THE EXTINCTION ERA - Chapter 12

1-12

-"Why did you cut off both of your legs?"

-It's been many years since this boy became a mutant. As you can see, it stopped growing and remained with its child body. They fed him with human flesh and meat. Not always. Once every few months. People hardly go around here. I saw the old man try to feed it with something else to eat. If you try to give your dog a vegetable soup or a boiled potato, he won't even sniff the food. That's exactly what happens with this mutant. Even when it's very hungry, it left with no other choice but to eat other animals' meat reluctantly. But his favorite meal is human flesh. There were people here before me. Until the next newcomer arrives, the captive's meat is kept fresh and they feed their little by little. Scoundrel bastards. "I hate them," the man with tangled hair, unidentifiable face said while shedding tears.

-Where did you come from?

-I came from the Community. Boy, perhaps you also come from there?

-Yes, I also come from the Community. I am Esen, son of Ganji.

-How surprising, I know your father well. I think I have seen you too before. But I can't take good look in the dark. Let me see your face in the candlelight.

The boy sat closer. And the legless man felt the Esen's face and stopped crying.

-Did Shaman cross you through the Ephedra valley? Such a little child?

- No, it's not. I ran away from there. Before me, my father had crossed the valley. Didn't you meet him?

-I don't think so. I can confirm that he has not been here for the last year. I wouldn't be here if he came. But boy, now is not the time to sit here and talk. If the two of them get suspicious, we will be in danger.

-I'll free you from this chain and let's run away together. A sad look appeared on the face of the legless man.

-Thank you for your kindness, boy. But look at me, look at my legs. My mind had been shattered and my body got weakened. However, I have an idea in my mind. Do you see the iron rod with the round rope hanging from the end of the wall? Using it they walk that mutant boy. They never let me out of this stinky barn for once, but let that little beast out daily, who isn't even human anymore, let it breath a fresh air and even tells a story to it. Those two old folks know about "hybrids". They hope that their son will regain its consciousness if it is somehow transformed into a hybrid. I heard them talking about this. But this plan of theirs will no longer work out, he laughed hysterically. There were only a few teeth left in his blackened mouth.

After half an hour, Esen returned to the log house as if nothing had happened.

-Grandpa, I haven't found any berries.

-"Hmm actually strawberries grow on the northern slope. Well, if you couldn't find it, then so be it", said the old man without any suspicion.

-How do you two leave your house when you go out nearby?

-Ah, we close the outer door with crossbars and leave. Neither people nor animals come close, even if someone come by chance, we don't have anything valuable in our crappy house.

-I see. Grandpa, where did you learn the song, you sang yesterday when you were little bit drunk?

The old man looked at his wife oddly, who was washing her shirt at that time.

-Umm, I think I learned it somewhere when I was young. Don't remember well, it could be a folk song.

-My father received an order from Shaman to cross the Ephedra valley. Even before that, many men had been sent. Sadly, none of them have ever returned. I always pray that they have a found a better community, a warm shelter, and food to eat.

-Time is difficult for all of us. If those people who were sent to cross the valley come across wild animals or mutants, they probably didn't survive. But did you know that in the past there was a belief that you will never suffer in the next life and that you will go to a happy place in the summer forever?

- Yes, Shaman says that only those who have not done anything wrong in their present life will go to that holy place. It is said that those who cross the Ephedra Valley certainly go to the Holy Land. But a miserable man told me that they first visit a small house full of the filth and mud of this world.

-What do you mean, son? Who are you talking about? The old man's face changed, and he slowly approached the gun hanging on the wall. The old lady's face turned pale and said,

-You're a little guy, just like my little son used to be. If my old man hadn't saved your life, you would have drowned and become a fish food by now.

-"No, I'd just be your mutant son's snack." Esen hurried out the door. Two of them saw a man with no legs, pointing his mutated son in front of him with a long stick. When the mutant tried to attack backward, the rope loop prevented him from doing so and he was only able to move forward. Seeing his mutant son coming in the door, the old man grabbed his gun from the wall and aimed it at him. But the old lady grabbed the gun muzzle and shouted,

-Don't shoot our son.

Hearing old lady screams, the mutant boy opened his mouth licking his teeth and stormed in. The legless man was caught in a sudden force and dragged forward by his back.

-"Shut the door, boy, and lock it from the outside" legless man yelled.

While Esen was unsure of what to do, gun shot heard and the old man left a large hole in the legless man chest. At that moment, Esen shut the door and put a crossbar on the side of the door making it unable to open from inside. The screams of the people inside were accompanied by the sound of two gunfire shots. He walked away from the house, waiting for the noise to subside, and watched to see if anyone could be seen through the window. There was silence in the house. Esen peeked through the window and saw blood splattered on the walls and bed, old lady's corpse who had been shot dead on the floor, and a mutant boy who had been shot but is eating the body of a legless man. Apparently, the old lady was hit by a stray bullet. But the old man was nowhere to be seen. Esen tried to keep his cheek against the window sill to see where he was. From under the window, the old man came out, his blood was constantly oozing from his head and neck. The five fingers of his hand while shacking clung to the edge of the window, and his eyes stared at Esen intensely.

Esen saw his gradually turning red-blood eyes, and he realized that the old man was beginning to mutate. The old man had lost his gun. The bullets are probably all used up. But if you look at the bullets on the floor, it seems that he did not have time to reload the gun.

-You... you... you bad bastard... I saved your li....

-Grandpa, you're going to die soon. But you would never go to the Holy Land, Esen said seriously looking into his eyes. The old man wanted to say something but couldn't say anything more. He vomited blood and fell to the ground. Old man then rolled on the floor like crazy person then suddenly stood up like a totally healthy normal person. It was a sign that he has completely became a mutant. By the time he smashed the window with his hand, Esen had already retreated. Screaming, shaking the iron bars with both hands, at first it was like a human, but gradually it became the roar of a beast.

At that moment, Esen decided to make his way, and as he walked away, looking back at the log house at the edge of the forest. He had nothing but the clothes he was wearing and an axe which was laying outside the house. There is a long way ahead for him. Behind him left are the community, shaman, and the mutant who will never be able to get out of a log house.