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Eustace wasn’t angry Anger had left hio What he felt was relief He hurled the ot to work: his fists, the butt of the revolver, the points of his boots Fry’s pleas for hi had co a horse at full gallop Rudy was lying on the floor, his face protectively buried in his ar You worthless waste of skin You are everything that’s wrong with this place, and I a toRudy by his collar to sla crack that was going to rabbed him from behind Eustace connected with an elbow to Fry’shim away, and wrapped Rudy’s neck in the crook of his ar doll, a fleshy sack of loosely organized parts He tightened his biceps against Rudy’s windpipe and shoved his knee into his back for leverage One hard yank and that would be the end of hi for breath, holding the fire poker he’d just used on Eustace’s head

"Jesus, Gordo What the hell was that?"

Eustace blinked his eyes; the snowflakes winked out one by one His head felt like a split log; he was a little sick to his stouess"

"It wasn’t like the guy didn’t deserve it, but what the fuck"

Eustace turned his head to get a look at the situation Rudy was curled into a fetal ball with his hands jas His face looked like raw meat

"I really did a number on him, didn’t I?"

"The man never traded on his looks anyway" Fry directed his voice at Rudy "You hearto find you in a ditch, you asshole" Fry looked at Eustace "Sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you so hard"

"That’s okay"

"Don’t mean to rush you, but it’s probably best if you vacate the pre Think you can stand?"

"What about Abel?"

"I’ll handle it Let’s get you on your feet"

Fry helped him up Eustace had to hold on to the bars for a second to ht hand were bloody and swollen, skin split along the bone He tried to close it into a fist, but the joints wouldn’t go that far