Chapter 27

“Master please, I beg of you- you must hunt!” Fang said, for the hundredth time that day.

“I can’t Fang…not until she’s gone…I have to be here when she leaves…” I said, my voice sounding strained even inside of my head.

It had been three weeks since the two of us climbed those stairs, and I hadn’t let my mothers side for even a minute. Because of that, I also hadn’t been able to hunt, so now I was starving.

“Gaaaah! You stubborn child! As harsh as the reality of the situation might be, you need to accept that her mind is already gone. There is nothing to be gained by starving yourself to death and I highly doubt that it’s what she would have wanted either!” the spider argued.

“I know she’s gone Fang, but that’s not why I’m doing this.”

“Then WHY? Why won’t you go hunt?!”

“…I wasn’t there for her when her mind left. The least I could do is be here for her when her body dies. It’ll be alright Fang.”

The two of us had this argument every day for a week now. On the one hand I could see where Fang was coming from. My body had become very weak after three straight weeks without food, to the point where I was having trouble staying awake. But still I would not move from where I sat in mom’s hospital room.

Originally, we thought that it wouldn’t be a problem, as Fang had a legion of Scouts that he could call to come and be my food. But for some reason he had lost contact with them. The last transmission that he had received warned him of an enemy that single handedly decimated their swarm after they tried to attack a large group of wandering humans.

I could have eaten the cleaner downstairs, but I was unwilling to travel even the short distance between the carcass and my mothers bed. Peter and the Doctor had tried to move the beast themselves, but neither one had the brute strength required to carry it, nor could they break through its armor to bring me the meat.

So, out of desperation, Fang made a modest proposal.

“Young Master…if you will not move of your own accord then would you allow me to bring a…different…kind of food to you?”

“What do you mean? Nothing will fill me up besides bug meat, right?”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be that, Her Majesty's subjects are just the best option for your growth, but other types of meat are perfectly suitable for just satiating your hunger.”

“That sounds fine then. What did you have in mind? Cow, chicken, pig? I don’t know how I’d feel about eating dog, but if there’s nothing else-”

“The other floors are littered with suitable options for food.” The spider interrupted tacitly.

For a moment I was confused, as I had checked every floor in the building and hadn’t seen any animals I could eat. All there had been were the corpses of the hospital's patients…

Then it dawned on me what he was saying.

“I’m sorry Fang, but I don’t think I can do that.”

Fang nodded as if he had expected that answer, his eyes drooping. I knew my actions were causing him distress but there was nothing I could do to alleviate him. As much as I love my friend I also loved my mom and I owed it to her to be here at the end. I was about to console my spider when the door swung open and the good Doctor stepped in.

“Ah, my apologies. Am I interrupting something?” He said, sensing the tension between Fang and I.

“Not at all, I was about to leave.” Fang said, using me as a translator.

He scuttled out the door and cut off our mental link, but just before he did I thought I heard him say “…I suppose you’ve left me no choice…”.

His words sounded ominous to me and I decided that I would ask him about them later, but for now I turned my attention to the Doctor and said “What is it…that you need…Dr. Lepius?”

The Doctor shook his head and slumped into a chair, defeated. “Miss Watkins just passed away. She was my last patient, aside from your mother.”

He held his head in his hands. He wasn’t crying, it just seemed that he no longer knew what to do with himself. Up until now he had been able to hold onto his sanity by burying himself in work, but with no patients to care for he was being forced to cope with the reality of the situation he was in.

“What will you…do now?”

“I don’t know…I just don’t know Peter. If I were strong like you I could leave this place, but I’m only human…”

“Just because…you’re not like me…doesn’t mean you…have to stay trapped…in here.”

“What, are you saying I should go out there and get myself killed?”

“You can either…die in here…of starvation…or die out there…personally I’d prefer…to die quickly…”

The Doctor then gave me an odd look, like he was confused by what I had just said.

“Strange. Isn’t dying of starvation what you are choosing to do right now?”

I looked up at the Doctor, taken aback by his words. Was that what I was doing? Surely not, I would hunt just as soon as my mother passed away…but when would that be? I’d been telling myself “not much longer” for weeks and yet she doesn’t seem much closer to death than she had been when I’d started. Surely I could afford to leave her side for the ten minutes it would take for me to go and grab some cleaner meat from downstairs and come back up.

So why didn’t I want to?

“Well, I suppose it’s none of my business regardless.” he said, hoisting himself up out of the chair “ Unfortunately, you’re right. I can’t stay here for much longer- i’m almost out of food and water. I think I’ll pack up whatever I can scrounge out of here and head east to try and find a boat that’ll take me off of the mainland.”

“That sounds like…a good plan…”

He nodded. “Thanks. Goodbye Peter, I hope the two of us can meet again someday when the world is a little less grey. Oh, and I’ll leave your mothers pain medication outside the door, should be enough to last a couple of months.”

“Goodbye Doctor…stay safe…stay alive and…thank you for…looking after my mom.”

He strolled out of the room and after that I never saw him again in this place.

For a moment I stared after him, perturbed by what he had said. It upset me that I couldn’t honestly deny his claim that I was slowly killing myself, and it upset me even more that I couldn’t verify his claim either.

“What am I doing here? Do I really want to die?” I didn’t believe I did, but I also didn’t think I would be upset about dying.

I shook my head again, exhausted, and decided that I would think about it later, after I slept.

“Perhaps tomorrow I’ll have a clear enough head to decide what I want to do.” I thought, slipping into a deep sleep.

…

……

………

“Something tastes good” I thought, dreaming of food. Whatever it was, it was chewy and almost sweet, like honey barbecue steak. Happy to finally taste something good, even if it was just in a dream, I greedily ate more of the delicious mystery food, swallowing mouthful after mouthful.

“Haa, Young Master, slow down. If you eat too quickly I won’t be able to feed you for as long” came Fangs voice inside of my head.

Was I dreaming of him feeding me? Despite what he was saying, he sounded much happier than his usual grumpy self. I giggled a little, knowing that he actually enjoyed feeding me, and started chomping even faster on the strange food he gave me.

“That’s it, Young Master, just keep going. I am your Caretaker, you know? And I would do anything to protect you, so please- eat to your heart's content. And when you’re finished, promise me that you will keep eating….and eating…and living.”

Fang's voice was getting weaker, concerning me. Did this mean that I was about to wake up from this wonderful dream? I tried opening my eyes, and found myself on the ground in front of my mothers bed.

And in front of me, with half of his abdomen and five of his legs missing, was Fang. Blood and chunks of carapace were all over my clothes and the ground, as well as dribbling from my mouth.

“Fang! Wha- Why!? What is going on! NO! No, please! You can’t be-this can’t be happening!’ I screamed, rambling incoherently. My brain couldn’t process what I was seeing right now and I felt like I had just received a massive blow to my head.

“Haaa, sorry Master…I tried to finish this before you woke up…but it looks like I failed that too…”

“Y-You mean you did this on purpose?! Fang…why? You’re my best friend…I…I need you. Please don’t leave me all alone here…” I said between choked sobs.

“And I need you, my Master…If I had let you carry on…like you have been…then you would have died…and I…I could not allow that to happen. You’re too important to me…so I made a choice…with this you will be able…to last until she passes.”

Fang had sacrificed his own life to keep me from starving.

“Fang…why didn’t you just let me go?” I asked.

The little spider gazed into my eyes and said something that I had heard before. Something no one else had ever said to me. “Because I love you, my Master…Now eat, and I beg of you…please don’t give up…Please don’t die…And fret not, for after this we shall be together always…For I am your caretaker…and I will never leave you.”

I gasped, as I felt my spiders unending love for me flowing through our link. It held neither contempt nor disappointment for me, only the desire for my well being.

“T…Through your feasting we shall become one…Master…may I make a request?”

I could still barely speak, let alone rebuke the spider for deciding this all on its own, for its love was leaving me breathless. Still I managed to choke out a shaky “Yes…”

“ Live a happy life…for me.” Fang said before our connection began growing weak. His consciousness withdrew from mine as the light faded from his eyes.

All I could do was sit there, crying helplessly and cradling the remains of my best friend until the moment his heart stopped beating. My Fang, the first and best friend I had ever made in this world, had died.

****

Forminus

“That was a few weeks ago. After that I…finished what Fang started and then started eating my way through the lower floors whenever I got hungry. Fang sacrificed his life so I could live, I wasn’t going to waste his choice.” Peter said, finishing his story

“Sounds like you’ve been through quite a lot, boy. To be honest, I’m surprised you’ve made it this long after everything that’s happened.” I said, my opinion of this child now vastly increased.

“Heh heh, thanks Mr. F. So, now that you know my story, how about you tell me yours?”

“Hm? Very well, seeing as how Terry still isnt-” I stopped suddenly, after I heard a loud crashing sound in the distance. Peter too turned his head, facing deeper into the city where Terry had gone.

“I suppose that story is going to have to wait a while. Ember, with me. Peter…what are you going to do?”

The boy looked at his mother, and then back at Ember and I before grinning and saying “Don’t go anywhere mom, we’ll be back in a little bit.”

There was fire in his eyes.