Green Desert - Chapter 7.3.2 - Zhíno

A bright light lit up the horizon ahead of me. One of the moons rising, the bigger one. But no. Twin cones cut through the air above the desert brush. Headlights. A road. I was near a road. I crouched down behind a thick bush. A car engine whined.

Okay. Now what? Wave down a car? I glanced down. Wearing nothing but handcuff bracelets and a bunch of dirt?

“Think, you idiot, think.” I’d been kidnapped. Simple. Sort of true. I just had to act frightened.

I stood up and started running towards the headlights. “Help! Help! Please help me!”

I got close and the lights blinded me. But I approached at an angle and I quickly saw this wasn’t a highway. It was a dirt road, partially overgrown.

And that was a police car.

“Aw, fuck.”

A policeman, tall and blond, stood up from behind the cruiser, his hands on the trunk. He tilted his head sideways, surprised to see me.

I took a step backwards.

“Hold it right there.”

The engine cranked up, spraying sand with the back tires.

The patrolman slapped the trunk. “Stop! Stop!”

The engine returned to idle.

I stepped back again.

The patrolman pulled out his gun and I dove behind a bush. He fired. The bang rattled in my head as I scrambled on all fours, searching for better cover.