Chapter 67 Hours Without A Signal

• The old car pushed through the forest without headlights for the first few minutes, relying only on the moonlight that fell thinly between the trees. Darto drove with one hand, his bleeding left shoulder bound crudely with a strip of tablecloth, and now and then he glanced at the rearview mirror like someone who had counted too many times who might be following.
• In the back seat, Arkan sat with Wilhelmina leaning on his shoulder. The oxygen mask covered half of her face, and a thin mist appeared and vanished on the inside of the clear plastic each time she exhaled. Her eyes were closed, but Arkan knew she wasn't asleep. Her finger moved now and then, tapping her knee in an irregular rhythm, like someone counting in her head.
• On Arkan's lap lay the small box of baby photographs. Darto had rescued it from the table before they left the house, saying nothing, only handing it over with a brief nod. Arkan opened the lid with one hand and tilted it toward the moonlight. A baby in a blanket, eyes wide open and calm, gazing at the camera as if not understanding why the world was so noisy. Behind it, a young girl laughing with the same face as the fragile woman beside him, only without the wrinkles, without the shadows.