Summer Lane - Day One

Elle pulled herself out of the conversation behind her.

“Who?” she said.

“Lieutenant Danes,” Jay replied. “What did he say when you talked to him?”

“Oh, that.” Elle shrugged. “He said we could stay… for now.”

“What else did he say?”

“That’s about it, actually.” Elle didn’t tell them about Nathan Ingalls. For some reason, she didn’t think they needed to know. “As long as we keep our heads down and behave, they’ll let us stay.”

“But not forever. They can’t just feed hundreds of people every day indefinitely,” Georgia pointed out, smoothing her curly hair. “They’ve got to kick people out at some point.”

“People here have jobs,” Elle said, nodding toward the guards at the doors. “People contribute to the cause, and they get a place to stay and food to eat. It’s not a bad system.”

“So if we want to stay we’re going to have to work,” Flash replied.

“Yes, which is completely fair.”

“Totally.” Georgia smirked. “I’ve never had an honest job before.”

“Speak for yourself, blondie,” Jay cracked. “I’ve had lots of jobs.”

“Yeah? Name one.”

“My parent’s liquor store. I ran that in high school.” Jay swallowed his food, then suddenly stopped talking.

She understood that. She knew that pain.

“…There’s a lot of colorful characters with the militias, too.” Elle tuned into the conversation behind her once more as her table fell into morbid silence. “A mixed bag,” the woman said, laughing. “They’ve got ex-teachers and lawyers toting rifles. It’s quite an army, let me tell you.”

“You’ve seen it?” someone asked.

“I was running with the Freedom Fighters until a few weeks ago,” the woman continued. Elle barely turned her body, enough to glance long strands of white-blond hair, sandy fatigues and a denim jacket. “Good people. They weren’t born fighters, but they became fighters. Our commander, Chris Young, was the best leader the militias will ever have.”

“There’s a lot being said about him lately.”

“Rightly so. He’s a good man.”

“So how did you end up down here?”

“The Freedom Fighters split. Commander Young and the better lieutenants like Cassidy Hart and Alexander Ramos joined the National Guard in Sector 20. I didn’t like being up in the hills without Young as a leader. I came down to find the National Guard. Had some help locating them from the pilot at Camp Freedom.”

“Ah, Manny ,” someone laughed. “He’s well-known, too. The crazy pilot.”

Elle suddenly stood up, whirling around. She walked to the table behind theirs and stared at the woman. She was middle-aged, with deep green eyes.

“You know Manny Costas?” Elle asked.

“Everybody knows who Manny—”

“Do you know where he is ?”

The woman shook her head.

“How should I know?” she answered. “I haven’t seen him since he joined up with the National Guard. He could be anywhere.”

“But he was with the militias in the mountains.” Elle took a deep breath, her cheeks flushing. “He’s alive.”

The woman gave Elle a suspicious look.

“What are you… his grandchild or something?” she asked.

“Or something.” Elle placed her hands flat on the table. “Listen, where did you last see him?”

“Well…” The woman stopped to think, wrinkling her brow. “It was right before the Battle of the Grapevine, maybe a week ago? He was flying overwatch for the National Guard. I ended up wounded in the first round of the fight”—she held up her left arm, where in place of a hand, there was a bandaged stump—“so they sent me here to heal up.”

“So he’s still alive,” Elle said again.

“Don’t go looking for him,” the woman warned. “I can see it in your face. He’s a friend of yours, and you want to find him. But I’m telling you — don’t. The Battle of the Grapevine was hell, so I’m told. I didn’t see the aftermath but—”

“I’ve seen it,” Elle interrupted. “Dead bodies for miles and miles. But I didn’t see a biplane. Manny’s still alive.”

Elle’s heart filled with hope. Uncle was alive. He was close.

After finding Aunt and Uncle’s ranch abandoned in the Tehachapi Mountains, she had assumed that they were both dead. But now she knew for certain that Uncle had been alive just a week ago.

This was a silver lining.

This changed everything.

Elle hurried back to her own table and finished her stew, her mind working at the speed of light. Jay and Georgia stared at her, tried to pry her out of her thoughts, but Elle was focused.

“Hey, girl.”

The woman walked to Elle’s table. Elle met her steady gaze.

“The National Guard unit that was at the Battle of the Grapevine,” she continued, “the one Manny was a part of? They’ve pulled back to Sacramento, but the Mountain Rangers are based in Camp Freedom, in the mountains. That’s where Manny might be.” She nodded. “I hope you don’t do anything stupid with the information, but I felt like you needed to know.”

Elle blinked hard. Was she going to cry ? No way.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

The woman walked away.

“Who’s Manny?” Georgia asked. “Somebody you know?”

“He’s my uncle,” Elle replied.

“Are you going to find him?” Jay said.

“Yes,” Elle answered. “Of course.”

Flash suddenly looked up from his stew, his eyes red.

“I’m not coming with you,” he said. “I can’t go back out there. Not this time.”

Elle sighed.

“I’m not asking you to,” she replied. “Look. I hunted you down, I found you, I dragged your sorry butts across the desert”— she grinned —“and now you’re safe with the military. Our journey ends here. I’m taking Bravo and I’m going to find my uncle. You don’t have to come with me. Stay safe here. Your chances of survival are better.”

Flash bowed his head.

“Thank you, Elle,” he said.

“So you’re going to find your uncle alone?” Georgia asked. “We were supposed to go to Sacramento together!”

“That was before you got kidnapped by Slavers,” Elle pointed out. “And before we found Sector 27.”

“There’s nothing for us in Sacramento,” Georgia shrugged. “We’re as safe here as we’ll be there.” She looked at Jay. “Right?”

Jay stared at the table, the muscles in his arm tight.

“Right, Jay?” Georgia said again.

“I don’t care,” he replied. “We’re safe now. We’re alive.” He looked at Elle. “You need to do what you can to find your uncle. Family is important now more than ever.”

His eyes were dark, glinting with suppressed emotion. Sadness and anger and loneliness. Elle folded her hands on top of the table.

“I’m leaving tonight,” she said. “But first, I need to find Lieutenant Danes and tell him that I’m leaving.”

She stood up, and Bravo stood, too.

She smiled.

She would not be leaving this place alone.

Elle stood on the outside of the chain link fence. Sector 27 was behind her. The mountains were before her. Bravo waited patiently at her side as she stared at Jay, Georgia and Flash. Lieutenant Danes hung back near the checkpoint, watching the scene with a curious expression on his face.

“I’m sorry,” Georgia said at last. “I would go with you, Elle, I really would… but I’m tired. Tired of walking, tired of fighting. Tired of getting kidnapped by maniacal sociopaths…” she cracked a wry smile. “I just want to be safe.”

“Behave yourself,” Elle advised. “No drug dealing, no cigarettes.”