Thanks, Darl - Chapter 1
Thursday
They rode most of the way in silence, listening to rocks ping off the paintwork and each other’s laboured breaths, frustration simmering between them. Despite their collective years on the job, it was hard to make small talk, knowing multiple bodies were waiting at the end of their long drive.
Plus, they were pretty sick of each other after five long days in the outback.
Jay shifted and sulked in the heat, wiping his brow on the collar of his shirt so often it had turned a grimy, sweat-stained yellow. He sighed now and then as boredom got the better of him, but every time he opened his mouth to speak, he stopped himself and sagged into the seat.
Eventually, he sank back, eyes closed, head against the window, which was cracked open just enough to let in a sluggish stream of hot air.
Abby had done the same, though she spent most of the drive fidgeting and leaning forward so her back could breathe under her shirt.
The air-con had been out since before winter, but she hadn’t found the time to get it sorted. And the summer heat had come on so fast that everyone and their gran was booked up for a biannual fix at her local garage.
So she and Jay sat in the uncomfortably hot car with red dirt and dust spewing in from the windows, chugging warm water from small bottles, speaking briefly only when the radio dipped in and out. They stopped every couple of hours—or whenever they saw a servo—to stretch their legs and stock up on cool water. Not that it stayed cold for long.
The back of her car was a mess of empty plastic and crisp packets, which Abby promised herself she’d clean out after their time in Birdsville.
Fucking Birdsville.
