He sat there in the dark waiting for the shadows to approach him as he smoked another cigarette. The tobacco on fire burned his lungs yet soothed his pain for a while. It turned his heart numb and cold.
He looked ahead as the first shadow came and touched his neck. The hair on his back stood up as he saw the shadow vanishing in front of his eyes. Then came another and another.
He witnessed the last glimpses of hope die before the cigarette could end.