Silence.

K.O. hated silence.

He tossed the stick he held in his hand to the side and quickly rubbed his hands into the dirt to erase the drawing he had just done. Doodles of circles with X's for eyes and blobs that seemed to resemble corpses were erased within seconds. Messy handwriting was wiped away and the ground around him was now blank. Nothing was written or drawn; it was just a simple patch of earth in the ground, untouched by humanity.

K.O. flopped down onto his back and stared up towards the ceiling, frowning. Countless days of lying here, in this exact spot, waiting for something, anything to come in and finally free him from the hell he currently resided in. He would lie down for hours on end, attempting to fall asleep to no avail. He'd toss and turn, his stomach would growl and ache, and it was just too quiet.

When was the last time he'd slept well, anyway? It certainly couldn't have been too long ago, or... maybe it had been? He wasn't sure. Days, weeks, and months seemed to merge together and he couldn't tell when anything had happened anymore. How long have things even been like... this? Cob, he could hardly even remember what it was like before all of this had happened. Had there ever been a "before?"

Yes. There was a before. KO knew he didn't always live like this, and yet... it seemed like this was all there ever was. Running and hiding for his life, being stuck with Colewort and Potato (he'd been on a team with them before, hadn't he?), not knowing about his mom or about Enid or Rad, or...

...It was still silent.

He could feel his chest rise and fall every time he inhaled and exhaled, and he could hear his heart pound against his ribs. His stomach growled and churned and begged him to eat something, anything, that he could possibly find; he had grown used to ignoring it. Food was the least of his worries (survival seemed to be his top priority, but if he was honest, he... wasn't actually sure if that was remotely true or not anymore.)

Silence.

Where was his mom?

Silence.

Was any of this really worth it?

Silence.

What was the cornfield like?

...

"Hey, KO. Is... it okay if you come over here for a second? Colewort wants to talk to you about something."

Finally.

He pushed himself off the ground and looked over towards Potato. "Y - yeah," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "S - sor.. sorry..."

No more silence.

(A/n) A!KO A!KO A!KO A!KO A!KO A!KO A!KO A!KO A!KO AAAAAAAAAAA hi remember my apocalyptic au? yes yes yes yes take some au content. consume. yummy delicious angst mmmmmm yes yes here's your monthly dose of angst have fun :)