Both of the boys had ivory pallor’s and big, round blue eyes that stared up at me. They whimpered softly. Their teeth were cracked from eating rocks and their bones were showing through their thin, translucent skin. The stench from their mother’s corpse wandered up my nostrils and I gagged, turning my head away.
Sharp sobs caught in my throat and I sucked them back, trying to be strong. I smiled, tears watering up in my eyes as I handed each of them two large carrots. “Here you go, little guys.”
They snatched the carrots from my hands and gobbled them up in one breath. “Do you have anymore?” the elder one asked in his soft child-like tone.
“Not right now,” I said tearing up again. “But I’ll tell you what, if you’re good little boys, I’ll bring you more tomorrow.”
They smiled and nodded.
I didn’t hear a peep from them the rest of the night. When
the following morning came, I begged my mother. I begged her for hours to let us take them in. “Mom, they’re two little boys! How much could they possibly eat?”
My mother shook her head. “You know I would in a second, but we barely feed ourselves,” she said, her voice hushed.
“Then, I won’t eat. Give them my portion.”
“Georgina, don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not being ridiculous. I won’t eat.”
My mother glanced at her garden, then at me. She paused for a moment and then finally, she caved. “Go get them. We’ll just eat a little bit less than usual.”
Only when I went outside to find the little boys, they were gone. Next to their mother’s body, there were two pools of blood and four carrot stems. The cannibals had gotten to them first. After that, I lost control of my emotions. I sobbed so hard that I could barely breathe, lost the small appetite I had, and I didn’t leave our hut until the colony was completely finished.
My mother and May caught my attention when they came to a halt and I stumbled forward. May gripped my arm tightly, steadying me, and my mother shot me a disapproving glance. “Georgina! Pay attention!” she scolded.
I blushed, embarrassed that she snapped at me like that in front of May. “Sorry.”
She exhaled. “Just watch where you’re going, please. You don’t need to have another accident.”
I nodded. “Will do.”
We stood in front of the infirmary and May unhooked her arm from mine. “Take it easy, kiddo,” she said, then pulled me in for a short hug.
“I will. For now,” I answered with a cheesy grin.
May laughed and turned to my mother. “Glad I could help, Marcy. I’ll talk to you soon.”
My mother let go of me and hugged May. “Thanks for everything May. Talk to you soon.”
After May made her exit and we started walking back to my room, I thought that now was a good of time as any to ask my mother about the letter she and my father took to Mr. Baker. “Was Mr. Baker able to help you?”
“Help me?” she questioned. “With what?”
“That letter you found with my stuff.” She was so adamant about getting to the bottom of it, I couldn’t believe that she didn’t remember.
“Oh, no. He said there was no way he could tell who wrote it. He assumed that it was probably a cannibal or a decayed one.”
“Decayed one?” That was the first time I’d ever heard anyone mention a decayed one. “What are decayed ones?”
“I’ve never told you about the decayed ones?”
“No.” Now, I’d come to the conclusion that Mr. Baker and the council weren’t the only ones keeping secrets. Or perhaps it was something my mother didn’t want me to know.
“Are they like zombies?”
My mother shook her head. “No. Not at all. Decayed ones are a lot like cannibals.”