are
not
getting a priest.”
I took a step back, and looked around at the other prisoners.
Beside me, Cosmo crouched down next to Keegan and gently closed her eyes. “Brawn…,” he said softly, so that only I could hear. “We … we have to
do
something.”
He was right. But what
could
we do? It was taking every ounce of my control not to grab Hazlegrove and rip his spine out through his chest, but I had to hold myself back. If I attacked Hazlegrove, the guards would open fire and a lot more people would die.
I looked back at Hazlegrove. “When the ventilators are repaired, we’ll go back to work. Like you said earlier, we work and you feed us. But this back-and-forth power play … these petty, cruel actions that you think make you a big man … that all ends now. No more games, Hazlegrove. Because this whole place is teetering on the edge, and if you push any harder, it will all come crashing down. Believe me, you do
not
want to be caught in the middle of that.”
Hazlegrove sneered. “You think you can get away with threatening—”
“It’s not a threat!” I roared, and Hazlegrove jumped back. “It’s a
warning
, and unless you’re the biggest moron who ever walked the Earth, you’ll heed it!”
He paused for a few seconds, looking at me, then nodded once and turned away.
Part of me wished he hadn’t, that he had tried one more thing to reinforce his sense of power, because I
would
have snapped. I would have locked my hands around his puny head and crushed it to jelly.
But I saw in his eyes that he knew how close he had come to death, and I hoped that this was a turning point, that some good would come from Keegan’s murder.
* * *
The following morning Keegan was buried. All of the prisoners gathered in the small patch of ground just outside the dome that served as a cemetery, the last resting place of twenty-seven other prisoners whose lives had been lost while working in the mine.
There was no priest, but we did our best to remember how a funeral should be conducted. Prayers were said, speeches made, and as I lowered my friend’s cloth-wrapped body into the grave, Cosmo said, “I’ve got something to say. Everyone, please … If you’ll bow your heads for a moment?”
Everyone lowered their heads.
Cosmo cleared his throat. He hesitated for a second, then said, “When someone we love dies, it breaks all of us. We’re damaged, fractured, but we’re not weakened—never that. Instead, we’re united in grief, in love, in hope. That unity gives us strength, and we will need that strength to survive.”
Cosmo glanced back over toward the dome, where many of the guards were watching with vague interest, then continued: “Keegan believed that the taking of human life—no matter
what
the reason—is an unforgivable sin. Even in a situation where the only way to survive is to kill another. Even then. Unforgivable. I ask you to honor our friend by living as she would. I know that many of you are filled with rage over our situation here, and that our freedom seems an impossible goal without more blood being shed, but you must never,
never
take the life of another.”
He knelt down beside the grave and tossed in a handful of dirt. “Rest in peace.”
Cosmo straightened up, looked at me for a moment, thenbacked away into the crowd. A line formed, and one by one, everyone present said their good-byes.
I had my head down, my thoughts on Keegan, when I heard one of the guards raise his voice: “Where d’you think you’re goin’?”
I looked up to see Cosmo walking past the guards. “I need to talk to Mr. Hazlegrove,” he said.
As he passed through the doors, I thought,
Whatever you do, Cosmo, don’t be a fool. If you antagonize him, you’ll end up in the hot box, or worse.
I could picture Cosmo marching up to Hazlegrove’s office and tried not to think of him as “the Mouse That Roared.” A stick-thin figure barely strong enough to stand upright, raging at the man who cared so
not
getting a priest.”
I took a step back, and looked around at the other prisoners.
Beside me, Cosmo crouched down next to Keegan and gently closed her eyes. “Brawn…,” he said softly, so that only I could hear. “We … we have to
do
something.”
He was right. But what
could
we do? It was taking every ounce of my control not to grab Hazlegrove and rip his spine out through his chest, but I had to hold myself back. If I attacked Hazlegrove, the guards would open fire and a lot more people would die.
I looked back at Hazlegrove. “When the ventilators are repaired, we’ll go back to work. Like you said earlier, we work and you feed us. But this back-and-forth power play … these petty, cruel actions that you think make you a big man … that all ends now. No more games, Hazlegrove. Because this whole place is teetering on the edge, and if you push any harder, it will all come crashing down. Believe me, you do
not
want to be caught in the middle of that.”
Hazlegrove sneered. “You think you can get away with threatening—”
“It’s not a threat!” I roared, and Hazlegrove jumped back. “It’s a
warning
, and unless you’re the biggest moron who ever walked the Earth, you’ll heed it!”
He paused for a few seconds, looking at me, then nodded once and turned away.
Part of me wished he hadn’t, that he had tried one more thing to reinforce his sense of power, because I
would
have snapped. I would have locked my hands around his puny head and crushed it to jelly.
But I saw in his eyes that he knew how close he had come to death, and I hoped that this was a turning point, that some good would come from Keegan’s murder.
* * *
The following morning Keegan was buried. All of the prisoners gathered in the small patch of ground just outside the dome that served as a cemetery, the last resting place of twenty-seven other prisoners whose lives had been lost while working in the mine.
There was no priest, but we did our best to remember how a funeral should be conducted. Prayers were said, speeches made, and as I lowered my friend’s cloth-wrapped body into the grave, Cosmo said, “I’ve got something to say. Everyone, please … If you’ll bow your heads for a moment?”
Everyone lowered their heads.
Cosmo cleared his throat. He hesitated for a second, then said, “When someone we love dies, it breaks all of us. We’re damaged, fractured, but we’re not weakened—never that. Instead, we’re united in grief, in love, in hope. That unity gives us strength, and we will need that strength to survive.”
Cosmo glanced back over toward the dome, where many of the guards were watching with vague interest, then continued: “Keegan believed that the taking of human life—no matter
what
the reason—is an unforgivable sin. Even in a situation where the only way to survive is to kill another. Even then. Unforgivable. I ask you to honor our friend by living as she would. I know that many of you are filled with rage over our situation here, and that our freedom seems an impossible goal without more blood being shed, but you must never,
never
take the life of another.”
He knelt down beside the grave and tossed in a handful of dirt. “Rest in peace.”
Cosmo straightened up, looked at me for a moment, thenbacked away into the crowd. A line formed, and one by one, everyone present said their good-byes.
I had my head down, my thoughts on Keegan, when I heard one of the guards raise his voice: “Where d’you think you’re goin’?”
I looked up to see Cosmo walking past the guards. “I need to talk to Mr. Hazlegrove,” he said.
As he passed through the doors, I thought,
Whatever you do, Cosmo, don’t be a fool. If you antagonize him, you’ll end up in the hot box, or worse.
I could picture Cosmo marching up to Hazlegrove’s office and tried not to think of him as “the Mouse That Roared.” A stick-thin figure barely strong enough to stand upright, raging at the man who cared so
Similar Books
