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“I’ll carry it.” I took in the shattered glass and deep divots in the grass. “Why don’t you two get the tools, and I’ll move the bodies off the road?”

Ava pressed a button on the boot, and the lid started to lift before it caught partway on the raised dirt and stopped. The opening gave her just enough room to reach in and pass the nail gun and axe out to Kirby.

She took the pickaxe for herself and locked the car.

I hooked each of the bodies under the arms and dragged them off the road, my eyes averted from the damage I’d done to the girl’s head.

We left the car in the ditch, and Kirby handed me the nail gun. The three of us headed along the right side of the road, Ava in the middle, and Kirby closest to the gravel edge.

Everywhere around us, trees and farmland spread as far as I could see. Sheep grazed in the nearest paddock, and the few closest to the fence lifted their heads, moving away when they clocked our presence.

Sunlight bathed the road, and a kookaburra cackled from a power line up ahead.

“Are you good?” I asked Ava.

She kept her attention on the road. “Mostly. Just annoyed. I’m the reason we’re walking.”

That made two of us, but hearing her say it took some of the edge off my irritation.

Kirby’s boots crunched along the gravel shoulder. “If it helps, we’d all be dead in the ditch if I’d been driving,” she said. “Or wrapped around a tree. I used to take public transport everywhere.”

“It helps,” I said. “Now I know never to hand you the keys.”

Ava didn’t answer, but her mouth lifted on one side.

We kept moving, settling into a steady rhythm. A comfortable silence wrapped around us, and each time the wind picked up, it carried the sickly scent of death.

We were halfway to the house when the sound hit. An engine coming from behind us.

Kirby spun around. “Do we want help?”

Ava blew out a breath. “I don’t love the idea of walking all the way to the farmhouse just to be disappointed, but I’m not excited about jumping into someone’s car either.”

Kirby lifted her brows. “So, now would be a good time to revisit the idea of a carjacking, yes?”

I moved off the road and into the damp grass with the two of them, facing the direction we’d just come from. “Why don’t we see what we’re up against before we resort to violence?”

Seconds later, the car crested the slight rise and came into view—a silver SUV with the parking lights on. The low hum of tyres grew louder, tiny stones flicking out from under the wheels as it approached.

My grip loosened on the nail gun so I wouldn’t come off threatening, but the car didn’t slow.

A man sat behind the wheel with a woman beside him, the back seat crammed with their belongings. As they passed, he took in my weapon and the pickaxe swinging at Ava’s side.

A wall of wind swished Kirby’s purple hair. “That wasn’t very neighbourly.”

“We’re not stopping for anyone either,” I reminded her.

“I guess that’s our karma.” With a tight smile, Ava stepped from the grass onto the road, her steps quickening. “Let’s just get to the farm.”

The closer we got to the property, the more the farmhouse came into view. I could just make out a wraparound verandah and a couple of vehicles. Huge sheds took up the space behind the main building, and nothing moved outside.

As we reached the driveway, a second car passed by, only we didn’t bother waiting to see if they’d help.

The driver gave us the same long assessment before leaving us in their rearview, nothing but their exhaust fumes to remember them by.

Ava sighed. “So we’re on our own, then.”

“Hey, I’m still here,” Kirby said, “and lucky for you, I’m the gift that keeps on giving.”