Genevieve Quinn was always a hard sleeper. Nothing ever woke her from her slumber, except one night, on July 25. Genevieve was always called Ginnie unless she was in trouble. She was 11 years old, and she loved to play sports and run around outside. She was hardly ever afraid. But little did Ginnie know, she would be very afraid during the upcoming week.

Ginnie was fast asleep. Her dark green eyes were shut, and her long black hair was strewn about the pillow. She was awakened by a drumming sound. Thumpety Thumpety THUMP THUMP THUMP!  The pattern seemed to go on forever, echoing in Ginnie’s ears. She was a curious, fearless child, so she automatically opened her window at the sound of drumming. The more Ginnie listened, the more the drums seemed to be speaking her name- her full name. 

“Genevieve, Genevieve,” they hummed. The cold wind blew Ginnie’s maroon nightgown. Finally, Ginnie could take it no longer. She put on pants and a sweater and walked outside to address the notorious drummer. 

Ginnie walked out her front door into the chilly winter night. There stood a man who looked rather emotional and deep. He was sporting shiny black aviator shades. His head was bent low over his drum, and his chestnut brown hair was pulled into a low ponytail. Ginnie cleared her throat. The man kept on drumming, apparently unaware that a girl stood behind him. Ginnie cleared her throat so loud that it sounded false. The man finally looked up from his annoying drum. "You are Genevieve Quinn, are you not?" "Maybe,'' Ginnie said cautiously. "Who are you?" The slouching man straightened. "I am Mr. Leigh Parkston, founder of the ITR. But you can call me Leigh,'' he added. "What's the ITR?'' Ginnie asked

"The International Track of Relocation. And you, Genevieve, are in great need of the ITR  right now.'' "Me? Why do I need relocation?" Ginnie asked in confusion. "Because.'' Leigh lowered his voice. "Your town is about to be hit by a major explosion.'' All of a sudden, Ginnie trusted the man. "Trust me, Ginnie, I will keep

you safe.''

Ginnie trusted Leigh. He led her to what looked like a roller coaster. Ginnie and Leigh got on and fastened the belts across their laps. Ginnie didn't mind the speed, so she was able to talk easily with him on the track. "So, what's gonna destroy my city?" she asked him, trying not to sound worried. "I think you mean "who". Alchys and Abbadon Gomez are twins, and they are criminals. They are known for their secretiveness, but they know nothing of the ITR, Oh, hang on, here's my stop. Leigh climbed out of the coaster and started drumming in the front yard. "Poor kid,'' Ginnie murmured. "Probably as confused as I was.'' 

In a minute or two,  a mousy-haired boy her age with grayish eyes came running out the door, just clinging to Leigh's hand. The boy got on the cart next to Ginnie. "Hey,'' he said. "I'm Owen.'' "Hi, Owen,'' the girl replied. "I'm Genevieve, but everyone calls me Ginnie.'' "Nice to meet you, Ginnie,'' Owen said. "So did you hear about Alchys and Abbadon?" Ginnie nodded. "Yeah...I wonder where this track is taking us?" she said, looking around at the giant, covered roller coaster. Ginnie knew there was a driver because Leigh had mentioned him at some point, but they couldn't see him.Owen shrugged. "I guess we'll find out soon enough,'' he said.  

All of a sudden, the driver's voice was heard by those in Car 3. "I've lost control!" He yelled. "I'VE LOST CONTROL!!!!" White in the face, Leigh looked at Ginnie and Owen. "Are we going to crash?" Owen asked. Ginnie was one step ahead. "We're gonna crash! Leigh, do you know where we're headed?" Leigh whipped out his phone and started typing furiously. He became so pallid and pale, and he looked as though he was going to be sick. "Well, where are we going?" Owen asked nervously. Leigh just shook his head. Ginnie stole a glance at his phone. "Hill Ridge: COME AT YOUR  OWN RISK-that doesn't sound good,'' she said. "Leigh-what's Hill Ridge?" "Hill Ridge,'' he said, "Just happens to be the rockiest, hilliest pasture in the world, and we are riding at an alarming speed. We have also lost control of the vehicle and communication with the driver, 

so uh- hang on tight, kids.'' His tone was not reassuring. A sign bearing the words "Hill Ridge'' whizzed past their faces. Ginnie tried to be brave, but even she whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut, leaning on the side of the cart. Their cart was plummeting down sharp hills faster and faster. Ginnie heard Owen shed tears of fright. In her immense trepidation, Ginnie hardly took notice, but when she heard a desperate scream of "HELP!!!!!!!", she looked up quickly. Ginnie saw Owen hanging for dear life on the edge of the cart. Fortunately, Ginnie was a quick and strong girl, and she immediately pulled Owen back onto the cart. She held tightly to his arm. Both kids were shaking like you are when you're up really high and you look at the ground. They crouched down again as they rolled down another monstrous hill. Leigh was sitting on the opposite side, looking

extremely tense. Suddenly, the cart stopped with a jolt at the end of a hill. Ginnie was shaking with a mix of fear and relief. Relief that they had made it out alive. Relief that Owen had not fallen off the speeding cart. Ginnie had not realized her grip on Owen's arm, and by the looks of it, he didn't either. They quickly relaxed their grip on each other now that the joyride was over. Ginnie stood up. "How much longer until we reach our relocation spot?'' she asked Leigh. To the kids' surprise, Leigh's answer was "Right about....now.'' Owen and Ginnie followed Leigh into a cabin. It had a king-sized bed for Leigh and a set of twin bunk beds for Owen and Ginnie. "This is it, kids,'' Leigh said. "There'll be fresh clothes and everything in that room over there.'' Leigh pointed. Ginnie nodded and followed Owen into the room.

Ginnie found some pajamas her size in a closet; so did Owen. It was after midnight, about 3:00, by this time. All of them were pretty exhausted, so they bade each other goodnight and went to sleep.

In the morning, Ginnie awoke to birds singing a sweet song and eagles screeching and soaring above the treetops. For a moment, she forgot where she was and thought her mother would be frying pancakes. Then she heard Leigh whistling and Owen grumbling something about waffles, and she remembered the events of the past night. Ginnie sat up in bed, not wanting to be a late riser. Rather bleary-eyed, Ginnie walked into the room where she had found clothes the previous night. After changing and brushing her hair, she felt much more awake.

Owen awoke and saw that Ginnie and Leigh were already up. Leigh was flipping pancakes, and Ginnie was sweeping the dusty floor. He supposed he should get up and make himself useful as well, so he changed into fresh clothes and started slicing the fruit Leigh had out on the counter for breakfast. Once the three travelers were finished, they sat around a table, passing pancakes and fresh fruit to one another. "Leigh, how long are we going to stay here?" Owen asked. "Well, we have a team of people trying to stop Alchys and Abbadon. Until the Gomez twins do get stopped, we will remain here.'' "What if they DON'T get stopped, ever?" Ginnie said, her mind racing ahead as usual. "They have to be stopped at some point, as they're not robots.'' Leigh replied. Owen voiced Ginnie's thoughts.

"Can't we help stop them? It's our cities they're planning to destroy,'' he said. "Possibly.'' Leigh said curtly. He then excused himself from the breakfast table and disappeared into the restroom. Owen looked at Ginnie. "Well, I'm going to help, no matter if Leigh says I can't,'' he said. Ginnie nodded in agreement. She and Owen cleared the plates and started devising a plan in the bedroom. 

Owen and Ginnie again asked Leigh if they could help with the mission. He said no, so the kids figured they'd have to do it themselves. Fortunately, they found where Alchys and Abbadon were using computers. Now they just had to figure out how to transport themselves without Leigh's help. Owen and Ginnie walked around outside their shelter and discovered an old run-down shed. Owen prodded the weak door open with his pointer finger, and he and Ginnie walked inside. 

The shed was just as run-down on the inside as the outside. The thing that caught Ginnie's eye was a giant red button on the back wall that said "WARNING: DO NOT ENTER , DANGEROUS.'' Ginnie walked forward and reached out her hand to touch it. "No! Stop! Haven't you ever seen movies? Never touch the red button.'' Owen said.  Ginnie turned. "This isn't a movie, so I'm pressing the red button,'' she said. In the end, they were both extremely glad that Ginnie pressed the red button, or else they would probably still be standing there. The minute Ginnie's  fingers pushed the button, the whole entire shed changed. It became a science lab, which in the middle of stood a car. A self-driving car. 

Owen and Ginnie looked at each other, then at the car. "Every time there's a red button, I'm gonna press it,'' Owen said in awe. Ginnie and Owen opened the doors of the car rather gingerly, sitting in the passenger and driver seats. Suddenly, the car spoke, making Owen and Ginnie jump. Ginnie was good with technology, and she connected the Gomez twins' tracker to the car so that she and Owen could follow them. The car started. Ginnie and Owen were glad that the car could drive itself because they were only 11 and hadn't the faintest idea how to drive. Every minute or so, one of them checked the tracker, which was steadily beeping. They were gaining on the Gomezes. Suddenly, the tracker beeped louder and faster. That meant they were there. Right behind Alchys and Abbadon. 

The beeping was loud enough for Alchys to hear. She poked her brother, who turned their car around. Seeing two 11-year-olds on their tail, they got angry. Ginnie and Owen's car ended up in front of the Gomez's, who had begun to chase them. The rather large Alchys had bumped the frail Abbadon into the back seat, and she began to drive as fast as her car would go. Ginnie prayed they would not be caught. The two cars sped dangerously along the highway, making other vehicles swerve and honk their ignorant horns. Alchys used her fat, strong elbow to knock the window out, making it shatter in a poor motorcyclist's direction. "HEY!" Alchys yelled. "WHAT  DO YOU KIDS THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Neither of them dared to answer. At being ignored, Alchys hopped onto her car's footboard out her broken window, leaping onto the kids' footboard. 

She punched the window on Ginnie's side open, making glass shatter everywhere. Alchys lunged for Ginnie and grabbed her arm. Ginnie yanked it away. Something wasn't right in her arm, and tears of pain clouded her eyes. Alchys reached for her again, but Owen grabbed her away from Alchys. The car put on a burst of speed, making Alchys lose her balance and fall backward. Owen's arm was around Ginnie, whose own arm was sticking out at a weird angle. "I think it's broken,'' she said, biting her lip as a tear threatened to fall. She sat up straight and thanked Owen for grabbing her away from Alchys. Both cars now had shattered windows, and Abbadon was back in the driver's seat. Alchys was seething with anger in the passenger's seat. 

"Ginnie,'' Owen said. "Did you say your arm's broken?"  Ginnie nodded. "It feels like it. I've broken my arm before, and it feels just like that,'' The center console suddenly popped open. Among its contents, there was an instant ice pack. Ginnie opened it and placed it on the part of her arm she suspected Alchys had cracked. They heard a thump on the car roof and looked up to see a dent in it. A face popped in the shattered window. It was Abbadon's face, as slimy and sloppy as a face could be. Unlike his sister, Abbadon was thin and ratty. He shoved Ginnie roughly into the backseat. She landed on her hurt arm, and she emitted a cry of pain. Owen tried to help her, but Alchys had joined her brother and was holding Owen down. Alchys struck Owen's face, and was about to do it again when Ginnie yelled "No! Leave him alone!" With her good arm, Ginnie dragged Owen