-How many days now?
-7 or so.
-What if you bleed to death?
-Then you'll spare the "baby", scoffed Serena. At least for a while.
-If we rationalize the meat, it may be enough until we land.
-Who cares? Nothing is going to be the same.
-Yeah… How do you recover from this?
Serena put her hand on her pregnant belly. She could feel the heartbeat inside. She didn't feel any motherly love for it. It felt more like a pulsing cyst ready to explode.
Henry looked at her pitifully. Such a shame. Such a young woman, so tragic.
The ship will land in 140 days on an Earth unknown. They were sent into space to keep safe some resources for the government since the nuclear wars were about to begin. The gold and jewelry seemed now like such a waste of space. What they would even be worth after all the economy has fallen in the war?
They could have brought more food… There was none anymore. Simon suggested a "harvest"… Nobody agreed with him, but after a week of hunger they started to shake their morality. Eating something without a developed consciousness was easier than sacrificing a hand or a leg.
Lancey protested and offered his left leg. It was enough to feed their six-member crew for a few days, just enough for them to hold their hunger for a week.
-Is Alice ready? asked Serena.
-She still starts crying when we talk to her. She's not doing too well. She grew attached I guess.
-It's not even human, said Serena absentmindedly.
-It's half human.
-I don't feel like a mother. I feel like an incubator.
-We'll run out of antiseptic soon.
-We have mouthwash and booze.
-They put booze and mouthwash here instead of more food. Sometimes I feel like this was all a joke and we're a damn punchline.
-I'm not laughing.
Henry chuckled. His eyes darken as his chucked faded into a sad sigh.
-I was about to start my own business back at home. Worked two jobs in that damned economy and finally put enough aside.
-What business?
-Organic food. I was gonna be a farmer.
-Well… since I'm not anything more than an animal here. You succeeded, Henry.
Serena smiled sadly. She started to sob. Henry rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her.
Alice was sobbing in her room. She was hugging her stomach softly singing a lullaby. It's been a week since she "produced".
Simon came up with the idea. Those damned worms that made their way from space inside the metal walls of the ship were known to speed the time of the wound healing. He said maybe it would speed up the production of a creature too. And it did. From nine months to 3 weeks. If you would let it survive another week it would grow as large as a 4 years child.
Alice carried one. When she held it in her arms, it looked like a little monster. Without teeth, with black orbs instead of eyes, it would make a sound like purring. It wasn't human, but it was her baby.
-Alice?
-STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, SIMON!
Simon sighed. He crunched to his knees and looked at Alice. Her blonde hair was all tangled and her eyes were red.
-It wasn't a real baby, Alice.
-YOU PUT A FUCKING MAGGOT IN ME! You made me birth that… child…AND THEN YOU TOOK IT AWAY LIKE YOU WERE FUCKING SHOPPING FOR SALAMI!
-We need to eat, Alice. Stop crying. If it was a real baby, don't you think I would have been sad too as his father?
-DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE NAME YOURSELF A FATHER! I didn't even want this…
-Then what did you want, Alice? Someone cutting another leg or arm to feed you? I didn't hear you volunteer.
-LEAVE! Fucking leave, Simon!
-Pull yourself together. Serena is about to "produce". You two are the nurses here. If you don't, your friend will bleed out and die. She saved you. Be grateful!
Alice started to yell. She threw a pillow at Simon, but he dodged it and left the room.
Lancey was sitting in the infirmary. He still didn't agree to all this insanity. He wanted to give another leg. If all of them would had sacrificed like him, they would have all made it home without any of this.
The government promised they would keep their families safe. He thought about his wife and newborn baby. How could he ask Alice and Serena to go through that only so he could eat? He would sacrifice himself with all, but he couldn't abandon his family. How much can you really trust the government after all?
-How are you doing, Lancey?
-Simon. Get the fuck out of my face, you sicko!
-You need to eat, buddy.
-I rather chew my own tongue than eat …
Lancey stopped. He couldn't bear the words.
-You've seen it, Lance. It's not human.
-Whatever it is, I'm getting indigestion just by looking at it.
-Eat, Lance. I don't want to lose any of my crew.
-Don't you dare act like a captain now! IT'S YOUR FAULT WE RAN OUT OF FOOD! You and your goddamned parties at the beginning.
-I didn't eat all that food. We all did.
-You are the captain. You should have rationalized it since the beginning instead of having fucking midnight snacks!
-The past is the past. You need to eat!
-Fuck off!
Simon came closer to Lancey's bed. He restricted his hands quickly with a strap from the infirmary bed. He opened Lancey's mouth and put in a piece of meat. Simon then covered his mouth so he couldn't spit it out.
After minutes of struggle, Lancey started chewing slowly while tears came rolling down his eyes.
Teddy drank another glass of mouthwash. "The college blackout night had nothing on this", he thought. He needed to get really dizzy to cook. He couldn't bear the sight of it, but he couldn't let this responsibility on anyone else. Poor Alice and Serena do too much as it is, Lancey sacrificed enough, and Simon… Simon couldn't cook to save his life.
Teddy thought that the least he could do it use some skill and seasoning so maybe, just maybe they would forget what they were eating. It was the least he could do.
-From a community college struggler to a damned cook.
Said Teddy to himself.
With a firm and steady hand, he gripped the knife, he carefully sliced through the thick slab of meat before him. As he worked, the skin peeled away easily, uncovering the thin bones. The bones would transform into fat once the heat would hit the meat. To mask the smell of it, he used thyme and rosemary.
If he cooked it too much, the meat would shrink to almost nothing, so he always needed to make it medium rare at best…
He shivered every time the blood would come out of the meat. No matter what he tried to do -boil it, grill it, smoke it, fry it- if the blood would evaporate, the meat disappeared too. Every bite felt like a punishment no matter what.
-Smelling good!
-Fuck you, Simon!
-Look, Teddy, you've been doing this since… Lancey's leg. How about I do it today?
-It would be a waste.
-I'm just trying to help.
-You helped enough… Did Lancey?
Teddy stopped for a moment to recover the control over his emotions.
-He ate. I made sure. He didn't compliment the chef.
Teddy smiled sadly.
-Is Alice coming?
-I don't think so. If she doesn't, I'll make sure she eats too tomorrow.
-Oh… good.You- you can tell her that I put aside a bit of the leg for her.
-Did you?
-I wish I fucking did.