Chapter 44
Jake’s hunger was becoming painful. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had anything to eat or drink for that matter. He looked about the cabin again hoping that he may have overlooked something that he could use as sustenance. It was dark and dusty in here, making visibility difficult. He began walking about, trying to find anything that would ease the gnawing at his gut.
In the corner, he heard, or thought he heard a faint sound. He approached cautiously, not knowing what to expect. The mind plays tricks on you when you are near exhaustion, and Jake wasn’t sure if this was the case. Then he heard it again. The sound was definitely there.
A mouse, as large as his fist, sat in the corner eying him suspiciously. Jake stopped and stood as still as he could so as not to frighten the creature. He sidled closer to the rodent and then stopped to make sure that it didn’t scurry away.
It began twitching, making a strange noise but remained where it was. There had to be food here somewhere or the rodent wouldn’t have taken up residence. Jake sniffed the air, hoping that he would find whatever it was that the mouse was eating, but all he could smell was stale air and as he got closer to the animal, a foul odor emanated from it.
Desperation was grabbing hold of him again. If he didn’t get something to eat soon he was surely going to die. Quick as a flash, he struck out with his right hand and grabbed the mouse. It squealed and writhed in his grip, but the more it struggled, the harder Jake squeezed.
Without warning, it turned its head and bit into Jake’s hand with its razor sharp incisors. Jake let out a yelp but held on, not letting go. He reached up with his left hand, grabbed the animal by the neck and twisted. A sickening popping sound could be heard, and the mouse began twitching and then lay still.
After a moment or two, Jake grabbed the mouse again by the neck and pulled. For a second, nothing happened, but then the head came away from its body with ragged tendrils still attached. Blood gushed forth from the opening. Jake put his mouth up to the body and let the copper tasting liquid pour down his throat. At first he thought he would be sick, but he managed to stop himself from throwing up.
Desperate times meant you sometimes had to take desperate measures. He realized that if he didn’t nourish himself soon, he was going to die. And so, with nothing else around, he drank what little blood the mouse would give and then starting gnawing at the body, fur still intact and all. He went at it like a wild animal would go at a new kill, ripping and tearing at the body that lay in his hands. He was making almost animal-like sounds himself. To him, nothing had ever tasted so good. He let out a howl of relief as his stomach seemed to be satisfied for the moment.
However, his happiness was short lived. His stomach started to cramp. He leaned forward, grabbing his gut and started moaning in agony. The mouse disagreed with him after all. It seemed that it was getting back at him for his brutal attack. A pain seized him, and he fell to his knees. A sharper, more intense throbbing hit him, and he expelled his stomach contents with such force that it hit the nearby wall and dribbled down to the floor.
Jake lay there gasping. His head was spinning, and there was a vile taste in his throat. It almost made him sick again but he managed to control himself. Rolling on the floor, he prayed that he would die to end his misery, but death didn’t come. He felt totally spent with little strength left.
Without knowing it, he had made so much noise over the past few minutes that the wolves once again began to stir. They started yelping once more, bringing Jake’s attention back to his recent dilemma. All at once, the door rattled in its frame as the attack was renewed, this time with more intensity. Not only could they still smell his blood, the acidic, pungent odor of his vomit was incensing them.
The noise emanating from the other side of the door was deafening. Jake thought he would go mad if it didn’t stop soon. He moved to the far wall as if the added distance would protect him if and when they broke through.
He looked around the room once more. He had missed seeing the mouse the first time and with any luck there might be something that he could use as a weapon. All he could see were the table, chair and broken down fridge that he knew were already there.
Then an idea came to him. He went over to the chair , grabbing it and wedged it under the door handle, kind of a make shift locking mechanism. This would probably keep them at bay a little longer so that he might have time to think what he could do to protect himself. He thought that he should maybe push the fridge in front of the door but this would effectively block his escape route if the opportunity arose. The chair would have to do for now.
Another thunderous bang against the door and Jake thought that he heard cracking of the wood. He better do something quickly. His time seemed to be running out.
Jake started pacing back and forth. He became more and more agitated, his fate seeming to be set. As he darted about, the wolves continued to attack the door and occasionally would lunge at the shuttered window as well.
In frustration, he kicked the table as hard as he could. His strength was waning, but adrenalin was coursing through his veins allowing him to put substantial force behind it. One of the legs snapped in two, the bottom piece flying across the room. The table toppled over, splintering into small bits as it hit the floor.
This sent the wolves into a frenzy. They increased their onslaught and the chair starting shaking as they leapt against the door again and again. Looking at the leg that had struck the wall, Jake’s hopes were lifted a little. The end was jagged, looking like a short spear. He went over and grabbed it, swinging it back and forth, brandishing it like a sword.
Jake wheeled about just as the one of the door’s hinges broke free from the jamb and it stood there somewhat lopsided. "Come on you devils. Come and get me if you can. I’ll take one or two of you with me, you pieces of shit. Let’s go!”
Just then, one of the wolves poked its nose into the opening that had appeared when the hinge broke. Jake reacted almost at once. He lunged forward and stabbed at the animal, but only hit a glancing blow, because the wolf saw him at the last second and moved his head sideways.
Snapping and barking like a wild dog, the intruder started pushing against the door, forcing himself into the room. Jake backed up as fast as he could, and the wolf tried to bite him, but he gnashed into thin air. Jake thought that he was a goner, but then his luck seemed to be turning around. It appeared that the door only moved far enough to allow the wolf to get its head inside but would not allow it to approach any further. The chair was still jammed under the handle stopping the door from opening completely.
Jake didn’t hesitate. He struck with lightening speed. The make-shift weapon was plunged deep into the wolf’s eye with a sickening popping sound and continued on to the brain. The animal let out the most spine chilling shriek imaginable.
Jake withdrew his weapon, and attacked once more. This time, it caught the wolf on the muzzle and split it in two. Blood sprayed everywhere. The animal continued to make unholy noises and thrashed about, but after a few moments, it became still.
Its one good eye clouded over and it let out a final death cry. Then it was silent. Its two companions started howling, but made no attempts at trying to get inside. After a few more moments, they turned tail and raced to the forest’s edge and disappeared without even stopping to look back.
It seems the animal that tried to get inside was the biggest of the three, the leader. When the pack saw that he had been killed, they didn’t wait around to share the same fate. They must have thought that if the biggest and strongest of them couldn’t handle the human, what chance did they have.
The truth of the matter was, Jake wouldn’t have been able to fend off either of the remaining two. In his weakened condition, he was fortunate to have enough strength to save himself once. He wouldn’t be able to do it a second time.
Fatigue and shock set in. His whole body started to shake uncontrollably. He slumped to the floor; the cadaver looked at him with its one clouded eye and its destroyed nose. It almost seemed to be smirking at him.
Part of the animal’s blood was dripping down Jake’s face, but he didn’t even notice. He was too tired to notice much of anything. Just before he fell asleep, he heard a buzzing sound and looked up to see flies starting to congregate around the mutilated head of the wolf. A pair of them landed on the destroyed eye socket, and disappeared into the wound. Jake shuddered as he fell into a fitful, nightmare-filled sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment