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“It’s awful,” she said, “all of this, but we’ll get through it together.”

I cupped the back of her neck and gave her a quick kiss. As I settled behind the wheel, she went around the front bumper and jumped in beside me.

With our seatbelts secured, I fired up the engine, and Ava got to work keying the address into the navigation system.

Cold air flowed through the vents, gradually warming as the car idled.

I wrapped my hands around the wheel and stared at the empty road ahead.

An hour-and-a-half. Maybe less if we could avoid roadblocks.

As the GPS calculated the route, I pressed my foot on the accelerator and took off.

With the industrial buildings far behind us, our world expanded. Open paddocks. Machinery sheds. We passed a few sheep and an empty tow truck bogged at the roadside.

Tim’s head still rested on Varesh’s knee, his eyes closed. Whether he was asleep or conserving energy, I couldn’t tell.

“How many times have you checked on him now?” Ava asked, her tone gentle.

“Can’t help it.” My eyes flicked to the mirror again. “I’m not used to the quiet.”

“Maybe he’s thinking up new jokes.”

I tried to smile, but somewhere along the way, I’d stopped holding out hope he’d get better. Whenever I thought about what was coming, my gut wound tighter.

Mist hovered over the low-lying ground, and dew dripped from wire fences, droplets catching the sunlight as it forced its way through the cracks in the clouds.

The road took us through rolling hills scattered with gum trees, trunks silhouetted against the brightening morning.

For the first time since dropping Kirby off with her parents, we had room to breathe. Options. Gravel side roads led off the main bitumen route, and no dead roamed in the area. A car travelled far ahead of us, its tail lights glowing each time it took a bend.

“God, this feels so… normal.” Ava rested her elbow on the door, head in hand as the countryside passed by. “It’s so pretty. I wish we could enjoy it.”

A ute approached in the opposite direction, the tray loaded with fencing wire and tools. The driver lifted two fingers off the steering wheel, and I returned the wave as we crossed paths.

Ava watched the ute disappear in the side mirror. “I wonder where he’s going. Hopefully not all the way to the crash.”

“At least he can turn around, coming at it from this direction.”

Tim hadn’t moved in the back, his mouth slightly open, lips dry. The feverish colour in his cheeks had faded now, leaving only pale, greying skin behind.

Varesh caught me looking and gave the smallest nod.

Still breathing.

The last time his eyes were open, the whites were bloodshot, just like the woman in the SUV.

Keeping my attention on the road, I rested my hand on the console and turned it over in invitation. Ava slipped her fingers across mine, and I squeezed her hand, brushing my thumb across her knuckles.

“I’m seeing Sadie…” She checked the display screen. “In twenty-four minutes.”

“Less, if we can.”

Hopefully, Tim could stay with us.

As if he’d heard me thinking about him, he shifted in the back and let out a groan. “How far now?” He cracked one eye open and even mustered a smile.

“Not long,” I said. “Thought you were asleep.”