text: There are two men walking across the ground towards the forest. They are working together to carry a large bag. They are wearing black and posses the same blank, faceless expression accentuated by the night surrounding them. There are very few words exchanged on their journey. &#x200B; The two men reach a clearing. The bag thuds to the ground. A collective sigh is heard as they stretch their arms. One of the faceless men reaches into the bag to reveal two shovels. It doesn't take long for the men to dig a sufficiently deep hole. &#x200B; "You ready?" "Yeah." &#x200B; The men drag the bag so that the opening touches the top of the hole. They heave. A body slips out. It's pale, bruised and a metal spike has ruined the face. &#x200B; "Wanna say a word?" "Not really." &#x200B; A short moment of silence. &#x200B; "We loved ya buddy, it didn't have to be like this." "It didn't have to be like this" repeated the second man. &#x200B; Another sigh and another moment of silence. The second man continued. &#x200B; "He had to die, that's for sure. But what we did to him?" He points at the face before continuing "this ain't right, and what we're doing now? He deserves a proper funeral." &#x200B; The first man breathes in to start a rebuttal, then hesitates. &#x200B; "I guess. They'll always be time for a real send off. We-" &#x200B; He looks at what's left of the face again.The second man's sadness has turned to anger "His family deserve to see the body."Their eyes meet as the first man replies "This body? NO ONE deserves to see this body, not even us. Look, he was a brother to me, just as you are. I hate to see him like this." He continues onto his next thought without taking a breath "And what are we to do? Dump him on his porch like a warning sign? Politely knock on their door and show them him in the trunk of the car? They'll be traumatized, we'll be ratted out, everyone loses." &#x200B; "They deserve the truth." The second man said calmly, "even if it's horrible, they deserve time to sit with the body, process what's really happened." &#x200B; The first man rolled his eyes "Even if they see the body, they won't know the truth. You know that yourself man. He told his whole family he has nothing to do with us now. They won't see the horrible things he's done to get himself into this mess. To them, he's a reformed man. They'll fuck us over cuz they don't know" &#x200B; The second man "It's not about what he did in his life, it's about the fact that he's dead. They just need some time with him." "No." The first man's shovel raises. "We're not going down for this, if you feel this bad you shouldn't have killed him." "I don't care what you think, I'm giving his family the body" The second man's shovel rises. &#x200B; Shovels clash, a skull is cracked and pushed into the grave. The grave is filled with dirt and a man drives off into the early morning.