b. I knew a guy who spent a decade in a marriage he hated, then a year in separation, then a year in divorce. Three months later, they started dating again. Here's to another ten years, right? Maybe things will work out this time. My money's on another court date.

       b. Her finger found the trigger. Her shots— one, two— found their target: a hole in his chest; half his face blown off. The noise shook the walls, the force bruised her shoulder black and green, and the sound of two hundred pounds colliding with the floor snapped her back just enough to call 911 and start screaming.

       b. If it's any consolation, he died instantly. At least within the minute. Thanks, Winchester.

       a. That's a lie. I didn't say any of that. I was past the point of caring, really, so I just sat back and watched what I knew would turn into another wreck. Some people just aren't meant to be together, no matter how hard they try. Don't kid yourself. Leave while you still can. Is it a choice? When has it ever been a choice?

       b. Torres always had something wrong with her. You could see it in the way she walked and talked, in the way she paced during the quiet moments between shifts. But not in a bad way. She was never violent, she was hardly even disruptive. Sometimes she spoke to people who weren't there. Sometimes she froze like a rabbit during the hunt. Sometimes she'd hold herself, cry and shake a bit, then return to normal. Everyone knew from the way she acted that she was a bit of a nutjob, but she tried. She really tried. And people trusted her because she was genuine, and because in every group set up to fail, she did her damndest to make sure that didn't happen.

       c. Nobody left behind, Torres liked to say. She used to stare at me like my existence made her sick.

       b. Of the overflow, a solid five percent were chosen for their dogshit projections— fodder, they were fodder and everyone knew it. Hand picked to die, and by extension to motivate the rest of the population into working hard to avoid the same fate. The system worked, everyone always said.

       c. What they really meant was: The system worked because otherwise it meant everything was a waste of time and good suffering. And people already hate admitting when they’re wrong, can you imagine choking down your pride and getting all red faced and explaining to several high-ranking nebulously powerful figures of authority that you built a death trap to keep the black mold in your basement from spreading, and it still ate through your walls? God, the humiliation!

       d. What are you saying? Rephrase. Retry. Sorry, I ramble. What I mean is: nobody wants to do that, so they didn’t, so the system worked.