“Don’t you want it?” she asked.
“I have one in my backpack but I’m not going to turn it on; I don’t want people around my truck,” he replied.
“Okay,” she said as a man came from the diner area yelling.
“Damn it Connie, I want my money!” he bellowed. Nathan looked at the man closely as he walked over. He was clearly a bum. His body and clothes were beyond filthy and his odor preceded him by yards.
“Mel, I told you until the power comes on I can’t give you anything,” Connie replied in a very kind voice, Nathan thought.
“I was up to eight hundred dollars and you’re going to give it to me. It might erase before the power comes back on!” he screamed.
“Mel, I’m sorry but I have to wait and you know it,” she told him.
“Like hell, if you won’t give me my money I’ll just take stuff!” Mel hollered as the security guard walked over.
“Mel, like you have ever won on that damn machine,” the security guard responded.
“Brian, don’t you be startin’ nothin’. I won me some money and somebody is going to give me some!” he shouted at the guard. Nathan looked at the guard, who was tall and physically big, but it was all fat. Mel may have been the smaller of the two but Nathan would put his money on him in a fight.
Shaking his head, his jowls jiggling with the movement, Brian asked, “Mel, do you want me to throw you out again?”
Mel grinned. “What you going to do, porky, call the cops?” he asked.
Brian took a step back as Connie moved to the end of the counter. “Mel, that’s enough now. When the power comes on, if you won anything I’ll give you the money,” she told him.
“Listen bitch, I said give me my money!” he roared.
Getting a headache from Mel’s shouting, and feeling guilty about snapping at Renee, Nathan stepped to the end of the counter. “Sir, Connie told you she’ll pay you your money. Just leave her your contact information and when the power comes on she will get your receipt from the machine and pay you,” Nathan told him.
“Pretty boy, I never talked at you so shut your trap!” Mel yelled at him.
“Sir, yell at me one more time and I will plant your face in this concrete floor and laugh as you bleed out,” Nathan calmly told him. Brian took another step back and shock hit Mel’s face.
“You can’t talk to me like that,” Mel said in a normal voice.
Lifting up the front of his shirt, Nathan exposed the Sheriff’s badge on his belt. “Sir, you have threatened physical violence and theft from peaceful people. I can and will body slam your nasty ass on this floor, then scrub the funk off of me for touching you,” Nathan told him, dropping his shirt and moving toward Mel.
“Hold on now,” Mel said, stepping back.
Nathan stopped. “Sir, you are either leaving this establishment voluntarily or getting body slammed, your choice,” he said calmly.
“Alright,” Mel replied, shuffling toward the door and grabbing a filthy backpack. “I’ll be back for my money,” he said, heading for the door.
“Thank you, sir, but wait till I’m gone please. Have a nice day,” Nathan said as Mel walked out. Mel looked at Nathan with a little fear on his face as he started into a fast trot across the parking lot.
“Thank you, Nathan,” Connie said as the door closed behind Mel.
“You’re welcome, Connie,” Nathan said, walking over and grabbing bags. “Add two of those cases of bottled water by the door and a bag of ice please.”
“No, it’s on the house,” Connie told him.
“I had it under control!” Brian barked at Nathan.
“Yes you did, Brian, but lower your tone please. Like I said, I’m trying to get a headache,” Nathan told him as he headed to the side door. “I’ll come back for the rest,” he said as he walked out.
Ares saw him carrying bags and started panting with his tongue hanging out the side. “This is not all yours,” Nathan said, putting the bags in the back beside him. Ares started sticking his nose in each bag. “Quit that!” Nathan snapped, and Ares looked up, trying to look innocent.
“You’re not fooling anyone,” Nathan said, scratching Ares’ back. Ares started panting, then closed his mouth and looked past Nathan. Nathan turned around to find Connie and Renee walking over, both carrying as many bags as they could. “I was coming back,” Nathan said, walking over to help.
“We can help you,” Renee said.
“Ares, back, let them in,” Nathan said and Ares backed up as the two set the bags down.
Renee looked at Ares. “Aww, he’s beautiful,” she said, reaching toward him.
Grabbing her arm, Nathan said, “Hold on. Ares, come here.” Ares walked over. “Say hi to Renee,” he said. Ares sat down and panted at her. “You can pet him now,” Nathan told her.
Renee was unsure after that, although she was still holding her hand out. Ares moved over and put his head under her hand, startling her. “He’s that well-trained?” she asked.
“He has to be, he goes on patrol with me,” Nathan told her.
“So he’s the department’s dog?” she asked.
“No he’s mine. I paid to train him,” Nathan said.
Renee moved closer and Ares put his head on her shoulder. “He’s a big teddy bear,” she said.
“Yeah, after he knows you,” Nathan replied. “Ares, this is Connie,” he said, and Ares looked over at her and Connie scratched his head.
Now that the introductions were over, Nathan headed back to the store and grabbed more of his items and Connie and Renee helped.
Once everything was in the back of the truck, the women headed back inside. Nathan opened the back passenger door and pulled out what he called a sissy tool kit. It only weighed two pounds but the Suburban was only a year old, and with all the electronics there was actually very little Nathan could work on if something went wrong.
Moving to the driver’s door, he threw the tool kit in and opened the center console. He took out another holster. This one was worn outside the belt for his pistol. Taking out his pistol, he removed the inside-the-belt holster and put on the new one. Reaching back in the console, he pulled out another magazine holder that clipped to his belt, giving him a total of four magazines with eight rounds each. Next, he pulled out his handcuff carrier with two sets of cuffs and clipped it to his back. With all the stuff hanging off his belt now, Nathan felt like Batman.
Feeling better, he popped the hood and moved to the fuse panel. Looking at the fuses, he saw all of them were blown. Then on a hunch, he pulled one of the relays off and looked at it. On the small circuit board he could see several burnt spots. Throwing it down, he went to the back of the truck and dug through the bags till he found the cheap watch he had just bought.
Throwing his diving watch down, he put the cheap one on. He had another good watch in his bag but didn’t want to take it out yet. The power lines were still making the humming sound. The radio he had left with the girls was working, but he was not pulling out his electronics until he felt more sure of the situation.
Unpacking the bags of stuff he had bought, Nathan arranged everything in piles and started breaking them down. The bags of beef jerky he put in one zip-lock bag. He continued with breaking stuff down till he heard a metal groan from behind the store.
Looking up, he saw an old man in a white cook’s apron raising the hood of an old truck.
“Ares, come,” Nathan said, heading over to the old man. “You might be able to get that one going,” Nathan said when he got closer, noticing the truck was a 1958 Chevy stepside.
The old man jerked around. “Scared the bejesus out of me,” he said, patting his chest. “Yeah, I’m getting lights but nothing else,” he said, turning back around.
“May I?” Nathan asked, stepping to the driver side.
“Help yourself.”
Climbing in, Nathan turned the key and the lights came on but he only heard a clicking from the engine. Turning the key off, he climbed out and lo
oked under the hood, then pulled off the distributer cap. A few minutes later he looked at the old man. “You need a new starter solenoid but I would just buy a whole starter,” Nathan told him, and added several more items to the list.
“Damn, that’s mighty expensive,” the old man replied, looking at the truck with a long face.
“You work here?” Nathan asked.
“Yep, me and the missus run the diner in the mornings. I expect we will be here for a while since our relief hasn’t shown up,” he said. “I’m Jessie,” he said holding out his hand.
“Nathan, Jessie,” Nathan said, shaking his hand.
“Yeah, the girls told us your name. Thank you for handling Mel. Brian can’t do much 'cept eat and hassle the girls,” Jessie told him.
“Funny, that was my first impression,” Nathan said with a grin. “Why don’t you go over to the parts store and get the parts?” he asked.
“I ain’t got that much cash and they put a sign up no sooner than the lights went out. Cash only,” Jessie told him. “You think a 1972 Ford Bronco would be easier to fix?” he asked.
“No, it will need a few more parts,” Nathan said. Then he noticed a semi tow truck behind the store. “You have a shop here?” he asked.
“Yeah, but they only work on semis and don’t keep parts here. Atlanta is only a hop, skip, and a jump away,” Jessie told him.
“The Bronco yours?” Nathan asked.
“Yeah, I use it to hunt in,” Jessie replied.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Nathan told him. “Ares, guard the truck,” he said, pointing at his Suburban. Ares barked and took off running, then jumped in the back. Nathan looked up at the power lines that were still humming loudly. He was very nervous about going underneath them. In all reality, he probably wouldn’t have but he’d seen Mel do it and live so he tried it.
Walking across the road, he noticed there were three stores in the strip mall: a parts store, a thrift shop, and a pharmacy. The last one was vacant. “These could come in handy,” Nathan said, walking toward the parts store.
As soon as he walked in, an old man came out from behind the counter. “Cash only,” he snapped.
“No problem,” Nathan replied.
“I ain’t got the computer board or injection relays here. I have to order them from Asia,” he told Nathan.
Nathan walked over to the counter and wrote down what he wanted and handed it to the old man. “I need this,” he told him.
“Be just a minute,” the cranky old fart said. Nathan shook his head. He’d written down what he wanted because he didn’t trust his mouth to stay silent. Twenty minutes later, the old fart walked back to the front carrying a box. He sat it on the counter and started adding up the total on a calculator. Then Nathan noticed he didn’t see a cash register.
“Where’s your cash register?” Nathan asked and the old fart took a step back, getting nervous. “Relax, I’m a cop,” Nathan said, lifting his shirt up and showing his badge. “Is that the calculator you always use?” he asked.
“Yep, don’t like registers,” the old fart popped off.
Nathan smiled. If the little calculator still worked then the parts should be fine, but just in case, he said, “Sir if these parts don’t work I want my money back.”
“Nope,” the old fart said, stepping back.
“Sir, first of all, this is an emergency. If you don’t assist law enforcement you will be held accountable. Now let’s keep this cordial please,” Nathan said.
“Don’t have to sell them to ya,” the old fart said.
“You’re right, you don’t, but I can sign a piece of paper saying I took them and you will have to wait until the government pays you for them,” Nathan told him. The old man grumbled and continued adding up the total.
“Four hundred and sixteen dollars,” he said. Nathan handed the man the money and waited for change, which came out of the old fart’s pocket. Nathan picked up the box and walked out, feeling a little sorry for the old fart.
Walking up to the front of the store, Nathan heard a motorcycle start up and watched as a man pulled out from the side of the store with another man riding on the bitch seat. Both were dressed like mechanics. “Well something works,” Nathan said, walking inside and heading toward the diner. He saw Jessie talking to an elderly lady that Nathan took for his wife, and another man dressed in mechanic overalls.
The man looked at Nathan. “Mister, there is no way you are going to get your ride started. I’m afraid you wasted your money,” he told Nathan. “My truck is a ‘99 and I pulled out the mother board and it’s fried along with every injector,” he added.
“This isn’t for me,” Nathan said as the man looked back at Jessie.
“Tell Mitch I closed the shop and sent the boys home. I’m riding Kevin’s bicycle; he rode with Shawn,” the man said, then walked out.
Jessie came over with the lady. “Is that for my truck, Nathan?” he asked.
“Yeah, and your Bronco. Help me push your truck over by my Suburban under the awning and I’ll start to work on it,” Nathan told him.
“Thank you,” the woman said, wrapping her arms around him.
“Nathan, this is my wife Lenore,” Jessie told him.
“Ma’am,” Nathan said as she let him go.
“The young lady over there is the waitress. Her name’s Monica,” Jessie said as Nathan nodded to the young black female.
The two men left and pushed the truck over where they could work on it. Nathan looked at Jessie. “You have a real tool box?” he asked.
“Don’t need one. There’s a whole shop back there,” Jessie replied.
Nathan nodded. “Go on back to work and I’ll see about the truck,” he said, reaching inside his truck and grabbing a pair of mechanic gloves.
“You sure you don’t need help?” Jessie asked.
“Nah, you’re getting busy in there,” Nathan said.
“Yeah, people have been walking in from the freeway. Don’t know why they come this way, since town is the other way,” Jessie replied, then headed back to the store.
Nathan looked at Ares. “Well, at least I can do something,” he said, opening the hood of Jessie’s truck.
Chapter 4
It was a little after four when Nathan pushed the tool box back to the shop. He had replaced everything, and before he mounted the starter, he turned the key over just long enough to hear the starter whine. There had been a lot of people showing up lately. Several people had walked over and asked if he could fix their vehicles and Nathan told them he was doing this for a friend. That was why he didn’t want to start the truck. He was sure he would have to kill someone to stop them from taking it.
Walking back over to his truck, he pulled out Ares’ bowls and poured him some food and water. “Ares, guard,” Nathan said, pointing at his truck and Jessie’s. Ares just gave him what could only be called a grin. Throwing his gloves in the back, Nathan turned around and strolled to the store where he headed to the restroom and washed up. Inside they had put a small battery-operated light.
When he was done, he headed over to the diner and stopped. The place was packed wall to wall with standing room only. He saw Connie helping wait tables and Jessie and Lenore cranking out food. Then he noticed that people were paying for food before the order was even placed. Chuckling, he walked behind the counter and stopped by Jessie. “Hey, you have a second?” Nathan asked.
Jessie looked up. “Yeah,” he said and pointed to the back of the kitchen. He led the way. When they were out of sight, Jessie asked, “You couldn’t fix it, huh?”
“No, I’m sure it will work but I didn’t want to start it with all these people here. I would have to shoot someone,” Nathan said, handing him the keys.
“Shit, I didn’t think about that,” Jessie said. “Gives a whole new meaning to ‘In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.’”
“Yeah, let’s wait till tonight and don’t go near your truck without me or Ares will attack you,” Nathan
said.
“Thank you. I won’t ever be able to repay ya,” Jessie said, laughing.
“Later you can fix me some food and we’ll call it even,” Nathan said, clapping Jessie on the shoulder and then walking out. Moving past the people in the diner, he saw the store wasn’t much better. He walked behind the counter and stopped beside Renee. “Renee, you need to let Connie know she needs to put a sign up outside that says you guys are closing at dark and the diner closes an hour before that. If you stay open tonight it’s going to get bad,” he told her.
“It’s already bad,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him. For the first time, Nathan really looked at her. She had dirty blond hair to her shoulders with a few freckles across her cheeks and nose. She was no taller than five-foot-five and had that country girl cute look.
“No, if you don’t close at dark it will be a lot worse,” he told her. “I’ll be over at my truck if you need me,” he said, walking away. Nathan noticed she motioned Brian over as he walked outside. Getting closer to his truck, he saw Ares lying on his back with his legs in the air.
“You let an EMP take out our ride, then sleep on duty,” Nathan said, getting closer. Ares slowly rolled his head over and looked at him, then closed his eyes. Laughing Nathan climbed in the front seat and closed the door. Looking down at his shirt and pants, he saw they were covered in dirt and oil. At least his loafers weren’t that bad off. Reaching down to recline the seat back with the electric knobs, he cursed under his breath when it didn’t move. Grumbling, he reached over to his tote bag.
He had bought it at the gun store and the man told him when it was closed it would act as a Faraday cage. Crossing his fingers, he reached inside and pulled out his cellphone. Holding it up, he was shocked to see the screen on but ‘No Service’ on it. Loading the e-mail attachment, Nathan started reading what Tim had sent him.
One was about the military doing an active alert for Homeland Security across the globe to test readiness status. Then another one about how all federal officers had to report for weekend training for the exercise. On another page he saw the notice for the nuclear reactors to begin shut-down procedures dated four days ago. Next was a notice to military families to stay on base through the weekend. Reading several more messages that corroborated what he had already read, he scrolled down. The last ones were military memos. At the top of each memo was ‘Operation Dark Titan.’
Dark Titan Journey Book 1 Page 3
