Survive the Night

16

The moon is always in the same place, Kevin thought angrily. At least move an inch, won't you? At least sway for me.

He was upstairs now, after locking up the cellar door for good (that was the only door in which they couldn't, even if they wanted to, break the lock). The rest of the group had been in Winston's room again, speaking secretly. Winston's room had become sort of a rendezvous point for them now. Since the sitting room downstairs was polluted by the smell of death, this room-the largest bedroom in the house-had taken its place.

Kevin felt the silent buzzing of conversation even from outside the door, and finally walked in.

They looked at him. He stood there, then continued walking. He knew what they were all thinking, but strolled past each of them with no trace of emotion on his face. His letterman jacket, which was prominently red originally, was now a wetter, harsher red, from the dirt and blood, with rips and scratches in areas. His hair, too, was a noticeable upset.

"What were you all talking about?" Kevin asked.

"Kevin, what happened?" Geo said from the bed.

"Did you find Vicky?" Sasha said after.

Kevin sat on a chair near the fireplace and relaxed his shoulders. The cushion of the chair melted around his muscles and he sighed.

"Kevin!" Sasha said again. "What happened?"

Kevin's head turned slightly, then he looked at the fire. "I didn't find her," he said.

Winston was standing over the nightstand, carving his family's name into the wood with a small knife. PA- it said so far. He didn't care anymore about the condition the house was in. They'll all be dead by the time anyone found them. Dad can't kill me if I'm already dead, he thought. He continued carving as he spoke.

"So what happened to your clothes, then?" he said.

Kevin shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me." Winston almost laughed, still carving. "Now if you told me something good happened, maybe then I wouldn't believe you. Like if you found food or..."

"That's what you all were talking about, wasn't it? About food." He said it as if he were utterly disgusted by the thought. As if he thought they should go on forever without eating.

They were silent.

"Well?"

"It was," Mike said. "Because we're all dying. Something needs to happen."

"Something like what?" Kevin asked, wanting to gag because of the smell on his jacket.

Michael looked at Geo. "We were thinking about Bleak," he said.

Kevin's eyes looked hollow for a moment. "Okay," he said.

This time Winston stood up and slowly paced the room. "He's dead now," Winston said. "Don't you think...?"

"Don't I think we should eat him?" Kevin finished for him.

"Well, yeah. I mean, this is survival now," Geo said.

The girls were silent and looking down, but their eyes announced that they agreed with this idea. Their starving eyes.

"I wish we would have thought about that earlier..." Kevin said, shaking his head slowly. "It's a good idea. But I just came from down there. That body is festering away; no way we can eat it now."

"I did think about it earlier, goddammit!" Mike shouted.

"Then why didn't you say something?"

"Well I don't know! I was scared. I was confused. Dammit!"