19
Around six in the morning, we were already on the road. This time I welcomed the intoxicating mix of the guys’ scents to daze me. It was a little easier than dealing with the images that loomed behind my closed eyes.
Near Jacksonville, the cities and towns weren’t only dirty and deserted, they seemed destroyed or in ruins. My stomach tightened. Jacksonville wasn’t much different. Houses stood without roofs, buildings with broken windows and doors, trees had fallen in the middle of the streets, and parks were littered with shattered benches and destroyed playgrounds. In short, it was a mess, like the rest of the country.
When Victor stopped the car in a large abandoned parking lot, I gaped. “It can’t be here.”
He checked the business card once more. “Well, that’s the address.”
Befor
