"But it's an unused road," Silas argued, taking the phone from Salvar's hand and pinching the screen to zoom in on the navigation. The thin line that represented the forest route wavered slightly, as if the map itself was uncertain whether the road actually existed. "What if it ends up turning forty minutes into three hours? What if it's blocked? What if there's a fallen tree, or a washed out bridge, or something else that the satellite imagery didn't catch because no one has bothered to update it in five years?"
"Shut it," Salvar said, waving his hand dismissively without looking away from the building traffic ahead of them. The line of red brake lights stretched into the distance like a wound that wouldn't stop bleeding. "Don't jinx it. Don't you know the basic principle of survival? You try things until you make it. You don't sit in traffic calculating the odds while your assistant gets murdered in a hospital bed."
