FSE

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CW: Strong language

I'm silent as I scarf down the plate of eggs and potatoes. In spite of the small amount, I'm just happy to have something to push back the nausea and exhaustion.

"Careful, you're going to choke!" Aitana warns as I ignore her. She's probably right, to be fair. Worth it.

I look up to see the concerned expressions of Aitana and Eric focused on me.

"I haven't eaten in a week, I'm OK... well, considering." I reassure them.

"Eetu, look..." Aitana begins as she glances at Eric's paw in his lap. She seems cautious, like she's approaching a wounded animal.

"Hm?"

"Uh, well, uhh... We need to go get more food." She stops again. She seems tense, ready to move at a moment's notice.

"OK..."

"We... can't... leave you here," She explains slowly, as if to give me time to absorb the words.

"You need me to leave?"

"Well... not exactly," she says. The implication in her voice prompts me to lean my chair back to peek under the table. The silent marten has a handgun hidden poorly between his legs.

"Oh SHIT!"

I lose my balance and fall backwards, sticking my paws out to the side of the chair and manage to break my fall without using the back of my head, although the chair lands on my tail. I scramble backwards up against the wall and realize that Eric and Aitana have placed themselves on the side of the table closest to the exit of the kitchen. I could climb over the counter, but given Eric is armed I don't think that would go well. I'm trapped.

"Wh-What the fuck are you doing?!" I stammer as I press myself backwards into the wall, as though I'll go through it if I push hard enough. I wish I would.

"Hey, hey, relax! You're OK, Eetu! We won't hurt you!" The ocelot sounds earnest as she presses her palms towards me in front of her chest and makes a point of drawing in her claws, which came out when my panic startled her, but...

"Why the fuck does have have a gun, then?!" Panicked, guttural, animalistic screaming tears at my water-deprived throat as I attempt to talk, picking away at the remainder of my voice.

"Just in case. Try to calm down," the felid continues in a cautious, level tone. "We need to get more food, but we can't leave you in a position where we're gone and you have access to the house. We're going to put you in the room upstairs until we get back."

"Then what's the gun for? How long are you going to be gone?"

"You'll be in there for two days. We're sorry, really. The gun was in case you freaked out when we told you that." Something about her apology breaks down my skepticism, somewhat.

"And what happens if you don't come back? Didn't you say you stole food to survive? What if you get caught? Then I'm just fucked."

Eric and Aitana share a look with each other and then bring their attention back to me.

"I mean, I think that's a fair point. There's the other option we discussed," the marten whispers.

"Yeah, but we can't trust him," replies the ocelot.

"I mean we don't have to give him anything," the marten returns, "We wanted to help him. We might have to risk for that. It's cruel to leave him there knowing he might have to stay there to die. We're better than that."

The ocelot draws a long breath and sighs heavily.

"Yeah, alright. Eetu, you're coming with us."

"Wait what?!"

"We're leaving in an hour. Your bag is on the other side of the counter. You can take three bottles of water. I'll bring you some food."

The ocelot gets up and heads to the storeroom

"Wait, what the fuck?!"

"You don't get a say in this, sorry," Eric says, dismissing my protests. "I'll get the water."

They leave me alone and I take several seconds to collect myself. I take a moment to pull a tarp back slightly to peek out the window. It's dark, so it's either late at night or early in the morning. They said I woke up "so soon," So that must mean it's the former. They must be nocturnal, a lot of people do that now with how brutal the sun is during the day.

Aitana returns from the storeroom with a strip of unidentifiable preserved meat. Chicken, maybe? She also has a sizable baggie of dried pinto beans. Eric comes up behind her carrying water and medical supplies

"You'll be traveling light since you're injured... and since we can't trust you not to run off with our shit." The ocelot's accusatory tone isn't lost on me as I take the food and shove it into my bag.

The ocelot hands the marten a beaten up bolt-action rifle and a pouch of loose rounds. Both of them keep their gaze fixed on me the entire time until Eric has the antique slung over his shoulder. The ocelot retrieves the shotgun she threatened me with from behind the couch and does the same.

"Can I have the...uh..."

"A gun?!" Spits Aitana "Absolutely the fuck not. You're only coming with us because we have no other choice, we are not friends."

"Sorry, I just, if we have to defend ourselves-"

"If we have to defend ourselves we'll figure it out then. We've done this plenty of times, just stay right with us and we'll be fine."

Eric forces an old military first aid kit into my open bag, and shoves a tourniquet into the water bottle pouch on the side.

"If anyone gets hurt, there's a bag in the first aid kit that says "quik-clot" on it. It has gauze in it, you're gonna wrap the wound with that and apply pressure. Got it?" The marten is calm, almost exasperated. However much they had done this, it was clearly routine.

"Y-yeah."

"Good!" Eric beams and turns towards Aitana "You ready?"

"Yep, let's go now, we need to get to the wash before sunrise. Eetu?" She turns towards me expectantly as if my answer holds any weight.

"Fuckin'... I guess this is happening. Let's go."