Outcaste

Death Is Inevitable

The masked man stormed in and swept his hand down to grab Felix by the throat and slam him up against the wall.

"Cry! CRY! It's me, it's Felix, please," his speech was garbled and his eyes filled with tears of pain and shock. Cry stopped shaking him for a second, his grip loosened slightly.

"I know who you are," he growled and dropped him to the floor, his shoulder throbbing, as he lay upon it, his breathing was heavy and racked with gentle sobs. Cry's eyes shot to Jack and and his lap upon which lay an empty bag of chips and a half eaten can of sweetcorn.

"Food, you've got food, give it to me," his voice was desperate and filled with madness. Jack picked up the can with a shaky hand and Cry aggressively swiped it from him. He eagerly swallowed mouthfuls of the yellow contents with reckless abandon, not even stopping when it got stuck and caused him to choke.

"Do you have more food? Tell me you have more food," he pushed the spear up to Mark's face and he held his hands up.

"Cry, put the spear down. We have food. Listen to me very carefully. I need you to tell us what happened to you, and we need your help. If we give you some of our food can we please stay here and talk?" Mark chose each word carefully and held his hands up in complete surrender to the large weapon that stung his cheek. Cry thought about what he had heard and the small rational part that remained in his mind reasoned him into acceptance. He threw the spear down so it clattered against the wooden wall, and nodded.

"Dan, I'd like you to bring some food and drink down for me please, just lay it down at the top of the stairs and I'll take it from you. Dan nodded in shock, and pulled out some chips, a can of beans and as he rooted through the box, he managed to find some chocolate. He laid them, and a can of soda by the ladder and slinked back to his mat. Mark stood and using slow movements pulled them down, placing them in front of Cry.

Cry's eyes widened and he pawed and tore at the packaging like a wild animal, he pushed the can hard against his mouth it left a red ring upon his skin and caused tomato juice to pour down his face and chin. He barely took a breath as he pulled the soda ring from the can and drained it. The can bounced across the ground, and before he had even opened the chocolate bar, he'd shoved it into his mouth, spitting the paper out, and swallowing hard chunks whole. He ripped the bag of chips and they scattered everywhere but he didn't care. He shovelled handfuls of them in until all that remained were grains of salt. He licked his hands fervently and took huge deep breaths when he was finished. His bottom lip wobbled as his face scrunched up, tears began to appear from underneath his mask as he lived up to his name.

Felix watched him from the corner of the room, his eyes fixed upon the face of his friend. He considered that hunger could drive a person to do things inconceivable to another person. Cry turned his face to take in Felix, he began to crawl his way over, tears painting the wood in splotches as he moved, his arms and legs shaking from malnourishment. Felix braced himself for more abuse, but he did not flinch. Cry allowed his body to flop into Felix's lap, his mask sliding a little to show his flushed and tear stained cheeks. Felix was unable to feel angry with him, and the initial shock had faded into pity for the struggles Cry had endured. It also instilled in him a sense of fear of what was to come in his own future.

"I'm...I'm--" Cry tried to formulate words as his stomach churned from the sensation of eating more than mere berries for months.

"I know," Felix spoke softly, saving his friend from the words he couldn't muster.

"Wait, if you built this place, isn't all of this yours, Cry?" Wade asked, perplexed. Cry shook his head;

"No, none of this was here when I left three days ago. I was stranded at my second camp, there are jaguars and ocelots here, and I couldn't get back here until now, and you are all here and all of these things are here. I heard a helicopter but I never saw it, I was inside," Cry's eyes darted from person to person as he spoke.