The Participants Read Online Free PDF

flatter your pride. All I
see is stupidity.”
    Elza knelt to relieve her shaky legs. “As
for me, I see a coward.” The pity in his eyes burned her. “Get away
from me. You are interfering with my observations.”
    Hess returned to his rock on the other side
of the camp. She intended to glare at him for the remainder of the
daylight, but hunger and lack of sleep conspired against her. Her
eyes drifted closed.

Chapter 7 – Zack / Iteration 144
    One day after the incident, a reporter from a
Pittsburgh station came to the convenience store. Zack spoke to her
briefly, explaining the video was a prank by some of his coworkers.
The reporter asked him if he believed in miracles, Zack told her he
wasn't religious, and she went on her way.
    That same day, Kelly called him into her
office so the store's owner could yell at him over the phone for
escalating the situation with the robbers. Zack insisted he didn't
think the man would shoot, apologized for making the gas station
look bad, and begged to keep his job. The owner berated him for
fifteen minutes before conceding Zack could keep his job.
    Maggie didn't show for her shift and Zack
learned later that she had quit. Kelly, never close to him, now
spoke to him only when necessary. The other employees watched him
constantly when they shared shifts. Many of the customers
recognized him from the news and had questions or wanted to make
comments. It tainted his observations and distracted him at the
same time.
    Zack decided he would give things two weeks
to settle down. If he was still being scrutinized at the end of
that time, he would get a job somewhere else. Provided he could
find the energy.
    For three days following the shooting, Zack
went nowhere but work and home, skipping his customary trips to the
library for internet access. He skipped the nightly news as well.
He spent the time freed up from those activities laying in bed,
staring at the ceiling and forcing his mind to stillness.
    The fourth day, a Saturday, he wasn't
scheduled to work. Zack spent the day with his wife, preparing the
second bedroom of his trailer for a baby that was not his. The jobs
Lacey assigned him were assembling a crib and changing table while
she organized baby clothes, baby toys, and two hospital bags – one
for her and one for the baby.
    She prattled about the prices of everything
until Zack made a throw-away comment about the cost of paying for
college some day. That idea took hold in Lacey's mind and she
insisted they immediately stock up on children's books. When they
finished book shopping, Zack listened to Lacey's plans for the
delivery. He rewarded Lacey for her productivity by ordering a
pizza that stretched their budget more than was prudent, then was
receptive to her advances later that night.
    The fifth day, Sunday, his shift started at
five in the morning. Zack worked the deli counter and watched the
customers without any great interest, pondering happiness. Not the
fleeting happiness that briefly accompanied success. The other
kind. The kind that appeared when it shouldn't. In an elderly man
whose every proud step brought pain. In a shy, obese woman who
gambled away two dollars every morning at the lottery machine only
to declare tomorrow must be her lucky day. In a long-haul trucker
who announced he was single after catching his wife in the act.
    As tempting as it was to diagnose these
individuals with stupidity, Zack resisted the urge. They were
functioning adults. They understood the circumstances of their own
lives. Were they delusional? Did they intentionally lie to
themselves in exchange for the taste of happiness? Zack gained no
insight into the enigma despite devoting the entire morning to its
consideration.
    The arrival of a voluptuous blonde
interrupted Zack's thoughts. Something caught his attention the
moment she crossed the threshold. He studied her appearance and her
mannerisms as she perused the shelves. The woman wore fashionable
off-brand clothing, a conservative