succour ♂ tysh

d e u x • j o s h

  today was the day. supposedly, a church from columbus, ohio, was sending people, and a buses stocked with fresh water, food, and clothing, to josh's hometown. he'd been waiting for news like this for weeks, but, alas, nothing. he had started to give up hope.

  his family had grown smaller with the arrival of the tornado, taking his mother to god knows where.

she had been at work, and texted josh to tell him a tornado warning was in place for their city. she rushed home, back to protect her children from the storm. it was much too late by the time she arrived, though. the wind had picked up, and the sirens were blaring, causing abigail to wail as well. josh had managed to get everyone into the shelter, minus his mother.

  he had to watch as her car was nearly flipped by the wind, before the cellar doors slammed shut, and he fell on his ass at the bottom of the stairs. his younger brother had to hold him back from going out to see if his mother was okay, but the four of them knew it was no use. she was most likely dead.

  they had to wait the storm out in their little shelter, playing the game of life, and monopoly to pass the time. abigail remained glued to josh, her stuffed dog pressed between them.

  after the sirens ceased, and everything seemed to have calmed, josh carried his four year old little sister up the stairs, with a seventeen year old and a ten year old behind them.

  everything was in ruins. the bathroom of their house remained, but that seemed to be it. the car was no where to be seen, but in it's place was the tree he and ashley grew up playing on. the big oak they climbed in the summer and spring, now left to rot, and give way to new life.

   by now, josh had found out that since their mother was missing, he would have to give his siblings over to an orphanage, which was something he hoped to never do. he kept them hidden in an old barn, where someone probably used to breed puppies, and give them to good homes, just to see a family happy.

  they had hidden out up in the loft, hay bales piled up to hide their existance. everyone had a little makeshift bed, from hay and a sleeping bag from the cellar. they brought whatever had been left in there, which consisted of granola bars, one pot and two pans, a fire starter, a box of matches, an axe, a knife, and two containers of bottled water. not to mention all the wine and rum left down there from his father.

  josh was currently seated behind the barn, a little campire going where he had water boiling in the pot, in hopes of making it potable. the sun had yet to brim the horizon, but the sky was already tinged with it's beautiful rays. he glanced up at the sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel around the aide of the barn, smiling at the sight of a familiar face.

  "take me up on the breakfast offer?" he asked curiously, standing from the fire to meet debby halfway.

  "what will we be having this time? water and eggs you stole from a robin's nest?"

  the brunet snorted, shaking his head a bit as he made his way back over to the fire with debby's hand in his.

  "you promised to help with the a.c. back at the motel." she reminded him, head cocking a bit.

  "i know, i jus' need t' make sure this water finishes boilin' before we go anywhere. might not be the safest way to make it drinkable, but 'til we recieve our fresh water the church brought, 's all we got." he sighed, the both of them turning as the stairs to the loft creaked, and ashley appeared.

  "mornin', debby." she murmured quietly, arms tight around herself as she plopped down in front of the fire. "go, josh. ya gotta fix that a.c., maybe mister ryan'll pay ya for doin' it."

  he sighed, glancing at the boiling water before looking at ashley. "watch the water, ya hear?"

  she nodded, smiling at the two as the stood, brushed off their rears, and started back towards the motel.

⇩⇩⇩

the walk to the motel was quiet, both of them too tired to bother speaking to one another. of course, debby's father talked non stop about how great buisness was now that the church was here. he gave josh the toolbox, and left the two to find the room with the broken air conditioner.

keys jingled in the lock, and the door swung open on squeaky hinges. he headed right back, hardly noticing a sleeping form on the bed. he got right to work, taking the cover off to look in at the insides.

debby watched quietly, at least until the sound of josh working woke the man on the bed. he let out a groan, slowly sitting up to take a look around and see what was going on.

"good morning, mister joseph. this should only take a few moments." she said politely, holding her hands in front of her with a kind smile on her face.

josh took a glance back, at that, his heart dropping to his stomach. mister joseph was hot. josh cleared his throat as a blush rose to his cheeks, and turned back to his task at hand.

"quite alright." and, god, his voice was hot too. josh just tried his best to ignore him, and finished up. he put the cover back on before standing, and offering the man a shy smile. "all set." he murmured, starting towards the door.

"wait-" joseph stood, rushing to stop josh. "uh. what's your name? y'know, so i can thank you properly." josh cleared his throat again, gaze dropping to his worn shoes.

"joshua."

"well, joshua. thank you. i hope i can see you later, yes?"

"maybe."

and with that, josh was out the door.

•••

1016 words.

yeah, i'm alive. a lot of shit is going down at the moment, but i'm trying m boys, i'm trying.

i did a stick n poke recently, and i quite like it. touch ups in one week, and i'll be adding a little planet to the side of my right hand.

anyways, i wrote this all in a short amount of time, so please forgive any spelling errors.