Free Precipice: The Beginning by Kevin J. Howard Page B

company. They’re trained to kill. One of them decides to take us out and we’re all screwed.”
    “There’s no point, sir,” Alvin explained. “There’s nothing to take over. Nowhere for them to go.”
    Andrews threw his second dart and stood from the chair, standing beside Alvin to look down at the green video footage of Travis in his cell.
    “You go ahead and trust them if you wish. But if it were up to me I’d have every man and woman on this red rock locked up for all hours of the day. Let out in a ten unit rotating squad for work detail, keeping them in the minority while we keep them in line.” Andrews’ eyes went glossy. “Watch them closely boys. Men can be like dogs if put in the right situation. Obedient, loyal. But when the chips are down and they feel threatened, you bet your balls they’ll turn on you. That’s why the company has issued such strict punishments. To keep these rabid beasts at bay. It’s our jobs to let them know that there is a presence here to watch over them, to judge them.” Andrews tapped his chest. “Out here, we’re God.”
    “You bet your ass we are,” Bowers smiled, ear to ear with a dopey expression.
    “Yes, sir.” Alvin spoke the words but didn’t agree. Andrews could carry on for hours with his little God trips and sense of superiority, but Alvin knew a good person when he saw one. Travis and his men were not cold-blooded killers. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and are now forced to suffer the consequences.
    “Give him another week in there to think things over.” Andrews tapped the screen with a cruel smile. “That should make him think twice.”
    “Yes, sir.” Alvin watched Andrews as he took a seat, tossing his darts at the picture of Jesus on the cross as if to show them that God didn’t exist out here. Andrews disagreed, strongly even, but he wasn’t about to open his mouth.
    “Break their spirits.” Andrews aimed his fourth dart. “Before they revolt and break our faces.”
     
     

12
    A nnie sat up and pressed a startled hand to her chest, breathing hard. Her flesh damp from a warm sweat. Annie recognized her room through the darkness and settled a bit. It had been just another nightmare. She exhaled with annoyance and fell back onto the wet sheets. The moist fabric felt uncomfortable against the bare skin of her arms and neck, sticking like well-cooked spaghetti to a kitchen wall. Annie closed her eyes and took some controlling breaths. In and out, slowing the rate her chest rose.
    Annie opened her heavy eyelids and looked to the clock mounted across the room—four fifteen in the morning. She shook her head with agitation and closed her eyes, trying desperately to fall back into the black abyss of sleep, but she couldn’t. There was no going back once she’d hit the three-hour mark. So once again, as was her morning routine since Travis had departed, she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Exhaustion weighed heavy on her, dangling from her eyes and muscles like mountaineers desperately clinging for life. Not even after her fourth cup of coffee would she be able to shake them. Annie stood and shuffled toward the bathroom, stepping over piles of laundry she’d been meaning to get to, stacks of photo albums she’d put on her list to finish. Nothing seemed to get done anymore. Erica from next door often told her not to let the small things bother her. That little messes and junk filled drawers can be a good thing, creating little projects for her here and there to take her mind off things. Annie would have agreed if her house fluxed in between clean and dirty, but lately it had been a stalemate.
    Annie let out a yelp as she stepped on the hairspray cap. She kicked the lid away and entered the bathroom, turning on the shower. Annie stayed for a moment, leaning into the shower to let the warming water drop to her hand. The warmth was such a comfort from the cold morning air. When so much of her life had gone