9
Chapter Nine
REESE
I thought I was dying.I even had a smile on my face. That was only until the shadows overwhelmed me with a cool breeze, followed by the heat of several mouths hovering over my exposed skin. We don't live in a world where vampires, zombies and werewolves exist, yet that was all I could consider. This isn't real life. But it is. They weren't monsters; they were starving human beings who will revert to any sort of behavior to satiate their hunger. I tried to fight back, but I lost the struggle when teeth sunk through the flesh on my thigh. The pain was like nothing I had ever experienced. I'm not sure I'd even know how to describe it, rather than thick nails plunging into me as if my skin were nothing more than a delicate piece of bread. I'm not sure how I have the strength to walk or continue on this endless trek, but I'm seeing now my choices are limited.
I sip on the oddly tasting water Sin has given me. He told me it's clean and I wouldn't care if it wasn't right now, but my body is craving every ounce of the liquid. "There's one thing I don't understand, Sin."
"Yeah?"
"There are starving people all over the world, and yet, I haven't heard of a case where those people suddenly turn into cannibals. So, why here?"
"'Why' is always the question. Why are we here? Why are we alive? Why do we fight for the food that is likely poisoning our brains?" The food. It's the food. "Reese, they want us dead. All of us."
It isn't bad enough they're holding us here as prisoners? Why not just execute us and save the trouble? I'd ask, but I'm guessing there's a roundabout answer for that too, just like everything else.
We walk up on a small creek. Water. Nothing has ever looked so beautiful. I want to drink it and feel it, drown in it. "Is this real?"
Sin laughs quietly. "Yeah, it's dirty, but—"
"It's water." I peel off my shirt and my pants because I need to feel the water on my skin. Stepping out of my boots, I place them neatly along the edge, yearning to feel the coolness against my body.
"What are you doing?" Sin asks.
"Jumping in. What does it look like I'm doing?" I squat down to test my finger in the water, untrusting after the last pool of contamination we came across. I allow my finger to linger for several seconds before confirming the water won't try to eat me alive again.
"You have open wounds all over your body, Reese." I shouldn't have to be reminded of this. It hurts like hell, but the water made me forget about everything else for just a quick minute. I release a long breath, acknowledging that he's right. Am I in hell? Is that what this is? Did I do something so wrong in my life to deserve this?
I sit down on the edge, still in my underwear. "Are you going in?" I ask Sin.
"I wouldn't do that to you," he says quietly.
I look back at him, the look on his face, wanting to call his bluff after all of the shit he has done to me. "You can go in. Don't waste the opportunity because of me."
Sin walks over and sits down beside me. "I'm not going in." I hear his words, but my eyes and focus are directed on the toad perched on a rock across the creek.
"Sin," I whisper, slowly lifting my hand to point at the toad. My stomach turns and screams and my mouth waters. "Sin." I try to get his attention again, but he isn't looking at the toad. His eyes are set beyond the creek, squinting into the distance. He stands up and pulls his gun out, hopping a few rocks to cross the water. I try to focus on what he's looking at it, but I don't see anything. I hear the blast from his gun and I scoot backwards toward my clothes, quickly dressing myself. I step into my boots and follow him. "Sin?"
After moving through the maze of trees, I find Sin crouched down on the ground, hovering over something. His hands are on his head and laughter begins. I slow my strides as I approach him, feeling a tad nervous about what he's covering. As I approach his back, I see a dead hawk lying in front of him. He drops his gun and scoops his hands under the bird, bringing it up to his face. "Hungry?" he asks me.
Does he need to ask? "Can we start a fire?"
"We don't need a fire." He leans forward and wraps his mouth around the hawk's body. My throat tightens and my stomach gurgles with pain. I shudder at the thought of eating this thing raw, but Sin doesn't think twice about it. He manages to take a decent bite out of it and then falls backward onto his butt with relief. "It's good."
"Sin," I whisper softly. "Starvation wouldn't entice humans to eat uncooked animals, right?"
He looks up at me with an unsettled look on his face. "I'm starving," he says.
So am I, but…I can't do that. He hands the bird over to me and the stench brings a wave of nausea with it. I shake my head. "I can't."
He looks back down at the hawk, thoughts running through his tired eyes. "Shit." Looking back up at me with concern. "What the hell is wrong with me?"
I don't want to answer him. I don't want to point out the truth faster than it takes him to comprehend that there is no difference between him and the other prisoners here. "It's okay. You're just hungry."
"No, I've hit the next phase," he says.
"Phase?"
