The bed shakes, throwing me into the realm of consciousness with enough force to make me fall off had I been close to the edge.
Whirling around, I gape at Cody as he stands on the bed with a rabbit hanging from his jaws and dripping blood on the off-white sheets.
Horror washes over me as I recoil against the bed's headboard. "Oh my god! What the heck are you doing?"
He drops the rabbit and it falls on the bed with a light splat.
Clutching my heart as I stare at the dead animal, Cody's front legs drop to the mattress. With his rear pointed to the ceiling, his tail wagging, he grins at me with playfulness.
I can't get past the dead animal on the bed, and I grimace as I scoot to the edge of the mattress and gingerly put my weight on my feet. My twisted ankle is still sore, and my entire body aches from over-exertion yesterday.
Groaning, I stretch my tired achy muscles, while shooting him a glare. "It's your fault my body hurts so much."
His grin vanishes and tilts the left side of his head up.
I hate it when he does that. He just looks too darn cute.
My eyes travel down to the limp rabbit and my stomach churns. That's not for me, is it? Gross.
I walk out of the room and head straight to the bathroom, where my suspicions from last night are confirmed-no running water.
Ugh, looks like it's the bushes again this morning.
Carefully, I amble out of the cabin to do my dirty business in some nearby shrubs before returning inside in search of food.
If he thinks I'm eating that disgusting thing, he's got rocks in his head.
Although, I have never eaten roast rabbit before, it might be good? With a wood-burning stove and boxes full of matches, I could easily cook meat now.
Skinning and gutting that thing on the other hand... I shudder.
I pull open the curtains in all the windows of the main living space as I make my way to the storage room to see what kind of canned food there is-and if any of it is still good. I find mostly spam, canned beans, corn, and stew-all of which doesn't entice my appetite.
Being devoid of sustenance for so long, combined with blood dripping from a rabbit's corpse flickering in my mind, makes my stomach twist and churn almost painfully.
Groaning, I decide to finish off the blackberries in my khaki backpack for breakfast instead, if only to try and regain the loss of my appetite.
Cody watches me from the bedroom door with the rabbit lying in a heap in front of him as I walk out of the storage room and flop down on the sofa. The khaki backpack lies next to me in an upside-down position from when I tossed it last night. I know I'm hungry and should eat, but the memory of that slaughtered rabbit dropping on the bed still makes me shudder.
What a wakeup call that was.
Cody trots over to me with the rabbit in his mouth, and stops seven feet away. Dropping it, he whines as his head lowers a little, but his gaze is fixed on me.
I don't know what to say to him. Good morning? Thanks for the rabbit? What does he want from me?
"Yo," is my most intelligent response. I brush a loose strand of hair from my face before allowing my gaze to explore the main living quarters.
It's not a huge space by any means, but it's good enough for what it's worth. The walls aren't insulated and are relatively bare aside from the multiple square windows and curtains. The roof meets up to a point, like a triangular prism, with wooden beams crossing overhead for support. The sofa and reclining chair in the living room are in better shape than I thought they were last night. There are no holes in the fabric, but there's dog fur in the crevasses, and the cushions are a little sunken. There's a thin layer of dust on everything, and I can see dust particles floating in the sunlight streaming in through the windows. The floors, although worn with scratches all over them, are still strong looking and hold no cracks or chips.
No television, of course. There aren't even any electrical outlets that I can see.
How am I going to be able to call home?
My heart sinks.
Without a telephone connection, how can I inform anyone of my whereabouts? How can anyone know to come here and pick me up?
Leaning forward, I cradle my chin in my hands as this new realization hits me. I'm no closer to getting home now than I was before.
Cody whines again faintly before I hear his claws clicking softly on the wooden floor toward me. He stops in front of me, sits down, and tilts his head in that adorable manner he has.
I look away from his questioning eyes as my own begin to threaten with tears and my face grows hot.
I know I should be grateful to have even found the cabin-it is better than sleeping in caves or under roots of trees-but I had been so eager to return home today. To find out that I can't is like being punched in the stomach and then kicked repeatedly as I cower on the ground.
Serves you right, Zara, for getting your hopes up.
I squeeze my eyes shut as a stray tear falls down my cheek.
Cody whimpers and nudges my head with his nose until I lift my head to look at him.
He licks the tear track from my cheek and catches my gaze as I stare at him with wide eyes.
He just licked me.
He just licked me after killing and carrying a dead rabbit in his mouth!
I pull away with a grimace. "Ew! Cody, that's disgusting!"
Any thought of eating those berries is now completely wiped from my mind. Not only do I have dog drool on my face, but this drool had contact with bodily fluids from a former living animal.
It's too vile for words to describe. What's more is that he doesn't seem the least bit aware of how utterly nauseating the lick was.
He glares at me and trots to the animal carcass, still lying in a heap seven feet away. Picking it up in his jaws, he turns to look at me for a moment.
I swear, he's plotting something from that mischievous look.
Then he turns his head and tosses the rabbit over his shoulder. It hits me in the chest with a sickening thud before falling onto my lap.
If I wasn't completely and totally disgusted before, I sure am now.
Shrieking, I thrust the bloody lump of fur from my lap and onto the floor.
Cody is in fits of laughter, yipping and yapping as his body wiggles all over and his tail is wagging in long quick sweeps. He lunges for the rabbit and throws it up in the air and catches it before he tosses it back at me.
Screaming again, I jump out of my seat before the carcass hits me.
I run around the couch and hide behind it. "Oh, you are so not playing with that thing right now!"
He barks, grabs the rabbit from the couch, and jumps over it. I stumble back as he jumps on me, knocking me to the ground.
I wince as the rabbit falls on my neck, like a furry wet scarf, but it's the fact that Cody is licking my face all over as quickly as he can is what has me crying out for help between giggles.
"Stop it! Oh my god! Get off of me!"
I manage to wrestle him off and throw the soggy rabbit from my neck. Cody doesn't leave me alone, though. He seems to think that it's playtime and he wrestles me back down on the ground, grabbing my arm between his teeth, but not applying any pressure to puncture, or even bruise.
"Cody! Stop!" I cry as I try to push him off again.
He relents, his tongue hanging out as he watches me pull myself up from the floor. I wipe the drool from my face, but I can still smell it and it makes me want to yack.
Damn this cabin for not having any electricity or running water! I really want to wash this foul stench from my face before it makes me vomit.
I limp to the storage room and search for a bucket. I find one attached to a cobweb-covered mop. A shudder runs through me as I remove the foul mop and take the bucket out.
I walk past Cody, who's panting as he's watching me, and out the front door.
There's a dirt pathway leading to a wooden deck at the edge of the lake that looks like it's only been there a few years. The boards still look new, bright yellow in the sunlight, aside from various scratch marks on the surface.
Treading carefully across each board, leery of a weak one to snap on me, I take the bucket to the end and lean over the edge. The water is only two feet below and I try to first rinse the bucket from any trace of sticky webs before pulling up some fresh water to splash on my face. It's cold and draws a shiver down my spine as the sun's rays warm my back.
After several splashes and scrubbing of my face, I look out at the lake and the wildflowers that surround it. The blue sky above reflects on its mirror-like surface. Its edges match the green banks dotted with yellow, purple, and white specks. Jagged-tipped mountains surround the valley with only a break between them straight ahead of me. Although the sun is still climbing up towards high noon, I can tell that west is in that break-that's where home is. It has to be somewhere through there.
A light clicking noise catches my attention and I look over my shoulder to see Cody trotting toward me on the dock. I can't help but scowl at him as he pulls up next to me and plops himself down with his tongue hanging out at the side between pants.
"You really need to brush your teeth," I say, pointing my finger at his nose. "Your breath smells like ass."
He smiles into the sun, his panting interrupting the peace and quiet.
I shake my head as I pull my legs out from under me and hang them over the edge of the dock. If I'm careful, I can stretch a leg out and touch the surface of the water with my big toe, but I refrain from doing so. Instead, I lean back onto the wooden boards and close my eyes as the sun shines down on my face and body.
Had the situation been different, this would have been the perfect vacation getaway. Unfortunately for me, it has no running water or electricity. I'm dependant again on nature to survive, but at least I can lie back and soak in the sun now. That's a plus.
Until I figure out how to get back into the city, this is the closest I'm going to get to paradise. I sigh as my body basks in the warmth that surrounds me.
Cody yawns next to me, drawing a smile from my lips. Yes, this is relaxing. Too relaxing. I better not fall asleep out here.
My stomach growls loudly, causing Cody to jump and sniff me. I brush him back with hand gestures. "Yeah, yeah, don't act all shocked."
Now that I am all relaxed, my stomach has spoken up and demands attention. Groaning, I pull myself up, and amble lazily back into the cabin to eat those blackberries.
Later, I decide, I'll figure out how to work that stove and look for some pots or pans that I can use. I'm eating something other than asparagus today!
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Author's Note: Cody did it! He brought home the bacon! And Zara turned her nose up at it... *guffaws*
Wasn't the chapter awesome!? Oh wait... You were all hoping that he was going to reveal himself finally? Well, ahh... *hides* LOL