Lizzie scanned the area. There was nothing nearby. She climbed back in the truck. "Can you keep driving and I'll tell you when to stop?"
"Can do." Duke said. The truck pulled forward, accelerating slowly.
Lizzie stared at the signal bars, willing them to increase. The original signal had disappeared. Part of her wanted to go back, but she knew she should go forward
"You want me to take this exit?"
"Sure," Lizzie said. Probably wouldn't make any difference.
They pulled into a truck stop. Lizzie hopped out again and walked around trying to find a stronger signal. She spotted a ladder going up one of the metal tubes of the giant sign that lit up the snowy ground. She ran to it and started climbing.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Duke asked.
Lizzie glanced back at him. "Who knows?"
Rachael climbed out of the truck and set Saj down. He wandered around in the light of the gas sign.
Lizzie neared the top and got two bars of signal. She thumbed the Facebook app again and this time it opened.
Her fingers flew across the screen, logging in. Then she waited. It took forever to load. She climbed up a few more steps but the signal went back to one bar. She climbed back down. When it loaded she went to Jess's profile. "Dammit." Jess had no number listed. Lizzie scrolled back to Jess' feed. The last comment was from before Lizzie's dad had picked her up.
Lizzie slid to Friends. "Zach? Come on. YES!" His number was listed. She double tapped on the phone number. It was ringing. It connected. "The number you have dialed is no longer in service or is not connected to the network."
"Update your number, Zach. Shit!" Her fingers ran through her hair: twisting, tugging, pulling. She typed into the What's on your mind? box. Im alive. Call. She hollered down to Duke. "What's your number?"
Duke repeated it slowly twice, while Lizzie typed it in. No one's checking their feed.
Who else could she reach? "Glen. What the hell is your last name?" She typed: Glen La Grande, OR into the search bar. Five choices showed up. Three had photos that were obviously not Glen. She clicked Glen number four. There was a phone number. She called and left a frantic message, not even knowing if she had the right Glen. Then she clicked on Glen number five. The profile said something about geek god. And there was an e-mail address. "Shit. Duke," she muttered, "you better have e-mail on this."
She clicked on the address and slid the keyboard out. A blank e-mail opened. She typed: Its Lizzie. Please. Life and death! We got separated and I need Zach and Nevs #s! Send.
The wind whipped her hair as she clung to the sign, staring at the phone. Down below, she heard Rachael and Duke speaking in low tones while Saj wandered around sucking his thumb. They must think she was losing it.
The phone buzzed—a reply with a phone number. She double-clicked it. The line picked up but all she heard was breathing.
"Glen?"
"Yeah," he whispered.
"Shit, are you sick?"
"I wish." Glen's breath wheezed out. "I'm hiding. People are looking for me."
"Shit, I bet that's my fault. I told the people in Caldwell about you. I'm sorry. We got interrogated."
"What people?" Glen's voice grew louder.
"I'll tell you later, please. My phones destroyed. Zach and Nev think I'm dead. And my dad. I need their numbers."
"Okay. But I want answers. Numbers on their way... now."
The phone buzzed. "Thanks, Glen."
"Gotta go. Don't call me," he hissed. "I'll call you back when I'm clear."
Could Glen handle the breeders? Could he take care of anything but computers? Still, he'd kept her and Zach at arm's length as long as he wanted. She cursed herself again for her flapping lips. Her fingers clicked through to Zach's number. "Come on answer, dammit. Please."
"What?" Zach sounded tired. "Who is this?"
"Zach, oh my god, I love you! I'm not dead. This is Lizzie. I'm not dead." She scrambled through all she had to say: how she'd rescued Saj and lost her phone.
"Whoa, Lizzie! LIZ! Shut up!" Zach shouted over her babbling.
Lizzie stopped.
"Where are you? I saw a body. You scared the shit out of us, Lizzie."
"I'm sorry, Zach. It wasn't me. Saj and Rachael are safe, too."
"Oh, my God, Lizzie. I told your dad you were dead."
Her brain spun. "Give me his number."
"Okay." Zach's voice continued, calm again, "Just a minute."
Lizzie called down. "I need somebody to take down a number.
"Yeah?" Duke produced a pen and a piece of paper. "Repeat it. I'll write."
"Okay, here they are," Zach said.
Lizzie repeated the numbers. Duke wrote them down.
"Okay, thanks, Zach." Her heart was pounding.
"Wait. Lizzie. Where are you?"
"I don't know." She called to Duke. "Where are we?"
"Utah. Near Brigham City."
"Who the hell is that?" Zach had heard Duke's voice.
"Not important." She wasn't sure she could explain.
Zach made a frustrated sound, but didn't press her. "We came through there about 20 minutes ago."
"Where are you?"
"Ogden. The Hoagies Corner Conoco station. Liz, call your dad. I don't think he took the news so good."
Lizzie hung up, her hands shook as she dialed again. It kept ringing. Eventually voice-mail answered. "Dad. It's me. Lizzie. I'm not dead. Call me on this number." She ended the call and descended the ladder.
"What do you want to do?" asked Duke.
Lizzie collapsed into her seat. "Drive south."