Ronnie hesitated, and Linda remained quiet, but Kelly spoke up. “You can trust us,” she said. “What’s wrong?”

Amber moved to the rear of the van, and pulled the tarp back.

“Jesus,” said Linda.

Kelly and Ronnie lent Amber a hand and they lifted her friend off the truck. Milo, that was his name. He was ruined. A bloody mess. The moment they were clear of the truck, the driver put his foot down and got the hell out of there.

Kelly stepped back, her shirt smeared with blood. “What happened to him?”

“Bikers,” said Amber. “They chained him, dragged him behind them.”

“We saw bikers on our way into town,” Kelly said, like that contributed to the conversation in any meaningful way.

“Listen,” said Ronnie, “we have some basic medical training, but this … we can’t handle something like this. We need to get him to a hospital. The nearest is maybe sixty miles away.”

Amber shook her head. “We can’t leave town.”

“He won’t survive unless we—”

“If he leaves this town, they’ll kill him,” Amber said. “If you can bandage him up, please do that. All I have to do is get him to his car. I’m pretty sure it’s at the impound lot.”

“What good’ll that do?” Linda asked.

“It’s just what we need to do. Please.”

Ronnie hesitated for the briefest of moments. “Let’s put him in the van.”

Warrick got out, tied the dog to a fire hydrant, and helped them carry Milo across the street and into the van. When he was settled, Linda threw a blanket over him, then they closed the door and looked at Amber.

“I really think a hospital is the way to go here,” Linda said.

“His car,” Amber said. “We just need his car.”

“You’re the boss …”

“Thank you,” Amber said. “All of you, thank you for doing this. I’m sorry I can’t go into more detail, but …”

“You’ve got secrets,” said Kelly. “Who doesn’t?”

“Yeah, man,” said Warrick, “we don’t take this shit personally, we really don’t. We’ve been on the Dark Highway long enough to learn to respect other people’s privacy.”

Amber looked up, eyes widening slightly.

“I had a feeling you’d recognise the term. You have that look about you. The bikers – they’re part of whatever it is you’re into?”

Amber nodded. “We’ve been running from them for weeks.”

“What did you do to piss them off?” Ronnie asked.

“I’m … I’m sorry, I am, but I don’t know if I should tell you. I don’t know you and it might … It’s dangerous.”

“Danger’s our middle name,” said Warrick.

Kelly rolled her eyes, then smiled at Amber. “Warrick may be overly dramatic, but he’s not wrong. This is what we do. We travel the Dark Highway and we fight the forces of darkness.”