The Fog (HIATUS)

Chapter 25

The sunlight shines through the leaves and lights the dim forest, revealing the hog that was eating roots sticking out of the ground.
The poor creature has no idea that it is being hunted.

John and I hid in the bushes not so far away and waited for the good opportunity to strike. Or rather John waited as he had the rifle, I just tagged along.
He waits for the animal to turn around so he can have a clear shot and not risk the hog running away.

I spotted the hog this morning as it was scavenging around our camp and when it left, John decided to hunt it. Cody didn't feel that good, so he wanted to sleep a little longer, and who are we to say no to him.

,,Finally." John mutters as the hog turns right, giving him the clear shot.
Not wanting to be completely deaf, I scoot away from John and cover my ears.

The echoing bang makes me jump and my breathing hitches. Even when I covered my ears the bang was extremely loud.
John had some ear protection, in a form of leaves, so when the squealing animal stops moving, he takes the leaves out of his ears.

,,That went better than I thought." He gets up from the ground and dusts his pants.

I get up as well and walk towards the hog. ,,You're a good shot." The bullet pierced the animal right behind the shoulder, hitting the heart and instantly killing it.

,,Of course, I am." He puffs his chest out with pride and strides towards me. As he glances at the hog, he stays quiet before looking at me. ,,Why? What did I hit?"

The complete disbelief washes over me. It's not his first time, is it? How is he so good at it at his first time?

,,The heart?" I point the entry hole. ,,Please tell me you went hunting before."

To my bigger surprise he shakes his head and purses his lips.

,,My grandpa was a hunter and he used to tell the story how he shot the biggest buck he ever saw. He said that he aimed right behind the shoulder, so that is what I did. Didn't know that it would work." He scratches his head.
,,Anyway, what now?"

With one look at the big pig, I knew that it would be a waste of strength and daylight to drag it back to camp, even though we are close to it.
,,I will start butchering, you can go back and check on Cody. Start a fire as well, maybe boil some water and we can have a simple stew."

He nods and goes back towards the camp, while I try to get the meat out with my trusty knife. It could use some sharpening but is definitely better than the dull pocketknife.
While I trim the meat I try to plan for the next day.

Cody isn't doing that good, since his infection is progressing, and it would be better to let him rest. Walking with tremors and barely seeing anything isn't a great experience.
This meat should last us for some time if we smoke or cure it, now that we have some salt that John got from the fort.

Finding a better place for camp would be ideal as Cody doesn't like climbing trees and even John is afraid that he will fall. There is a city nearby, but it may not be safe there. I should probably go scout and scavenge it later.

I cut off another large piece of meat and leave it inside the carcass, as I shrug my backpack off and look for that one plastic bag I had somewhere.
Once I find it, it will be just a matter of time when I pack the meat and go back.

The bag rustles as I finally take it out and stuff it with meat, by the time I put the last piece of meat inside it was full.
There still is quite a bit of meat on the carcass, but it would take too much time to get it all.
With the full bag I head back towards the campsite, and as I get closer, the smell of smoke gets stronger.