Better Alone

The Third Night

Shae huddled against Nan's soft warm body, trying to ignore the blizzard howling outside the cave.

"Nan, try to not be sad. We can do this. We don't need anybody else. More people means more problems."

Shae wiped her sleeve over her face.

"We've got each other and that's all we really need."

She curled closer to her best friend's body and gazed into the flickering flames.

"I've had an idea. I'll prove it to you starting tomorrow."

Day 4

The eyes outside the cave blinked. A gray paw stepped in.

As Colby moved backwards, the beast moved forward.

"Wolf," Colby yelped as he moved so that Coco's sleeping body was between the animal and himself.

A fifth paw quietly touched down.

Colby hurled a rock. It hit its mark in the middle of Barry's back.

The second wolf growled.

Barry shot up and his scream coincided with Coco's. Intruding teeth sunk into her left shin.

Everybody bolted awake.

Nanette grabbed a branch and Barry yanked it from her and stabbed it into the fire.

The rocks ground into Coco's stomach as the beast dragged her. Madeleine grasped her outstretched arms.

Barry brandished his torch in the face of the wolf lunging towards Madeleine's arm. Singed fur joined the smell of unwashed bodies. The animal began a slow retreat.

Barry and the others screamed at the matted wolves. The cave burst with yells and snarls. A cacophony of echoes sounded. Branches blazed as they sliced and dashed.

Coco was yanked to the side as the wolf glanced back. It's ears twitched. The creature's paws pounded the ground. Bloody meat dripped from its jaws.

"Colby and Nanette watch the entrance," Barry yelled above Coco's piercing scream.

Shae and Madeleine dropped the remaining torches into the fire.

Barry ripped his shirt and held it to Coco's gushing wound. He gestured to his backpack.

Madeleine rushed over.

"I've got this," she said. Barry nodded understanding though he hadn't heard a word. Thankfully, Shae grabbed the flailing right leg before it kicked Madeleine.

Barry returned with 2 small boxes and a bottle of whisky. After raising Coco's head he tilted the bottle into her mouth. She spluttered but managed to get some of the burning drink down.

"Now take these." Barry stuck his hands into Coco's mouth then followed with more whiskey.

"What were those?" Shae asked.

"Sleeping pills."

"You're not supposed..."

"She should sleep for this next part."

"We need to pull her pants down."

Madeleine and Shae locked eyes.

"Come on! That wound needs skin on it or she won't last long."

They remained still.

"We'll put gauze on the skin we cut off and her body should be able to regrow it but it'll have a harder time with that leg."

Barry waved his arms as he talked. Whiskey sloshed and dripped from the open bottle. It mixed with the smell of blood and dirt and filth.

"Okay," Shae said and Madeleine nodded.

Barry exhaled, took a swig and set the bottle aside.

Shae and Barry pulled down the woman's sweatpants and underwear. They turned her onto her right side. Coco cried out, but tried to remain still.

"Which one of you can sew?"

Nobody spoke.

"Okay. Can you tape?"

Madeleine was the first to say she could.

"Here we go." Barry began slicing into Coco's skin. Fresh tears and screams burst from her shaking body.

As more of Coco's blood seeped out, a metallic taste filled Madeleine's mouth.

"Hold her still," Barry said.

While Nanette continued pacing by the entrance, Colby turned to look. He started retching.

"Watch for wolves," Shae yelled. Tears streaked her dirty face.

"Get the gauze," Barry said. He moved towards Madeline with the flap of skin before Shae had secured the slick gauze onto Coco's twitching body.

Madeline's started to move towards the tape.

"No, stay here. Shae's closer." Barry said.

"Pull back the cloth."

Madeleine removed the bloody rag. Barry place the loose skin onto the hot, oozing wound. Madeline pressed the cloth over it as he retrieved a needle and thread from a box. His trembling hands missed the eye of the needle again and again.

Shae took over and got it on the third try. Barry absently rubbed blood onto his pants.

Threaded needle in hand, Barry punctured it into Coco's leg then under the flap of skin. Coco moaned but no longer screamed.

The 4rth Night

Nan sat by the fire licking the empty bowl. She looked up into Shae's dark eyes. Nan heard the sadness in her voice.

"You see what I mean? Colby is clearly an asshole. He's the reason part of Coco's leg is in the belly of a wolf. Probably several wolves." Her head tilted to the side considering her last remark. She tucked her black curls back. Continuing to pace, dirt stirred as her boots hit the ground.

"That's the point, Nan. We can't trust anyone. We don't need anyone. We're better off looking out for ourselves."

Nan anxiously listened.

"Oh, I know you think Barry and Madeline are good people but trust me when I say they aren't."

Day 6

Shae woke to see Barry and Nan looking down at Coco. She stood and attempted to wipe the dirt off her jeans. It was a useless action done more out of habit than desire.

Barry walked over. The lines on his face deepened and his gray brows furrowed.

"What is it?"

"I thought it best to tell you so you don't have to..." He paused and she saw the sadness in his eyes.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Shae asked wringing her hands.

"She didn't make it." Barry said.

"You should have thrown her to the wolves instead of doing your little surgery," Colby said as he kicked Coco's body. Head drooping, Nan slowly walked towards Shae.

Hearing a thump and zip, Shae glanced at Colby.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, Shae, she doesn't need this coat anymore. Waste not want not." He slid the coat off one arm.

"Really?" Shae asked looking up at Barry, who pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Barry?"

"He's not wrong, Shae. Though I wish he'd had more tact."

"Where's Madeleine?" Shae asked.

"Here," a voice said coming from behind her.

Turning, Shae saw Madeline sitting near the fire with her knees to her chest.

"What do you think?" Shae asked with her hands on her hips.

"She thinks it'll be nice to cover those bare legs," Colby said as he sauntered. He sat next to Madeleine and wrapped her in Coco's pink coat. Disgust spread over Shae's face after seeing Madeleine's grateful expression.

"Look. I know y'all aren't wrong but we should say something first," Shae said.

"Okay." Colby stood up and walked back to Coco's body.

"Thank you for the coat. Better you than me." Colby pressed his hands together and bent his head.

"Thank you God for gifting us with clothes to keep us warm." He looked over at the others.

"Can bras really be used as slingshots? I think I saw that in a movie."

Colby continued to strip Coco of all her clothing. He piled them over her totebag. It was stitched with blue, orange, and purple flowers. The center text was 'I'd rather be reading.'

"Let's do this, gramps," Colby said as he grabbed the corpse's arms.

Barry sighed and shook his head but walked over and grabbed ankles.

As they heaved the body up, Coco's blonde hair swept back and forth over the cave floor.

The men side stepped to the cave entrance. They swung the body side to side then released it out into the blizzard. The crunching snow echoed in the cave.

The 6th Night

Nanette followed Shae as she paced around the fire.

"Now if that doesn't prove how much worse off we'd be with a bunch of people, than I don't know what will."

Shae paused and threw an old chair leg into the fire. She needed to ration the old furniture but that night was painfully cold. Despite herself, she looked towards the cave entrance. It was too dark to see, but she knew the snow piled halfway to the top. Earlier, she'd drawn a line from one side of the cave to the other marking the edge of the snow. She'd also drawn all over the cave floor out of sheer boredom.

"Anyways," Shai began, "Coco's body was still warm when they stripped her. In fact, I should have ensured she was actually dead." She gasped.

"What if?" Her cracked fingers tapped her lips.

"What if she was still alive?"

Nan sat and placed a paw onto Shae's lap.

Looking into those big brown eyes, Shae flinched at their depth of love and sadness.

"Listen, we've got this. Two strong, independent women against the world."

The little dog whimipered.

"That's okay. I'm independent enough for the both of us. We'll get through this. I promise."

Her red eyes cried into the matted brown fur.

Nan held still as her sad person hugged her.

**Day 8ish

Shae tried to concentrate on the group instead of staring at the wall of snow blocking the cave.

Colby mumbled as he did push-ups. With every down movement more dirt clung to his wet clothes and skin. Madaleine counted aloud for him.

Barry tapped at his wristwatch. After leaning in with a squint, he'd lean back still staring at it. "Broken? Maybe, it's the dust and dirt," he mumbled to himself.

When he thought nobody was looking, he took a swig of whisky.

"At least we have plenty of water," Nanette said as she slurped.

"Hey, Shae," Madeleine said once Colby stood up. "How'd you end up here anyways. You were the first, right?"

Shae's brows crinkled. She didn't think Madeleine really cared, but the question confused her.

"Go ahead," Nanette encouraged with a weak smile.

"Really? Don't ya'll know?"

The group stared at her.

"I thought everyone knew. We could reenact our favorite shows again instead. Or sing..."

All eyes were on her.

Shae sighed.

"Nanette and I were hiking up the trail somewhere nearby. Our bags were bursting because I'd just gotten into hiking."

"Thank God for that. We'd have starved without all your snacks: protein bars, dried fruit, and so on," Madeleine said.

"Always best to be prepared," Barry agreed.

"Yeah, I was even late getting to the trail because I'd stopped at a bakery. I bought pastries to celebrate my promotion."

A collective 'Mmmm' hummed throughout the cave.

"I wish I'd gotten more now."

"Or that you'd stayed pigging out at the bakery instead." Colby oinked a few times. "Wait you celebrated with just Nanette? Is she your only friend?," Colby asked.

"What am I doing? Uh...I didn't realize how much it was snowing. I'd reached the top of the hill. As I enjoyed the view, I realized everything was heaped with white snow and it was still falling." Shae wrapped her arms around herself.

"I couldn't see the path and we got lost and stumbled into this cave. That's the gist of it. We were lonely at first but all of you fixed that. You showed us what a team of starving people trapped together would be like." Shae snarled the last of her words.

"Did anyone try to stop you on the way up?" Madeleine asked.

Shae looked astonished at her, but still answered.

"No, no one. They gave us strange looks. I mean everybody smiled at Nanette. She's just the best, most good girl ever."

Nanette gave a weak wave of her tail.

Shae smiled at her.

"I think it was good you found this cave." Madeleine said gesturing to the dwindling pile of furniture.

"Alright, I'm bored. You're boring." Colby said pointing at Shae. "Let's have some fun." He made a snowball.

"We still have some food. I can smell it," Nanette said with a sniff.

The group chuckled.

"We've got to save that for our dinner. Only one meal a day now," Shae said rubbing Nan's back.

"It's an all you can eat snow buffet,"Colby said chewing on snow.

"You aught to boil it first," Barry advised.

"Come on up little ladies. We've got snow cones, snow bread, snow dogs," Colby said with an exaggerated salesman's voice and his arms spread wide.

"And you, gramps. What'll it be?" Colby asked Barry.

That night

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just tired and hungry and can't think...well. Well. I can't think well. It's okay if they have a little fun but I stand by what I said, Nan. More people means more problems. I've got a great idea brewing, slowly. Steeping. You'll see that these fuckers make living in this damn cave worse."

Shae absently rubbed the back of Nan's ear.

"What was I saying? Oh! Madeleine isn't really interested in me. She just wanted to stop Colby from adding to the group stink."

She looked wistfully into the distance and sniffled.

"You know what smells amazing? My grandpa's chili."

She piled rocks into groups as different beans and talked Nan through the recipe. Nan drifted to sleep, imagining a big bowl of chicken covered in gravy.

Some day and night

Shae was lying in the cave.

Time ebbed and flowed. It was a strange mixture. For a moment it was solid and sticky then it'd run through your fingers. 'It's like cornstarch and water,' she pondered.

With growing frequency, Barry, Madeleine, and Colby would all fall asleep. Shae had trouble rousing them.

Her mind drifted yet still sensed them at the edge of her vision, like that bag of frozen vegetables that had been bought with good intentions only to end up at the back of the freezer frost burnt.

Shae woke them all after Nan and her nibbled their evening meal, a quarter of a granola bar.

Madeleine lolled close to the entrance. She stared at the snow line. It only covered a quarter of the opening. A fog had rolled into the cave and obscured Shae's view of the woman.

Colby sat near the campfire picking dirt out of his nails with a pocketknife. Nan was lying on the other side not far from where Shae sat. The rock wall pressing into her back helped her to stay grounded, made her feel real. Meanwhile, Barry sat with his back to the group.

"We might have to eat someone," Colby said. The quiet thickened like a gravy laced with rot and dirt.

Barry froze with his tongue still in the bottle while the rest of the group stared at Colby.

"Here we go," Shae said glancing at Nan.

"We still have a little food left," Madeleine said. Her disembodied voice floated on the fog.

"Want to check if the body is still out there?" Barry drawled.

'Did he always have a southern accent?' Shae asked Nan.

"Yuck, no! It's probably diseased like a...uh...mad cow." Colby spat.

Colby pointed the pocketknife at Nanette.

"Her," he said. "We should eat the dog."

That is not happening," Shae said. She scooted over in front of Nan.

Colby shrugged and wandered into the fog.

Nobody spoke as they ate that evening. The only sound heard was their teeth crunching into a piece of a granola bar.

When Nan yelped in the middle of the night, Shae slunk to wakefulness.

Fire shown from Colby's eyes. He crouched talking sweetly to Nanette with the pocketknife held behind him.

Nanette whimpered at the back of the cave.

"Colby, we talked about this," Shae said.

"No! No, we didn't. Nope. You decided with no consideration for the rest of us." Colby stood and stabbed the air as he spoke.

"It's one life to save all our lives."

Shae used the rock wall to move her shaking body into a standing position.

"Okay. Give me the knife. If anyone's going to do it, it'll be me."

Colby hesitated then nodded.

"Respect," he said and passed her the knife.

She yanked his hair and held the knife to his neck.

"If you so much as look at her, I'll slice your throat. Then we'll have something to eat."

Shae released him and moved towards Nanette. Colby cackled. She slunk to her knees and crawled to her best friend. Her back against the cave wall she sat holding Nan.

"See," Shae wheezed, "See that? That's what I've been saying. It has to be just us or it'd be...so much worse."

The others in the group came to stand by Colby.

"Do you see how they don't stop him?" Shae asked.

"She's fucking lost it, ya'll," Colby said.

"Hush," the other two said.

"Colby, you should just go," Shae said pointing the knife at him.

"I don't want to see you. Ever."

Colby's laugh grew and filled her head. Shae slid over onto her side.

The group gazed down at her.

Their bodies vanished yet their heads floated like balloons. Then everything went dark.

The Last Day

Nanette smelled them before she saw them. She struggled to focus.

Shae's head buzzed, a disoriented hive.

Nanette whined.

Shae's eyes fluttered.

"There you go. Hello."

Somebody was moving Nannette away from her.

"We'll take good care of her...one at a time."

Shae wanted to fight for Nan, but she couldn't. Her body just trembled.

Her right hand was gently pried open. A rock thumped to the ground.

Hands seemed to be all over her. The honey bees didn't like the ensuing movement.

The voices faded in and out.

"...survived."

"The smoke..."

"....treats. That's a good..."

"....of you?"

'Question.' The thought stretched and twisted.

Shae opened first one eye then the other.

The group's heads bobbed above the man leaning over her.

"...just the two of you?"

Shae mumbled and tried to nod.

She cried.

'Finally, we're not alone.'