The topographer Malek accepts a job in a region of western Algeria. One day, Malek discovers a young woman hiding in a corner of the Saharan hut. She’s an African woman and won’t give her name. Lakhdar, Malek’s friend, arrives at the site, to find that both she and Malek have disappeared. At first, the two runaways head north, towards the Moroccan frontier which is the route to reach the Spanish enclave of Melilla. But the young woman doesn’t want to flee to Europe; she’s exhausted and wants to return home. With her finger, she traces the itinerary on Malek’s maps, an interminable diagonal towards the southeast, the route toTchad – towards the desert, towards a point ofmutual disappearance.