Bill has some bullets. He is throwing them up into the air. He is catching them.
Alderman turns to the door. He asks me: ‘It’s all right to shoot him then?’
I nod: ‘Shoot him!’
Alderman holds the pistol at arm’s length in both hands. He points the pistol at Marsh’s head.
Marsh is staring straight back into Alderman’s eyes.
Alderman steps forward. The barrel touches Marsh’s forehead. Alderman pulls the trigger -
CLICK -
Nothing happens.
‘Fuck,’ says Alderman.
He turns away. He fiddles with the pistol.
Marsh is staring straight ahead.
‘I’ve fixed it,’ says Alderman. ‘It’ll be all right this time.’
He points the pistol again -
Marsh staring straight back into him.
Alderman pulls the trigger -
BANG -
Marsh falls to the floor.
I think he’s dead.
Marsh opens his eyes. He looks up from the floor. He sees the smoking gun in Alderman’s hand. He sees the shreds of black material coming out of the barrel. He sees them floating down to the floor, over him -
He sees us all laughing.
George Marsh smiles.
Bill picks him up off the floor. Bill stands him against the wall. Bill takes two steps back. Bill takes one step forward. Bill kicks him in the balls.
George Marsh falls to the floor again.
‘Stand up.’
Marsh stands up.
‘On your toes,’ says Bill.
Bill steps forward. Bill kicks him in the balls again.
He falls to the floor again.
Alderman walks over to him. Alderman kicks him in the chest. Alderman kicks him in the stomach. Alderman handcuffs his hands behind his back. Alderman pushes his face down into the floor.
‘Do you like rats, George?’
Marsh looks up at him.
‘Do you like rats?’
Marsh says nothing.
I open the door.
Bill steps out into the corridor. He comes back into the room. He has the box under the blanket. He walks over to where Marsh is lying on the floor. He puts the box down on the ground next to Marsh’s face.
Alderman pulls Marsh’s head up by his hair.
Bill rips off the blanket: ‘Three, two, one -’
The rat is fat. The rat is wet. The rat is staring through the wire of its cage at Marsh.
Bill tips up the cage. The rat slides closer to the wire and Marsh. Bill shouts: ‘Get him! Get him!’
The rat is frightened. The rat is hissing. The rat is clawing at the wire. The rat is clawing at Marsh’s face.
‘He’s starving,’ says Bill.
Alderman pushes Marsh’s face into the wire.
Bill kicks the cage. Bill tips the rat up into the wire -
It’s tail and fur against Marsh’s face.
‘Turn it round, turn it round,’ Alderman is saying.
‘Open it,’ I say.
Bill tips the cage up on its backside. The wire door is facing up. Bill opens the door.
The rat is at the bottom of the cage. The rat is looking up at the open door. Alderman brings Marsh’s face down to the open door -
Marsh, eyes wide, struggles to get loose.
The rat is growling. The rat is shitting everywhere. The rat is looking up at Marsh.
Alderman squeezes Marsh’s face down further into the open cage.
Marsh struggles. Marsh says something.
I nod.
Alderman pulls him back up by his hair: ‘What? What did you say?’
Marsh looks at him. Marsh smiles.
Alderman pushes his face back down into the cage. Alderman screams: ‘What have you done with her? What have you fucking done with her?’
Marsh says something.
I nod again.
Alderman pulls him back up: ‘What did you say?’
Marsh looks at him. Marsh says: ‘I did nothing. I know nothing. So I’ve got nothing to say.’
‘Is that right?’ says Bill and Bill reaches down into the cage. Bill picks out the rat by its tail. Bill swings it around into the wall -
SMASH!
Blood splatters across Marsh and Alderman -
‘Fucking hell,’ shouts Alderman.
Bill drops the dead rat back into the wire cage. Bill squats down level with Marsh. Bill wipes his hands on Marsh’s face, on his police issue grey shirt, and Bill says again: ‘Is that right?’
George Marsh puts his hand to his face. George Marsh smears the rat’s blood across his cheeks, across his tongue and lips, and George Marsh says: ‘John Dawson.’
‘What about him?’ asks Bill.
Marsh licks his lips: ‘He knows what I did. He knows what I know. He’ll tell you all about it.’
Bill looks at Marsh.
Marsh winks.
Bill stands up. Bill kicks Marsh hard in the ribs.
George Marsh slumps to the floor, clutching his side, coughing -
Laughing.
I turn to Alderman: ‘Clean him and room up.’
Bill and I step out into the corridor.
‘He did it,’ I say. ‘He fucking did it.’
Bill shakes his head. Bill looks at his watch.
I look at mine:
It’s almost dawn -
Day 6.
But there’s no light -
Not down here.
Here just night:
Endless dark night -
