Page 63 of In Darkness and Dank

“You have ten seconds,” Denninger warned. “As far as I’m concerned, the monster already killed you, Kittisak.”

“The fuck?” Kittisak’s blood froze as the implication hit him like a blast of ice water. “You can’t be fucking serious.”

“Ten…”

“Hey, Denninger.” Zimm chuckled nervously. “Come on now. That ain’t funny.”

Denninger wasn’t laughing. “Nine.”

“Kitty?” Shu grabbed Kittisak’s shoulder.

“Hang on!” Kittisak pleaded. “I’m trying to fucking think!”

“Eight,” Denninger continued.

“Better move,” Bissell taunted. “Not much time left, dead man.”

“No, no, hey now.” Zimm’s smile dropped. “We ain’t seriously—”

“Seven,” Denninger snapped, cutting his eyes at Zimm.

“That ain’t right.” Zimm lowered his weapon. “How ’bout we take a big breath and maybe not murder nobody right now?”

“Kitty run,” Shu said urgently. “Go to friend Browning.”

“No fucking way,” Kittisak barked back with more heat than he intended, gritting his teeth as Denninger walked toward them. “If he tries to kill me, that makes him a piece of shit murderer!”

“Kitty need to go now.”

“No, I’m not fucking leaving you!”

“Wait, did the lizard just talk?” Bissell dropped his gun, and his eyes widened in shock.

“Damn! His English is almost as good as Kittisak’s right there,” Zimm chimed in. “All the more reason to maybe not murder nobody now. And also, okay, not a biggie, but I definitely think he’s more of a fish—”

“What? No way. He’s totally a lizard. Look at them scales.”

“Fish got scales too!”

Denninger continued to advance while they argued, and Kittisak retreated with Shu until they smacked against the rocky ledge at the bottom of the waterfall. Kittisak remained firmly planted between Denninger and Shu, and each descending number made his stomach twist tighter.

He had no idea what to do when Denninger reached zero.

If they stayed, they were going to get shot. If they tried to run, they were going to get shot. If they tried to fight back, they—

“Kitty go,” Shu growled. “Now.”

“No, I’m not going anywhere!” Kittisak snapped. He glared at Denninger, and he snarled, “If you do this, you’re a fucking murderer! Not him! You! Do you hear me? Because you’re gonna have to kill me first to get to him!”

Denninger shrugged. “I can live with that.”

“Wait, what?”

Denninger aimed the gun at Kittisak.

Shu lunged forward, pushing Kittisak out of the way. “No!”

The gun fired.

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