Day One

Mount San Jacinto State Park. The sign was in good condition, standing amidst a backdrop of blue skies and mountain ridges. Elle touched the sign with the tip of her finger, just to make sure it was real. She was exhausted. Her feet hurt, her body ached. She was hungry. Days of rationing protein bars and water bottles had taken its toll. Her head throbbed and her lips were cracked.

She looked at Bravo.

Let’s get this over with, he said. You and me. This is our thing now.

“At least we know we’re in the right place,” Elle replied.

There was a gold star painted on the sign, but this time, the star was different. It was inside a circle. Elle figured it meant that they had arrived.

Hello, Slaver Territory.

This place has too many smells. Bravo shook his head, focusing his dark eyes on the horizon. Hang on. I’ve got something different.

Elle watched him. She knew what he was thinking just by looking at him. She’d learned to read his thoughts over the last few days, during the long, thankless trek across the open desert and the exhausting climb up the mountains. There were still many mysteries about this dog, but she liked to think she was slowly forming a bond with him.

Slowly, but surely.

“We should rest,” Elle said aloud. It was early morning and the temperature was frigid. The sunlight was unfiltered and bright. She squinted her eyes and returned her gaze to Bravo.

“You’re right,” she sighed. “We can’t rest. We’ve got to keep going.”

Well, I didn’t come all this way for nothing, girl, Bravo snorted.

“Don’t give me that look,” Elle complained. “I’m tired enough.”

Then let’s go!

“Fine.”

Good girl.

So that’s what they did. They kept moving, weaving through the mountain trails. It was an interesting kind of mountain range, a mix of desert and lush forest. There were pine trees and cedars, but there was also dry brush and open patches of dirt. From their vantage point on the side of the mountain, Elle and Bravo could see the desert floor far below.

“I can’t believe we walked that far,” Elle muttered.

Bravo tucked his head and trotted faster, pulling ahead of Elle.

“You’re a show-off, dog,” Elle said.

Bravo tilted his head, suddenly tensing.

I smell people.

Elle stared at him. He turned on his heel and began moving forward, silently creeping through the underbrush, threading his way through the maze of trees. The shade in the forest was chilly. Elle struggled to keep pace with Bravo. Her feet felt like blocks of cement.

She needed to rest…

And then she stopped, dropping to her hands and knees in the bushes. There was movement up ahead, voices. Bravo paused near the edge of a Manzanita bush, his ears flat against his head.

“Bravo,” Elle whispered. “Come on. Back here, boy.”

He hesitated.

Okay…

Then he turned and joined Elle.

“Good boy,” she said. “Okay, what have we found here?”

She crawled forward on her stomach, straining to see through the branches and bushes. She heard the rumbling of trucks and the clear, rough laughter of men. She stopped moving, nearly placing her hand on top of a strip of rusty barbed wire. A dozen strips of the wire had been threaded through the trees, creating a fence.

“I think we found it, Bravo,” Elle said, her voice low.

She peered through the makeshift wire fencing. There was a clearing in the midst of the forest. She saw pickup trucks and old jeeps. She caught glimpses of unshaven men in tattered clothing. Elle’s heartbeat quickened. There were a few old buildings and what looked like corrals between the trees. There were several horses and, on each tree, there was a gold star.

Slaver Territory. Bravo crouched on his haunches, seemingly giving Elle a nudge. Told you we’d find it.

“You did good, Bravo,” Elle whispered.

Of course I did. I’m a dog.

“Don’t get cocky.” Elle moved her gaze from the corrals and the trucks to the side of the mountain. There was an impressive rock face behind the encampment. It jutted into the sky, fierce and dominating.

A dirt road had been carved into the side of the mountain, winding up toward the rock. It was a new road, probably made by the Slavers.

Several trucks rumbled up the road, and in the

back of the trucks, there were people. They were

too far away to see their faces, but from here,

Elle could tell that they were packed together

like sardines in a tin can.

Prisoners? Had to be.

“What are they taking them up there for?” she whispered.

You tell me. Humans don’t make any sense half the time.

Elle offered a half-hearted grin.

“I guess we’ll have to find out,” she said.

Good plan, girl. Bravo’s eyes glimmered. Let’s do that.

“If we make it out of this alive,” Georgia said, taking a drag on a cigarette, “I’m going back to college and making something of myself.”

“I doubt colleges are going to be the first thing that’s rebuilt in society,” Jay replied, cracking a wry smile. “We’ll probably have to focus on the more basic elements of survival first.”

“I’m not an idiot.” Georgia rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying. I’d like to teach.”

“You? A teacher?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I just… That’s a picture, I’ll give you that.”

They were sitting on the ground, taking a brief break from the long walk out of Los Angeles. Flash and Pix sat together, silent. Elle stood apart from the group, watching and listening.

Georgia made a face.

“Hey, at least I have ambitions,” she snapped. “What would you do if you had another chance to climb the social ladder, Dr. Phil?”

Jay shrugged.

“Oh, come on,” Georgia prodded. “Enlighten us.”

Elle watched Jay’s face. It was veiled in shadow, difficult to read.

“I don’t know,” he said.

Lie. Elle knew he was avoiding the truth.

“You’re a total bore, Jay,” Georgia commented, blowing smoke into the air. “Remind me not to get stuck with you again when the apocalypse hits next time.”

Jay shrugged again.

Georgia was smiling.

Elle said nothing.

“What about you, shortstack?” Georgia asked, turning to Elle. “What would you do in an ideal world?”

“There is no ideal world,” Elle deadpa