The Asian man blinked at Nora’s expression, then her question about shooting people in the back of the head. He calmly waited, listening to her say that they couldn’t put people down, and watching how she kept looking at the young man nearby. “Why are you yelling at me?” the Asian man asked. He pointed to the tall black man who was standing among them. “He’s the one who suggested it.”<br/><br/>Mark didn’t know what to think. This was all like a movie, the kind where it starts off nice and happy, and then they discover that there’s a serial killer in their midst.<br/><br/>The man who had made the suggestion turned his golden-brown eyes on them all. “Look,” he said, holding his hands up as if trying to reason with children. “Dying from the cold isn’t a pleasant experience,” he said. “I teach Ethics and Law, among other things at Stanford. If the people on the Titanic had insisted on putting every person on the ship on those life boats, no one would have survived. They knew that there had to be a decision made. We don’t know how many people chose a quick death over drowning, but we do know that if we leave these people here, they will die slowly, and painfully.”<br/><br/>He shrugged at he looked back to Nora. “I’ve said my piece. Whatever you all want to do is fine with me; when I meet my maker, I’ll know that I voted for the kinder end, and I’ll be at peace.”<br/><br/>“There has to be more options than that,” Mark said as he pulled himself out of his state of disbelief. “Why don’t we do some scouting and see if we can find shelter nearby. If they are looking for us, we need to be close enough to be found.” He looked to Nora to see if she agreed, then met the gaze of the others. “If we can secure a place to wait until rescue we can come back, take the other passengers back one at a time, and get them to safety.”<br/><br/>The professor’s lips curved slightly, but his eyes said that he didn’t think the wounded would still be alive when they came back. If they came back.<br/><br/>A small voice came from the woman who was cradling her husband’s arm. “I’ll stay with them,” she offered. “I know,” she looked back at the remnants of what was left of her man, “I know that my Rupert is gone. The Lord called him back.” She sighed. “I’ll stay with the others, give them what comfort I can, and when you come back, we’ll be here.”