The next village

A couple hours of driving brought us to a small village that hadn’t been picked over yet. We unloaded the water and food together. The headwoman paid me in barter—mostly copper wire and salvageable metal. We ate a hot meal there before heading back to the truck for the night. The village walls would keep bandits off our backs.

When I came back into the living area, the girls had already laid out their blankets. Lena and Rina had tucked themselves into far corners of the compartment. Mira had placed her bedroll near my foldout bunk. I slid into my own blankets.

Mira smoothed her thin blanket beside my bunk, then checked the door latch before settling. In her corner, Lena hugged a pillow and gave a drowsy wave toward the cockpit before her eyes closed. Rina stayed sitting up a while longer, listening to the truck’s idle hum before finally lying back, her gaze fixed on the riveted ceiling.

Once the engine settled into its lowest vibration, Mira sat up. She watched me a moment in the near-dark, then crawled quietly across the floor and knelt beside my bunk. “Thank you for today,” she said softly. “The food. The shelter.” She paused, her voice barely carrying. “Is there anything you need from me tonight? Before we sleep?”