joshua never found it easy to sleep in the morning- waking up at five am sharp and not being able to fall asleep again, it was almost clockwork. it was just something his body always did, and all he could do was grow used to it, no matter how tired he ended up being. he tried his best to make sure he went to sleep early- just so he didn't have to wake up super early exhausted, but it never seemed to work properly. sometimes the most he could do was to lay back down and rest his eyes, praying that one day he could randomly fall asleep even if it was unlikely. this morning was definitely no different.
with nothing new going on, with nothing new occupying him, he didn't have anything to really do. waking up at the ass crack of dawn, it wasn't like he was going to have many friends awake with him. and he severely doubted jade was going to be awake for him to bother. he didn't want to bother him, anyway- he'd rather let the male sleep in that waking him up to hangout and occupy him instead. plus, josh could find himself a way to occupy himself anyway- usually he always had to.
usually people didn't want to play around with him as much as he wanted to play around with them. on patrol, josh wasn't allowed to dink off anymore because of how much he could distract the others when they were in dire need of paying attention. josh's adhd flared worse than anything- constantly causing mallory a new headache. when they used to travel together, josh practically put them in danger every other day. salsa dancing with the zombies, pretending to be a secret agent on a mission with his pistol, the zombies being other agents he needed to take down- anything to occupy his childish mind.
so this early morning, josh found himself exploring just outside of the town. nothing too special, nothing too far- places they had already been. except josh was looking for something exciting. like another abandoned treehouse, a little cave they missed, a bunny that would somehow be different from every other wild bunny and want to have josh touch it- just anything that would grant josh entertainment that he so desperately craved. the leaves crunching under his shoes, all he did was skip around the forest nonchalantly- not even trying to be quiet. he had his pistol on him, just in case he needed to quickly shoot and run. it wasn't like zombies were fast, anyway- josh never had a fear of them. not even of the hoards.
it was a bad thing for him, really- with him not being scared of the zombies surrounding him, he often put himself in more danger than he should have. getting too close to the zombies, not worrying when a large group was coming near him, dancing out loud and not even trying to be sneaky- the zombies weren't scary. joshua was more scared of the people around him than he ever was going to be of the dead. the people in the apocalypse tended to be more dangerous than any zombie could ever be. at least, that's just how joshua saw it.
sucking in a deep breath, the cool air felt nice in his lungs. damn, did he enjoy it. he loved early mornings. his eyes scanning over the horizon as the sun started to rise, joshua spotted a large tree with lower branches. they weren't close enough to the ground he could easily throw his leg over, but low enough he could grab onto it and climb upwards. joshua bounded towards the tree- a stupid grin on his lips as he wrapped his hands around the sharp bark. pulling himself upwards, josh placed his feet against the base of the tree as he climbed upwards, swinging himself up onto the branch. god he loved climbing trees. being able to be up higher where others couldn't reach often- being able to see more of the horizon and the view, it was his favorite thing to do.
pushing himself upwards, josh only made himself stand upright on the branch, his hands reaching for the branch above before a sudden voice startled him. grabbing onto the branch above him in fear, josh's eyes turned into saucers temporarily before he let them shrink, the sight of mallory only causing him to relax more as he let go of the branch. "hi, mal!" he exclaimed, offering a goofy smile as he leaned down to sit on the branch, kicking his legs back and forth as he grinned down at the girl. "you look so short from this angle. you always look short- but this makes it worse," he teased.
hearing her speak only made his smile grow even more- his hands scratching his sides in a teasing way as he shook his head towards her. "ooh ooh ahh ahh," he said quietly, mocking a monkey as he wrapped his hands around the branch under him, and moved himself so he could straddle the branch. "being a monkey isn't bad. i'd love to be a monkey, they can swing so easily, i'm jealous," he rambled, letting himself swing down to hang upside from the branch, his legs wrapped around the branch as he let one hand go. he knew if he kept himself there for too long he'd get too dizzy- but seeing her upside down was just a funny sight.
shaking his head, josh only smiled at the teasing. "gotta pat your lap. i may know my name, but i'm not that trained. asssss you can tell," he giggled, his smile only growing more and more as he smiled down at her, the upside view only making him dizzy, but his grip around the branch tight enough to keep him stable. "we can go eat! i just didn't know what time it was. i had been exploring for a while, i'm really bored," josh said slowly, sticking his tongue between his lips slightly before his eyes flickered towards a movement up further on the hill.
it was a figure- he couldn't make it out who it was, but the figure seemed to be waving. probably not at joshua, but he didn't mind. he was just going to wave back anyway- to be courteous. though the moment he began to shake his hand- it was like a domino effect. the dizzy feeling shooting down to his thighs, and his grip around the branch only loosened, sending joshua falling down to the ground. his head hit the ground first- then his back. his feet landed last. his head pulsed with pain- nothing too bad, the drop wasn't too far, but it still hurt. rubbing the back of his head, joshua sucked in a shaky breath as he pouted towards mallory. "damn it," he whined, picking out the leaves from his hair as he pushed himself up to his feet, brushing the dirt and leaves off of his clothing. "let's just go eat."