Green Desert - Chapter 8.3.3 - Bhanar

Sturdy hands held my shoulders, pulled me away from the open doorway and the whistling air. I pulled the scratchy blanket tight around me and watched the desert fly past.

Zhíno escaped. We left him back there, free. Umo dead, Lango probably too. And the cops who’d forced Zhíno to double back. All dead. All because of that ugly bastard. That bastard who shouldn’t live to see the light of day, but would. He’d escape, steal a car, and disappear into the night. No one would ever see him again.

The helicopter stopped its forward motion and hovered, turned ninety degrees. In its spotlight, I clearly saw the wreckage of the police helicopter, twisted and destroyed. Beside it, four prone bodies and one standing man, the only one reacting to the blown sand.

The ground rose up to meet us, settling gently under the skids. Clumps of brush blocked my view of the crash site. The paramedics jumped out, stretchers in hand. They, too, disappeared. The helicopter blades slowed.

Zhíno. I had to convince them to go after Zhíno. Now that we had cops. . . I frowned. I hadn’t seen Séara. She wasn’t one of the dead, surely? How’d she die? Zhíno hadn’t had time to sneak back. More mobsters? I drew in deep breaths, struggling to control myself. Even if Séara was dead, I head to get Zhíno––even more so, now. Like Zhíanoso said: Act like the emperor. Calm under pressure. Keep your head. Be a man.