The two packed up camp and headed toward Eureka. They had been camping on the fringes of it already, just staying out of view. It didn’t take them long before they saw signs of civilization. They passed a few scattered houses, farms and warehouses. Cameron had considered breaking into one of these places for the night, but Tao had other ideas. If they were going to abandon the safety of the forest, they might as well go all the way.
As they walked, Cameron took out his cell phone and tried to get a signal. He had hoped that the outage was just from being deep in the woods. However, his phone still wasn’t working. That meant his mom had ordered a complete shutdown. He and Alex were truly cut off from the rest of the network.
I have a way of getting in touch with them. For now, just take care of your basic needs.
“I’m worried Mom didn’t get out in time. Dad’s still missing too.”
If Jill had time to initiate a lock down, she had time to escape. Your mother is very competent. Operate under the assumption that she is safe and looking for you as we speak.
The weather finally caught up with them, and they began feeling a few drops of rain. Cameron and Alex picked up their pace, continuing west until they reached the town’s limits and hit Myrtle Avenue. Tao pressed them closer into the residential area. By now, it was night, and Alex had gone from complaining of being wet and hungry to complaining of being tired of walking. Cameron didn’t blame her. His feet hurt, too. He reminded himself that she was only fourteen. As the oldest here, it was his job to keep them going.
All right, gramps.
To Alex’s surprise, since they hadn’t been on the friendliest terms of late, he grabbed her hand and held it as they walked, telling her that they were almost there, though he wasn’t exactly sure where there was. He soon realized where when Tao had him turn onto Harrison Street. There was a tiny hamburger place where some of the high school kids liked to hang out. The hamburgers were better than average, but more importantly, it was in a wooden building in a less-trafficked part of town. The two went around back and studied the door. It was an older deadbolt with a flimsy frame. He rapped the door; it felt hollow. If he gave it a hard kick, he doubted the frame would hold up.
Or you can just pick it.
“Lock picking is hard.”
You are just not good at it. Like someone else I know. Try first.
Grumbling, Cameron took out the set he kept in his pack and went to work. Tao had tried to train him before, and it had taken him weeks to successfully pick his first padlock. It still sometimes took him an hour to undo the most basic lock. Now, he had the added pressure of attempting it under Alex’s expectant gaze. It didn’t matter though. This door was the only thing standing between them and food, and as his father liked to say, “Nothing stands between a Tan and his food.”
Five minutes into his attempt, after fumbling a dozen times and snapping two picks, he began to sweat. The rain didn’t let up. Alex began to give him tips on what he was doing wrong. Twenty minutes into his attempt to pick the back door of a run-down burger joint, Cameron had had enough of this crap. With a frustrated guttural cry, he slammed the stinking lock picks on the ground, took a step back, and attempted to kick the door in half.
“Stop,” Alex said, moving in his way. She rolled her eyes. “Boys.” She picked up the picks and went to work on the door. Within three minutes, the door was open.
Like I said, different skillsets.
“Why didn’t you just tell me you were a master thief?” he complained. “You stood there laughing at me for over twenty minutes.”
“You were trying so hard. I didn’t want to ruin your confidence. It was adorable.” She patted him on the cheek. “Besides, I assumed a Prophus agent would know how to perform such a simple task. I guess I was mistaken.” With a tinkling laugh, she walked inside.
“We can’t be good at everything!” he called after her.
The hamburger joint consisted of nothing more than a tiny dining area, a range in the back, and a large walk-in fridge, all divided by a center counter with a register. The two made a beeline for the goods inside the fridge and promptly hauled out a dozen patties and packages of lettuce, onions and tomatoes. They added to their ill-gotten booty a bag of frozen French fries and several bags of chips. They dug into the chips while they figured out how to operate the industrial range and deep fryer.
Alex held up the bag of frozen patties and frowned. “It says grass-fed cows. What else would you feed them?”
Cameron shrugged. “Corn?”
Alex looked at him as if he was crazy. “Why don’t you eat the corn and give the cow grass that people can’t eat?”
That stumped him. “Because, um, that would make a lot of sense, wouldn’t it?”
It is a little more complicated than that, but she wins the point.
Alex turned on the lights once the fryer and grill were heated. Cameron rushed over and turned them off. “They’ll see us,” he said, much to her disapproval. It seemed she got cross whenever he contradicted her, no matter how right he was.
It took a few overcooked patties and batches of fries, but before long, they were dining on poorly-constructed burgers, chips, and fries. Cameron and Alex settled down for dinner, sitting cross-legged on the floor behind the counter. By candlelight, no less. It was the most romantic thing – the only romantic thing really – Cameron had ever experienced.
I obviously have been sorely remiss in your education.
At least the food was good. The two hungry kids scarfed down the burgers and chips within minutes and were contently nibbling down the mound of fries as they huddled closer together in the darkness. Outside, the rain came down harder. Now Cameron was glad they had decided to leave the forest. It would have been miserable out there. However, still in their wet clothes, and now without the warmth of the sleeping bag, they shivered as they edged closer to the small bundle of candles they had found in storage.
Cameron looked at Alex’s face in the dark, the flickering light reflecting off her pale skin and blonde hair, matted down against her head. She caught his gaze and they both looked away. Cameron could feel his ears burning so hot they felt numb.
She reached out and touched his left brow. “Your cut is festering.”
The fight with the Genjix sentry had left him with an ugly bruise just above the eye, but it had left a small gash as well. After two days out in the wilderness, it had become infected and hurt like crazy any time Cameron moved his face.
“It’s nothing,” he said, trying to smile, though that only made him wince.
“No, we should take care of that before it gets worse and infects your entire face. Would be such a pity.”
Cameron’s brain short-circuited a little as his heartbeat became the only noise he could hear. Beads of sweat or water – he couldn’t tell anymore – dribbled down the side of his face. He felt like someone had grabbed the ends of his guts and wrung them like wet rags. It felt strangely sickening and wonderful.
All right, Marc Antony, you are starting to make me sick, which is supposed to be impossible. You and Cleopatra better cool it before you lose Egypt. Remember, she is a Genjix.
She was so close to him. He could feel her breath lightly touch his skin, and the slight shiver of her body. He noticed for the first time that they were both shaking. “We have to stay warm,” he said.
Alex nodded. She looked at the rain splattering the windows outside, now coming hard at almost a horizontal angle. Then she reached out and felt his wet shirt. “We should get out of our wet clothes.” She began to strip her jacket off.