Flesh Worn Stone Read Online Free PDF

close cropped to his scarred head.

    “The problem here,” Darius said, taking a step past the spear holder, “is that we were brought here to this place against our will, and now I’m fucking hungry. I’m hungry and you have food.”

    “And you think, being a newcomer and large, maybe a little scary looking, that you’re going to walk right up and take what you want? You think this is some sort of mob rule prison or something?”

    Darius looked uncomfortable with the accusation, just as uncomfortable as when Amanda accused him of attacking her. “I don’t know what to think, I don’t know what’s going on.”

    “Well most new people don’t get this much help,” the Samoan told him. “Most newcomers have to find out what this place is all about on their very own. It’s part of the process. But I’m going to help you out. I’m feeling generous right now.”

    The men around him laughed like jackals around a fallen gazelle. “You’re not shit here. I don’t give a fuck what you were before. Here you’re worth less than shit. No one cares what you were before, no one cares what power you had. It doesn’t mean shit here. No one even fucking cares that you’re here. And I’ll bet no one back there,” he said, pointing in the general direction of the cave entrance, “cares that you’re gone. There’s a reason you’re gone, you know?”

    Darius’ arm flashed so quickly and the lighting was so bad that Steven didn’t see his fist connect with the Samoan’s jaw. He simply saw the man stagger back a few paces and then the dozen sharp looking spear tips at the black man’s throat.

    The Samoan laughed as he righted himself. “You hit like a mule,” he said, walking back up to Darius. “That’s good. It will come in handy later. I should kill you. I’d be within the rules—all these people saw you attack me—but I won’t.”

    He bent down and retrieved the piece of meat on the bone that he’d been eating and offered it to Darius. “Here. You want it? Have it.”

    Darius took the offering, looked at it, and then turned to the side, throwing up in violent spasms, the raw meat falling to the muddy floor with a wet thud. Steven looked down, seeing it was a forearm, stripped of skin, most of the hand still attached, and his stomach threatened to join Darius.

    The Samoan and his men began laughing hysterically, along with anyone else in earshot of what had transpired. Rebecca joined Darius in heaving, and Amanda cried out.

    “Oh my god…they’re eating Cassandra.”

    “She broke the rules, she pays the price,” the Samoan said. “We all pay the price if we break the rules, and that, if nothing else, is something you should learn this very minute.”

    “She’s still alive,” Steven gasped.

    Okay, crapCassandra, or what was left of her, lay on a large piece of sanded driftwood next to the impromptu throne. Her legs were missing, cut just beneath the knees, and her left arm was gone. The stumps had been burnt to a crisp, and there wasn’t nearly as much blood as Steven would have figured. A pile of the bones from her legs were stacked neatly next to her, bits of cartilage and meat still attached. Her chest had been marked up with a knife, like a butcher might mark up a hog for slaughter. She stared at them, eyes pleading and expressing a pain Steven couldn’t begin to imagine.

    “They keep better alive and last longer,” the big Samoan told them without emotion, as if they were discussing storing beef. “Nothing will be wasted, and her death will contribute to the survival of the Cave. And though she hadn’t yet had the opportunity to join us, she will be remembered nonetheless. She will live on, forever, on the Wall.”

    Amanda fainted straight away, falling to the ground before Darius or John could catch her. Darius surged forward again, his face full of rage and anger, but stopped short of the wall of spear tips separating him from the Samoan. Rebecca was speechless,