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The mesh platform we trod provided little protection fro around the floor I tried to avoid thinking about what it was

I’ve always prided liness in the face and survive But when I saw those frantic, thrashing chickens being dipped into a tub of water, then jolted with electric shocks—to stun theht I’d lose it I choht of birthday cakes and happy kittens to keep fro like a baby

To distract myself further, I forced myself to converse “How come it smells so bad?” I croaked

“The combination of blood, chicken fat, manure, and uric acid makes for a nice brew, doesn’t it?” Amber quipped

I flashed back to every time I’d had chicken soup when I was sick I nearly threw up in ain!

For a moment, the fumes, the lines of chickens headed toward decapitation, and ered to the wall and reached out for support My fingers touched stickiness and I yanked them back

“What the hell?” I said

“Oh, shit” Ao Rinse up and I’ll scrounge up soloves” Her voice sounded far away, muffled beneath the mask

“What was that?”

Amber’s eyes—her only visible feature above the mask—fixed on me “You don’t want to know”

I grabbed the soap and washedfive times

While Aloves, I watched the woh to ht brown skin and dark eyes, looking i autohtened birds

I felt like I was in the world’s worst sci-fi B-movie ever Like Soylent Green with chickens

But it’s okay to eat chickens, isn’t it? That’s what I kept telling myself But those poor, helpless birds …

I turned away and leaned against the sink, sing and blinking back tears I couldn’t look another minute