The mist enveloped Palm Springs like a grey shroud. Jude dragged his worn boots along the cracked pavement, his empty gaze fixed on a rusty Chevrolet parked in the distance. The heavy air clung to his clammy skin. A sizzling neon light pierced the darkness, casting dancing shadows across his sunken face. The heavy silence was broken only by the distant sound of a siren, muffled by the thick fog.