Cannibalism (4)

It started snowing, the first snowfall of the day. David took a long breath. He forgot the last time he was outside. He enjoyed the cold though he was shivering. It made him forget about Julia and Will for a while.

"Enjoying the weather, huh?" someone said from behind.

"Ah- sort of."

"David, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, "Keren, if I remember correctly."

"It's been almost a month but we didn't even interact much to remember our names."

David smiled in response but it melted away quickly.

"I'm sorry about your daughter," she said, "I know how it feels to lose a family member."

"It's okay," David replied, "I'm somewhat getting over it by now."

"I'll take it as a progress."

"..."

"You should get back inside. It'll be getting colder soon."

"Oh, thanks. But I'll stay here a bit longer."

"Would you like me to get you something? Something to drink?"

"Nah, I'm okay. Thanks for the offer though."

Keren smiled and went back inside. David let out a deep breath. He didn't notice till then, but Arthur was sitting a bit far under a tree. David approached him.

Arthur had his eyes closed. But he opened them to see who was coming.

"You, what do you want now?"

"Nothing."

"Then fuck off."

"You don't know how to talk to your elders, huh?"

"What did you-"

"It's fine, I guess," David sat beside Arthur.

"Wha-"

"We have known each other for so long, but we never really had a conversation."

They went silent. For a moment, Arthur wanted to get up and leave. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. So he sat there facing the other way.

"Your father," David broke the silence, "Do you blame me for his death?"

"Huh?"

"I failed to bring him back, didn't I?"

"..."

"Do you hate me for that?"

“Hate you?” he scratched the back of his head, “Never thought of it.”

“Is that so?” David found himself surprised.

“He was an asshole,” Arthur said, “Always bossing around. It pissed me off.”

“I see.”

“Wh-what about you?”

“Hm?”

“Do you hate me?”

“Why?”

“Things I did…to Will. Back in Rust, I shot him, almost killed him. You already know about it, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Then I am guessing that you also know why I did it.”

“I’ve heard.”

“Heh.”

“What?”

“You look awfully calm despite knowing what I did to your son. Punch me or something, dammit. What kind of father are you?”

David smiled, “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should give you a beating. Maybe I should beat the shit out of you for whatever you did to my son up until now. Or maybe not."

“...”

"Violence is wrong," he mumbled, "But sometimes it's necessary."

They both sat there for a while, without saying anything. It was getting colder every moment. But David didn't mind. In fact, he liked it.

Arthur stood up.

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah," he said, "I've had enough of you for a day. I feel sick."

"Ah huh," David said, "You're not good with conversations."

"..."

"Neither am I. That makes us a good team."

Arthur gave him a look of disgust and left. As he was leaving, he couldn't believe himself having that sort of conversation with someone.

"Do you hate me?" Arthur cringed all the way through his spine, The fuck were you saying? Why would it matter what anyone thinks about you?

…

Since Olivia didn't tag along with Nolan, he had much time to explore the woods. Olivia usually irritates him to get back home after hunting 2 or 3 rabbits. Since she wasn't there, he had no problem going deeper into the woods.

Still haven't found a sign of a deer.

He had his eyes on the ground to see if he could spot some footsteps. But he found none.

The snow made it harder for him to walk as usual. But going through it everyday also increased his stamina and strength.

He kept looking around for any sign of deer with 3 rabbits hanging around his waist. That night's dinner was already ready.

…

“There you are!” Arnold picked up his bat, “I’ve missed you so much!”

They reached the place, it didn't take them much time. Will looked around. Deads were lying on the ground, covered with snow. He could also see 2⁄3 bikes.

Arnold started his bike, “There there, just as I left it.”

Will looked around the place. He found many items peeking through the snow. Knives, wooden sticks, even a few dead bodies.

What the hell happened here?

He looked through the dead bodies. They all had something in common, even with the guy he met.

They all are wearing black jackets. A gang perhaps.

“What are you doing, kid?” Arnold asked while observing his bike.

“Nothing,” he replied, “Just…looking around.”

Arnold sorted out his things, “I guess that’s it! Time to move.”

“Can I have my gun back?”

Arnold looked at Will, “Of course,” he said after a short pause.

He made a gesture to throw it to Will but stopped midway, “About that.”

“...”

“How can I be sure that you won’t shoot me with it?”

“Why would I?” he replied, “You didn’t harm me.”

“Hm, fair point,” he threw it to Will, “A man to man. I am trusting your words.”

“You said you were Mexican.”

“Hm? I never said it. You guessed it.”

“But I was right, wasn’t I?”

“What if so?”

“What happened here?” Will asked, “All the cannibals lying around, I saw two dead bodies, wearing black jackets…like you.”

“My people were attacked by them.”

“Your people, you say,” Will said, “What kind of people?”

“What do you mean, kid?”

“Black jackets, same model of bikes. You are part of a gang, aren’t you?”

“...”

“Am I wrong?”

Arnold burst into laughter, “Aren’t you a clever one!”

“So, you are.”

“What about it?" Arnold asked, "Is there something you wanna know?"

"Does your gang have a name?"

"Every gang has one."

"What is it?"

Something about Will felt odd to Arnold. Will was asking too many questions about him. Specifically about his gang and his identity.

Do I know this kid? What was his name again? Fuck, shouldn't have given the gun back.

"The Nickles," Arnold lied with a straight face, "Cool name, ay?"

Will looked a bit disappointed hearing it, The Nickles…not Riders.

"Can you tell me your name?" Will asked.

"Oh? I thought you weren't interested."

"..."

"It's Carlos. Carlos Martinez."

"Oh."

"Hm? Were you hoping I was someone else?"

"N-no, it's not it."

"Say kid," Arnold said, "Are you scared of those things? What do you call them?"

"Cannibals?"

He said 'Cannibals'.

"Yeah yeah, do they scare you?"

"Sometimes."

"You're a tough kid, aren't you?" Arnold laughed.

"..."

"What was your name again, kid?"

"Wil."

"Just Will?"

"It's William Jones."

"Fine name you have."

"..."

"Well, Will," Arnold got onto his bike, "This is where we part our ways."

Will nodded. He got onto his horse and headed for the streets. Looked back at Arnold a few times.

Different people have different names for 'those' things. `Cannibals`, only people of that community call them that.

"William Jones," Arnold mumbled.

…

"She's missing?" Nolan asked.

Emma said, "Yeah, we can't find her since the morning."

"Are you sure that she is actually missing?"

"We can't find her and it's almost afternoon."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"She was with me," Keren replied, "She was giving a hand in my work outside. She said she would rest for a bit then vanished."

"And no one else saw her?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"Nolan, what do we do now?" Marco asked.

Nolan thought for a second, "Did you check the whole house?"

"We did," Emma replied, "We've also checked outside and everywhere possible."

"What about the basement?" Nolan asked.

Owen replied, "The basement has been locked up for a long time now. We don't use it."

"Did she go into the woods perhaps? To hunt?" Manny assumed.

"Not a chance, her equipment are all here. Why would she go on hunting without them?" Emma replied.

"She just…vanished," Marco said.

Or maybe someone vanished her. But for what reason? Nolan thought.

He said, "Olivia wouldn't just go and disappear all of a sudden. That would be an unlikely thing to do."

"What now?"

"Did anything about her look odd the last time you saw her?" Nolan asked.

"She was as cheerful as ever," Manny replied.

Nolan took a few moments to think, "I'll go look outside."

"At this time? It's almost dark outside," Emma replied.

"If she's not here then she's definitely out there," he replied, "Somewhere."

"Should I come with you?" Emma asked.

"If you want to."

…

Nolan and Emma started their search not so far away from the house. Nolan planned to search the houses nearby.

"Do you trust them?" Nolan suddenly asked.

"Hm?"

"Karen and her brothers," Nolan said, "Do you trust them?"

"Why is this question?"

"Just say yes or no."

"Y-yes, I guess."

"Well, you shouldn't."

"Huh? Why?"

"Don't trust anyone so easily," he replied, "In fact, don't even trust me."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Ethan had been with us for so long, yet we didn't even have a clue about his true color."

"..."

"None can be trusted at this point."

"..."

"Back in Rust, we used to have deer's meat for dinner, remember?" Nolan changed the subject.

"Hm, not so often though."

"Most of them were hunted by me and Olivia."

"Um hm."

"Keren often serves us deer's meat for dinner," he continued, "And Owen hunts them."

"..."

"Last night, when I told them that I still hadn't seen any deer, Owen replied that they were deeper into the woods."

"I remember."

"So I planned to go deeper into the woods today."

"So? Have you found any?"

"Surprising, no," he replied, "not even a sign of them."

"That's odd."

"I have yet to explore the woods properly but I'm pretty sure that there aren't any deer out there."

"Just a thought, it may sound stupid, but…"

"What is it?"

"Isn't it possible that he somehow hunted the last deer?" Emma shrugged.

Nolan looked at her as if he had been never more disappointed in his life before.

"We've been here for only 3 weeks. And I only started hunting here just recently. Even if he is to hunt the last deer, there should've been many signs of their existence at least. But I didn't see any footsteps, marks of their horns on trees, nothing."

"Wait, that means…"

"They've been feeding us something else," Nolan said, "Something that has a similar taste as deer's meat."

"Similar taste as deer's meat?"

"I have a theory, but I hope it's not true," Nolan said, "I'm not fond of it."

"What is it?"

"We are the only people here on this land. The other houses around here are empty."

"Is it really that suspicious though?" Emma asked, "Even back in Rust, we rarely got to see people in towns and cities."

"Yes, but we had to encounter a lot of cannibals on our way too," he said, "But how many of them have you seen in these past weeks?"

"Ah…"

"Not even a single one, huh," he continued, "Even I only saw a few."

"Wait, are you telling me that they are feeding us cannibals for dinner?!"

"No, Juan said they are poisonous. We would've been dead by now if that was the case."

"Then what?"

"What if…"

"What?"

"What if they are feeding them to us before they turn into cannibals?"

"Th-they are feeding us humans?" Emma asked with fear.

"And maybe that's why there are no people around here," he said, "Because they are all killed and served."

"I-if that's the case…then, O-Olivia?"

"I'm not sure. It's just a theory. But I should've realized sooner that something is wrong about this place."

"..."

"We have to keep an eye on them."

"So what now?"

"Just act normal for now. Don't tell anyone about this conversation."

…

It was late at night. Everyone was asleep and Keren made sure about it. Completely silent, even footsteps would make loud noises.

Keren entered a room and closed the door. Ryan was sitting on a chair not so far away from her. Owen was beside him leaning against the wall.

“I was just passing by to collect the ingredients. Then I saw that the bulkhead door was open. If I hadn’t been there,” Owen started talking, “All of this would’ve been over by now.”

“I-I am sorry, I forgot to lock the door,” Ryan apologized.

Keren sighed, “Where is she?”

“Basement, I tied her up there.”

“Good.”

“I-I am really sorry.”

“Ryan,” Keren said, “Look at me.”

He looked at her sister. He could clearly see her face with the candlelight.

“Everyone makes mistakes. That’s normal.”

“...”

“To make up for your mistakes, you’ll have to face penalties.”

“...”

“You’ve never killed someone before,” Keren said, “I’d like you to prepare the next meal.”

“...”

“What do we do now though?”

Keren looked at Owen.

“One of their people just vanished, they’ll become suspicious.”

“Don’t need to panic, they have the least reason to suspect us. Act normal, it’s only for a few days only. It’s hard to get so many ingredients these days. We hit a jackp-”

A sound from outside of the door interrupted her.

“Who’s there?!” Keren looked behind.

She quickly opened the door. No one was there, completely dark. She heard footsteps not so far away. She followed it.

“Stop!”

No response. The sound of footsteps melted away completely. In that darkness, Keren didn’t know where it went. She stood still in her place.

Someone heard us.

___