152 – winter(6)
Chester wanted to keep his body from weakening as much as possible throughout the winter, but the situation was such that he had no choice but to reduce his activity level. Likewise, I gave up eating enough meals at regular intervals.
“Hey, what if we run out of food? How long can you last?”
“Each person is different. People who gain weight can survive for a long time, but neither I nor Monia have gained that much weight… If you hold out for about a month, you will be able to hold on well.”
“one month.”
“Maybe I should eat Ant.”
When Chester laughed and joked, Monia and Ant hit Chester.
“Don’t joke like that.”
“Ugh. sorry.”
“Anyway, it’s a month. How much can you survive on food right now?”
“I can hold out for about three months. If you do it right.”
three months. If you include the time you can starve, it means that you can last about four months.
That is, unless there is the worst case where the food warehouse is suddenly destroyed like now.
Knowing that, Monia’s anxiety did not go away even after calculating that she could last for about four months.
“But, I’m worried about Ant.”
Chester looked at Ant while saying that.
“Ant is small. The smaller it is, the less energy the body can store. If you last a week in a state of complete starvation, you’ll be fine.”
“… … .”
Upon hearing that, Monia cried a little and hugged Ant.
“I wish I could help the wind.”
“Yeah. I’d be very grateful for that, but even the black wind won’t have time. They will be busy with the child now.”
The black wind became a wife in an instant, and even became pregnant in an instant, not long after the girlfriend that Chester and Monia were introduced to.
Of course, since I got pregnant in the winter, I wouldn’t be able to afford to focus on this even for the health of my wife and the child in my belly.
In addition, there are no people actively coming downstairs and interacting with people other than the black wind. People at the top, who revere strength, regard the lower floors as weak ground, and avoid stepping on them as much as possible to avoid being affected by that weakness.
This is a perception that their tribe has lived on this island for a long time, so it will take a long time for it to disappear.
“It won’t help much if you hold on thinking that help might come.”
“I guess so.”
It wasn’t as scary as during a storm. However, there was a fear that seemed to slowly tighten.
Monia bit her lip in anxiety.
* * *
Was Monia’s ominous premonition correct? Thanks to the rich natural environment of the island, unlike when animals did not dare to touch it until now, when winter came and food became scarce, Chester and Monia’s food warehouses began to become targets.
So, food was stolen.
“Damn it.”
It didn’t do this at first. The trigger is the hail incident. After the food warehouse was smashed and fell to the ground, animals that could climb trees among the animals that noticed that there was something to eat here began to actively target Chester and Monia’s food warehouse and chicken coop.
Chester and Monia also tried to block it with their own materials, but there was no way to stop the beasts from breaking in after gnawing through the bamboo wall.
After being deprived of food for three days of trying various methods, Chester was able to stop the beasts only by wrapping the ration bins with string made from a haphazard weave of knives, cutlasses, and nails.
Of course, a clever beast would pierce this too, but if that happens, there really is no means and no way, so it can be said that it can’t be helped.
“For now, let’s move the food to the cellar if we can.”
And they trap the beast that is aiming for the food warehouse.
Chester set up traps in the food storage and went to sleep.
And as I found out the next day, unfortunately the trap was a failure. No matter how venomous the beasts were, if there was an animal caught in a trap, they would catch it and eat it. All Chester and Monia could get was a bloody noose strewn with bones.
“It penetrates even the defense line with a knife.”
“yes. look. The blade is stained with blood. I must have pushed the blade away with my body and dug in.”
“You are smart.”
“You are smart.”
“I think the knife and cutlass should be held a little tighter. I deliberately made it sway in the wind to reduce the gaps between them, but it was a failure.”
“By the way, what is the point of doing any more here?”
At Monia’s words, Chester smiled bitterly.
“That’s right.”
Two months’ worth of food for three months was eaten by animals.
The problem was that the beasts moved at night when Chester and Monia were sound asleep. Even if Ant realized the movements of the beasts and hurriedly woke up Chester and Monia, even Chester couldn’t rely on a single torch to move on a snowy winter’s late night.
The beasts even move in weather when the wind blows so hard that Chester and Monia have to lock themselves in the house because they can’t move.
Naturally, Chester and Monia’s defense had to be delayed, and as a result, the animals happily robbed the food storage.
“Smart and climbing trees are just like ant wolves.”
Monia said it without thinking, but after hearing that thoughtless statement, Ant seemed to be stabbed and the speed of eating slowed down. Monia, who saw that, was surprised and had to comfort Ant in a hurry.
“He seems to understand most of us. No, I knew it, but I’m really not normally smart.”
“Oh My God. My kid is a genius… … !”
At first, Monia, who only apologized to Ant because she was sorry, shouted, “Genius genius,” and tried to teach Ant to speak. Unlike top people who can clumsily imitate their language, Ant’s mouth structure is so different that he will never be able to speak human language no matter how much he learns.
“Tell me you’re a mother! mom!”
“Mom~.”
“Not Chester!”
“Mom, Mama.”
“Kieek!”
“Uh. Speak in a human voice.”
– Kieh!
“Oh, I learned to speak.”
“Ant, it’s not like this, Mom! Tell me you’re a mother!”
* * *
A huge island of ice hanging near the island disappeared one day. It had been attached to the island until now, but it seems to have drifted away overnight.
Chester quietly looked at the spot where the ice island had disappeared and prayed in the hope that the island would become a little warmer now that such a strange object had disappeared.
Monia also prayed beside her.
While praying, the two remained silent. To be precise, it would be correct to say that I had no power to speak.
Food is running out. As they ate less, they slowly grew thinner, and now both Chester and Monia had sunken cheeks.
Conserving their power to speak, they held on by reducing their movements as much as possible.
While they ran out of food, they had to struggle to fend off the beasts who continued to plan raids on the house’s cellar.
In addition, blizzards and hailstorms hit several times, and even the gear nose house was damaged by hailstones, so I had to get up in a hurry and repair the house in the middle of the dark.
Stress soared endlessly as snow and cold wind suddenly blew through the open hole, waking up and harassing the sleeping family.
I spent my time fighting the winter like that, but I was slowly losing even the strength to fight the weather.
Still, it was impossible not to move at all, so I decided to come out in the morning like this, pray, and get some fresh air to change my mood.
The contents of the prayer are obvious, but mainly the wish that the winter will end early. Or praying for luck and food to fall from the sky, or at least for the snow to melt and move.
After the prayer is over, go home and spend time hugging each other and lying down.
Since it is not known how long the winter will last, as a way to burn firewood a little less, it raises the body temperature while holding it like this so that it can survive with a little fire.
Most of the day is spent sleeping. There were many times when I slept so long that my head hurt no matter how long I slept.
The sense of time gradually disappears, and when one closes and opens one’s eyes becomes blurred.
It got to the point where I couldn’t even tell if today was today, or tomorrow, or yesterday.
He puts very little leftover food in his mouth. However, even chewing something was becoming a chore.
While I was drying up like that, a hopeful situation caught my eye.
The snow began to melt slowly. The weather, though very little, is starting to warm up. The fierce wind gradually softened, and there were no more hailstorms or blizzards.
The amount of time the sun shone on the face, which had been hidden by clouds, increased, and the snow, which had melted little by little, gained momentum and began to melt quickly.
Winter is coming.
Winter is coming.
Such excitement for a while.
To what extent the snow had melted, I saw a rabbit that had woken up earlier than the other animals and ran through the snow without thinking.
“… … meat.”
“It’s meat!”
“meat! meat!”
“Catch that! Damn it, Ant! chase! Follow me!”
Chester, Monia, and Ant, wondering where their hungry bodies got their strength from, packed their equipment and started chasing the rabbit.
“aaa!”
“Kyaaa! Meat!!”
Did he just called her mom? Lol😂