[ WP ] Two friends search for food in the post apocalypse but instead find something else .

“ Hey, Eddie! There ’ s some kinda potato down here! ” 
 
 Eddie dropped his pack and sprinted down a shallow incline into the serried ranks of pine trees. Under the roof of interwoven branches, the dirty grey sunlight cast a shifting network of skeletal shadows. Charlie squatted in the lee of a rusting tank, blackened and charred by incandescent fire. A skeletal hand poked from one of the hatches, charred finger bones pointing towards the blackened soil. 
 
 Charlie brandished their shovel like a conductor ’ s baton, wafting the blade over a collection of tall stalks, topped with a modest spray of crimson flowers. 
 
 “ Looks like enough for a few days at least. ” Eddie shrugged, unwilling to share in his partner ’ s elation until the root sat comfortably in his hunger-distended belly. 
 
 “ Oh lighten up, Ed. ” Charlie ’ s jovial smile had charmed many a woman before the war, and now it drew a tight grimace from his oldest friend. “ This is the best find we ’ ve had in weeks and all you can do it grouse about it. ” 
 
 “ Well get the bastards up then. ” Eddie snapped. “ I ’ m not stopping you. ” 
 
 Charlie tossed the shovel to one side and grabbed the nearest plant with a grimy hand, yanking it out of the soil with a muffled grunt. The potato dangled on the end of the plant, surrounded by a knotted fringe of roots. The roots were discoloured and matted by congealing soil, dripping a rust-coloured fluid back into the soil. 
 
 Eddie ’ s nose wrinkled as an acrid smell wafted from the crater. “ They don ’ t smell so good. ” 
 
 “ They ’ re fine!. ” Charlie extended a grubby finger and jabbed at the potato, scratching the skin with a cracked nail. “ Just like nana used to grow. ” 
 
 “ What ’ s this funk then? ” Eddie asked, crouching to investigate the liquid oozing from the freshly turned soil. “ Smells like blood… ” 
 
 “ Nahh… ” Charlie scoffed, reaching for another plant. “ It ’ s whatever used to be in that old thing. ” He aimed a kick at the wreck beside him, wincing as his foot rebounded off the armour plate. 
 
 The second potato popped from the ground. Another welter of foul-smelling fluid followed behind, accompanied by a few writhing maggots. Eddie gagged and spat onto the tank, pulling his ragged shirt over his nose and mouth. 
 
 “ There ’ s something rotted down there. ” He gasped through the grease-stained fabric. “ Let ’ s get the fuck out of here. ” 
 
 Charlie snatched up the shovel and thrust it into the ground, carving away the ash-tainted soil. The blade crunched through the ground, throwing up great sprays of earth. Eventually, he stopped. 
 
 A pale arm lay exposed against the dark soil. Tendrils of decay snaked across the skin, a crust of dried blood clinging to the rotting flesh. The two men stared down at the limb, eyes wide. 
 
 An hour later, they ’ d excavated the entire clearing with their shovel and knife-blades. They could barely comprehend what they ’ d found beneath the topsoil. 

