Alice closed her eyes, trying not to breathe that fetid air. With a few, frantic thoughts, she told Tom what was going on, but she couldn't feel his emotional response because of two sudden gunshots at close range. In fact, Dole had somehow managed to shoot Gomez in the heart, before pointing the gun at his own chest and firing it. Perhaps, he had had a moment of inner clarity and had preferred to commit suicide, rather than continuing to lose self-control.
In the deafening silence that followed, Alice took a moment to catch her breath. She was shaken, but alive and that was the perfect time to break free, running away.
Still barely standing and with the plastic handcuffs on, she decided on impulse to crash into the wall, hoping to smash the chair which then cracked and fell apart. Shaki
