They reached the park and stepped out of the pale light of the lamps. The girl’s posture changed; she moved differently. Her purpose of movement became absolute. Quick steps that found the silent spots on the ground. Her torso bent forward slightly, always ready for a sudden change of direction. She was a hunter now.

In the distance dogs were sniffing the ground, searching for the optimal spot to urinate. Some people conversed in hushed tones, smoking cigarettes. There were many dog owners out that night; like a herd they gathered around the bust of some forgotten state official in the middle of the park. Nikolett gestured for Zoltán to squat down. She threw herself behind a bush a good distance away from the dog owners. They couldn’t be seen from where the dog owners were standing, but they could always be spotted by other owners who were patrolling the park. Danger was everywhere.

They waited in the darkness.

Zoltán’s heart raced, his muscles ached from so much tension. He felt an urgent need to piss or else his bladder would burst. He envied the dogs who could go about pissing freely, not minding anyone.

Two dogs walked past the bush, but Nikolett ignored them. Zoltán let things run their own course, like in a fever dream. He was sweating under his clothes, and he knew he smelled of fear.

He wanted to run away, but his legs were made of rubber. He wanted to howl, but he was too terrified. It seemed to him that hours, maybe days, passed before the right dog showed up.

Even in the dark he could see that something about Nikolett’s posture had changed. She had found her prey and was about to attack. Zoltán thought it would be like seeing someone die. His girlfriend would soon jump out of the bush and, like an animal, start to wrestle with the dog. How could something like that be forgotten, how could he keep going after seeing the struggle?

But what actually happened was in many ways even worse than this.

Nikolett stood straight up behind the bush; she didn’t care about being seen. Her figure seemed enormous, and Zoltán understood now what she was talking about before. Nikolett seemed larger than herself, larger than her physical form. This was the strength that was missing from others, this was the force that neither the police nor the militia could control anymore. They preferred to control things smaller than themselves elsewhere, because they were too cowardly to face the world their absence had created.

The girl didn’t move, she just stood watching the dog. The dog, a Labrador that looked gray in the dark, stopped mid-movement. It felt a predator’s gaze on it.