“It’s not about doing the trick,” said Annaliese. “It’s about being humane.”
“There’s nothing humane about any of this,” said Mike. “Maybe Shawcross is right. The pool cue was effective on Tom.”
Annaliese shrugged her shoulders. “Fine. Should I do it?”
“I don’t mind,” said Mike. “Do you want me to?”
Clark leapt up off the sofa. “Listen to you all. You sound like you’re haggling over the last beer in the fridge. You’re about to crack somebody’s skull open; and that somebody was my friend. I should have protected her.”
“None of this is your fault, Clark,” Annaliese told him again. “Lots of people are dead and none of us are to blame. We didn’t do this.”
Clark stood beside the pool table and picked up the remaining cue. He rolled the length of wood in his hands, examining it intently.
“What are you doing?” Mike asked him.
Clark smashed the cue over the edge of the table, making the rest of the group flinch. The thick end went hurtling across the room and left a dent in the far wall.
“Let me do it,” Clark said. “I owe her that much.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Annaliese.
“No offence,” said Clark. “But fuck you. She was my friend. You didn’t even know her.”
Annaliese nodded and stood aside. Her opinion was that performing such a deed could make Clark’s emotional condition worse, but there was also a chance it could bring him closure. You never could tell when it came to people’s minds. They fractured in different ways.
Clark knelt down beside Charlotte and placed the jagged cue against her forehead.
“Turn her head to the side,” Annaliese told him. “The temple is softer. It’ll be…cleaner.”
Clark did as she suggested and turned Charlotte’s head sideways. The wound on her neck opened up wider and a fine spray of blood released itself. Clark didn’t seem to notice. He raised the cue high above his head.
Everyone in the room turned away, not wishing to see the grizzly deed performed so clinically and yet so brutally at the same time. Annaliese made herself watch, though. She didn’t want to ignore the things that were happening all around her. She needed to retain her humanity. The best way to do that was to witness and absorb it all; not turn away. Charlotte seemed like a sweet girl, and now her boyfriend was about to stab her through the skull.
The cue in Clark’s hands trembled for a second.
Then he did it. He brought the spike down hard and pierced through Charlotte’s skull. Annaliese was glad the lad didn’t have to give it a second go. It would have gotten messy.
She went up to him and placed a hand on his back. His whole body trembled as sobs began to take over him. He was covered in his girlfriend’s blood.
After a little while, they all decided to leave him alone with his grief. The remainder of the group gathered over in the far corner of the room, over by the television.
“So what’s our next move?” asked Alan, twiddling with his moustache and looking grim.
Annaliese looked at the older man and shook her head. “I have no clue. Does anybody have a suggestion?”
Faces were blank, shoulders shrugged.
“Then I suggest we just keep our heads down here for a while. Once we’ve rested up, maybe things will be a little clearer. We can find a phone and keep the TV on. I’m sure we’ll know more soon.”
To her surprise, even Shawcross was nodding his head and agreeing with her. It was clear that everyone was exhausted, and that none of them had slept for ages. Right now, all anybody really cared about was getting off their feet and maybe catching some shuteye. Sleep would probably feel impossible at first, but Annaliese knew how easily it would come once everyone closed their eyes.
Shock is the body’s way of protecting itself from trauma, and right now what everyone needs is sleep.