Fight The Peace by S T Branton

Author:S T Branton [Branton, ST]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781649710185
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2020-06-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Thrash looked nothing short of gleeful at the prospect of killing me. That wasn’t good for my self-esteem. I mean, it wasn’t that I hadn't encountered my share of people who found great joy in thoughts of grinding me up and turning me into filling for the Christmas pastries, but that was different. Thrash and I never spent days sharing a cell the size of an American Girl doll postage stamp, or been dropped down a chute into a gladiator ring together.

Bentham leaned close to Rand as her eyes flashed to me.

"With all due respect, an execution in this manner is against the law,” she told her.

Oh, thank goodness.

"That law only applies to Farsiders," Rand snapped back. Well, shit. "Kill her now or lose your job."

That was a little depressing. Of all the times in the last ten years I had my life threatened or people had tried to kill me, it was never with the threat of unemployment dangling over them. According to Ally, it was a serious concern in these uncertain economic times. I didn't want to stand in the way of anyone's financial security or achieving the American dream or anything, but I definitely didn't want to be a footnote on a progress report, either.

Thrash didn't need any other encouragement. He pulled my switchblade from his pocket and severed the zip-ties securing me to the chair. The relief was momentary, since he quickly zipped my wrists together, then followed with my ankles.

He scooped me up and threw me backward over his shoulder so I hung upside down. I tried to lift myself up enough to see Bentham, but Thrash was too big to let me see over his shoulders. Instead, I twisted as I tried to reason with Bentham.

Thank the Universe for oblique muscles and the workouts I randomly decided to do in the back of the RV.

Lift, twist, speak.

"Look, Bentham. Let's be reasonable."

Flat.

Lift, twist, speak.

"You don't have to do this."

Flat.

Lift, twist, speak.

"You know as well as I do this isn't the way things are supposed to be."

Flat.

At this point, Thrash jiggled me a few times to try to silence me. When everything in my head settled back to almost normal, I lifted and twisted again.

"You said it yourself in there. You aren't supposed to execute people like this."

Flat.

Lift, twist, speak. My muscles were getting tired, and there wasn't quite as much oomph in my twist anymore.

"Do you really want this to be the precedent you set? After all this time of being a loyal and effective Agent of the Guild, do you really want an illegal execution on your head?"

I could no longer do the lift and twist, so I resigned myself to dangling upside down and instead resorted to hand motions to underscore what I was saying. The zip-ties reduced their effectiveness, but it was better than spending my last moments doing an ab workout.

"We live in a time of personal responsibility, Bentham. You are what your actions speak. What do you want to say with the choices you make today?"

I threw my arms out to the sides for a dramatic finish.

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