Chapter 45

849 76 17
                                    

Day: 632 (Food Drop-Off)

Days Left: 4848

Lives Saved: 3

After preparing his cooking utensils in the caravan, Oscar exited and saw that Calixte played on the piano and had attracted quite the crowd of people. It had become almost a tradition for everyone to wait for the drop-off group to return to the village with food. As they waited, the prisoners prepared seats for the lunchtime meal and listened to Calixte play.

One of the imps shouted in glee and pointed at the horizon.

In the distance was the drop-off group. As they drew closer, Calixte changed the lyrics to his song and made it related to food, causing the imps to laugh and giggle. Sumit also joined in, helping Calixte make some food-related puns.

But the amphibian stopped, and the last note of the piano lingered bitterly in the air. Everyone saw the expressions on the drop-off group's faces.

"What's wrong?" Harmony asked Corinna.

Hesitating, Corinna gazed at the rest of the prisoners before answering solemnly, "this was all that dropped."

Clarence retrieved out of his coat pocket a single silver food packet. "Just one," he said, his voice trembling. He handed the packet over to Oscar.

The royal chef inspected it. "We still have some food leftover from last time," Oscar said with hope as he chose his words carefully; he knew it would be unwise to talk about the Abyss Plants out in the open where it could be recorded.

"But will it still be enough for everyone?" asked Clarence. "How long will it even last? They're not going to donate any more food- they've made it clear to us."

"We'll be fine," Oscar reassured him, then addressed the rest of the prisoners. "Miss Ivette and I have made preparations for when this inevitably happened. We will have to ration even more than before. I can promise you we won't starve..." Oscar paused and lowered his head. "But you might start feeling low on energy."

The prisoners glanced at one another, disheartened, yet there was still a lingering sense of determination in their eyes.

"Oscar's right," said Corinna, moving to stand beside him and also addressed the gathered group of prisoners before her. "We have enough food to feed everyone, so there's nothing to worry about. In the Eternal Abyss, we won't starve as easily or quickly.

"We won't starve if we keep on eating regularly," Riley added. "But as Oscar, we'll have a whole lot less energy."

"Which we don't exactly need at the moment," said Sumit, shrugging. "We haven't exactly got anyone to fight-"

"But what if we do?" asked Lili. "We need to be prepared if any new prisoners arrive in this sector. If we're seen as weak or vulnerable, they'll take everything we have!"

"Perhaps..." mumbled Corinna. She then raised her head higher and regained her confidence as she saw the other prisoners' faces. "But since no packets are being dropped anymore, I doubt any prisoners would stay in this sector after finding that out."

"They might even start dropping them again if there is a fight," said Kai. "Honestly, it sounds like a good thing if that happens."

Lili scowled at Kai. "Our safety is our priority, not our food. None of us will be in our top form without food." The royal bodyguard placed her hands behind her back and kept her back straight in a militaristic stance. "I suggest that we distribute the food accordingly to our main fighters, ones that will be able to protect the group from harm-"

Calm and CalamityWhere stories live. Discover now