The Nameless Town

"Excuse me," I asked, my voice dry. "Do you know where the nearest hotel is?" She looked up at me with wide tear-filled eyes. She shook her head once before lowering her gaze to her filthy shoes. Even the briefest of looks at her face had shown me how much pain the woman was in: she was covered in cuts and bruises, some of them still oozing blood, and others that had clearly been there for days.