She leaned forward and placed the shirt over Rudy's face,and then she put all of her weight over it. She expected some resistance, butthere was none. She felt the muscles of her face quicken, pulling her lips intoa smile. No one would ever know.
Then she was there. Without warning, the tent flap wasdrawn back and Amanda was there with a flashlight, blinding her with the beamof light, and then illuminating Chloe's crime.
Shit, she thought, and it was all going sowell.
Chapter 10: A Waste of Pork and Beans
Chloe stood at the edge of the Burnside Bridge, watching withone eye as the smoldering city appeared in the orange glow of the sunrise. Theother eye was swollen shut. It throbbed with heat as blood flooded the capillariesbroken by Katie's flashlight. She swiped her tongue across the jags of herbroken front teeth. She didn't know why they had bothered pulling the girl offof her. They were only delaying the inevitable. She knew where her actionswould land her... six-feet-deep... not that anyone was taking the time to burypeople anymore. Looking down at the Willamette River, she figured she mightwind up more than six-feet-deep.
She wanted to look at the people standing behind her andmuster up some form of remorse, but she couldn't. She simply didn't feel it.She never had. Emotions were alien to her for the most part. Desire, lust,hate... these were the emotions she was familiar with. The world had always beenhers to do with as she pleased. A smile, a shimmy of her curves, and thingsjust seemed to fall in place for her. Need an A on that test? It's easy to get.Forgot your purse at home? A smile and a wink and some poor sap would pick upthe check.
But the effectiveness of those tricks were gone. She hadtaken her chance and exposed herself in the process. They stood behind her now,judging, trying to rationalize what they were going to do to her. She knew shewould pay in some way; she just didn't know how bad it would be.
She spun around and made eye contact with them. Shewouldn't shrink away now. She wasn't shy about what she did. Chloe looked atAmanda first. She kicked herself for not having seen it on her own. Amanda wasno sweet innocent. None of them were. Chloe had fooled herself into thinkingthat's what she was, but the girl wouldn't have made it this far if she weren'ta killer just like Chloe. She only wished that the girl had finished the job.Amanda tucked her hands in her pockets and kept her head down.
The military man appeared, a stern look on his face. Hewas going to be no help. Chloe already knew that. She could see it in the setof his stubble-covered jaw. He stared at her, his hands folded across hischest, the other survivors arranged in a semi-circle to prevent Chloe fromrunning anywhere. Guards stood on cars around them, rifles at the ready,looking anywhere but at the dead girl standing on the bridge.
"So what's it going to be?" she asked, theletter S in "what's" coming out as a brief but sharp whistle due toher newly broken teeth. "Death by firing squad? A 21 gun salute to thegirl that tried to hurry nature along?"
"Hurry nature along?" Amanda yelledincredulously.
Sergeant Tejada's crisp voice cut through the morningair, as he said, "Your fate's not up to us to decide. Besides. We don'thave the bullets to waste. No. I'll let your people decide."
Chloe felt the pit of her stomach drop, as if she werefalling from a great height. A thousand images of torture and death leapedthrough her mind. She just wanted it to end. The soldiers had been her bestopportunity for that, but they were taking the high road. Of course they were.That's all they were good for, sitting off on the sidelines while everyone elsecrawled over each other, kicking and screaming to stay alive.
Her former survivor friends gathered in a semi-circle,occasionally looking back over their shoulders at her. She would have run, butshe knew that she wouldn't make it more than a couple of feet. The soldiers onthe cars might not be looking at her now, but she was under no illusion thatthey would just let her run straight down the Burnside Bridge and into thecity.
Chloe waited, becoming impatient, as the survivors arguedabout what they were going to do with her. She heard the words "killher" coming from Amanda's mouth. Her skin was flushed, and Chloe could seethe rage running through her blood. She almost wished they would listen to herand put a bullet through her head. Quick and easy, that would be a good way togo.
"What's taking so long?" she yelled. Theydidn't even stop to listen to her. "I'm not a murderer!" she yelledloud enough to force them to listen to her. "Don't I get a trial orsomething? You can't just decide my fate like that. He's still alive, forhowever long it's going to take him to die. Hell, I was probably doing the guya favor."
They stood and looked at her, blank expressions on theirfaces. It was Lou that broke the silence. "I get it. You want a trial. Youwant due process. You want there to be a small chance for you to get out ofthis and go your own way. But you lost that opportunity the moment you deniedRudy the same chance."
Chloe turned on the waterworks. It was an instinctualthing, not a true feeling. "He's going to die anyway! What are you waitingfor?"
Joan looked at her, an icy glare. You would have thoughtshe had run over her cat. "You don't know that. He could wake up at anymoment. He isn't getting worse, so there's always the chance that he's going toget better."
Chloe was losing this fight, and she knew
