Chapter 36: Meal Preparation

"And here we are!" The chicken exclaimed.

Through the veil of snow a moderately sized farmhouse could be seen with several of it's windows aglow. The chicken beckoned at the two dogs to follow him and the three of them made their way towards it.

"As you can see." The chicken said over the roaring wind. "My humble home is like any other farm around here, but I don't do much farming myself. I rent this land out to the other farmers around here and it pays well enough to get me through the year. Unlike most city folk, I live within my means. Gives me plenty of time to focus on my hobbies."

Neither Courage nor Computer said anything. They were far too tired to have a conversation with the chicken so they just let him talk. He certainly didn't seem to mind it though.

Upon reaching the house, he unlocked the door and let them inside. They then found themselves standing in a surprisingly cozy living room. There was a fireplace at the other end of the room keeping the house warm, and while there wasn't a TV, there was a couch, several chairs, and a few bookshelves filled to the brim with old books.

Courage was quick to notice that there wasn't a single picture to be found on the walls. He wasn't sure if he should take it as a bad sign or not, but aside from that, everything else appeared normal. Well, there was one other thing that bothered him. It appeared that the chicken didn't have a phone. Of course, it might just be in another room, but still...

"Come over here and lay down." The chicken said to Computer, guiding him over to the couch. He then grabbed a few blankets and piled them on top of him. "There we are!" He trilled. "Now you can get nice and toasty after being out in that awful cold for so long. I'm going to get you some medicine and that should help with your illness. I bet you're coming down with the flu. That always happens when people spend so much time out in the cold."

The chicken had not stopped smiling the entire time. Even as he twirled around and headed into the hallway on the opposite side of the room, he was still smiling that seemingly permanent, pleasant smile.

"Uh, are chickens supposed to have teeth?" Computer asked as soon as he was gone. "Because I'm pretty sure chickens aren't supposed to have teeth."

Courage let out a sigh. "Well, he's helping us at least. Let's just hope it stays that way. I'm too tired to fight off a chicken right now." He looked over at Computer. "Oh, and speaking of which, how are you feeling? It took us a lot longer to get here than I thought it would, and even with my help, it still felt like you were barely holding on back there."

"Eh, I can't say I'm doing the greatest." He admitted somewhat reluctantly. "My arms and legs still don't want to function and I'm just feeling really tired right now. Controlling this body since the SCC used that weapon has been an utterly exhausting experience."

Courage smiled. "Well, focus on resting then so that we can get out of here tomorrow." He sat down beside him on the couch. "And so that I can also stop worrying about you too. You aren't the one who's supposed to be getting sick and passing out all the time."

"I don't plan on making this a habit." He sniffed. "But now you know how I feel every time you go and pass out on me."

The chicken soon returned with a small cup of green, foul smelling liquid that he gave to Computer. It looked similar to the cough syrup that Muriel used to give Courage whenever he had a cold. Computer eyed it precariously. The smell was enough to make anyone cringe.

"This stuff will make you feel as right as rain." The chicken happily chirped. "It'll help you fall asleep too. I know that it doesn't smell very good, but it wouldn't be medicine if you didn't have to grin and bear it while you're pouring it down the hatch."

"Ugh, this stuff is going to taste as bad as it smells?" Computer asked. "Oh, well. Anything to get rid of this headache." He relented, tipping his head back and gulping the medicine down. He shuttered in disgust once he was finished. "Wow, this stuff real burns going down."

"But now you're finally going to start feeling better." The chicken replied, ever cheerful. "Now then, I've got a job for you, uh-" He stopped for a moment, waiting for Courage to give him his name.

"It's Courage." He said, trying to hide the suspicion in his voice. What exactly did the chicken want him to do?

"Ah, Courage then. I'm going to get supper going but I need someone to help peel potatoes. I've decided that I'm going to make a nice roast as way to celebrate having guests over."

Courage had to hide his displeasure. He did not want to be separated from Computer and risk being attacked while he was on his own, but on the other hand, he couldn't risk offending the chicken either or else he might throw them back out into the blizzard.

"Follow me, little Courage." The chicken trilled, turning to head back down that hall.

Courage looked over at Computer, making his worry known.

"Just go with him." Computer urged. "If he tries to do anything to you just scream and I'll come beat him up for you." He chuckled.

That was the problem though. In his current condition, Computer wasn't going to be beating up anybody right now, much less coming to Courage's aid if something happened.

"Look," He went on. "knowing you, you'd scream so loud that the whole house would come down. Everything will be fine, Courage. Just do as he says or else he might chance his mind about letting us stay."

Courage swallowed and reluctantly nodded. "A-alright, I'll go, but, oooh, I hope we're wrong about this guy."

"Don't worry, Courage. He'll sorely regret it if he tries to do anything to you under my watch."

That did not reassure Courage at all, but he had no choice but to go. If push came to shove, he'd figure something out though. He'd saved Muriel enough times to know what to do if things went south.

"Courage? Are you coming?" The chicken called from down the hallway.

With a sigh, he left the living room and met the chicken at the end of the hall. He had passed the kitchen and several other rooms on his way there, and just like the living room itself, everything appeared to be normal. Regardless, he wasn't going to let his guard down just yet. Not while he was alone with the one person who may very well be out to harm him.

The chicken opened the last door at the end of the hall and showed Courage that it was a food storage room. He left a moment to grab him a chair and then set it down in front of a huge barrel filled with potatoes.

Courage winced. Did they really need that many potatoes peeled for supper? It would take him over an hour to get this all done. Unfortunately, he was not in any position to complain. He'd just have to do whatever the chicken wanted of him.

He was handed a small pairing knife, which surprised him. While he certainly wouldn't be able to do much damage with it if he had to defend himself, if the chicken really wanted to hurt him it was doubtful that he'd take a risk by giving him even the most meager means to potentially fight back. He still felt a bit wary, of course, but this was enough confirmation to at least let him relax a little bit.

"I'll leave you to it then." The chicken spoke. "I know it'll take you a little while to get these all done, but the roast won't be ready for several hours either. A late dinner's never killed anyone though, so let's get working."

Courage went and placed the bag with all of their stuff onto the floor beside the barrel. It was only now that he figured he probably should have left it in the living room with Computer, but it really didn't matter too much. Maybe he could find a way to get George to play music so that this task would be a little less boring.

Fighting back a sigh, he waited for the chicken to leave and got to work on peeling the potatoes. With as tired as he was, he couldn't help but worry that he'd be up until midnight doing this. He thought of Computer again and hoped beyond hope that he'd be feeling better soon so that they could leave this place. The faster they got away from this chicken, the better.

…...

It had been fifteen minutes since Courage had gone to help with supper and Computer was not doing well at all. Of course, he hadn't been great before either, though he had been trying very hard to pretend otherwise for Courage's sake. He did not want to worry the dog, but now? Well...

He shifted around under the blankets, gasping with every breath that he took. In just these fifteen minutes his condition had worsened considerably. He could hardly breathe, his fur was soaked with sweat and yet despite that he still felt chilled to the bone. His body was wracked with near constant convulsions that he could not control and his headache had grown so much worse. He was certain that his head was about to split apart or explode. Every time he opened his eyes he would find it nearly impossible to keep his vision focused, and regardless of whether he opened them or not, vertigo often gripped him as though the room were being spun around in circles.

He so badly did not want Courage to see him like this and yet there was nothing he could do. It was impossible for him to pretend that everything was okay now. He knew that the dog would worry himself half to death over this, but he could not hide it any longer, not with things as bad as they were right now.

Though he had told Courage otherwise, he had been steadily becoming convinced that this all really did have something to do with his system. So much of it felt the same way it had back when his system had collapsed at Nina's place. Of course, now his real body was a million miles away and with it any hope he had of saving himself. He did not even have a way to check what his system was doing right now without it. Regardless, he had no intentions of telling Courage the truth. Yes, he was deeply afraid that the worst was happening, but if it was, there was nothing he could do about it. There was no point in panicking Courage if nothing could be done to save him. He'd simply spare the dog from-

His train of thought was cut short when he heard someone enter the room. It wasn't Courage, those footsteps were too heavy to be his. He opened his eyes and at first all he could see was a blurry figure standing before him, then this vision focused and it was confirmed that it was indeed the chicken. As always, he had that same smile plastered to his face.

Computer tried to say something, but he could hardly control his breathing long enough to do that. To make matters worse, his throat was bone dry, to the point of where it felt like it was on the verge of sealing shut.

"Can't say a word, can ya?" The chicken asked, his smile fading until his expression turned to that of a sort of grim indifference. "I figured that would happen. Good, I don't need you making a huge fuss. C'mon, it's time to get you ready."

R-ready? What on earth? Computer's heart began to race, even though it had already been beating far harder than normal to begin with. He knew just how helpless he was right now, and Courage? Courage...

How could he have been so stupid! He'd only thought about what the chicken might do to Courage! He hadn't even considered that he might go after him instead!

The chicken slowly leaned down and picked him up.

Courage!

Even though he could not call out to him, Courage would eventually realize that he wasn't there anymore! The chicken wouldn't get away with this! Courage would stop him, just like he did with everyone else who threatened his family. Everything would be alright, even if Computer could not fight back. Courage would...

It was the only hope he had as the chicken opened the front door and took him outside. They were going around the house, out into the back. It was so hard to get his eyes to focus and see where they were going, and it only made his nightmarish headache worse.

"You're probably wondering why you feel so much more sick than you did before you took that medicine, right?" The chicken asked. "That's because it wasn't medicine, I poisoned you."

"Wha...what?" He managed to half-gasp, half-choke out in a moment of shock.

"Now don't you worry. It isn't healthy for me or my guest to be eating poisoned meat, so I only gave you a low dosage. It's meant to, eh," He made a gesture with one of his wings. "help you along rather than kill you outright."

Computer's entire body went numb with fear knowing what the chicken was about to do to him. He tried to fight back, to struggle, but he was simply too weak and the chicken was easily able to keep him within his grasp.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked. There was no maliciousness in his voice. In fact, he was talking about all of this as though it were a casual conversation. "What do you think would happen if you managed to get out of my arms? Do you really think that you'd have the strength to crawl away? Do you really think you could escape before I simply scoop you back up again?"

That damn chicken was practically mocking him! Despite that, his voice still conveyed a level of normalcy that was almost as sick as what he was intending to do. There was something profoundly wrong with him in a way that was not outright evil. He clearly did not think that what he was doing was wrong or even strange. This 'was' normal for him.

"Besides, all I've had is one human after another for ages now. They're all that show up around these parts nowadays. I simply cannot pass up a pair of dogs. Don't worry though, I'm going to take good care of your friend. He'll be well fed until his time finally comes too. I have to get you prepared quickly, but there will be plenty of time to fatten him up and make him into one of the finest dishes I've ever crafted."

Hearing the chicken talk about Courage like that enraged Computer like nothing else. There was no way that he was going to let Courage get eaten like he were nothing more than some prized hunk of meat! He reached out for his power, but it was useless. Under the effects of the poison, he simply could not access it and he wasn't sure if there was anything around that he could use anyway. Regardless, he had to do something or else Courage...

Suddenly he was caring less and less about the fact that he was about to be slaughtered and eaten and more about what would become of Courage. Would Courage even realize what was going on before it was too late? Would he...would he realize what he was eating? Would he be able to escape the chicken before...before...

Desperate, Computer continued to flail until he was too exhausted to move. They were now coming up to a small shack some distance behind the house. All he could do was watch as it got closer, gasping for air the entire time, fighting with himself to do something when there was no option for him to take. This...this was it. It wasn't going to be his system that did him in, it was the damn chicken that he had underestimated.

They entered the shack and he was surprised to find that it wasn't filled to the brim with a collection of slaughter devices. Instead, all that there was to see was a single well in the middle of the room. In fact, it looked as though the shack had been intentionally built around the well.

"Now then." The chicken spoke, slowly making his way towards the well. "Normally I like to have my meals soak for a few days so that they get nice and juicy, but they can also flounder around down there for quite a long time so that's why I poisoned you. I need you to drown nice and quick so that my guest won't miss out on dinner. You're not going to be as tasty as I'd like, but I'll still be able to show Courage what a fine meal I can make out of you." He grabbed Computer by the scruff of his neck and dangled him over the black void.

Computer looked down, his stomach plummeting with fear. There was nothing but endless darkness below him. He made one last feeble attempt to do something, anything, but it proved futile. Without another word, the chicken let go of him and fell down into the void.

End Of Chapter