Hale spent several minutes moving through the abandoned cars scattered along the road, checking one after another. He popped open fuel caps, leaned inside, even rocked a few of them to see if anything sloshed in the tanks.
Nothing.
Terri watched from the passenger seat of their car. Her hands rested in her lap, fingers twisting together without her noticing.
Hale finally slammed both hands down on the hood of a rusted Subaru.
The sound made her flinch.
He stood there for a moment with his head lowered, breathing hard, before turning and walking back toward their car.
Terri's breath caught when he yanked the door open and dropped into the driver's seat, slamming it shut behind him.
He looked worse than before. More tired. More angry.
Terri stayed quiet while he rubbed his face and took a few slow breaths.
Then he turned to her.
"What the hell were you even doing?" he snapped. "Wasting that much damn gas?"
Silence filled the car.
Terri swallowed.
"I—I was—"
