Peter looked around. The people were all talking about what had happened, and expressed shock and horror. Peter approached Jesse.
“Jesse, we have to go get the body. We have to bury Kirk. Right now the vultures out there are probably starting to eat him. I don’t want to leave him behind. He was a friend of mine.”
“Peter,” Jesse answered. “Man, I’m just the owner of this property. I’m not some kind of military commander. That’s your thing, not mine.” He paused. “This sounds crazy. Kind of dumb. But I know you guys were close. I don’t know. Do whatever you want. It’s up to you.”
Peter left the crowd and walked to Kathy’s tent, and stopped by the front flap that had been zipped close. “Knock, knock,” he announced.
Kathy said, “Who is that, Jesse? I’m OK. I’ve calmed down a little.”
“No, it’s me, Peter.”
“Come on in.” Peter opened the flap and walked into the tent. Kathy rushed to hug Peter. “They’ve killed Kirk,” she cried. “It’s still sinking in. I hate this.”
“I know. I can’t believe it.” Peter breathed heavily to keep from crying. “Stubborn guy that he was. He should have come up here.” The two stopped hugging. Kathy sat on the only chair in the tent while Peter sat on the floor.
“Oh, sorry,” Kathy looked at Peter sitting on the ground. “Here, take my seat. Or we could open up the cot.”
“No that’s OK. I’m fine.”
“What do you think happened to Jackie?”
“I heard she took the Mark.”
“Well that was a huge mistake. What else could she have done wrong?”
“We don’t know anything else, and frankly I’m not eager to ask any more details. David and Sean looked pretty shaken up. In shock, really. I saw a lot of that in the Marines.”
“I still can’t believe it. He’s gone.”
Peter folded his arms, looking serious. “Hey Kathy, I was thinking …”
“What?”
“You know the back trail I go, to drop off the entrails.”
“What do you mean? Go to the roadblock?”
“I was thinking of getting Kirk’s body so that we could bring it back here and bury it.”
“Ugh. You’re a good friend of his.”
“I’ve been around dead bodies before. More times than I care to think about.”
“I guess Jackie’s not burying the body?” Kathy sounded angry at Jackie.
“No. Apparently Jackie just took off. She just left his body there. I distinctly heard that.”
“Pretty ironic, don’t you think?” Kathy said. “Bringing up Kirk’s body and burying it on a piece of property he didn’t want to go to.”
“That’s true. Well, he never saw all this coming. Let’s face it, if you told me a few months ago what we are going through right now I would say you are crazy. No one saw it coming.”
“Yes, that’s true. It was all pretty fast. What did Jesus say in Matthew 24? ‘Just run.’ Well, here we are. We ran.”
“And here we are.” Peter stood up, started to leave the tent. “I think I will go and get his body, before the birds start feasting on him. If you can come along, that would be great. To watch my back, or if I need help with something. I would rather not go down there alone. But I can understand if you don’t want to come.”
Kathy looked at Peter, thinking it over. “Kind of like in the Old Testament, when they went and got King Saul’s body.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right. In fact, that’s exactly what it is.”
Kathy looked resolved, but said nothing.
“Just think it over, Kathy.” Peter walked out.
“Alright,” Kathy said. “I’m in. But you handle the body.”
“OK.”
“In fact I really don’t even want to see it at all. And I want to stay back from the roadblock. I hear that it smells pretty bad there. Just disgusting.”
“It’s supposed to. But that’s OK. I can handle the body.”
“When are you going?”
“Give me a few minutes. Not very long.” Peter walked out of the tent.
****