"Please try to understand," whispered the Officer. "I had to do it."
The Officer, the b****y wall, the stars and the cold grey gullies all went away. There was nothing but darkness, and wind, a long way off. Kirk thought of Pa coming up under the wall, close to safety, close enough to touch it, and no way through. Pa and Frank and Russ, standing under the wall, looking up, and no way through.
Looking up, calling to the men they knew, asking for help and getting a spear through the heart.
After that, even the wind was gone, and the darkness had turned red.
There was a voice, a long way off. It said, "God, he's strong!" Over and over. It got louder. There were weights on his arms and legs, and he couldn't throw them off. He was pressed against something.
It was the wall. He saw that aft
