“We all know who Georgia’s favorite is,” Jay commented.
He smiled.
“Yeah,” Elle answered. A pause, then, “We need to get going.”
Georgia got to her feet, wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her shirt.
“See you later,” she said.
“See you,” Flash added.
“See you soon,” Jay finished. “We will meet again.”
Elle lifted her chin.
“We will,” she told him. “Count on it.”
Bravo wagged his tail.
Lieutenant Danes waved from the fence, never moving, yet never taking his eyes off the group of kids. Elle lifted her left hand in a farewell wave, slipping her other hand into her pocket. She slid her aviators on her face, looking toward the mountains.
“See you,” she said one more time.
She was off again.
It didn’t take Elle long to reach the Central Valley. Her journey through the mountains was monotonous and tiring, filled with cold wind and brisk nighttime temperatures. She spent the silence of the journey talking to Bravo, reflecting on the past weeks and wondering how her life would have been different if she had never met Jay, Georgia, Flash and Pix.
“I’d probably still be in Los Angeles,” she mused. “I’d probably be dead.”
You’d definitely be dead, Bravo huffed. Without me, you wouldn’t last five minutes out here.
“Hey, I can take pretty good care of myself,” Elle retorted.
Pretty good is different than very good.
“You’re a cynic, dog.”
And proud of it, human.
Elle laughed.
The Central Valley was sunny and clear today. The mountains were behind Elle, rolling and beautiful in the light. She was getting close to her first stop.
Why are we stopping at a gas station again? Bravo wondered, casting a sideways glance at Elle. His eyes sparkled. Need I remind you that we don’t have a car and gas pumps don’t work anymore?
“You need not,” Elle replied. “I told you. I promised to finish my part of a trade.”
What kind of a trade? I hope it involves something for me.
“I don’t think people trade doggy toys anymore.”
You say that word like it’s degrading. Doggy toys are my favorite.
“Because you’re a dog.”
Thanks for noticing. I’m certainly not a cat. Bravo shook his head. This is it.
He stopped and stared at the small gas station in the distance. The general store was sitting in the open sunshine. It looked even more withered and faded since the last time Elle had seen it. Elle had amazed herself, coming back to this place. She had figured that she would bypass it, but the feeling of guilt that came along with that idea was overwhelming. She had made it across the desert and into the San Jacinto Mountains because of the supplies that she had taken from Bob and Sienna’s trading post. She had promised to bring them back a proper trade, and she had to stay true to that.
She didn’t want to be like the rest of the world.
She wanted to be good.
Elle approached the building from an angle, watching the windows, watching the roof. The area was silent. The road was empty. The dry plum orchards surrounding the station were abandoned.
I smell trouble, Bravo warned, brow furrowing.
“What kind of trouble?” Elle whispered.
Don’t know. It just doesn’t smell right.
Elle licked her lips and they ran to the corner of the building, pausing near the drainpipe. There wasn’t a sound coming from within the building. Elle pulled the katana from its sheath. She rarely used this weapon — it was something she reserved for occasions when it was necessary to be as quiet as possible.
She held it steadily in her hands, keeping a firm grip on the handle. She tipped her head forward and Bravo jogged ahead, to the door. He paused, listening. His ears remained still.
Not a sound.
Elle frowned and walked to the door. She took a deep breath and banged her fist against the metal.
“Sienna?” she called. “Bob? It’s me. The girl with the sword?”
Nothing.
“I’m back,” Elle continued. “I brought you something to finish our trade.”
Still nothing.
Elle shrugged.
“I guess this is the part where we force our way in,” Elle said.
Finally. Some fun. Bravo tensed up, snorting. You first.
Elle jiggled the door handle. The handle itself was rusted and loose. Elle pushed on the door and it swung open, slamming against the interior wall. She and Bravo remained unmoving, staring into the dark building. There were only the shadowy shapes of shelves and refrigerator doors. Elle stepped over the threshold, keeping the katana up and ready to swing.
“Sienna?”
Her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. She could see the note that she had left on the wall, in the dust, promising to return with a trade. Several of the shelves in the middle of the store had been overturned. Supplies like paper towels and plates had been dumped on the floor. The glass case built into the counter — the one holding cigarettes and lottery tickets — had been shattered. Shards of glass lay on the floor, twinkling as sunlight slid through the open doorway.
Danger, Bravo warned, growling. Be careful.
Elle looked toward the back of the building. The chair in which Bob had been sleeping last time was still there, and someone was sitting in it. Elle walked closer.
“Hey,” she said.
Again, there was no response.
It was a man. A baseball hat was pulled low over his face. Elle tapped his leg with the toe of her shoe. He didn’t move. She kicked the brim of the hat. It flew off the man’s head.
Elle stifled a scream. It was Bob, but his face had begun to decompose. He was dead — it looked like he had been so for a long time. His skin was a dull shade of yellow. His eyes were still open, rotted and lifeless. His hair was mottled with insects and the stench of his body was putrid. Elle doubled back and gagged, horrified.
She had seen many dead bodies in Los Angeles — but she had not been expecting it here. This was a shock. Bravo whined softly.
I tried to warn you, he said. I smelled death.
Elle steadied herself, her eyes falling to the furthest corner of the room. Sienna was laying there, her face to the wall, her long skirt strewn out like a tablecloth, covering her ratty boots.
There was blood everywhere. On the floor, on the chair, on their clothes. The entire corner reeked of the stuff. On the wall, someone had dipped their hands in the blood and smeared a message:
Elle shuddered. This was Omega’s doing. Sienna and Bob must have been working for the California militia groups. They had been caught, and now they had paid the ultimate price.
Elle stumbled out of the general store, falling on her hands and knees in the sunshine, holding her fist against her mouth. She cried quietly. The world was so cruel now. So vicious. There was death everywhere. It was all around her, in the ground, in the sky, in the water.
The invasion had destroyed everything. The days following it had only rebuilt the world on the foundation of destruction. Anarchy, murder, devastation and loss.