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--donation bonus (day #13, post 3/5)--
“What the hell?” said Colt, panting. “I beat the crap out of you, so why am I the only one about to collapse here?”

Hector wiped the blood from under his eye. “I’ve had a lot worse than this.”

‘You should both rest,’ said Garovel. ‘And get something to eat. Hector, you must be starving by now.’

“Ah... yeah...” He looked at Colt another time. Hector had calmed down, but he didn’t feel like apologizing for what he said--not when Colt had never apologized for killing Melissa. But for now at least, he decided he would just try not to think about it. “The kids... probably need to be fed, too, right?”

Colt hoisted himself up. “Yeah.”

They took to the road together, Colt’s car out front with Hector’s motorcycle following close behind. It wasn’t long before Garovel struck up another conversation.

‘How’re you holding up?’ There was a weak echo to his voice, and Hector recalled that being indicative of the reaper speaking privately.

‘I don’t know,’ said Hector. ‘I just... it feels like I’m... like I’m angry at... just... everything.’ He squinted hard at the road ahead. ‘Am I losing my mind...?’

‘On the contrary, I think that makes you quite sane.’

He frowned. ‘How did all this happen, Garovel...? Could I have... done something different? Was I careless?’

‘Hector. You can’t blame yourself.’

‘Maybe... those text messages... if I hadn’t been so trusting--if I’d been more suspicious of the possibilities--’

‘We couldn’t have known. We had every reason to think those messages were from Colt.’

‘If we’d thought to... work out some sort of... texting code with Colt beforehand... or something...’

Garovel opened his mouth but stopped himself. After a moment, he gave a small sigh. ‘Maybe you’re right. Maybe we could have been more cautious.’

‘We respond... by becoming better.’

‘Heh. You remember.’

‘Of course...’