Cannibalism (1)

“Ah, What weather!” Arnold exclaimed while rubbing his shoulders.

He looked outside of his window. It had been snowing for 3 weeks. Also it was the coldest winter in years. But somehow Arnold liked it. He picked up his mug and drank some hot water to fix his sore throat. He let out a sound of satisfaction from his mouth. He looked out the window again. But not at the sky this time, he looked at the members of the gang. They were outside, in the cold. They made a fire and sat all together around it, were having some laughs, drinking booze they found.

Just that moment, Luis, Arnold’s right hand, walked into the room.

“Arnold, you have a minute?” he asked.

“A-ah, Somebody forgot to knock on the door,” said Arnold with sarcasm.

Luis didn’t reply to that. He put some papers on the table.

“As you asked, I made the list for you.”

“Good job, Luis,” Arnold picked up the papers with a smile on his face. He went through the papers carefully and stopped in the middle.

“As far as I remember, we should be having 8 communities giving us rations,” he continued, “I can see one is missing for the month. What’s wrong?”

“Yeah, about that,” Luis replied, “Hillside are making a fuss. They aren’t willing to give us the amount they promised.”

“So?”

“So what?”

“You let them go with it?”

“No, we gave them 2 days to reconsider their action.”

“Tch tch tch,” Arnold let out his disappointment, “Let me tell you a story.”

After a little pause, he began to speak, “My mama was a strict woman. Since my papa wasn’t there for us, she had to take care of me and my little sister all by herself. So one day, I was hanging with my friends. We were passing by a store. Then something caught my eyes,” he continued, “It was a skateboard. A very expensive one. I wanted to buy it. But I didn’t have that sort of money. Also, there was no way I could ask for any money. So I had to choose another way.”

With a little pause, he continued again, “That night, when my mama was taking a shower, I went to her room and stole some cash from her purse, hid it under my bed and went to sleep for the day. The next day, I was awoken by my mama. She looked very angry. She asked me if I had stolen money from her purse. I was really shocked at that time. I didn’t know what to say. But I accidentally said that it was my sister who did it. You know what my mama did next?”

“What?”
“She broke my sister’s arm.”

“O-oh.”

Arnold went silent for a while. Until he burst into laughter.

“Why…are you laughing?”

“Did you believe all that bullshit?”

“Did you make this up?”

“Look at your face!” Arnold couldn’t stop laughing, “Ah, so good.”

He got up from his seat and approached Luis. With a serious face, he said, “Rebels shouldn't be given a second chance. It makes us look weak. If they want to show that they have balls, just cut them. It will make them go quiet.”

“I understand.”

Arnold let out a deep breath, “Gather everyone on the field. Time to show the Hillside who is the boss here.”

“Understood,” Luis added, “And about Ethan. He hasn’t been eating his meal. I think you should pay him a visit.”

…

Ethan was seated in his bed. He kept staring at his hands. His hands were shaking. He let out a deep breath. Ever since he escaped from Rust, His hands hadn’t stopped shaking. He also hadn’t been sleeping much. He also lost his appetite. He laughed at himself.

I am going crazy. I should just kill myself and end it here.

“Knock knock!” someone said behind the closed door.

“What is it? Didn’t I say I don’t want to talk to anyone?”

“Open the door, Mr. Ethan Baker.”

“Is that you, Arnold?”

“Yes, sir.”

Ethan opened the door, “I want to be alone.”

“I am deeply sorry for your disturbance,” he got inside the room, “But it has come to my attention that you have not been eating your meal.”

“Please stop talking like that.”

“Alright, okay.”

Ethan sat in his bed again.

“What’s the matter?” Arnold asked, “Do I have to keep babysitting you? Eat your meal and get your shit together.”

“I am sorry.”

“I know exactly what you need,” Arnold said with a big smile on his face, “An adventure!”

“What? No.”

“That’s right. We’ll be doing some work tonight and you’re coming with me. It will freshen up your mind.”

“I am not so sure about that.”

“Pack your things. It’s going to be a long night.”

…

All members of the Riders were gathered in the field. They weren’t told what was happening. So they were talking among themselves. When Arnold entered the scene, everyone went silent. Arnold looked at everyone and cleared his throats to get everyone’s attention though he already accomplished it.

“Some of you might know that the people of Hillside are making a fuss. They don’t want to give us our proper rights by refusing to provide promised ration. And it saddens me deeply.”

The crowd started making some noises.

“And do you all want to see your boss sad?”

“No!” the crowd screamed.

“Then I have a request.”

He looked at his comrades and continued, “I wanna let the Hillside know that we are the one who give the commands. Not them.”

The crowd shouted with enthusiasm.

“I need 10 brave comrades to fulfill my desire. Come forward! The first 10 people to come forward will be awarded highly after this is done.”

It didn’t even take a second for 10 members of the gang to secure their places.

“The rest of you, will be protecting my kingdom in my absence.”

Arnold along with 10 of his gang members headed for the Hillside that night. He also took Ethan with him to help him clear his mind.

…

After an hour of driving, the Riders decided to take a break. They were passing by a forest. So the obvious was to make a fire and camp there for a while. Just in a few minutes, they were all drunk with booze and became unaware of their surroundings. Ethan didn’t think that it was safe. He was feeling uneasy.

“Ay! Drink some, Ethan dear!” Arnold exclaimed.

“No, I don’t feel like it.”

“What about you, Luis?”

“Nah.”
“Tch, you two are no fun,” Arnold took in some more alcohol.

“We only lack some women,” one of the guys said.

“It’s been ages since I had sex,” another guy joined the conversation.

“Oi Luis!” Shouted Arnold.

“What?”

“Have you ever had sex?” Arnold looked really drunk.

“Of course I’ve had sex.”

“Oh yeah? With whom?”

“A lot of ‘em.”

“Who was your first, ay?”

Luis exhaled, “Why are we talking about me?”

“Come on, Luis. Tell us,” one of the members insisted.

“Shut up.”

“Luis, it’s an order. Tell us!”

“Arnold, you’ve had enough for today. Now you can’t ride the bike.”

“Shut your mouth and tell us.”

“Huh,” he exhaled again, “It was this girl from m-”

“Wait!” Arnold stood up, “I gotta take a leak first.”

“Should I come with you? You look wasted," offered Ethan.

“Umm nah. The last thing I would need is someone to help me piss.”

Arnold went into the deeper forest to find a spot. After he finished his job, he was about to had back. But he slipped and fell on the ground.

“Oi, stop pushing me,” he mumbled and lost his consciousness soon after.

…

"Arnold!" someone exclaimed.

“Umm, don’t disturb me.”

“Arnold, wake up!”

“Umh! Let me rest for fuck’s sake.”

“”Jesus Crist, Arnold.”

“Goddammit, who the fuck are you?!”

“It’s me, Ethan,” he said, “You need to wake up!”

“Ethan, don’t disturb me. Let me sleep.”

“We are being attacked by the cannibals! You need to wake up!”

“What?”

“Comn on, get up!”

Ethan helped Arnold to get up to his feet. He was still drunk and couldn't keep himself straight. But he heard the sounds of other’s screaming. His small gang was being surrounded by many man eaters not so far away from him.

“What the hell is happening?”

“Here, grab on to me,” Ethan put Arnold’s arm around him, “We need to get out of here.”

“Ah, where is Luis?”

“He told me to take you and run,” Ethan started to move the opposite way with Arnold.

“He ain’t coming?”

Ethan didn’t say anything.

“Goddammit, Luis.”

Little by little, they started to pace up. Without looking back, they kept moving through the bushes and trees. It was dark at night, they couldn’t see anything. As the screaming from behind was fading away, they could hear the sound coming from ahead more clearly. Arnold was too drunk to listen to anything. But Ethan had to be careful of their surroundings. He spotted a few cannibals coming at them. So he moved up his pace a bit more. But Arnold couldn’t match it. He tripped and fell.

“Ah, goddammit.”

“Here, get up.”

Ethan helped him to get up and they started moving again. After moving a while, Ethan noticed something and stopped moving.

“What’s wron-”

“Shh.”

He kept hearing something moving around the bushes. He couldn't decide whether he should move or not. He started moving anyway. Just then, a few cannibals appeared from the bushes around them.

“Move your legs, Arnold!” Ethan screamed.

They started to walk fast. But the cannibals were faster. Each time Ethan looked back, the cannibals were more in number. At some point, he realized that if they kept moving at this pace, the man eaters would catch up to them. He also couldn’t move faster with Arnold around him. So he decided to do something else. He pushed Arnold away in some bushes and started screaming.

“Arnold, you run away! I’ll distract them!”

Arnold was too drunk to respond. He just kept lying there. Ethan waved his hands and kept screaming to catch the cannibals attention and started moving away from Arnold. Arnold noticed that Ethan’s screaming was fading away slowly, so as the cannibals growling. He tried to move away with his arms but he wasn’t aware that he was at the edge of a small cliff. He lost the surface and fell off. Luckily, he didn’t hurt himself. He stood up and started walking though he was very dizzy. He couldn’t hear anything clearly nor could he see. Still, he kept moving his legs.

…

He didn’t know for how long he was walking. He was thirsty and tired, also hungry. The moon was shining brightly then and it made it easier for him to see what was ahead. After walking a while, he noticed a wooden house, a broken one. Clearly it was abandoned. He got in and found himself a chair to sit on. He let out a deep breath. Just then, something touched the back of his head.

“Move a muscle and you’re dead,” someone said from behind. The person was holding a gun against Arnold’s head.

Arnold tried to turn his head and look at him.

“I said don’t move.”

“Haha, it’s not really good to point a gun at an exhausted and unarmed guy.”

“Stay still.”

The stranger checked Arnold’s pockets, nothing was there. He slowly moved away from him. Then Arnold saw his face. A boy in his early 20’s. His hair was messy and looked like he hadn't slept in a long time.

“Do you have something to drink, ay?”

The boy didn’t reply to that.

“I’m thirsty.”

He looked at Arnold for a few seconds. He took out a bottle from his bag and rolled it over to Arnold. Arnold slowly picked the bottle while looking at the stranger’s eyes.

He took a few sips and let out a sound of satisfaction.

“Thank you, kid,” he looked around, “You all by yourself, huh?”

He didn’t respond.

“Come on, boy. I’m not gonna bite you. Put that thing down for a bit, will ya?”

The stranger took a minute to process his thoughts then he put down his gun and sat on the ground away from Arnold.

“Thank you,” Arnold smiled, “Let’s start again. Are you traveling alone, son?”

“Don’t call me son,” he said, “And even if I were, what is it to you?”

“Don’t be so cold, boy. I’m not pulling any tricks.”

“...”

“I got separated from my people.”

“How?” he asked without any interest.

“You know, those ‘things’ attacked us,” Arnold smiled.

“Stop smiling. You’re creeping me.”

“Oh,” Arnold put up his hands, “My apologies.”

“...”

“You know, I am doing all the talking here. You could help me out here.”

The boy sighed, “What is it?”

“Let’s start from the beginning, again,” Arnold smiled.

But the boy didn’t say anything this time.

“You’re traveling alone, huh?”

The boy sighed again, “I am.”

“Must be hard, ay?”

“Not really.”

“You got separated too?”

He shook his head lightly, “I left.”

“Huh, people like to stay in groups. It’s safer, ya know?”

“I left because I have something I must do.”

“Uh, interesting,” Arnold smiled, “And what might that be?”

“None of your business.”

“Haha, thought so.”

“...”

“Ah, I haven’t introduced myself yet.”

“Not interested.”

“Rude, but I got used to it at this point, " Arnold said, “May I ask what’s your name though?”

The boy sighed again, “It’s Will.”

___