He had survived the aftermath of the war and the nuclear winter by doing what was necessary.
At first he fought other survivors for the contents of the stores and houses, eventually it was down to hunting dogs, cats, rats, even insects.
It was almost three days since he'd last eaten, and now hunger was rapidly turning to starvation. His stomach growled, and cramped painfully.
A small movement caught his eye...
A cat maybe, or if luck was with him, a dog.
He lifted the rifle and trained the telescopic sight on the animal...
Not a dog...a woman, a young woman, maybe eighteen or twenty years old, certainly not much more, was picking her way lithely across the rubble, keeping low to the ground.
The desire boiled in his body, it had been a very long time since he had seen a woman.
His mind was swamped with memories of women he had known, had loved, had made love to.
Images flooded his thoughts, intertwined flesh, skin beaded with the glow of exertion, mingling juices, hot staccato breath, whimpers and small noises...
As he watched her approach, the exquisite sensation in his groin became almost overwhelming.
Almost....
A man's need to breed is one of his most basic instincts.
As is a man's need to eat.
A solitary tear rolled down his cheek as he squeezed the trigger.
©2011 Stephen. J. Green.
Yikes! I guess it's true what they say, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
ReplyDeleteA stark picture of desperation and basic survival in a post apocolyptic world.
Thanks Harry, hopefully the human race will never come down to this level.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember you getting so immediate with a tense situation in flash. This emerges into a very strong moment, Steve.
ReplyDeleteThank you John, I did consider drawing out the scene as she approached, but decided to leave it as I originally wrote it. I tend to write the same as my inner voice talks, which generally produces short clipped stories, sometimes this seems to work, and sometimes not.
ReplyDeleteGood to see that you have your priorities straight!! Anyway who says you have to eat all of her at once :)
ReplyDeleteColin
Thanks Colin, given the circumstances, hard decisions would favour survival, and man cannot live by love alone. :-D
ReplyDeleteMaybe he missed an opportunity to recruit a hunting partner [with benefits].
ReplyDeleteHi Tim, that is possible, but as she has also survived for so long, she is obviously a threat to be taken seriously, and may just decide that she needs to eat HIM.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing the lengths to which humanity will go in order to survive. Of course, I'm guessing that in a scenario such as this, it's "eat or be eaten".
ReplyDeleteVery tense!
Thanks Icy, it's sometimes terrible to see the way some humans can treat their own species even when there is no need, so some people would have less of a drop in behaviour to be able to make this kind of decision.
ReplyDeleteGah! Yes, very intense and cringeworthy. Well done, Mr. Green.
ReplyDeleteGracie, thank you for the kind words. (Sorry about the cringe.)
ReplyDelete*shudders* Here was me looking forward to a nice sex scene! Hope we never have to come to that to survive. Creepy and well told!
ReplyDeleteThanks Maria, I hope we never have to come to that too. (Never mind about the missed sex scene, growling tummies, rubble, and unwashed bodies, don't make for good sex scenes anyway) :-D
ReplyDeleteBrother, you nailed it with this piece. I was riveted, enjoying the emotional ride as your MC, faced with his options, made the choice which you set up right from the jump:"...by doing what was necessary." Like you mentioned earlier, we hope that mankind never drops to this level. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteThis was chilling. Though in that landscape, I think I'd be happy someone finally killed me. I wouldn't want to live in starvation and fear.
ReplyDeleteVery well done though.
Oh Steve, I'm gutted!
ReplyDeleteHi Guys, thanks for reading.
ReplyDeleteStephen, your comment is a real confidence-booster, thank you. And again, yes, let's hope that it never does come down to this.
Seleste, possibly many people would feel the same, but in some people the will to survive is so strong that it would override even the most distateful decisions.
Denise, Sorry.... I'll try to post something a bit more upbeat next week. (I'm not promising though :-D )
That wouldn't be a fun way to live, that's for sure. There's a reason they say the survivors will envy the dead. Good story!
ReplyDeleteHi Eric, yes, it would be a a bit grim wouldn't it?
ReplyDeleteI have come across that saying too, and there would probably be much truth in it.
What an awful way to survive. I agree with Seleste, he may have put her out of her misery. Harsh world you've created here but strong story.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gen, I think it would take a special type of personality to 'do what is necessary to survive' and many people would simply not adapt to the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteA dark world, but his motivations feel true. Also points out short-term optimizations aren't always good for long-term good.
ReplyDeleteHi Aidan, good observation.
ReplyDeleteI think being able to survive in this environment though would definitely affect ones moral, and logical reasoning.
Well there is more than one way for a man to eat...great story Steve. Seriously the last sentence was chilling. The landscape you created to set the scene was perfect and the man's hunger was very, very real.
ReplyDeleteRachel, thank you very much for these kind words, they are very much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWould it be evil of me to suggest he could have his cake AND eat it?
ReplyDeleteRol,
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I was thinking. He was such a bastard anyway, what's to stop him from doing both?
Well written, disturbing piece.
Hi Rol, I did think of that, but as I replied to Tim, if she has been tough enough to survive for so long, she may be just as big a threat to HIM.
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine, when I wrote this it was just a small idea, and the responses have far exceeded my expectations. You are right though, it is a bit disturbing.
I love the short clipped sentences. If someone had dropped down to this level then they wouldn't be using full sentences anymore. They'd be nearly animal and you captured that feeling really well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alex, yes, there probably wouldn't be much occasion for conversation in that kind of environment, though I do tend to write in this fashion quite often.
ReplyDeleteVery "I Am Legend" like. I held my breath as I read each sentence. And I would have loved it EVEn more without the last sentence. I think that would given me a minor stroke lol.
ReplyDeleteHi Magaly, thank you for the kind feedback, it is a bit like "I am legend" in the sense of the lonely survivor, only probably a more hostile environment.
ReplyDelete