Energy Eater - Chapter 3 - Before the storm (Patreon)

I woke up at the crack of dawn as usual. Pops had made a setup with mirrors on the top of the house that made the light of the sun become a natural alarm clock. Or at least that's what he called it. I've only seen alarm clocks in movies or shows. They were too noisy to be used in the village; more specifically, they were too artificial to be used here.

At some point during the war, the Eaters learned to differentiate between natural sounds, like a waterfall or a tree falling, from the ones made by human-made machines. And, of course, they started chasing after the artificial sounds, knowing that it would lead them to a source of energy or a group of people.

Because of that, we were very careful with anything that could make what we called 'unnatural noise.' Then again, this was just what we believed. It's not like we actually could tell what the Eaters were thinking. After all, monsters don't think.

I got out of bed and saw a note written with letter-shaped magnets on the wall.

'Helping things for N8 C u at party  L U P'

I smiled, for some reason, Pops still insisted on signing his messages. As if anyone else would be writing them. I got up and got dressed, remembering the time he went to a nearby city and found those magnets.

He was so excited and kept saying it was a way to write without paper or carving bark. Only to realize that writing things down with this took way too long, and he still had to go for something else if he wanted to remember what he wrote. In the end, aside from using these magnets for math, we only used them to leave messages to each other like this one. And we had to worry about not running out of letters.

After getting dressed in my workout gear and grabbing my yoga mat, I replied to the message before leaving.

'C U L8R  Love You   C'

Somehow, I didn't want to write our regular sign-off. Using just L and U to express the same thing he did in his message. It was an internal 'joke' if it could be called that, but there were times when both of us felt it wasn't enough. Just as I was about to leave, I saw the message shift.

H reg 7 int Sp In twRk

I stared at that for a moment but when I blinked, it went back to the message I had left Pops. Without even acknowledging what happened, I left our home. Walking towards the center of the village, familiar faces appeared going in the same direction. Around two years ago, Katalena found a book about yoga, and ever since she's been practicing it almost daily.

Some of the people in the village also joined in, mostly women, but now, even some men were part of this group. They joined after seeing how nimble and flexible I was during one of the elk hunts when I mentioned that this was the only thing I was doing differently.

Yoga was something I grew to enjoy. It was a moment I could focus only on my body and nothing else. All the constant fear and worry washed away, and it also was a surprisingly good warm-up before the rest of my morning routine.

"Hey Cass. Lovely day, isn't it?" Francisco smiled as we both placed our mats made out of fur on the ground.

I looked up, seeing the thick, heavy clouds that threatened rain, "I don't know if I would call this lovely."

"Oh… I mean… Like it's a good day no matter what. Even if it rains, it won't be bad, right?"

I chuckled. Francisco seemed to have a thing for me ever since I saved him from a coyote a few weeks back. He always tried to be nice and cheer me up, even when I didn't need it. He wasn't an ugly man, but he also wasn't my type. Too scrawny and weak-minded. Not to mention, he had just turned 18.

That seemed to be something that only bothered me. Other people didn't care much about an age gap. Just finding someone to be with was already hard enough in a world where your village had less than 50 people. Still, Francisco was just a kid. I remember when he was a bratty 15-year-old complaining about having to work after school.

"I don't really care. In a way, rain might be nice. We could talk without having to worry so much about the sound of our voice," this was one of the things I really hated about the world.

It didn't take an Eater to recognize a voice in the middle of a forest. Because of that, we learned to speak softly all the time. Some adapted, but me? That didn't seem to be in my DNA. I had to constantly watch myself not to be too loud or risk getting people hurt.

"That's true. Nothing can bother you today, right birthday girl? I guess you are in a good mood," Francisco opened a large smile.

I reached out to the necklace under my top, "You can say I am. Why? Were you waiting for me to be in a good mood to ask something?" I tried to push it. See if he finally decided to say he 'Fancied me' as Christine would say.

In all honesty, I wanted to skip these games of pretending not to know he had a crush on me and just reject the boy. That way, he could move on and find someone else. But Pops said that would hurt the kid even more. It was bothersome to keep pretending, but I didn't want to be mean for no reason.

"Oh… I… Hum…" Francisco's face got red, and he quickly shook his head, "No. No, nothing. Oh, there is Simon," he rushed out like he had just seen a bear.

With a sigh, I just sat cross-legged on the ground, waiting for Katalena to start. The Yoga session lasted for around one hour, and then I did some cardio by running around the city together with the hunters and continued training with them. We worked on our muscles and then practiced some fighting.

William was the leader of the hunters, and he created a mixed martial art for hunting animals or the weaker monsters. Not the Eaters, but the wolves, bison, and coyote that mutated and became more aggressive. Humanity might have lost its place as the apex predator of the world, but we still were not at the bottom of the food chain. Even if getting there seemed just a matter of time.

With my training out of the way, I went home before going to the river for a quick wash. It wasn't far from the village, just a ten-minute walk. Also, I brought along my spear, just in case. Most people would come in groups, but the hunters, or at least the good ones, felt confident enough to go there alone.

I was part of the latter.

The only things that could actually kill me here were the bears or an Eater. I could handle everything else, or they would just leave me be as long as I didn't try anything stupid. Bears were also not a real problem. This wasn't their territory and Eaters… well, if one showed up this close to home, it was hard to tell what would happen.

Pops said he had created a… barrier around the village. Using copper wire and some magnets, he made a large circle that made us invisible to the Eaters. The thing is, no Eater ever came close to this region. This wasn't a place where they would come to. Not when there was a city, a proper city, at least to our standard, about a week's travel away.

To us, that might seem far, but to an Eater, a monster that doesn't stop to drink, to rest, to sleep. They can get there in just a couple of days. And having more than a thousand people to feast upon was much better than the meager 46 there were here.

Oh no, 47. Pietra is pregnant. Her belly is starting to show, so that should be, what… two months? Maybe three. I can't understand why people insist on bringing more people into this world. It doesn't seem fair to the newborn. Pushing those thoughts aside, I dunked my head into the cold water before finishing my bath and heading back to the village.

After changing my clothes and putting the ones I was wearing to wash, I headed to the main building, where I was going to teach the kids about the world. Pops' voice rang in my ears, 'Try not to be pessimistic around the kids. I share your feelings, but let them reach that conclusion by themselves. Or not.' I could see some of the kids getting close to the building and their families dropping them off. Maybe I could give them a heads-up about today's topic. Just to avoid any problems after class.

There was still a good 30 meters between me and the main building when I heard a single ring of a loud metallic bell. A sound that made the entire village freeze for a second. That was an alarm, a very specific one only to be rung if an Eater appeared. Since it was an artificial sound, it would attract the monster to an area outside the perimeter Pops made and give us a chance to hide.

A second later, a different bell started ringing. The second bell was a decoy, something made to give us time to react. Everyone turned to the watchtower, which was built outside the village and now had a red flag hanging from the side. This was another signal, one that made sure everyone understood that they had seen an Eater. But it was the first time it was a red flag.

Usually, it would be green, letting everyone know that it was safe and there was nothing close by. Yellow was just a warning, telling us that there was something nearby and we should be quiet. And if possible head inside to hide. Red meant there was an Eater close by. Very close by. And that we should rush to one of the places that might be safe in case of an attack.

Everyone did their best to stay as quiet as possible and started moving toward the houses or any place they could hide, as it was the procedure when something like that happened. Even if this time, everyone was more panicked. Most people who were already outside rushed to the main building, more specifically to the side door that would lead to the underground shelter.

That was another place that pops isolated in hopes of hiding people from the Eaters. Again, I doubted this would actually work. Those were monsters from nightmares, creatures made to kill you, to kill all of us. Still, it was at least a chance to make people feel safer, and it was better than just trying to outrun them.

People rushed to that side door, and I ushered them in, helping people walk inside and keep the kids quiet. I could feel the cold sweat dripping from my back, and the distant memories of what made me lose my parents started to flood my mind. I was just a kid, and in all honesty, that is my earliest memory.

The only thing I remember from my parents were their screams and the sound of their bones being crushed by an Eater. Their faces contorted in pain as they were devoured alive, the smell of blood and ripped flash, and the screams of… so many people. All that came back flooding my mind, and all I wanted was to hide, to get away from this living nightmare.

I didn't want to see one of those monsters, not again. Not when I saw them almost every time I closed my eyes. To my dismay, whoever was part of the group who entered the shelter corridor first had no clue how to open the reinforced door at the end. I could hear them struggling, and they were making way too much noise.

Suddenly, while realizing that the decoy bell had stopped ringing I heard something from my right. The sound of large pieces of wood bending without breaking. I glanced in that direction and saw something moving in the trees. With a gulp, I tried to push myself inside the corridor, but the place was tiny and was already full. If I pushed more, people would start complaining and panicking. And the children could start crying.

I felt a tear running from my face, and trying my best to keep some semblance of composure, I touched Cindy's back to move her enough to the side so I could close the door. She looked back at me, confused for a moment, but after seeing what I was doing, realization dawned on her. As I slowly closed the door to the corridor, she didn't break eye contact, a silent tear going down her face in a mirror of my own. A small comfort that we both knew could be my last.

With a soft click, I closed the passage, seeing an odd message in the door.

[Warning: User’s body in the process of breaking down. Cannot continue with system integration in such conditions.]

Break down, yeah that sounded about right. The sound of wood grew louder, and I knew what was getting closer. Part of me wanted to just close my eyes and wait for everything to end. But another part of me, the petty, angry part of me, refused that idea.

If I was going to die, I would look the monster in the eye. I would go down fighting, even if I had no chance to win. I wouldn't give up the life my parents gave me. The life Pops helped shape. If a nightmare wanted me dead, I was going to make it work for it.

Finally turning towards the sound, I started seeing it. First, it was a sickly gray tentacle wrapped around a tree trunk. It undulated from side to side without moving from its spot. Then, a large and thick spider leg appeared from the tree. Another three tentacles appeared, reaching for the trees nearby and pulling the rest of the body forward. More spider legs appeared, all of them almost as thick as the trunks of the forest, and it continued moving until its full body came into view.

There was no face, no head, no arms, only the legs connected in a circle. And at their intersection, a mass of several tentacles that didn't stop moving for even a second. They were light gray at the tips, turning into a tar-like shade of black when reaching the base, vanishing in that unnatural agglomeration of shapes.

Each of those appendages had a different size. Some seemed smaller, while others were much longer and thicker. There was a single long tentacle that was just resting on top of the entire body, and when it shifted, I saw a vertical maw filled with shiny black teeth. When the mouth opened, a pale light glowed from inside the creature.

One would think that this would allow me to see the shape of the tentacles, but that wasn't the case. The glow only served to show how pitch black the tentacles became, how even under the light of the sun or the light created by itself, it was impossible to discern the shape its appendages had.

I watched the monster moving closer to the village. Each of its 9 legs moved in perfect synchrony, the type that could only be replicated by a machine. Yet, the tentacles were everything but organized. They flailed around wildly, like the arms of a blind monster, grabbing anything they could find before gripping, squeezing, and breaking whatever they could and bringing it to its mouth.

Wood, bark, and leaves were constantly dropped inside the mouth of the creature, but they would just fall from underneath the central part of its legs a moment later. Those plants now ripped to shreds as if someone had chewed them only to spit it out. The Eater continued moving, and it was about to cross the perimeter that Rakeen created.

My heart ponded almost loud enough for the creature to hear it, even from 100 meters away. I had no weapons on me, not that it would make any difference. My goal was first to run and take it away from the village. If I was going to die, I might as well give some chance for the others to survive.

Mentally, I said my last words. I wanted to say something brave or noble. Yet, I could only think of small things. Cindy, your meat pie is awful. You use too much salt. PJ, You are my favorite student, but you have to stop interrupting others.

Pops… I love you, thanks for everything.

Yet my thoughts were meaningless as my death didn't come.

The Eater stopped right in front of that perimeter. It halted completely and didn't even reach out towards it. Instead, continued moving as if it was going around a mountain or something. The line made out of copper wire and magnets worked. The monster continued moving without ever touching the village area.

I spent the next 40 minutes completely still as I watched that creature move from side to side before going back and getting farther and farther away, heading towards the direction of the bell and then beyond it. My best assumption was that it had given up and was now going back home. If it even had a home.

Only when I saw the green flag on top of the watchtower did I let my legs finally fail and collapse to the ground in tears. I survived. I was alive. One of the monsters from my nightmares came and went, and I was still here, just like waking up from a dream.

But this was reality, and I did the worst possible thing. I deluded myself into thinking that this was the last I would see of that particular Eater.

Chapter 4