I tried to wave at them to get their attention before Sam and her friends saw them. I wanted to scream at them to get down, to hide. But they never looked my way. I looked for something to throw at them, some small pebble, but there was nothing. So I tried to get their attention by letting out a very quiet, “Psst...”
Nothing worked. They were too far away to hear me and had their eyes fixed straight ahead at Sam, and then, I heard her all-too-familiar voice.
“Welcome!” Sam exclaimed. I could hear the smile on her face. It was too late. I couldn’t save them now. I hoped they would find out the truth about The Front before succumbing to its ways. I sat now, dejected and heavy-hearted and yearning to get back to my safe apartment.
I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but the sun was getting closer to the ocean, and my muscles were starting to stiffen from being still too long after such a hike. It was going to be hard to walk and might be impossible to run. I could still hear the voices. One of them left with the newcomers, but that still left three of them there, including Sam, to get in my way. I silently cursed them for being such a nuisance and started weighing my options. If I did decide to make a break for it, they would know where we lived, but would that even matter? Without the key, they couldn’t call our private elevator, and more importantly, they wouldn’t know we were in the penthouse. The building was huge. They could spend weeks searching the various apartments and still not find us. At some point, they might assume I’d slipped away and on to a new building.
I made up my mind. There was nothing to stop them from seeing me as soon as I started up the driveway, but I couldn’t stay here. If I moved slowly, maybe I wouldn’t attract their attention. I gradually stood, feeling as though I had a target on my back.
Before I could take three steps, I heard Sam yell my name.
I ran as fast as my sore legs could carry me, reaching into my pocket to find the fob on my key ring so I could be ready to call the elevator.
I was certain they were running after me now, and I only had the smallest of head starts, but I refused to look back to see how quickly they were closing the gap between us. I could only focus on one thing, the elevator. Make it to the elevator, I told myself, as I sprinted up the long, curved drive.
I made it to the foot of the building and burst through the door and into the lobby. I saw the cold, stainless steel doors that I knew would take me to safety. I’d made it. I swiped my key fob across the panel and hit the up button, but it didn’t open. That meant it was sitting at the top of the building, where the occupants of the penthouse had left it. My heart jumped with relief when I realized that might mean Ben had made it back and taken the elevator up. Although, it would have been a whole lot more helpful if the elevator didn’t have so many stories to travel back down to me. I could practically feel Sam’s group bearing down on me. I hit the button twice more, though I knew it wouldn’t make the elevator move any quicker.
I chanced a look behind me. Through the glass I saw them running up the long drive, pouring through the artifact cars left parked there. A flash of sunlight glinted off golden hair just outside the lobby doors.
Grey
? My heart nearly stopped, and I did a double take, but suddenly he wasn’t there. Had I imagined it? I could have sworn I saw his hair.
I turned back to the elevator, pressed the already lit button repeatedly and murmured, “Oh, God. Please, hurry.” I wondered what I should do if the elevator didn’t arrive before Sam did, and icy fear poured into my stomach. I couldn’t let that happen. I thought of Rissi’s hiding spot in the office across from me, but I doubted I would fit inside the little vent. And then what would happen once the elevator arrived? It would take Sam and her group directly up to the top floor, and only one locked door would stand between Rissi and Ben and The Front. What had I done? I had led them directly to our front door!
I looked over my shoulder again when suddenly a whooshing noise filled my ears, and a massive blast threw me back into the stainless steel elevator doors. I heard the lobby’s glass windows shatter around me as I slid to the floor with my back against the cool doors.
It took me a moment to open my eyes. What happened? There was a warm, dull hum in my ears. I tried to remember. Sam. The other Greeters. They were coming for me. I groggily turned my head to look past the now-shattered windows. I saw them lying on the ground, not too far from the lobby doors. I didn’t know if they were dead or just unconscious.
I looked for the source of the explosion but couldn’t find one. A few cars on the long driveway had clearly been disturbed, and the broken glass in the lobby told me I wasn’t crazy. There had just been a major explosion, but nothing was on fire. I was confused, and my ears wouldn’t stop ringing.
I jumped when the elevator chime broke the silence. I crawled a few inches away from the doors, trying to avoid the broken glass covering the floor. I looked up as the doors opened to reveal three figures standing inside: Ben, Rissi and Grey.
I stared up in wonder and confusion at Grey. How did he get here? Had I really seen him moments before the concussion that knocked me off my feet? Before I had time to form my questions aloud, Rissi squealed my name and ran to me, hugging me tightly. Her warm embrace was enough to help me focus, but then I pushed her gently away, worried about the shattered glass that might be stuck in my clothes and hair. I felt tears of relief and happiness sting my eyes as I tried to brush myself off. I had her back. I’d found them both again, and what’s more, they seemed fine. If anything, I was the only one in this group that looked worse for wear. As I retrained my eyes back on Ben and Grey, I tried to form my questions into words, but all that came out was, “How?”
“Autumn! Did you feel that?! What happened? Are you okay?” asked Ben as he leaned down to help me up.
“I... I don’t know,” I said. I stared at Grey, who now knelt beside me, checking me for cuts. His fingers brushed through my hair and across my shoulders, wiping away shards of glass, and my breath caught in my throat as I asked him, “How did you get here? Did you do that?”
“I promised you I would come for them,” he said matter-of-factly, like this had been his plan all along. Had he left before me? Had he been ahead of me this entire time?
“The explosion?” I asked as I twisted around to double check that Sam and her friends were still on the ground behind us.
“Yes, we felt it upstairs,” Grey said as he handed me a bottle of water. “Is anything broken? How do you feel?” I was too shell-shocked to hurt at the moment.
“I think I’m okay. There’s ringing in my ears,” I said and began to chug my water.
“That’s to be expected. I’ll examine you when we get back. We have to go.” That’s when I noticed Ben and Rissi both with a satchel of their own.
“No! I want to stay here! We’re safe here!” I yelled, almost hysterically.
“They know where you’re hiding now. You’ll be safer with us,” Grey said as he helped me up.
I lowered my voice so Ben wouldn’t hear and asked, “What about Todd and his rules?”
“We’ll sort that out when we get there,” he said.
Ben interrupted before I could press Grey for details. “Are there other kids there for Rissi to play with? How many people are there? Should we bring the shower?”
“We can talk as we go. Please. Quickly.” He ushered us along, past Sam and the others. As we passed her, I saw her breathing. I was glad she was still alive, but at the same time, I hoped I’d never meet her again.
“Wait, what about the electric cart?” I turned to look at Ben who quickly looked down and scratched his head.
“Yeah, um... I may have misjudged how far the battery would take us on the cart. It died somewhere in Santa Monica when I was headed home after the earthquake.” He blushed.
“What happened after the earthquake? Was everything okay?” I asked Ben as I looked down at Rissi, wondering how terrified she must have been when the shaking started.
“It’s fine. A few things got tossed around, but nothing major. And Rissi’s had enough drills to know what to do.”
“So, what happened to
you
?” I asked as Grey ushered us on. “I heard you yell, but I couldn’t find you.”
Ben pulled off his glasses and began to clean them on his shirt as he evened his pace with mine, “I’m sorry about losing you after the earthquake. I thought I...” he paused and shook his head. “I thought I saw Rissi,” he said, as if he was still unsure.
“What?” I looked at Rissi, who just shrugged.
“I can’t believe I was so stupid. Of course, it wasn’t her. Before the earthquake was over, I saw a little girl with curly brown hair wander out into the street several blocks north. I thought it was Rissi and started running toward her. But she disappeared, and I made a fool of myself looking for her. It’s no wonder they heard me, with all the noise I was making.” Ben rolled his eyes.
“Who was the little girl? Who found you?” I asked, confused.
“The Front,” Ben said simply. “Some teenagers had the little girl with them.”
“They’ve got children now, too?” I was horrified, thinking of little kids like Rissi getting sucked into a group like The Reconstruction Front.
“They’re trying to create an image of family and normalcy to deceive people,” Grey said, his eyes scanning the area ahead of us.
“So what happened when they found you?” I asked Ben.
“I said I’d just gotten to L.A. from Phoenix. They tried to get me to come with them, and I acted really excited, but then I told them I felt feverish and mentioned The Plague was still rampant in Arizona.” He chuckled. “You should have seen how fast they backed off. I hammed it up and stumbled around after them for a block or so. It was great.”
I stared at him. “Wow. That was... brilliant.”
“You’re surprised?” Ben raised an eyebrow at me.
“Not that you’re
not
brilliant, but I guess I just always thought of you as book smart.”
“Well, now you know that I’m brilliant in all areas,” he said as he puffed his chest and smiled. “So what happened to you after the earthquake? I couldn’t find you either. I came home, thinking you’d be there, but when you weren’t, well... Rissi was terrified to be left alone again, and I couldn’t take her with me...” His voice trailed off. I could see how scared he must have been for me. I wanted to hug him and tell him I was okay, but I didn’t want to embarrass him.
I filled him in on my adventures over the past week. Rissi, who was holding our hands and walking in between us, looked up at me in awe. I smiled down at her as we walked, thinking that even though it was impossible, she seemed to have grown just a little in the few days I’d been gone. I felt serenity spreading through me as I swung her arms up and down with each of our strides. I barely noticed my sore muscles now that I was back with my family and Grey.
We were nearly a block away when I started to replay the scenario at the base of The Water Tower in my head again. The explosion had happened so fast. Could there have been some kind of gas leak? Since there were so few people around to maintain the city’s utilities, there could be any number of disasters waiting to happen. But it was too convenient, too perfectly timed. A moment sooner, and I would have been knocked out with Sam and the others, a moment later and they would have been on top of me.
“How did you get up the elevator?” I blurted out to Grey as I followed him into a narrow alley.
“What?” Grey asked over his shoulder.
“The elevator, at The Water Tower. You don’t have a key. How did you operate it? And how did you get into the building without being seen?”
“I took a back entrance,” he said with a sound of finality.
“Okay, but how did you operate the elevator?”
“I’m good with electronics.” We came out of the alley onto a tree-lined side street, and he stopped short, looking around intently. He turned and looked me up and down, as if studying me. “It’s quite a walk back to The Underground on foot. If you think you can make it back, we’ll continue on. If not, we should make camp. There’s a public library a couple blocks away I’ve used before.”
I took a moment to assess my aching limbs and sore feet. I was exhausted, but I didn’t want to stop here, even if we were hidden away. I couldn’t bear the thought of Rissi sleeping anywhere that wasn’t 100 percent safe. When I looked at her soft brown curls and sweet face, I knew I would find a way to keep going until we reached The Underground.
“Autumn? Are you okay?” asked Grey, a hint of concern in his voice.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” I replied.
“Are you going to be able to do this walk again? How are your feet holding up?”
“I can do it.”
“Okay,” he said as he turned and continued forward. “Careful here.” He put his hand on the small of my back, guiding me around an open car door.
His touch was always like lightning sparks to my skin and looking at him, I wondered if it was possible he felt it, too. Then I reminded myself of the conversation I’d overheard between him and Lydia the night before, and how fast he’d agreed not to see me anymore.
I felt a pang of guilt as I remembered Ben, and the complication we’d had last fall. I subtly glanced back at him to see if he’d noticed the interaction between Grey and me. I met Ben’s eyes and was startled at the resentment I found there. I turned and stared straight ahead. I felt guilty, like I’d broken some unspoken rule. I tried to rationalize the situation. Ben had no claim over me. We’d never been anything but friends in my mind, but it didn’t matter. There was a palpable tension in the air. I wondered if Grey noticed.
“Maybe Autumn’s right,” Ben said. “Wouldn’t we be safer in The Water Tower? We’ve been doing fine there for a long time. Besides, she needs a rest.”
“Even if The Front didn’t know where you were now, you’d eventually run out of supplies. And you’re extremely close to their headquarters. It’s just too risky to stay there,” he said as he continued to move us forward.
I turned to look at my Dad’s beautiful creation, one last time. I could only see the top floors from this distance. I mentally told it goodbye, thanking it for being my refuge for so long. I was going to my new home now, and strangely, it felt like another part of me was being taken away.
The sun was disappearing by the time Grey stopped us at the intersection of Venice and Sepulveda Boulevards. It was a large intersection with the 405 freeway nearly on top of it. White flags fluttered proudly all around the area, marking the territory as The Front’s. “We need to be very mindful here,” said Grey as he scanned the area. “I want you all to stay put until I get back.” He led us to the backyard of a small house just off the intersection. There were a few pieces of patio furniture, so I took the opportunity to sit down. My legs were past feeling like noodles. I could barely feel them at all. “How are you holding up?” Grey asked, passing me a water bottle.
“I’m fine,” I said and smiled. As I sipped from the bottle, I felt Ben staring at me. I handed the bottle to Rissi.
“Are we not going to travel on the freeways? I didn’t see anyone on them earlier,” I said.
“You were very lucky. I’ve run across several scouts on the freeways before. We should stick to the side streets if we can. Please, stay here. I won’t be long,” he said as he turned to go.
“Hey! Hey wait, I want to go, too,” yelled Ben. It was the first time I saw Grey’s face ever contort with irritation.
“Please keep your voice down. This is a very dangerous place for us,” said Grey as calmly as he could. “You’re putting your sister and Autumn in grave danger every time you raise your voice.” Grey stared at Ben like a teacher would at a naughty child. Even though Grey was about Ben’s age, his presence was much weightier than Ben’s, and what made it worse was that I sensed Ben felt it, too. I felt bad for him, but I knew Grey was right. Ben hadn’t thought before he yelled. I was so glad Grey was here, even though I knew he was making Ben miserable.