Try Begging - Chapter 165.1
Before this child starts to remember me, I need to send it away. By the time this child can say ‘Mom,’ I need to be beyond that sea.
Alone.
“I’ll live my life. You live yours too.”
Grace murmured the same words over and over like a mantra, gently patting the sleeping baby.
º º º
The train sliced through the morning sunlight as it entered Winsford Central Station. Campbell, already waiting in the corridor, knocked on the door of the sleeper compartment as soon as the train came to a complete stop.
“….”
As the door opened, Campbell was about to offer a morning greeting but stopped short.
The Major, emerging from the compartment, looked like he hadn’t rested at all. It was worrying as if he might collapse from exhaustion.
The two officers immediately took a taxi as they exited the station.
“Head to Halewood’s…”
Campbell began to tell the driver to go to Winston’s, but the Major shook his head and corrected the destination.
“Winsford Temporary Holding Facility.”
º º º
“Which one to choose today?”
His tone was light as if he were selecting a horse from a stable. Yet, Winston pointed with his riding crop not at horses but at humans.
Chained and shackled, these men were former leaders of the revolutionary forces, now kneeling in a line on the dirt floor. As the sun rose, they were dragged to the execution site, too terrified to look at anything but the gleaming brown shoes of the devil.
Winston, for some reason, was dressed in a suit rather than his military uniform.
With his hands clasped behind his back and a casual flick of his whip, he strolled leisurely in front of the condemned men before suddenly asking.
“Any volunteers?”
No one answered.
Nobody wanted to volunteer for a firing squad. Those who knew all too well the horrors of the devil’s mockery began to visibly tremble.
Two among them didn’t tremble. They knew they wouldn’t die today. Despite this, their faces were marked with clear anxiety. They were the last to be bound to the post after witnessing the deaths of all their comrades.
“No volunteers? How unfortunate…”
Just over a month ago, there were eight people assembled at the execution site. Now, only five remained. This meant that one of the three present today was destined to die.
Since late spring, Winston had become even more brutal. Previously, they had seen through this man the extent of human cruelty. Now, cruelty itself seemed to be toying with the small creature while wearing the human skin.
Jimmy sensed it.
This was vengeance.
Not vengeance for what they had done, but vengeance for what someone else had done to that person, and it was clear that ‘that someone else’ was Grace.
It was maddening to be sacrificed unjustly because of Grace’s mistakes.
As they trembled and bit their lips to suppress their anger, Winston, who had been mocking them by pacing back and forth, suddenly stopped.
“Well then, there’s no helping it.”
Last time, the target for execution was chosen by drawing lots. What insane method would he use this time? Everyone held their breath and swallowed nervously.
“Take turns explaining why someone else should die instead of you. The two who succeed in convincing me will be spared.”
The three, excluding Little Jimmy and David Wilkins, jerked their heads up and exchanged looks of panic. Soon, their expressions changed from confusion to hesitation. The moment one of them opened his mouth, everything shifted.
“Ma, Major, those two….”
Thus began the hideous exposure of secrets. In the end, all three of them ended up exchanging insults and curses with their faces flushed red.
It was the moment when the fear of death crushed the camaraderie forged over decades.
“This is by far the best show I’ve seen this year.”
Watching the nauseating scene unfold, Winston laughed as if watching a comedy film.
“Hey, even for the sake of your struggling comrades, try to smile.”
He pressured Jimmy and Dave, who were pale and silent, to react.
“You two aren’t even trembling.”
Winston sneered as he looked down at the two. At that moment, the two felt a foreboding chill and held their breath.
“Hey, look this way.”
As Winston shouted, the three men who had been exchanging insults and spitting at each other turned to look at Jimmy and Dave.
“It’s hard to choose between them. So, the two who will survive today will decide who will die.”
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