Chapter 16

“Skyjacker?” Norm asked. “What can it do?”

Weird scoffed arrogantly. “Well, gentlemen, the GPS only tells me where you are. But if Skyjacker can get control of the right satellite, I can control its cameras. The picture I get will be ten times clearer than any of the other virtual Earth programs, and if I hook into the right source, it may even be real-time. In other words, I’ll be with you guys, sort of. And maybe I can find the tree you’re looking for.”

“Weird, you rock! That’s about the best thing I could have heard.” Dylan stared toward the mountain’s peak. “If you can help us find the tree, we at least know we’re starting in the right place. It’s supposed to be on the east side of the mountain along the base.”

“Cool!” Weird nearly jumped through the phone. “I’ll load it up and start looking, boys! But it’s gonna be night soon, so you gotta head north, chop-like. We gotta get off now. The phone still has a battery, and I don’t think you’re gonna find a charger out there.”

“He’s right,” Dylan checked at the battery, already less than three quarters. “Just keep tracking us and text me if we get off course.”

“Affirmative, captain!” Weird’s voice carried the air of responsibility he longed for. “Hey D-Max! Wildman! Glad I can finally do something to help. I got your back.”

“Thanks, Weird.”

“Now hang up and get moving.”

The phone clicked off. Dylan glanced at the screen to make sure the call had ended. “It’s crazy. Never in my life did I think I’d be relying on Weird for anything besides help with a computer. But I gotta say I feel a little better knowing he’s out there.”

“For sure.” Norm said, marveling at the majestic, snow-capped mountain engulfing his entire field of vision. “I still can’t believe we were taking finals a few hours ago, and now we gotta climb that.”

“Insane.” Dylan shook his head, gazing at the monolith and the blue and white sky beyond its peak. “Sorry I got you into this.”

“For the last time, Dylan, I wouldn’t have stayed behind for anything. Besides, if you're gone, Nan won’t be making dinner.”

They made their way along the base of Shasta, the uneven ground still easy enough to navigate. As the sky grew darker, the trees blended into the shadows. The wind kicked up, bringing a chill to the air. Dylan and Norm both wore the standard mid-June attire of knee-length shorts, sneakers, and a tee shirt. Dylan was wearing a navy-blue Green Day, Dookie shirt, while Norm’s chicken parmesan-stained tee read, I’m with stupid, with a finger pointing up.

“Dude, it’s getting cold.” Dylan rubbed his arms. “You got anything in that survival kit?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“We got the ponchos, but they’re not much.” Norm rifled through the backpack, handing Dylan one of the Lycra pullovers. “It’s not much. We should set up camp and get a fire started before it’s too dark.”

“A fire?” Dylan wondered out loud. “If the void or the Terovians are here, I don’t want to give them any sign where we are.”

“You’re right,” Norm mocked, “much better to freeze to death.”

“What if we dig a hole?” Dylan asked. “We can keep a small fire in it. But I want to find the tree bef-” The phone vibrated in his pocket. “It’s Weird!”

BLACK TREE ¼ MILE NORTH, read the screen.

“We got our tree,” Dylan announced with the first hint of success since beginning his journey.

They continued their trek along Shasta’s base. The rockier terrain and tree clusters made the short walk seem like triple the distance. Dylan looked past the mountain at the last hints of the sun, wondering if it would be the last time he would see it. The familiar buzz hummed within his chest, a warm calm despite the chilly winds brushing his bare arms. Dylan continued to ponder the sun and all it meant to the Earth.

“Norm?” Dylan asked, thoughtfully. “You ever think how without the sun there wouldn’t be any life here at all?”

Norm chuckled. “Dude, I try not to get too deep. I might drown.”

“Seriously. The light is like… pure life. Without it, nothing exists. It feeds the trees and plants that feed the animals, makes it warm enough so there’s water. Water breeds all sorts of life. It makes everything live, like some giant eye of God watching over us.”

Norm looked suspiciously at Dylan. “That was fast.”

“What?”

“They said you were going to bond with the Earth. Anything else seem different?” Norm rubbed his arms under the poncho.

“Since Max’s funeral, I’ve had some weird feelings.” Dylan shook his hands and rolled his shoulders. “But since I got here, there’s this funny buzz in my chest, like in a good way.” Dylan gazed up toward the mountain. “Like I’m finally home.”

“The buzzing thing sounds cool, but I don’t get how you can be comfortable at all with space pirate-assassins and shadow creeps chasing you.” Norm shrugged.

“Speaking of buzzing.” Dylan pulled the vibrating cell phone from his pocket and read the screen.

STOP! ur on it.

“We’re here.” The two boys scanned the dusky mountainside, their eyes darting from tree to tree, when Dylan froze. “There!” He ran on an angle toward a medium-sized black oak, darker than any other tree around it.

“Is that it?” Norm asked, inspecting the rather plain looking, albeit darker tree. It had a thicker base and broke abruptly into two large limbs, creating a “Y”.

“I guess so.” Dylan nodded, a satisfied smile stretched across his face.

“Is it the tree from the cemetery?”

“No, but there’s something to it.”

“What do you mean?”

“It just feels right.” Dylan studied its branches, arching sideways, its leaves full flush, forming the perfect sight line to view Shasta’s glacial peak. “It’s shaped like a ‘Y’. Max said the tree asked a question. ‘Why’ is a question?”

“Nicely done, Sherlock.”

Dylan maneuvered himself, peering between the branches into the layers of the mountain when he saw it. “Up there! Check it out.” Dylan pointed to the top of the ice cap.

Norm rushed to his side, scanning the peak. “What am I looking for?”

“That red glow in the middle of the snow cap. It looks like a cherry in a pile of whipped cream. It’s right there.” Dylan pointed emphatically. The buzz intensified. “I can almost see a whole trail leading up to it. Don’t you see it?”

“Dude, I’m starving. And you’re talking about whipped cream and cherries.”

“Can you forget about food for a second and look?” Dylan pushed his index finger in front of Norm’s face.

“I don’t see any trail and definitely no cherries or whipped cream. But if you tell me something at this point, I’m gonna believe it and- why are you smiling?”

“Because,” Dylan pulled his shoulders back confidently, “for the first time since all this began, I finally know where I’m going.”