[ WP ] You are the first person on the colony to eat meat .

The ancestors said that originally humans ate meat but after the animals were destroyed, it wasn ’ t safe to eat them. Lucia licks at her lips, watching the fat bird waddle around. It doesn ’ t match the description of a “ turkey ” as she saw in the books but that might be a mutation from it being out alone on the planet. Her thin, shaking hands hold a sharp knife and in the other, a net. 
 
 “ Come on. ” Amzi mutters to her. “ You wanted to try this, see if we can do what the Old Ones used to. It ’ s the only option otherwise, there ’ s no food out here. ” His eyes are fixed on the bird. 
 
 “ You have the fire set up? ” Lucia attempts to distract her mind. Amzi nods in response. Lucia carefully steps forward. Years of avoiding the big things had trained their people well in the art of sneaking. If you weren ’ t able to sneak, you were eaten or killed. 
 
 The bird doesn ’ t notice her presence until it ’ s too late. The net ’ s dropped over its head and she lands on it with her full weight with a cry. Amzi is close beside her right afterward, helping her pin the thing down and Lucia plunges the blade between the netting and into the creature ’ s throat. Blood coats the feathers and blade as the turkey struggles for only a short time longer. 
 
 Blood makes a mess around and on them, Amzi helping her heft the bird up and back towards their camp as fast as possible in their weakened states. Lucia licks at the blood on her hand, wondering if the blood is drinkable. They weren ’ t getting much in the way of water with how far off track they were. 
 
 “ What do we do to cook it? Is it like a squash? ” Lucia questions as she licks more of the blood off her hand. It doesn ’ t taste particularly nice, in fact, it ’ s a little salty, but there has to be some sort of water content in it. 
 
 “ Pluck it and cut the head off I think. ” Amzi looks a little nervous. “ I can do that. You snuck up on it real nice. ” 
 
 “ You better do it. I ’ m not doing all the work. ” Lucia snorts as they reach their raggedy campsite. Amzi chuckles at her response before dropping the dead bird onto a section of cleared dirt and getting to work. 
 
 It takes longer than either of them expected and Lucia ends up helping more anyways before they ’ ve got the creature up on the spit to roast. They stare at it, Amzi occasionally turning it as they shiver with the daylight starting to fade. Eventually, Lucia breaks into the crackling noises the fire is making. 
 
 “ When ’ s it done? ” 
 
 “ I—I have no idea, ” Amzi admits, continuing to turn the creature on the spit. “ It said something about smelling it if I remember correctly. I think it was a long time though. ” 
 
 “ How long? Are we going to starve to death before it ’ s cooked? ” Lucia scowls. Her mood has been getting worse for the last few days with the lack of food and water. 
 
 “ I don ’ t think so. ” Amzi shakes his head, eyes still focused on the spit with the roasting bird. They lapse into silence, watching the bird cook as Amzi slowly turns it. Lucia shuts her eyes and places her head on her knees, trusting that he knows or remembers what he ’ s doing. 
 
 The smell wakes her, her mouth salivating at the scent. Amzi is still turning the spit but Lucia sees a similar expression on his face. She traces it back to the bird hanging over the fire. The outside has turned brown, almost crispy looking. 
 
 “ Is… is it done? ” Amzi shakes his head in response. 
 
 “ I don ’ t think so. It hasn ’ t been long enough. Maybe I need to turn it faster. ” 
 
 “ Can we eat the outside? ” Lucia ’ s mouth continues to water as she stares at the cooking food. “ Then you can keep cooking the insides. ” 
 
 “ I don ’ t think it works that way. ” Amzi gives a quiet laugh, spinning the spit a little faster. They lapse into silence again as he continues turning the spit faster. Lucia watches it intensely, counting every second as the meat drips, making the fire sizzle and pop loud. She watches the outside change to a darker shade of brown. Small spots of black begin to show up in certain areas. 
 
 “ Amzi… Come on. It ’ s got to be done. There ’ s like… black on the outside in spots. ” There ’ s a pause before he nods his consent, licking his lips. His gaze is intensely focused on the bird. They move the spit setup away from the fire and both of them eye it. 
 
 Lucia moves first, grabbing one of the legs and pulling at it. It pops off the body, dropping a couple chunks of meat to the ground, and she takes only a short pause before biting into it. Amzi copies her example, yanking the other leg off similarly and biting into it. They stay quiet for a while, chewing and considering the taste. 
 
 “ It ’ s like the soybeans but… different. ” Amzi finally speaks after swallowing. Lucia nods, simply biting into the leg more, chewing and swallowing rather quickly. “ I hope we don ’ t get sick. ” 
 
 “ I ’ d rather be full and feeling ill rather than starving to death. ” Lucia scowls. “ At least sick means I ’ m alive probably thanks to this thing. ” She continues chewing on the leg until Amzi gets her attention. He looks frightened. 
 
 “ A… a… ” His voice is barely even a whisper. Lucia puts her hand on her knife and turns as she draws it, taking a defensive position in front of the roasted bird. There ’ s a wolf there, ears slightly floppy and it ’ s sniffing curiously about, staying just at the edge of the firelight. Lucia remembers her lessons, about just giving her food up to what had originally been their companions. 
 
 Instead, she snarls, fronting and defending the area. There ’ s no way she ’ s giving this meal up after they ’ ve been starving. Another wolf steps out of the woods as the first jumps back. Lucia bites more off the turkey leg before throwing it at them. It hits one of the wolves, making them jump and disappear into the darkness of the woods. 
 
 They return quickly however, one snatching up the turkey bone and beginning to gnaw on it. The second starts a fight with the first for the bone until another one lands in their midst, Amzi having thrown his to them. The second wolf pounces on the thrown leg and they edge back away into the dark. The sound of crunching bones and chewing echoes back. Lucia turns her attention back to the turkey, taking her knife and cutting a chunk off. 
 
 “ Well. ” Lucia starts, stuffing the chunk into her mouth. “ That ’ ll keep them busy for a little bit at least. ” 
 
 “ I think I can set up some torches to flash at them to keep them away. ” Amzi nods as he rips a piece off with his fingers and eats it. “ At least now that we ’ ve got some time. ” 
 
 “ Let ’ s do it really quick. ” Lucia turns her attention to some of the nearby branches to keep the fire going. Amzi wipes his fingers on his pants and nods, joining her. 
 
 *** 
 
 This ended up super long and I wanted to almost keep writing on it lol. I went with a slightly different idea as to what happened with the animals and the colony.
