The Downward Spiral Book 1

Chapter 8. Difficult Decisions

It was cold but I was so hungry that I didn't care. I popped open one bag of chips, spilled the entire sauce inside the bag, jumbled it around, and then munched a few at a time greedily.

Ray watched in horror with a mouth full of soggy watermelon at my eating habits but I didn't understand why. He has lived with me all my life, he should know how I act when I'm hungry and there was no stopping me.

"Slow down, what if these end up being the only source of food we have for a while until there's help?"

I stopped instantly at the thought and swallowed what was left in my mouth. I didn't consider this. I was so hungry that all I wanted to do was stuff myself like the fat pig I was. I sealed the bag and licked my fingers clean and then wiped them on my seat covers. "You're right." I said while reaching the sports drink and taking only a small gulp of it. "So if we can't get home, where should we go now?"

Ray looked glum for a moment and took a swig of his drink before wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "I have one idea. Well, two actually. One, is we can go and find the building that activates the toll bridge and maybe we can bring it back down ourselves. I don't suppose it would be too hard to figure out since someone was able to do it so easily."

I scratched my head. "Well, the only problem with that is it's all the way across on the other side of town, we won't be able to get to it unless we found a boat or swam across."

He nodded slowly and I stared at him wide eyed. "But we don't have a boat, Ray."

"Then there's the other option."

Swim?

The length of it is at least 3 miles long. We would either get washed away or drown from exhaustion.

"I would consider it if it wasn't so late at night. We could freeze to death before we even make it across."

"Well we can find somewhere to hide from these things and wait until help arrives."

I nodded. That seemed the best reasonable idea for now. "Alright where should we hide out?"

He scratched the back of his head and avoided my gaze. "Um...when we were at Lily's house, I saw her use one of those fake rocks. She grabbed her keys from under it to unlock her door. They also could have a lot of supplies we need, it's out of the cold and away from those Eaters. Plus we agreed that we would meet her there anyway so I thought it would be perfect..."

I started the truck up again, sighed and nodded. I didn't feel comfortable about it but in this kind of situation, what other choice did we have?

"Alright, let's go."

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This was so wrong.

As we walked up the doorsteps to Lily's front porch, a wave of dread punched me in the gut and I started seriously doubting this. When Ray reached for the key underneath their rock I snatched his arm.

"What?" He asked.

"I just...I don't think we should be doing this. It kinda feels weird, like we're breaking and entering."

He snorted. "It's nothing you're not used to." He mumbled under his breath and turned away from me to the door.

I punched him in the shoulder. "I heard that." I said dryly. "And I'm being serious, this is different. The circumstances are different. We actually know the people who live here."

"You knew him too."

I couldn't believe this. This was no time to act like an annoying brat like this. I flipped him around to look me in the eye so he would see that I was being serious. "Ray! Shut up already. I'm just saying, it almost feels like we're grave robbing at this point." I stated bluntly.