by Ben McElyea
Jake and Dan were given back two pistols and extra magazines. Frank was the leader of the scavengers. Everything scavenged went through his hands first. He bore the rank of Corporal.
“Look for anything useful. You do your very best every time. If it moves, shoot it. If it’s human, you should probably shoot him or her. Don’t kill humans unless you feel you have to. Use your best judgment.”
Alex was shown how to tend to the crops. Dakota spent the entire morning and half the afternoon standing on the bridge. Frank, Jake, and Dan readied themselves for a scavenging run.
“Rules are the same, everyone. You share what you find. When we get back, bring everything you find to me. I’ll need to do an inventory check. Always check your corners. We’re going a little further in than we did last time. We have to. It is likely we will encounter more zombies than we have before. There are twenty-nine scavengers. If we’re fast and smart, it’ll stay that way. Stay together. Don’t run off. Let’s get this done.”
Jake and Dan were quiet. Dan walked next to Jake as they and the other scavengers walked down the road. They passed a convenience store. Apparently, it had been picked clean. They passed service stations, fast food restaurants, and businesses. All of them had been looted as well.
“We’re going pretty far in,” Jake said to Frank as they stayed alert.
“We have to go this far. We’ve looted everything else.”
“Where are we headed this time?”
“Well, there’s a shopping mall half a mile from here. We’re not going there until we become desperate.”
“Why?”
“We scouted the parking lot. Way too many of them. We have enough ammo to take care of the problem, but we can’t afford to sacrifice that much ammo. The interior of the mall is undoubtedly holding many more of them.”
“You’re probably right. What do you know about what is going on in the world?”
“I probably don’t know much more than you do. The world has been taken over by those dead people. Australia, South America, North America, and Asia had been affected before communications were cut off. We’re nearing the unexplored areas. We have to be quiet now.”
The scavengers passed the mall and came to the downtown part of the city. A zombie here and there was disposed of by the scavengers with hammers. There was a donut shop, small convenience store, and a bunch of apartments.
14
The convenience store was half looted, but there were plenty of bottled and canned drinks, cigarettes, beer, snack cakes, potato chips, bags of pipe tobacco, coffee, canned meats, and beef jerky.
“Those lottery tickets are useless,” Jake said to Dan as they did a final sweep of the store.
“It’s going to be a hobby of mine. I’m going to collect anything that wins over one hundred dollars.”
“I doubt anything useful is in the office buildings. There might be water coolers, but I think that’d be it. Maybe some snack machines.”
Dan saw a small can in the corner of the room. He picked it up and smiled. It was an energy drink.
“Got your wish, Dan.”
The twenty-nine scavengers began running back towards the way they came. A large horde of moaning zombies was heading their way from down the street.
“They’ve seen us,” Jake said as they ran. “Don’t get tired. Keep a steady pace. We’ll get there when we get there. It’s better to fall behind a bit than be winded and caught off guard.”
Jake and Dan fell behind the people in the front, but they kept a good pace. A half mile down the road, some of the other scavengers grew tired. Jake and Dan quickly caught up with and passed them.
“We’re out of shape, Jake.”
“We were never in shape.”
Jake and Dan were comfortable with their position. If those behind them couldn’t catch up, they’d be eaten which would give more time for the brothers to get away. They safely made it back to the supermarket. The soldiers had been waiting there. Frank was arguing with a sergeant.
“You just left them behind?” the sergeant asked.
“They couldn’t keep up.”
“What part of leave no man behind don’t you understand?”
“They were too slow, sergeant. If we would have stayed with them, we’d have been in just as much peril.”
“People aren’t going to make it back alive because of you, Frank.”
“It’s not my fault. We couldn’t stay behind. There was a large horde heading our way. They might end up at the barricades. Give them some time.”
“It won’t be a problem if those things come here. We’ll stand behind the vehicles and stab them in the heads with the spears we made.”
“There was nothing I could do, Aaron.”
“You didn’t even try to help them. You left them to die.”
“I’m sorry, Aaron. The number of those things was mind blowing. We all got scared and ran for it.”
“You were the leader, Frank.”
“I know. I failed the mission.”
“Any deaths on that mission are on your hands, your conscience. For that, you’re no longer lead scavenger.”
“Who will take my place?”
“Harold will take your place as lead scavenger.”
“He’s a bit old, Aaron. He’s not one of us, either.”
“He’s the smartest. I am very disappointed in you. If you weren’t one of us, I’d have you stripped of meals for a day. Get out of here. Report back to me after your next run.”
“Yes, sergeant.”
Jake and Dan dropped off everything they found (except the energy drink Dan found; he drank it when no one was looking) and had a look around. There were four soldiers guarding the food, water, medical supplies, firearms, and ammunition. There were people reading books and talking. They found Frank sitting in one of the large tents in the middle of the walkway aisle.
“What do the two of you want?”
“When do we eat?” Jake asked.
“We eat every eight hours.”
“When is the next meal? I’m hungry.”
“Our next meal is in one hour and twenty-three minutes.”
“What is there to eat?”
“A lot of things. You don’t get to choose what you’re given. You’ll be given enough food to get by. Our rationing is strict for a reason. There are a lot of us. If food intake was not controlled, we’d have nothing.”
“That’s smart. We’ll be going now.”
“Find any place in the store and call it your own. There are extra tents in the camping section. Get one large tent. It’s more than enough to house the both of you and your belongings.”
Jake and Dan put the tent together and stashed their possessions. They sat there and waited until it was time to eat again. There was a long line of people waiting to get their food. Soldiers were distributing it amongst the supermarket’s hungry inhabitants. Some were given canned goods. Others received cookies, snack cakes, or crackers.
“I wonder what I’ll get,” Jake whispered.
“Me too,” Dan replied.
When it was his turn, Jake approached the soldiers.
“Hungry?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll let you choose between a can of pork and beans or a can of oranges.”
“I’ll take the pork and beans.”
“Here. Take a bottle of water, too. Make it last for a while.”
“Thanks.”
Dan was next.
“Can of carrots, can of corn, or a few snack cakes?”
“I’ll take the canned carrots.”
“Okay. Here’s your food and water.”
They walked back to their tent.
“I didn’t like that at all,” Dan whispered.
“I didn’t, either. Some of that food should be ours. We deserve it.”
“At least they didn’t take what food and water we had.”
“I hope those nine don’t make it back.”
“That’s coldblooded, Jake.”
“More food for us.”
“That’s wrong and you know it is.”
“Survival of the fittest.”
“Must we really be like that?”
“We should always be like that.”
“Let’s just eat our food and rest.”
“What about Dakota and Alex?”
“What about them?”
“We’re not going to talk to them?”
“Why would we?”
“To ensure they remain as our allies.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Not right now.”
“Okay.”
“We don’t need to do that with anyone right now. You shouldn’t be eager to form bonds of trust. You don’t know them well enough. Use your head.”
The next morning, Jake got up and took a look around. Everyone except two guards was asleep. He went back to the tent. They slept for two more hours before getting up again. The losses they had suffered and fear had taken a toll on them.
They were happy to get in line for breakfast. They were given canned goods. None of the nine who fell behind returned. They were presumed dead.
“I don’t like living like this, Jake.”
“I don’t either, but it’s how it is now.”
15
As the days went by, the two slowly adapted to the new living situation.
“They have all the power, Jake.”
“I don’t like it, either. Let’s just hang back and not attract any unwanted attention.”
“Are we going to starve?”
“I don’t think so. Get ready to go on another scavenging run.”
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
They kept to themselves. For weeks they did nothing but scavenge, eat, and sleep. No one new showed up.
“These people shoot other people a lot, Jake.”
“We would if we had to.”
“We’ve come up empty three days in a row.”
“I hope no one shoots us in the backs of our heads. Right now, we’re just more mouths to feed.”
“If you ran everything here, would you shoot someone who wasn’t productive?”
“Maybe.”
“I shouldn’t have asked.”
“I don’t think they’re any less brutal than I.”
“You’re pretty brutal.”
“That I am.”
They met up with Dakota and Alex before the next scavenging run. Alex was doing just fine. She didn’t have to leave the supermarket. She occupied her mind by tending to the garden. Dakota was on edge. He stood at the middle of the bridge every day. He always wondered if a car or truck would ram through their barricade of two compact cars. The occasional zombie would find its way to the two cars. Dakota would stand behind the car and stab it in the head with a spear made from a baseball bat, duct tape, and long knives.
“We’re going to go far,” Harold said as the scavenging team moved down the road.
Jake and Dan were losing hope.
16
Three weeks passed. There was little food and water left. Everyone was miserable and starving, waiting for the next meal. Scavenging runs became more and more dangerous. They stayed out longer and sometimes overnight. Jake and Dan were lucky enough to have the food they had before they first arrived at the supermarket. They had energy, but not after another week passed.
At this point, everyone was starving. People were in their tents, lying there and enduring the intense hunger. Jake and Dan said little. They were not sure if this was going to be the end.
“We need food, Jake.”
“The only way to get food or water is to go out and find it.”
“We don’t have enough energy to do that. The zombies would catch us.”
“I know.”
“Are we just going to give up and die?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t want to die, Jake.”
“I don’t, either.”
Frank entered their tent.
“Jake, Dan, we have food.”
“Really?” Dan asked as he jumped up.
“Yeah, but you’re not going to like the idea.”
“What do you mean?”
“Two people chopped off another survivor’s head. If you want, you can have a piece of the corpse to eat.”
Jake and Dan paused for a moment.
“Look, guys. There’s no food around. We’re starving. If we don’t eat, we won’t have enough energy to do more scavenging. We have to survive. I know the two of you are starving. Just eat. You don’t have to talk about it. We’re eating it with noodles.”
“We’ll just take some of the noodles.”
“The noodles are being mixed with the meat. Hopefully the noodles will make us feel like we’re eating something else. The meat and noodles have been cooked. I’ll leave the two of you alone to think about it. If you decide to eat, go to the meat section.”
Frank walked off.
“Cannibalism,” said Jake.
“We’re not cannibals.”
“We need to eat.”
“I’m not eating a person.”
“You need to eat.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I said no.”
“If you don’t eat, you won’t have the energy to get more food.”
“I’d rather die.”’
“Whether you like it or not, you’re going to eat. You’re going to do whatever it takes to survive.”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Let’s go.”
They walked to the meat section to see a grisly scene. A table with several cooked body parts was in the middle of the aisle. An arm and leg were missing. Noodles had been mixed with many of the pieces of meat. They approached the table. Jake grabbed the remaining leg and walked back to the tent. Dan grabbed a cooked chunk of flesh and met with his brother.
“Don’t watch me eat,” said Dan.
“I won’t. Don’t watch me.”
“Do you have a fork and a knife?”
“Yeah. Do you have something to eat with?”
“Yes.”
All was quiet. Those who chose to eat did their best not to get sick. Most kept it down. Those who refused to eat stayed on the roof for a while. They didn’t want to be near those who chose to eat human flesh. Soon, those who refused to eat began to wither away.
Very little food was found on scavenging runs. There simply was not enough food to go around. Those who condoned in cannibalism were thinking dark thoughts. Guilt and homicide filled their minds.
“I know what we have to do,” said Frank. “Let’s eat another.”
17
“What?” Jakes asked. “Why don’t we just move to buildings and homes we haven’t searched yet?”
“We can’t give up our safety. This supermarket is surrounded by rows of cars. No zombies can get in.”
“The harvest will be here in a few days.”
“The harvest won’t be enough.”
“So we just wait for another human to stumble upon us?”
“There are too many mouths to feed. We choose someone who refuses to eat. We’ll eat one of them. We’ve eaten a person once. If it helps us survive, why not do it again?”
“Let’s go on a scavenging run instead.”
“You know we won’t find a thing.”
“Is there no other option?”
“You know there isn’t. We’ll shoot one of them, chop off the head, and cook the body. It really isn’t that bad. It’s odd, but necessary.”
“I’ll eat, but my brother and I aren’t going to kill any of our people.”
“You’ll eat someone but you won’t kill someone. Odd. Okay. Fair enough. I’ll let you know when the food is ready.”
“What do you do with the bones?”
“We’re making a structure with them.”
“What kind of structure?”
“Aaron’s hut.
”
“You’re making our leader a hut made from bones?”
“Yes. It’ll take a lot of bones to build it. Aaron’s going to be our chieftain.”
“So, we’re a tribe now?”
“We’ve made a pact.”
“Have we?”
“We did whatever it took to survive. We’re strong and don’t need anyone else. Those who refuse to eat are useless. In order to survive, we’re going to kill and eat them.”
“Surely we don’t have to eat them. Our strength is up. We can think of something, can’t we?”
“They’re going to die anyway. We all know that. They’re doing it to themselves. We may as well make use of them.”
“If it has to be done, it has to be done.”
“I’m glad you’re willing to listen to reason. Survival is survival.”
“There aren’t many useful people left.”
“No, there aren’t. When we run out of food, we’re going to another supermarket.”
“That will be our only option.”
“We will eat the weakest first.”
“Sounds logical.”
“You and your brother are among the strongest of our people. We need you.”
“We’ll work with you.”
“Good. The food will be where it was before. Expect more food in less than two days.”
“Okay.”
Dan returned to the tent. He had a worried look on his face.
“We’re turning into monsters, Jake.”
“We’re doing what is necessary.”
“These people are crazy. They’re making a hut out of bones.”
“They’re crazy, but we need them.”
“For what?”
“There’s strength in numbers.”
“We need to get out of here.”
“Why?”
“We’ll go mad if we stay here.”
“We’ve eaten human flesh, Dan. We’ve already gone mad.”
“We still have our sanity. We don’t have to be like feral animals.”
“What other option do we have?”
“We can be normal.”
“There’s no food anywhere near here.”
“We need to leave, Jake.”
“Do you really think we’d survive out there?”
“I’d rather give that a try than this.”
“We’ll have to leave when everyone’s asleep.”