Disclaimer: I am not Michael Grant and I do not own the Gone series. But that would be cool.
Edilio Escobar didn't get much time alone these days. He was busy, talking, running, on the edge, ready to defend the kids. Before, he hated being alone anyway. Alone was dangerous. Alone he couldn't rely on anyone but himself. It was much easier to be on the edge of a crowd, surrounded but unnoticed, invisible but not blind. That was how he learned. That was how he lived.
Now, he preferred being alone. Not that he ever was. Alone, nobody was begging him for help, asking him to deal with everything. 'Edilio, another kid died and you have to dig a grave.' 'Edilio, we're being attacked and you have to fight back.' 'Edilio, Sam is going crazy and Astrid is useless and Albert is busy, and you have to take care of everything.'
Alone, he didn't have to take out his gun and shoot someone. Some kid. Some animal. Some unnatural creation of the FAYZ. Alone, he could only rely on himself. In the new world, trust was the first thing that got you killed. As much as Edilio was sick of his new job, he wasn't ready to die.
It was worse, now. Now he was running the little society at Lake Tramonto while Sam sat around missing Astrid. Everyone relied on him now, not just for safety, but for a leader. Edilio Escobar was not a natural leader.
He wasn't the only one. Him, Dahra, Lana, Dekka, Sam. People who were looked up to in the FAYZ. The soldier, the nurse, the healer, the fighter, the leader. Alone, alone, alone, alone, alone. Lana had Sanjit, of course, but Edilio had seen the fear, the pain, the loneliness in her eyes. The Gaiaphage did that to people.
He'd been close enough to it once. It had rooted its way into his dying mind and still lingered there. Sam didn't know. Sam had enough to deal with.
Unlike the others, the Darkness had less of a hold when Edilio was alone. Alone, he was at peace with himself.
Edilio Escobar grabbed his gun before leaving the security of his room. He'd been alone long enough. He had a job to do.
I'm planning on doing a collection of quick one-shots about Edilio. Probably 5 or 6 chapters, maybe more. Reviews, please?