Open up, Survivors Inside

Chapter 8

The wait was a bit long, but Carley and Ben ended up returning after around ten minutes with a basket of food. "I'm staying," Travis spoke up, "Someone has to stay and defend the place!"

"Then so is Carley and Ben," Lilly said, "Keep move of those biscuits stored. The rest of us are leaving."

Doug gave Carley a kiss goodbye, and Puffer once again felt a pang of jealousy. But it quickly went away as he began walking. "Man, I'm starving! I could eat a horse!" Duck said.

The trip was a short one, only taking a few minutes. But when they arrived, he were shocked to see an arrow in Mark's shoulder. "Mark! Oh my god, what happened?!" Katjaa asked as she rushed to get a better look.

"Christ, are you gonna be okay?!" Lilly questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mark replied, "I should just pull it out." He did not sound enthusiastic about the idea.

"Oh no honey, c'mon, Brenda's got you," a woman, most likely Andy and Danny's mother, said as she walked over, "C'mon inside now, we'll have you all sorted out. You too hun," she looked to Puffer as she spoke, "Lee told me all about your ankle, I might have somethin' to keep it straight."

"That would be amazing," Puffer replied, following after Brenda and Mark. Katjaa followed, helping Puffer up a set a stairs.

"You two sit tight, I'll be back with the right stuff. That arrow's gonna make you bleed, so we gotta be ready!" Brenda said, "And I can show you our cow while we're out!"

"That would be great," Katjaa said, following Brenda. Puffer got a look at the arrow, seeing how thin it was.

"Can't wait to get this out," Mark mumbled, "It hurts so badly, but I don't think it got anything important."

"Looks like just your shoulder," Puffer said, then he saw Mark perk up. Before Puffer could react, he felt a prick on his neck. Assuming it was a mosquito, he went to slap at it, but felt nothing. That's when he started to feel dizzy.

"P-Puffer!" Mark gasped as Puffer collapsed onto the floor. The last thing Puffer saw was Brenda approaching Mark with a needle.

The first thing Puffer noticed when he woke up was that his hands were tied behind his back, and his legs were tied together. That got Puffer to snap awake, and he saw he was in what looked like a bathroom of sorts. The next thing he saw was Brenda stand beside a tub, while his cane was laying on the bathroom sink. "The fuck?!" Puffer snapped, and Brenda turned to face him.

"Oh! I wasn't expectin' you awake for a bit longer!" Brenda said with surprise, and it was then that he saw Mark's head poking out of the bath tub.

Puffer tried to free himself, but he was bound tightly, "I fucking knew there was something sketchy going in! What are you doing to Mark?!"

"Well, I have to keep him alive if we're going to harvest his meat," Brenda said in a matter of fact way, and Puffer felt the color drain from his face at that statement.

"What did you just say...?" Puffer gulped.

"How else are we supposed to survive?" Brenda started, "We can't just live off vegetables and dairy products, we gotta keep ourselves healthy! And meat is needed."

"So you eat people?!"

"Only those about to die. You are a special case! You're immune to that nasty bug," Brenda said, "We can't eat you right away, so your friend here goes first. But your turn will come soon. Besides, that ankle of yours will get you killed." Brenda then grabbed a rag, tying it around Puffer's head to gag him, "I better get started, I got a big dinner to prepare!" Brenda left, turning the light off and closing the door. As Puffer heard something being pushed in front of the door, he began struggling in his binds again, desperate to get free.

"Puffer...?" Puffer paused and saw Mark looking his way, "Hang on...I'm...I'll get you out..." Mark grabbed onto the tub, trying to pull himself up. His hand bumped into Puffer's cane and he grabbed it, using the cane to hoist himself over the tub edge. It was then that Puffer saw that Mark no longer had legs. Mark dropped the cane and pulled himself towards Puffer, managing to undo the leg binds. The ones around Puffer's hands, however, were much tighter, and it was clear Mark was losing energy. Instead, Mark removed the gag.

"Hurry and untie me so I can stop the bleeding!" Puffer said, but Mark shook his head.

"I'm...done for..." Mark wheezed out, "I...I'm trying..." That's when the light suddenly turned back on, to the confusion of both. Only a few moments later, the door slowly opened, and Puffer was ready to kick the shit out of Brenda if it was her again. To his surprise, it was Lee. "Help...him..." Mark coughed.

Lee quickly got to Puffer and cut the rope using a multitool, "Don't eat dinner!" Puffer quickly said, "They're eating Mark!"

A noise from downstairs caught Lee's attention, and he turned to Puffer, "Get out through the window!" Lee then hurried out while Puffer tried to find something to stop the bleeding.

"Forget...me..." Mark begged, "Go...before they...get you..." Puffer didn't want to leave, but he had no choice.

"Those fuckers are gonna pay," Puffer promised, "I swear to you they will!" With that, Puffer headed to the bedroom window, opening it and climbing out. Puffer moved quicker when he heard a shot ring out from inside the house. Carefully lowering himself, Puffer saw one of the generators that electrified the fence attached to the barn. A few whacks from the cane was all it took to make the generator sputter and stop working, making the fence safe to cross. Hiding in the corn stalks near the barn, Puffer watched as the two brothers forced Kenny, Clementine, Lilly, Larry, and an unconscious Lee into the barn. Fuck, what was he supposed to do?! A noise caught his attention and he heard a moo. Peaking in, he saw Danny guarding the front door of the barn. Puffer knew he had to think of something, before it was too late.