Free Precipice: The Beginning by Kevin J. Howard

direct violation of the rules. The first was a two to three week run in solitary. The second, for either being a repeat offender or by breaking the core rules such as rape and murder, was death. Not a simple injection like back home. Here they tossed you into the airlock and opened the outer door. Such a painful death they’d only had to administer once. A miner he’d never met before, some hothead little shit from New Jersey, got into an argument with a smaller man over something stupid. To end the argument, the moron had taken a food tray and slammed it into the other man’s face, sending bone fragments into his brain and killing him instantly. He swore up and down it had been an accident, and it probably was, but in an environment as dangerous as this they couldn’t afford any further incidents.
    Travis subconsciously brought a hand to his neck as he remembered the look on the man’s face as they had opened the door. It took one minute for the man’s lungs to explode, but it had felt like an hour to Travis. Andrews had insisted that every man watch the punishment, to see how serious they took such matters. Travis wondered about Andrews’ real intent. Maybe a display of power over men more than twice his size, to make him feared amongst the workers. Travis didn’t really care what his motives were as long as he didn’t pull any further demonstrations. Travis shook the image from his mind, not wanting to replay the grotesque footage like a horror flick. There had to be a better memory to maul over, something when times had been slightly brighter than they were now.
    Travis closed his eyes and leaned his head back, running through his life with Annie, the earlier memories, finding one that made him smile. Seeing her with long hair trailing out behind her as the wind ran through it, catching the sun every so often turning it golden. She’d been four months pregnant with their first child, Ethan. At least that would have been his name if he hadn’t been stillborn, but that was months away. This memory, with Travis driving the white convertible they’d rented and Annie with her round stomach in the passenger seat, was a good one. Something that even at this moment made him laugh out loud.
    They’d been in their early twenties and were only married a few months. The original plan had been to marry in August, but the discovery of Ethan had moved the date up to April. Annie had been quite upset when she thought the wedding dress, the perfect wedding dress, wasn’t going to fit. But everything had worked out for the best. It was a beautiful day in April and they were on holiday, driving down the Virginia coast with their futures bright ahead of them.
    “Honey?” Annie placed a hand to her mouth, looking shocked.
    “What is it?”
    “Pull over!”
    Travis pulled onto the gravel shoulder and ran around the front of the car, opening the door for his wife. She took hold of his hand and scurried into the nearby brush, bending over the wildflowers to vomit. Travis thought absently that if they weren’t covered in puke, he would have loved to pick them for her. Too late for that now, but it still brought a cute idea to mind. He hurried over to his wife and knelt down behind her, rubbing her back in slow, circular motions.
    “Oh that pizza kills,” Annie moaned as she took a seat in a patch of grass.
    “Sure it wasn’t the whole bag of sunflower seeds? Or the popcorn…”
    Annie pinched his stomach playfully. “When you have cravings then you can talk.”
    Travis delicately maneuvered his hand through the damp wildflowers, hovering over them like a fickle bumblebee in search of that perfect flower. He found a dry one and plucked it, putting it behind her ear with a smile.
    “There, now you look fantastic.” Travis held out his hands and connected his thumb and index fingers, looking through the square at his wife. “Aw, picture perfect. But I must say, next time you want some flowers you can simply point to