The Calamity (Short Story)

Chapter 4: Argument

   I woke up to the sounds of an argument.

  

  Gu Ying, a merchant who had decided to stay in the village a few years back, was trying to convince the villagers to head back to the village. Those that had left family members behind were more easily convinced but the others showed signs of fear and refused. This had caused Gu Ying to be rather upset and yell but that only made those who were reluctant to go back angry. They accused him of endangering human lives for the sake of his goods. Well, I suppose it wasn't too far off from the truth seeing as how his face had turned completely red. How he became a merchant is a mystery to me... Then again he was staying in this remote little fishing village...

  Well the result of the argument was that around half the group, a dozen villagers decided to head back to the village while the other half decided to wait it out. My family and I were part of the group that stayed behind. We somehow managed to convince Yu to stay with us despite his obvious desire to rush back to look for his parents. Well, I suppose he does have to consider his sister.

  Those people who were going to leave had left some food behind, saying that there should be more food left in the village. I just shook my head. The main food stores had probably been washed away. After all it was rather near to the ocean. I'm pretty sure those people were just not thinking straight. I don't blame them; their families were stuck in the village with a monster that drags people into the ocean. Well there was more food for my group so no complaints either way.

  Still, even after they left, we decided to organise ourselves into small foraging and scouting teams. I ended up taking Yu into the forest and teaching him about the edible plants. Since my main profession was a fisherman I could only teach him a little. I wouldn't be able to recognise a medicinal herb even if you put it in front of me. Yu was a clever kid, he quickly picked up all the knowledge that I had. He was 16 this year but he honestly seemed more mature than my second son, who was meant to turn 17 this year.

  When we had only gathered enough plants to fill half a basket, we suddenly heard a high-pitched scream and a loud shout followed by a roar that didn't seem human...