Insatiable Pt. 2

[JasonBR]

Hunger.

Adrian walked alone through the Takistan desert. He felt his empty canteen hit against his side as he walked, every time it hit, it almost spoke to him.

Empty, Empty, Empty.

It had been three days since he crossed the infected-ridden borders of South Zagoria into the deserts of Takistan. With the disappearance of the man treating his addiction, Adrian had made the decision to move west to Takistan. He wanted to find someone to help him, even if it meant he had to travel for miles.

 

Adrian heard the little voice in his head he had listened to for months speak again.

Food.

He had first started hearing it a week after he had eaten human flesh. His first thought was that it was because of his lack of human contact, that he just needed to meet some people. He didn’t realize that it was because he needed to feed his newfound addiction.

Find someone to eat.

This voice--Adrian had lost control to for a while. He listened to it, let it dictate his actions, came to see it as an extension of himself. He didn’t think of it as something that would be terrible for him. After a while however, he came to realize what it really was. After meeting “Doctor” Alexander Camille, and subsequently being recognized by him as a cannibal, Adrian had begun to realize this voice was his hunger, his addiction. 

 

Adrian tried to banish the thought. He never enjoyed eating people, but he knew it for a while as the only way to get the voice to leave him. He might have listened to the voice, but he never liked it. He viewed it as he viewed himself, a monster. He turned his attention to his surroundings; he needed to find a place to get out of the heat, and fill his canteen.

 

Since he crossed the border, he had only found a few shacks and what he thought were farms. He scrounged supplies when he found them, and managed to fill his water a few times, but over the last day, he had found nothing but sand and tumbleweed. He was traveling west into the country, and he didn’t know any Farsi, or have a map of the land, the two things he wasn’t thinking about when he left. Ahead of him, he could see the top of what might have been either trees or buildings behind a rather large hill of dirt and sand.

 

As he crested the hill, ahead of him he saw a collection of buildings, surrounded by a tall chain link fence with barbed wire over the top. Adrian lay down on the hill and pulled a pair of binoculars from his jacket to get a better look. Looking through them, he observed the compound. Makeshift catwalks lined the fence wrapping around the compound, along them were several Takistani men walking along them, armed with several different AK models. Working inwards, he saw several makeshift shacks lining the perimeter of several old military buildings. In the center of it was a small prison building. A few ladders were mounted on the walls leading to a sandbag fortified position on the roof, where several more armed guards sat, including a few snipers. Near the makeshift shacks were what Adrian thought were cages. Inside, there were people, most of them barely clothed. Adrian couldn’t make out features, but most of them looked incredibly thin. Even from the distance he was at, he could count their ribs. As he observed the compound, he heard the voice again.

An entire cage full of food. Go. Eat.

Adrian stuffed the binoculars in his jacket and began to push himself up, but as he came up onto his knees, he felt something hit the back of his head, and was immediately out cold.

 

“Adrian.”

He was lying on a couch in a pristine, white house. There was no sound of the growling infected, no ringing of gunfire--it was safe. Adrian looked up and saw who was talking to him. Standing over him was his lost love, Kira. Adrian tried to reach out to her, but his arms wouldn’t move. As he turned his head, his perspective changed. He was kneeling in the mud, his hands cuffed behind his back. His heart began to race as he remembered where he was. Ahead of him, he watched Kira smile at him, while the man who killed her leveled his rifle to the back of her head.

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine.”

He awoke as the gun fired.

 

He awoke strapped down to a chair; to his right, his rifle and equipment rested against a wall. A Takistani woman was sitting in a chair nearby, pouring over some notes. Adrian struggled against the binds, trying to get out of them. The woman looked up from her notes and saw he was awake. As she did, she quietly stood up and stepped out of the room. Adrian continued to fruitlessly struggle against the bindings for a few minutes until the woman returned to the room with another man behind her. It was a tall Takistani man, wearing a sleeveless t-shirt with a tactical vest over it. His jeans were tattered and worn, and strapped onto his leg was a tan pistol holster with what Adrian thought to be a .45 USP. In his hands was an AKM. When he entered, he dragged a metal chair that was against the wall in front of Adrian and sat down, leaning his AK against his leg. Adrian looked up towards him as he spoke; the man said a few words in Farsi at first, but when Adrian clearly didn’t understand him, he switched to English. His thick Takistan accent made it somewhat hard for Adrian to understand him.

 

“Who are you, outsider?”

 

Adrian replied, his gravelly voice considerably prominent due to thirst.

“Name’s... Jack. Care to explain this?”

 

He jerked at the cuffs in response.

“A precaution--surely you understand. Why are you here?”

 

“I’m here because your people whacked me in the back of the head and brought me here.”

 

“I mean Takistan, we saw you scoping out the compound.”

 

“I’m here because I’m getting away from the infested cesspool that is Chernarus.”

 

The man leaned back in the chair and folded his arms. He was quiet for a brief moment, as if he were assessing Adrian. After a moment, he finally spoke,

 

“My name is Taklani, and this compound you’re observing is my place. And you, you were trespassing on our land. Now tell me, ‘Jack’, what do you think you saw from that hill?”

 

Adrian paused for a moment, pondering the question, What did I see? What really was I looking at? After a moment, the voice piped in, You were looking at an entire compound of food, ready to be taken. Adrian banished the thought once again and replied.

 

“I was looking at a well armed and supplied compound with underfed prisoners.”

 

Taklani smirked, as if the comment gave him some form of pleasure.

 

“Hm, prisoners is...eh, not the word I would use for it, but what you say is true. We are well armed, as you can see.” Taklani nudged the AK leaning against him.

 

“We are also well supplied. Now, we have no interest in taking you prisoner, but we also have no interest in letting you stay. We will fill your canteen, then send you on your way.”

 

Without waiting for Adrian to reply, Taklani stood up and motioned for the doctor to release his restraints. With his bindings removed, Adrian went over and took his equipment from the wall. Taklani tightened his grip on his AK when Adrian picked up his AUG, but loosened up when Adrian slung his rifle onto his back.

 

Taklani led the the pair through the base, and Adrian took in as much of his surroundings as he could. Several run down shacks had cages lining the walls. Inside the cages were mostly Takistani men and women. They were all granted barely any clothing, and most of the women weren’t even granted tops to wear. The smell of the base was horrid: most of the guardsmen wore respirators to block the smell of urine and feces. Adrian reached into his coat and was met with a guard pointing his weapon at him, Adrian shouted up to him, “Just getting something for the smell.”

 

The guard paused for a moment then nodded, keeping an eye on him but returning to his route. Adrian pulled a respirator from his jacket and pulled it over his face. Taklani led him to the back of the compound, where the buildings became less worn down and there were little to no “prisoners” being held. Adrian assumed this was where the guards kept their supplies and slept. Taklani led him to a pump-jack well, where Adrian filled his canteen. As he did, Taklani spoke.

 

“So, ‘Jack,’ what do you think, now that you’ve seen the place up close?”

 

Adrian thought his answer through for a second before replying.

 

“I believe that this place is a pile of shit, but it’s been turned into a profit zone. Let me guess, it’s truly a slave camp isn’t it?”

 

Taklani gave an eerie chuckle before replying.

 

“Correct! We take these people, sell them for ammo and goods, and then trade that ammo and goods for more people to sell. Turns a nice tidy profit.”

 

Adrian finished filling his canteen and Taklani spoke.

 

“Two of my men will escort you out of our territory, but then you’re on your own.”

 

He waved his hand and two Takistani men, armed similarly to Taklani, came to his side. He said something in Farsi to them and they nodded, waving for Adrian to follow them. They led him back through the camp and out the front gates. 

 

The blazing sun was finally setting as they walked. The two men kept a brisk pace, and Adrian followed closely, getting lost in his thoughts. He thought of his dream, of Kira. He thought of Chernarus, of the now dead man who could no longer help him. He began to realize he might not be able to fix his addiction. That he was insatiable. These thoughts brought a familiar sound too him.

Kill them. Feed.

Adrian stopped walking for a moment and his escort didn’t stop until they were a few feet ahead of them. They turned to look at him, and one of them spoke in broken English.

 

“We go. Move, quickly.”

 

Adrian nodded, and the pair turned their backs. As they did, Adrian quickly brought AUG from his back to his sling and dropped to a knee, steadying his aim, he shot both of them down. The first one died instantly, the second fell into shock from the pain. Adrian sighed and stood up, slinging the AUG. He walked over to the unconscious man and jammed an Epi-pen in his side, waking him up.

 

The man screamed in pain as Adrian stared down at him with a sick smile on his face. He stood on the back of his arm, where the bullet had entered. He reached down and pulled his knife from his boot, casually and effortlessly dragging the blade across his neck, jamming the blade through his jugular and throat just to make sure.. Tearing the knife out, he began the task of cutting up the bodies, and feeding.

 

He might not like it, but he won’t change. His hunger for human flesh was insatiable.

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by JasonBR

[Aron73]

That's a really good beginning. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it!