Forsaken World (Book 5): Homecoming

by Watson, Thomas A.

  “Point taken,” Sandy nodded, glancing around as Mary pulled a shoulder satchel off another soldier. Of the eleven, six were soldiers and Mary checked each one. She carried four M4s, her dump bag, and the satchel stuffed full.

  “We can leave what we don’t need before we move out tomorrow night,” Mary said, climbing up on her horse.

  Moving into the trees, Sandy could see where they ended a hundred yards ahead and opened up into another field. “Mary, Campbell just fell. I’m sure we are going to see lots of stinker soldiers close. We can’t stop at each one we kill,” Sandy said over her shoulder.

  “Okay, but if we can, I want to check them. Remember, Bill and Johnathan always did,” Mary replied, and Sandy nodded as the horse stepped out into the field. “We got extra night vision from those we just killed if they still work.”

  “How have your horses been acting?”

  “We need to stop at that first oxbow on the other side of the interstate,” Mary answered. “I can tell their feet are hurting, but they haven’t stumbled. I don’t want to try for that oxbow east of Pembroke. I know it’s only ten more miles, but you were right, we don’t need to push the horses unless we have to.”

  “Just get to rest longer,” Sandy nodded. “What the hell?” Sandy mumbled, seeing fast movement in the distance. The movement was right at the edge of the limit of the monocular, but she noticed it under the clear sky and moonlight. Pulling her horse to a stop, Sandy turned on and then lifted the thermal binoculars.

  Groaning, Sandy lowered the binoculars, waiting for them to warm up. “What?” Mary asked as Sandy brought the thermal back to her eyes.

  “Saw movement,” Sandy answered, and Mary saw Sandy’s mouth fall open.

  The three hundred and fifty yards her monocular gave her was nothing compared to the thermal binoculars. She saw two small forms running through the field ahead. Turning to see what they were running from; Sandy saw a small cluster of stinkers a hundred yards back stumbling along.

  “It looks like kids running from stinkers,” Sandy told Mary, turning back to the kids and saw the smaller form fall. The larger one skidded to a stop before turning back and helping the smaller one up.

  “How old?” Mary asked in a small voice. All she could tell was they were small.

  “They aren’t as big as Lance and Ian, but that’s all I can say,” Sandy answered, and watched the two stop at a tree. The bigger one lifted the smaller one up to the first branch. “That tree is too little to hide in.”

  Sandy looked ahead of the two forms and saw three stinkers stumbling from trees, fifty yards away from the tree the two climbed. “Oh, that’s why they climbed a tree, stinkers are in front of them.”

  “You see any other people?”

  Lowering the thermals, Sandy answered and passed them to Mary. “No,”

  As Mary studied the scene, Sandy glanced around and didn’t see anything close or moving toward them. “What do you want to do?” Mary asked.

  Thinking for a second, there was no doubt in her mind if one would’ve been bigger, Sandy would’ve just ridden off and left them to their fate. “We can move to the fence line to the north and it leads right to that field. It doesn’t look that far from where the tree is to the fence line.”

  Turning to the south, Mary saw the small group that was after the two forms, then shifted her scan further back and saw the trail of stinkers. “We’ll have to be fast because they will have a mass under them in half an hour,” Mary said, handing the thermals back.

  “We clear those around the tree and give them a chance,” Sandy replied, kicking her horses toward the fence row they were riding along. Climbing off, Sandy cut the strands and climbed back up on her horse. “If this is a trap, we kill everyone,” Sandy said and Mary nodded, knowing that meant everyone.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Northwest of Herndon, Kentucky

  Crossing the field to the next fence row, Sandy turned east and followed it. She couldn’t see through the fence row ahead, but was certain the tree out in the field the two climbed up wasn’t far. Lifting the thermals Sandy scanned around, but could only see through small gaps in the trees of the fence rows around them.

  They were a hundred yards from the fence row when they heard the growls and moans of the stinkers. The smell wasn’t far behind, even with the light north breeze. Easing up to the fence row, Sandy climbed off and gave a startle to see the lone tree was only thirty yards away from the fence row. “There wasn’t that many stinkers close,” Sandy mumbled, cutting the strands of barbed wire.

  “I counted over thirty,” Mary whispered, and Sandy nodded before climbing up on her horse. “We need to do this with bows.”

  “Yeah, there’s too many around here to start shooting, even with the suppressors,” Sandy agreed. “Dan, heel.”

  “Ann, heel,” Mary whispered, and both dogs moved beside them.

  Sandy moved through first and stopped in the trees, flipping up her monocular. “Glad my pins glow,” Sandy mumbled as Mary moved beside her. They both lifted their bows, “I’ll start on the right, you take the left. If more show up, we use guns to get away,” Sandy said calmly.

  “Okay,” Mary answered, releasing her arrow to be followed a split second later by Sandy’s. They both watched two stinkers drop as they pulled out arrows and pulled back. Releasing, Sandy glanced around as two more stinkers dropped and grabbed another arrow.

  Mary shot as Sandy nocked her arrow. “The stinkers don’t even know we’re shooting at them,” Sandy noted, pulling back her bow.

  Turning to the south as Sandy shot, Mary counted six more entering the field from the fence row to the south. “Of course that fence row doesn’t have an actual fence,” Mary huffed, pulling back her bow.

  They stayed in the trees, keeping a steady rain of shots. On her sixth shot, Sandy cursed, watching her arrow miss the stinker she was aiming at and bury in the tree trunk. “Fucker moved,” Sandy grumbled, yanking another arrow out.

  Mary released to hit the one she’d missed as Sandy pulled back her bow. “I’ve missed two,” Mary grumbled.

  It was only when the six joined the group of stinkers and one dropped when Sandy shot that the stinkers glanced around. Mary released her arrow, hitting one of the four at the tree and paused to grab another arrow. Every one of the stinkers was looking right at them, but turned away and reached up at the two small forms in the tree, even as Sandy dropped another one. Filing that away, Mary nocked her arrow and pulled her bow back to release the arrow.

  Pulling an arrow out, Sandy saw the two forms staring out of the tree and into the trees they were standing in. From this close, Sandy could see they were young boys. Releasing her arrow, Sandy dropped one of the group moving to the tree and saw another drop, leaving only one.

  Nocking an arrow, Sandy heard Mary release and drop the last one. “Damn, you can shoot your bow fast,” she noted turning to the south, and didn’t spot any more entering the field. “Let’s tell them to haul ass and get the hell out of here,” Sandy said, kicking her horse and moving into the field.

  “Sandy, they didn’t seem to notice us in the trees… Or they just wanted the kids,” Mary claimed, scanning around.

  “I noticed, but they don’t have any trouble spotting us moving across a field much farther than we can, even with the NVG. Just my thought, but I think they lose us in the deep shadows, unless they are in deep shadows as well.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Mary said as Sandy stopped at the tree and gave a gasp.

  Both boys only had on white underwear and were thin. Not ‘skinny kid’ thin, malnourished thin. Both were panting and looked exhausted. “The stinkers are dead, but more are coming. You need to get down and hide in a better place,” Sandy told them, looking up at them.

  “Can’t run anymore,” the bigger one panted out, and Mary moved her horse closer to the tree.

  “Get down and we’ll carry you away from here, but if you aren’t down by the time the stinkers come through those trees
, we are leaving you here,” Mary told them, glancing around.

  The younger one looked at the older boy. “Go,” the older boy said.

  Giving a sigh, Sandy moved her horse closer and noticed several soldiers in the group of stinkers. “Mary, we aren’t searching them,” Sandy stated, looking around.

  “No shit,” Mary shot back as the younger kid climbed down and paused.

  Sandy reached out. “Come on,” she whispered loudly. When the boy took her hand, Sandy guided him behind her. “Just stay behind me and hold on.”

  As the older boy climbed on with Mary, Dan and Ann let out low growls. “We are out of here,” Mary said, kicking her horse into a trot for the fence row across the field.

  Sandy wanted to smile, not seeing a fence in the thin row of trees, but then turned and saw two stinkers move through the south fence row and stop. One saw them as they moved into the strip of trees on the fence row and gave a growl.

  As her horse weaved through the trees and out the other side, Sandy saw a stinker to the north and three to the south. “I swear they are converging, trying to head us off,” Sandy mumbled, feeling the boy hold on tight.

  Crossing the field, Sandy saw the next fence row was wider and the trees were bigger. Spotting a barbed wire fence, Sandy actually grinned as she slowed her horse. “At least they have to find where we went through,” Sandy mumbled, moving to get off. The small boy was holding on so tight, she actually lifted him out of the saddle with her.

  “Let go, so I can cut the fence and we can get through,” Sandy said over her shoulder.

  The boy let go and Sandy jumped off and had to pull the bolt cutters from behind the boy. Cutting the fence, she climbed back on the horse and shoved the bolt cutters under her right leg. Guiding the horse through the gap, Sandy turned south to follow the fence row. Not spotting any stinkers in the field, Sandy turned the horse east and let the horse trot across the pasture.

  “What’s your name?” Sandy asked over her shoulder.

  “Tyler,” he answered in a trembling voice.

  Turning as much as she could, Sandy saw Tyler had to lean way back and to the side, avoiding her backpack to hold on. “Tyler, when I stop to cut this fence, I want you to scoot up and ride in front of me, but if I have to shoot, you need to lay your chest on the horse’s neck.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Tyler replied in a breaking voice.

  Reaching the fence row Sandy slowed, grabbing the bolt cutters under her leg. Tyler let her go when he felt her move to get off. When Sandy cut the fence, she glanced back and saw Mary already had the other boy sitting in front of her.

  Climbing back on her horse, Sandy liked the boy sitting in front of her much better, and shoved the bolt cutters back in the loop on her saddle. Guiding the horse through the gap, Sandy reached around to guide Tyler’s hands to the saddle horn. “Hold here, but relax your upper body so it can sway with the horse, and use your legs to hold on,” Sandy told him.

  Letting her AR hang down, Sandy wrapped her right arm around Tyler. Only wearing a light long-sleeved shirt, Sandy could feel Tyler’s skin was very cool and his hair was wet. “Tyler, are you cold?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he answered, with his bottom jaw quivering and almost making his teeth chatter.

  Seeing the next fence row didn’t have a barbed wire fence, Sandy let Tyler go and reached back to pull the light jacket she had tied on the back of her saddle. Moving with the row of trees, Sandy pulled the jacket up. “Put this on slowly, so you don’t fall off,” Sandy told him, and Tyler grabbed the jacket.

  She felt his body shivering and helped Tyler pull the jacket on. “How old are you?” Sandy asked as Tyler pulled the jacket closed.

  “Nine.”

  “Tyler, where did you two come from?”

  “The Army camp,” Tyler answered. “We were at Chris’s school when the Army came and took us there.”

  “Who’s Chris?”

  “My brother with the other lady,” Tyler answered, and Sandy felt his shivers decrease.

  “Do you know what ‘sit cross-legged’ means?” Sandy asked, and Tyler nodded. “See if you can do that by putting your legs around the saddle horn, so your legs will be under the jacket.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Tyler said, and his legs shot up under the jacket. Sandy was impressed at how well Tyler rode like that.

  “Tyler, my name is Sandy. Your brother is riding with Mary.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Sandy, for saving us,” Tyler said, burrowing into the jacket.

  “Tyler, were your parents at the Army camp?”

  Feeling a shudder run through Tyler’s thin body, Sandy had her answer before Tyler responded a few seconds later. “Yes ma’am.”

  “Where were you and Chris heading?”

  She felt Tyler shrug. “Away from the stinkers. They broke in a few nights ago and Momma told us to run. We got under the fence and an Army man came over, dragging Momma away and telling her to get back inside,” Tyler said in a small voice. “We watched the stinkers get her before they got to the building.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sandy said, wrapping her right arm around him and hugging him. Feeling Tyler moving, Sandy glanced down and noticed she was pulling Tyler into her magazines strapped across her vest. Tyler wasn’t trying to move away; he was trying to find a place he could lean back, so she could hold him tight. Sandy rotated her hips in the saddle until Tyler could lean into her right side.

  “Daddy went out with the Army to get stuff and didn’t come back,” Tyler sniffled. “Momma said he might have got away, but I know she was lying. I heard one of the Army guys say they got ate by stinkers.”

  Fighting the urge to turn around and ride back to shoot the captain and all his men, Sandy steered her horse across another field. “Tyler, I have to cut the fence,” Sandy said slowing, and Tyler leaned forward.

  After cutting the fence, Sandy climbed back on and shoved the bolt cutters in the saddle. Tyler didn’t lean back against her until Sandy wrapped her arm around him. Hearing Mary moving up, Sandy glanced over. “They’re coming with us,” Mary said.

  Sandy gave a nod. “Yes, they are.”

  Happy that Sandy agreed, Mary pulled back and Sandy felt Tyler relax. “Thank you,” he sighed with relief. “Where are we going?”

  “Three hundred miles from here,” Sandy answered. “When was the last time you ate?”

  “We found a candy bar two days ago,” Tyler replied. “We got a bowl of soup every Tuesday and Saturday at the Army camp. What day is it?”

  Swallowing a lump in her throat, Sandy pulled out the MRE she hadn’t finished, unable to answer. “Eat slowly and tell me after each bite, so you can drink some water.”

  “Wow, thanks,” Tyler gasped like he’d won a new toy. When Sandy passed him a bottle of water, Tyler turned the bottle up and drained it, never taking a breath.

  “Tyler, I want you to sip this next one,” Sandy told him, digging another out of the saddle bag and putting the empty one back.

  Making sure Tyler ate the MRE slowly proved to be a challenge, but Sandy did it. “Sandy,” Mary said, coming up beside her. “You think the camping spot will be okay?”

  “We’ll check it and then decide. We are six miles from where we picked them up, and there aren’t that many stinkers in these fields.

  Climbing down, Sandy cut the fence and turned around to see Tyler smiling at her. Unable to help it, Sandy smiled back, shoving the bolt cutters in the saddle and climbing back on. This time, Tyler didn’t wait for Sandy to wrap her arm around him before he snuggled back into her.

  Reaching the oxbow, at first glance, Sandy didn’t like it because the Little River was, well, little. But near the oxbow, it widened out and was deep enough to deter stinkers. The tip of the narrow oxbow was covered with big oaks, as was the opposite side.

  “I think we can hold up here,” Sandy said, pulling to a stop.

  “Yeah, but I was getting worried riding along the Little River. It looked more like a medium creek,” Mar
y said, climbing off and then helped Chris off who was wearing her light jacket.

  Lifting Tyler up, Sandy saw he was struggling to keep his eyes open and was losing. “Tyler, stand here and I’ll get you a bed made,” Sandy told him.

  Sandy and Mary grabbed their bedrolls and spread them out. They motioned the boys over and noticed they both walked tenderly. “You won’t leave, will you?” Tyler asked, latching onto Sandy.

  Flipping up her monocular, “Not without you and your brother,” Sandy smiled. “Now get some rest, so you can help us get the horses ready this afternoon. We only move at night.”

  After Sandy told Tyler she wouldn’t leave, he struggled to keep his eyes open. Tyler hugged her neck and then laid down on the bedroll. Sandy was convinced he was asleep before his head was flat. She turned and saw Chris was already down and looked asleep.

  Feeling Mary pulling her back, Sandy got up to let Mary guide her away from the boys. “Sandy, they are starving,” Mary said in a low voice. “They got two bowls of soup a week, and they’ve had that for the last two months. Water was one twenty-ounce glass a day. Seems the feds were having problems filtering enough water for the camp.”

  “I know, Tyler told me,” Sandy nodded.

  “He tell you they have been outside the camp for over a week?” Mary asked, and Sandy gave a startle. “Yeah. The part of the camp they were in was overrun a week ago. They crawled under a fence, but one of the soldiers pulled their mother back and forced her toward their building. That’s when the stinkers got inside.”

  “I didn’t know about the week,” Sandy admitted, panting.

  “Oh, I haven’t got to the good part,” Mary growled. “Those soldiers saw the boys outside the fence, trying to find a way to get back inside the next day. Instead of helping, they would throw stuff at them. That would get the stinkers attention and the boys would have to run off. Sandy, the soldiers were using them to pull stinkers from the fence.”

  Closing her eyes as her vision clouded up, “When the family is grown, we are taking that Thelma and Louise trip,” Sandy snarled. “I think I might just ask Lance to come, so he can show his Momma how to do the stuff he can.”