Tales Of The Macabre

Hunger

The feeling of listlessness overcame Justin's entire body. He was too weak to sense his own thirst. His mouth was dry and his skin cracked from the lack of water in his body.

Water wasn't the issue he just couldn't will his body to move and get it. It was only feet away from him but it felt like a mountain stood in his way.

He stared out the small hole in the cave he first climbed through to get shelter from the storm that raged outside. He sat and watched until he was sure the sun was up again and made a mark on a flat stone in front of him.

"It's been ten days now since I have eaten any food and the snowstorm had been raging for days now with no sign of letting up," he thought to himself as he looked down at his hunger ravished body.

He managed to grab a knife he kept close to him. The thought had already crossed his mind days ago when he was putting his broken leg in a splint and it still had a bit of muscle to it.

He knew he needed to eat if he was going to make it out of here alive and his hunger was enough of a justification

"Soon there won't be enough muscle, our fat to eat, " he thought as he sunk the knife deep into his calf.

He flayed the flesh from his bones and bit into it. It felt warm in his mouth. It was soft but tough and metallic to the taste. He devoured the meat and as the pieces of chewed flesh met his stomach, it churned and cramped and he wretched it back up.

He sliced the muscle from his other calf and slowly swallowed it in the hope he could keep it down. As the minutes passed the food sat uncomfortably in his stomach. His body became overwhelmingly cold as the blood from his organs rushed to his stomach to digest the cannibalised meat.

A feeling of ecstasy washed over him as the synapses in his brain started firing again. His eyes bulged, as a manic hunger came over him and he began slicing more muscle from his leg and devouring the bloody meat like a wild animal.

Three days had passed and the sun was now shining through the cave entrance. Justin laid there with his belly bloated, still chewing on flesh and delirious from blood-loss.

He knew he was dying and prayed it would be quick when all of sudden he heard the whooshing sound of helicopter blades.

"It was a miracle," he thought as he began to hear breaking branches and leaves rustling outside the cave.

"I'm here, I'm here," he screamed as he lifted his head so he could see the entrance to the cave.

As he sat there with the anticipation of his rescue, three hungry wolves poked their head into the cave, sniffing the air for the scent of Justin's exposed flesh.