A/N: It has been a hot minute since I've remembered to update the story here on fanficition. I've been trying to wrap up school and have been drowning with work. However, I have managed to write two whole chapters that are much longer than previous ones. Before you begin reading, I'd like to address an error I made. Regarding the ages of my characters (specifically the age gaps and time frame), I made a bit of an oopsie. I did the math again and realized that if Peyton was eight when she came to camp, and it has been five years since, she would be 13 instead of 11. From now on I will be writing her as thirteen, and Sadie will remain nine. Please excuse my terrible math skills.

Without further ado, here is chapter 5.

Chapter 5; Adventure Awaits

It should have come as no surprise that I didn't have a plan. I had thought long and hard about what we were going to do if we were to make it to California. I'd spent weeks mapping out a plan in my little corner bunk in the Hermes cabin. It had been a pretty flawless plan, only for it to go down the drain in the span of an hour. All of this trouble just because I panicked and said the wrong location.

By now we should have been riding the subway as far as possible, just enough to give us a good head start. Instead, we were stranded in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. It was the middle of the Summertime, July 20th to be exact. Only seven more days until I got to give my brother the best birthday present he ever received.

Sadie was trying to stay optimistic about the situation, not wanting to spend the day sulking. "We can find another way, we don't need the subway." She said. I didn't believe her. I had ruined our chances of being there in time for the 27th. It would be my fault if we didn't make it at all. It would disappoint our brother, break his heart even. What if he thought we forgot? He would be forced to celebrate his 15th birthday alone. I couldn't let that happen. We had to move forward.

We walked along the deserted road for what felt like days. Sadie's flip flop had broken about a mile back, and now she was forced to hobble along with only one shoe. It wasn't a good position to be in. "Come on, give me your arm." I sighed. I put her arm around my shoulders, and together we made it down the road to a lonely gas station. There were no other buildings around, and the population seemed low. It was kind of sketchy in my opinion. All the more reason to go in I suppose.

It was rather large for what looked like an abandoned gas station. The first thing I laid eyes on was the rows of snack foods in the center of the floor, and the slushie machine in the back. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had one of those. Both our stomachs growled seemingly at the same time. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I whisper in her ear. "We get gas?" She asked confused.

"Well no," I replied, "try to grab something small that you can fit in your pockets or your bag." She looked up at me, shocked, and vehemently shook her head. "We can't steal." She whispered. "We'll get in trouble."

"No, we won't. I'm going to go find us a way out of here. Stay here until you hear the signal." I took my hands off her shoulders before walking out to the parking lot, sitting on a curb and staring out into the distance. I had to think clearly. How could we get ourselves from Pennsylvania to California in only a week? I knew nothing about cars, but I at least knew they were good methods of transportation. They could go pretty fast too. I scanned the parking lot for any cars I could possibly hijack, not that I knew how to but it was worth a shot.

Then opportunity struck in the form of a cream-colored pickup truck being driven by an older man. He looked like he could be anywhere from his late seventies to mid-nineties. It didn't matter how old he was, just that he left his truck unlocked when he went inside. Perfect. Now my only issue was getting it to start, and also driving it. In my eleven years of living, I had never been taught how to drive. As soon as I was given the opportunity to I jumped inside and crawled to the floorboard to look at all the wires. I remember my dad talking about how to do this once. He had been teaching Jesse how to in case of an emergency. The only problem was that I hadn't been paying close attention. I stared at the wires intensely as I tried to remember what I'd overheard that day.

Step 1: Find a screwdriver. I shimmied out of the small space and looked around. I remember that the screwdriver needed to be flat, whatever that meant. I searched around until I struck gold in the backseat. Okay, next step. Step 2: Insert the screwdriver into the ignition and turn it. Sounded easy enough. I put the screwdriver in and turned it to the right. Nothing. Great. Step 3: Find the red wires that connect to the ignition. Take a wire stripper to cut some of the insulation off from each end of the two wires. That was a lot of instructions. Start with the red wire. Easy. Now, what the hell was a wire stripper? It sounded like something I shouldn't be thinking about. I looked for something I could use to strip wires. What would something of that nature even look like?

Maybe I could skip that step. What was step 5? I sat there holding the wires in my hands, completely blanking out on what came next. I felt guilt and panic rise up in my chest. I didn't have much time, I needed to focus. I looked all over the truck for something I could use, and then it hit me. Pliers could be used to strip wires, couldn't they? Were there pliers in the truck? I searched every nook and cranny until I managed to find a pair. Thank the gods this man had tools in his car. I wedged myself back under the steering wheel and stripped the wires to the best of my ability. I didn't like how difficult it was to strip the rubber part surrounding the wires. It sparked once or twice at me, which was terrifying I should add. I looked at the steering wheel in front of me for a long second. All I could hear was radio silence.

I couldn't comprehend how I'd gotten this far into the process, let alone how I managed to forget one of the most important steps. I was letting my brother and my sister down by letting myself forget. I couldn't have that happen. I closed my eyes and willed myself to remember. What did dad say came next?

I don't know how it happened but now I was sitting in the backyard of my grandparent's old house, my dolls and stuffed animals littered across the big picnic blanket I was sitting on. I put down the fake teapot and went over to the garage, poking my head around the corner to hear what was being said.

"Did you find it?" My father's voice rang out clear as day. His warm brown eyes were watching my brother as he dug through a rusted toolbox. What were they looking for? "I think so." He pulled out a pair of pliers and handed them over, watching him inspect them carefully. "Great job, buddy. I told you you were a natural. Now take these and strip the red wires. Don't worry about any other colored wire right now."

I couldn't see what Jesse was doing now, but he was laying on the floorboard of the old car whilst our father stood over him to supervise. He must have done it because dad was smiling proudly down at him. "Now find which wire connects to the starter motor and slice a piece of the insulation off from its end too. Good, now take the end of that wire and have it touch the end of the other two. When you're done with that use the tape to cover the ends." He turned his attention to something else, that something being my eavesdropping. "Come here Peyton, give daddy a hug." He chuckled. Everything inside me wanted to run into his arms, to feel safe and loved again. I wanted to smell his grease-stained shirt from working in the garage all day. But before I could even lift a foot off the ground the image was gone, and I was back in the car.

My heart raced inside my chest while tears flooded my eyes. That wasn't fair. My first time seeing him in five years and I don't even get to say goodbye. I forced the thoughts back and reevaluated my situation. I needed to touch the ends of the wires I'd stripped together. Don't twist them, I assumed. That will shock you. You will die.

I connected them, and sure enough, the engine started and the radio turned itself on. I couldn't find tape to hold them together though. That's when Sadie came running towards me as quick as she could, jumping into the passenger seat with eyes as wide as saucers. "Hurry," she urged, "they're onto us." My heart dropped several stories in my chest. I needed to pick up the pace. The next step was to use tape to cover up the wires. If this old guy didn't have any tape we'd be absolutely screwed. "See if you can find any tape," I told her, "and make it quick. If you're right we don't have a lot of time." I held the wires in place while trying to get a quick glimpse out the window. I was starting to panic, more than I already was. Finally, I felt a roll of duct tape hit me in the face, meaning that we were saved. It also meant that my eye was starting to hurt from the impact. "Way to go, Mercedes."

"I'm sorry, it slipped!" She frowned.

"Nevermind that. Help me out of here so we can book it to the next stop."

She managed to pull me halfway out before I flipped myself around, adjusting the seat to where I could reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel. I stared at all the buttons and knobs for a long second, feeling the panic flood my body as I switched gears into drive. "Go!" Sadie yelled.

And so I did. I sped off down the road, yelling to no one in particular about my lack of experience. Steering a truck was more difficult than hotwiring one. By sundown, we were cruising steadily down the interstate, leaving Pennsylvania behind. I hoped and prayed to every god and goddess that Ohio wouldn't be as stressful to deal with.

I don't think it worked.