Vision in Red by Sajjad Rasool - HTML preview

Vision in Red

"We're passing a settlement," Amal said, nodding to the left. Psagot. It loomed on the hill, its red roofs glowing in the sunset.

Yasmin opened the book.

"It's reacting," Yasmin said. "Look at the text."

Amal chanced a glance. The ink on the page was swirling. It wasn't forming words anymore. It was forming a map.

"It's showing the land," Yasmin whispered. "Not the settlement. The land under it."

Amal looked at the road. The streetlights were flickering as they passed. Buzz-click. Buzz-click.

"The cranes," Amal said. "Look at the cranes."

On the construction site of the settlement, three giant cranes were turning. Slowly. Synchronized.

They weren't lifting steel. They were tracking the car.

The red eyes in the cabs were glowing.

STOP... The voice pushed into Amal's head. RETURN... THE... ARCHIVE...

"They know we have it," Amal said. "The Silence. It knows a piece is missing."

She floored the accelerator. The old car shuddered, the engine whining.

"Read it!" Amal shouted. "Read a name! Any name!"

Yasmin scanned the page. "There are no names! It's just a map!"

"Find a place! A location!"

"The Well!" Yasmin shouted. "Ain al-Balad!"

SCREEEEEEEECH.

The cranes stopped turning. The red eyes blinked out.

The name of the well had blinded them.

They sped past the settlement, back into the safety of the dark, chaotic roads of the Palestinian side.

They reached the camp.

Amal parked in front of her building. She didn't go inside immediately.

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