Green Desert - Chapter 5.2.2 - Bhanar

Séara must not have ever taken a life before. Neither had I, but I wasn’t a cop. She cried onto Pí‘oro’s chest, her body spasming with sobs.

I was getting thirsty. I had to help her, though.

Zhíno watched as I walked over to beside Séara, hunkered down, and laid my arm across her back, squeezed her shoulder. “It will be okay, Séara. Everything will be okay.”

She kept crying.

“He was about to kill me. You did your job. You saved my life. You did what you were instructed to do.”

She jerked upright, throwing my arm off her, and glared at me from less than a foot away. Her red eyes flowed angry tears down her contorted face. “I was instructed to disable a threat, not kill him. I was instructed to shoot his leg. I aimed for his leg.” She collapsed into my waiting arms and cried into my bare shoulder, her face warm and wet against my skin.

I hugged her tight, rubbed her back. “It will be okay.” Wow. She’d aimed for his leg and hit his guts. With that kind of aim, how had she ever gotten out of training? “It will be okay.”

Over Séara’s shoulder, I looked at Zhíno, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. He stared at the dirt.

Séara’s sobs quieted down to a whimper, only crying. I patted her back gently. “Let’s go sit in the shade. Rest.” We stood up, me supporting much of her weight. As we walked, I said over my shoulder, “Zhíno, bring the body.”