[ WP ] A man is facing execution , but on his way to the block , all he can think about is how shitty the executioner 's job must be .

Sanchez tossed the Snickers bar onto the cheap cotton bedding. The bed, chained to the wall, creaked as Joseph moved. 
 
 Joseph Gardner was a small man, half Japanese, half *mutt. * Something, something, European. So he took up very little room curled on the thin twin bed. He did n't have a roommate, he got the room all to himself. It let him think about the world, the tiny glass pieces of his fragmented past. 
 
 He looked up when Sanchez opened the bar, big hands pulling at the thin bars. When the candy bar landed, Joseph looked at in, surprised. 
 
 `` Might I ask what this is for?'' Joseph said, picking up the object by the folded end. 
 
 Sanchez said nothing. He closed the door and walked away. 
 
 Joseph opened the candy and took a tiny bite. His mouth exploded with chocolate job. He wanted to savor it, but could not stop himself from shoving it down his throat. He licked all his fingers and could, for almost two hours, still smell the candy on the wrapper. 
 
 That night he slept well. No nightmares. 
 
 He did n't think of Susan. 
 
 -- -- 
 
 Sanchez came back the next day empty handed. He looked through the bars and said, in his rolling accent, `` Today is the day, senor.'' 
 
 The long walk. 
 
 `` Who is...?'' Joseph asked. He could still taste the chocolate, almost like he could still feel the blood against his neck and cheek, on his hands, like soap suds. 
 
 Sanchez looked at him with dark eyes. He gave a small nod. 
 
 `` Oh.'' 
 
 -- - 
 
 On the walk to the end of the rainbow, Joseph thought for a moment about the man in the black uniform. For someone who seemed to have compassion in his blood, Sanchez sure had a limited range of facial expressions. Each step seemed to make his face tighter. 
 
 Joseph walked along like this was a stroll in the fucking park. He had made a killing on the outside taking lives. He did n't know what he could do to help Sanchez. He knew the man was hard up for cash, the Snickers must have set him back days. Maybe he did n't eat. 
 
 They were two steps from the door, alone in the empty block. It was for looks, or when the prisons were so overflowing that they needed to have people nearer to death. 
 
 Joseph stopped. His chain pulled and he almost stumbled. Sanchez looked back at him. In this space there were no cameras. No sound recording devices. In this place they could say whatever needed to be said without fear. 
 
 `` I killed them. I took money for it.'' Joseph had never admitted to his crime, though his DNA proved it well enough. Today he gave Sanchez the truth. `` I used a knife I put in the trash each time. In towns different from where the killings happened. They are deep in a dump somewhere.'' 
 
 Sanchez looked almost pitiful. 
 
 `` I want you to listen to me. The money is still hidden.'' 
 
 Sanchez leaned forward and Joseph whispered the location. 
 
 It must be hard having to kill other humans, but Joseph knew they had one thing in common. They were desperate enough for money to do anything.
