Portia watched from her perch as the Generates lit three small separate fires in front of the massive bonfire that lit the night sky. A metal grate was suspended horizontally above each of the smaller fires, for what, she didn’t know. Back and forth different groups of Generates came and went. Having never seen one before, she had only the tales of others, to include Kyle’s stories to help give her an image of what these nomadic people’s looked and acted like. From everything she’d seen, they fit the description perfectly. They were filthy, with their hair pulled back tight into buns or tails. The men’s beards were dreadlocked with tokens and small trophies tied onto individual locks. They all wore necklaces adorned with shriveled ears. Just how humans could resort to such life was foreign to her. A little over nineteen years before they were probably normal people, going about their business with concerns or stresses related to their first world existence, now they were barbaric and preferred the life of a wandering horde.
To her left and right, the other women sat bound to the same metal cable that stretched between two large trees. The only sounds out of any of them were whimpers, cries and pleas for mercy.
Didn’t they know Generates showed no mercy? Portia would say to herself when she’d hear one of the women call out to a Generate passing by.
The heavy sound of footfalls came from her right, she looked and saw dozens of Generates appear out of the shadows and gather around the smaller fires. A lone man remained standing, no doubt their leader. He was average height, lean build, with a long beard and hair pulled up into a bun. Across his face, dark red stripes went diagonally from his temple to his chin. He was shirtless and his chest bore the same stripes. He patted several of his people on the head and said, “Good hunt, I am proud of you. We shall feast and fuck all night!”
The Generates sitting clapped their hands on their thighs, some grunted their approval.
“Bring our sacrifice,” the Generate leader said.
Several Generates appeared from behind Portia dragging Earl. “No, don’t, please.”
Portia searched her thoughts for the stories she’d heard about Generates and recalled a story from Kyle where he described witnessing a ceremony. He told her that they brought a man forward, tied him to a post, cut off his ears and gave them to the Generate who had been most effective on their hunt, then proceeded to skinning him alive. When they were done, they tossed his body onto a rack and cooked him.
Portia looked and saw the post. She put two and two together and assumed the fires and the metal racks had to be there to cook Earl on once he was dead.
Seeing Earl dragged to the post, crying and pleading, some of the women began to call out for mercy.
Portia kept her mouth shut because she didn’t want to draw attention to herself.
With Earl’s arms tied above him and to the post the Generate leader called out, “We sacrifice this human and from his body we shall nourish ourselves.”
The other Generates were getting excited. They rocked back and forth and were anxious to begin the savage ritual.
The Generate leader removed a long blade housed in a sheath on his hip and walked over to Earl. Without hesitating or saying a word, he removed Earl’s left ear.
Earl cried out in pain. Blood flowed freely from the wound and ran down the side of his neck and onto his shoulder. “No, please don’t, stop, please,” Earl blathered.
“God no, don’t hurt us, no!” Nancy unexpectedly cried out.
Portia looked at her and said, “Be quiet, you’ll draw attention to yourself.”
Sobbing, Nancy replied with her head hanging low, “We’re all dead anyway, they’re going to kill us and eat us. NO THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!” She wailed and sobbed heavier.
“Nancy, shut up,” Portia urged.
“It’s no use,” Nancy cried her mouth hanging open and spit and slobber dripping down.
A glint from something bright dangled from Nancy’s neck. Portia looked closer and recognized it as her locket. “That’s mine.”
Nancy didn’t say a word, she kept sobbing.
“That’s my locket, you took it,” Portia snapped.
Nancy lifted her head and looked at Portia. “I found it on the ground.”
“It has my picture in it and my name on the back. You found it and decided to keep it, you fucking bitch,” Portia barked.
Earl cried out in pain as the Generate leader sliced off his other ear and held it high in the air. The brutal display pulled Portia away from her confrontation with Nancy. She now prayed she’d live long enough to watch Nancy suffer the same fate.
The Generate leader gave away the ear then turned towards Earl. Blood soaked his shirt. The Generate leader cut the shirt away and tossed it into the fire. He then cut his pants off him and threw them into the flames. Naked, bloody and shaking with fear, Earl continued to beg for mercy. The Generate leader called out, “Jacks, Flint, Graves come forth with your knives and remove the skin of our sacrifice.”
“NO!” Earl screamed.
The three men summoned stepped forward with long slender knives in their hands. Portia couldn’t help but admire the blades and by their design they were made for fileting delicate flesh.
The Generate leader stepped away and allowed the three to begin their work. Not hesitating and showing their skill, they began to cut, but they didn’t remove the skin. The one in front of Earl inserted his knife and slid it horizontal from left to right, from collar bone to collar bone, then turned the blade down and cut along the side stopping near the hip before cutting horizontal again from the waist across and up to the where he began. The others were cutting around the circumference of his arms and legs.
Earl screamed and shook uncontrollably.
Portia wanted to feel sorry for Earl but she couldn’t, though it was a brutal way to die, she felt he deserved every second of pain he was receiving.
The three Generates stepped back when they were finished carving on Earl’s body.
The Generate leader approached, nodded and said, “Remove the flesh and put it on the fire.”
The three Generates shoved their fingers deep into the top horizontal cut and together pulled. At first the skin barely gave, but on their second hard pull, it peeled back.
Earl shrieked loudly then passed out from the pain.
The Generates continued pulling until the front panel of skin was removed. One took it to the far left fire and placed it on the scalding hot grate which served as a grill. The flesh sizzled when it made contact.
The other Generates grunted and began to grow agitated.
Portia was mesmerized by the barbaric ritual, it was grotesque, beyond anything she’d ever seen, but for some reason she couldn’t take her eyes off of it. With her attention fully on what they were doing see didn’t notice that several of the women had passed out.
The three Generates pulled the skin from his arms and legs and put it on a grate. They continued to do this until most of Earl’s skin had been removed leaving his muscles, tendons and bones exposed.
Portia could see Earl’s chest gently rise and fall indicating he was still alive. It was awful but skill she couldn’t find an ounce of sympathy for him.
With the skin removed, the Generates went to attend to the cooking of the flesh.
The Generate leader came forward, removed his knife from its sheath and cut off Earl’s genitals. He held them up high and offered them to a woman close by who devoured them raw.
Finally, Portia pulled her gaze. She had reached her limit. A crippling fear came over her, this was how she was going to die. How could this be? She asked herself.
“Children gather, come,” the Generate leader called out.