Pine Needle Tea Party

[Gundham]

"It didn't have to be this way," Juanita said. She said the words out loud, so that anybody watching on the cameras could hear.

It didn't. She could have just given up the key. She could have just trusted Juanita from the start, instead of playing games and swapping in a fake. She could have decided that the stupid snowmobile wasn't worth getting herself killed over. But she hadn't. She'd chosen to push and poke and prod, even when Juanita was bending over backwards to avoid killing her.

Elodie had chosen this, make no mistake. She hadn't taken any of the off-ramps that Juanita had given her, and when the olive branch was extended, Elodie had swung her little razor thing and sliced it to splinters.

Yeah, this wasn't like Fred. This wasn't about vengeance or even simple greed. It was about dirty tricks and selfishness. About someone who'd rather throw the key away as a final "screw you" and boot out a cripple in a snowstorm. She'd tried not to kill her. Elodie had forced her into it. It was as simple as that.

But now that it was over and Elodie was lying there, she was just so... small. Killing her wasn't brave or glorious. It was sad. Pathetic. It was weak, and it made her ashamed.

She rifled through the girl's dress pocket, and found the snowmobile key. The real one, this time. Elodie's supplies, such as they were, joined Fred's and Daniels in her bags. Juanita dumped the duffels onto the back of the snowmobile. Imagine it. Not having to carry them uphill. She could just ride, be there in a matter of minutes.

She cranked the snowmobile to life. Yeah, it'd be a cold, dark ride. But she'd get to the research station eventually.

((Juanita Reid continued elsewhere))