These insects make getting around much harder than it would be without them. However, despite their huge size, There senses have deteriorated. Even an umbrella I picked up from the rubble allows us to hide.
We found that farm pretty soon. The main gate of the farm was open. As I entered the main building I saw that the back door was also open. There were some leftover on the dining table, someone is likely still living here.
Afterwards I walked around the farm a little more. The horse pens were empty, there were a few cows though.
Looking around, eventually I approached the back door, which connected the crops field with the farm. However something caught my eye... A room, the only locked room. It had some condensation around its edges, as if the inside was extremely cold.
Before I could investigate the room further, a farmer came in from the crops field.
"Sorry for getting into your house, without asking. " I said avoiding the matter of that room entirely. I assumed, he was the owner of this farm.
"It's alright, I do like company." he replied.
"How do you farm? Don't the crops get destroyed by the acid rain?" I asked.
"The acid rain? It happens once in six months or so. And to protect the crops from that, I do this, see." he answered while pointing towards something in the crops field.
It's a box without a lid. He filled half of it with soil and after the crops are seeded, he used a transparent plastic to cover and seal it.
"Did you started doing this by yourself?" I asked.
"No, for the first month, the acid rain totally destroyed the crops. Much of my stocked harvest was used. So I began to help whoever came here and one of them taught me this."
"I see." I muttered.
It seemed a bit suspicious to me, that he helped people because he didn't have much left to eat?
I was still curious about the room as well. But I decided it wasn't much use probing further, 'I don't want conflict while she is around.' I thought to myself, looking at her.
Anyways, he actually took good care of us. After eating dinner we went to sleep. I was having trouble sleeping as usual.
Around midnight I was still awake and I heard door opening. I noticed him coming in, with an axe on hand.
At first I pretended to sleep.
as he came near me I struck him on his belly by my head, the impact made him drop the axe, I quickly grabbed it.
"why?" I asked.
"Why you ask? Because of those insects." he snarled.
"They always come here, even though because of their size they can't get all the way in." He looked at his own shaking hand before continuing, "If they don't get food they don't leave, and the only thing that they eat is meat."
"How else am I supposed to get enough meat without enough cows, horses or chickens? So I took good care of anyone who comes here at first, then when they are about to leave or are sleeping, I kill them and store their bodies in that locked room, to feed those damned insects."
"If I don't do that I'll be eaten by them eventually. I'm only 39 years old. I want to live, so the others have to be sacrificed for my survival, isn't it's how it works." he explained.
''You! You just tried to kill a child. Do you not have even a shred of humanity?" I asked, fuming with anger and surprise.
"At times like these if you think of humanity, you'll definitely get yourself killed!" he scowled.
It only served to fuel my anger further, "You have no right to live any longer." I lifted the axe up high, readying for the kill.
He leaped for the axe, trying to take it from me. I allowed him to take a hold of the axe. As soon as he got a grip, he pulled it back and downwards. I stepped forward and slashed downward - easing the resistance. This lack of resistance threw him off, as he lost his grip and fell backwards onto the ground. I drove my knee into his stomach, forcing out the air in his lungs. Right after, I pinned his collarbone to the ground with my left hand.
A normal farmer can't overpower a soldier.
Being out of options he pleaded, as he tried to push my shoulder with his left hand weakly.
"Hey what are you doing? You talked about humanity and now you are trying to kill me? What are you? Don't you listen to yourself?"
"YOU ARE NO HUMAN!" I shouted, my rage reaching a peak. I lifted the axe in my right hand. With one smooth swing of the axe, his head was severed. His body struggled right after, flailing uselessly before going limp completely.
After a moment of silence, I stand back up, composing myself. I looked around, the room dimly lit in the light of the moon, which was filtering through the half-closed windows. The floor and a nearby wall were completely bloodied, fortunately we weren't near any appliances, so cleaning this mess won't be too bad.
My hands and shirt were also bloodied.
However, she hadn't woken up in the commotion. I should tidy everything before she wakes up.
I go down the stairs looking for some cloth and bucket to clean. As I was looking for those, I noticed a trolly. Thinking back to the boxes, I inferred I could take about 3 boxes of crops with that. Nothing else seemed useful. Then I found cloth and water bucket.
I sighed as I made my way back to the room. I was thinking, 'Tomorrow we are leaving, I can't stay here another day.'
'Before I go I'll take 3 crop boxes and a few seeds. This should make getting food easier.'