Green Desert - Chapter 6.2.3 - Bhanar

The explosion still rang in my ears when somebody shook my shoulder and asked, “Are you okay?”

I lifted my head, opened my eyes. Séara crouched beside me, her hair turned ginger with dust, her face smeared clean.

“Yeah, I think so.” I looked around. Light smoke and dust hung in the still air. “What happened?”

The cute cop stood. “I’m going to find out.” She trotted toward the hulk of the helicopter, running past Umo and his friend without hesitation.

The main part of the helicopter lay on its side, mostly in one piece by the looks of it. But I could only see the bottom from my angle. Séara disappeared around the front. If it was a sheriff’s helicopter, she probably knew the people inside it.

I stood up to go help her. But something felt wrong. Something was missing. I still had my shorts, my gun, my hair. I glanced around. Pí‘oro’s body lay still, covered with a thin coating of sand, a chunk of metal protruding from his skull. I did another go-over of my body to make sure I wasn’t hit, too.

And then it dawned on me: Zhíno had disappeared. How far did he really think he could go, naked and handcuffed? I wanted to go after him, hunt the murderer down. But I had to help Séara with the cops. I turned for the helicopter.