, and team S was at their cabin, getting ready for the hunt. After hours of preparation, all their equipment was ready and they were waiting in line for the car that Saturn went to pick up, so it would drive them to the outside.
It was 9am. A big car arrived, it looked like a military car, and they got in it. While it drove to the barrier, Earth and the other newbies were watching the window, recording every inch of the scenario. They were entering the toll, where they inspected everyone and everything that was in the car. And after what felt like an eternity, they finally got the permission to leave. The car emerged out of the Bubble, the real world appearing in their vision.
The scene was horrible, the ground was arid with cracks because of erosion, no trees or any kind of greenery could be seen. “This trip is going to be long, so you better get yourself comfortable,” Jupiter said, sitting back on his seat. The one that was driving was Saturn and Uranus was on the passenger seat, the rest was in the cargo section.
“How long?” Earth asked. “Two hours.”
The older members already relaxed on their seats, closing their eyes and resting while they could. Earth sat back, trying as hard as possible to get comfortable in this hard seat. He looked at the window, the harsh and deserted scene never ended.
Mars on his side, rested his head against his shoulder. “Do you mind?”
A tiny smile curled on his lips, the feeling that at least he had Mars with him made himself relax. In this chaotic and lonely world, Mars was the one that kept him sane. Earth rested his head on top of the other’s and quirky responded, “of course not.”
He closed his eyes, finally being able to rest after all the excitement and anxiety that this day had brought. He utterly ignored all the eyes on him.
After an hour into this boring trip, they finally entered the city and Earth looked at the window, he noticed how abandoned it looked, the structures were hardly holding themself together. The buildings looked worn out, the paint peeling and the windows were mostly broken, glasses scattered through the ground. There was not a single soul there, a total dead world.
Jupiter cleaned his throat, getting the attention of everyone, “Welcome to your first mission, you four. Here we have two goals, get whatever you find that is useful and survive. If you ever feel uneasy, please seek for any of us, prioritize your life over the mission.” His voice sounded deeper and more serious, which made Earth fix his posture and sit properly. Mars on his side also did the same.
“Our mission has to be successful. The total of the things that we collected has to reach the goal of 500 dollars. As you can see in the card given to you in the beginning, there is the list of prices of each product.” Earth took out the card that was in his pocket and looked down at it. He noticed that electronics and clothes were worth more than food and books, which made sense.
“Since this is a dead world, we don’t have much time there. If you hear my alarm, please, gather at our meeting point as soon as possible.” Everyone nodded as Jupiter looked at each of them. When his eyes landed on the four newbies, his face softened, “You four, since it’s your first time here, each of you will go with one of us. Mercury, you go with Uranus. Mars, you go with Neptune and Erebus,” a groan from Erebus cut Jupiter’s speech.
“Are you kidding me? Why do I have to go with Neptune?” He pointed to the other, who had a funny face, almost like mocking the other.
“Because I want you to get along with him. Anyways,” Jupiter completely ignored the other’s deadpan face and the giggle from Neptune, and continued, “Venus, you go with Saturn. And Earth, you go with me. Understood?” All of them nodded, the car slowly coming into a stop.
It was 12:14 pm. Earth got out of the car, his feet landed on the arid ground, the breeze that passed through him was dry and it didn’t refresh him. The air was suffocating, like he couldn’t breathe properly, but as he looked up and spotted the light reigning the sky, he instantly forgot about all that. The sun was there, the real sun illuminating them. The sky, blue as ever, it was real . Earth threw a glance back to the Bubble, his phony house that looked so little because of the distance, and then back to the sky. He smiled unconsciously, ‘I’m finally free. I’m finally in the real world.’
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Saturn suddenly appeared next to him, doing the same as Earth, looking at the endless blue. “It’s the only thing that keeps me motivated to continue this job.”
Earth looked at the other, who was smiling at the sky like he was seeing an old friend, the natural light illuminating his face and his hair shining like gold. As he was about to question it, Jupiter began to speak, “Alright everyone, this is our meeting point. Don’t go too far away and… have fun.”
With that, everyone with their respective pairs went deeper into the city. Earth ran beside Jupiter, trying to keep up with the speed. “I know an area that hasn’t been explored yet, and I think there could be some things important.”
While running, Earth spotted some statues along the way, and it made him sick. To think that they were all human beings, people that had a life, with dreams and loved ones. And to think that they were here, dead and petrified, all because of some stupid unknown creature. Right, the moon was mutated, it was alive.
His blood became cold, his face sweating not because of the heat, but nervousness. A shiver made him lose his pace, but Jupiter didn’t slow down. There were dogs, cats, fish, birds, all petrified. It wasn’t only them, humans, it was every single living being. The eye didn’t have preferences, it just wanted to kill every remnant of life existing in this world.
His heart began to race with the combination of the run and anxiety. Seeking help, Earth looked up to Jupiter, his face was serious and concentrated, it was almost scary. He didn’t look like that kind guy that introduced them to the group, he looked… like an actual hunter. He didn’t seem affected by the countless statues around them, he just looked forward. Earth shook his head, ‘of course he looks like a hunter, he is the leader of the first line of the hunt!’
“J-Jupiter, can I ask you a question?” Earth had already asked a ton of questions the other day, but somehow he still got many in his head. Jupiter nodded, not looking at the other, only focusing on their route. “How is there still something to get in the city? I mean, we were trapped in that bubble years ago! How are there still… clothes and stuff here? Shouldn’t the hunters have already gotten all the abandoned stuff years ago?”
As Earth finished his question, Jupiter abruptly stopped which made him also stop. He looked at Jupiter and noticed him staring at… a clothing store. It was very small and looked pretty much intact, which surprised him. Fortunately, there were no statues there. Jupiter looked at his wrist’s clock, “We’re here, take everything you can.”
Jupiter seemed to ignore his question and quickly went into action, grabbing a bag and stealing all the clothes that he saw. Earth quickly did the same, he didn’t even see what he was taking, he just grabbed it and shoved it into his bag. As he was almost forgetting about the previous question because of the adrenaline, Jupiter suddenly spoke.
“The city is big, Earth. The hunter service started only a year after… it. We spent most of our time doing research and possibilities of ending it.” Earth looked at the other for a brief moment, he looked… tired. “But we found out very important details about this dead world. The oxygen is slowly dropping. The amount of time that we stay here, outside, the oxygen that we breathe will convert into carbon dioxide and there’s no one that can replace it. So the level of CO2 is slowly increasing.”
Earth shook his head and continued his task, he needed to grab as much as possible. “Well, but why… slowly? And why is that an issue?”
“There’s no one alive outside, so there’s no plants or phytoplankton that can do photosynthesis and release oxygen, but there’s also no one that breathes or decomposes that transforms and releases carbon into the atmosphere. We're the only ones here that breathes… so the conversion of oxygen and carbon is low. So this process of the atmosphere becoming only nitrogen and carbon is slow.” He looked at the clock again, “and that’s an issue because soon he won’t have oxygen to breath when we hunt. The scientists are trying to make a mask of oxygen gas that isn’t heavy, but… with so little resources, we can’t do much.”
“But why can we breathe inside of the Bubble?” Earth questioned again, his bag was almost full and the store was almost empty.
Jupiter let out a sigh, looking at the clock again. “There’s a system of producing oxygen. Plus, the whole Bubble is filled with plants and reserves of phytoplanktons to replace the carbon.”
“We created all that in less than… a year?” There were no more clothes there, their bags full with clothes. ‘I think this will be enough to cover our goal’ he thought to himself before focusing on Jupiter.
“We needed to survive.”
Jupiter exited the store, looking at his clock again – what time was it? “There’s one more place here,” he looked up and pointed to another store, a washhouse.
They entered it, some machines looked destroyed, probably because of the panic of that day. They inspected every single washing machine to see if there was anything wearable. “Sorry if I’m bothering you, asking so many questions but… how did humanity build the Bubble in such a short time?”
Jupiter sort of laughed as he stared at the inside of the machine, “I’m not bothered at all, actually, you’re making this a lot easier for me. Your questions distract me, it’s nice not to be under stress for hours alone.”
Earth looked at the other, who was already staring at him with a fond smile. ‘Actually, talking to you distracts me from the statues.’ “Well… uh, I’m glad I make you feel better?” He smiled as the other chucked.
“The government had already made the Bubble in case any apocalypse happens. And to our surprise, it did.” Jupiter went back to do his task, opening the next washing machine to encounter nothing.
“Is this the only isolation point? Or there’s more?” Earth didn’t find anything either in the machine that he’d opened.
“There is a lot. We’ve been in contact with 17 so far, but I bet there’s more.” Jupiter took out a tool and opened the thing where you put the coins in the machine with force, millions of coins spilling from it. A small smile grew on his face. Earth hopped next to the other, his eyes shining at the many silver coins in the box.
“Wow! What do we do with those?” He looked at Jupiter, who was now collecting it, but with a different bag.
“In truth, we’re supposed to give it to the government so the economic system can work. But… we normally keep to ourselves and share with the rest of the team. I mean, we are going to move the economic system so that’s the same thing,” he laughed, all the coins already in the bag. “Plus, the salary is not that great, so we deserve some treats.”
Earth laughed, “You’re not wrong!”
Jupiter then tried to do the same with the other machine, some opened and others didn’t. After collecting all the coins that they could get, Jupiter lifted the bag over his shoulder, it looked really heavy. “Do you need any help?”
“Nah, I’m fine. This man here is very strong for you to know,” The taller one flexed his muscles as they shared a laugh. Earth grazed at the other, a sense of admiration to the other overtook him, he really wished to become like him. A leader, a strong and kind leader, who always knows what to say and what to do. Someone who is in control of his life and the team, directing everyone to a better path. He wanted to become like him.
As they continued to talk, they got distracted with each other as they continued to do their task. Suddenly, an alarm went off, Earth jumped with the sound and rapidly turned to Jupiger. It was Jupiter’s clock. “We need to go,” He pulled out his phone and texted something. Earth’s phone buzzed and when he took it out, it was Jupiter’s message, ‘Time’s out.’ It was 2:28 pm.
He then heard a whistle from the other, Jupiter’s signal. “Let’s go to the meeting point, fast.” They got out of that place and ran to the direction that they previously were, Earth trying his best to follow the pace of the other – which unbelievably, even with two bags that looked heavier than himself, he still ran fast.
When they finally arrived at the meeting point, Mercury and Uranus were already there, only Uranus had a bag with them. “Found anything good?” The leader asked, which the two of them shared a look with each other and responded with disappointment, “sorry, mate. We only found some toilet paper and some towels… but you two seemed to get a lot,” he pointed to their bags.
As Earth was about to show off what they’ve got, Saturn suddenly shouted behind them, “We’re here!”
Jupiter’s face seemed to soften with the sight of the other, he put the bags down and walked to the other, wrapping his arms around the other. Earth glanced at them, they looked really close — maybe more than friends…
“Venus and I only got some bowls and pots,” Saturn said after stepping back from the hug, showing the bag that they were holding.
“Good, now let's wait for the trio. Uranus, Saturn, can you carry the bags inside the car?” Jupiter handed each bag to each of them as they nodded. Earth and Venus went with the two, also putting their bags inside the thunk.
After they discharged it, Venus walked to Mercury with a smirk on his face. “Where’s your bag, pipsqueak?” He asked as he got close to the other, who crossed his arms and looked away. “We only got one bag.”
Venus began to laugh at the other, “really? You’re such a loser.”
“Shut up, Venus!” Mercury repeated it many times as Venus didn’t shut up and continued to mock and laugh at the other. They seemed… like really close? Somehow.
Earth mentally cursed to himself, ‘where’s Mars? I missed him.’ And as the universe seemed to hear him, he heard someone shouting, “Look what you’ve done! We’re late!”
When he turned his face, he immediately spotted a ginger haired running toward them, and a smile curled on his face. Behind him, two blue haired running while arguing. “Well, I wasn’t the one who decided to show off your skills in front of the newbie just to impress him!” Neptune cheerily said — was he ever angry?
They finally got close to them and stopped, huffing for air, but somehow the two of them still managed to argue. “I was not showing off! You’re the one that wanted to pick this keyboard on the other side of the town!”
Mars ran to Earth, immediately hugging him, “please save me from them.”
Earth laughed, hugging the other tightly, “I’m going to protect you, don’t worry!”
In the distance, he could see the two still arguing and Jupiter was trying to separate them.
“They were fighting the entire time! I tried to make them stop but they just continued,” Mars said, burying himself more into the other’s chest. “And Neptune told us to go very far, we were almost out of the town! We ran so much…” he groaned.
Earth petted his hair, passing his fingers through the hair as he placed a kiss on top of the other’s head. “Poor Marsy, I’m here for you now. Jupiter was so fun, I need to tell you about him!”
Mars yawned and closed his eyes, “later, I’m so tired now.”
“Okay! Let’s go back to the car so you can sleep on me, ok?” Earth cupped the other’s face with his hands and kissed on his forehead. Mars reopened his eyes, giggled and nodded, unwrapping himself from the hug and walking to the car.
Earth threw a glance at the older members. Fortunately, Neptune and Erebus have stopped fighting, Uranus was with Neptune, talking to him, while Jupiter was with Erebus. He entered the cargo, sitting right beside Mars, who like before, rested his head on his shoulder.
Mercury and Venus followed them, taking their seats — and somehow, even if they were still arguing with each other, they still sat next to each other. — Not too long after that, Saturn entered and sat down — he won’t drive?
Followed by Uranus and Erebus, the light blue haired were whispering something to the other, and it really looked like he was scolding him. He assumed that Jupiter and Neptune were in the driving and passenger seat. After the door was closed, Earth heard the sound of the car starting, followed by it moving forward. They were going back to the Bubble. It was 2:52 pm.
Before he could close his eyes and rest, a movement in the corner of his eyes made him alert. When he looked, Uranus and Erebus were opening the bags and taking out the supplies that they got. “What are you doing?”
Uranus looked up to him and replied, “oh, we’re going to count how many things we got and see if we reached the goal.”
Earth hummed in response, “what if we don’t reach it?”
“It'll be a discount on our salary. The amount of money left to complete the goal is the amount that will be discounted,” Uranus said, pulling out a piece of clothes out of the bag — it must be his or Jupiter’s — While Erebus was calculating the prices with his phone.
The two blue haired went back into their conversation, this time it didn’t seem like he was scolding the other, more like a normal conversation.
Earth’s attention turned back to Mars on his side, his breathing slow and steady, he really did look tired. A smile curled on his lips, he put a strand of hair behind his ears and placed a kiss on top of his head. “I love you, Marsy,” he whispered.
The trip back to the Bubble was as tedious as before. Earth had taken a nap, but he wasn’t that tired. On the other hand, Mars didn’t wake up a single time.
“Is he that tired?” Venis suddenly asked, eyeing them. Earth blinked a few times, processing that he was talking to him. “Oh yeah, I think Erebus and Neptune really tired him out,” he chucked.
“Mate, I’m so sorry for that, really. They’re really unbearable when they’re together,” Uranus suddenly said, “I hope he doesn’t give up or get discouraged because of them, he looked very excited when we first got here.”
“Nah, don’t worry. Mars’s not the type to get discouraged.”
Uranus sighed in relief and then stared at Erebus with his eyes narrowed. The other seemed to get the message and said, “yeah, I’m sorry.” He then huffed and mumbled something ineligible under his breath.
Earth ignored the both of them for now, going back to stare at the scenery passing in the window. In the middle of the ride, Erebus had announced that they’d reached the goal, and even more than it, totaling $748.
“What happens when we get more than the goal?” Mercury was the one that asked, and Uranus replied, “Well, the same way the amount left to complete is discounted. The amount that is over the goal is counted in our salary.”
“Although, it’s not that much. We have $248 more and we need to divide it for each member so…” Erebus took his phone and calculated, “approximately $27,5 more for each.”
“That is not bad! We did good today!” Saturn said, clasping his hands together and with a beaming smile. “Great job everyone!”
“Wait I forgot, who got all these coins? With this we probably have around $400 more,” Erebus said, which made everyone look around with excitement.
Earth smirked and proudly said, “Jupiter and I! We found it in the washing machines. There’s probably more, but we couldn’t take it all.”
“Nice, kid!”
After congratulating everyone for the hard work and celebrating it, they all fell into silence again. Erebus and Uranus began to put back the products inside the bag again. Earth saw in the window that they were almost in the Bubble.
It was 5:02 pm. The sun was almost setting.
They entered the Bubble and everything of the buratic thing of inspection happened. And after a long time waiting and inspecting, they were free to go back to the headquarters. At this time, Mars had already woken up, finally.
In the headquarters, they took all the bags out and then handed them to a place where they’d count and store them. And like Erebus said, $748. They said that it’ll be counted in our salary that’ll be received at the end of the month. — plus the coins that they hid in their cabin.
They went back to their cabin to organize their materials. It was 7:46 pm and they finally got to go home. Earth had told Mars to sleep over his house again because it was closer — and also because Mars looked like he was about to collapse at any time.
During their walk, Earth was talking excitedly about his day, telling all the information he got and how awesome Jupiter was. Mars listened to him, humming and agreeing with him, occasionally asking some things to keep up the conversation.
When they arrived at his apartment, while Mars was taking a shower, Earth was cooking dinner — actually, he was just making instant noodles.
And after they ate and Earth took a shower, when he walked to his room, he saw Mars curled up on his bed, sleeping peacefully. Earth smiled softly, laying next to the other and putting the blanket over them. He placed a kiss on the other’s forehead and finally prepared himself to sleep.
Today was the best day of his life. His eyes opened to a new world, the dead and hopeless world, but it was the real world.
Earth closed his eyes as he let out a sign. He imagined how the rest of his life would be. His life didn’t have any meaning here, in this phony word. But outside. Seeing the natural light hitting him, the real blue of the sky, the real clouds, running through the abandoned city, it was all real.
This was his life. He found a new meaning to life. Is to see that sky, the real sky.
It was 9:42 pm. He felt eyes on him, but there was no one watching.