Hunger

Eternal Winter. Eternal white. The deafening hurling of the wind. It’s all that was left of the world. Snow and ice, covering everything an eye can see in this grey atmosphere that hasn’t witness the sun since the Last Summer. The freezing blades of air piercing through not so warm fur Lucas wore were a painful reminder of what everything has become.

The sharp crunch of snow under his boots. One, after another. He was marching through this white hell, going forward. Looking for food. Looking for survival. His and of his family. Struggling through a long dead forest, he was looking at frozen trees, their life force long gone. Every, even tiniest bit of warmth and energy was sapped by the calm, raging, white death.

His mind was becoming desperate. Lucas has been wandering under this grey, unconscious sky for days, without any sign of another life form. Not a single plant. Not a single animal. How was he supposed to hunt, if there was nothing to hunt? How could he provide for his family, if his own stomach was starting to violently remind him about his needs.

Lucas was marching, tired both from the physical effort and the hunger haunting him. He was unable to concentrate. His steps were trembling, as his dizziness was barely allowing him to continue. His body was no longer asking. It was demanding nutrition. Nutrition needed so badly to create more warmth. Nutrition needed so badly to keep living in this dead landscape. The only thing giving him strength, a small pendant with moon crescent, a symbol of long-lost life.

He thought of his family. His wife. His daughters. Maria and Caroline. They counted on him. He still remembered when the kids made him this pendant out of some rat bones they found in their shelter. During better times, the gift would be macabre, but now it was cute. He remembered how the kids promised it will bring him good luck. How Caroline wrapped her little hands around him. How Maria was holding onto his leg, so he doesn’t go. How they counted on him getting back with plenty of food…

Branch snapped. Lucas immediately grasped his gun, as firmly as he could. He turned rapidly towards the sound, not sure how was he able to hear it among the howling winds. His vision became blurry from the sudden movement, and he lost his balance, as his legs were not prepared for that kind of action. His face hit the hard, icy snow, while the hand was still desperately trying to hold the gun.

There was nothing around. The wind kept going with its deathly cacophony. It must have been a hallucination from starvation. But he was so sure, he even thought he saw something. Some figure. Not human, animalistic. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. He was NOT crazy. There was something. He saw the shadows move. Just there. Behind the trees. There was a life. A life he can take to keep his own.

He stood up all of the sudden, his body barely able to not fall again, and he brought the viewfinder to his face. The animal was running circles around the glade. “Ohohohoh”, Lucas was getting excited. Taste of warm meat. A true meal with his shelter. Unconsciously, he showed his teeth and licked his lips. Soon he will eat. Soon he will gain back his strength.

“No” – he thought to himself. “Keep calm”. “You have one shot”. He breathed, the warmth of his lungs immediately caught in a white fume. It wasn’t the time to get excited. He needed to take this life to prolong his. He almost felt sorry for the animal, which probably was also struggling to survive, struggling to find heat, find food, find shelter. He almost pitied the creature. Almost. Hunger screamed louder than pity.

He breathed again. Calmed his nerves. Grabbed instinctively his pendant. The prey stopped running around. Lucas was unable to focus on its shape. His vision was too blurry. He just knew it was right in front of him. Excitement started to mount again; his finger ready to pull the trigger. Just few more seconds. Just a little bit and he will taste this unknown animal. Maybe it was the last of its kind? Didn’t matter. It will become his feast.

A powerful thunder overcame the jealous howls of the wind. Sound so powerful, that even the nature needed to kneel in front of Lucas for a fraction of a second. Sound of survival, sound of a sacrifice, sound of a king who will live through one more day by taking one more life. Moments later, the raging hurl took over again, but not now. Now human has triumphed over the nature. Beautiful, artificial sound of explosion.

Lucas almost sprinted toward the fallen creature. With his teeth exposed, he dropped his gun and ran almost on all fours. Feast. Food. Still warm meat. He almost leapt, hands reaching for the cadavre, when he stopped. Staring. His breath caught in his throat as his hunger clashed with something primal. Something... wrong.

It wasn’t an animal. It bared some resemblance to few, but it wasn’t anything Lucas has ever seen before, even before the Last Summer. The creature had three legs. Two hooved, wrapped in pitch-black fur, looked like rips in the fabric of reality against the endless white. The third one was different. It was longer, with more joints, ending in one single claw. Maybe it was a tail? But it looked too muscular to be one. Its colour was grey, just barely visible on the blinding glow of the ice all around it. Creature’s torso felt even more cursed. It looked like an upside-down male body. It was presenting its naked skin mixing all the different colours humans can have. Since it was reversed, the hooved legs were coming from the shoulders and the third, weird claw from the “neck”. Looking up, Lucas saw four arms growing from the “hips” of the creature. Two of them were almost human, just covered in a thin layer of hair, ending in destroyed nails. The bottom ones though, looked very similar to the third “leg” of the creature. They also were long, with multiple joints, ending in a bony claw. But they were more skeletal, a lot slimmer than the one on the bottom. Looking even higher, Lucas looked in creature’s face. It was a nightmare—a grotesque blend of goat, deer, and grizzly bear. A gaping mouth hung open, fangs protruding like shards of glass. Around the maw, a crown of mismatched eyes stared into nothing, lifeless but unnerving. Seven jagged horns jutted from its skull, piercing deep into the snow.

The shock and worries didn’t occupy Lucas for long. He was staring mostly at the bleeding hole in creature’s chest. At red, hot liquid pouring out of the wound. So tasty. So warm. A life’s essence. His salvation. It didn’t matter there was something wrong with the creature. It was warm. It was tasty. It was bleeding.

Lucas threw himself at the dead body, never minding hygiene or the need to prepare the food. His mind now was no more than that of a starving beast. His instincts took him all over. His mind was broken.

He was cutting off pieces of meat with his hunting knife without any finesse, any respect to the creature. He was slurping on the warm blood which was getting out slower and slower. Raw, tender meat between his teeth was so delicious, so lifesaving, bringing strength to his tired and frostbitten limbs. Hot liquid was floating in his stomach, filling him with strength and the beautiful sensation of being so powerful and so alive, like never before.

His daughters faces flickered quickly in front of his mind as the first bites were going down his throat. The guilt that he is eating and not them appeared briefly in his mind’s landscape, but the inner beast buried it down. He was remembering their laughter, good moments, but the memories were fleeing, as the sensation of strength and satisfaction were growing. He was something more. Something stronger. He was slowly overcoming the cold. He was slowly overcoming the weakness of his limbs. He was seeing more, hearing more, feeling more. He didn’t need them slowing him down. Who was he thinking about again? Whose names were ringing in his head just few seconds ago?

The torso made his own blood run faster, made his internal organs warmer, generating more heat, more efficient.

Arms gave him strength. He was so powerful now. He felt like he could face this creature without his faithful double barrel.

The legs changed his perception of speed. He didn’t need to walk anymore. He thought of a place in his line of sight, and he was almost immediately there.

In a span of few minutes, there was nothing left of the creature, just its bare bones. Lucas was covered in blood and gore, but for some reason he didn’t mind. He has eaten. He will survive. The biting, unrelentless winter didn’t have power over him. He didn’t feel cold anymore. On the contrary. He was almost hot. The clothes were weighting too heavy on him. He didn’t need them. He managed to overthrow the nature in this deadly, hostile world. He licked his lips, trying to get as much taste as he could. He still needed to feed his family. Did he? Why should he? Weren’t they on his mercy? He had the strength to do it, not them. Why should he do anything for them?

Man ventured into the forest, naked, only grasping his pendant, while the pitch-black fur started appearing on his legs.