The Cabin

Danny’s throat was raw and his hands bruised. His eyes were heavy with exhaustion, and his overall irritability was increased tenfold by hunger pangs. He sank down and leaned against the log wall. Despite the hours that he and the other two captives spent pounding on the walls and screaming, their cries either fell on deaf ears or none at all. They had searched the entire building so many times that he knew every crack, every crevice, every nail in the dusty old floorboards, only resorting to calling for help when all else failed. The other two were still banging on the logs that surrounded them, yelling out desperately despite their voices having acquired a strained, painful sound.

“We’re screwed,” Danny said, more to himself than the others as he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cool wood walls. “I’ve seen every fucking inch of this place. There’s no way out.”

“We’ve got to get out. I have people who need me,” Kellin said, his blue eyes wild with panic as he moved away from the wall he had been pounding on and began pacing the room. Danny couldn’t help but feel bad for him; the desperation in his voice was heartbreaking.

“We’re not stuck here. We’ll find a way out.” Ronnie walked over. “We’ve just got to keep going.” He was quickly getting under Danny’s skin, as the older man clearly liked to lead, and Danny seldom followed anyone. They had been trying at escape for hours on end, and they had nothing to show for it other than sore throats and an increased sense of doom.

“Even if we keep this up forever we’ll be dead before we get out. Besides, I’m fucking starving.”

Ronnie looked like he was about to reply, but took a deep breath and settled on shooting him a dirty glance instead, inspecting the creepy deer head perched on the wall above the bookshelf filled with musty outdated novels for a fifth time. Kellin continued his pacing, looking down at the floor. Danny knew he was checking the cracks in the floorboards again.

Danny clamored to his feet and walked across the room. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not going to sit around and starve.”

“And what do you suppose there is to eat?” Ronnie asked, not bothering to look up from examining the frame of what appeared to be someone’s family picture from pre-Civil War days. Danny had looked over it twice already.

“Let’s find out,” Danny replied. He grabbed the handle of the ancient fridge and pulled it open, the old hinges creaking painfully.

“Dude, you can’t be serious. That’s so nasty.”

Danny made a face and looked inside, ignoring the musty odor. The fridge was well stocked with food. He cocked his head in confusion and grabbed a carton of milk. The expiration date was a week away. Milk in hand, he turned away from the still open fridge towards the other two, who were still busy searching for an escape.

“So, whoever put us here plans to feed us?” He held up the milk to the other two, who immediately looked up.

“Let me see that!” Ronnie strode over and looked at the carton as Kellin stopped his pacing and made his way across the room.

“Do you think there’s something wrong with it?” Kellin asked. He had stopped pacing, but his eyes still looked like those of a caged animal.

Ronnie opened the milk and smelled it. “I don’t know, if they put something in it we’d never know. It’s not bad though.”

Danny opened one of the cabinets, pulling out and opening a bag of chips.

“There’s food in here too.”

“I wouldn’t eat that.” Ronnie said, eying the bag suspiciously before putting the milk back into the fridge.

Danny shrugged. “I’ll take my chances.”

He tore open the bag and shoved a few chips in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. They tasted fine, so he walked over to the musty orange couch and plopped down on it. He watched in amusement Ronnie continued to check the items in the fridge and Kellin resumed searching for an escape.

“Why don’t you eat?” said Danny around a mouthful of potato chips.

` “I’m waiting to see what happens to you first,” Ronnie said with as he shut the fridge.

“Live for the moment,” Danny said as he put his feet up on the rickety coffee table decorated with coffee rings. “And in the moment I’m hungry as fuck.”

“Okay, tell me this: Why would they trap us and give us food if it’s not laced with shit?”

“Because,” Kellin spoke up as he walked over and sank into the high backed black armchair, defeat written across his boyish features. “They’re going to be keeping us here for a long time.”