Summer Lane - Day Zero

She opened the kitchen door. It led to the backyard. Moonlight fell across the overgrown gardens and the dry fountain. Elle bypassed the stables and approached an old shed.

“Aunt and Uncle were smart,” Elle said. “They didn’t keep their stuff out in the open, where people could steal it.”

“They hid it in the shed?” Georgia asked. “That’s so original.”

Elle smirked.

She opened the shed door. It was a fancy building with high-beamed ceilings. It smelled like must and rust. Elle hadn’t been here for a long time. She’d only come inside once, when Uncle had shown her the shed, in case of an emergency…

She flicked the light switch for the heck of it. Nothing happened.

Elle pulled back the thick curtain over the window near the worktable, shedding moonlight inside the building.

She walked to the far corner, counting her steps.

“Help me move this—” she began, but Georgia cut her off.

“Oh, my god!”

“What?” Elle demanded.

“Look!”

Georgia pointed. Elle’s eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could see Jay climbing on something. It was a car of some sort.

“What is it?” Elle asked.

She knew a lot about the Klan and Hollywood, but she didn’t know anything about cars.

“It’s a Suzuki Samurai,” Jay beamed, patting the hood.

Georgia and Elle shared a confused glance. They got closer to the car. It was a jeep. There was no roof, just four seats. It was painted a muted tan tone.

“It’s a jeep,” Elle stated.

“It’s not just a jeep,” Jay corrected. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is an EMP-proof 1989 Suzuki Samurai.”

Realization dawned on the twins.

“It doesn’t have an electronic chip,” they said at the same time.

“Which means the EMP didn’t affect it,” Georgia added.

“And it’s been inside a big metal shed,” Pix pointed out. “Just like a Faraday cage.”

“That’s awesome,” Elle agreed. “But now if I could get someone to help me, I’ll show you something that will make you all really happy.”

“We don’t have the keys for the jeep, anyway,” Georgia sighed. “We couldn’t start it to even see if there’s gas in the tank.”

“And we have no gas,” Pix added.

“Not true,” Jay replied. “I can hotwire this thing — I don’t need keys.”

“Hey, you guys !” Elle said, crossing her arms. “Would you listen to me for two seconds? Help me move this worktable.”

Jay, Georgia and the twins each took a side of the table and pulled it forward, away from the window.

“Geez, thanks,” Elle said, rolling her eyes. “Took long enough.”

A multi-colored rug had been rolled out under the table. Elle pulled it up, revealing a hidden door. Elle tapped it with the toe of her shoe.

“Ta-da,” she said. “A secret storeroom. Emergency fuel. You’re welcome.”

Georgia whooped loudly.

“YES!” she said. “We don’t have to walk all the way to Sacramento!”

Jay laughed aloud.

“Finally,” he said. “A stroke of good luck.”

Elle had waited a long time for this. She curled her fingers around the bars on the cage, looking around the park. It was nearly sundown. She sat back down on the floor, staring at the map she had drawn in the dirt. It had taken her weeks to create it, but she had finally constructed a decent replication of the layout of the park. Every cage, every pit, every guarded Klan hotspot.

She had tucked a knife into her boot. She’d stolen it earlier from Tomas when he had been sleeping, hung over. He had so many knives and weapons hanging off his belt.

Your loss, my gain, Elle thought bitterly.

As soon as it was dark, she would use the knife to work through the wire holding the cyclone cage closed. And then she would navigate the park, slip out of the boundaries of Klan territory… and she would be free.

She hoped she survived.

The jeep was running. Jay had hotwired the thing, and it was rumbling. It had been so long since Elle had heard the sound of an engine. Outside of Omega’s Humvees and patrol vehicles, there were no more cars.

The kids had found a small trailer in the shed and hooked it to the hitch on the back of the jeep. They had filled the trailer with gas canisters. The few supplies that they had scavenged in the city remained in their backpacks.

The jeep itself was only built to hold four people, but Pix and Flash were small, and they were able to cram three people in the backseat instead of two. Elle crawled into the front passenger seat, next to Jay, who sat behind the wheel. He was happy to be in control of the vehicle.

“So were you a car thief?” Elle inquired slyly.

Jay only grinned. “Why do you say that?”

“You seem to be an expert in hotwiring cars.”

Jay laughed, his white teeth a flash against the early morning darkness.

“I’m not an expert,” he replied. “I’m just… I have a wide range of skills, let’s put it that way.”

Elle wasn’t buying it. She plopped her backpack down at her feet. Georgia, Pix and Flash hopped into the backseat. The trailer was secured and they had enough gas to get them to Sacramento. They shouldn’t have a problem.

The thought excited Elle.

“I haven’t been in a car in ages,” Georgia drawled, chewing on a piece of gum. “Not since I was arrested, and the ride in the back of the cop car sucked .”

“That’s what you get for being a criminal,” Elle commented.

Georgia stuck her tongue out at Elle, and she laughed.

“The engine seems to be in good condition,” Flash said, adopting his teacher voice. “Pix and I haven’t found any problems with it, other than the fact that the battery is low.”

“Thank you, Professor,” Georgia replied, making a face. “Can you please can the child-genius comments for just an hour. Please ?”

Flash folded his arms across his chest, insulted. Pix patted his shoulder.

They couldn’t help being smart. They just were.

“Are we ready?” Elle asked, looking over her shoulder.

“Yes,” Georgia answered. “But I want to know why you get to sit in the front. I’m one of the oldest ones here.”

“How do you know I’m not the oldest one here?” Elle pointed out.

Georgia blew a bubble.

“Oh? How old are you, Tinkerbell?

“Fifteen and a half.”

“Ha. I’m seventeen. You’re a mere child.”

Elle rolled her eyes.

“Let’s just go, okay?” Jay sighed. “Everybody in? Good. Say goodbye to the ranch.”

He slowly shifted gears and pulled away from the house. The gravel driveway crunched under the Suzuki’s tires. Elle refused to look at the ranch house. She just watched the shadow of the building fade into the rearview mirror as Jay eased the jeep and the trailer down the mountain road.

She hoped her Aunt and Uncle were safe, wherever they were.

She hoped Sacramento was all that they hoped it would be.

She hoped that they would all survive this road trip.

Elle knelt next to Pix, touching her forehead. The girl’s skin was on fire. Her face was drained of color and her breathing was heavy, labored. It was raining. Everyone was cold and wet. Flash’s face was pinched. He held his glasses in his hand, teary-eyed. Georgia was standing next to the jeep, taking a nervous drag on a cigarette. The girl was rattled.

“What do we do?” Flash whispered.

Pix was lying across the backseat, semiconscious. She had been sick for two days, and it had slowed down their progress. They were stopped on the side of the road, past Bakersfield, California, near the Kern River. Interstate 5 stretched north and south as far as the eye could see, paralleling the golden coastal mountains on one side and the Central Valley on the other.