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Long Pig


Keepbro

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I wrote this story ages ago for the old forum but I was quite proud of it so I've decided to fill up the new forum as the fan fiction section is looking rather sparse. I've also edited it ever so slightly from the original so consider it a version 2. Enjoy!
 
 
“Bitch” yelled Bud as his fist connected with the side of Mary-Anne’s head. There was a dull thud as she dropped to the Kitten floor, the taste of blood in her mouth and stars in her eyes. She never stood a chance against Bud and never had, especially when he was in one of his “moods.” Like he was now. “All I do for this family” he said punctuating his words with a kick to Mary-Anne’s ribs, “and you speak back to me like that?” Bud stood over her, all 6 feet of his intimidating figure bristling with rage, his eyes spitting fire down at her. She looked up at him, which was a mistake as Bud instantly leaned down and slapped her, although it was more an open palmed punch than a slap. She wanted to cry. But this situation had happened too many times before in her marriage and she knew that crying was the worst thing she could do.

It had been tough to start with when the Rapture had come. At least that was what Father Clintock had called it before the risen souls had taken him. Mary-Anne had thought that people would rise to heaven and everything would be perfect after that - well except for those souls left behind. But instead all that had happened was that dead people were coming to life and eating living people and eventually, after a few weeks panicking, people had realised that if you got bit by one of the dead then you became one too. All that Mary-Anne cared though was that none of them would harm her two kids Zeke (short for Ezekiel) and Jo (short for Josiah). She had had a tough time of it looking after a 4 year old and a 9 year old though Jo was pulling his weight more and more. But it was Bud who had saved them and that was the truth of it. If he hadn’t been such a gun nut then they would have died early on when the trailer park had erupted with those ghouls and they had had to fight their way out. Mary-Anne had watched in a daze as former friends had been eaten by their loved ones and the shock had driven her to a state of catatonia. It had only been when Bud had shot their neighbour in the head before slapping her out of it that she had realised the danger her kids where in and after that she had followed Bud almost religiously. Her husband was protecting his family and she, as a dutiful wife, had to obey. And she had.

After the night of horror at their home in the trailer park, Bud had taken them to the local church which had managed to hold out for about 2 weeks before food had run so low that everyone inside decided to try and break out. Bud had cleverly been stealing ammo from people so that when the time came they had managed to be one of the few people to break free. Mary-Anne didn’t know what had happened to the Holly Family but when she had brought the subject up Bud had gotten into one his “moods” and after that she wasn’t bringing it up anymore. She suspected that he had shot them as a distraction for the ghouls. Not that it really mattered. They had lived and the Holly family hadn't. 

At this point they had survived day to day always on the move, running from house to house, always looking for food. Gradually food had become more and more scarce and they had become more and more desperate. Twice Bud had killed some fellow survivors that they had come across just to steal their food. Mary-Anne had prayed to God for forgiveness but she felt that he wasn’t handing out any at the moment.

After that they had struck gold. They had found a perfect sanctuary. A small farm surrounded by a big brick wall with space for a farm plot. It had everything that they needed to survive. A basement with sacks of seeds ready for planting. An empty cold room complete with bags of curing salt. It even had rechargeable solar panels that could be used to power lights and the fridge that was in the kitchen. They could grow their own food and be safe from those monsters outside. There was even a rain-catcher and a huge water tank. the only problem had been the owner but Bud had taken care of him. As soon as winter was over they could grow enough food to survive and as long as the wall held there was nothing the dead could do to them. They were safe. But the problem was still food. More accurately it was the weather and food. Mary-Anne knew that she couldn’t plant anything till the weather broke and even then it would take a few months for crops to grow and be harvested which meant that they needed enough food to last at least 4 months. They had food enough maybe for 2 months. When she had mentioned this to Bud he had instantly called her a bitch and hit her. Now she was on the ground trying her best not to cry as he stood above her shouting.

“You think because you went to high school that you’re cleverer than me? Is that it” Bud snarled. KICK. “The fucking dead have surrounded us, idiot. We cant get out” PUNCH. Mary-Anne curled up into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her boys staring at her from the kitchen door. They knew better than to make any sound when their Pa was acting like this. She managed to get the ghost of a smile out to them. 

When Bud had stopped hitting her, or when she had come to, she wasn’t exactly sure of which but either way at least his “mood” was over she stood up and staggered over to the kitchen sink. Pouring out some water she dabbed it over her face. The beatings didn’t register anymore. It was just more of what Bud was. Yes they hurt but she had long ago learned to parcel the pain away until eventually she found that it just didn’t really bother her. What bothered her more was the effect it had on Jo and Zeke. Several times Zeke had asked if Pa would go away and leave Ma alone but never in Bud’s presence. Even a 4 year old has a self-preservation instinct.

She thought now about the family’s options. On the one hand they were stuck and they were running low on food. On the other hand they could grow food they just had to wait until this winter was over and they had the chance to grow some crops. So somehow they had to find some food to last until the crop came in. Finally the hardest thing to think about..... Bud. Something had to be done. One day he was going to kill her or worse either Zeke or Jo. And if he did kill her then who was going to farm? Bud was a mechanic not a farmer like she had been in her youth. His skills lay in repairing broken things and guns not in growing, tending and nurturing crops. What would happen to the kids? Mary-Anne knew that if she died then the best they could hope for was a quick death rather than succumb to starvation. She knew what had to be done. Now she just had to steel herself to actually do it. However before she did she put the boys to bed and stayed until they were both sleeping. She wasn’t going to risk them seeing what would happen to their Pa.

Bud, as he usually did after one of his “moods” had got drunk. Seriously drunk. Since there was no alcohol he had been resorting to moonshine that he had been making in a still in the farms garage. Since Bud hadn’t made moonshine before it was fairly lethal and didn’t take much to get him drunk. Mary-Anne stumbled into the garage and found him lying unconscious on the floor. She looked him over speculatively like a prize pig before walking to the tool rack. It took her 2 attempts to pick up the 3kg lump hammer because she was still dizzy and probably concussed from the beating Bud had given her but she managed to pick it up, stumbled over to Bud and before she had time to think about what she was doing, had slammed it down as hard she could onto the side of his head. The blow shattered his skull indenting his temple half an inch into his head. Bud shuddered, now in his death throes, legs twitching in spasm and although it wasn’t strictly necessary she gave him another bash just to make sure. And that was that. 10 years of marriage and beatings now over.

Killing Bud had been easy. It was harder dragging his corpse to the bathroom and hanging him over the tub to drain his blood. A deep breath then the dressing began. A single cut, neck to crotch, before pulling out his organs and dropping them into a bucket. The contents of this bucket would eventually be frozen so that it would keep longer. She had never dressed a man before (had Bud really been a man she thought to herself) but her Pa had been an avid hunter and it had always been her who dressed the kills he brought in. So she felt she had a good idea of how to go about it. It had taken a heavy butchers knife to split Bud’s ribcage but she wasn’t going to waste his heart. That went in the bucket too. Before long she had completely gutted Bud’s body so she used the shower head to wash his insides out. She wondered idly to herself as she did this what cleaning products would be best to wash the tub out afterwards.

She then continued splitting Bud’s crotch and washing away the crap that spilled out. Then she cut away his anus. She didn't want that spoiling the meat. Once this was done she finally cut what remained of his legs off. Those she would salt and hang. Now she went to work on his torso cutting of what she tried to think of as sweetmeats. It helped if she thought of Bud as an animal. It made the process a simple one as she used a knife to shear meat off of his back constantly cutting and sawing back and forth. Eventually the bath was full of meat which she started chucking into another bucket. All this would have to be salted to keep it through the winter and thankfully there was enough curing salt in the Kitchen. If not she could always freeze it and thaw it later. Bud, by this point had been reduced to a desiccated torso hanging by its arms. She took him down before carefully chopping his arms off (again those would salt and hang in the cold storage room). And that was that. She dragged him outside and threw what was left him over the wall. With any luck the zombies would pick over what was left and the kids wouldn’t have to see him. After that she went to the Kitchen and started to clean. Once the blood was off the floor and the tub cleared out she washed herself. It was a waste of water but to hell with it she thought. She wasn’t going to let her kids see her looking like she had just butchered her very ex-husband for meat. No way.

By the time the kids woke up the next day she had managed to get her story straight. Pa had gone to get help she told them. He would come back soon and with food and would never leave them again. Both her boys stared stonily at her at this statement. In the meantime they were now forbidden to go in the cold room, which she had locked in any case. Mary-Anne held her kids to her. They had a chance to survive now and, looking at them, she thought that that was all that mattered.
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