“Who’s the freak?” Farmer Bull hollered at Max as he saw that the cart with Straw was about to pull into the rotting, wooden barn. With a lot of effort, Max was able to stop Straw before she completed her daily walk. “You can’t bring back amnesiacs just cause you’re one. Bessie’s going to kill you-”

“He’s a vet from the capital.” Max didn’t hesitate to lie. He was mentally prepared to talk over Cy when, to his surprise, he played along.

Cy pulled down his cloak hood and straightened his clothes, which had become slightly dishevelled from the ride. “There’s been a massive outbreak of… Nihtomes in the farms near the capitol.” Nihtomes… Somethin’? “They sent me out to survey some of the Western farms and to handle the situation if there is any reason to believe the epidemic is spreading.” During their journey back to the farm, the prompt had changed back to Cy’s default story. Now, the horror story prompt returned as a heavy reminder about why they were there.

“Nihtomes?” Farmer Bull rubbed the back of his head, as if trying to shake his memory of the imaginary disease to the surface. The motion failed. “I ain’t heard of Nihtomes. Is it bad?”

“Fatal,” Max confirmed and watched Bull’s face drop. “And apparently Straw has it,” he nodded at the grazing cow in front, who gave a moo as if to confirm the story. “I brought him back in case others also have it… Maybe you should go get Bessie.”

Bull nodded, clearly overwhelmed with the situation. “Bessie!” He yelled even though there was no way she could hear him from the farmhouse. The hollers continued as he began his slow walk over there. Max couldn’t help watching him for a while, noting his limp from this morning had magically disappeared.

“Nihtomes?”

“Clever, isn’t it? You see it’s ‘somethin’-”

“Come on, Straw,” Max refocused the cow into completing her walk to the barn, ignoring Cy who was still blithering about his own intelligence. “What are some of the symptoms of the disease?” He asked, interrupting him.

“They just stop eating and die…” He thought for a moment. “I really don’t know enough about cows to identify symptoms.”

“Well, you should have an answer by the time Bessie arrives. She’s going to grill you.”

“Isn’t he a handsome young man?” Bessie pinched Cy’s cheek hard causing him to wince in pain from her strength. “Bill!” She suddenly shouted, causing the two youths to jump out of their skin. Max began kicking himself for misremembering the farmer’s name again. Why was it so hard to remember?

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“What is it, woman?” Farmer Bill yelled back from the entrance of the barn. There really was no reason for them to raise their voices since they were mere metres from each other. Both of them talked in a normal voice when they were conversing with Max, but addressing each other? Suddenly deaf as they come.

“Grab the honey cake by the window.” Bill pulled a face and started grumbling to himself. All the residents of the barn were fully aware he was going to do exactly as she asked, but it still didn’t stop Bessie from barking at him. “Our guest is going to starve before you get back in time.”

“He probably eats better than all of us!”

“Quit your yapping and get moving.”

“I’m movin’, woman!”

“It’s really not necessary,” Cy said bashfully. The exchange felt similar to going to a friend’s house and watching their parents argue during your visit. Did he inadvertently start a fight which could lead to a divorce?

Max caught on to the discomfort in his voice. “This is normal for them,” he whispered. “The only time I’ve ever seen them talking normally to each other was when the cows were being abducted.”

“…Your cows were abducted?”

“You said old Straw is infected?” Bessie turned the conversation back to the important matter. Max could sense that she was smelling money already. The king passed a policy to reimburse their missing cows from the aliens. If he sent a vet to inspect the farm, then surely, they might receive some form of compensation for their afflicted girls.

“That’s right, ma’am.”

“Bessie,” she said flatly, with irritation apparent on her face and tone. Just as quickly as it had appeared, her sudden animosity disappeared with a wide smile causing Cy to shiver. “We’ll have no choice but to isolate her. Max?” He straightened his spine from being called by the overseer of the farm. “Take old Straw to Bo Field.”

“Bo Field? The fencing has holes. Straw is pretty active compared to the other girls so-”

“Why is my farm filled with yappers?” Bessie sighed dramatically to Cy, who gave her a supportive nod. “If there are holes then get to fixing!”

“Yes, Bessie.”

After hours of back breaking work on Bo Field with Straw keeping him company, Max was feeling exhausted and irritable from being in the sun for so long. His agitation only increased as he stumbled upon Cy and Bessie having a picnic on his way back to the farmhouse. The two besties were leaning in, gossiping together, as they watched farmer Mill examine some of the cows in the field before them. It seemed cruel to watch the old man do some actual farm work when it was doubtless that Cy already knew which of the girls were going to be afflicted. “Max! Come and have some cake,” Bessie called him forward.

His irritation temporarily subsided before intensifying. They had left him the smallest sliver of the honey cake, which was too thin to not flop over to the side. A far cry from the wide cake he saw cooling on the windowsill this morning. “Are any of the other cows sick?” He tried to contain the rage within him.

“Three,” Cy chimed in. He leaned back, enjoying the sunset before him. His relaxed demeanour suddenly stiffened from Max’s glare.

“Max, be a good lad and take Lingon, Cloud, and Bear to Bo Field,” Bessie ordered with a sweet voice. Another three of the berry girls were down. “Oh, and have some cake on the way,” she held up the pathetic slice on a plate for him to take. He didn’t say a word as he accepted the slice before starting the long job of finding the victims, separating the doomed girls from the others, and walking them all the way to Bo Field. At the same time, he quietly plotted on how to get rid of Cy like he did with the departed vegan.