Green Desert - Chapter 8.5.2 - Zhíno

I followed the bottom of the slope, fighting through the increasing number of bushes. If I could just make it past the crash site, I could circle down to the highway. Maybe even to the Kı1ímos’ house and get my car back, finally deliver the guns to Gogzhuè. Finish what I started and do something right for a change.

A light blinded me. I stopped and shielded my eyes. Two lights––flashlights. I squinted into the glare. “Who are you?” They held their lights high, overhand like . . . cops.

“Deputies Nulıpésha and Laparıpasamé of the Pívo County Sheriff’s Department. Please keep your hands where we can see them.”

Did they have their guns out? I couldn’t see. If not now, in two seconds. Run? Shoot? My time was up. I held out my hands to the sides. My jacket parted, revealing the gun tucked into my waistband.

“You got me.” If I wanted to live, I had to surrender. And I wanted to live. Only fools choose death over surrender. I could escape again, surely, if I’d already done it once. Twice if you counted last night.

The cop stepped forward on the loose terrain, her light in my face, and pulled my gun out of my shorts.

“Give me your wrists.” Emotionless voice, cold.

I held them in front of me, displaying the previous handcuffs and their broken chain. As she snapped the new cuffs on, I remarked, “A bit like déjà vu, ain’t it?”

She grabbed my elbow, tight. “Start walking.”