Of course, they saw Jared immediately. He was lying motionless in a large pool of blood and was difficult to miss. In a perfect world, Ken and Vivian would have dropped to their knees, unable to cope with the loss of their offspring. And, in fact, Vivian pushed past her husband and rushed toward the body. But Ken took out his gun.

Charlene jumped up, grabbed hold of the side of Gertie's cage, and pulled herself up. She tried to do this while holding onto the knife, but she dropped it and it clattered onto the floor. She hoped, even in this moment, that her friend would realize that she was not trying to use her as a human shield, but trying to take advantage of Ken's desire to keep Gertie alive. He might not risk accidentally hitting Gertie as he shot at Charlene.

It was entirely possible that Ken no longer gave a shit about Gertie, or at least didn't care in the moments after gazing at his son's bloody corpse, but Charlene had no other option.

Vivian let out a wail of such intense sorrow that Charlene was incapable of not feeling pity for her, even as she could see Ken coming toward the cage, revolver raised.

Charlene pulled herself up higher, so that her head was even with Gertie's. Now she realized that this was absolutely ridiculous. The only way Ken wouldn't be able to kill her was if he laughed so hard at her predicament that he slipped on Jared's blood and knocked himself out. Yes, there was a ninety-nine percent chance that she'd be lying on the floor with her brains scattered around her head if she'd rushed at him, or tried to throw a knife or the chair at him, but at least she would've retained some dignity.

Ken did not seem amused by her predicament. He walked around to get a good angle at which to shoot her down, so at least she'd been correct—he didn't want to kill Gertie quite yet. Charlene climbed around the cage, trying to keep Gertie between herself and Ken. This tactic would only keep her alive for a few more seconds, but she'd do what she could to make the most of them.

Vivian was on the floor, still wailing as she cradled Jared's body.

Ken kept his distance, as if worried that Charlene had a trick up her sleeve. He was still only a few feet away. It didn't matter that his arm was violently shaking. If he pulled that trigger, he wasn't going to miss.

He pulled the trigger.

Charlene cried out as the bullet tore across her left leg. He hadn't missed, but obviously he'd planned to do much more damage than this. The pain was intense but not enough to make Charlene lose her grip on the cage.

"Don't shoot her!" Vivian screamed, her voice cracking. "Make that fucking bitch suffer!"