The Hunger

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THE HUNGER 1 Joey Ramis Stikeleather was a normal, working class individual like any other. He walked to and from work every day, seeing the same things, memorizing the amount of steps he took, dead trees he passed. He took all of the information in, somewhere inside thinking that he might someday need the otherwise useless knowledge. At 8:26, morning after morning, Joey stopped in the "News Rush" shop to check out magazines and to grab a newspaper. And this morning, like any other, Joey greeted the shop owner, Darryl. "Morning Darryl, what's happenin'?" Darryl answered rather mechanically this morning, "See for yourself, man." as he handed The Stalworth Observer over the counter to Joey. Stalworth was a pretty quiet city, nothing much going on, just the daily rush to and from the workplace. It seemed to visitors of the town as though unemployment was simply nonexistent in this place. Joey happily worked at a television station in the town as an editor. He worked on local commercials for the most part - just making sure that each one looked as dull and ordinary as the last. Joey wasn't aware that all wasn't going to stay hunky-dory like it always was. No, today was different. Joey was still in his morning trance as he left the newspaper shop and continued on his way, paper tucked neatly under his arm. Business casual was the clothing style recommended if you worked at the XPN television station. Joey preferred his blue XPN shortsleeved shirt on a pretty day like this. If only he had decided instead on a bullet proof vest... Joey reached the Square and Track intersection and prepared for his wait to cross the intersection amongst the usual crowd of locals. This was the most well known – and subsequently, the busiest intersection in town, so walkers always planned ahead for a wait. Someone piled in next to Joey, not caring in the least who they pushed. On the other side of Joey, a man with dark sunglasses squeezed his way in to the evergrowing crowd of pedestrians. It didn't matter to Joey, he was used to the daily rat race. After all he had done it for - Suddenly something came from behind Joey and nailed him right in the back! Joey nearly had the breath knocked out of him. He wobbled on his feet and turned to see what disaster had just occurred. At his feet lay a kid who had obviously just got his skateboard.

Joey's ears ringed from the pain for a minute. Every one's voices seemed so resonating, "NO, Melissa, that's crazy..." "Yeah, It's in boss..." "Jared, if I've told you once I've..." The voices quieted down greatly and the dizziness Joey had felt began to wear off. The kid rose, dusting off his blue jeans. He was only about ten. "Geez, sorry dude, I thought I could squeeze right through". Joey shook his head, thinking, 'Why not, we're already like tuna fish here kid... Joey shrugged the pain off as the crowd surged forward, signaling that it was now O.K. to cross the street. Joey didn't even feel the faint trickle of blood on his lower back. He didn't notice the bruise that rose around it either. He was just back on his way again, nothing bad had just happened. Thinking in this manner may have been the biggest mistake Joey could have ever made.

2 "Ah, Lunch Time!" Joey exclaimed. Lunch was undoubtedly Joey's favorite part of the workday. He reached under his desk for his bag lunch and headed out to the picnic tables. They were packed to capacity today, unfortunately, so Joey had to find another place to enjoy his break. Then he spotted the girl he so loved to see. Megan, his girlfriend, was sitting on the pampered lawn of XPN. Joey bent to sit down beside her. "Well hello Joey, how are you today?" She reached for his hand - but before Joey could answer, he felt a sharp pain shoot through him as he folded his legs in the grass... "OW!" Joey turned another way to try and shake the pain off. "What is it Joey?" Joey reached around to his back and felt a damp spot on his shirt. "WHAT is on my back, Megan?" She looked around him and pulled his shirt up slightly. "It looks like you're bleeding... what happened to you?" Joey struggled to remember when he could have gotten cut. Suddenly an image of a skateboard popped into his head. "Oh, yeah - this morning this little skateboarder slammed into the back of me... didn't think that he actually broke skin!" Megan took a bite out of her sandwich and nodded. "It's no problem, I've got some first aid equipment at my desk, I'll fix you right up after lunch." Joey went home after another long day at work all cleaned up and bandaged thanks to

Megan. He still couldn't help but be curious how bad the cut was, so he walked at a slightly faster pace on his way home this afternoon. Deep in thought, Joey stepped right out into a street without looking. A car came to a screeching halt inches from his legs. The driver sat calmly as Joey explained how sorry he was. Back at home, Joey aligned his laceration up with a mirror to see what kind of damage he had sustained. There was no blood left... just a semicircular purple bruise on his hip. He dropped his shirt down and grabbed a bag of cookies off of the counter top. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he had seen something skittle across the floor. He crouched down and saw nothing. But then, something weird happened. Joey felt an immense urge suddenly come over him. It was almost like an extreme... HUNGER. Once again his senses seemed to inflate to impossible levels. He heard his faucet dripping louder than ever, he saw a minuscule piece of bread crumb lying underneath the stove, but worst of all - he smelled something. A hideous smell to most, but to Joey, at this moment, it smelled like an appetizing snack. He suddenly grabbed under the barstool and lifted a mouse up slowly to his mouth. He crunched down violently on its squirming head with little effort. It tasted so fresh to him. The meat caused his mouth to water as blood gushed down like a waterfall over his chin.

3 "Yummy...", Joey licked his lips and shuddered up and down - almost like a kid with a melting cone of ice cream. He stared down at his hand at the furry ball of blood, bones, and flesh. He was eager for more flesh, but there wasn't much left on the mouse. He stood up and dropped the leftover's into the garbage disposal. Joey then heard an unnerving bell noise echo through the house and he stood still – making sure he had really heard what he thought he had heard. Moments later came a second ring of the doorbell. He slowly made his way to the door and twisted the handle. A beautiful ivory face came into clear view. Megan was standing on his welcome mat smiling. The smile on her face abruptly shifted to a look of unadulterated horror as Joey's blood-soaked shirt came into view. "Oh my GOD Joey, what the hell is that?" Joey seemed to not have even noticed his own drenched t-shirt. He slowly arched his neck and looked down at what appeared to be a red substance of some kind. Joey thought to himself, 'Now, What was I just eating again?' A faint taste of something like strawberry jam sat on his tongue. "Oh, yeah it's nothing, really - I just was a little hungry and grabbed a jelly sandwich." Megan switched to a partly confused stare at the wet stains. "I'm an idiot... come on inside Megan, sorry." He took her arm gently and led her to the couch. He sat down close beside her and marveled at her beauty. "My mind - it's been kind of goofy today - I forgot ALL about our date tonight." Megan nodded understandingly, "That's fine Joey, we really don't have to eat a special

dinner every date or anything... there's other things we could do..." She leaned over and kissed Joey on his neck gently. He could feel her breath against his skin. He could hear the blood rushing through her veins. He could even hear her supple skin sliding as she reached for Joey's head and turned his chin toward her. Then, and altered state began to take over poor Joey's head again... Joey began to think about how it would feel to have her warm flesh in his mouth. What that dark blood would feel like as it ran down his chin... so warm. He wanted her in a way he never had before. He wanted to have her for a MEAL.

4 Then, just as soon as the thoughts - the utterly horrible thoughts, popped into Joey's head... they were completely pushed aside. A clanging noise once again shot into his head and pulsated in his temple. His ears seemed to turn to meet the sound's direction - almost animallike... The sound came from directly behind the couch... out the back window... behind the hedges, and on his driveway. His trash can was being jostled around by a living, breathing, warm-blooded creature, just asking to be eaten. He leaped off of the couch so suddenly that Megan fell face first into the seat cushion. "Joey, what in the world is it?" He ignored her - he was tuned in to the noise he heard from outside. He quietly snuck out the rear door of his house and squinted to see in the dark. It then came so clearly to him. He could see an aura of heat - a halo around a little animal. It was clearly a raccoon who had taken a liking to Joey's recent food choices. The raccoon dropped an apple core to the cement and stood up. His back was turned to Joey, but his ears shifted around, it heard something. Joey saw his chance and took it. He sprung into action, faster than the raccoon, capturing the tangle of hair in his hands. He sucked in the smell of rotten garbage that emanated from the animal and - after one last sniff - lowered his head to make the kill. A slam blew Joey's ears wide open as he wrapped his molars around the raccoons soft neck. He continued to test the fur in his mouth as he turned to see the back door swung wide open. Megan stood in the dark struggling to see what the stir was about. It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She saw Joey's eyes glowing strangely, almost RED colored, amongst the pitch black surrounding him. Watched him bite feverishly into the creature snapping the few bones it had. What she saw left a truly bewildered look on her face.

5 Joey took his mouth off of the raccoon momentarily - long enough to shrug his shoulders at Megan. Almost saying with the move, 'Well, what're you gonna do?" Then, the shadowy figure standing before him there in the doorway seemed confused no longer. Megan's pupils

slowly shifted to a hue as red as the blood on Joey's shirt. She giggled quaintly before approaching Joey. She couldn't take her eyes off of the animal. The delicious looking yard pest. She lowered her head until she was but and inch from Joey's nose. She grinned, baring her gleaming white teeth before she leaned in to join the feast. Out of nowhere came the brightest spotlights that the two 'human' cannibals had ever seen. They shielded their eyes from the glow and watched as an outline of a large man made its way quickly toward them. Then came a slap to each one of their unknowing faces. Megan and Joey both grabbed at their cheeks, moaning in pain. The person who initiated the pain did not hesitate to show them his face. He was an aging white man in a dark-colored suit. But, Megan wondered, who was he? "Alright now, DROP IT!" Joey let go of the carcass as instructed by the old man - letting it smack down on the concrete drive. "I'm sorry that I had to slap the two of you so hard, but it was clearly the only way to knock the cannibalistic thought patterns out of your heads - even if just for a moment... long enough for me to tell you what it is I have to say." Megan and Joey both had dumbfounded looks on their faces, waiting for this man to decide whether or not he wanted to slap the two of them again. "If you think that maybe you have been feeling a little odd lately, well you have. If you felt for a moment as if you were being spied on - you were. Why is he here, you are probably wondering." Megan nodded slightly. "You both have been test subjects for our experimental drug agency..."

6 "And, fairly decent ones, I might add." Megan was starting to comprehend what words meant again... Joey, on the other hand, was still rather dazed... he stared at the raccoon, wanted just a little nibble of it. "Joey Stikeleather, have you noticed that your house has been unusually... infested lately?" Joey nodded. "That may be because we paid off Sarie, your cleaning lady. We gave her mice to plant in your house... oh don't worry, we went ahead and hired you a new maid..." Joey had a maid because he often felt too beat after a day of work to clean up anything. "Well, she also planted more than a few hidden cameras in your house. Megan's jaw fell open as she heard this. "Megan, your house was planted with cameras by my very own crewmembers while you were away this morning. Unfortunately, you came to this house instead tonight, so those cameras were of no use to us anyway... wasted quite a bit of money on those," the man mumbled to himself. The perpetrator sighed loudly, then continued. "I can see that you two are still sedated.” “Any unusual bleeding you have been experiencing today was not totally coincidental. No, we found ways to give each of you our experimental drug. It's called E.A.T.-009. "You see, the drug we gave you is, we now know with the utmost of certainty - can bring about the

exact mindset belonging to cannibalistic humans. We had to test it out on two unsuspecting people, you two simply fit the quota. The results have been conclusive. We now know the exact fluids in the system and brain that can lead a person to believe they must... eat others. This is a truly extraordinary scientific breakthrough.” "Had it not been for the two of you, we may not have been able to slow the impending cannibalism outbreak that scientists have foreseen in children. The birth defect could, in effect now be halted, but we have yet to know exactly HOW to stop it. So, any questions?" Silence came from the cannibal side of the driveway. Then Megan chose to speak up, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... so you're tellin' me that, *URP*, 'scuse me, that we are infected with like a dog eat doggy brain set. And *HICCUP*, that you," she pushed her finger against the man's forehead drunkenly, "YOU did it. And... and, you can't REVERSE IT??" "Yes ma'am. Miss Givens, we do plan to return to Stalworth in the *ahem* foreseeable future, hopefully with a cure for what the two of you have now. Until then, both of you will have to surround yourselves in things like fruits, vegetables, candy... you know, basically just keep your minds off of meat for a while." He handed a card over to Joey, who ceased completely to outstretch his own arm. The man shrugged and simply dropped the card into Joey's shirt pocket. "There is my card, uh... go ahead and NOT call that number on it for a couple of weeks though, gonna be a little busy with this cannibalism cure thing. "Oh, silly me, my name is Doctor Dirk Tatum, by the way. I'll see you around. Thanks again!" The man waved his wrinkled hand at the two blood spattered people that stood before him. The spotlights cut off abruptly and clanking noises were heard as the lights were carried off by Dirk's unseen crew. Joey and Megan stared at each other rather lazily, not totally understanding what had just happened.

7 "Do you understand what this MEANS Joseph?" After several hours of standing around looking at each other, Megan's mind had started to return in short spurts. The couple had bonded more than ever in a weird, sadistic way tonight. The two stood in the kitchen where Joey had first began chewing on a tiny field mouse. Megan had discovered that a splash of cold water over her face cleansed her mind. "Explain it to me again Meg, I was just too zonked out to really listen to Burke." "Dirk, his name was Dirk. He said that we weren't going to get better on our own. Damn it Joey, we were eating a freaking raccoon today!" She saw quickly that he wasn't getting it, and spoke louder. "We are going to be eating live animals, and wanting to eat people for gosh sakes! We are bad, Joey, real bad. What are we going to DO??" "Sheesh... WOW, Megan. That is awful, just awful... but listen, um... I'm gettin' pretty hungry - can I just finish off that raccoon right quick?"

THE END OF "THE HUNGER" READ ALL OF THE FEAR SERIES E-BOOKS AT THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.fearbooks.com WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY: MATTHEW WATTS