They park and jump out. Klara turns around and looks at Jacob. He’s tall and skinny with blonde hair and soft, almost fragile features. He looks a bit angular, with his high cheekbones and straight nose. But he’s not ugly; on the contrary, there’s something appealing, almost beautiful about his face. He also looks exhausted. Heavy bags under his eyes, a cracked lip covered by an ugly, black scab. His eyes are bloodshot and tired.

‘You need to sleep,’ she says, putting a hand on his shoulder. ‘We’ll just have to make sure you do. But first we have to get a ride.’

She turns to George. ‘Take Jacob to the restaurant and get him some food. But be quick. I’ll be back soon.’

George’s eyes turn warm. ‘You’ve made a comeback from your panic attack. Shifted to a whole other gear.’

He winks and turns to Jacob. ‘Come on. Let’s go get a burger or something.’

Klara heads for the gas station, walks in between the candy and sodas and car accessories. George is right. She hasn’t even thought about it, but she feels like a different person today. She’s full of energy and ideas despite this awful chaos. It’s pointless to analyze it, better just to use it while it lasts.

At the checkout counter, she finds what she’s looking for. ‘I want one of those prepaid phones,’ she says. ‘Does it include Internet?’

The man nods tiredly and puts it in a bag. ‘One gigabyte anywhere in Europe,’ he says. ‘199 euros, please.’

Klara pays. And when she steps out into the rain to go to the restaurant, she hears the helicopter blades clearly. ‘Fuck,’ she murmurs to herself as she starts to run across the parking lot. She’d hoped they’d have a few minutes. They’re so close now.

George and Jacob are standing inside the door waiting, paper bags in their hands.

‘We’re in a big hurry,’ Klara tells them. ‘Get moving. The helicopter will be here soon.’

‘Where?’ Jacob asks in panic. ‘We don’t have anywhere to go.’

Klara’s already opened the door. ‘I said I’d take care of it,’ she says. ‘Come on!’

As George and Jacob rush behind her towards the trucks, they hear the sirens getting closer.

‘Klara!’ George shouts. ‘What the hell is going on?’

But Klara is already stopped in front of a huge, modern semi with Polish plates.

The rain is pouring down now, big heavy drops. The door of the truck opens from the inside, and she jumps into the cab as George and Jacob catch up to her. They hear her say in English, ‘Thank you so very much, you don’t know what it means to us. We’ll have to get the car towed tomorrow.’