The Loop

By Dana Vickerson

FIVE

Ellie swallows down bile and tries to take deep breaths so her contractions will subside. The brash metallic scent of blood fills the sleek hover car’s interior. Outside the huge domed windshield, the barren West Texas landscape goes by in a blur.

Another violent shudder pushes down her spine and into her pelvis, and for a moment, Ellie thinks she might pass out.

She can’t let herself.

The twisted tower of cacti is up ahead, and Ellie knows in a few minutes they’ll pass the slanted gas station, and she’ll have to do this all again.