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hip.
    “You’ve been shot.” She struggled to her feet and limped toward him. Her leg ached, but she was fairly sure it wasn’t broken.
    “We must leave this place.”
    “Are they dead?” Her throat closed with emotion, but she couldn’t bring herself to assist them.
    “Yes.”
    Tears burned her eyes. She and Hauke had killed two people. There would be no turning back now.
    “Do not grieve for them, Abbie. It is better than they deserved.”
    Abbie searched the area for her keys, finding them not far from where she stood. “They were human beings, Hauke. Regardless of their crime.”
    “You prefer I let them take your life?”
    “Of course not. It’s just that we cannot turn back now. I can never go home.”
    “I am sorry.”
    “We will figure all this out later. We need to move. Can you walk?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then let’s hurry.” Pain traveled up her leg with every step she took. She glanced at Hauke limping his way across the parking lot beside her. Abbie’s entire world had changed in less than an hour. How was she going to get out of this mess?
     
    * * * *
    Fire burned through Hauke’s stomach. The hole in his hip was agonizing and slow to close. A flesh wound would have healed by now, but he was bleeding from the inside. What little blood he had left was oozing from his body at a rapid rate. If he didn’t replenish soon, he’d be of no good to either of them, and Abbie would be on her own. Unacceptable.
    They arrived at a vehicle. Hauke was familiar with its purpose, but he’d never seen one up close. He had heard them referred to as cars.
    He stopped next to the contraption while Abbie stumbled around and entered from the opposite side.
    She leaned across the seat and opened his door. “Get in.”
    He lowered his big body into the cramped space, and she pulled the door shut behind him.
    Hauke watched her insert a small metal object into an equally small groove, and the seat instantly vibrated underneath him.
    She gripped a protruding lever situated between them, and the vehicle lurched back before shooting forward with a shrieking sound.
    “Put on your seatbelt.”
    He knew what a seat was. And a belt. It shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out. After a moment of struggling with it, he gave up.
    The speed with which the vehicle traveled felt exhilarating to Hauke. His eyes could barely track the lights as they flew by. At any other time, he would have loved to explore the possibilities of human transportation. Not tonight.
    He noticed how Abbie held the steering device in a white-knuckled grip while she glanced in a mirror attached to a piece of glass that made up the front of the vehicle.
    Lights from oncoming cars reflected off the tears swimming in her eyes.
    “Are you injured?” Anger boiled up inside him at the thought of her being harmed.
    She met his gaze briefly before turning back to watch the road. “Not as bad as you.”
    It enraged him that she’d been hurt at all. She was in this predicament because of him.
    “Me Paenitet.” And he meant it.
    “If it’s not English or Spanish, I’m lost.”
    “I am sorry, Abbie.”
    “It’s not your fault.”
    “Why do you cry?”
    She swiped at her cheeks with a jerky motion. “I’ve never killed anyone before.”
    “You did not take a life. The humans fired their weapons upon you. I could not allow you to die.”
    “How did you know how to use the gun?”
    “We do not use such weapons where I am from, but we possess a small number of them that we train with. In case the land walkers decide to invade us.”
    “Land walkers?”
    “The humans,” he corrected.
    They rode along in silence for some time, and Hauke felt his strength fading by the minute.
    The scent of saltwater drifted up his nose, and his stomach clenched with a craving strong enough it left him dizzy.
    “Voraginem,” he mumbled.
    She shot him a questioning look.
    “The gulf…” He tried to point but was too weak to lift his arm.
    “Yes. We are on front