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(Scars do not appear to be cause of death –shock ... - Bad Request

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look at this... I see, I see, cut there, cut there..." Marta made a small, deft<br />

incision in the side <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the intestines, and I heard a tnnng as something<br />

small and metallic struck the floor.<br />

"Urhhhkk..." I gurgled. Morte winced and turned away. Dak’kon watched<br />

coolly.<br />

Marta then dumped the soupy mass back in<strong>to</strong> my <strong>to</strong>rso, then reached <strong>do</strong>wn,<br />

picked up the object... a ring, it <strong>appear</strong>ed, and she flicked it <strong>to</strong> me. "Pretty,<br />

pretty, eh, Marta?" She nodded. "Yes, Marta, one shouldn't swallow such a<br />

thing, no, no..."<br />

I tried making sense <strong>of</strong> the slippery tangles, <strong>to</strong> no avail. Apparently Marta<br />

wasn't going <strong>to</strong> give me a hand in stuffing them back inside me. "Th -<br />

thanks... was... there... anything... else...?"<br />

Marta shook her head. "Nothing more, more <strong>not</strong>hing, eh, Marta? Should we<br />

try someplace else, Marta?"<br />

I laid back, breathing heavily and gazing up at the hard mud-brown ceiling.<br />

"Nuh... nuh... no more..."<br />

Chapter 29<br />

Once the initial disgust and horror washed over me, the ordeal <strong>of</strong> trying <strong>to</strong><br />

make sense <strong>of</strong> the tangled, soupy mass <strong>of</strong> my entrails was more<br />

troublesome than grotesque. There was no pain aside from the initial<br />

incision in my <strong>be</strong>lly (well, that and the medley <strong>of</strong> other wounds and <strong>to</strong>rtures<br />

I suffered) and the deed had already <strong>be</strong>en half-<strong>do</strong>ne. There was no way <strong>to</strong><br />

stuff the fleshy ropes back inside my ab<strong>do</strong>minal cavity in the manner they<br />

were originally packed. The cleanest thing <strong>to</strong> <strong>do</strong>, ironically, would <strong>be</strong> <strong>to</strong> just<br />

call it a loss and cut the rest out and stuff my own entrails in<strong>to</strong> my pack.<br />

Morte gagged. But strange as it was <strong>to</strong> carry around my own guts with me, it<br />

felt stranger <strong>to</strong> leave a piece <strong>of</strong> me <strong>be</strong>hind like that. Who knew what a<br />

232

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