Electric Love {Minsung}

Chapter 71: SKZ Return

Tucson, Arizona

The Kids were on the move again. They had left Tucson at six-thirty, stopped a little after eight in Phoenix for breakfast, and then continued. Gervaso pushed the speed limit most of the way. He was eager to get them to the ranch. But, with the exception of Ryujin, who wanted to stop in Vegas to shop for some new clothes, they were all eager to get to the ranch too. Everyone wanted to see their families and the rest of SKZ.

The closer they got to the ranch, the more of a hurry Gervaso was in. A little past Kingman, a highway patrol turned on its lights to pull us over, and Gervaso said to Minho, "Can you take care of that?"

Minho looked at the approaching police car nervously. "I'll try," he said. "I hope I don't make him crash."

"I can do it," Ryujin said. She looked back and extended her hand. Suddenly, the flashing lights on the car's roof died, as did the whole car. They lost sight of the patrol car as it coasted over to the side of the road.

It was about a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Phoenix to Vegas. The drive from Las Vegas to southern Utah on the I-15 led through the Moapa Valley in the upper northwest corner of Nevada, briefly recrossing into Arizona. Just before crossing into southern Utah, they drove through a chiseled rock canyon that towered high above the pass. Seungmin spotted mountain goats perched on the side of the mountainous crag.

"Look at those things," Seungmin said.

"That's incredible," Hyunjin replied. "I wouldn't climb that mountain with a rope and climbing gear. Those things are walking on it with hooves."

"I wonder how many mountain goats fall," Jisung said.

Everyone automatically turned to Seungmin.

He shrugged. "Why would I know that?"

* * *

They drove through Mesquite's borderline casino town before crossing the Utah border. Then they continued on I-15 up to St. George, went about ten miles north, turned off the highway, and then headed east to the towns of Hurricane and Springdale before entering Zion National Park. Their destination was just on the other side of the park, and the road through Zion was the shortest route. Peculiarly, something about the place seemed familiar.

The place was crowded with tourists, and even though it was only twelve miles from the west gate to the east gate, it still took the group about forty-five minutes to get across. Near the east end of the park, their drive took them through a long, two-lane tunnel, more than a mile long, carved through the mountain. The only lights in the tunnel were those from the headlamps of the cars in the opposite lane, so the van was brightly lit by their glows.

They passed through the park's east gate and continued for about five miles when Gervaso slowed the van to turn north onto a dirt road. "This is the place," he said.

Not surprisingly, the entrance to Christmas Ranch was not obvious nor well marked, and if it weren't for a wood-post stop sign, you'd probably drive right past it. Just after turning off the freeway, Gervaso stopped the van and took a radio from beneath his seat. "This is Bauble Six, returning to tree."

"Roger, Bauble Six. Your ETA?"

"Ten minutes. We just pulled onto the road."

"We'll alert sentries. Welcome home."

Gervaso put the van in gear and started off again.

"Look at those," Seungmin said, pointing out the window.

Outside were two drones, one on each side of the van, hovering about fifty feet in the air, escorting them.

The road to the ranch was rutted dirt lined with cedar trees, twisted juniper, and small clumps of cacti and prickly pear. A deep, dry ravine ran along the road for much of the way, indicating that there had, at least once, been a lot of water in these parts.