PROLOGUE

CHAPTER SIX –

CHAPTER SIX –

=======================================

He awoke to the sound of mooing.

He crawled outside, and he was instantly greeted by the morning sun. He was thankful for another sunny day.

The source of the sound, a cow, lazily strolled along the village road. There weren’t many cows, or animals in particular, that were seen around here, as the village was in a savanna biome, and most ruminants didn’t like the taste of the grass here.

I wonder what this cow is doing here.

It was probably just lost.

Then he remembered the last time he’d eaten steak. It was the night before the zombie invasion. Though his father didn’t care for the taste of it, Luke considered it a specialty meal. Now the opportunity to taste it again was right in front of him.

He dropped back into his room, grabbing his golden sword. Then, imagining himself to be a skilled hunter, slowly crawled outside, carefully watching his prey’s every move.

The unsuspecting cow stood unaware of what was about to happen. Its back turned, he crept toward it. Just as he reached the village road, the bovine turned its head toward him. He quickly hid the sword behind his back and began whistling, pretending to be on a stroll. The ruminant, suspecting nothing, turned back around and began grazing on the bitter grass.

What an odd animal.

Inching closer, he was now within striking distance. His weapon ready, he lunged at his target. As the sharp blade penetrated the skin, a loud “MOOOO!” Echoed through the landscape.

Then it was over. The cow collapsed to the ground, the sword deep in the side of its body. The hunter had won.

OK, maybe that was a slight exaggeration. But a little imagination never hurt anything!

Now he had to figure out how to extract the meat. This was one thing his father hadn’t taught him, coincidentally.

He removed the sword from the body, washing the blood off of the blade in a small pool of water nearby.

Turning back to the cow, he saw blood oozing out of the gaping wound where the sword had been.

It was a good thing he wasn’t squeamish.

For a moment, he felt pity for the animal. After all, what did it do to him? But it had to be done. He needed food desperately, and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Now he had to get the meat out of the carcass before it began decaying. But how?

He guessed where the main portion of the meat would be, and using his sword, he cut a straight line down the side, behind the front leg. Then, he made another cut in front of the back leg. Making another long incision near the top of the body, connecting the two previous cuts, he finished with a similar cut at the bottom.

Now he removed the large square-shaped piece of skin, prying it out with the tip of his blade. Behind it was the biggest slab of meat he’d ever seen! He estimated it to be about twelve inches long, by six inches wide. He was going to have a feast tonight!

Cutting away the connected veins and organs from the meat, he held his prize.

Today was a good day!

He debated flipping the cow and seeing if there was more meat on the other side. He realized however that it was not wise, as a cow weighed too much for him to easily turn over. He would need the help of three or four other kids or at least another adult to do it.

Taking the brick of raw meat and his sword, he walked back to the house. He had a meal to prepare.

He couldn’t wait to bite into some juicy steak. Last night’s fish was scrumptious, but it wasn’t nearly as tasty as some good ol’ beef.

The previous night’s fire had long gone out, but there were still a few embers. He blew on the ashes a couple of times, eventually causing a fire to start up. He then tossed some more nearby sticks into it, which would fuel it for at least an hour.

Soon, his steak was sizzling over the fire. It seemed he had never been so happy to hear that sound.

As he sat there, holding his sword over the flames, which held the meat on the end, he pondered about yesterday’s question.

Will I live like this forever?

There was one thing he wasn’t going to do, and it was live in an abandoned village for the rest of his life.

All he wanted was to live among friends and family, instead of being alone. He hated being separated from all he once knew.

Before he had a meltdown, he controlled his emotions.

This isn’t the time.

Then, he had a thought.

He had never ventured outside the village. What was out there? Was there another civilization that would accept him? It wasn’t impossible. But if there was, how would he find it? Better yet, where would he search?

Another idea came to him.

His mother had kept an old map that she had inherited from her grandfather in the fletcher shop. She had shown it to him when he was little, and from what he remembered, it showed the surrounding landscape for miles around. Maybe another village was marked on it.

He would wait until tomorrow. The sun was setting, and he didn’t want to risk being outside after dark. Zombies were still a threat.

Deciding his steak was done, he slid it off the end of his sword and took a massive bite. The juicy meat was so tasty he could almost hear his taste buds thanking him.

Good ol’ steak!