Mindy smiled as she watched Thomas with Carrie. This vacation was doing them some good. Thomas got to relax from all that working he did at home and finally got the chance to be a father for Carrie. She watched him bounce the baby on his knee making her giggle.
Mindy turned her attention to Drayton and Nubbins who sat across from her at the dining room table.
"How have things been at home?" Drayton asked. "I heard about the meat factory closing down."
"Yes, I'm afraid that's true", Mindy said. "It closed and everyone left town. Me, Tommy, and the rest of the family are the only ones left."
"What are you doing for food?"
"Well, it's hard to talk about."
She looked at Thomas wondering what to say. Should they tell them the truth?
"We…we've resorted…to cannibalism", Mindy said. "That's how Tommy got his new mask."
"Cannibalism?" Nubbins asked. "What's that like?"
"Well, the food actually isn't half bad", she answered. "It's good once you get over the fact you're eating a person."
"Really…" Drayton said thoughtfully.
"How have you two been?" Mindy asked.
"It's been lonely since Chop Top left", Nubbins said. "He won't be coming back for a few years."
"Aw. And what about you, Drayton?"
"I've been running the gas station a few miles away", he answered. "I make barbecue and chili on the side."
"Is it any good?"
"I can't get it quite perfect. I've entered my chili in contests a dozen times but it never wins first place."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that", Mindy said.
"No, now that you've bought up your business about eating people, which gives me an idea."
Mindy's eyes widened before shaking her head.
"No. No, Drayton, no. Tommy and I came here for a vacation, not to work. We can't do whatever you're thinking of. We have Carrie to think about."
"Come on!" Drayton said. "It may be what my chili and barbecue needs!"
Mindy looked at Drayton and Nubbins before looking at Thomas who stopped playing with Carrie.
"Give us a minute", she said.
She stood up and took Thomas' hand letting him know to follow her. They walked out of the dining hall toward the stairs.
"Tommy, what should we do?" Mindy asked. "We came here to get away from this, not continue it."
Thomas shook his head unsure of what to do. If they continued killing people, he didn't know how he would be able to do it. He didn't have his chainsaw and Mindy didn't have her sledgehammer.
"What are we going to do?" Mindy asked.
Before Thomas could do anything, Carrie began crying. He started rocking her back and forth, but she continued crying. Mindy took her into her arms and checked her diaper. She didn't need any changing.
"Drayton, do you have any milk?" she asked.
"Yeah, come with me."
Mindy carried Carrie into the kitchen.
"Tommy, can you get her bottle out of the bag?" she asked.
He nodded and started looking through Carrie's diaper bag for a bottle. Knowing his daughter was hungry got him thinking. Was Drayton's barbecue and chili all he and Nubbins were living off of? It must've tasted bad if Drayton wanted to stoop so low as to use human meat. He wanted his family to eat good food, not bad.
"Tommy, where's Carrie's bottle?" Mindy asked.
Thomas shook his head coming back to reality. He took the bottle and brought it into the kitchen. He took Carrie into his arms as Mindy began warming up the milk for her. Thomas put his hand on Mindy's shoulder getting her attention.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Thomas nodded his head toward the dining room.
"What are we going to do?" she asked. "Are we going to do this or not?"
He nodded meaning yes.
