A day has passed since Mariah left the cabin.

The group woke up, more hungry than ever.

The Doctor's morale was terribly low.

"Good morning..." Gregor said, " Do you think she managed to find higher ground."

"...I believe in Mariah." Anatoly said.

"...Me too." Karin said.

"....Me too." the Doctor tried to think optimistically, but deep down he knew that the chances that Mariah didn't reach the TARDIS were awfully high.

The Doctor tried to sleep, trying to keep the hunger busy.

However, his dream was completely black, he could only hear a female voice, whispering something in Ukrainian.

He recognised her voice, it was Mariah's.

"Доктор... Ви повинні тікати, ви в небезпеці." these are words she whispered.

He woke up in a cold sweat, visibly confused.

He noticed a smell, the smell of meat being cooked coming from the kitchen.

He went to check it, he found the man, Karin, Gregor and Anatoly ferociously devouring it.

"Where did that meat come fro-'' the Doctor stopped talking and connected the dots, his expression became one of disgust and horror. "Please...Tell me it's not what I'm thinking of..."

Gregor wandered off and Anatoly went to the bathroom and puked in the toilet.

The Doctor left the kitchen, hereby refusing to eat that meat even if he was starving.

They rationed the meat, so they'll skip dinner today and everyone went to sleep.

The next day, the Doctor noticed Gregor looking outside.

"Take a look at the window." He said, "Do you notice anything?"

The Doctor looked outside, the flood waters seemed to have receded a little bit, but not enough to let anyone out.

Stolen novel; please report.

He suddenly heard whispers again, giving him goosebumps.

"Доктор..."

"Morning, big guy." Anatoly greeted Gregor.

"...Will Mariah make it back?" Gregor asked.

"She must!" Karin said.

"This might sound a little crazy but...Every night, around 2 AM, I...I can hear her outside. She makes a gurgling noise, like she's trying to get water out of her lungs."

"I think I heard her too. Sometimes, when the rain gets faint, I can hear her whisper." Gregor said.

"Same." the Doctor said, "I think I heard her calling my name."

"I haven't heard anything like that." Karin said.

"It's like she's trying to say something...Right?"

...

"...YES." Suddenly, Gregor's face abruptly changed, becoming more ghoulish. Wide mouth, no nose and dark, inhuman eyes.

"What the?!" The Doctor jumped back from the surprise.

Gregor's face returned to normal.

"I think I could hear her crying from the radio. But that's just a broadcast...RIGHT?"

Karin's face became ghoulish for an instant.

"I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE ANOTHER PIECE OF MEAT FOR BREAKFAST." Anatoly's face also became ghoulish. "IT'S WHAT MARIAH WOULD HAVE WANTED."

"What's gotten into you, Anatoly?" Gregor asked.

"I'd REALLY like to know that, too!" the Doctor said, shocked.

"I CAN'T GET THE TASTE OF MY MOUTH. PLEASE HELP ME." Anatoly's face then returned back to normal.

The man went to the kitchen and boiled another slice of meat.

Anatoly and Gregor slowly ate it, extremely reluctant and regretful. The former even started weeping.

As for Karin, she ate it in an instant.

The Doctor once again refused it.

Karin stared at the man. "How much more meat is left?"

"...Most of it went bad. This is the last slice." he said.

Karin was utterly furious "HOW COULD YOU BE SO CARELESS AGAIN?!" she said, "WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?! WAIT AROUND AGAIN?!?! THIS STORM ISN'T ENDING!"

The man cleared his throat. "Anatoly, I think tomorrow you should look for Mariah...Or forage for plants outside."

Anatoly went pale.

"OH NO, HE WON'T!" the Doctor objected. "He will drown outside!"

"And what should we do, then? Starve to death?" Karin said.

"...Let me sleep on it, okay?" Anatoly said.

Everyone went to sleep.

The next day, Anatoly was still nervous, so the Doctor went to talk with him near the basement.

"Hey, thanks for coming over." he said, comforted by the "child"'s presence, "Have you...Checked up the basement door closely? I think I can see her sometimes...She's been haunting me since she left!"

"Same, every single night I can hear her voice, calling for my name, telling me to run..." the Doctor said. "Listen, Anatoly, you don't have to do this, you know. Please, I lost Mariah already, I don't want to-"

"Please get away from me..." Anatoly left. It seems the Doctor accidentally hit an aching button by mentioning her.

He followed him in the living room.

"So? What's your decision?" Karin asked.

"...I'll go." Anatoly said, being pale.

"Thank you, Anatoly..." Gregor said.

"I know it wasn't easy, but it's for the best." Karin said.

The Doctor glared at her.

Anatoly went to the door. "Huh, I..."

"Goodbye, Anatoly." Karin interrupted him.

"Good luck, little guy." Gregor said, weakly smiling.

"Goodbye, everyone..."

Ａｎａｔｏｌｙ ｈａｓ ｌｅｆｔ ｔｈｅ Ｃａｂｉｎ．