The dead body began taunting Norman Guy after 2 weeks of starvation. In the far corner of the room the dark, shadowy form that had once been Albert Larson lay still, calling for Norm. It was meat…human meat, but meat nonetheless.

The temptation was too strong; the aroma of blood was maddening. Norm waded in on the lifeless body tearing into the frayed flesh of the stomach area. Careful to pick out the tiny bits of metal—grenade shrapnel, he assumed—he sunk his teeth into the salty, chewy meat of Albert’s abdomen.

The idea of ingesting a man he’d called Captain a few months ago crossed Norm’s wires. He allowed himself to drift away to a time when he sat cuddly cute with his wife Helen. He could smell the barbecue grilling tender sirloin steaks. He could taste the juicy meat of hamburger on his tongue. Reality slapped at him when he realized the coppery taste of blood in his mouth.

Albert’s blood.

"Help." A voice whispered from the dirt mound in the middle of the room. "Please, help me."

"Reggie?" Norm asked. He looked at Albert to verify it wasn’t him; the body was still just as lifeless as before, only now a bloody hole had been carved into his belly.

"Reggie that you?"

"Norm? Norm, please get me out of here."

"Reggie, that can’t be you. Can it?"

Reggie Denton had been buried alive right dead center in the middle of the floor some odd months ago. Time no longer held meaning for Norm.

"Reggie, we wanted to get you out before. They were going to kill us if we tried."

"That’s okay, please let me out of here."

"Okay. Okay, yeah sure." Norm wiped the blood off of his hands onto his shirt and began clawing into the loose dirt mound. The dirt shifted rather easily under his clawing fingers.

The closer he got to Reggie, the stronger the odor of rotting meat had become. Norm was so mindlessly lost in his activity he was unaware of the pungent odor; he was unaware of the fact that the gentle breeze that entered the room carried the vile stench out to the camp grounds.

Norm lifted the lid of the pine box and was frozen with fear and revulsion. The body of Reggie Denton was not only dead, but in the process of being devoured by worms and maggots and other creepy-crawlys.

"Oh God, Reggie. You can’t be dead. I dug as fast as I could." To Norm the body looked as though it had been laid down there only hours ago. His eyes were blind to the real horror of it all. Things had become so crazy at the Hilton that his mind began filling itself with visions of normalcy.

Norm crawled out of the whole he had dug and towards the remainder of his feast. It looked so good now. Once you get through it the first time everything becomes okay. I’m eating steak now, that’s what this is. Norm dug back into the stomach and pulled loose a fresh handful of rubbery meat. He tore into it like a ravenous wolf.

They turned me into an animal, he thought. How will I ever be able to face Helen again? Tears swelled in his eyes and ran down his cheeks; he bit into the meat, repulsed by what he’d become.

When the cage door began rattling a wave of anger rose in the pit of Norm’s stomach. As the keys jingled in the locks of the chains the anger swelled and swelled until it was a blazing inferno. When the cage door swung open Norm finally realized that this would be the end of him. He would be the last of his company to be killed in the Hanoi prison camp—the Hilton was the name given to it by the soldiers who were condemned to die there.

Two Vietnamese soldiers entered the cage, one was carrying a rifle the other appeared empty handed. It was dark and very difficult to see if one was not used to the lack of light.

"Do you see what you did?" Norm asked the soldiers in a very low, toneless voice.

The two soldiers spoke to each other in their native tongue. Their voices sounded confused, and even a little scared.

"I said, do you see what you did?"

One of the soldiers began fumbling for his flashlight. When he found it he immediately shone its bright light in the direction of the American’s voice. They saw Norman sitting in the corner Indian style and he appeared to be eating something. They knew it couldn’t be right, they hadn’t brought food down here in weeks; they were seeing how long it would take for him to die of starvation.

The soldier directed the light slightly to Norm’s right and saw what it was the American had been eating. They two soldiers saw the devoured body and the blood that caked Norm’s hands and mouth.

"You turned me into a fucking animal." Norm said in the same toneless voice.

"A fucking…ANIMAL!!!" Norm bolted to his feet and lunged at the two startled Vietnamese soldiers.

"SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM!" The soldier holding the flashlight yelled in Vietnamese.

The soldier with the gun broke his momentary paralysis, raised his weapon and fired. The bullet entered Norman Guy’s brain in less than a millisecond. Norm’s body stiffened and dropped into the open grave of Reggie Denton.

As the two soldiers buried the American’s body they noticed the particular grin that Norm seemed to be wearing.

"They are easily broken." The soldier said in Vietnamese.