Cannibalism (5)

Keren kept moving her eyes constantly. She was observing everyone, to find out who it was that listened to their conversation last night.

"Emma, you haven't touched your meal," she noticed.

"I-I…I don't feel like eating."

"Is it about Olivia?"

She nodded. But Keren didn't know the other reason.

Is she the one?

"We are all worried for her. But you have to take care of yourself first, dear."

"She's right, Emma," Nolan said while eating.

Emma stared at him, How can you even eat it?

Nolan glared at her.

Act normal, his eyes said.

"Olivia's still missing, Nolan," Manny said, "What are we gonna do?"

"I'll go check the woods again today," Nolan replied, "Might as well hunt something for dinner, “What do you say, Owen?"

"Hm?"

"Care to join? You could also show me some deer to hunt."

"Thanks for the offer. But I am not feeling so well today. So, I'll pass."

"Oh, what about you?" Nolan looked at Ryan.

"M-me?"

"You could show me the way, right?"

"I-"

"Ryan doesn't usually go on hunting," Owen replied instead, "He feels uneasy, isn't that right, Ryan?"

"Y-yes."

"Too bad."

"I could come with you," Marco said.

"You're not used to hunting, you'll just get in his way," Manny said.

"It's fine. I'll go by myself," Nolan said.

…

Nolan looked around. He saw no one. Then he looked at the bulkhead doors. It was locked. He looked closely. The lock didn't have rust on it.

Owen said that nobody used the basement for a long time. Was he lying?. He wants us to stay away from the basement, huh? Should I break the door open? That would be too bold. I can't be sure about the lock though. It may not look so old. But there still is a chance that Owen was telling the truth. I have to be completely sure about it, Nolan thought, Shouldn't act based on assumptions.

…

After a couple of hours of riding, Will finally reached his destination. The town looked clearer than he thought it would. There was almost nothing left, except a few deads roaming around. He slowly rode his horse into the town. The man eaters didn't pay any attention to him. In these few days of traveling alone, he had discovered that the deads could sense fear. He didn't know if it was his imagination or not but he liked to think it that way. If one didn't have fear in him, he was most likely to get ignored by the man eaters. He looked around, nothing looked unfamiliar to him. He never really liked this place. But somehow he was relieved to come back.

It's good to be back home, I guess.

After a few minutes of riding his horse, he reached his exact destination. He got down from the horse, looked at the house in front of him. He sighed.

He grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. Surprisingly, it was unlocked.

So dad actually forgot to lock the door when we all got out, Will thought, as always.

He got inside the house and closed the door, but didn't lock it. It wasn't really needed to.

The place was exactly the way they left it. He could smell something strange, the smell of an empty house. He spent some time roaming around, touching everything. He was enjoying himself, his childhood memories were flashing in front of his eyes. He became nostalgic, and also sad. He went upstairs, to his room. He entered his room sliding his hand on the wall. He opened his closet, took out his clothes. They looked shorter. He looked at his arms and admired his muscles unintentionally.

He looked at his table. He could see all his notes and books. He wasn’t a bright student but he used to study hard. He opened his drawer and found the thing he actually came for.

“Sorry, I forgot about you,” he said.

He got out of his room shortly. Julia’s room was just beside him. The door was closed. He grabbed the doorknob to open it but stopped.

“If Julia finds out I entered her room without her permission, she would be mad,” he said to himself. But actually, he was just too scared to face the reality that Julia wasn’t around anymore.

He let go of the doorknob and walked away. His parents' room was just around the corner. The door was slightly open. He pushed the door. It moved away making a small sound. The room was comparably darker than his one. He looked around to see if he could find anything useful or worth taking back. He wanted to take something for his dad.

Where would dad keep his precious things?

He checked the closet, under the bed. Finally, he checked the drawers. One of them was locked.

Maybe something's here.

He broke the lock with his knife and opened it. The drawer was filled with documents and other papers. He was a bit disappointed. He expected to find something that was not papers. Nonetheless, he went through them. Almost all of them were his dad's documents from his work. But at the bottom, he found an envelope. He opened it with no interest.

An old piece of paper, with a headline that made him skip a beat. For a moment, he wasn't sure of what he was reading. His life flashed in front of his eyes once again. But this time, it wasn't nostalgic. He didn't experience this feeling before. He was so shocked that he couldn't sense the man standing behind him.

"Well well well, what do we have here," Arnold's voice, "Looks like I wasn't wrong after all. You are David Jones's son."

Will didn't get a chance to turn around his head. Arnold struck his neck and he fell on the floor. But that piece of paper was still in his hand, squished tightly.

…

Nolan could do nothing but yawn. He didn’t know exactly how long he was hiding in the bushes, not so far away from the bulkhead doors. But he could guess.

It’s been hours. It’ll get dark soon, he thought, patience is everything, Nolan. So, be patient. Just like he taught you to be.

Though he was telling all those things to himself, he was still unsure of his plan. There was no guarantee that anyone would come and open the bulkhead doors. But he had some hunches and he was almost right about them. He was confident in himself.

Just like he taught me to be.

The sun was going down slowly. It was getting darker and colder at the same time. He rubbed his hands and blew warm breaths on them. He waited and waited. His patience was also getting thinner as time was passing by. The sun somewhat started to go down faster. He almost could see nothing. But just then, he heard something.

Footsteps.

Someone appeared in the scene. It was dark enough for Nolan to not be able to see who it was. But seeing the shape of his body, he could guess easily.

The person slowly approached the bulkhead doors. He looked around and then put his hand on his jacket. He pulled out a key and opened the lock without making any noise. He closed the doors from the other side.

Bingo, Nolan thought, I was right. The basement is being used after all. I could just go and bust in. But that would be foolish. What if there is actually nothing suspicious behind the doors? They’d get to know that I am spying on them but I’d get nothing in return. No need to make such a gamble. No need to make unnecessary movements. Everything has to be calculated perfectly.

…

Olivia mumbled. She had something to say. But her mouth was wrapped with tape. She tried to get Ryan’s attention by moving the chair she was tied with but failed. He was standing leaning against the wall with a long stick in his hands. He was spacing out, he had no focus. Olivia mumbled again. No result. She let out a deep breath. Just then, someone opened the bulkhead doors.

“The fuck are you doing?” Owen shouted.

“Huh?” Ryan looked at his brother, “I. ah…”

You still haven’t done it?” He said, “She is still alive.”

“I-I was about to.”

“Yeah right,” Owen said, “Keren wants her to be shifted upstairs.”

“Why?”

“The people would get suspicious if they see us using the basement,” he replied, “I told them that we don’t use the basement, weren’t you listening?”

“I-I was,” Ryan replied, “But Keren told me to take care of her.”

“You would’ve done it by now if you really wanted to. Keren knows,” Owen said, “She knows that you don’t have it in you. So she made this alternative plan."

“O-oh.”

"Besides, we need her alive for a few more days. We still have enough food. It would be a waste to kill her off so early. After all, rotten ingredients don't have a sapid."

"..."

"We also need to move the dead bodies," Owen looked at the dead bodies that Olivia found earlier.

"We shouldn't have killed them," Ryan said.

"Right. Now it started to rot."

Olivia mumbled and made a gesture to get their attention.

Owen pulled off the tape from her mouth a little, "What?"

"I need to pee."

"A lady shouldn't talk like that, " Owen said, "Hold it till everyone's asleep."

He taped her mouth again before she could reply.

"When are we supposed to…" Ryan didn't finish his sentence.

"Tonight," Owen replied, "When everyone's asleep."

…

It was after dinner time. Keren was in her room, trying to figure out who it was that heard their conversation. One thing she was sure of was that whoever was eavesdropping, didn’t tell others about their conversation. If that person did, the other people would’ve reacted by now.

Or perhaps they are up to something.

She couldn’t wrap her head around it. She needed to find out who it was and had to do it fast.

Otherwise, there would be no choice but to kill them all. But that would be a waste.

Just then, someone knocked at her door.

“Come in, it’s open.”

Diana and Brad entered the room.

“How can I help you?” Keren put on a fake smile, “Is something wrong?”

Diana and her husband looked at each other.

“No,” Brad replied, “The thing is…”

“Hm?”

“We’ve come here to discuss our wish,” Diana said, “Again.”

“Wish?”

“We want the horses,” Diana said with a strict face, “And the food we asked for.”

Diana sighed, “Didn’t we discuss it? I can’t help you with that. The best I can do is one horse and 2 days’ worth of food.”

“Bu-”

“Actually, I don’t know if I can even do that. Animals aren’t seen much in the woods these days. It’ll get a lot harder to hunt in the future.”

“Oh, yeah?” Diana said, “What’s your proposal then?”

“At this state, the best I can do is…” Keren continued with a small pause, “1 day’s worth of food.”

“...”

“Besides, it’s safer here than out there.”

“...”

Keren stood up and approached Diana. She grabbed her arms softly and said, “You have a child on the way. Don’t you want it to have a good and safe life? Why do you want to risk going out and live in fear?”

She looked at Brad, “You’re her husband, aren’t you? Should you be concerned about her? Can you even forgive yourself if anything happens to your child? Would you be able to live with yourself then?”

Brad looked away.

She turned to Diana, “You said that you don’t like these people. I don’t know what you have against them and I won’t ask. But for the sake of your unborn child, please don’t do this. Stay.”

Diana clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. As she did, a drop of tears came out of her left eye. She looked weak all of a sudden. She took her time. Seeing her reaction, Keren thought she changed her mind. She grabbed her shoulders softly, “It’s for the best. For you and your child.”

Diana opened her eyes and looked at Keren. Keren looked at her with a sympathetic smile.

“I know…” Diana said, “I know what you did.”

Keren’s smile melted right away.

___