Chapter 58 The hunt 2

Chapter 58 The hunt 2
Around noon, the cabin door opened.

Chen, Eli, and Lisa stumbled in, carrying bundles wrapped in their jackets. Their faces were flushed from the cold and effort, but they were smiling. Actually smiling.

"We found a deer," Chen announced, setting her bundle on the kitchen counter. "Fresh kill. We have food."

For a moment, no one spoke. They just stared at the bloody bundles.

Then Brooks let out a whoop. "Holy shit. Actual food. Real food."

Marcus moved forward quickly, helping them unwrap the meat. Twenty pounds, maybe more. Dark red venison, still fresh.

"This is amazing," Lisa said, breathing hard but grinning. "We actually found something. We're not going to starve."

Most of the group crowded around, relief washing over their faces. Food. Real protein. A reason to hope.

But Mara stayed back, watching. Something felt wrong. Too convenient. Too easy.

Aria must have felt it too. She stood beside Mara, arms crossed. "Where did you find it?"

"In a clearing," Eli said. "Just... lying there. Throat torn out. Still warm."

"Just lying there," Mara repeated slowly. "In a forest with no animals. No life. And you found a fresh deer just lying there."

Chen turned to look at her, and her face hardened. "I know what you're thinking. But we don't have a choice. We eat, or we die. It's that simple."

"It's not that simple," Mara said. "Nothing here is that simple."

"Well, I'm eating it," Brooks said. He was already pulling out pots and pans. "I don't care where it came from. I'm starving."

Chen nodded. "We eat. We regain strength. Then we figure out our next move."

They started cooking right away. Brooks and Lisa handled it, cutting the meat into strips, heating oil in pans. The smell hit almost immediately.

God, the smell.

Rich and savory, making everyone's mouth water. Real protein. Real food. They hadn't eaten anything substantial in days, and the smell alone was enough to make Mara's stomach cramp with hunger.

But she couldn't shake the feeling. Wrong. This was wrong.

Around one PM, the meat was ready.

They divided it evenly—big portions on plates, more than they'd eaten in a week. Steam rose from the cooked venison. Everyone grabbed their plates and started eating.

It was a feast.

People chewed slowly at first, savoring every bite. Then faster, hungrier, unable to stop themselves. The meat was rich and filling and so, so good after days of starvation.

For the first time in nearly two weeks, they ate until they were full.

The change was immediate.

Energy came back. Color returned to faces. People sat up straighter, talked louder. Chen actually laughed at something Marcus said. Eli cracked a joke. Brooks smiled—really smiled, not that hollow grimace he'd been wearing.

The food changed everything.

Mara ate too, but slowly. Small bites. She couldn't help herself—she was starving. But she couldn't shake the wrongness of it.

Aria barely touched hers. Just picked at it, moving pieces around her plate.

Around two PM, maybe an hour after eating, Mara started noticing things.

Chen was pacing. Back and forth across the living room, talking fast. "We need to organize better. Set up a proper defense system. Maybe dig trenches around the cabin, create barriers. We could—"

"Captain, we don't have tools for that," Marcus said.

"Then we make tools," Chen said, not stopping her pacing. "We improvise. We adapt. We need to be smarter, faster, better prepared."

Her words tumbled over each other, too fast, too aggressive.

Eli couldn't sit still. He kept standing up, sitting down, standing up again. His hands were shaking. He kept flexing his fingers, tapping his leg, moving constantly.

Brooks was laughing. Just laughing at nothing. Staring at the wall and giggling like something was funny.

Lisa was crying. Not sobbing, just tears running down her face while she smiled. "I feel amazing," she said, wiping her eyes. "Why am I crying? I feel so good."

Marcus moved closer to Chen, studying her face. "Captain, look at me."

Chen stopped pacing and turned to him, annoyed. "What?"

Marcus pulled out a small flashlight from his medical kit and shined it in her eyes. Her pupils were huge. Completely dilated despite the light.

"Something's wrong," Marcus said quietly. He checked Eli next, then Lisa, then Brooks. "Look at their pupils—dilated. Heart rates are elevated. This isn't just food."

Mara felt ice flood her veins. "Sienna was right. The entity gave us this. The deer wasn't random."

"What are you talking about?" Chen demanded, but her voice was manic now. Too high-pitched.

"It was poisoned," Mara said, standing up. "Or drugged, or—"

"Not poisoned," Aria said quietly. She'd been watching from the table, her barely-touched plate in front of her. "Infected. Like Sienna. Like Theo. The entity was in the deer. And now it's in everyone who ate it."

"That's insane," Eli said, but he was sweating despite the cold. Shaking harder.

"Is it?" Aria looked around at all of them. "Look at yourselves. You're not acting normal. Something's happening."

Chen started pacing again, faster now. Talking rapidly about plans and strategies that made no sense. Eli was shaking so hard he had to grab the table to stay upright. Lisa was laughing and crying at the same time. Brooks had his hands over his ears, rocking back and forth.

"Make it stop," Brooks muttered. "The voices. Make them stop."

"What voices?" Marcus asked, moving toward him.

"In my head. They're so loud. Why are they so loud?"

Only five of them seemed okay. Mara, Aria, Marcus, Rhett, and Juno. Marcus had eaten sparingly—he'd been suspicious too. Rhett had only had a little, worried about staying alert to watch Sienna. Juno had barely touched her plate, her instincts screaming not to eat.

They watched in horror as the effects spread.

Chen's eyes started to change. Not white yet, but clouding. Like a film was growing over them. She stopped pacing suddenly and turned to look at Mara.

"It's inside us now," Chen said. Her voice was perfectly clear despite everything happening to her body. "The entity. We ate it. We invited it in."

Then she collapsed.

Just dropped like someone had cut her strings. One moment standing, the next moment on the floor, unconscious.

"Captain!" Marcus rushed to her, checking her pulse. "She's breathing. Heartbeat's strong. But she's out cold."

Eli fell next. His shaking got worse and worse until his legs gave out. He hit the floor hard.

Then Lisa. Then Brooks. All of them collapsing within minutes of each other, falling unconscious one by one.

Mara, Aria, Marcus, Rhett, and Juno stood frozen, staring at four unconscious bodies on the floor.

"What do we do?" Rhett asked, his voice small and terrified.

No one had an answer.