Clutching the truck’s cargo tray, he dragged himself to the rear of the vehicle, its uncrumpled end. Slumping to the ground, he calmed his breathing and heart. He felt his pulse – it was low. His blood pressure was probably the same, which likely explained the issues with balance. His hands and feet felt cold, slightly numb. The early stages of shock, he reasoned. Unwanted, but nothing to fear.

The sound of a low-rumbling, fast-revving engine punctured the outback silence. Manolis fixed his eyes on the western horizon, squinting into the drooping orange sun, and saw a vehicle approaching at a dangerously rapid pace. It was driving erratically, following in his chaotically laid tyre tracks, and itself coming close to losing control in a skidding, sideswiping heap.

The vehicle continued to accelerate. For a panicked moment, Manolis wondered if its driver planned to stop at all. He briefly considered his options, which included crawling back to the truck and sheltering in the driver’s seat or climbing up the same tree that had been his own undoing.

But the car did ultimately stop, braking at the last second only metres from where Manolis sat. The fallout enshrouded him in a thick cloud of bulldust and made him cough through several seconds of suffocating air. When the haze finally cleared, he wiped his eyes and peered into the fierce light.

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

KERR SPRANG FROM the Holden ute and ran to his aid. Her face was ghost white.

‘Jesus,’ she stammered. ‘Are you okay?’

She crouched, gripping Manolis’s shoulders warmly, running her panicked eyes all over him. He took some time to reply, her words settling into his adrenaline-soaked brain. When he spoke, it was as if his utterances had been dredged from some muddy depth.

‘I’ll… be fine,’ he breathed. ‘It’s just shock, minor shock.’ He spoke in a small voice. Wincing at a pain in his side, he added, in an even smaller voice, ‘Maybe a rib or two.’

‘Shit. Your knees.’

Looking down at his legs, he saw waterfalls of deep red streaming the length of his shins. He looked up again, finding relief in Kerr’s sea-green eyes.

‘They’re just cuts, no damage,’ he said.

She leant in, tore his already ripped shirtsleeve, and wiped his outstretched legs clean. ‘What happened? Was it roos?’

‘Yes and no. What are you doing here?’

‘I ran into Sparrow – he said you went to the detention centre this morning for questioning, so I came to check on you.’

‘Oh. Right. Thank you.’

‘Did a roo jump in the way of your car? I saw a mob in the grass back there. I swear, those animals are the devil.’ She went on to describe a bloke she once found dead after rolling his vehicle. ‘A roo had smashed through the windscreen, before panicking in the confined space and kicking him to death.’

Manolis waited until she finished fussing and met her gaze.