The night was dark, but we didn't bother. We moved on, without sleep. Out there, creatures looking to tear your throat out. Walking kept us away from them. Walking made us think of other things. The caravan run, and finishing it. The hope that Eve will hold her son again. The hope that Mark will return in one piece, so his family wouldn't worry. The hope that Decker and Tristan reach the Boneyard, far away from the wild wastes. The hope that these people are safe. We thought of those while walking.
That night seemed like forever. We were running out of rations; the caravan didn't seem to get any from the town once it was raided. For the safety of the group, I had to propose a new plan. "What's this thing packing?" I asked to them. We were moving, just as the sun was coming up. Took for a while for them to respond, since everybody's tired.
"Canned goods. Consumable plants. Salted bighorner meat..." Eve stopped for a while to catch her breath. Clearly, everybody was hungry.
"... purified water..."
"We need this. We need all of this." Decker, who had been walking more than sitting, interrupted Eve as he looked at the brahmin differently.
"We need to eat all of this, or we're gonna die."
Tristan silently said "Dad" with a tone of concern.
"We have to finish this run. We'll find food on the way..."
Eve seemed to be the only one still looking forward to finishing this.
"We'll take an alternate route. One nearest a settlement. This'll be our food."
Eve looked at me, disappointed.
"It's our survival, or their food. We're in the middle of nowhere. We're miles from Arroyo."
I explained it the best I could to Eve. Her look seemed to change.
The path continued on for miles. Our stomachs were empty. We were all exhausted. I reached for the pack, grabbed a few waters and some Cram, and started passing them around.
"Eat, but don't stop walking."
I opened the can. I know how it tasted like, but it was better than nothing.
We ate, while moving. The sun was finally setting, after an eternity. Everything was going good.
Or so I thought.
"No. Not this early." Mark was looking from a distance, as he dropped his empty can. He saw two or three of those mongrels, sitting down. They howled.
Decker dropped his can and reached for his rifle. "Threatening us. They're threatening us! Those bastards are attacking agai--" Before he could finish his sentence, our brahmin let out a harsh cry. We were scattered by the sight; a wolf had stuck its teeth on its body.
"Shoot it! Shoot the damn thing!" Decker unloaded his rifle onto the brahmin, hitting it instead of the wolf. Everybody was panicked. And because of this, the wolves went right under our noses. I shot whatever I set my eyes on. I managed to at least shoot one and take it down, but I started to miss right after.
Mark ran for the brahmin, which was struggling to get up, in order to pull the wolf out. The thing had already gnawed on its insides. As the it pierced through it, the brahmin's pack fell apart. Food was scattered.
"Leave it, Mark!" I shouted, as I continued to fight the rest of the pack. They seemed to be phased by the gunshots I've caused.
But Mark didn't listen. He grabbed the wolf by the body; he didn't know it was on a bloodlust. The wolf struggled, as Mark lost control. The thing bit his arm.
I wanted to help, but I was too busy. Tristan was fending them off her machete. Decker was still trying to shoot, but found himself reloading more of the time. Eve spent her rifle shots wisely.
The wolves had grown to five by this time. We were surrounded. The one I thought I put down went back up, though it didn't move as fast. The rest were still agile.
"We can't win this!" I shouted. I kept observing the wolves. They seemed to have joined in the brahmin ravage. Mark, by then, distanced himself, curling his arm to his stomach while he held a pistol in the other. He had just put down one wolf on the head. "We need to move! Let them have the brahmin!"
I started to run, hoping that they'd follow me. Tristan ran shortly after me. Then it was Decker, followed by Mark. Eve looked at the brahmin, which was now buried by half of the wolves, then started following us.
Our only food, stolen from us by the wolves. They're just animals, but they seem to be so much more. They live to hunt. To kill. We were powerless; lacking energy, and numbers. We could've easily died down there, the way the wolves were attacking.
We ran a considerable distance from them, hoping that the brahmin had distracted them from us.
"What now, huh!? What now!?" shouted Eve. "Our only food, gone.... we could've taken them all!" She was still angry from earlier.
"I can take five of them... I can kill them! Why the hell did we run?"
Decker was helping Mark nurse his bite wound. "You're tired, Eve. All of us are. We could've been as good as the brahmin. We could've died."
Eve shook her head, and turned away from us.
"It was our only choice," I told Eve. "We've gotta keep moving. They might still be fixated on all of that food..."
"Fixated? Then now's our chance! We go right back over there, and kill them all."
I looked at Eve. She's out of her mind. I walked up to her closely. Had to look up a bit, since she was taller than me.
"We. Keep. On moving."
I looked at the rest of the crew. Mark was sweating as he wrapped his wound, being helped by Decker. Tristan was looking down, covering her mouth. Her cheeks were shining against the sun's rays.
I waited for Mark to tend his wound, so that we can cover more ground. I don't know what to do. Where to go. I'm hoping another caravan picks us up. Hoping that a group of raiders coming from a successful raid crosses paths with us, so that I can kill them. Hoping that a traveling merchant bugs us to buy his stuff. I hoped for safety.
The sun had fully shined. We continued to move. Everybody hasn't had sleep. The canned food we ate carried us all through this, but it feels like it's not going to last. At this point, I'm hoping for anything. A banished wolf, so that we can eat it. A mole rat. But the wasteland didn't give us anything. All we got was dust.