Chapter 47: 47
“Why? Won’t you even try to taste them at least?” I asked.
“Look at them! They’re really cute! Isn’t that right Rin?!” Olivia shouted.
“Umm, I’ve eaten those before, they’re really delicious. We made stew one time and I ate it for two days.” Rin said while slightly embarrassed.
Olivia stared in shock at the betrayal of her friend while I laughed at the revelation.
“How could you eat them?!” Olivia starts to tear up.
“They eat their babies though.” I said flatly.
“Um, What?!” The sisters shouted in surprise.
“Derek, back me up on this one?” I said.
“It’s true, they actually do sometimes. We usually kill them immediately if they do that since it would be no use in breeding them.” He explained.
“I think I can’t eat anymore.” His daughter Demi said.
“Yeah, cook them whatever. I suddenly don’t care anymore.” Charlotte suddenly chimed in while Chris scratches his head helplessly.
“But the ones who took care of their young are left alive so we could have more of them in the future.” I added.
“I’m having mixed feelings now. AHHHH!!!” Kaley said.
“That’s one of the reasons I told you to just name one.” I added.
“That’s a good lesson for everyone now, right kid?” Oscar said.
Everyone continued eating though I could feel Olivia’s glare on me. I feel a prickly feeling in my back as I eat from her look. Everyone was eating lightheartedly as we soon finished the food on our plates. We cleared the tables and then we gathered around for our daily meeting.
“Okay everyone good work today. Goals are reached and we’re steadily clearing the right side of this place. By tomorrow, we could reach the end of the road into the canal system. The group going out tomorrow should be ready since we’ll be passing the small squatter area and visibility there is bad because of the chained houses all around. We would be passing the last few houses with the lights on them and we’ll check the place out to recruit them to join our ranks.” I said.
“Ken, do we have a status on the mob? Or even the DDR camp?” I asked.
“Uhh, still no sign of the mob anywhere, they might have gone to a different road and hopefully they avoid this place for now. The DDR camp that you asked me to keep in contact with has now a few civilians leaving the place.” he said.
“Why? Did something happen?” I asked.
“The captain there said that a few of them went back to their houses to grab a few more supplies or some things that the camp doesn’t have but only a few came back. The soldiers are still trying to keep order in the place so they didn’t bother on checking out those who went missing.” he added.
“No one wandered back here though.” I said to myself.
“Unc, update on the shack?” I asked.
“Yeah, ah we finished on dismantling the shack and the bridge and I found out in the end part of it that there’s a small water source that is connected to the canal system. We could set up a small irrigation with the help of our engineer here. He told me that we’d only need a few sacks of soil to cover most of the plot of land if we plan to make an irrigation system on the farm that we were gonna build.”
I nodded. “How are we on food and other supplies?”
“We’re still gaining more even if we eat like we usually do. Most of the source comes from your scavenging runs and we made a few harvests on the greenhouse and on the barn. We will start on breeding the fishes on the fish ponds and we could already harvest a few fishes from there. Jo and his family started on making salted eggs from the chickens so it could last a lot longer and the milk from the goats are also preserved and some of them are being turned to cheese or butter. In our increasing numbers, the plot of land being turned into a farm for produce is vital.” Rin reported.
“That’s great guys. After we secure this place, I’ll start on teaching classes for you guys. It could be combat training by using ranged weapons, hand-to-hand or close combat weapons. While we are here, try to learn from others whatever skill you could find useful. Charlotte is good with plants and Derek is good with animals. There’s a lot of people here that could teach you various things even from watching them work. Any questions?” I said.
“I’m still doing the watch duty for all three shifts as a self-inflicted punishment, though the schedule is set, I still would want to do it. Can the schedule be changed?” Mark asked.
“Don’t beat yourself up man, we all make mistakes. I’m gonna need you well-rested for tomorrow. You’d just get bitten in the face if something walks toward you if you’re sleepy.” I said.
He looks at the ground but he nodded at me afterwards.
“Can we come with you guys tomorrow?” Nicole and Alicia asked.
“Sure, but you need to stay in the back row, you’ve only been trained for a day and I don’t want misfires happening while we’re scouting the place.” I said.
No one asked any questions afterwards and I checked the clock it’s 7:51 PM. Still plenty of time to work out. So, I went to the gym with a few others and afterwards I headed to my armory to clean the guns we’ve used today and to do a routine check-up on everything. I disassembled the guns we’ve used and I started cleaning inside the barrels and wiping of dirt and carbon residue from using it. Kaley knocked at the door and I taught her how to operate and maintain some of them. Rin and Olivia also followed to watch another movie from my room.
“We’re gonna do this every night huh?” I asked.
“We’ll you have the best place to do it in so, yeah!” Olivia remarked.
“Wait a few minutes yeah? Kaley and I are still gonna clean a few more handguns.” I said.
The two just looked curiously at the guns and they started on asking us two a few questions about them. We answered everything they threw as they nodded with each answer and explanation. Rin was more interested at my katana on the rack so I let her hold it while Olivia is just curious on how guns work but she said that she’s scared on operating them. Zeus just darts his eyes to whoever was speaking and he would occasionally add on the conversation by barking and woofing.
*click*
“That’s the last of it right?” Kaley asks.
“Yeah, thanks for helping me.” I said.
She places the last Glock in the case and then we positioned ourselves in front of the TV while I played a random movie from my hard drive. We all snuggled in our blankets and the movie started to play. It was a romantic comedy movie with A.Sandler.
We left the opening credits running for a while and then I ran down to make some hot chocolate for everyone with a few soft biscuits so It won’t crunch when we bite into it.
It already started for a few minutes right before I got up. Kaley and I just held hands under the blankets as we enjoy the movie. The movie concluded right before we finished the snacks I brought up. Right before I place them down at the kitchen, Oliva said, “Hey you two, we know what’s been going on for a while now…”
“We both decided that we would bunk together and the both of you could be in your room from now on…” Rin added.
Kaley and I just looked at each other though we both blushed and smiled.
“C’mon now, don’t make it sound like I’m leaving you, we can stay the same way as it is. He’s just in another room… alright?” Kaley said.
“Umm, what we mean is that if we continue to grow larger in numbers, we might need more room for everyone. I already feel kinda guilty that I have a room for myself.” Rin said.
“Who said we’re running out of room? Once we cleared the place, we could have houses for everybody.” I said.
“But why are some of them bunking in the same room with like 4 or 7 people?” Rin asked.
“I think that the reason a few families here are bunking in one room is that they feel safer with close proximity with each other. Like when you’re watching a horror film with family members, it makes it bearable if you can’t before.” I added.
“Umm, Sky, if you don’t mind me asking, where is your family? You know… your mom and dad?” Olivia reluctantly asked.
*clench*
“Olivia!” Kaley shouted while Olivia flinches.
“Oh.” My arm throbbed and I think the look on my face scared the three of them. It seems that they can’t breathe properly because the air got suddenly heavy. I was just staring at a blank space and not moving.
I remembered.
The scream, the blood, the smile, and the quiet.
