Kimi drove all the way across the state and by the time she pulled into Sidney in her mom’s beater Ford pickup, it was nearly 9:00 P.M. Outside of town, the endless darkness was illuminated only by tongues of fire l*****g at the stars, flames from fracking burn-off.
On the seven-hour drive, Kimi had sped by fields of corn, soy, and wheat, drooping in spite of constant irrigation. She’d passed out of the mountains and into the plains. She knew she was getting close to Sidney when crops gave way to fields of sand silos, water tanks, and shale rigs. Fracking equipment dominated the once peaceful prairie. Instead of the snaking wagon trains of the Old West, now a snarled jam of trucks made it difficult to drive through town. The shiny King Ranch in front of her had a bumper sticker that read
