Wildfire Run

by Dee Garretson

  The snake was curled up in one shadowed corner, the narrow slit eyes focused on Tocho, its tongue flicking in and out as its head moved back and forth. The kitten stood in the other corner, his back arched, his fur so fluffed out he looked like a hissing, spitting ball of yarn.

  “How dangerous is it? Is it like a rattlesnake?” Callie asked.

  “Adam said a kid might die from a bite if he wasn’t taken to the hospital, and even once at the hospital, the bite would be really, really painful. If one bites you on your hand, your whole arm swells up.”

  “That’s dangerous enough for me,” Theo said. “Is there another way in?”

  “Yes, let’s go around to the back door.”

  “Wait a minute!” Callie said. “We aren’t just walking away to let Tocho be a snake snack.”

  “It’s not safe to pick up the cat.” Luke motioned at the snake and the snake’s head turned toward him.

  “We have to leave him,” Theo said.

  Callie ran down the steps, looking around at the grass and the flower beds. “At the ranch once, I saw one of the ranch hands move a rattlesnake out of a horse stall. He didn’t want to scare the horse in the stall, so he took a long forked stick and picked the snake up with it. We need to find a forked stick. Don’t they have any sticks here?”

  “The gardeners pick up all the sticks,” Luke said. “We’d have to go back into the woods.”

  “No, I have a better idea. Wait here.” Theo disappeared around the side of the building in a lopsided jog.

  Callie looked back at the cat. “It’s okay, Tocho.”

  “He’s pretty brave for being so little,” Luke said.

  Callie crooned soothing words to the kitten until Theo came back around the corner carrying the robot and Luke’s laptop.

  “Here’s your snake catcher,” he said, handing the robot to Luke.

  “That toy is going to catch a copperhead?” Callie rolled her eyes. “It couldn’t catch a ball sitting still on the ground a few hours ago.”

  “It’s not a toy,” Luke said. “But Callie’s right. The grabber arms don’t close far enough. The snake will slither right out.”

  “They might, if we change the program and download it.” Theo sat down on the sidewalk and opened the laptop. He punched the on button once, and then when nothing happened, he punched it again.

  “It’s dead. I think I left it on,” he said. “We have to charge the battery.”

  “We don’t have time.” Luke looked behind him again. “Callie, I’m sorry. We need to get moving. Maybe the snake will leave. It’s probably too scared to be thinking about eating Tocho. We’ll check on him once we get things working inside.”

  “Snakes don’t just bite because they’re hungry,” Callie said. “I have an idea. The robot’s batteries are still working, right? It’s just the computer battery that’s dead. Theo, I need your socks.”

  27

  Beyond Reach

  “What?” Theo asked. “My socks?” He sounded very confused.

  “Yeah, those things between your feet and your shoes, which I’m sure are very smelly at this point. Take them off. I mean, just take off one. I only have one hair band.” Callie pulled the hair band out of her braid.

  “Why my socks? Why don’t you take off your own?”

  “Will you just do it? You have the biggest feet, so you have the biggest socks. I’m going to wrap your sock around the claw and fasten it with my hair band to make the opening smaller. Then the robot will be able to hold on to the snake.”

  “I guess that might work,” Theo said doubtfully, sitting down on the ground and pulling off his shoe. He pulled off his sock and held it out. “It’s wet. My feet have been sweating.”

  Callie took it between her thumb and her forefinger. “Yuck!” She handed it back to him. “I’ll just tell you what to do with it. Wrap it around one of the claws like you are making a bandage. Okay?”

  “Where’s the whistle?” Luke asked. “We can’t control the robot without the whistle.”

  Theo pulled it out of his pocket. “I stuck it in my pocket when Comet went after Tocho.”

  “That’s good,” Luke said, putting the robot down a few feet from the snake. “Everyone back up in case the snake gets mad.”

  “You can bet he’s going to get mad. If you had a plastic pincher toy making beeping noises and coming at you, you’d be mad too,” Calllie said.

  “Wait, Luke.” Theo backed away, handing Luke the whistle. “You should do the controlling. I can’t see well enough to know when to signal the extensors.”

  “Callie, I need you to take Comet,” Luke said.

  “Okay,” she said, coming back up the steps and taking the dog. “Please don’t let that snake get Tocho.”

  “I think we should all be ready to run if the snake gets away.” Theo wavered a little.

  “Let’s just do this.” Luke blew the whistle and the robot lurched forward. The snake’s head turned toward it. Now that his eyes were adjusted to the dim light, Luke could see the flat, triangular shape of the snake’s copper-colored head as it extended slowly toward the robot.

  It was going to be a lot harder to grab the copperhead than he thought. The snake’s head and neck would move too fast. Luke decided it would be easier to grab the snake’s curled-up section, so he blew the whistle to stop the robot until he could figure the best angle.

  The snake’s head went back toward Tocho.

  “It’s attracted to movement,” Callie said. “Move the robot fast, so it will stop looking at Tocho.”

  “No, that’s good,” Luke said. “We don’t want it to see how close we’re getting.”

  Luke blew a short burst and the robot moved to within a few inches of the snake. Attracted by the motion, the snake flicked its tongue out steadily as its head moved back and forth between Tocho and the robot.

  “I remember something I read,” Callie said. “Snakes smell with their tongues. He’s confused because the robot doesn’t smell alive. Stop moving the robot until he forgets about it. Snakes can’t have all that many brain cells, so it should only take a minute. Then just make the robot get him.”

  Callie was right. After only a few seconds the snake turned its head back to Tocho. Luke signaled the robot to move forward and then again to close the claws. The claws caught the snake on one of the coils and the snake struck at it over and over, struggling to get free.

  “It’s not going to hold!” Theo shouted. The snake tipped the robot back and forth as it whipped around, so that it looked like the robot was fighting too. “If the controller hits the concrete and breaks or one of the cables comes loose, the claw will release!”

  “Callie!” Luke yelled, not daring to look away from the snake. He wished Callie had found a stick they could use as a weapon if the snake got away from the robot and came toward them. Throwing a whistle at it wouldn’t do any good, and he doubted he could use his pocketknife against it. “Go get that garbage can. Dump out the garbage and bring it up here.”

  “Theo, take Comet.” She plopped Comet down on the ground, ran to the garbage can, and dragged it over to Luke.

  Luke picked it up, trying to get a good grip. It was heavier than he thought, but his movements stopped the snake momentarily as the reptile’s head swerved around to see the new threat. Luke heaved up the can and it was on top of the snake before any of them could blink.

  “I promise,” Callie said to the kitten as she scooped him up, “when we get out of here you’re never going to have to go outside again, if you don’t want to.”

  There was a sound like distant gunshots. Luke flinched, grabbing on to the stair rail.

  “It’s more trees exploding,” Theo said.

  “Let’s get in the building,” Luke said. He picked Comet back up and edged around the garbage can. “Will you bring my laptop, Theo? Maybe it will be safer inside.”

  Callie pulled on the door. “It’s locked.”

  “I have a code,” Luke said. He punched it in and they
opened the door, feeling the air-conditioned air flowing out. Only the emergency lights were on, and with the darkness it felt like night inside. It was quiet too, the sound of the sirens muffled, and Luke suddenly realized he could breathe better in the smoke-free air.

  “This way,” Luke said. “With any luck, we’ll get the fence off in just a few minutes.”

  They ran down the stairs until they came to the door at the bottom.

  “There’s the keypad,” Theo said. “It’s a lot higher up than the intercom. That’s weird.”

  “I hope my code works for this one too. I’ve never tried it.” Luke put Comet down.

  The code didn’t work. He tried again, pulling on the door. Nothing happened.

  “Use the code Adam used this morning,” Theo said.

  “I don’t remember the code,” Luke said. “That was just a Secret Service access code they use to tell each other it’s okay to open doors. It changes every day.”

  “Do you remember it, Theo? Try it anyway,” Callie said.

  “It was three-eight-one.” Theo punched it in. Nothing happened. Theo examined the keypad again. “I know why it’s so high. That’s a retinal-scan-access reader,” he said. “You have to both have a code and then be in the system so it can read your eye.”

  “What do you mean?” Callie asked.

  “It scans a person’s retina. A retina is as unique as a fingerprint. Since we aren’t authorized, we aren’t going to get in there.”

  “Scan your retina, Luke,” Callie said. “Maybe you’re in the system.”

  “No, I’d remember if anyone had ever said, ‘Let’s scan your retina, Luke, so you can get in restricted areas.’”

  “Can’t you at least try it? How do you know what kind of information they have about you, anyway?” Callie said.

  “Okay, I’ll try. Theo, you’re going to have to boost me up so I can get my eye level with it. It’s made for taller people than me.” Luke put Comet on the floor.

  Theo didn’t argue either. He just knelt down and clasped his hands together for Luke to step on them. It didn’t do any good. The scanner gave no sign it recognized Luke.

  “Well, then Tocho and I are going back upstairs,” Callie said. “It’s creepy down here, and I’m getting claustrophobic.”

  “Me too,” Theo said. “We aren’t making any progress down here.”

  “Wait, maybe we shouldn’t go.” Callie had taken only a step forward when she stopped. “Can’t we just stay here? Wouldn’t we be safe down here if the fire came over us?”

  “Who knows?” Theo said. “Fire consumes all the oxygen around it. It sucks it in from every direction. I don’t know if this area would hold on to enough oxygen for us. Plus, it’s likely to get so hot in here we wouldn’t survive, but if there’s no other choice, I guess we’ll have to try.”

  “Not such a good idea then.” Callie headed back up the stairs.

  “Maybe we would be safe in the swimming pool,” Luke said. He looked to Theo.

  “Maybe, I don’t know. The water is going to be very hot. I’ve read forest fires can make the water boil in streams.”

  Luke didn’t want to imagine that. “The pool is a lot deeper than a stream,” he argued. “Let’s go look.” He picked Comet up and they went back up the stairs, out the door, and around the building.

  Callie had already found the pool. It was only half-full, bits of ash floating in it.

  “This may be an obvious question,” Callie said, “but where’s the water?”

  Luke knelt down on the edge. “I see a crack in the bottom. It’s leaking out.” He walked around to the steps, thinking hard. “I’m going to wash my face off, at least. Maybe Comet will feel better if he has a drink.”

  “Pool water isn’t good for dogs,” Theo said. “It has chemicals in it.”

  “Dying of thirst isn’t good for dogs either,” Luke said. “A little can’t hurt him.” He carried the dog down and placed him where he could lap at the water. At first Luke just splashed water on his face, and then decided it felt so good he dunked his whole head in.

  “Move out of the way,” Callie said. “I want to do that too.” She plunged her head in the water and came up smiling. Some of the drips fell on Tocho, and he struggled to get out of her arms.

  “Not again,” Callie said. “I’m holding on to you too well now.”

  “How about you, Theo?” Luke asked. Theo was sitting on one of the lounge chairs.

  “My head hurts so much I don’t want to bend over.”

  “Are you okay?” Luke asked.

  “I feel kind of sick. I think I might throw up again.”

  Luke cupped his hands and scooped up some water, trying to make it to Theo before it all spilled. “Here, take this and rub it on your face.”

  “I’m thirsty,” Callie said, “and I bet Theo is too. There has to be some water or something to drink around here.”

  “Water would help us all think better. Maybe it would help my headache too.” Theo lay back in the chair like he was sunbathing.

  Luke used the edge of his shirt to wipe his face. He thought Callie looked better with some of the blood off her face.

  “The pool house.” Luke waved to the small building on the other side of the pool. “There’s a little refrigerator right inside there. It should be full of drinks.” Now that Callie mentioned water, Luke realized his own throat was so dry, it felt painful to swallow.

  Callie went in and came right back out, empty-handed. “The floor is collapsed and the refrigerator is down in some sort of pit.”

  “What? It must have happened during the earthquake. Can’t you just reach down and open the door?” Now Luke couldn’t wait for water.

  “I said it’s in a pit, way down. I can’t reach it.”

  “Why would there be a pit under the pool house? Let me look.”

  28

  Underground

  Luke took a few steps and Comet tried to follow, wobbling with each step. “No, boy, you stay here,” Luke said, worried the dog still couldn’t walk right. Comet dropped to the ground, panting, and Luke hurried after Callie into the pool house.

  “There.” She pointed.

  “It is a pit,” Luke said.

  “I said it was a pit.”

  “That’s weird. It must have happened during the earthquake. Open those curtains so I can see better.” Luke pulled at one of the broken floor pieces. “I see stairs.” He pulled another board up. “Wait, I think I know what this is. These are old bomb shelter stairs! I bet that’s how people were supposed to get into the shelter before the tunnels from the buildings were built. They must have covered the stairs when they built the pool. That’s amazing. I never knew they were here. They have to lead to the command center. Theo!” He pulled away more flooring, the wood splintering in his hands.

  “I’m right here,” Theo said.

  “I need your help with these boards.”

  Between the two of them they pulled up enough to make an opening.

  “I’ll go first,” Luke said. He eased himself down, trying not to brush against the bits of broken wood. When he touched the concrete step, his foot slipped. “Be careful; the stairs are wet.”

  When they were all down, Theo said, “This must be some of the water from the pool. I can’t see very well.”

  “Let me go before you,” Callie said. “Take my hand.” Tocho was clutched in the other, eyes closed, purring so loudly even Luke could hear.

  At the bottom there was a short corridor that ended at a metal door.

  “Is it locked?” Callie asked. “I don’t see a keypad.”

  “I think this is too old. It was probably boarded up before they had keypad-entry doors.” Luke pulled on the handle. The door screeched and gave a little. “I don’t think it’s locked; it’s just warped. Theo, can you pull too?”

  The door came open with an earsplitting screech.

  “What’s behind it? It’s really dark down here,” Theo said. Luke was glad to hear that his voi
ce sounded better.

  “It’s a wall,” Luke said. “They walled up the other side of the door.”

  Theo put his hand on it. “It’s just plasterboard, and it’s wet at the bottom. I bet we can push through.” Theo shoved, and the board shifted. “There’s probably some kind of office furniture on the other side of the wall. Everybody push.”

  Something crashed on the other side as they pushed their way through, bits of plasterboard crumbling under their hands. Theo fell forward onto a shelving unit that now lay on the floor. There was water all over the floor. Luke climbed across the shelving.

  “How about some lights?” Callie found a switch on the wall.

  The room they found themselves in was a storage room, full of metal shelves stuffed with blue plastic binders.

  “This room isn’t going to do us any good,” Luke said. “Let’s find the computers.”

  Callie opened another door. “There are computers in here,” she said, “and there’s another door.”

  Theo and Luke followed her. She had already opened the second door. “Look down those steps,” she said. “That’s where all the pool water is.”

  Luke could see into a small room, down a few steps off the main room, computers lining three walls. The water was up over the keyboards, as if people had been using their laptops in a Jacuzzi and forgotten them.

  “Those computers are goners,” Theo said. “When the water came in, they shorted out. That’s probably why they can’t turn off the fence remotely. Maybe one of those was supposed to receive the signal.”

  “Maybe,” Luke said. “I don’t know exactly what those computers did in that room. But this one is the main security ops room.” It looked different without any people in it. Luke’s attention was caught by the bank of screens on one wall, showing images of different places around the compound. He moved closer, trying to figure out what parts of the camp he was seeing. Most were of buildings and views of the woods, but some of the screens were just black. Luke had a sinking feeling about those. Some of the cameras must be burned up.