Thanks to Handcuffs_and_Iguana who proofread it for me first and who is my inspiration. I look forward to you dude

TW: GORE

In an empty desert driven, godforsaken world, I'm one of the only living survivors left.

Well, me and the rest of the people in camp of course.

I can't say I recall when I first arrived. They have always been there. And so have I. And sure, more people were coming in, but we have always accepted them with open arms.

It was fine for a while. It really was. We had food, shelter, and clothing. But then the people started disappearing. It was one at a time at first, which meant it was easier to brush away.

"Oh, he probably got lost"

Or

"Poor girl, she must've run into the wild beasts."

And on it went.

We went out to hunt as frequently as the people kept disappearing. We needed to eat, after all.

Sure, there were less hunters than before, but we managed, each of us dragging our own haul home after a long and tiring day.

Most of the prey we found were not far from camp, which made our jobs considerably easier. And although this was the case, we had found more often than not that those ones weren't in the perfect condition or were badly injured, thus rendering it useless to use their hides for clothing or even feast on some of their inner organs.

Hey, never underestimate desperate people, they will do anything to survive.

~

"Time to go hunt again Nico." Reyna said, touching my shoulder lightly before moving away before I could say anything. I thought of refusing for a moment. My boyfriend, Will Solace, had just gone missing last night and I was still reeling from the shock and loss of someone who was my everything.

To my surprise, my stomach rumbled and I agreed to go at the prospect of food to satisfy my ever growing hunger.
"Alright."

~

Reyna had caught the first deer. She was never one for manners and used her hands to tear into it eagerly, a mad glint in her eyes. Usually, in the past, they would bring it back to roast on the fire and distribute the finer bits to the elders, but times had changed.

I drew my focus from her and tried to listen to the rustling leaves from either on top, or below me. I knew they would usually hide beneath fallen logs or up in the trees. I chuckled softly, they were always too predictable.

I heard a soft crunching sound to my left and limped towards it slowly, trying to cause as little noise as possible. Once I smelled my target a few feet from me, I pounced, sinking my teeth into its fleshy tan neck.

It cried out, a sound almost distinguishably human as it crumpled to the ground, blood gushing out of its wound.

The blood tasted warm and salty in my mouth and I yearned for more. I lunged at it again, my teeth grazing flesh as I pulled, something wet coming off into my mouth.

I bit into it and tried to savor the taste but immediately, an overwhelming feeling of absolute disgust filled me and I spat it out, bits of blood and gore splattering on my face.

It fell to the floor a little ways away with a soft squish and I inched closer to inspect it. I had eaten deer meat before, had taken a particular liking to it really, but why was this any different?

I pinched it up between my fingers and promptly dropped it when I saw it for what it really was. Instead of a deer's ear... it was a human one.

I stumbled backwards and I tripped over my own feet in my haste to get as far away from it as possible.

I landed next to the deer's corpse, it's blood dampening my back.

Everything felt heavy.

Like I was underwater.

                Like I was drowning.

I turned my head to the side and there it was...

Will's face stared back at me, cold and lifeless, his throat torn open viciously and his right ear nothing but a fountain of blood.