The Price of Humanity

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

I look back at Zane, who has a worried expression on his face. I smile at him, trying – and failing – to comfort him.

"Somebody has to keep track of how long it's been." I sigh and look at my hands. "And I keep track of how many I've killed so I don't forget. I don't forget that I've taken lives and that I've changed. If I forget that each life means something, then I'm no longer a good person." He nods but still wears a grimace.

"I know, but it still unnerves me that you count every kill."

"I'm not going to stop, each life means something and if I don't record them, if I don't remember them, then each life doesn't matter. Our lives don't matter." He runs his hands down his face in exasperation. I smile in return.

"I have my reasons. Now move the truck into the garage, it's still sitting out for the whole world to see." I kick his feet so they fall off the couch. He grunts slightly in surprise and rolls his eyes, but gets up anyway.

"Yes, Mum." He mumbles, heading out the front door. I shake my head and go to help Gale in the kitchen. Well, by help I mean sit on the counter and eat all the food he's trying to cook.

Gale stands over the camping stove we found in a store back at the start, Gale was over the moon when we found it. He thought he would be able to cook five star meals for us all, rather than heating cans on an open fire in the garden.

Finding gas for it is hard but we've managed to collect enough so far to allow us a warn dinner each night. We limit the gas to only evening meals though, breakfast and lunch are strictly cold food – if it's too cold in the mornings and we're craving a hot meal Gale goes all caveman style on us once again, heating cans over a makeshift fire.

He holds a can of food up, inspecting it, before pulling the ring and tipping the contents into the pan.

I jump up on the counter next to him, startling him slightly and picking up a spoon from the drawer to my right.

I dig the spoon into the pan and start eating away at our dinner whenever his back is turned.

"Stop it!" Gale chastises, smacking my hand away. I drop the spoon I'm holding, shocked, which lands in the pan. "You're not at sneaky as you think you are." He continues.

Gale takes the spoon out and chucks it in the nearby sink, shaking his hand violently as he does so, he's burned himself. He curses and grabs a water bottle, pouring some water over it although not nearly enough.

He comes back to the pan which contains a dry sort of stew of three types of canned vegetables.

"You can't eat all of our dinner before Zane and I have the chance." I scoff.

"If I didn't try I wouldn't get any the way you guys eat. You do know we're in an apocalypse right? End of the world situation? We're meant to be rationing food?" He glares at me.

"I am rationing. But we're big guys we need sustenance." I shake my head and look down at the stew. It tastes good, for apocalypse food, but the presentation is something to be desired.

"Looks lovely." I say grimacing. I would kill for a pizza, or a McDonalds, or a full English breakfast. My mouth starts to water at the thought of gorgeous food. Gale laughs and snaps me back into reality.

"Stop daydreaming about pizza." He stirs the stew and brings a small spoonful up to his mouth. Blowing on it gently he puts it in his mouth and chews.

He contemplates the taste for a minute, all the while I stare at his strange expression.

"Yeah, it's not Dominoes, I'll tell you that." He frowns, stirring the stew again.

"You do the best you can." I say ruffling his hair. He glares at me, I smile, from sitting on the counter I'm almost as tall as him.

Gale smiles and continues stirring the stew.

"Get the plates, will you?" He says to be, pushing me off the counter with his elbow. I nod and head over to one of the cupboards, picking up three bowls from the shelves.

"You're deaf, aren't you?" Gale says as I place the bowls down next to him. I roll my eyes and smack him lightly on the back of the head.

"No." I reply, jumping back up on the counter. "Bowls will be easier with the stew." He shrugs, realising I'm right but not inclined to admit it.

I swing my legs, looking down at him while he finishes up the stew.

"I'll go get Zane." I tell him, he only nods in reply so I head through the lounge and open the front door.

"Zane what's taking so..." I trail off seeing my older brother standing just outside the door. "Zane?" I call out to him but he stands frozen in his place.

"Yeh we're going to need to leave." He says, still staring at whatever he's staring at. Taking a quick look around, I don't see the truck, the garage door is only half closed so I guess he got distracted.

I walk towards him and facing where he's facing. I freeze too.

"There hasn't been one in months." I practically whisper. He nods and sticks his arm out as if he's going to point to something, he's doesn't.

He looks out of his left eye, then his right and I can practically see the cogs working in his head. His brings his arm back down and sighs.

"About 15,000 feet, 3 miles." He turns to me, trying to figure out the maths of it all. "Roughly an hour until they get here." I look back over at the herd in the distance.

"I'll do the personal stuff, you sort the kitchen and get Gale to pack up everything in the den." I nod at his orders, with one last look at the approaching herd.

"Guess we don't have time to sit around the dinner table as a family." I say, half joking. I turn back into the house and aim straight for the kitchen.