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What happens next doesn’t take long at all.
The doll man is dragged onto the gallows, his hands are tied behind his back, and one of the crew puts the noose around his neck. The Magistrate says something to him and stands at the edge of the flatbed, a preacher addressing his flock. Charlie Manson laying out the plans for Helter Skelter.
He says, “As Father Traven reminded me, Revelation 21:8 tells us that liars ‘shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.’”
As he finishes, someone pulls the lever. The trapdoor opens. And the doll man falls through. The havoc howls and cheers, which covers up the sound of his neck snapping. Doll Man swings at the end of the rope for a few seconds before disappearing, his soul sucked into the Hell below Hell. A few last doll heads fall, bouncing out of the truck and onto the ground. Damned souls and Hellions scramble to get souvenirs.
I watch it all thinking one thing: Survive. Revenge and pity and whatever else there is comes later.
I guess my chances of getting over my PTSD just went out the window.
Daja puts her knife back in its sheath.
“Welcome to the team,” she says to me.
“I’m not on your team ever, sister.”
“You are and you don’t even know it. That’s how it was with the father. Isn’t that right, Padre?”
She smacks Traven on the ass and walks away.
I go over to him.
“Did you have to choose?”
He nods.
“In Blue Heaven. I did what you did. I picked the worst person I could find.”
“You did the right thing.”
He shakes his head. Draws in a breath and lets it out.
“I was a man of God. Now I’m just a murderer.”
“Why don’t we ask God what he thinks? Oh, that’s right. He isn’t around anymore. We’re on our own.”
“I don’t believe that and neither do you.”
“It’s done. We do what we have to do to survive and we get away the first chance we get. Right?”
“I’m not sure I can do that.”
“You can. Trust me.”
He gives me a look.
“You’re sure about the man you chose?”
“One hundred percent.”
“I want to believe you.”
“We’re in Hell. No one is innocent.”
“Especially us. Because we know better.”
“I’m getting out of here and I’m taking you with me. What you do after that is your business.”
