A Rational Zombie

Chapter 45

Skinning the prey was tricky. Maybe I can skip that step the next time. Im not sure. The brick only tells me what to do, not why to do it. But hanging the prey up, that was easy. Its heavy; I cant lift it normally. But theres a rope with hooks attached to the ceiling. After inserting the hooks into the preys calves, all I had to do was pull on the rope. The prey rose off the ground without an issue. Im not sure why though. Pulling is the same as lifting. It must be the thing the rope is attached to up top. Its too high to see. But it squeaks when I pull. And to keep the prey suspended, the rope is tied to a knob sticking out of the wall close to the ground. Now that I have the prey suspended, I can follow the next step.

Step 4. Start the gutting process. Remove the animals innards. Start by cutting around the asshole. You want it nice and loose, enough to tie it off to prevent shit from spewing everywhere. If its a male, cut out its penis. Once you have its asshole tied, cut down (gently!) from its anus to the bottom of its ribcage. You want to cut deep enough to reveal its guts, but you want to cut shallow enough to prevent its intestines and stomach from rupturing (this spews shit everywhere). With the help of gravity, the guts should flop out by themselves. Cut them loose (preferably into a bucket) and make sure you dont break the intestines. Once again, shit everywhere, bad. Shit left in intestines, good. Got it, Brandon? Once you got rid of the guts, cut out the heart and lungs (theyre the only fleshy bits left inside, Brandon).

Why remove the innards? Are they not good to eat? Maybe theyre impossible to preserve. But Ill follow the instructions. The preys upside-down. Its anus is a bit high. But if I stand on one of the boxes, I can reach. The flat metal sticks, according to the brick, theyre called knives. I cleaned them with the sanitizer before I started. But theyre dirty again. But not with the blood of others. Speaking of which, enough time has passed for the prey to become an other. But it hasnt. Its flesh doesnt smell like rot. Its brain was left intact too. Its a miracle.

Theres bits of rope at the bottom of the box with the paper towels. I can use these to tie off the asshole. The brick doesnt specify how to tie it. Ill use the simplest method then. Simple is best. It takes less time, less effort. And done. This prey, I dont think it has a penis. Thats fine. Less work. Now, I cut from the anus down to the ribcage. Gently. I think I was too gentle. The guts arent flopping out. A little deeper. Still not enough. Deeper. Its opening. The guts, the brick is referring to the tubes that I found in the other while searching for its hunger. Theyre attached to the insides with strands of clear sticky webs. Cutting those away is easy. No resistance.

And I forgot the bucket. Luckily, the innards are still attached to the body, hanging on by a tube. There was a bucket outside. Ill grab it with a paper towel. That way, I wont have to wash my hands again. The brick is very strict about contamination. Im not sure exactly what it is. But it can be prevented by keeping unwashed things from touching the meat, including infected blood, the ground, dirt on the preys skin during the skinning process. The brick told me to clean the hooks too before suspending the prey.

Now that the buckets in place, do I cut out this tube keeping everything attached? Its the one that leads up to the mouth. But the brick said only to open the prey up to its ribcage. Ill cut it off here then. These innards, should I eat them now? Im not hungry; Ive been sucking on bone marrow throughout the day. Ill set them aside. How long will they last? They shouldve been uneatable by now; the prey shouldve became an other. Other than become an other, do prey still rot? Ill see. Its a shame I cant count while working. Its too distracting. And Ill remove the heart, lungs. Put them in the bucket too. Is that it for step four? Yes, time to wipe my hands dry with a paper towel to prevent blood from staining the brick, making it unreadable.

Step 5. Time to split the animal in half. Take your knife, draw a line down its back from its anus to its neck. Youre going to follow this line. Use the bone saw and get to work. You saw back and forth to cut! Dont force the saw down like some kind of barbarian. Once its split in half, cut off the head (you know where the head is, right, Brandon?).

Bone saw. What is that? Something to cut bone by moving back and forth. Its a shame there arent any pictures. Where could this saw be? Ive already checked the table, above, underneath, inside. I didnt see anything that could cut except the knives that Ive already taken. Then its not near the table. Perhaps its near the wall, where the ropes are tied down. Theres this thing hanging on the wall. It looks like a rectangle with a handle. One of its sides is jagged, like dozens of small knives lined up in a row. This must be it. If this can cut through bone, isnt that great? I wont need to smash open skulls with my metal stick anymore. The brains will be as undamaged as possible. Which reminds me. I was so distracted by this food preservation process, I forgot to harvest the preys brains inside the building. Its fine. I still have this brain that hasnt rotted. Now, I have to draw a line down the preys spine with my knife. Then I follow the line with the bone saw. Seems easy enough.