Wildfire Run

by Dee Garretson

  A screen at the bottom flickered and Luke leaned in closer. It was of some part of the woods and the back of a building. Luke couldn’t tell which building. It wasn’t one of the main lodges; at least, he didn’t think it was. There were sector numbers scrolling across the bottom of the screen, but they didn’t mean anything to him. To his horror, he watched as fire appeared in the woods, creeping toward the building.

  “We need to hurry,” he said, turning away. He didn’t want Theo or Callie to see. If either one of them panicked now, they wouldn’t have a chance.

  “Okay, so is the switch in this room?” Callie swung around.

  “What switch?” Luke asked.

  “The one that turns off the electric fence. Isn’t that why we came here?”

  “There isn’t going to be some big switch on the wall with a sign on it that says, ‘Electric Fence.’”

  “Now you tell me. What are we doing then?” Callie waved her arms around the room. “I thought we went through all that trouble to shut off the fence.”

  “There’s some computer station here that controls the power to different parts of the facility,” Luke said. “We just have to figure out which one.”

  Theo sat down at one and moved the mouse to bring the screen back. “Luke, we have a problem. I bet they’re all going to want passwords to access them. Try them.”

  Luke and Callie tried one after another. Every single one said, ENTER PASSWORD.

  Luke sat down in a chair, exhausted. This was one hurdle too many. He should have realized they would never get into a password-protected government computer. Hackers might be able to, but they didn’t know enough to know where to start. He laid his head on the desk, wishing he could just close his eyes and go to sleep and wake up when it was all over.

  “Does your dad have a password? Do you know it?” Callie asked. “I know my dad’s password for his laptop, and I would think the President would be able to access everything.”

  “Dad wouldn’t want access to the computers. He barely knows how to use one.”

  “We have to try something,” Callie said. “At least try. Try some word, like ‘camp’ or ‘David’ or something.”

  “Callie, nobody who’s good with computers ever uses obvious passwords.”

  “I’m going to try anyway. You never know; maybe somebody got lazy. Here, hold Tocho.” She plopped the cat down in Luke’s lap and then sat down at the closest computer and typed something, then hit “enter.” “I guess that isn’t it. I’ll try something else.” She typed more words, hitting “enter” each time. “Uh-oh.” Callie swung the chair around. “Now it’s flashing, ‘Access denied.’”

  “If you enter the wrong password too many times, it locks you out,” Luke said.

  “Just because I couldn’t get into this one doesn’t mean I can’t get into another.” Callie tried them all, until every one flashed, ACCESS DENIED.

  “Callie, Luke’s right. We’ll never get in,” Theo said. “These computers are as secure as any in the world.” Theo sat back, slumping in his chair, mirroring Luke’s dejection.

  “Are you both just going to sit there?” Callie’s voice rose. “After all this! Are you going to let a bunch of machines beat you?” Callie hit her fist against a desk, shaking the computer on it. She let out a whoop. “Wait. Why can’t we just try something simpler? They’re all just machines. They all run on electricity. Why can’t we just unplug them all, and then whichever one is sending a signal to the gate will be shut off?”

  Theo frowned and then smiled. “That’s a great idea. It might work. They’re all plugged into docking stations, so just pull them off. That should disconnect them.”

  Callie removed one. The screen dimmed, but the computer stayed on. “I forgot about the batteries,” she said. “We need to get all the batteries out.” Theo already had one upside down. When he popped the battery out and turned the laptop back over, it was dead.

  “It’s working! Help, Luke,” Callie said.

  “There’s another problem, Theo.” Luke pointed to a large station. “This computer console is hardwired into the wall. We can’t unplug it, and I bet it’s the important one. They wouldn’t use laptops as the main computers.”

  “Can’t we just cut the cord?” Callie came over and examined it.

  “How are we going to do that without electrocuting ourselves?” Luke asked.

  “Wait,” Theo said. “There has to be an emergency off switch to this console in case something shorts out and starts a fire. I read about how there used to be big red buttons on the front, but on newer mainframes they aren’t in such obvious places, because people used to push the buttons accidentally. I bet this is it.” Theo pointed to a small switch under a plastic cover.

  “Turn it off,” Callie said. Theo lifted the cover and hit the switch. The sirens went off, and then the lights went off. It was as dark as a cave, except for one emergency light by the door.

  “I never want to hear another siren again,” Callie said. “Do you still have Tocho?”

  Luke reached out to hand the cat to her as the lights came back on.

  29

  The Front Line

  “No!” Callie yelled.

  Theo sighed, slumping down again. “There must be a backup power source in some room here. The cord for the console probably runs back into a server room, and I bet there’s another room beyond that with the backup. I’ve seen something like that at my dad’s office. Those rooms would all be locked. They really limit access to those rooms.”

  “We have to try to find them. There have to be off switches there.” Callie was already moving around the room.

  “It won’t do any good,” Luke said. “I forgot there’s an emergency generator too, and there’s no way we can get to it. Nobody can climb the fence around it without getting sliced to pieces. It’s a special kind of reinforced barbed wire.” He was angry now. It was almost like Camp David was some sort of devious enemy, thwarting them at every step. He had played computer games like that, feeling like he was never going to get to advance. He wasn’t going to let that happen here.

  “Don’t say anything, Callie. Here, take Tocho back.” He didn’t want to hear her complain. “I’ll say it for you. I know I have been really stupid, not thinking things through.” She started to talk but Luke held up his hand. “Let me finish. I’m not going to be beaten. You keep coming up with ideas that are smart because they’re so simple. Well, I’ve been thinking of an idea too. Some of it’s simple; some of it is not. And I’m making up a saying of my own; it’s not Latin, but it’s going to be my new motto: ‘Have lots of backup plans.’”

  “What’s the idea?” Theo asked, rummaging around on someone’s desk until he found a piece of paper and a pen.

  “I don’t have time to explain it all. I think the inner perimeter defense system is off. The sirens are off, so that’s a good sign. The system is new; it takes a lot of power, and the generator is old. I think the generator is just controlling the emergency lights and the electric fence.”

  “Are we just supposed to take your word for that?” Callie said.

  “You’ll see. I’ll prove it to you,” Luke said. “But first we need some supplies. A lot of supplies. And a truck.”

  “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Callie asked. “What good is a truck going to do us? We can’t get through either gate.”

  “We don’t need to,” Luke said. “Come on, we need water too. Let’s get that refrigerator open.” This got them moving back into the storage room to crawl over the shelving to the old corridor.

  Callie reached the refrigerator first. “This water had better be cold.” She pulled open the door. The refrigerator was packed with soft drinks and bottled water.

  “Let’s take as many as we can carry,” Luke said. “We don’t know when we’ll get any more.” When they got back outside, Theo sat down on the ground.

  “I need to rest for just a minute,” he said. “I’m really sleepy.”

  “Here.” C
allie put Tocho down and opened a bottle of water, then handed it to him. Luke opened his and poured the cool water into his mouth. Nothing had ever tasted so good. Tocho went over to the pool where Comet was still lying down. The kitten squeaked at him and Comet wagged his tail, being friendly.

  “If you two had done this hours ago, you would have saved us a lot of trouble,” Callie said, getting down near the kitten. She cupped her hand and poured some water in it, and Tocho lapped it up.

  “I hope Adam is okay,” Luke said. “We should get moving again.”

  “When can we have those ice-cream sundaes?” Theo asked. “That would taste really good right now.” He had his watch out again. “My watch isn’t working. I don’t know what time it is.”

  “What?” Luke thought Theo’s voice sounded kind of droopy.

  “You said we were having ice-cream sundaes. I wondered what time we would have them. I was going to bring us the doughnuts we left in the tree house but there were ants on them. My watch isn’t working.”

  Luke didn’t know what to say. “We’ll have ice cream tonight, Theo. Come on, I saw they forgot to put away one of the golf carts. We can take that.”

  “You go on. I’ll just stay here and take a nap.”

  “No, you can’t stay here.” Theo was scaring Luke now. “You have to get up.”

  Callie touched Luke’s arm, tipping her head as if motioning him away from Theo. He followed her a few feet away.

  “I think he has a concussion,” she said in a low voice. “The same thing happened when one of the ranch hands fell off the roof of the stable. Aunt Kate said people with concussions get sleepy and confused.”

  “What are we supposed to do?” Luke said.

  “I don’t know exactly. Aunt Kate was the one who took care of the ranch hand. I didn’t do anything. We should get Theo out of here as fast as we can, though. Let me try something.” She took a bottle of water over. “Theo, please drink some water. It will make you feel better.” She put the bottle in his hand and Theo took a drink. “Come on, if you don’t go with us, you won’t be able to have a sundae.” She took one of his arms. “Get up.”

  Theo did what she wanted. He heaved himself up and stood as if he were waiting for her to tell him what to do next.

  “I’ll help Theo to the golf cart, but you should get Comet,” Callie said, picking Tocho back up.

  Luke went back down the steps of the pool and got Comet. He scratched the dog’s ear. “I hope you can walk soon, you mutt.”

  They went around to the front of Aspen Lodge. “The golf cart is parked in the big lot by Laurel Lodge,” Luke said. “I saw it when we walked by.”

  “Where are we going?” Callie asked when they were settled in the golf cart.

  “I need to get some stuff from the maintenance garage.”

  “Isn’t that going to be locked too?”

  “It isn’t some sort of reinforced building. It’s old, and besides, there aren’t any weapons or anything important in there, so it’s not going to have a complicated lock.”

  They were at the garage in only a minute or so. Luke pulled up in front of the big sliding double doors.

  “Theo, you can stay here,” Luke said, hoping Theo wouldn’t fall asleep. “Callie and I will get the doors open.”

  “Theo, drink some more water.” Callie set Tocho in the seat. “Watch Tocho for me, okay?”

  Tocho curled up in a ball, yawning. Luke was amazed neither animal seemed aware the fire was coming.

  “Okay,” Theo said.

  “Good.” Luke saw that Comet had his head on Theo’s knee. “Callie, you’re going to need both hands to get all the stuff. Come on, we need to go around to the back.”

  The back corner of the garage was a small office with windows and doors to both the main part of the garage and to the outside. As Luke expected, the outside door was locked.

  “Stand back,” he said, picking up a rock. Giving Callie time to move away, he heaved it at one of the windows and the window broke with a satisfying crash.

  “Score one for Luke,” he said. “I’m going to win after all.”

  “Can I help?” Callie asked. “I’ve always wanted to smash a window on purpose.”

  “Go for it,” Luke said. Callie picked up another rock and hit at the remaining panes of glass.

  “I’ll unlock the back door once I climb through,” Luke said. The window wasn’t as free of glass as Luke had thought, and one sliver cut into his palm. He didn’t even care anymore. There wasn’t time to think about little things like cuts.

  Callie pounded on the door, and when Luke opened it, she rushed in. “Luke, there’s fire behind the garage. We have to get out of here.”

  Luke looked out to the west and saw flames over the tops of the trees. “The fire is spreading faster over there because the helicopter was full of fuel, but we still have time, if we hurry.” The keys to the landscape trucks hung on the wall right where they were supposed to be, and Luke grabbed a set.

  “First thing we need to do is get the doors open. This way.” They raced past the landscape trucks, the golf carts, and the lawn mowers lined up in neat rows. Luke unlocked the main doors as quickly as he could. He took hold of one, shoving hard, until it slid open.

  “Theo, we need you!” Callie called. “We’ve got to hurry!”

  Theo climbed out of the golf cart and walked to them, looking more awake now. Comet lifted his head, then laid it back down. Tocho didn’t stir.

  “How do you feel?” Luke asked.

  “I feel better after the water. What are we doing?”

  “We need to load up this truck.” Luke motioned to the one closest to the doors. “I’ll lower the lift to make it easier.” He climbed up into the cab, put the key in the ignition, and then hit a switch. The back lift came down.

  “They use it to load up the lawn mowers,” Luke said, climbing out of the truck. “We’re going to use it to load all our stuff. Theo, you get a metal chain. There should be some big ones the landscape crew uses to pull shrubs out of the ground. Get the biggest one you can find and put it in the truck. Callie, go get that golf cart, the two-seater, and drive it over here. The one we’ve been using is too big.”

  “Oh, so now you trust me to drive?”

  “Golf carts are easy,” Luke said. When he saw her frown and clench her fist, he backed up. “Wait, I didn’t say that the right way. I trust you to drive. I’m sorry, but we don’t have time for you to be mad at me, okay?”

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “When you’re done, we need lots of rope, strong rope. It’s all hanging on the wall behind the trucks. Bring all the thickest rope you can find. And then—”

  “Wait, wait, let me get this stuff first,” Callie said. “Breathe a few times.”

  Luke did. “I’m going to get some scrap two-by-fours and some sledgehammers.”

  Once everything was in the truck, Luke stopped to think. He snapped his fingers. “I forgot the most important thing. We need a big block and tackle, one with all the pulleys already put together on it, and they’re really heavy. Callie, bring the golf cart to the back of the garage, where the tools are. We can load it in the golf cart instead of carrying it.”

  The block and tackle was so heavy, Luke wondered if his plan was going to work after all. The metal garage was hot on a normal day, but now it felt like they were inside an oven, baking, and he decided he didn’t have any choice. The plan would have to work.

  Once the block and tackle was on the lift, Luke snapped his fingers again.

  “The only other thing I want is a creeper. Callie, can you get one back by the tools? Get a big one.”

  “What’s a creeper?”

  “Oh, it’s one of those flat carts with wheels that mechanics use to wheel themselves under the car. Wait, I’ll get it myself, because I know the one I want. Theo, you get in the truck. Callie, you’re going to follow us in the golf cart back to the jeep.”

  “What about the boxes in the woods?” Callie said.<
br />
  “They’re turned off, I’m telling you. The emergency generator doesn’t have enough power to run them. I’ll prove it to you. Put Comet and Tocho in with Theo. They’ll be safer. Now, I need to get the creeper.”

  He found it right where it was supposed to be, and rode it over to the truck like it was a skateboard, remembering how he used to drive Adam and Isabelle crazy doing that. He didn’t want that thought, though, so he pushed it away. Once the creeper was in the truck, he raised the lift and climbed in the cab. Comet was sitting in the driver’s seat.

  “Move over, boy,” he said. “We have work to do, and this time we are going to get it done.”

  30

  Surrounded

  “Follow me,” Luke yelled out his window. “You were right before, Callie. We need to go to the southwest to get out. We’ll get Adam and then we’ll go.” The wind was much stronger, but Luke couldn’t tell if the smoke was any thicker. They had been in it so long he was used to it now, adjusting his breathing to take short, shallow breaths. His hair was almost dry from dunking it in the pool. When they got out of here, he was going to dive into a real swimming pool and never get out.

  “Stop before you get to those boxes. I want to see if they’re still working,” Callie said, starting up the golf cart.

  “Okay.” Luke waved at her and turned the truck toward the main part of the camp. It was strange to be driving the truck. It was so much higher up in the air than the golf cart or the jeep. He glanced over at Theo. Theo was drinking another bottle of water, holding Tocho in his lap with his other hand.

  “Are you still okay, Theo?”

  “I guess so. Do you want some water? Callie put some in here.”

  Luke took a bottle with one hand, pulling the steering wheel too far with the other, making them lurch to the side. “It isn’t as easy to drive as I thought it was going to be.”

  “I can tell. Remind me not to ride with you again until you pass driver’s ed.” Theo leaned out the window and looked back. “Callie’s keeping up with you. She really can drive. She’s pretty smart too.”