Purdue was already on the case. He dashed over to the food storage and snatched up a large can of honey, then threw open the bonnet of the first vehicle he came to and tipped a generous measure of the sweet, sticky stuff into the engine.
"What are you doing?" Henley demanded. "We need that car!"
"We need one of them," said Purdue. "The rest are better off out of action. Sam, Nina, help me, please. Henley, does that key of yours open the door that will let us out, or will I need to access the computers?"
"It's my dad's key, it opens just about anything in this place." Henley stuck her chin out defiantly. "I stole it. Dad said he was going to teach me to drive while we were out here, but then he got too busy with all his FireStorm bullshit, so I was planning on teaching myself. I kind of know how already, it's not that hard."
Nina, limping as she carried cans of honey between the cars, yelled that she could hear the hunt advancing as she passed the door. Sam doubled his pace, vandalizing the 4 x 4s as fast as he could, while Henley went to open the exit door and Purdue selected a vehicle to hot wire. He settled on a large, sand-colored Zibar MK2 and climbed into the driver's seat to access the wires.
The engine roared to life as Henley twisted the key in the lock and the vehicle exit slowly eased open. Sam dropped the can he was carrying and went to help Nina, whose ankle was swelling rapidly and causing her to limp. She grabbed his arm to support herself as she made her way toward the car.
"Wait!"
The thin door swung open, revealing Sara with Jefferson at her shoulder.
"Daddy?" Henley's defiance suddenly deserted her and she wailed, running toward her father and allowing herself to be enveloped in his arms. "I'm sorry I took your key!" she wept. "Don't let them take me away! They said they were going to use me as a hostage!"
For a moment Sam stood dumbstruck, staring at Henley. Then Nina yelled at him to get in the car, and they sped out just as the rest of the hunters came tumbling through the door.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Purdue slammed his foot down, grinding the accelerator pedal against the floor. The finely tuned engine offered only token protest, growling as they powered over the dune that lay beyond the exit.
Sand sprayed up on either side of the car, showering the initiates who had given chase. Sam found it profoundly satisfying to see Cody get a face full of dirt. Of the acolytes there was no sign. Perhaps they're still restraining Kai, Sam thought. I hope he's all right… him and Julia Rose.
"Do either of you have a compass?" Purdue yelled over the sound of the engine. "No? Nina, could you—"
Before he could finish, Nina had anticipated the question. While Purdue kept both hands on the wheel, working to keep control as they gathered speed on the uneven terrain, she plunged her hand into his pocket and found the folding tablet. Extending it to its largest size, she held it toward Purdue. "Map," he enunciated.
The tablet sprang to life. It lit up, a satellite view of their surroundings spreading across the screen. A green triangle marked the position of the tablet. Zooming in as far as she could, Nina could discern the shape of the campsite that they had built just days before. The level of detail was incredible.
"We're heading south," she said.
"Perfect," said Purdue. "That is exactly where we need to go. Though at some point we should reach the Colorado River, right?"
Nina checked again. "Yes. We can either head south and follow it around to Lake Mead, which will get us back to Overton and we can pick up the I-15 from there, or we can start heading southwest and save ourselves the time. Assuming, that is, that you want to get back to a main road."
"Ultimately, we need to reach any road that will take us in the direction of California." Purdue swung the vehicle around to take them southwest.
"California? Why are we going to—"
"Purdue, look out!" Sam yelled. A small, black, airborne device had appeared by the car window. For a second Sam thought that it would collide with them and instinctively began to duck, but it changed course, zoomed upward and vanished from view.
"It's a drone," Purdue stated flatly, "a scout, if I'm not mistaken."
"Why the fuck does a group of hippies need a drone?" Nina hissed. "What the fuck is going on here?"
"I doubt it will be just one drone, Nina," Purdue warned. "If I am not mistaken—"
"Yeah," Sam interrupted, "they've definitely got more than one." He watched as a thin, menacing line of black drones rose up over the dunes behind them, hovered for a moment, and then advanced.
As the first bullet sailed past the car and buried itself with a thud in the sand, Sam began to laugh. They're shooting at us with toys, he thought, remote controls. I saved up my pocket money for something that looked like these when I was nine. How can this be happening?
"Hold on!" Purdue yelled, slamming his foot to the floor and spinning the car through ninety degrees. Sam grunted as Nina was thrown against him by the momentum.
"There's a canyon up ahead," Nina gasped, pulling herself back into her own seat and consulting the tablet. "North Fork or something? Should we be going this way? Can we hide?"
A bullet found its mark, slamming into the rear of the vehicle, burying itself deep in the chassis with a scream of shredding metal.
"We can try," said Purdue. "When I give the word, be ready to run."
Sam spun around and leaned over the back of his seat, scouring the back of the vehicle for anything that might aid them in their escape. It had obviously been equipped for possible danger — there were several shotguns piled on the floor. Deciding that they were worth having, Sam clambered precariously over the back of his seat, yelling a few words of explanation to the others.
There was little else to be had. Apart from the guns, all he could find was a can of petrol and a large disc that he recognized as a photographer's reflector, white on one side and silver on the other. He had heard of photojournalists who had found themselves stranded in desert areas who had used these disks to signal for help. Sam wondered whether that might be the reason for its presence, or whether it might just have been left behind by a photographer who had occupied the vehicle. Either way, he reasoned that the white side might be useful if they needed to deflect the harsh light of the burning sun. By the time Purdue yelled for them to jump, Sam had loaded himself with three shotguns under one arm, a couple of boxes of ammunition in his pocket, the petrol can in one hand, and the reflector in the other.
They ran for cover, diving into a patch of sagebrush. Purdue's eyes lit up when he caught sight of Sam's haul. "Give that to me," he said, reaching for the petrol can. He peered out from between the branches of the bush. "There are more bushes over there," he said, gesturing toward them. "Run for those. Take the reflector with you. Hold it over your hiding place, silver side out. I will join you in a moment."
Sam handed him a gun, passed another to Nina, and then did as he was told. He and Nina broke cover just in time to see the scout drone circling, searching for anything it would recognize as a human shape. They scrambled into the bushes and he flung the reflector on top, just as Purdue had instructed. Then they huddled together. Paying no attention to the thorns, Nina pushed the branches apart to see what was going on outside. She regained visibility just as the patch of bushes they had previously sheltered in went up in flames, and she heard Purdue's brief, triumphant whoop of laughter as he dashed over to join them.