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“Then I suppose they'll kill you, Todd. Unless you want that to happen, I recommend you convince them you're not bluffing. Now, get the fuck out of my face. Gather the others and meet me back inside the Stardust Lounge at sunrise so I can share the plan with everyone,” Logan demands, then walks back out of the room.

Tyler and I remain still as they all exit the atrium. Once the room is clear, I look at Tyler. “We need to tell the group what we just heard.”

“Agreed,” says Tyler.

When I start to stand, the axe slides off my lap and it lands with a loud thunk. Tyler has already begun walking and turns when he hears the sound. Before I can bend down and pick it back up, Roger– an overweight man that closely resembles an ogre, appears from around the corner. I recognize him from working with John.

“Tyler, behind you.” I snap, Tyler turns around, and then jumps back toward me, away from Roger, who is now staring at us from a few feet away. His big belly is peeking out from under his shirt, his beard is overgrown and stringy, and he is holding a wooden stick with one end shaved to a point. He takes a step closer and I get a whiff of his rancid body odor that nearly gags me. He smells like he hasn’t tried to bathe in weeks.

“Look what we have here… Logan’s going to be real excited to see you,” says Roger, his eyes locked on me.

I contemplate how to handle the situation. I shift my head and glance down, realizing I never picked up my axe after it fell. “Logan doesn't need to know,” I say, keeping my voice calm. “We’ll just go back to where we were and leave you be. There is no need for things to get ugly.”

“Things are already ugly, Theo, and I'm not letting either of you go. There’s a price on your head and I want to be paid.”

“How much?” asks Tyler.

“Five cans of beans for Theo, and you, my friend, are worth two. Looks like I'll be eating for a while,” he says, licking his lips.

“Well, that's just fucking rude. You look like you can go a few days without a meal,” replies Tyler.

Roger’s grin quickly turns into a snarl, and his face turns red. Tyler has pissed him off, big surprise there.

“Shut up, Tyler,” I say through gritted teeth. “Come on, I can give you food if you let us go.” We need to do something, fast.

While I'm trying to negotiate our way out of this situation, I feel Tyler subtly bump into me. I let out a cough and glance down. Tyler is holding his axe behind his back. I can't bend down to grab mine, so I shift my body slightly to get closer to him and put one hand behind me. Immediately, Tyler understands what I'm doing.

“No, there’d be a price on my head if I did that, and I can't have that. Don't think about moving a muscle, or I'll take this and find out what your insides look like,” says Roger, lifting the broken broomstick. Things are so much worse than I thought. We are past working together. These people are going to kill us all.

Roger turns his head to call for back-up, Tyler quickly puts the axe in my hand and I swing it, aiming directly for the back of Roger's head.

“Hey, Carmen, come ove—” Roger goes silent mid-sentence and slowly turns around to face me. His face is plastered with shock, his mouth wide open. Silently, he lifts his hands to his head, frantically feeling around. His fingers are painted crimson as they touch the wound.

“Now we can see what your insides look like, you asshole,” I say, no longer whispering.

Roger stands there, paralyzed, staring at his bloodied fingertips. Blood begins to drip down his forehead and into his mouth. Within seconds, his legs give out, and he drops to his knees, falling forward and face-planting the floor. The large axe is embedded deep in the top of his skull. I walk over and place my foot on the back of the man's head. I can't believe I just did that. There is no turning back now.

I look back at Tyler, his mouth open in shock, staring at me. With two hands, I grip the handle of the axe and pull. The axe flies out, and blood splatters across the floor and onto my face. I look down and stare at the blood pooling under Roger’s skull. I just killed a man. If I didn’t, it would be me lying in a puddle of blood.

“Holy shit, Theo!” Tyler says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I feel Roger’s warm blood dripping down my face. I’m frozen as I process what I just did. His blood is slowly inching toward my mouth, and I instantly reach up, using the back of my hand to wipe it off. Things will never be the same from here on out.

“It's survival of the fittest now, Tyler.” I look down at the blood-soaked axe in my hand and hold it up for Tyler to see. “Don't be afraid to use your axe. Let's find whoever the fuck Carmen is and kill her, too. I'm done with this bullshit.”

Tyler doesn't say anything. He just follows my direction. We step over Roger's body and head toward the stairs. As we approach the corner, I raise my hand to stop Tyler from moving forward. I watch as someone I assume is Carmen makes her way from the other side of the ship, also carrying a makeshift weapon—one like Roger had in his hand. I quickly estimate the distance and look at Tyler. “We have about fifteen seconds before Carmen gets here.”

“What are we going to do?” asks Tyler, his voice nearly cracking.

“This time, you need to be the one to swing the axe.”

“What! No, I can't do that. Theo, I won't do that.”

“Tyler, if you don’t do this, she’ll kill you. Everything has changed. You heard what Roger just told us. Logan wants us. They are going to kill us. Just swing as hard as you can into the hallway, that's all you have to do.”

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” says Tyler, taking a deep breath. “Okay, Theo, I can do this. Tell me when.”

Tyler's hands are gripping the axe like a baseball bat. His fingers are so tight that his knuckles are white. I crouch down and peek around the corner. “Okay, Tyler, get ready,” I whisper. I watch Carmen approach. She is looking down at the floor, not paying any attention. “Three... two... one, now!” The sound of my voice makes her look up.