Atlas Abandoned

The Crash Site (2 years since the crash)

((Note: If you read Chapter 13 "Camp Tesla" before I revised it: Atlas does not get his axe back after the raptors confront him and he does not find something significant that he will find in this chapter))

By the time he woke up after the monstrous creature exploded into one of the mysterious green fireworks and knocked Atlas out there was only one sign it had been there. The sand where it had stood in front of Atlas was blown away, exposing a circle of metallic, rocky forest floor that was charred black from the heat of the green energy. The clouds had come back and Atlas was only able to assume that the green blob had amassed in space, just like the last two times, and gone through the portal. Now he knew that each firework was really one of those creatures. If AGS-9 was right, it meant they were heading towards Earth and there had been 4 waves of them so far: The first wave he saw from Camp Wellspring with AGS-9 after the other ship crashed, the wave he saw from the treetops after losing his axe to the raptors, the one where the tall creature had burst into a green firework right in front of him, and once more a few months into his stay at Camp Tesla. It wasn't a pleasant thought, the idea of those things showing up at the doorsteps of the colonies. It scared Atlas to think about every day as he spent the following months doing his best to keep going.

Keep going. That was a mantra Atlas had to constantly re-convince himself to believe in. He would have been proud of Camp Tesla if he had anyone to show it to, but Atlas was more alone than he'd ever felt. His months and months of solitude; of isolation; of forced survival coupled with a lack of any signs that he'd even been going the right way had worn his spirit down to a nub. Why keep going? He didn't have an answer anymore.

Atlas focused on why he was proud of the camp. It might not have come with the feelings of security or the expansive view that Camp Wellspring provided at the top of the mountains, but it kept him warm, dry, and relatively protected. Although his mind felt stuck in the mud of complacency, it gave him a place to regain his physical strength after months of barely eating enough, never having a surplus of supplies, and letting the constant worry of attack weigh on his shoulders when he might otherwise get some rest. There was a metal door that Atlas could lock, now. There were small windows around the entire structure that let air and light in when the door was closed, but still afforded Atlas privacy. The wooden walls of the stump-house were much easier to work with than the rocky ones back in the cave, so Atlas built shelves, hooks, and made all sorts of useful places to hang and store his water buckets, spare supplies, tools and some clothing. He had built a raised bed that finally kept him safely above the toxic gas that he had to deal with every single time he napped on the forest floor. He even had strategically placed some spare weapons by the door for when he went hunting or scouting.

Ah, weapons. Back before he found Camp Tesla Atlas had lost his axe- the one crafted from AGS-9's arm. He struggled for a while after that because he had relied on its superior strength and durability to take down rhinos for food. He learned the hard way that it was still possible using the weapons made from the native metal, but it was much tougher and ruined the weapon each time he used it to kill. In his months here, though, Atlas finally made use of the android leg he had taken from AGS-9 when he left Camp Wellspring. He carefully recreated the chemical process AGS-9 taught him to separate the foot from the rest of the leg. Atlas sharpened it into a spike with a crude handle and then used stone and more superheated acidic water to flatten it into a blade. He had effectively made a high-strength dagger with AGS-9's foot. It wasn't as big as the axe, but it was even more effective when hunting.

It seemed like Atlas was always sleeping, scouting, hunting, or forcing himself to work on some craft or project to pass the time. On the wall opposite the door inside the round stump-house, Atlas had etched a map of his surroundings with Camp Tesla in the center. He expanded it whenever he went scouting in a new area and added details when he found different resources like small lakes or a tree he'd cut down for wood and come back for later. It was similar to how he and AGS-9 had gone scouting around Camp Wellspring. It helped to get to know the land. Atlas figured this was as good a place as any to settle down and live his days waiting for another rescue ship that would probably never come. The search for his parents was fruitless, and probably pointless. Worse than that, it was slowly killing Atlas. He wasn't going to be able to change that mindset of giving up on his own. Luckily, Atlas got some help.