“Jesus,” Amy muttered sadly, shaking her head. “I’m sorry.” She nodded beyond Calliope, toward the side of the car where Eunjoo was standing, so quietly Calliope hadn’t even realized she’d gotten out of her booster seat. “Just you two get out? You and your daughter?”

“My neighbor. Her parents are missing.” She motioned for Eunjoo to join them and introduced her to Amy.

Eunjoo stared Amy up and down, like she was sizing her up, then said, “You’re coming with us, right? You’re supposed to.” Her bird’s voice insistent, pragmatic.

Amy raised her eyebrows at Calliope, who shrugged.

“Where are you heading?” Calliope asked.

“My family’s in Cruces. You?”

“My tía’s hacienda in Silver City.”

“That’s on the way,” Amy said, hopeful.

If the pumps were out of gas, could Calliope make it all the way to Tía’s hacienda? Not if she detoured for Amy. Though Las Cruces was less than two hours out of the way, and she’d rather have another woman with her on the trip, she wasn’t sure she should risk it. Maybe she could drop Amy off near Truth or Consequences, the closest town near the turnoff that would take Calliope into the Gila Mountains toward Silver City. Aloud, she said, “You can hitch a ride with us.”

“You’re a lifesaver. Last night was the scariest, loneliest of my life. And that’s saying something.” She flicked her cigarette to the ground, scuffed it out with her boot.

“Do you have anything with you? Backpack?”

“Nothing. I just jumped on the bike and took off.”

Calliope wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been thinking properly. At least she’d managed to pack. “Come on,” she said. “Hop in.” The way they all piled in made Calliope think of a road trip.

“You have any water? I’m dying.”

Calliope handed Amy the precious liter bottle she’d found at Susana’s. “Only this.”

She watched as Amy gulped the water, her mouth on the rim, drinking almost half the bottle before stopping for air.

“Slow down. I don’t know where we’ll get more.” Calliope reached out and Amy handed the bottle over, but the way she stared after it, Calliope knew she needed much more. But so did she and Eunjoo.

Amy wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Listen, I didn’t want to do this alone, after what happened at the gas station, but now that we’re together, I think it’ll be okay. We’ll break into a store or something.”

“I thought of that. I didn’t want to leave Eunjoo alone, or take her in with me. Nothing feels safe.”

“We need a plan. I’m starving. And I stopped needing to pee hours ago.”

“So did I,” Calliope admitted, driving away from Amy’s dead bike.