Bhikkhuni v. Biochemist

The Bhikkhuni prays over the dead. She prays over the bones on the pyre and prays over the eaten and half-eaten bodies by the fence.

She returns to the oak. She looks at the design of the bell drawn at the bottom of the List of the Dead. She flips the List. On the reverse, a grocery receipt:

COSMO'S ARTICHOKE HEARTS $1.29
APPLGT P/S HAM ANTIBIOTIC-FREE $6.49
VERMONT OG MULTI GRN BR $4.19
APPLE, ROYAL GALA (weighed) $3.13
etc.

Her first thought is that the prices seem high. Her second thought: who buys artichoke hearts?

She turns the receipt over and, reading the list, awakens to its purpose. She writes Bellmaker, Bhikkhuni, Bhikkhu. Then she folds the list, places it beneath the Artist's box of matches and the Bellmaker's deck of cards, next to the pistols, and takes to tidying the area.

The Biochemist arrives, dressed in a coat and dark slacks and a black thick-knit turtleneck sweater. Her face is closed, chin predominant and cleft, nose long and sharp, eyes drooping. A spindly, awkward figure. She wears a wedding band.

When she meets the Bhikkhuni she bows slightly, glances at the pistols, then at the Bhikkhuni.

The Bhikkhuni conscripts the Biochemist. Together they move the body of the Bellmaker beside the pyre. The Biochemist, a curious woman, walks to the eaten and half-eaten bodies by the fence. The crows scatter, alighting on the wire fence nearby. The rats squeak and worm away through the tall grass. She kneels over the body of the Bacteriologist. Mostly disfigured and torn, but her pink jacket and russet hair make their mark.

Oh, she says. She calls the Bhikkhuni over. The Biochemist explains that they had worked together at the university. The Biochemist offered advice on the Bacteriologist's post-doc paper regarding the viral-induced manufacture of spider pheromones. As she says this, a large spider crawls over the Biochemist's face, and into her black and gaping mouth.

They return to the oak and select their pistols. They take the field, standing ten paces apart.

They raise their guns. Their guns go off.