The Sandbox (32 page)

Twelve klicks away, a dust devil swirls across the valley floor. The world seems to have abandoned me some time ago, or me it, and now it’s flying past so quickly I can’t keep a grip on it, can’t even keep my feet on solid ground. From this vantage, upside down from the rest of my life, the world looks a different place altogether from the one I’ve always thought it to be. Using my left arm, I grab on to the cinderblocks and pull. This effort makes the blood from my nose drip faster. Behind the twisted metal of the gate, there is a small space that might provide some shelter from the door gunner’s bullets. They thump into the sand all around me, ricocheting off the steel and concrete. It’s a small chance, but so were all the rest. I doubt I’ll see the sun rise tomorrow, but I’m not dead yet.