Vince, Corax and I rex in the car until the sun disappears behind the canyon walls.

  “We should have enough power to make it to Vegas.” Vince announces.

  “Is it going to be safe?” If we get caught in a storm, we might run out of power before the storm ends. Unless I can power whatever life support we have built in? That’s not something I want to test though.

  “Why don’t you find out while I put the sor panels away?”

  I grab the radio and switch through the stations. It turns out that Vegas has a single station collecting, analyzing, and reporting every weather pattern for hundreds of miles around.

  “Next storm isn’t predicted to hit for another 15 hours.” If I remember correctly, Vince said it’s only eight to Vegas. I’m not about to assume the trip will be safe though.

  “Good! Why don’t you go grab Cassie and Ivy, and help them bring our supplies to the garage. I’ll be there as soon as I finish storing these.”

  “Ok.” Corax and I head back into town. “You might want to say goodbye to everyone.”

  Corax, with one powerful fp of his wings, flies high into the air. The kids immediately cheer for his return.

  I’m not going to compin about nobody paying attention to me while I walk through the vilge. Maybe this was Corax’s pn the whole time? To make the least amount of people possible see me? I need to remember to thank him ter.

  “Ivy? Cassie?” I call into the house. I think they’re still in their room. It’s been so long, they can’t still be hungover, right? “We’re heading to Vegas now.”

  “Ok!” Ivy’s voice comes from the room. “We’ll be right out.”

  “Just bring everything down to the garage.” I grab a few supplies from the table and begin hauling.

  It’s not long before I’m joined by both Ivy and Cassie, although Cassie refuses to look at me. I should try to talk to her when we get some time alone. I don’t want her to feel awkward about st night for longer than she has to.

  It’s not until we finish hauling everything right when Vince finally rolls in with the car. Corax is perched on the dash. It probably took so long for Vince to get here because he had to rescue Corax.

  “Alright everyone, storm’s hitting in 14 hours, and it’s an eight hour drive. Let’s get moving.” Vince calls out the window.

  Loading up the car only takes a few minutes. It’s much easier now that we don’t have a me-sized hole in the middle.

  Cassie hops in the passenger seat before we finish and puts on the radio headset. That’s ok, loading the trunk isn’t exactly a four person job.

  Before I know it we’re driving once again. While the bottom of the canyon is completely dark, there’s still a bit of time before dusk once we leave. I watch the sunset with Corax before diving into my book.

  “Watch for storms.” Corax says, preparing to unch into the sky the moment the sun goes down.

  “We will.” Vince reassures him.

  “No, he means he’ll watch for them.” I roll down the window and Corax hops out.

  “Let him know I appreciate it when he comes back.”

  “I will.”

  The closer we get to Vegas, the more cars Corax reports. People must be rushing home to beat the storm. Both Vince and Ivy are looking more anxious by the moment, but I think for different reasons.

  Ivy keeps her rifle at the ready, rapidly scanning the horizon. Vince, on the other hand, keeps his eyes solely on the sand in front of us. The nervousness he’s been showing the whole time has been repced with an icy determination.

  It’s not long before Ivy starts to be able to see the cars that Corax has been reporting. I can only see the bright dots of headlights in the distance, but Ivy can apparently tell exactly how many people are in each car.

  A gunshot sounds in the distance, and Ivy jumps into action. She opens the door and stands up, her gun resting on the roof. She takes aim, but does not fire.

  “Just a warning shot.” She reports, but doesn’t settle down. “Not sure if it’ll stay that way, but they’re far.”

  It takes a few minutes before Ivy feels confident enough to slip back into the car. The whole time Vince never reacts to anything.

  In the distance I’m starting to be able to see light. Bright windows at the top of skyscrapers are our lighthouse. Our destination. Everyone’s destination.

  In the center of the city a dozen cars are lined up outside a tunnel sloping down under the sand. It’s simir to the entrance we used to get into the Grand Canyon, but way bigger. It’s a rge bck square with hydraulic expansion joints built into the side of it. Just the small portion that is above the sand could easily expand a few feet. No matter how thick the sand, they’re prepared.

  Four separate nes are painted inside it, but everyone is only using the rightmost one. One other path is marked as an exit, and a second one is for deliveries. Vince doesn’t get in line, instead he heads down the path marked ‘VIP’.

  We follow the path thirty feet down. While the general admission ne levels out, we continue down another few floors. We roll up to a small, heavy steel door. A camera extends from the ceiling, snaking its way to the driver side window, which Vince rolls down.

  “Vince? Is that really you?” A voice comes from the camera.

  “I’m here on business, keep it on the down low.” I’ve never heard Vince use that tone of voice before. It has almost a cruel twinge to it. Cassie unconsciously cringes when she hears it.

  “Yes sir.” The camera responds and the door begins to open.

  “By the way, is Two still kicking?”

  “He is.”

  “Good.” Vince pulls the car into a hallway. A series of identical steel doors sit along both walls, with one already open and waiting for us. Vince pulls in, puts the car in park, and heaves a rge sigh. “Bring a few days of rations, but leave the rest. Expect your every word and action to be recorded.”

  Ivy nods wordlessly and exits the car with her rifle still in her hands. The rest of us follow suit. The three of them shove a few pressed bars and bottles of water into their backpacks.

  Along the back wall an invisible door slides open. An elevator sits behind it, the only open exit in the room. I follow everyone in. There’s no buttons on the wall, just a small camera in the corner.

  The elevator slides closed on its own and begins to move upwards. After only a floor, the elevator comes to a stop. The door doesn’t open like I’m expecting, instead it lurches to the side for a few feet before returning to its upward motion.

  Eventually the elevator stops and opens to a living room. It’s finer than anything I’ve ever seen. A chandelier hangs from the twenty foot ceiling and gold is inyed into every wooden accent. Fine leather couches sit in the room, and a few open doors lead to other rooms. From the glimpses of the bathroom and bedrooms I can catch they look just as nice.

  “Ivy? Can you take care of the bugs?” Vince asks while he steps into the room.

  Ivy grabs a roll of tape from her backpack and marches around the room. She pces small squares seemingly randomly throughout. She also digs a knife into the wall in a few pces to pop out near microscopic microphones.

  “No offense Zero, but I appreciate my privacy.” Vince announces to the room.

  It takes a few minutes for Ivy to check every crevice, corner, and item in the suite. Eventually she returns to us, looking unsatisfied.

  “That’s all the visible ones.” She announces.

  “Thank you. I’m sure he can still hear us, but it should make things a little harder.” Vince takes a seat on the floor, instead of the couch.

  I don’t even want to imagine what Vince had to do to earn a pce like this. I’m certainly not going to be the one who asks though. There’s zero chance he wants to share.

  Cassie, Ivy, and Corax don’t let Vince’s reluctance stop them from rexing on the couch. It’s so soft it nearly swallows the two of them hole, and I’m pretty sure Corax is actually buried in it. I’m not sure my cooling would handle being that covered, so I sit on the floor next to Vince.

  “Alright, quick rundown.” Vince starts. “Ivy and I are going to see if a few leads are still alive. Cassie, get some sleep and we’ll start our investigation at noon tomorrow. Sound good?”

  “I’m coming with you.” Cassie demands.

  “Cassie, please. It’d be easier for me to be alone, but I need Ivy to make sure I don’t get ambushed. You’ll be there tomorrow if I do anything big. Alright?”

  “No! It’s not alright!” Cassie is the furthest from happy she could possibly be. After a short, silent conversation Cassie relents and drops back into the couch. “If anything happens I’m coming for you.”

  “I’m counting on it.” Vince says with a sad smile. He stands up, slings his rifle across his back, and keeps his hand rexed on his pistol. He tilts his hat down to cover most of his face. “Feel free to order anything. It’s all free.”

  At first gnce, Ivy looks far less ready than Vince. But I can tell her hand never gets more than a few inches away from her pistol. The two of them walk out the front door and it locks behind him.

  “Well I’m going to get food.” Cassie stands up and walks past, without looking at me. She hits an intercom on the wall and asks what’s avaible. I don’t think knowing their menu is important, so I tune out their conversation.

  “Are you stuck?” I ask Corax.

  “Yes.” His muffled voice comes from somewhere inside the couch.

  “Do you want out?”

  “No.”

  “Alright.”

  Eventually Cassie finishes ordering, and tries to cim one of the rooms.

  “Cassie, wait.” I call out to her, and she stops. “Can we talk about st night?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about.” She says quietly, but doesn’t head for her room.

  “I don’t want you to have to feel awkward whenever I’m around. Can we just solve this?”

  “Just forget about it.”

  “I can pretend like it never happened, but it’s not a permanent solution. It’s just going to make things worse in the future. Trust me.”

  “Fuck.” She sighs and turns around. “Fine, what do you want me to say?”

  “I’m not sure you need to say anything? You were drunk, and did something you wouldn’t do sober. That’s ok, I imagine it happens all the time. I’m sure you’ve done the same to Ivy or another friend. It didn’t mean anything, and doesn’t have any impact on anything going forward.”

  Her face softens a little.

  “How’s that any different from just pretending it didn’t happen?” She asks.

  “I don’t know.” I admit. “I’m not good at any of this.”

  “Alright.” She fails at holding in a small ugh. “Tell me when my burger gets here.” She closes the door to her room.

  Wait, they have burgers? How?

  JanePtinum