Cannibalism (2)

"Shh, I heard something," Nolan said quietly.

Olivia looked around.

Nolan slowly moved his legs and went ahead. He already realized that something was behind the bushes ahead. He pulled an arrow, waited a few seconds and released it. The arrow striked something. He went ahead and pulled out a rabbit from the bushes.

"Poor rabbit," said Olivia.

Nolan shrugged and said, "Too poor to be dead."

"We should head back. It's already too dark. We shouldn't have come out to hunt at this late anyway."

"This isn't enough," Nolan said, "But let's head back."

Nolan and Olivia started heading back to their place.

"It's so cold out here. I'm freezing," Olivia shivered.

"This is the coldest winter in years."

"You bet it is," she breathed out warm air in her hands, "Wish we could go back to the old days. In winter, at home with a warm bed, warm and comfy blanket. A nice glass of hot tea. It feels so unreal now."

"What's the point of thinking about all these? You know it's not possible."

"Argh, can't you at least try to imagine? You're the most boring person I've ever come across."

"I am?" he didn't look surprised.

She sighed.

It was snowing heavily, the ground was covered with snow all over. It was difficult to move. Nonetheless, they kept walking.

"I wonder where Will is now," said Olivia.

"He'll be fine, wherever he is."

"Still can't figure out why he left, leaving his dad and Lucas behind," she said.

"You sure you're not speaking out loud your thoughts?"

"Shut up."

He smiled a bit, "He must have his reasons. It hasn't been so long since he lost his sister. Maybe he just needs some time alone. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I hope that's the case. It's been hard."

"It's been hard for all of us."

"You speak like a robot, dude."

"I don't."

"You do."

…

Ryan was the youngest member of the family. He turned 18 that year. His sister Keren, was the oldest sibling and the head of the family. She was in her mid 30’s. He also had a brother, Owen. But he was younger than Keren. Ryan’s mother died giving birth to him. His father became paralyzed and had been using a wheelchair. Since someone had to run the family, his older sister Keren decided to take the responsibility.

A few weeks ago, a group of 16 people came to their land and asked for a shelter. His sister Keren was kind enough to let them stay at their house. It was too big for only 4 people anyway. The leader of this group was a guy named David. He never really left his room, even for a meal. He was always upset for some reason. He had a son named Will, who left after a few days. Ryan didn’t know why and couldn’t care less about it. There was a boy named Nolan. Ryan noticed that they both had similar personalities. He also noticed that the boy named Arthur was never really around. He never really interacted with anyone. But only Olivia piqued Ryan’s interest. She had a cute face. And the short hair suited her well. He was never fond of girls with glasses, like Ruby. Also there was this girl named Emma. There were also other members who didn’t seem to interest Ryan much. He didn’t even remember their names.

…

“Dinner is ready everyone!” exclaimed Keren.

“Looks delicious!” Manny looked happy, “I’m starving. Let’s dig in!”

“Hey, manners!” Ruby shouted.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Keren laughed, “It’s alright. But we should pray for our meal first. Isn’t that right, Ryan?”

Ryan simply nodded.

Somebody knocked on the door.

"I'll open it," Keren said. She opened the door, "Why did you go outside? It's dark outside."

Nolan showed her the rabbit they caught.

"It's really cold outside," Olivia got inside.

Everyone sat down for dinner. The table wasn't big enough for them. But they somehow managed.

"David isn't here again," Manny whispered to Lucas, "How is he?"

"He's tired."

"Is Arthur outside again?" Olivia asked Emma.

"Probably, he is never around. I barely see him these days."

"Let him be. He lost both his parents in a single day. He's still upset."

"I understand."

When everyone got quiet, Keren started praying, "Lord God, Heavenly Father, bless us and these Thy gifts which we receive from Thy bountiful goodness, through Jesus Christ, our Lord," with a little pause, she concluded, "Amen."

"Amen," everybody started eating their meals.

"Keren, you make the best food," Manny praised.

"Oh, come on. It's nothing that great. I just simply follow my mother's recipe."

"Is this really deer’s meat? It’s nothing like I’ve eaten before,” Katie said.

“Yes it is,” Keren replied with a smile.

“I haven’t seen many deers around here,” Olivia said.

“There are many actually,” Owen replied, “But they’re a lot deeper into the woods.

“You’re really good with hunting I suppose.”

“Not really.”

“I could show you where they usually gather around though,” Ryan said to Olivia.

“Oh, I’d love to see,” she replied with a smile.

Owen looked at his brother as if he was annoyed. Ryan noticed that.

“You shouldn’t have gone hunting at this time,” Keren directed at Olivia and Nolan, “It’s not safe.”

“Don’t worry, we’re used to it,” Olivia replied.

“Still…”

“Owen is doing all the hunting, he is providing for the family. We want to contribute too.”

“We’ll be out of your hair soon,” Nolan replied, “After we find somewhere set up.”

“Oh no, It’s fine. I don’t mind. It’s kind of lonely with only 4 people anyway. We don’t really meet with new people everyday,” Keren replied, “You can stay here as long as you want.”

…

Arthur made a fire outside the house under a tree. It stopped snowing. He sneezed twice.

“Cold, huh?” asked Nolan.

“What do you want?”

“Here is your dinner,” Nolan handed him a plate with the meal, “I know how you like to eat outside.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Okay, I’ll take it inside then. It’ll get cold otherwise.”

“Wait,” he said, “I’ll take it.”

“You know, you don’t need to show your stubbornness all the time.”

“The fuck did you say?”

Nolan sighed, “Take the plate inside after you’re done.”

…

David was seated on his bed. He hadn’t been eating much. He seemed a lot older than he was. The beard was helping it.

I like your beard. Never shaved it off. Promise me.

David smiled sadly remembering that.

“I’m coming in,” Lucas opened the door.

He looked at the table where he left the lunch.

“You didn’t eat your lunch.”

“I wasn’t hungry.”

Lucas sighed. He left the dinner beside it and sat beside David.

“For how long are you going to be like this?” he asked.

No reply from David.

“I know it has been hard,” he said, “But you have to take care of yourself.”

Still no reply from David.

“Huh, you know,” Lucas said, “I have a secret.”

David looked at him.

“I…I-I liked your daughter.”

“You liked Julia?” David asked.

“I did,” he replied, “I had a crush on her since the day I saw her.”

“Did you tell her?”

“I never had the chance,” he said sadly.

They both got quiet for a while.

“What do you think she would’ve done if I told her?”

“I…don’t know,” he replied, “Julia and I, we never talked about these things.”

He looked at Lucas.

“Love…it’s a really complicated thing, you see,” David scratched his head, “Even I don’t get it very well.”

“What about Will? Have you ever talked to him on this topic?”

“Huh, no. I wasn’t that close to him to talk about these things,” David sounded disappointed, “Now that I think of it, I was never really an ideal father.”

“It’s fine.”

David sighed, “You know, I have a secret too. And it’s a big one.”

“Is it? Tell me.”

“No,” he declined immediately.

“Then why did you even bring this up?”

David shrugged.

…

“You wanted to talk to me,” Keren said, “What is it?”

Diana closed the door before starting. Brad was also with her. They both sat down facing Keren.

“We want to ask you for a favor,” Diana and Brad looked at each other.

“Yes, what is it?”

“We want to leave,” Diana said.

“I’m sorry?”

“You heard it right.”

“Why would you wanna leave?” Keren seemed confused, “Is there a problem? If yes, you can share it with me.”

Diana and Brad looked at each other again. Yes, there was a problem. They weren’t really “members” of this group. Almost a month ago, they were holding guns against these people’s heads. But they failed to keep it that way. From lions to cats, it didn’t take much time to turn it like that after their former leader James was shot by David.

“There aren’t any problems,” They decided to lie for obvious reasons.

“Then why?”

“We don’t feel comfortable with these guys. They aren’t good people,” Diana tried to play the victim, “They don’t treat others equally and often misbehave. Also that David, he’s a jerk.”

“I am confused. They seemed really nice.”

“They aren’t. They are just acting like that so that you let them crash here,” Diana said, “And we can’t stay with these people anymore.”

“I mean, sure. If you want to leave, you can. Who am I to hold you back?”
“About that, we need a favor.”

“What is it?”
“We want 2 week’s food for the road and two horses,” Brad said.

Keren laughed awkwardly, “Ah-ha, you know it isn’t possible, right?”

“Why not?”

“It’s rough out there. If I give away 2 week’s worth of food, we’ll starve to death here.”

“You’re lying. I see how you managed to serve deer’s and rabbit’s meat everyday on the table. And I am sure there are a lot where they came from,” replied Diana.

“Sure, there are. But not right at this moment,” Keren said, “we don’t have 2 week’s worth of food stored here. Even if I had, I couldn’t give it away. Otherwise, we would have nothing to eat.”

They both looked disappointed.

“How much can you give then?” asked Brad.

“I can give you 2 day’s worth of food at best,” she offered, “And only a horse.”

“What?! That is not even close!” Diana couldn’t believe what she heard.

“That’s the highest I can go.”

“Bullshit,” Diana stood up. So did her husband.

“Thanks for your help,” Diana said with disgust and they both left Keren’s room.

Keren could do nothing but sigh.

…

It was the day after, the sun was shining brightly. Keren decided to do some reparing on their horse stable. It needed to be repaired for a long time but Keren was slacking off. So she decided to do the work when there was still sun shining in the sky. Olivia decided to help her.

"You're not going hunting with your friend Nolan today?" Keren asked.

"I decided not to. I wanted to do something else."

"Well, then you're in the right hands," Keren said with a smile.

They gathered necessary materials for the job. Started with patching the holes and cracks on the walls first. Keren was muscular. She worked out every morning to keep her body fit. She didn't have a lack of strength. But on the other hand, Olivia didn't have much stamina compared to Keren. After patching, they started cleaning the stable. Overall, it took them a while to get done with it.

"I should take some rest," Olivia was out of breath.

"Okay, go ahead. I'll finish the rest of the work." Keren smiled, "Thanks for the hand by the way."

"No problem."

Olivia went back to the house. She sat on a chair outside the house to catch her breath. She looked around and saw nobody. It was still cold so they were inside. She at least expected Arthur to be around.

Maybe he's in the woods or something.

She rested there for a while. Suddenly, a rabbit caught her eyes. It was just passing by then stopped to see her. Since Olivia was done resting, she approached the rabbit. She expected it tk run away but it didn't.

"Hey, aren't you a good boy?"

Just when she was about to pet it, it got scared and jumped away.

"Ah, I didn't mean to scare you," she followed it.

The rabbit went behind the house and disappeared into the woods. Olivia stood there for a while and looked around. She never came behind the house before. That area was covered with a lot of plants. She also noticed a bulkhead door to the basement. It made her remember that her father never let her into the basement. He had his old things there. And he didn't like it when someone touched his stuff. He always kept the bulkhead doors locked with a big and heavy lock.

Ah, dad. She smiled.

She noticed that the bulkhead doors weren't locked. It excited her. She opened it just to what was inside. She climbed down the stairs but left the door open since it was really dark inside. The floor was dirty and the basement had a weird smell. She became nauseated.

What is this smell?

She looked around. The place was covered with old junks. Broken tables, chairs, an old television covered with dusted cloth. There was nothing interesting. She wanted to get out because of the smell but at the same time, she wanted to find out where it was coming from. As she was taking steps to a certain area, the smell was getting stronger. The sunlight from outside wasn't reaching that part of the basement so it was a bit dark. The place was all covered with a blanket. She pulled it away to see what was under there. Even though there wasn't much sunlight reaching that area, she still could see what was lying down there, in front of her. She was stunned. Her body became frozen still. She wanted to get out of the place at once and let everybody know but she couldn't seem to move her body. These two dead bodies were spreading the smell.

"You shouldn't have come here," a voice said from behind her.

She didn't even get the time to turn her head. Something hit her and she fell on the ground.

___