Dark Titan Journey Book 1

by Thomas A. Watson

  Mark just stared at the pistol. “Nathan,” was all he said.

  “You’re being rude and we won’t even talk about what the brothers do when someone is rude,” Nathan said, and everyone started smirking.

  “I can’t pay you for this,” Mark said, still looking at the pistol with longing.

  Nathan laughed. “If you tried I’d kick you in the nuts. Then run like a bitch begging for mercy,” he added, making everyone start laughing. Renee pushed her way back through the crowd, setting down an armload of boxes. “This will be one of four parts of the payment I demand for saving Renee, for you to have this. I may not be there next time. I want you to be able to shoot at them fourteen times and not six,” Nathan said, still holding out the pistol.

  Mark looked up at him, then back to the pistol before slowly reaching out and taking it. “I never even dreamed of having this,” he said, rubbing the pistol. “Thank you seems kinda poor. You save my wife then give me this,” Mark said, working the slide.

  “It’s my pleasure,” Nathan said. “Take some of these boxes of ammo and run fifty rounds through it to see how she handles.”

  “What kind of groups have you shot through it?” Mark asked.

  “None, but the owner told me he shot a two-inch group at fifty yards,” Nathan said. “You have seven magazines total, hip holster for concealed carry, and a drop holster for a tactical set up.” He took out the other stuff, laying it out.

  “You haven’t shot it!” Mark yelled.

  “Mark, I just bought the damn thing yesterday,” Nathan said.

  “Come shoot it with me then,” Mark said.

  “I have one at home. It’s not customized but it’s great. But I really don’t want to. I have to leave it but I really don’t want to flirt with it,” Nathan said, grinning.

  Mark laughed. “What are the other three parts to this payment?” he asked, taking out the magazine.

  Nathan thought a minute. “A kiss from Renee,” he said, grinning.

  Mark looked at Nathan, then looked at Renee. “Renee, kiss him with tongue,” he said, looking back down to the pistol.

  “Mark!” Renee exclaimed.

  “What? He saved you and gave me this. Kiss him good,” Mark told her.

  Renee turned to Nathan who was stunned; his face was turning red. Renee started giggling. “Nathan, are you blushing?” she asked.

  “I don’t blush,” Nathan said, fighting the blush but it wasn’t working.

  Renee started laughing. “You’re blushing, it’s so cute,” she said, moving toward him.

  “I don’t blush,” he said, fixing to back away.

  “Okay, you don’t blush but your face is getting so red,” she told him. “Don’t back away from a woman because that is rude,” she told him.

  “On the cheek,” Nathan said, bending down.

  She turned his face and kissed him on the mouth and let him go. “If you get much redder I think you’ll explode,” she said as the others laughed.

  “That wasn’t my cheek,” Nathan said, trying to be cool. He looked at Mark. “That was not really necessary,” he told him.

  “Hey, I could kiss ya but I think you would fight me,” Mark said, busily loading magazines.

  “It wouldn’t be much of a fight,” Nathan admitted and put his hand on Mark’s arm. “Use it well and stay safe. Part of my payment is also for trying to get the brothers on the force. I really like them, and with officers like you guys, there won’t be much crime,” Nathan said.

  “I have to agree with that,” Brad said, watching Mark load magazines. “Nathan, here is your pistol back,” he said, taking off the Glock.

  “Brad, you just heard me tell Mark that I can’t take all that shit. I gave that to you,” Nathan snapped. “Use it to protect your family,” he added and looked out the front window at the strip mall. The parts store and the thrift shop were open. “Everyone stay here for a second please,” he said, turning around and heading to the office.

  He grabbed the Berretta, the two P226s and one of the revolvers. Then, grabbing all the holsters and magazines for the automatics, he walked back to the diner. “Fred, Andy, and Billy, come here,” he said, laying the guns down. He gave Fred the souped-up P226, Billy the regular one, and the Berretta to Andy.

  Andy looked down at the pistol and his hands started to tremble as he moaned, “Ahhhhh.”

  “Like it, Andy?” Nathan asked, grinning.

  Andy looked up with kidlike excitement. “It’s just like Riggs’!” he shouted. Allie put her head in her hands as the brothers patted Andy on the back.

  Fred looked over at Nathan, grinning, “He can recite all four of them,” he said.

  Nathan smiled, then leaned over the table. “I have a mission for you, Andy and Billy,” he said, and they both looked up at him. “I want you to escort Brad and Abigail over to the thrift store so they can get clothes, shoes, and other supplies. I don’t want anyone to bother them. They’ve been through enough for one day. Fred, I need you in the parking lot. Look intimidating. When Mark is out back shooting, people may want to come and see. Make them go away. Just don’t shoot them,” he quickly added.

  Allie leaned over the table, pointing her finger at Fred. “Nathan said look intimidating. Don’t be bouncing any more people,” she warned him.

  “It wasn’t so bad,” Fred said, looking at her guiltily.

  “Fred, you lifted that man over your head, betting Billy he would bounce up to your waist when you dropped him,” she snapped.

  The room was silent for a second and Nathan just had to know. “How high did he bounce?” he asked.

  “Only to my knee. I lost a pack of tobacco,” Fred told him with a sad look.

  “No more bouncing,” Allie said firmly.

  “Allie baby, when they told us what they did you wanted us to bounce both of them,” Fred told her.

  “Yes I did, but not for Billy to stand on one’s chest to see how many colors his face would change to,” she said, crossing her arms.

  “Billy got three colors on his face at one time,” Fred said proudly.

  “Fred!” Allie snapped.

  “Okay baby,” he said, looking down.

  “Baby, if someone is bad then you do whatever you need to till they stop or someone asks you to stop,” she compromised.

  Fred’s face filled with joy. “Okay baby,” he said.

  Nathan moved over to Brad, pulled out several hundred dollars and pushed them into his hand. “Since you have a place to stay, you need to get supplies. I want you and Abigail to buy each of you blue jeans, good shirts, and boots if they have them. Look for sleeping bags and better backpacks,” he told Brad.

  Brad smiled. “We were preppers, Nathan. Although a lot of good our stuff is doing us here,” he said.

  “Then you know what to look for. You have one hour,” Nathan said and turned around. “Connie and Lenore, I need you to watch the kids. Jessie, I want you to teach Monica how to shoot this revolver. Everyone back here in one hour,” he said.

  “What about me?” Renee asked.

  “You’re going with your husband as he shoots his new pistol. I want him to run at least fifty rounds through it. Make sure he gets used to changing magazines. Only put five rounds in each magazine so he get used to it,” he told her.

  “Come on baby,” she said, picking up the other magazines and leading Mark outside.

  Jessie walked over, picking up the revolver. “What are you gonna do?” he asked.

  Nathan just looked out the window. “Repack my shit and go over my route,” he said, turning around and heading back to the office.

  Chapter 8

  Whittling down his supplies to manageable portions, Nathan went out to the store and grabbed several boxes of the space saver bags. Then, grabbed his new tactical clothes he’d bought, he took out the knee and elbow pad inserts. Throwing them over his shoulder, he headed to the utility room and filled the sink up with water and threw the three uniforms in. Then he walked to the store and
grabbed some soap.

  As he was pouring soap in the sink, Lenore came around the corner and saw what he was doing. “Let me do that, you’re just making a mess and not doing it right,” she scolded, pushing him out of the way. “Go get some fabric softener,” she commanded. Nathan took off and came back quickly, handing her the bottle. “Go help with the kids. They’re in the diner,” she said. Not wanting to get her mad because she was cooking for him, Nathan left, but not before grabbing his camera.

  Nathan walked around taking pictures of everyone, then headed to the diner. He saw the kids were playing some game with Ares that involved running and a lot of laughing.

  Connie was sitting at a table watching them. He walked over and joined her. “Tired of packing?” she asked.

  “No, Lenore told me I was washing my clothes wrong and kicked me out,” he told her.

  “It’s good you didn’t argue then,” Connie said.

  Nathan smiled at her, then turned to the kids. “Have you ever told Andy you like him?” he asked.

  Connie spun around in her chair so fast she almost fell out. “What?” she cried out.

  “If you want everyone to know, keep yelling,” he told her.

  Connie looked over at Jessie and Monica to see he was still teaching her about the pistol. Then, turning back to Nathan, she leaned over the table. “What are you talking about?” she whispered.

  Still smiling, Nathan just stared at her. “You heard the question. If you don’t want to answer then that’s fine,” he said.

  “What makes you think that?” she whispered harshly.

  “I have eyes, Connie,” Nathan said.

  “I’ve made a dozen passes at you and you didn’t take any of them. I’m not pretty enough?” she croaked at him.

  “You are very pretty. In fact you’re a hottie,” he said. “But I’m not what you need,” he told her.

  “How—” she started, but stopped as he held up his hand.

  “Trust me, I’m leaving and there is no way I would ever expose you to what I’m about to face. I’m not saying it will be easy here, but you’re better off. Plus I’ve seen you look at Andy,” he told her.

  Connie sighed. “Okay, I’ve had a crush on him since high school. I’m thirty-three and he’s thirty. I’m an old maid now and he’s a stud,” she popped off.

  “Flirt with him,” Nathan said.

  “I have,” she told him.

  “Connie, you will have to be a little more forceful. Andy is smart just like his brothers, but they only know what they want and need to know. If they put their minds to it, anyone of them could become whatever they wanted,” he told her.

  “Fred failed the police test and he studied for it,” she told him.

  “No he didn’t. I asked Mark. He scored third highest in the state,” Nathan told her.

  “Why—” she started.

  “He didn’t want to make his brothers jealous and feel bad. They have everything they wanted and that job was just a dream,” Nathan told her. “That is another reason I wanted the brothers to do this together. They all need to know just what they can do.”

  Connie thought for a moment. “You think he likes me that way?” she asked.

  “Oh I know he does. He watches you all the time,” Nathan told her. “Just get a little more forceful,” he said as Allie walked over.

  “Y’all want something to drink?” she asked, looking at the kids try to wrestle Ares down.

  “A Coke with ice would be great,” Nathan told her, and Connie agreed.

  “Listen to him, Connie,” Allie said as she walked away. Connie started laughing as the front door opened up.

  Brad and Abigail had arms loaded down with stuff as Billy held the door open for them. He had a load under his arm as well. They walked over to a table and dropped the stuff down. Billy joined them as Andy took off running to the back of the store with something under his arm. Nathan looked at Brad and Abigail. “What’s that about?” he asked.

  “Don’t ask,” they said in unison.

  Nathan chucked as Fred came in and sat down. A few minutes later, Mark and Renee came in and joined the group. Mark looked over at Nathan. “That man lied,” he said. “I shot three one-inch groups at fifty yards and hit a five-gallon bucket at a hundred,” he said, grinning.

  “Dude,” Nathan said, holding a thumb up. “Any word from the government today?” he asked.

  “Just over the Federal Law bands. Do this and this is what we’re sending here,” Mark said. “No official statement,” he added.

  Renee stood up and kissed him, then turned around. “That radio you had out has had people talking on it all day,” she said.

  “What?” Nathan said.

  “Yeah, most of the people say a whole bunch of numbers and letters before they talk, but it’s been going all day,” she told him.

  “I didn’t hear it,” Nathan said.

  She smiled. “I had an ear piece plugged in it. I got tired of people asking questions about it,” she said as Lenore walked in.

  “Your clothes are hanging up. Don’t touch them. I’ll finish them later,” Lenore said, sitting down.

  Nathan just smiled at her. “Renee, anything important on the radio?” he asked.

  “Basically what Mark said. The big cities are war zones and you have to turn in weapons at the crisis camps,” she said.

  “What of the rest of the country?” he asked, not liking that bit of news.

  “Only one guy said it was like this everywhere. He talked to a whole bunch of numbers,” she said.

  “Those numbers and letters are their call signs, their handles,” he told her.

  “That’s stupid,” she said.

  “Okay, does anyone have any flash drives?” Nathan asked. Connie and Renee raised their hands. “If they are here, get them for me,” he said, and they headed to the back. “Mark, what are your plans?” Nathan asked.

  “I’m going to call for a pickup of your bad boys then get back to work,” he said. “I got to get some gas soon. I haven’t siphoned gas since I was a kid and forgot how nasty that shit is.”

  Before Fred could speak, Nathan did. “Fred, not now. How about you ride over to the parking lot with Mark and help fill him up,” he said. Fred nodded in agreement.

  As Mark and Fred walked out, Nathan looked around. “Tonight I’m going to give you a fast lesson on survival and also give everyone the money that was promised. Then we are going to eat,” he said.

  Renee and Connie walked in, handing him a handful of flash drives. “What’s on them?” Nathan asked.

  “Music,” they said together.

  “Care if I erase it?” he asked, and they shook their head no as Andy walked in. He was wearing blue jeans with a red plaid shirt and a blue windbreaker. His pistol was stuck in the front of his pants and he had a huge grin on his face. “You look cool,” Nathan told him.

  Abigail walked over to him and pulled him down and kissed his cheek. “I told you it would look good,” she said, walking back to Brad.

  Nathan looked at Brad. “They had clothes that fit him?” he asked in wonder.

  “Two complete racks,” Brad said, separating his stack.

  “I’m in the land of giants,” Nathan said, looking back at the supersized ‘Riggs’.

  Mark and Fred pulled back up in Mark’s vehicle and got out. When they walked in, they stopped and stared at Andy.

  “You didn’t get me some?” Fred asked, looking at him.

  Andy smiled. “Yours and Billy’s are in the bathroom,” he said.

  Mark laughed as he lifted up a huge handheld radio left over from the sixties and called in, asking for transport. When he was finished, he sat down and saw everyone looking at the radio. “It’s left over from the cold war. We had boxes of them in the bunker under the courthouse,” he told them.

  “Mark, stop by tomorrow afternoon and I might have a pump rigged up for you,” Nathan told him. “Okay everyone, three hundred dollars. Connie, pass it out please,” he said
, throwing her some more of the robber’s money.

  Nathan moved over to check the Bedfords’ haul and was impressed. They had gotten one large hiking pack, another smaller military pack, and three sleeping bags. He counted six set of boots with four pair of smaller ones. He watched them sort out gloves, coats, pants, and shirts, and new packs of underwear and socks. They continued to make piles of other stuff and he grinned. “You guys did well,” he told them.

  Abigail turned to him with tears on her face. “We can never repay you for what you’ve done,” she said.

  Nathan hugged her. Brad turned around and he had tears as well. “You’re wrong, you can repay me,” Nathan said, and Abigail leaned back, looking up at him as Brad stepped closer. “Make sure those kids grow up in a place they can be proud of and know the true meaning of America,” Nathan told them.

  “We can do that,” she said, hugging him again, and Brad leaned over and hugged both of them.

  Nathan coughed. “Guys, I don’t want people to start talking,” he said, making both of them laugh. They let him go and he looked at Brad. “What area of medicine are you in?” he asked.

  Brad smirked. “How did you guess?” he asked.

  “I’ve been a nurse for a long time,” Nathan answered. Brad’s smirk fell off as he looked down at the badge clipped to Nathan’s belt. “Oh, I’m a cop, but I was a nurse first and still am,” he told him.

  Brad smiled again. “I’m a family practice doctor,” he told him. “Abigail is a dental hygienist,” he said, nodding to his wife.

  “Guys, you will be able to build here. I’m not going to tell you how to live your lives, but I wouldn’t try to head to Cali unless the government can fly you,” Nathan said.

  They both nodded in agreement as Brad spoke. “We figured what we have will be gone before we get there and the violence will be ten times worse.”

  “You have any other family near here?” Nathan asked.

  “Just an uncle in Tennessee,” Brad told him. “We were coming back from his place heading back to Atlanta to catch our flight home when this hit. We slept beside the road last night and I used up most of our money the first day. Then we walked in here to be saved by a cop with longer hair than my wife’s,” he said.