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“Wait,” I felt suddenly queasy. “The screaming guy?”
“Yes.”
“Holy shit…”
“It didn’t take much, honestly,” added Joshua. “We didn’t even have to shoot him with morphine. Not immediately, anyway. Once we held the needle up, he begged us for it.”
I tried not to imagine the scene, as horrific as it was. But those screams… they still haunted my brain. They wouldn’t leave me.
“So he talked,” I said numbly. “And then what?”
“What do you mean?” Cole asked.
“I mean… afterward. What did you do with him?”
Joshua splashed me to get my attention. When I looked, his eyes were softer and full of understanding.
“We’re mercenaries, Quinn,” he told me. “But we’re not barbarians.”
His words sunk in. My eyes narrowed. “So you— you didn’t…”
“No. We didn’t.”
For some reason I felt relieved. And then I felt guilty that I felt relieved.
“We dropped him off somewhere he’d be found pretty quickly once he woke up,” Joshua went on. “Especially with all the screaming.”
“Not that he didn’t deserve a lot worse,” Cole added icily. His steel-blue eyes settled on mine. “That man came to hurt us, Quinn. And he brought others. They came in the night, without mercy, without remorse. You know that, right?”
I dropped my chin. “Yes. I do.”
“We could’ve buried that piece of shit alive and he would’ve deserved it,” Cole finished. “So let’s leave it at that.”
I knew in my heart he was right, of course. The first man they’d killed and buried had almost finished me off. I hadn’t felt any remorse for him, that was for sure.
Still, it felt good to understand the extent of their mercy. These men were among the most elite killing machines on earth. That type of power came with a deep responsibility, and knowing they weren’t ending life when it wasn’t absolutely necessary shed them in a whole new light.
“Anyway, we have two days of sitting tight,” said Joshua. “Then we move on Ferrera.”
Evan looked crestfallen. “Why two days?”
“Because that’s when we meet Ripley.”
An unnatural silence settled over the side deck. Even the animals in the woods seemed to have gone silent.
But as I watched, Evan’s crestfallen expression curled into a jubilant smirk.
“Seriously? Ripley’s coming?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit, that changes things.”
“Sure does,” Cole agreed.
“Well alright then!” Evan stood up again. For a happy moment, I was somewhat hypnotized by the sight of the hot water cascading down his mostly-naked body. “Let’s break out the… iced tea?”
“It’s all we have for now,” shrugged Joshua. “In ordering the place stocked with ‘essentials’ I should’ve been a little more specific.”
