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controls Predators by straight radio anymore. It’s all
done by satellite to increase range.
    “You’re assuming whoever’s driving this thing
still has access to a satellite.”
    The glowing figure shrugged.
    St. George felt himself dropping behind the
drone and pushed himself faster. “You think there’s a chance it’s
just on automatic or something?”
    Zzzap shook his head. Nah. Somebody
launched this thing.
    “You think the military’s looking for
us?”
    Took them long enough, if they are. But,
yeah, if someone sent one of these things to Los Angeles they’re
looking for something.
    They sailed along with the Predator for a few
more miles. St. George glanced down. He could see an airport and a
big park below him, which meant they were over Van Nuys at this
point.
    The plane began to make a slow turn towards
the south. New search orders coming in, said Zzzap. The
wraith circled the drone a few times, so fast the aircraft could’ve
been hovering in the air. What do you want to do?
    “I’m thinking,” he said. “This should be a
no-brainer, but... I don’t know. After all this time, to have this
thing show up out of nowhere just feels weird.”
    With good reason , said Zzzap. Pretty much every zombie movie ever made tells us that anyone
who’s part of the U.S. Armed Forces must be insane by now. They
probably want to kill our men and take our women. And when I say
take, I mean—
    “You’re not helping.”
    Sorry, said Zzzap. Whoops.
Definitely being controlled. Someone’s finally noticed they’ve lost
the feed from this baby. They’re sending a couple reboot
protocols.
    “You letting them through?”
    Yeah, why not? Doesn’t do any harm and we’ve
still got a couple more minutes before they realize they’re being
actively blocked.
    They flew on for another mile. St. George
twisted in the air and looked behind them. “They’ve seen the Mount
already, haven’t they? And the Big Wall?”
    Zzzap looked back as well. Probably, yeah.
Might not realize we’re all live people yet, though.
    “Can you send them a message? Override their
signal and send a cautious ‘hello’ or something?”
    The wraith nodded. Piece of cake. Anything
in particular?
    “Make sure they know we’re here, but be a
little vague about who ‘we’ are.”
    Zzzap soared above the drone for a few
moments and then bent his head close to it. Ahhh , he said. Yeah, I think I’ve got something that’ll work.
    “What are you sending?”
    What you asked for.
    “You’re doing something stupid, aren’t
you?”
    He held up a white-hot hand. Don’t
distract me. I’ve got to have this in my head just right or it
won’t transmit properly.
    “Barry...”
    Trust me, George , said the wraith. If we’re going to re-establish contact with the world, we want
it to be memorable. Like that. He raised his head and flitted
away from the plane.
    “Please tell me you didn’t send something
stupid.”
    Zzzap shook his head. I thought about it,
but no. What now?
    The engine pitched higher and the drone
banked towards them. Both heroes twisted to avoid the wings as they
cut through the air. The Predator dropped down, leveled out, and
accelerated.
    I think we got their attention.
    St. George paused in the air. “Where’s it
going?”
    Home, I think. Zzzap looked at the
radio waves hanging in the air. Yeah, it’s getting called
home.
    “Could you follow it?”
    I can beat it there. He tipped his
head to the east. If I’ve got the distance figured right, twenty
minutes, tops.
    “Can you be subtle?”
    The wraith looked up. There’s still a lot
of sun in the sky. If I’m careful I can hide myself in front of it,
take a quick look around.
    “Do it. I’ll see you back at the Mount
later.”
    Zzzap gave him a thumbs up and vanished like
a bolt of lightning. St. George looked down, picked out a few big
landmarks, and worked his way back toward the Cahuenga Pass.
     
    * * *
     

    The scavengers still sat just south of the
Barham Bridge.