Cascade

Fish Is Better Than Mystery Meat

I couldn't escape. The cannibal rarely left my side now and when it did it was never long enough. So I stayed and I didn't move. I didn't eat either, I couldn't manage. The only thing I could manage was sleep, and even that was barely any help.

I could feel myself growing weaker as the days went on. A shiver tingling down my spine and a rough, hot burning in my throat. My ears, nose, and head felt stuffed with cotton and my skin felt heavy and sticky. I was sick now, and I was probably going to die at this rate.

The cannibal would occasionally try again to get me to move. After each failed attempt it would linger in front of me with a sad expression. It had also started to keep a bit of distance, no longer curling up beside me to sleep or needlessly invading my personal space. I was glad that it somehow seemed to respect my feelings.

I sniffed, but my nose was too stuffed to really make a difference. I was met with a whine as the cannibal once again stepped out of the snarls of untamed vegetation. It had been gone for a bit longer this time. When it got close enough I realized why. In its mouth was a green creature with saber fangs and the back feet of a bird. Its long ears made me wonder if it had once been a rabbit.

The cannibal sat down at my feet and offered me the creature, its eyes seeming to hold concern. I guess it had noticed my lack of appetite. I put my forehead back to my knees and ignored the creature. I wasn't in the mood to eat anything, and certainly not a mutant rabbit. I'd heard tales of people who had eaten rain creature and had gotten strange illnesses from them. While I'd also heard stories of people who'd been fine, it was far less common.

Maybe I'd slowly starve if the illness didn't get me first? It would be a horrible way to go, but perhaps it was better than spending the rest of my life held prisoner by a cannibal, of all things.

The creature slouched when I didn't respond before huffing and heading off again. However, that wasn't the last attempt. The cannibal continued its efforts to get me to eat. It brought me what looked like a goat head, a scrap of some kind of purple malted meat, a honeysuckle vine, a fern frond larger than any I'd ever seen, and had even dragged a whole deer to lay in front of me. As this went on the cannibal seemed to slowly become more desperate. The deer had actually seemed like the last thing the cannibal could think of. Its whining after my lack of reaction to it had been the most pitiful.

It had been a normal deer at least, but I was in no shape to process something that large even if I had a knife and the will to move. So I continued to sit there for a bit longer. Another day passed and the cannibal had stayed away for longer than before.

I had been dozing, but soon found myself roused by the cannibal slowly stepping from the underbrush. I sniffed and swallowed, throat feeling hot.

The creature had a couple of normal looking fish held in its mouth by their tails and something else that I couldn't see behind them. It also seemed to be soaked, the water dripping off its clothes and hair matted to its skull. The cannibal moved slowly as it dropped the items at my feet.

I didn't move though, and the cannibal's shoulders sagged, its expression distraught, maybe even defeated. It whimpered before slowly trudging back into the brush.

I glanced at the fish again to see that they were indeed free of mutation. They were catfish though, I hated catfish. I could see the other object the creature had brought me now and I raised an eyebrow. Was that my knife?

I slowly uncurled myself and scootched closer until I could pick it up. Yep, definitely my knife. It had brought me back my knife? Had it suddenly realized I needed it for cleaning meat? How though? Did it go spy on people fishing in the river around Asphalt or something?

I snorted as I recalled the cannibal's state. It wasn't much of a fisher apparently. I looked back to the fish. I could probably manage to build a small fire, clean them, and cook them even in my current state. Did I want to though?

If I starved myself I wouldn't have to deal with the cannibal or even the apocalypse anymore. Knowing me though, I'd be stuck as a ghost and cursed to haunt these lands for eternity.

If I actually tried to survive there was the slim chance that I might still be able to escape. When it came down to it, if I was going to be stuck here I might as well be so while still alive.

I really shouldn't give up on getting back to Asphalt anyway. What would Cyber and my parents think? Heck, I hadn't even seen my parents since we'd gotten separated! I had really hoped that I would get the chance again someday. Maybe even introduce them to my partner, if I ever found one...

They wouldn't have wanted me to give up. I didn't really want to either honestly. Even if I did, there were better ways than starving.

I rummaged through my bag and pulled out some of my food supply. I slowly began to eat. I rested for a bit and I eventually started to feel a tiny bit better. I then shakily got to my feet, wincing as a wave of dizziness hit me.

I clutched the edge of the fountain and took deep breaths as I waited for it to pass. When it had, I gathered up my knife and the fish before slowly shambling out of the greenhouse. I shivered at the feel of the cold air, but continued to the fountain patio. It seemed the perfect place to build a fire. I set the fish down before going to look for twigs.

I found plenty scattered around the area and even found a couple of buckets just sitting around. I could use one for water so I could rinse my hands and not contaminate the fountain. The other I could use to hold the waste from cleaning the fish so I could dispose of it elsewhere.

I set to work preparing the fire after digging my lighter out of the bottom of my bag. I managed to get it merrily blazing without too much trouble and let out a sigh. Its warmth chased some of the chill away.

I then set about cleaning the fish. Before long I had rinsed my hands and the fish were cooking away. I zipped up my jacket and settled down to wait for the fish to be done.

When they were, I took them off the fire and slowly began to eat. I wrinkled my nose at the taste. Bleh, catfish.

I had just started on the second fish when I heard the soft scrape of claws against brick. I turned to see the cannibal slowly coming closer.

I raised a brow when I noticed its expression. It watched me with wide eyes, its steps hesitant as it crept closer. Why did it look so surprised?

Oh, right. I'd been being, in my Grandmother's words, a mopping beaver and hadn't moved for the past few days.

The creature eventually came to sit beside me as I nibbled on the catfish. I scooted a little bit away from it as it leaned forward and offered me something I hadn't noticed was in its mouth.

The creature huffed when I made no move to take the item and simply dropped it onto the bricks in front of me. It gave a metallic clunk and rolled a few inches from where it landed. The label was faded, but I could still make out the grinning mascot of Arnold's brand chili.

Huh. Too bad I didn't have a pot. Or a spoon, even. Or, you know, a can opener.

The cannibal seemed to be waiting for my approval, but I just kept eating my fish. At the moment I really couldn't do anything with canned goods anyway.

Its shoulders sagged and it let out a huff, though it did seem to be a little more relaxed. I guess it was happy to see me eating again.