HE LAY IN BLOOD, BRAINS EXPOSED UPON HIS HEAD. A nightmare had been unleashed and he should be dead. But he could still hear the voices of the living through the smoke; laughing, taunting, boasting. And he remembered. He was numb and in pain but he was alive even though it seemed he was in hell.
The bodies of the dead were around and upon him. Their souls called to him. Perhaps it would have been best if he had gone with them, to a place where the emotion couldn’t reach. All he had to do was remain supine and inhale the smoke and he would follow. Except the souls of the departed were urging him to stay. Vengeance, they said. Live, they said.
Now the smoke was thicker; the heat growing. The voices were retreating.
He rolled onto his side and gently removed Joe’s arm from across his chest. He moved slowly on hands and knees away from the fire that would reduce the crime to ashes. Except in his mind. In his mind, he knew it would remain white hot.
Vengeance, his friends whispered. Vengeance.