A white pickup truck was speeding down the road, driven by Coyote, with the freckled girl, Olivia, in the passenger seat. Anna and Gao Zhiming were seated in the back, putting distance between themselves and the battlefield.
As the truck's wheels rolled over a small pebble, Gao Zhiming, who was resting his head on Anna's lap, suddenly jolted.
Anna glanced down at him, gently stroking his tear-stained cheek. Throughout the chaos, Gao Zhiming had gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep up, never once slowing them down. But now that things were calm, the memories of the dismembered bodies, the blood-sucking monsters, and the dying screams of their victims pushed his emotions to the breaking point.
Seeing Gao Zhiming instinctively curled into a fetal position, Anna felt a pang of heartache. No matter how many people he might kill in the future, at least for now, he's just a nine-year-old child. This is all still too much for him.
