Forsaken World (Book 5): Homecoming

by Watson, Thomas A.

  When they reached the trees, Tyler risked a quick glance back and saw stinkers moving off the parkway and after them into the field. “Baby, look forward,” Sandy told him. “Mary and Chris are watching our back.”

  “Sorry,” Tyler said and turned forward, looking around and saw where the dirt road met another dirt road. Again, Sandy just led her horse across the dirt road and out into a field. Only seeing a few trees around Tyler was freaking out, then noticed Sandy was guiding the horse south to a strip of trees.

  Feeling better about that, Tyler turned north and could see a dirt road and tapped Sandy’s leg. “Stinker,” he said, lifting his hand and pointing.

  “He’s two hundred yards away, so we don’t have to worry about him,” Sandy told him, patting his chest.

  “I don’t like it when there aren’t trees close,” Tyler admitted.

  “Me too, baby,” Sandy told him, moving the bow back between them and grabbed the thermal binoculars. She could see a few stinkers to the north moving through fields, but nothing close. Putting the thermals away, she grabbed her bow.

  When they reached the small strip of trees, Tyler wanted to cheer and Sandy felt his body relax. Tyler only relaxed for a few minutes and then saw another four lane road ahead. “Oh, come on,” he moaned quietly. “They don’t need this many roads.”

  Sandy smiled and patted his chest. “Tyler, we have to cross a bunch of roads, so get used to it. Ft. Campbell Boulevard is the last big one for a while.”

  “This one has a bunch of stinkers on it,” Tyler informed her.

  “Yes, but see how they aren’t bunched up? We aim for one of the gaps and trot across,” Sandy told him, and almost added ‘hope for no fences’ but stopped. She realized the fences would buy them time to get away, and she could cut through them before stinkers could get close.

  Riding along the strip of trees, Sandy scanned the road and didn’t think there were as many stinkers here compared to the interstate. Here, they were in small groups and singles heading north. On the interstate, it was a loose packed stream of stinkers and they weren’t riding through them. “See that gap?” Sandy asked, pointing to the right and felt Tyler nod. “That’s where we aim for.”

  Tyler tensed up as the road got closer and Sandy didn’t see a fence on either side. When the horse stepped out from the trees and into the ditch, Sandy heard the moans and growls as she guided her horse into a trot over the road. When the horse’s hooves met the road, the moans grew louder and she felt Tyler shifting his weight, wanting the horse to move faster than a trot.

  When Sandy entered a field on the other side of the road, she held Tyler tight to keep him from looking back. “Look ahead or you’ll fall off,” Sandy told him, and that killed his curiosity. Spotting trees not far ahead, Tyler gave a sigh of relief.

  The relief evaporated when Sandy slowed the horse to a walk before entering the trees. Before he could ask why, Tyler saw a small break in the trees ahead, letting him know it was only a strip of trees and then he saw the railroad tracks.

  Sandy slowed guiding the horses over the tracks and down the other side through a strip of trees and into a very big field. Seeing more trees ahead, Tyler again relaxed and finally lowered the binoculars. “Can I drink some of my water?” he asked, feeling very tired from the emotional rollercoaster.

  “Yes, Tyler,” Sandy grinned as she led the horse into the strip of trees and realized it was a real fence row. Pulling to a stop, Sandy climbed off while grabbing the bolt cutters. She glanced at Tyler and saw him looking around with the binoculars with the bottle of water in his hand.

  Cutting the strands of barbed wire, Sandy stowed the cutters and climbed back on. When she led the horse through the fence, only then did Tyler lower the binoculars and drink. Well, he drained the bottle. “Very good keeping an eye out for me,” Sandy told him, patting his chest.

  Putting the cap on the empty bottle, “I can’t let you get hurt, you saved us,” Tyler told her, putting the empty bottle in one of the front saddle bags.

  Patting his chest, Sandy scanned around as Tyler lifted his binoculars seemingly gluing them to his eyes. “See anything?” she asked, and Tyler shook his head as Sandy put the bow between them and grabbed the thermal binoculars.

  After they powered up, Sandy glanced around and saw deer to the north and a few stinkers in the fields to the south. “Ms. Sandy,” Tyler whispered.

  “Yes,” Sandy said, putting the thermals away.

  “Um, when we get to some trees, can I pee?”

  Chuckling softly, “Yes, baby. I need to go, too,” Sandy told him and Tyler sighed.

  Chapter Eighteen

  North of Trenton and standing beside her horse, Sandy glanced around as she ate her MRE. “What time is it?” Tyler whispered.

  “Almost midnight,” Sandy answered, and looked up at Tyler still sitting in the saddle. He was eating an MRE, but still looking around with the binoculars. “If we come across some of the CR batteries, I’m letting him use the thermal,” Sandy mumbled.

  If a stinker was in the field of view, Tyler spotted it. He had already spotted one trying to hide behind a tree. Chris did point out the tree was only four inches wide and barely blocked the stinker’s face, but Sandy was very happy how the two were doing.

  Tearing off a chunk of her patty, Sandy held it down for Dan. “Which way is Allensville?” Sandy asked. Taking his eyes off the binoculars, Tyler blinked them as he pulled the compass out of the saddle bag.

  Holding the compass out, “That way,” Tyler said, pointing east.

  “Very good. We’ll pass just north of it,” Sandy told him, moving over beside Mary. “Notice anything?”

  Pausing mid bite, Mary looked around. “The boys stayed in the saddle,” Mary offered.

  “No. Well, yes they did, but we haven’t heard a gunshot all night.”

  Cocking her head as she emptied her spoon, “Damn, you’re right,” Mary mumbled. “I can’t remember a night without hearing a gunshot since we entered Missouri.”

  “Haven’t had one,” Sandy said, rolling up her MRE and saving the rest. “Just shows you how big this country is, and not to hear gunshots means there are way fewer people. They are taking out stinkers silently or hiding really good.”

  Rolling up her MRE with what she hadn’t eaten, “I’m voting on fewer people,” Mary said, shoving the MRE bag in her cargo pocket for later.

  “Ready?” Sandy asked, and Mary nodded. They climbed on and left the small stand of trees that bordered a field.

  “I don’t mind crossing roads like that,” Tyler said, pointing east at a small two lane blacktop.

  “If we want to get home, we cross what we have to,” Sandy told him, not seeing any stinkers anywhere.

  “Your son won’t mind me coming, will he?”

  Chuckling, “No, Tyler. Lance will be happy to have younger brothers,” Sandy assured him. “He will teach you a thousand times more than I will before we get home.”

  Crossing the small road, Sandy gave a groan to see a barbed wire fence on the other side. Pulling to a stop, she handed the reins to Tyler and climbed off, with her AR dragging over the saddle and hitting her knee. Cursing softly, Sandy grabbed the bolt cutters. “That’s the third time and the same damn spot,” she mumbled, cutting the barbed wire strands.

  Putting the cutters back and climbing on, Sandy rubbed her knee. Guiding the horse out in the field, she couldn’t help but smile as Tyler scanned side to side, reminding her of a radar. “See anything?” she asked.

  “Deer,” he answered. “I never knew there was so many.”

  “Yeah, wish we could’ve shot one, but we can’t risk a fire here,” Sandy sighed.

  Seeing trees ahead and they were headed straight for them, Tyler almost asked if the horse could move faster to the trees. When the horse stepped into the trees, Tyler was happy that he couldn’t see the break where the trees ended. “Ms. Sandy, where were you when the stinkers came?”

  “In Hawaii,” Sandy answered
with a regretful sigh.

  Lowering his binoculars, Tyler leaned forward and looked back at Sandy. “Ms. Sandy, Hawaii is in the ocean,” he told her like she didn’t know that.

  Chuckling as she steered the horse around a tree, “Yes, it took us almost a month just to reach California,” Sandy told him and the smile fell off. “My husband Johnathan and Mary’s husband Bill were killed by bad people. Bill got killed in Kansas and Johnathan got killed in Missouri. Stinkers are bad, but some people are worse.”

  “I’m sorry,” Tyler mumbled, turning to look ahead. “I shouldn’t have asked. Chris always says I talk too much.”

  Sandy hugged him with the crook of her right arm. “Tyler, you can ask just like I asked about your family,” Sandy told him. “Am I sad? Yes, but Johnathan still lives in my heart and he wants me to make it home.”

  “I miss my Nana,” Tyler mumbled.

  “Nana?”

  “My momma’s momma,” Tyler explained. “We always stayed with Nana. I wish Mom and Dad would’ve left us with her.”

  “You know where she lived?”

  Shaking his head as he lifted the binoculars, “She’s not there. A stinker bit her, but we didn’t know it was a stinker then. We just thought it was the neighbor Mr. Winston, but he was a stinker,” Tyler said in a breaking voice. “Chris called 911 and the cops came and arrested Mr. Winston, but he bit three of the cops before they put him in the cop car. Nana was taken to the hospital and Mom had to leave work to get us.”

  “Well, I think you’re lucky you didn’t have to stay with Nana. I know you loved her, but when someone turns into a stinker, they aren’t who they were and are very dangerous.”

  Nodding as he scanned ahead, “I know, Chris told me. He’s really smart,” Tyler told her. “Mom and Dad were mad that Momma had to leave work, since it was ‘Two drinks for one Night’ and Mom brings home lots of dollars on those days.”

  Cocking her head, Sandy asked. “Tyler, what did your Mom do?”

  “Danced, but did it around a pole.”

  “Oh, um, what did your Dad do?”

  “Sold medicine to people that doctors wouldn’t give it to them,” Tyler told her in a small voice. “That’s what Dad told us, but Chris told me Dad sold drugs and made them in the shed out back.”

  “Well, that’s not you,” Sandy told him, hugging him. “So, you spent most of your time with Nana?”

  “Yes, once a month we got to see our little sister Patty. She’s five,” Tyler answered. “When she was born, Nana said Mom’s pee was positive for medicine she shouldn’t be taking, and women in suits took Patty away. If Mom would’ve let Nana keep her, Patty would’ve stayed with us. But Nana said she didn’t have the money to get a lawyer and make the state people give us Patty.”

  For several minutes, Sandy was scared to talk much less ask anything. “Well, Nana is watching out for you like Johnathan is watching out for us,” Sandy finally said. When Tyler didn’t add his mom and dad, Sandy filed that away.

  “Ms. Sandy,” Tyler said, lowering the binoculars and tilting his head back to look at her upside down. “Not all people are bad. You and Ms. Mary saved us.”

  “Tyler,” Sandy sighed. “We are the exception and not the rule. You don’t trust anyone until I tell you they are okay. When we get home, you trust those in the cabin only.”

  “I can’t wait to get there,” Tyler said, dropping his head back to look forward and lifted the binoculars. “Is Lance smart like Chris?”

  “Oh, baby,” Sandy chuckled. “Lance and Ian are smarter than me. When you meet them, you’ll understand.”

  Seeing movement, Tyler locked in and then saw a small animal dart off. “Ms. Sandy, you’re an adult and his momma, how can he be smarter than you?”

  “Tyler, Lance was taking college courses in Jr. High.”

  “Whoa,” Tyler gasped, lowering the binoculars slowly. “I bet he is smarter than Chris. Chris failed the fourth grade.”

  “Tyler, did you do any activities like play ball, take karate, basketball, or Boy Scouts? Oh, you’re too young for that, but what about Cub Scouts?”

  Slumping forward, Tyler shook his head while lowering the binoculars. “No, ma’am,” he mumbled. “I wanted to be a Cub Scout, but Nana said her check wasn’t big enough. Chris tried out for basketball and got on the team, but Nana didn’t have the money so he had to drop out.”

  “Tyler, how old was Nana?”

  “Forty-two. I know because that’s what was on her birthday cake last time and it made her mad,” Tyler grinned, lifting the binoculars back up.

  “You can think wrong of me, but Nana should’ve gotten a job, so you and Chris could’ve done activities.” Sandy nearly said, ‘Your momma should’ve danced around that pole shaking her ass more to get more money’, but didn’t. She didn’t hold anything against Tyler’s mom in her job choice, but did resent the fact she hadn’t put the boys in activities. If life had turned different, Sandy knew she would’ve danced around a pole. In college she almost did, but found another job.

  Shaking his head, “Nana couldn’t get a job or she would lose her check,” Tyler objected.

  Biting her tongue and stopping the nasty reply because she didn’t know everything, Sandy slowed as they neared the tree line. Seeing a road ahead, Sandy eased up before looking up and down the road. Spotting two stinkers a hundred yards to the north but walking away, Sandy guided the horse across the road and into a small field, then back into a strip of trees.

  “Tyler,” Sandy said, then shook her head to talk about Nana’s check later, but asked, “You know where Patty was?”

  “No, ma’am,” Tyler mumbled sadly, but perked up. “She lived with rich people, so Chris thinks she might be safe.”

  The thin strip of trees ended at a dirt road and Sandy guided the horse onto the road. “I hope she is,” Sandy said, patting his chest.

  Trees started on both sides of the dirt road. At first they were only thin strips, but soon turned into thick woods with the branches almost covering the road. “I like this road,” Tyler told her, still scanning around.

  They passed a driveway on the right with brick columns on each side of the drive and Sandy pulled the reins, stopping the horse. “What?” Mary asked, moving up beside her.

  “Look,” Sandy said, pointing to a white sign on one of the columns. Mary turned and read, ‘Double Creek Horse Ranch. Stables and boarding.’

  “Oh,” Mary said, looking down the driveway. “You want to risk it?”

  “I would feel better if we had some feed for the horses,” Sandy admitted, pulling out the thermal binoculars.

  As Sandy looked down the driveway, Mary looked down at the dogs who were just panting. “The door is broken and open,” Sandy said. “That’s all I can see from here.”

  “Okay, let’s go and check, but if the dogs act funny, we leave,” Mary offered, and Sandy hung the thermal binoculars around her neck.

  “I’ll lead and if someone shoots, you cover,” Sandy said, guiding her horse down the driveway.

  Reaching the end, the driveway formed a large circle in front of a nice house. Off to the left were several long metal buildings with a large barn between them. Sandy noticed the gates to the field were open. “They let the horses go,” Sandy mumbled with a sigh, then turned her attention to the house.

  The front door was gone, but so were many of the bottom floor windows. Steering away from the house, Sandy headed for the barn. “Tyler, what do you see?” she asked softly.

  “Nothing,” he answered as Sandy stopped at the barn. A huge double sliding door was at the front and was opened halfway. “We can ride in,” Tyler told her.

  “Have to check it first,” Sandy whispered and climbed off, handing him the reins. “Stay here,” Sandy told him, hooking her bow on the saddle horn. Grabbing her AR before it cracked her knee again, Sandy put her feet on the ground.

  “Dan,” she said, patting her thigh softly. Dan moved over just looking around, then sniffed at the opening of
the door. When Dan didn’t growl at the opening, Sandy turned on the IR flashlight on her AR. Pulling the stock to her shoulder, Sandy stepped in and saw a wide aisle down the center with stalls on each side.

  Moving inside, Sandy moved around the barn and up into the loft, not finding anything. Coming back down, she waved the others inside. “Found some feed,” Sandy told Mary as she led in her horses.

  “I hope so, with a ranch this size,” Mary responded. “Let’s get the feed and go.”

  “Storeroom at the end of the aisle,” Sandy told her as Tyler guided her horse in.

  “I drove all of them in,” Tyler grinned and Sandy nodded, grabbing the bridle and leading the horse. Saddles rested on the stalls that faced the middle aisle. Sandy came to a stop and let the horse go and walked over to a saddle with a smaller saddle attached to the back.

  “What the hell? A tandem saddle,” she mumbled, moving over to inspect it. When she touched the big saddle in the front, the saddle moved and Sandy froze, knowing a saddle shouldn’t move that easily, especially a tandem saddle. Grabbing the main saddle horn, Sandy pulled the saddle off the stall fence and was shocked she could hold it up with one hand.

  “Wow, you’re strong,” Tyler said, looking at her with his binoculars while she held up the tandem saddle with one arm.

  “How in the hell can you do that?” Mary asked walking back and stopped, realizing Sandy was holding a tandem saddle. “I didn’t know they even made those.”

  “Mary, this thing can’t weigh twenty pounds,” Sandy gasped, shining the light of her AR and inspecting the saddle.

  “Sandy, I’ll grab a few bags of feed. See if you can find another saddle like that one,” Mary told her, turning around. “I don’t like barns anymore.”

  “Neither do I,” Sandy admitted, moving over to check the size. Seeing it was the same size as her saddle, Sandy dropped it beside her pack horses. Searching around, Sandy found several light saddles and then flipped them over, checking sizes. Finding two more sixteen and a half saddles, Sandy carried both with one hand and dropped them off and then took off down the other side.