I inhaled about half of what was on my plate before I leaned back to take a breath. Tom and Sarah were looking at Gabe and me with matching smirks on their faces.

 

“I can tell you hate it.” Tom joked.

 

I chuckled, and shoved another piece in my mouth. “Yeah, it’s awful. In fact, you guys should put your steaks on my plate and let me eat them for you. I don’t want you to have to suffer through this.”

 

Everybody got a laugh out of that, except Gabe. He was too busy carving up slices of venison with his Bowie knife and shoving them in his pie-hole. I don’t even think he heard us.

 

“Hey Gabe?”

 

 “Hngh?” He grunted, a small stream of juice dribbling down his beard.

 

“You know, should probably chew some of that buddy.” I said.

 

That elicited another round of laughs. Gabe had the good grace to look embarrassed, and swallowed while wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

 

“Sorry ‘bout that.” He said, smiling sheepishly.

 

“Don’t worry, sweetie, you’re not offending anybody at this table.” Sarah said as she reached over to pat him on the arm.

 

“Hey, I’m just glad you like it.” Tom said. “Can’t tell you the last time we got to sit down and have a meal like civilized folks.”

 

 Brian held his empty plate up to his father. “Dad, can you cut me another piece?”

 

I looked down, amazed at how quickly the kid cleaned his plate. Tom had served him a huge portion, but the boy made it disappear in short order. He ate faster than even Gabe, and that was saying something. 

 

Tom stood and picked up his knife. “Sure son, how much do you want?”

 

Brian held up a hand with his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. Tom sliced off the appropriate sized portion and deposited it on his son’s plate.

 

“There you go buddy, eat up.”

 

“Thanks.” Brian said as he tore into it.

 

Sarah smiled at Tom as he sat back down. “This is great, honey. I’m glad you went hunting this morning.”

 

He smiled back, his eyes happy and haunted at the same time. I could only imagine how nice it must be for him, putting a meal like this on the table for his family. If their loose-fitting clothes and gaunt faces were any indication, they must have suffered more than their share of hardship and hunger.

 

“So have you guys run across any other survivors lately?” I asked, breaking the silence.

 

Tom and Sarah came back to themselves with a slight start.