A Rational Zombie

Chapter 48

I didnt die. I killed a prey. The other prey escaped. Things went well. A pointy stick, which the prey called a spear, stabbed my shoulder. Raising my right arm is difficult now. But the injury will heal; Im sure. Like my fingernails grew back, my flesh will fix itself. But its inconvenient having only one arm. Ill free the others, let them out of the building. Then Ill close the door to the food-preservation room, stay inside until Im healed. Hopefully the others wont go too far. Is there a way to keep them nearby? Yes, if I throw a piece of bloody meat on top of the building, the smell should attract them. But their noses are blocked, stuffed by rotten brains. Annoying. How else can I keep them around? Feed them every so often? Maybe I can rope off the area, fence them in. But the trees are far from the building; the areas too wide. I dont have enough rope.

What if I tie the others to the building? They wont wander far that way. But itll be easy for prey to kill them: Pick them off with arrows. Stab at them with spears. The others will die without having a chance to fight back. This is difficult. I thought surviving would be easier after learning to preserve food. Ill think about it while butchering this prey. I skipped washing my hands. Hopefully, itll still work. I dont think any of my blood got on the prey. Only its clothes. Ill take those off. The bleeding step is already done. But I have to tilt it, leave it for a while, let all the blood run out. Just in case, Ill use the bone saw, cut off its head right now. It wont turn into an other. I wont risk letting it eat the food I skinned.

Yes, this injury is inconvenient. Even sawing is difficult. Will I be able to tie ropes? I think I can. My fingers still move. Only the range of motion of my arm is limited. I cant raise it higher than my ribs. But I can bend my arm, my hand reaching up to my neck. How long will this take to heal? My fingernails took several days. This wound is more severe, larger. At least I have food. I dont have to worry about hunger. If Im lucky, itll heal before I run out. While I wait for the blood to drain, Ill let the others free. It doesnt matter if they dont stick around. As long as they chase all the prey out of the surrounding area, itll be enough. I can set my own traps later: The four-pronged metal spikes. The tripwires. Even a pit trap.

I wont use the light to walk in the dark. Pressing my hand against the wall of the building is enough. Light may attract prey; theyre very sensitive to it when its dark. There are still dead others on the ground. Leaving them should be fine. Ill turn them into stink sauce later. Maybe I can make spikes out of their bones. I wont have to walk as far to the trees. And with my arm injured, cutting down trees would be difficult. I havent even found a tree-cutting tool yet either. When its brighter out, Ill search inside the building.

The doors stuck. Maybe the others are pressing against it. Ill try the other one. It opens. Ill push it as far back as it can go. Hopefully, the others wont be too dumb, closing it on their way out. No, I cant assume that. The others are really, really dumb. Ill put this body in the way, preventing the door from closing. Alright. Thats enough. Ill go back to the food-preservation room, close the door, block it off. Im lucky I have this light. Even without the sun, I can see. Without the light, the room is completely dark. Ill cut a window out of the walls. But then the others will be attracted to the smell, pushing down the door.

The others, annoying to live with, annoying to live without. If only there were a way to make them a little smarter, a little less dumb. Feeding them doesnt help. Its impossible. Why am I the only intelligent one? Its not a bad thing. By manipulating the others, I survive better. They dont argue. They wont kill me. They dont run when its dangerous. If only I could tell them what to do. Then theyd be perfect. A shame. So much more can be accomplished if they werent so dumb. I wouldnt have to gather the rope by myself. I wouldnt have to harvest the spikes in the pits by myself. I wouldnt have to tie the spikes to their wrists. I wouldnt have to worry about them eating the prey before I can preserve them. How inconvenient. Am I better off surviving alone? No. Prey travel in packs. I cant compete against a group of prey by myself.

What can I do now while waiting? The two halves of the prey have to hang overnight to cool. The other prey has to bleed out before skinning. I still have to wait to see if infected blood affects the flesh. Its a good thing the prey didnt die near it. Only a few of the tubes were tainted with its blood. The lungs, kidneys, liver werent affected. Theyre still clean. And dirty. Lots of waiting. Little to be done. I cant leave; the others might come in. Thisll all go to waste if its eaten. Then what can I do in this room? Read. I can learn the steps from the brick now, save time later.

Step 7. Wash your goddamn hands. Its been a whole night.

I read this one already.

Step 8. Begin the butchering process. Its different for each animal. Essentially, cut out parts of meat into reasonably sized pieces (that means not too large, not too small, not too thick, not too thin, got it, Brandon? I dont want to see anymore goddamn pieces of meat that are shaped like testicles run over by a lawnmower). If you screw up, you screw up, and you learn from your mistakes. Thats it for butchering. Dont forget to dispose of all the crap you got. Soak the skin in the salt bath for tanning later. If we ever find a meat grinder, save the intestines for sausages. Hand the organs to the hunters to use as bait for traps. Yada-yada, the end.

Theres nothing on the next page. It did say that was all for butchering. Then I can turn back to the first page, start the meat preserving process, placing the meat I want to preserve on the table. Ill read this whole brick. Maybe by the time Im done, the prey will have chilled enough to cut. But first, Ill eat this brain.