2 Chapter 2 Finding Food

My stomach is growling like it never did before. I could skip building a fire and find something to sustain my hunger for some time if it wasn't for that damn freezing weather!

At least I got something to defend myself if another skeleton appears. With a blunt weapon like this mace, I can easily crush its skull.

If another skeleton appears, I never thought I ever use such as this. What will comes next, ghost and goblins?

Now, now. Where can I found food? Some mushrooms and berries grow in winter, and they are edible. Maybe some herbs can be found used for medicine. Animals such as rabbits will probably be sleeping in their dens, so finding one can mean easy food.

I can't find anything without wandering. Talking has no meaning for now, and it isn't the first time I walked inside a forest in winter. Neither the first time, I needed to forage and hunt for food.

*****

I am moving and graving numbers and symbols showing the location of the cave to trees trunks. Even though it is cold, the quietness of the forest fills my mind with the comfort I am fond of and makes my walk a bit more bearable.

Some trees still have edible nuts on their branches. I am collecting what I can and breaking their shells using a simple trick. Press hard points of two or more nuts into each other, and I have a snack.

Thankfully most nuts are high in calories and nutrients, but I can't have an appetite just made out of nuts. Even if I can't found meat, I still need vegetables, fruits, etc.

*****

The more I wander deep into the forest, the more food I found, edible mushrooms, some wild herbs, wild garlic, etc. But I will eat rabbit for the main course.

I found it only as a chance. I tried to put my hand inside but, the rabbit hole is much deeper than I thought, but something is moving inside. I can hear it.

And the only possible way for me to get my hands on that rabbit meat is using my advantages as a primate. Using tools to create a fire and directing smoke inside should force rabbits to escape.

And I can easily do that, stack some twigs I found around, toss some remaining nutshells on that stack, and for starting the fire. Sparks turned into a flame, and smoke began rising from it.

I began using my hands to fan the smoke towards the rabbit hole. I love this trick. Thankfully my grandpa thought to me.

*****

After some time, the first rabbit dashed outside and directly jumped into my lap, and the second rabbit moved out right after it.

I caught the first rabbit, but the second one was almost fleed from my hands. Thankfully I managed to jump on it and stop it from escaping. I don't want to miss any food, especially while I am in a forest in the middle of winter.

I killed both rabbits by snapping their necks, and I began moving towards the cave with vegetables and herbs in my pocket and meat in my hand. Thankfully the graving I left help me to find my shelter with ease.

*****

Light a fire, shape some sticks with my knife to make skewers, skin the rabbit and clean the garlic much as I can. It is time for my outdoor survival cooking skills to make their show.

I cut open both rabbit legs and put a clove of wild garlic, herbs, and some fat I got from the other parts of the rabbits. I piled some stones and put the skewer inside the pile, next to the campfire.

Rabit legs began cooking, so I use my free time to dry the rabbit's pelt using the fire. So it won't rot, and I can use it to make a waterskin, which has a kind of gross process of making. I will skip the details, but I used the rabbit's skin and its stomach as well.

Now back to less gross meat. I smoked the remaining using the campfire, so it should still be edible for some more time. But the taste of the main course.

It tastes good as any food can be cooked outside with little to no equipment, but the garlic, herbs, and fat gave it some taste, so my stomach is happy today.

I am still waiting for my two waterskins to dry, so I can use them to drink some water, but I hope some finds me before that.

*****

Campfire is still burning, stars shine in the sky with all their power, I am having a hard time sleeping on the ground, but everything else is going great. There are no insects or creatures that can harm me while I sleep around.

Warm of the fire is enough for me to be comfortable. My stomach is happy and full. I even saw something that no one will believe. If everything goes like this, I am okay for one more day in this forest.

Now, thinking, how long it has been since I had this quite a day, the last time I went into a forest, not for the military purpose, was before I joined the army. More than ten years before.

I am getting older. I might still be at the start of my thirties, but even that means I am about to reach halfway, and being retired at this early age does not help me.

I should see my grandpa sometime. Maybe right after escaping this forest. He will know how to deal with this emptiness if he didn't go all nuts after my father's death.

What did I do wrong in my life? Why I am feeling so disconnected from all the people in my life. My life did it even meant anything. I have been a soldier for almost one-third of my life, kill people, do tasks, and don't question.

I was a top student in my university. I finished mechanical engineering and left my peaceful life for revenge. My father got killed in a suicide bombing right before my country got into a war.

I did something stupid that week. I left my job, applied to the army, just like my father wanted. I became a soulless killer. There was one thing in my head for three years, revenge. Take your father's revenge.

What happened then? I got addicted to the killing. I wanted more, more and more. I didn't care about how they died. I only killed.

And now, I am not in the army anymore. I lost the purpose of my life, the middle of a forest that I don't know, where skeletons somehow can walk. Lying on the ground, hoping someone will save me. That will be the single most stupid thing to do. I only need to survive.

Another skeleton that was wearing a fur cloak and carrying a spear was slowly approaching. It came close enough to prepare for its weapon for the fatal blow.

"The same sound I heard before. Someone is behind me, and it isn't a human. What could it be?" I jumped on the skeleton and knocked him down. "I only want some peace. Is that too much for your kind?"

I began hitting the skeleton's skull into the ground, but the dirt is just too soft for me to break its head.

I grabbed the skeleton and raised it to the air. "I only wanted some peace, but no, it isn't about your kind. Life doesn't want me to have that type of life. I am a soldier, a murderer, a psychopath. Why someone ass I want a quiet like."

I threw the skeleton towards the cave's wall and smashed his skull to the wall using all my force. I managed to stun it by that and got myself a little bit of time.

Using that time, I picked the mace of the skeleton that I killed earlier and pushed it into the new skeleton's mouth. I used the mace as leverage to dismantle the skeleton's jaw from its skull.

"I don't need no help or be saved. It won't come how much I pray or cry. I am not in the world that I know. Neither you nor the rabbit I killed was normal." I crushed the skeleton's skull using the mace. "The thing threw me here. You created something that you wished that you would not."

I picked the fur cloak skeleton was wearing and wore it. I walked next to the campfire once again and began playing with its flames. "I am someone who raised to kill, and killing is my destiny. So, is my appearance in this world a blessing or curse." I don't know, only will the future tell.