Summer Lane - Day One

Georgia hung her head.

“Do you understand what I’m saying, tough guy?” Elle demanded.

Jay nodded weakly, blood dribbling down his chin.

“It’s hard to believe you survived on the streets with fighting skills like that ,” Elle muttered.

“I’ve killed before,” Jay said.

“We’ve all killed someone since Day Zero,” Elle replied.

“No. I killed before .” Tears slipped down his cheeks. “The reason why I was in juvie, Elle. It’s because I killed two people.”

Elle tightened the grip on the gun.

“You were in jail because you were a murderer?” Elle said, swallowing. “You never said anything about that.”

“I didn’t tell you because I knew you would make a judgment.” Jay buried his face in his trembling hands. “Everyone assumes that I killed people because I was a bad person. Because I was on the streets. Because I looked like a killer.”

“ Were you a killer, Jay?” Elle asked, lowering her voice.

“I didn’t mean to be,” he whispered.

Elle didn’t move. She kept the gun where it was. She kept her eye on Georgia and Flash. Bravo continued to growl just enough to remind everyone that he was willing to take out a chunk of anyone’s arm if they made a move.

“There were three guys,” Jay said. “My parents… they owned a liquor shop. One night, three punks came in and tried to rob the cash box under the counter. I was working the late-night shift. They had guns. I didn’t.” He shook his head. “We fought. I got my hands on one gun. I killed two of them with it. The third guy got away.”

Elle said nothing.

Jay exhaled. “I didn’t mean to kill them,” he said. “But they were trying to kill me . They were trying to take my family’s money . It was all we had. It was everything.”

The wind kicked up again, whistling across the plain, blowing Elle’s hair back.

“You’re not a murderer, Jay,” Elle replied. “You did what you had to do to keep your family safe.” She lowered the muzzle of the gun. “You’ve got to do the same thing now. We can’t survive and we can’t protect each other if we’re fighting like this. We’ve got to stick together. And you’ve got to do what I say.” She slipped the gun into her jacket. “Do you understand?”

Nothing.

Then:

“Yeah. I get it.” Jay looked up at Elle, his face tear-stained. “I’m sorry.”

Elle shook her head.

“Get up and clean that bite,” she commanded. “Georgia? You take care of that. We’re wasting time.”

She turned away, aware of the heavy ache in her bones and the taste of blood in her mouth. She locked eyes with Georgia. The blond girl’s air of drama and sarcasm was gone. She looked very small; very frightened. Beside her, Flash shifted from foot to foot, counting under his breath.

Elle placed a hand on Flash’s shoulder.

“Are you okay, kid?” she asked.

Flash looked up at her, his eyes red and bloodshot.

“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” he said.

“Yeah,” Elle replied, grinning. “Someday, everybody dies.”

“So why do we care so much about survival now? If we’re all going to die… why do we try to stay alive?”

Elle patted his back.

“Because it’s what we do,” she said. “We survive.”

She looked to the desert.

We survive so that we can die in peace .

It started as a hum. It was faint, only a distant sound. And then it got louder, and Elle popped awake. Bravo was sitting straight up, his ears pricked forward.

“What is it, boy?” she whispered.

It was early morning. The sun had just started to rise above the distant mountains, filtering through the grainy air of the dusty desert. The hum turned into a small rumble. Elle stayed close to the ground. In the Mojave, they might be able to escape unseen if they stayed on their bellies, close to the ground and out of sight. There were shrubs and trails and a myriad of uneven surfaces to hide behind.

“What is that?” Georgia asked groggily, rolling on her stomach.

“An engine,” Elle concluded.

“A car?” Georgia looked alarmed. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I’m not.”

Jay just lay on his back, staring at the sky, silent.

“What do we do?” Flash hissed.

“We stay put,” Elle answered.

“What if it’s the Slavers?”

“Then we kill them.”

Elle was startled — shocked, almost — at how easily those words rolled off her tongue. It was such a statement of fact. A truth. If the Slavers found them, she would kill them before they took them back to Slaver territory. She wasn’t going to spend the rest of her life doing slave labor for Omega, no matter what anyone said or did.

She would die first.

Flash lowered his head, a cold, steely expression on his face. It worried Elle a little, but she didn’t question it. It was about time Flash toughened up… she just hoped it wasn’t at the expense of his humanity or personality.

“Get down, Bravo,” Elle whispered, tugging on the dog’s collar.

You know we’ve got trouble coming our way, right? Bravo looked at her. His eyes were dark and serious.

“I know,” she whispered.

Georgia gave her a confused look. Elle ignored it.

“Just stay low and don’t move, whatever you do,” Elle said.

The rumbling became slightly louder. A speck appeared on the horizon. It was moving quickly. Definitely a vehicle of some sort. An Omega patrol? A Slaver truck? Elle feared the worst. It zigzagged across the desert floor. It came closer. Elle kept her head against the dirt, peering at the moving vehicle.

It looked like a Humvee. It was painted the same muted shade of brown as the desert floor. But a Humvee could be anyone — Slaver, Omega, American… there was no guarantee that they were friendly.

The Humvee got closer. The engine broke the morning stillness of the desert. Georgia tensed. Jay inhaled sharply. It was heading their way.

“It’s going to run us over,” Flash breathed.

“Don’t move,” Elle said.

“It’s getting closer.”

“Do not move.”

“Elle…”

The Humvee was coming directly toward them. It would tear right over their bodies. The engine turned into a roar. Sweat ran down Elle’s forehead.

“MOVE!” she yelled.

They jumped up and sprinted, flinging themselves out of the path of the Humvee. The vehicle swerved and slid across the dirt, sending sprays of rock and mud into the air. It screeched past them. Elle took her gun out and shouted:

“Don’t run. They’ll be able to catch us. We have to stand our ground.”

The Humvee sat there, still. The engine rumbled, but the rear of the vehicle was the only thing she could see. There were at least three people in the cab. The passenger side opened and a man stepped out, toting a rifle. He aimed it at Elle’s head.

“Drop that gun, little girl,” he commanded.

He was wearing combat fatigues. His head was shaved, his face was wrinkled.

“I’ll drop mine if you drop yours,” Elle said, her voice loud and clear.

The man’s mouth twitched.

“I can respect that,” he replied. “But I outgun you and I outman you. See?”

Two more men got out of the vehicle, armed similarly. Jay stood next to Elle, his hands fisted. Georgia stood beside Jay, and Flash stood beside Georgia.

“We’re not looking for any trouble,” Elle said. “We’re just passing through.”

“You’re a little young to be traveling alone, aren’t you kids?” the man asked.

“Welcome to the apocalypse,” Elle replied. “Kids run wild.”