Every night is colder… I hope the storm ends soon.
"What are you thinking about, brother?" my sister Cheel asked, handing me the worm-ridden skull. I took it and tore out a couple of the eyes.
"Nothing, there's hardly any food left, and I was wondering if Father would be back soon with some of my food," I said, passing the food to my mother. "Eat, you need to be strong for the birth."
"You're right." She looked at her belly and took a piece of brain between her fingers. We can't walk long distances anymore since Mother got pregnant, so we've been staying in this cave for two months. We can't go hunting or look for water together anymore; now my sister and I have to stay with Mother while Father goes out to look for food. But we haven't found any animals in weeks.
"Father went hunting three days ago." My sister never cared about telling my sister the hard truths; it was always quite irritating. "What if… he abandoned us, or worse…?"
"Him!" He'll come back… we're his family—I understand Mom; I'm terrified too at the thought that Dad might be dead. He wouldn't abandon us, but there's something else out there, searching for food.
"I think you should sleep," I murmured. "I'll keep watch..." I heard footsteps in the distance, dragging something heavy. I grabbed a femur and signaled my mother and sister to stand behind me. "Who's there?" The footsteps grew closer, a leg slowly appeared, and then a light blinded me.
"I've got you, damn it." Unable to understand what was happening, I swung my club forward, hoping to hit something. It stopped abruptly, as if it had been restrained. For a moment, I saw what lurked in the darkness of the cavern: a man holding my club in one hand and a long handle with a stone at the end in the other.
"Damn it!" With a swift movement, there was a cracking of bones. I stopped, but my left arm was broken. "Run! Damn it!" I pushed myself to the ground with my own club and pointed my mace at him.
"No one will leave," I smiled. "I'll crush their skulls if they move." My mother and sister... I could only hear their sobs. If only I were stronger, I thought. I glared at him and clenched my fists into the sand."Damn my eyes! I'll kill you!" I rolled on the ground, trying to avoid being crushed by his damned mace, which slammed against the sand again and again. I crawled to his feet and punched him hard in the knee with my one arm.
"Bastard!" he yelled as he collapsed to the ground. We began to struggle in the sand; he was bigger and heavier, so he managed to get on top of me. He put his hands around my neck and squeezed hard. Little by little, I lost strength in my arm. I punched him in the face again and again, each time with less force, my mind slowly fading.
"Ah!" A head disappeared, then a pool of blood. The body fell to one side, and I could breathe with difficulty.
"That was close," my sister said as she dropped the mace to the ground.
"Come on, get up," my mother whispered, helping me to my feet. "How's your arm?"
"Well, it could be worse."
"That doesn't matter anymore, at least we have to eat," my sister cackled loudly. It was repulsive, but she was right. The man's torchlight slowly went out.
"What are you doing? Don't go near it alone," Mother told my sister as she approached the bundle the man had brought. She carefully uncovered it and collapsed to the floor, trembling, covering her mouth, trying to stifle her sobs. My mother approached her, and when she saw the bundle, she began to cry. "No, no, no... no." Her voice faded away. We had twice as much food to get through Mother's labor. Although there were fewer and fewer of us.