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The Broken Bond
An unreleased short story from the book:
Disconnected: Hyperinflation: Dark Tales of a Broken Economy
The hunger was the first thing that came for them.
It gnawed at their bellies, a constant reminder of the world outside their door, a world that had long since stopped making sense. Jason and Mark had once been more than friends; they had been brothers. Their bond was forged in the simplicity of shared moments, quiet conversations, and a steady rhythm to their lives. But now, as they sat in the dimly lit apartment, the distance between them was unbearable. The walls seemed to close in, suffocating them with every passing hour.
The city outside was no better. What had once been a thriving metropolis had become a wasteland. The streets were strewn with discarded bodies, their faces twisted in eternal screams of anguish, their last breaths stolen by hunger, disease, or the chaos of looting. The government’s collapse had sent everything into disarray, and food was a commodity that no longer existed unless you were willing to pay the price. And the price was always more than anyone could afford.
Jason looked at Mark across the room. His friend—no, his former friend—had changed. He used to be the kind of man who would laugh through hardships, who would crack a joke even when the world seemed to be falling apart. Now, his eyes were hollow, his face gaunt from days without food. His hands trembled as they reached for the small, pitiful can of beans they had scrounged from an abandoned store.
“I don’t think I can go on like this, man,” Jason said, his voice low, rough from days of thirst. “I don’t think I can watch us both starve.”
Mark didn’t look up, his focus solely on the can in front of him, twisting it in his hands like a lifeline. “What choice do we have? The world’s gone to hell, Jason. We either find a way to survive or we die like everyone else.”
Jason’s mind raced, the desperation clawing at him. He couldn’t let this happen. Not like this. Not slowly, painfully, watching the light leave his best friend’s eyes as they both withered away. There had to be something more—some way out.
“I don’t care what it takes anymore. If we need to… if we need to trade, to do what it takes to get out of this mess, we do it,” Jason said, his voice gaining strength with each word. “I’ve heard whispers, you know, about people making deals. They’ll do anything—anything for food, for shelter. We could leave. We could get out.”
Mark’s head snapped up, his eyes narrowing. “You’re talking about selling our souls, aren’t you? You want us to become like them—animals fighting for scraps?”
Jason felt a chill run through him, but he didn’t back down. “It’s not like we have any choice, is it? We’re already dead if we don’t. There’s no humanity left in this world. We’re just waiting to see who goes first.”
A silence stretched between them, thick with tension. Mark’s face twisted, and for a moment, Jason thought he might refuse, might throw everything back at him in anger. But then, Mark’s shoulders slumped, his defeated gaze shifting to the floor.
“Fine. We’ll do it,” Mark muttered, his voice a hollow whisper. “We’ll do whatever we need to survive.”
The air between them felt heavy with the weight of the decision they had just made. They had crossed a line, and there was no going back. The world outside had stolen their innocence, and now they were just another pair of men caught in the grip of desperation.
They didn’t speak of what they would do to survive, but the choice was clear. They would trade whatever they had left—their dignity, their humanity, their last shred of decency. The rules of the old world no longer applied.
Days passed, and the weight of their decision began to bear down on them. Jason couldn’t sleep. His mind twisted with guilt and the haunting thought of what he would have to do next. He had heard the rumors—the underground markets, the black market bartering, the barter for human life. The world had become a place where survival wasn’t guaranteed by kindness or fairness, but by how far you were willing to go to steal, kill, and break every moral code you once held dear.
Mark, too, seemed different. There was a coldness to him now, a hardness that hadn’t been there before. The hunger had eaten away at him, but it was something more now, something darker. He moved through their small apartment like a ghost, his eyes never fully meeting Jason’s.
Then, one night, they heard the knock at the door.
Jason opened it cautiously, his heart pounding. There stood a man, his face obscured by the hood of his jacket. His hands were gloved, his face hidden in shadow, but Jason knew instantly who he was. The man had come to collect.
“We had a deal,” the man said, his voice smooth and calculated. “I have what you need, but I want what was promised.”
Jason’s stomach churned, his hands trembling. This was the moment, the moment where the final line would be crossed.
“I know,” Jason said, barely able to speak. His voice felt foreign to him now. He had already betrayed everything he once believed in. “We’ll do it.”
The man smiled, his eyes glinting with a predatory satisfaction. “Good. Let’s make it quick.”
What happened next was a blur—Jason could barely remember the moment he led Mark into the room where the man had set up his operation. The deal was simple, brutal. They traded whatever was left of their humanity for food and shelter. Mark’s body was handed over in exchange for a promise of survival. His eyes were hollow, his face slack with the understanding of what had been done to him. But there was no going back now.
When it was over, when Mark was gone and Jason stood alone in the dimly lit apartment, the room felt suffocating. The weight of his actions crushed him with a force that left him gasping for air. He had made his choice. He had saved his own life, at the cost of his friend, at the cost of his soul.
The hours stretched on in the suffocating silence. The world outside raged, but Jason felt the world inside him collapse. There was nothing left but the haunting knowledge of what he had done.
He had broken the bond. And the price of survival was a scar that would never heal.
As the city burned, as the hunger tore through the streets, Jason stood, a broken man in a broken world. And in the end, the cost of survival had been too much to bear. The broken bond was the only thing left. And it was the only thing that could never be
If you enjoyed this short story you will probably like our latest release available now:
Hyperinflation: Dark Tales of a Broken Economy
$3.99
In Hyperinflation: Dark Tales of a Broken Economy, the collapse of the financial system takes center stage, and the disturbing consequences of a world plunged into chaos unfold in brutal, unrelenting detail.
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