Green Desert - Chapter 1.3.1 - Pí‘oro

“Come on, son. Hand me the rifle.” I changed direction and hobbled toward the kid. “You just can’t go around pointing guns at every passerby. It ain’t right.”

The boy didn’t move and neither did the girl, just behind the trunk’s hood. My pajamas were completely insufficient for the coldness and the present company, even if she was still seventy meters away.

“Look, son, I don’t know what you thought you were shooting at before, but I’m certain it wasn’t that girl.”

The boy looked twitchy. My jacket lay discarded between us.

“Miss?” I called. “I’d leave if I were you. Sorry about all this.”

The girl raised her hands high and shouted, “It’s not my fault! Zhíno went nuts. I hope you’re okay.”

Wait a minute. Did she actually know what was going on?

Finally, the boy spoke. “Where is the pistol?” He had a foreign accent.

“Zhíno has it. I ditched him in town.”

Two gunmen after all. I turned for the house and shouted, “Vata! Unlock the front door.” I started back up the drive. I had to call the sheriff. If that Zhíno returned, I certainly didn’t want me or Vata caught in the crossfire. “Vata!”

We had to let the authorities handle these crazies.