Wildfire Run (11 page)

“Comet,” Luke yelled, moving
over to pick him up.

“Is he okay?” Callie asked.

“I don't know.” Comet opened his eyes halfway. “I think he got the wind knocked out of him.” Luke set him back down, but he didn't move.

“We need to go, Luke,” Callie said.

“I'll carry him.” Luke got up and took the dog in his arms. Comet gave one tiny whimper and then fell silent. “Don't worry,” he murmured. “We'll be out of this soon. Okay,” he said more loudly. “We need to go this way, to get to the main road to the center of the camp.”

Once they came out of the woods, they picked up speed, jogging down the road, past deserted
buildings. Luke's shoulder hurt from taking the impact of the fall, and he felt pain in his knee every time he came down on it, but he didn't care anymore. The only noise was the sound of the sirens coming from various buildings, louder now that they were close. As he tried to get his breath in the hot, smoky air, Luke shifted Comet to a different position. The dog felt as heavy as a Saint Bernard instead of a twelve-pound terrier. He could tell Comet was breathing. When would he open his eyes again?

“I have to walk,” Theo said, slowing down. “My head is really hurting now. I wish we could shut off the sirens.”

“This is kind of like a horror movie.” Callie shuddered. “Like when people come into a town and there's nobody outside, and they don't know what they will find behind any of the doors, and it turns out to be vampires or zombies. No, that's too creepy. Forget I said that.”

A sudden scrabbling sound made them all jump.

“It's just some raccoons,” Luke said. Five raccoons scuttled across the road, not more than a few feet away. A sixth animal climbed out of a tipped-over garbage can, following after the
others. None of the raccoons paid any attention to them.

“They're trying to get away too, like all the other animals,” Callie said. “They know the fire is coming. It's probably inside the fence now down by the gatehouse, isn't it? And it's inside the fence at the back gate. How are they going to get through the beams and outside the fence?”

“They aren't,” Luke said. “The small animals live inside the fence all the time.”
And they'll get burned up
, he thought, but he didn't say it out loud. “The big animals, the bears, were all moved out when the electric fence was put up. There was one that kept climbing up over the outer fence wanting to get back in. They had to keep tranquilizing it to move it out again.”

“Maybe it was that bear I saw this morning,” Callie said.

“You saw a bear?” Luke asked. “Inside the fence?” That would be all they needed, a bear as well as a fire to deal with.

“No, it was outside when we were driving up. I took a picture of it. I'll show you once we're out of here.”

“I don't need to see it,” Luke said. He was scared of bears, really scared of bears, ever since he had
read a story where a bear attacked a camper in a sleeping bag.

“Why is the wind blowing all the time now?” Callie asked. “Maybe it's going to rain and put the fire out.”

“No, the fire is creating its own windstorm,” Theo said. “They do that when they get big enough.”

Luke rubbed his face, feeling little bits of ash on it.

“So what's the plan?” Theo asked.

“We'll go through Aspen Lodge down into the basement to get into the command center,” Luke said. “Come on, Aspen is right over there.”

When Comet wiggled in his arms, Luke felt a surge of joy.

“Are you ready to walk, boy?” Luke asked, putting him down again. “You're pretty heavy for a worthless mutt.” Comet took a few faltering steps, and then stopped, wagging his tail.

“Come on then,” Luke said. Comet lay back down on the ground.

“Let's go.” Luke took a few steps, thinking Comet would try to follow, but the dog made no attempt to move.

Worried, Luke said, “Okay, okay, I'll carry you
again.” Luke held Comet close as he led the way. He hoped the air-conditioning was still on inside. It would be nice to get cool. Just as he was about to reach for the door handle, Comet raised his head and growled.

“He sees Tocho!” Callie exclaimed. She pushed past Luke. “Tocho!” She reached out for the kitten.

The entry area had a roof over it, shadowing the ground, but Luke saw a dark spot on one side of the door, and then he saw something move on the other side, a rope uncoiling.

“Wait!” Luke grabbed Callie to stop her. “Comet isn't growling at Tocho. Look on the other side of the entrance. There's a snake there, a copperhead, I think. It must be trying to get away from the fire too.” Luke let go of Callie to get a better hold on Comet.

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.”

“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.”