Many of the older men were visibly excited, especially when they saw the lumber axe in Wood's hand. Their blood seemed to boil in that moment. Whether seated or lying down, everyone stood up and gathered around him. They said nothing, simply surrounding Wood in silence, looking at him with eyes full of trust and admiration.
In that moment, Wood felt something he had almost forgotten during his "gentlemanly life"—a feeling of pure power!
"Boss, what do we do now?" asked Jim, a short, stocky man wearing a brown waistcoat. His belly looked as if it were stuffed with a bag of flour, and a greasy sheen of sweat covered his bald head. Jim was once one of Wood's most relied-upon subordinates and was known in the city of Ternell as "The Meat Grinder."
Jim now ran a pet store, dealing primarily in pet food and fierce dogs.
