Free SNAP! and the Alter Ego Dimension by Ann Hite Kemp Page B

looked at the body on the floor with a sad expression on his face. “So, this morning I decided to help him out of his misery. To give him the gun.” His voice tailed off as he stared at the corpse. Tammy said nothing, waiting for him to continue. “The gun went off when I got frightened . . . I didn’t mean to . . . I didn’t know he would drag me with him to. . . wherever we are.”
    If his story was true, then he wasn’t really a murderer, Tammy thought. Or was he lying? Most murderers are liars, justifying their rage by distorting the truth.
    “What’s your name?” Hiroshi asked. “Where are you from?”
    “Nick,” the man answered without looking at Hiroshi. “Nick Hoover, from Australia.” When he finally looked up, he addressed Ulrich. “Can we walk around here?” he asked. “Safely, I mean. I can’t see where to tread.”
    “Yes, there is a flat floor or something below this grayness,” Ulrich replied. “You can see about five meters all around. But be careful, Mr. Hoover, your other self knows what you think even as you’re thinking it. That’s why it’s very difficult to beat them. Or surprise them.”
    “Nick,” said the Australian. “Nobody calls me mister. And thanks, thanks for the heads-up. I . . . I’ll be on my way then, to search for my . . . other self. Cheers.” Nick turned around and Tammy watched him as he cautiously walked off into the grayness.
    “Thank heavens,” Tammy sighed pleased. “We’re rid of that guy.”
    “But we need his gun,” Etsu moaned.
    “We don’t have enough food for him, Etsu,” Tammy said. “Let him go his own way.”
    “He’s a dangerous killer,” Ulrich answered. “I don’t buy his story. He was too willing to tell us everything. He could kill us for our food.
Ach
, he could kill us to
be
his food . . . Let us continue with the digging.”
    Tammy looked back to the corpse, now silhouetted by a halo of fresh, crimson blood. This was the first time in her life she had seen a dead person. Actually seen a person die. She could hardly believe what was happening here. It felt as if she was trapped in the worst nightmare imaginable.
    She wondered about the dead man.
What would happen in his world back home? Did he have children? Family? Did his wife really despise him? Was Nick telling the truth about him? Was he so miserable that he could only find peace in drugs, drugs to help blind him to his problems? Was he at peace now?
    Her eyes wandered over the body’s brown pants, brown socks and dark brown shoes. He wasn’t a big man. Definitely bigger than herself, but she was cold. Her feet were freezing. She could do with a pair of socks and shoes . . . even though they would be too big for her. Rather too big than too small . . .
    She could not believe that she was considering what she was actually considering. She was about to loot the corpse of a dead man. Never in her life would she have considered putting on a dead man’s socks and shoes. What was this place doing to her?
    “Hiroshi, Ulrich. May I ask you a favor?” The two youngsters looked enquiringly at her. They’d hardly moved.
    “Of course,” Hiroshi said and lowered his sword.
    “That dead man, Chris . . . ” She pointed at the body. “Can I have his pants, socks and shoes? Will you undress him for me, please? I’m so cold.”
    “Of course,” Ulrich echoed Hiroshi and they moved to the body. “He doesn’t need them anymore.”
    “Ulrich, help turn him over so we can undo his pants,” Hiroshi said.
    Etsu picked up the mug and checked to make sure that it wasn’t broken.
    “Maybe we can use it,” she thought aloud.
    As Tammy watched her friends work on stripping Chris, she again felt nauseous, squeamish.
How terrible! We’re like tramps preying on a dead comrade,
she thought.
    She fought back her tears. This was not a good time to cry.
     

Chapter Ten
    THE SOCKS WERE STILL WARM when Tammy pulled them over her cold feet. The pants were much too long and way too big