How to Establish Your Gang and Take Care of the Children in It

Rule 19: Seriously, Make Sure to Feed Your Cannibal

They were out of food.

Horror's grip tightened on the handle of the cupboard, and to calm himself down. Despite himself, his thoughts started racing, jumping from thought to thought as his panic rose.

There was none left he was going to starve he was going to die there was nothing left no food no reason to live no-

Stop. He wasn't in Horrortale. There was food.

No there wasn't he was going to starve it was all going to hurt everything hurts why even live why even-

Stop, he thought. It's going to be fine. It's going to be fine.

But it wasn't. He could feel the familiar sensation creeping up on him, and the terror that came with it. He wasn't going to die. Death wasn't an option, not to him. He was just going to starve forever, never dying but never being happy. Never being even remotely satisfied.

Only suffering. Forever.

It's going to be fine, He thought, rocking on his heels and folding his arms over his stomach. I survived for seven years, I can survive a few hours. I can...

"Hours turn into days, days turn into months, months into seven fucking years, and it all just blends together into one long painful blur. And still time just marches on, and nothing changes, so why even live at all?"

He took a shaky breath. No. I'll be fine. It won't be like that. It will never be like that again. It won't.

But it will, Another part of his mind whispered. No one is going to help you. You'll go back to exactly where you were. No one cares about you. You were only made to suffer. You don't deserve happiness. You're going to starve forever, Horror.

It was easy to believe. So easy just to give in to that little voice, just to give up and let the misery overtake him. Just to stop caring about anything except surviving. So easy just to-

No.

Horror bit down on his hand, wincing at the pain but remaining steadfast. The sensation at least helped him calm down. A tether to the real world and not panicking. It was a method he had used if he had ever been overwhelmed by the hunger.

Unfortunately, he quickly remembered just how counterintuitive this method was to calming himself down.

The taste of blood pretty much exploded in his mouth, and he whimpered, biting down harder to get rid of the images dancing in front of his eyes.

Undyne, standing in front of him, distracting him by talking while spears were primed and ready behind his head.

Pain. Blinding pain as his skull was torn apart and his eye ripped out. His sanity giving out, his patience snapping.

Waking up some time later, dust and blood covering his hands. The taste of blood in his mouth. His thoughts broken, fragmented. His ability to reason cracked and weakened, by hunger just as much as what he'd been through.

A promise. A speech. A deal.

Eat humans. Spite Undyne. Who cares about escaping?

Just survive until tomorrow.

"Horror?"

Horror spun around, registering nothing except the knife in this skeleton's hand. His rationality, already tentative and weakened in his panic, completely gave out. All he knew was that he was going to starve, and the person in front of him was a threat.

And so, he reacted accordingly, jumping forward and tackling them. Before they could even react, he bit down on their arm to make them drop the knife.

Killer cried out, more in surprise than pain. "What the fuck?!" He yelled, dropping the knife to try and get Horror off of him. "Horror, what are you doing?!"