The Remaining Few

My Left Tear

The rain was falling heavily. The forest felt dark and cold. The campfire brought enough warmth but the fear stuck. It felt like being alone in a dark room while it was thundering and raining heavily outside. The only light there was, was the distant gaslight.

Mason sat on the muddy ground and looked at the campfire. His beat up and swollen face was burning in an uncomfortable manner. His hands felt cold as he pointed them at the fire. This reminded him of his group. The very first months after the outbreak. When their home was no longer an option. Other survivors started raiding houses and other properties for supplies.

Although their group consisted of nearly 25 people, only Mason, Enzo and 5 others knew what they were doing. Everything they went through were close calls. Until their paths met with the ones of the Red Raiders. They were taken by force and were being treated like henchmen.

Until Maddox saw the potential of Mason, Enzo and 5 others. The rest, Mason tries to forget. But no matter how many lives he takes or how many drinks he has, he can't forget the horrifying incident that happened shortly after.

The wind was howling and the thunder still rumbling heavily as ever. Mason looked next to him and saw Gideon still resting. They'd need to find something to treat the open wound. The pressure that was held on it wasn't enough. Mason didn't mind Gideon's pain though. Gideon gave him no reason to care.

Mason started skinning the wolverine and cooked the meat. Something he was taught by one of the people he lost. He held a piece of meat in the fire with his knife for a few and ate it. The meat tasted very strange. He tasted crumbs that he never tasted before. It had a bitter taste in his mouth and he wondered if he cooked it properly. Till he looked at the meat and saw that the animal itself was already rotten. He spit the meat out in disgust and kicked the wolverine's corpse away.

His mind lingered for good meat. But unfortunately this wasn't it. It was a mere illusion that he wished was real. He cursed upon himself for being so stupid. He had to lay down himself because he wasn't feeling well. But he heard an animal sound in the distance. He stood up and took his knife as he didn't want to waste ammo.

He looked up and saw that it was a deer. Mason wiped his eyes, hoping that this time, it was real. He had to lay low if he wanted to follow it around. But the blood on his body would be a little bit of an issue he thought. He did this before. Climb in a tree and strike the deer down with a knife. Not with a bloody stench though.

He used the high grass to sneak past and the deer didn't seem to sense him. He climbed on top of a tree and navigated through. He was now on a strong branch and was about to jump down from a small distance.

But he felt something in his neck. He felt through and removed a dart. He felt dizzy and knew exactly who got him. He saw everything twice their size in his eyes and fell down from the branch. He saw a few strangers approaching and he was right. It were the Red Skins. A cannibalistic group of individuals that use Indian type of weapons.

He was caught by a poison dart that will likely only make him unconscious. His eyes tried to close but he didn't want it to. He felt like his life was slipping away on its last beams of hope. He heard the Red Skins laughing and making all kinds of weird sounds that celebrated their successful hunt.

His eyes finally closed as his last bit of conscious saw the crooked teeth of the Red Skins that caught him.

Gideon woke up and looked at his wound. It was hurting badly as he slowly got up. He noticed that Mason was gone and looked around for a bit.