One Day in a Small-Town Desert, chapter 2, page 6

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Fírí Parızada combed her hair behind one ear with her fingers. Her other hand held tight to the steering wheel as she drove through the residential outskirts of the town of Tuhanı. Keep to the speed limit. Don’t attract attention. She’d already rolled up the side windows so the Sonla sedan would looked normal, but the rear window practically screamed of trouble. The bullet hole whistled, too.

She pursed her lips. Where was she going? Should she drive all the way back to Momíníkı? Back to the portal? Or should she abandon the auto near some small town and hitchhike from there?

Without really thinking about it, Fírí opened a dashboard compartment and pulled out Zhíno’s small cigarette box. Eyes still on the road, she one-handed a cigarette out and lit it with the dashboard lighter, sucking deeply.

As she exhaled the smoke, her thoughts coalesced. She should go back to Zhíno. He could figure this out for her. He could salvage their dream of living off the land on the arid slopes of Mount Soínıpasa.

A few more houses drifted past. Fírí unrolled the window to let the cigarette smoke escape.

Then again, Zhíno could plague everything even further and get them both arrested and thrown in prison for the rest of their lives.

Headlights approached. The truck! Fírí glanced around, looking for somewhere to hide the auto, hide herself. That driveway? Duck down?

But no, it was a large sedan--a police cruiser, by the unlit lights on top. Fírí froze, her foot feeling heavy on the fuel pedal. Would they stop her? Would they notice the broken rear window? Had anyone called in a description of her auto? Fírí’s heart lumped in her throat.

The police auto flashed by. Fírí didn’t catch what the stripe across the doors said, whether it was Colonial Enforcers or some local police. She glanced in the side mirror. They weren’t stopping, weren’t turning to chase her.

Fírí smiled tentatively. Maybe nobody had called the police. Maybe it was just a coincidence. She could only hope.

Up ahead on the left, a bright light illuminated the desert. And there, sitting in the ditch, was the truck. Stop the auto! Speed up! What should she do? She should’ve known the truck would still be here. She should’ve known she was driving into danger.

But nobody was there, unless he hid in the bushes or behind the truck. Maybe Zhíno’s victims had crawled off into the desert and were bleeding to death. She had to help them. Maybe if she showed them she was unarmed, they’d believe her offer. Maybe they’d let her atone for Zhíno’s actions.

Then again, maybye they’d just shoot her dead. But she had to give the poor victims an offer of help, or else she’d be just as evil as Zhíno.

Against her better intuition, Fírí slowed the auto.

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