Summer Lane - Day One

She could do this. It would be a piece of cake.

All of those gymnastics competitions and rock-climbing lessons would come in handy.

Thanks for forcing me to be social, Mom , Elle thought sadly.

She picked up a coil of black rope that she had salvaged long ago and kept in her pack. She slung it over her head and across her chest. She had shoved a pair of wire-cutters into the pocket of her cargo pants, a small tool she had picked up long ago in the city. Her katana was strapped across her back, and the Smith and Wesson was secured in her waistband. She had ten shots in the magazine — only ten. Hardly enough to stave off a Slaver army, but it would have to suffice.

Elle found hand and footholds in the side of the rock and began climbing. It was slow, careful work. She didn’t have much light to work with, so she had to take her time. One misstep could send her down the cliff. She pulled herself up, balancing on her toes. She climbed up the far side of the rock, away from the direct view of the Slavers in the lower encampment.

You’re practically there , Elle told herself. You can do this!

She had climbed many buildings in Hollywood after the EMP — when Day Zero had turned the city into an urban jungle. She scaled walls, drain pipes and boardwalks. She was fast and quick, light on her feet. It had kept her alive.

Her fingers were freezing tonight. Elle struggled to maintain a grip on the slick, gravelly granite rock. She glanced down. The forest floor spun beneath her, a hundred feet below. She inhaled quickly and closed her eyes.

“Don’t look down,” she muttered.

Looking down could distract her.

She kept climbing, resting when the muscles in her arms burned. She found a large crevice in the rock and wedged herself into the crack, placing the bulk of her body weight on her legs, letting her arms hang loose for a moment.

Pace yourself , she thought. That’s another thing Mom had always said. Pace yourself and you won’t get so tired at the end of the game .

Sure, Dad had been the one who paid for all of Elle’s gymnastics and climbing classes… but it was Mom who came to every competition and encouraged her.

Okay, keep going , Elle reminded herself. This is not a game. This is real .

Halfway up the rock. There was no turning back now. She had to go through with this. Her heart raced, fear sending pulses of electricity through her body. One wrong move could end everything.

A gust of fresh, cold wind swept over the rock face, blowing strands of hair into Elle’s eyes. She shook them off, her fingers cramping in the cold weather. She pulled herself up to the next handhold, jammed her foot into a supporting crack, and moved higher.

The climb went slow. At last, she reached the top of the cliff. She paused… waiting. There were faint voices, and she knew that she would have to do this quickly. The granite summit had a shelf of earth and grass. Manzanita bushes grew on the edge of the cliff. Elle pulled herself up, level with the ground, peering through the bushes, her legs a hundred and fifty feet above the road below.

By the time she reached the top, her arms ached. She felt deprived of oxygen. Or maybe she was just anxious. She didn’t care. She tied the rope around the base of a small tree, keeping low. She dropped the rest of the rope over the side of the cliff. It fell almost to the bottom.

Her next item of business was the corral. She could see Jay sitting with his knees against his chest inside the barbed wire fencing. He looked cold and hungry. Dark hollow rings had sunk into his skin, beneath his eyes.

“Jay,” she said, low.

He looked up.

His face was one of utter disbelief.

“Elle?”

Elle gestured for him to be silent. She clipped through the barbed wire one piece at a time, balancing on the balls of her feet, keeping her head down. The wire was tough. Her hands ached from forcing the blades through the metal. The guards roamed between the fencing, masked shadows of the night.

Elle was determined to escape unnoticed.

“You’re here?” Jay rasped. “That’s impossible! How the hell could you possibly find us here?”

“Shut up!” she hissed, casting a wary glance over her shoulder. Nothing but bushes and a sheer cliff were behind her, but everywhere else was danger. She clipped through the last piece of wiring.

“Come on, move,” she whispered.

Jay stared at her, shocked. It was as if his brain wouldn’t process the fact that Elle was crouched before him, offering him a route to freedom. Elle reached through the slice of fencing and grabbed his collar.

“ Move! ” she commanded. “We will all die if you don’t get it together!”

Jay blinked. Something shifted in his eyes, and suddenly he was moving, slipping through the crack. He was weak, dehydrated and starved, by the looks of it. He struggled to get out, holding his head in his hands.

Most of the prisoners were asleep. Flash was lying in the dirt with his eyes closed. Georgia’s arm was around his small shoulders in a protective position, trying to shield him from the chill. Elle crawled into the corral, keeping her belly to the dirt, her head down. She slowly shook Georgia’s shoulders. The girl didn’t stir. She was probably used to being jostled and poked in living quarters like these.

“Georgia,” Elle whispered. “Wake up. Come on. We’re on a schedule.”

Georgia stirred, opening her bleary eyes.

She focused on Elle’s face, gasping with surprise. Elle slapped her hand over her mouth, pressing her palm against Georgia’s lips.

“Shhh,” she said. “Get Flash. Just move.”

Georgia hesitated for only a moment, getting a bearing on her surroundings, then gently woke Flash. Elle crawled out of the corral, Georgia and Flash following. They remained silent, staring at Elle like she was a ghost. Georgia touched Elle’s arm, as if trying to convince herself that the girl was real.

“You have to trust me for this next part,” Elle whispered.

She stayed low, gesturing for them to follow. She returned to the cliff, showing them the rope. “Use this,” she explained. “Climb down. Move fast. Be quiet .” Georgia stared at the rope.

“I can’t… no way. That’s a huge cliff. That’s a freaking mile!” She looked up, frantically gripping the ground. “No, Elle. There’s got to be another way.”

“Sure, you can go back through the camp and get killed by the guards,” Elle replied. “Seriously. Climb. It’s only a little over a hundred feet. Wrap the rope between your legs and over your shoulder. The friction will burn, but it will get you down to the bottom.”

“I’m going,” Jay said.

He didn’t wait for anyone’s response. He grabbed the rope, secured it over his shoulder and between his legs, slid his body down, and began descending, slipping below the encampment, using the rope as a way to steady himself. Elle peeked her head over the edge of the cliff, watching the shadow of his body get farther and farther away.

“Your turn, Flash,” Elle commanded.

Flash swallowed. His hands trembled. He was sweating.

“Don’t look back,” Elle warned. “Stay focused on what you’re doing, do you understand?”

Flash nodded.

“You’re going to be fine, I promise,” she said. “Go.”

Flash slowly lowered himself down to the granite shelf and took hold of the rope, using it to guide himself down the rock face. Jay was moving quickly. He was already halfway to the bottom. Good.

“Georgia?” Elle asked.

Georgia looked her with wide, glassy eyes.

“I can’t,” she said. “I just can’t.”

“Then you’re staying behind,” Elle stated, her voice firm. “Because I didn’t come all this way to get caught by Slavers.”