In Memory of Fox, Not Costello

Three

The Army District

I was walking home through the Army District - which stood between the Artisan District and the Mechanical District - my pendant in my pocket, Fox's kiss still hot on my knuckles.

Well, I was walking. Until I fell. The ground was shaking, and since the Army District's outside was so minimalistic, there was nothing for me to support myself with. I clawed at the sandy ground, panicking. Dirt wormed its way under my fingernails and it stained the knees of my pants. My head began throbbing from the constant motion. Nothing like this had ever happened in Boca Naye, not in any district, in my 16 years at least. My eyes widened in fear and I clutched at my pendant - reassuring myself of its presence - before quickly dropping it back in my pocket.

My adrenaline finally kicked in, and I grabbed my Digit out of my pocket and ran and hid beneath someone's porch. 

The Army District didn't have stores, their food was delivered to their doorstep, so their main focus would be strength, then family, then food, which meant my only safe haven was underneath someone's back porch. 

Fumbling with the clasp, I opened my Digit, scrolling through the list of people. The list on each Digit is a list of names, all people who are near enough for the device's signal to reach theirs, which is about a 20-mile radius.

Scrolling through, I suddenly froze.

Fox.

The name seemed to protrude out of the screen. He was near me? In the Army District? I thought he'd have left again by now.

My thumb hovered over the contact button indecisively. In all these years, every time he'd left, I hadn't tried to contact him at all. Would that change his mind? Would that make him stay? Was that what he wanted?

Perhaps that was why he kept returning then leaving. That's why he formed attachments with me, then left. Was it to see if I cared enough to try and get him back?

In the midst of my thoughts, the shaking had finally stopped. With one last glance at his flashing name, I turned off my Digit, climbed out from beneath the porch, and began to head home.