Dark Titan Journey Book 1

by Thomas A. Watson

  “I had to make sure you could do more than nod,” he told her and she nodded. “Why didn’t you bathe her? I’ve bathed you enough,” Nathan said, looking at Ares. Ares was sitting down, looking up at Nathan and just cocked his head sideways. ‘You want me to wash her but I don’t like to get washed,’ the look said. “Wait here,” Nathan told Amanda and Ares.

  He walked over to the store and grabbed a pair of swimming trunks. He had bathed kids at work many times. Just remembering how some of them came in made Nathan cringe. Walking back in the shower room, Nathan walked to the back and took off his vest and set it and the rifle on the floor then stripped down. He put on the shorts and headed back to Amanda.

  Kneeling down in front of her, he asked, “You ready to shower?” and she nodded. “Raise your arm,” he said and she slowly did. He eased her shirt off to see bruises and scrapes on her belly and chest. He spun her around and clear as day saw a complete boot print on her back. Nathan calmed his breathing and slowly stripped her down. He discovered she was wearing sandals, after he’d dug through the dirt to get to them.

  “Ares, guard,” he said, leading Amanda into the shower. Nathan scrubbed her down three times to her knees before he saw her skin. Nathan had no false hopes; he knew from the knees down was going to be some work. He scrubbed her head gently, searching with his fingers for bumps or cuts. All he found was a shit load of mud, leaves, and twigs. Satisfied, he finished scrubbing her head and rinsed it off. Then he did it three more times, finally lathering her hair in conditioner.

  He looked down at her feet and they were still black and brown from dirt. They had been in the shower for forty minutes and that dirt wasn’t going without a fight. “Hold on,” Nathan said, opening the door and walking out. He grabbed a plastic lawn chair and brought it in the shower. He sat her in it and he sat down on the floor. Grabbing rags and soap, he went to work and twenty minutes later he could see her feet; granted, they were stained brown but he could see them. What made it so bad was that her feet were covered in cuts and blisters. For another twenty minutes he cleaned them out and got most of the brown stain off. Not one time did Amanda move or say anything.

  Finally finished, Nathan stood up and washed off; that much dirt made him feel dirty. Finished, he turned the water off and stepped out and threw a towel on the floor. Going back to the shower, Nathan picked up Amanda and stood her on the towel. He dried her off and wrapped a towel around her head and another around her body. He walked back and grabbed his rifle, slinging it across his back. Then he just picked her up, noticing two bloody footprints on the towel.

  Shaking his head, he carried her to the diner and sat her on a barstool. He walked over and closed the blinds, not wanting anyone to see the fire on the stove. He cooked them some food and carried it to the casino where he put it on a table and dared Ares to touch it. Going back to the diner, he picked up Amanda and his rifle, carrying them to the casino and setting both down at the table.

  Closing the door, he walked back to the shower and grabbed the lantern. When he came back, he saw Amanda petting Ares. Ares had his head in her lap. Glancing at the floor, Nathan noticed blood dripping off her feet and pooling on the floor. Grabbing some towels, he wrapped them around her feet and sat down beside her. Not even asking, Nathan halved her burger and stuck it in front of her mouth. She took a bite and he held up a glass with a straw and she drank. After she ate the burger and fries, he went to the store to get supplies.

  Coming back, he sat down on the floor and started on her feet, using the towel from her feet to wipe up the blood on the floor. At first he tried to put some antibiotic ointment on each cut after making sure it was cleaned out. Giving up, Nathan just coated both her feet and wrapped them in gauze. Then he moved up, putting ointment on cuts and scrapes. He looked at her hands and shook his head. He just coated them and wrapped them up. Two tubes of ointment and a shit load of gauze later and he was done.

  He looked at his watch, seeing it was almost eleven. “That took almost four hours, Ares. You could’ve helped,” Nathan said, looking down at Ares with his head in Amanda’s lap.

  “He was protecting me while you made me better,” Amanda whispered.

  Nathan smiled and touched her cheek. “Yes he was, Amanda,” he said gently.

  “Thank you,” she said, staring straight ahead.

  “Amanda, will you do something for me?” Nathan asked and she nodded her head. “When you talk to me, look at me please. Ares does but I don’t know what he says,” Nathan said.

  Amanda turned to look at him and the corners of her mouth briefly turned up. “Thank you,” she repeated in a small voice.

  “You’re very welcome,” he said. “You’re much easier to give a bath to than Ares. He tries to eat the soap so I have to stop the bath.” Her face lightened into a real smile. “Do you know your address?” he asked.

  “Yes sir,” she whispered.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “210 Jacobs Circle, Atlanta, Georgia,” she told him and looked down. Knowing he was pushing too fast, Nathan stopped.

  “You still hungry?” he asked and she nodded her head.

  “It hurts to move your hands, huh?” he asked.

  “Yes sir,” she told him, looking down.

  “Look at me, okay,” Nathan reminded her.

  She lifted her head and looked at him. “Yes sir,” she repeated.

  He pulled a chair over and sat down. “I’m going to feed you, Ares and myself,” Nathan said, getting her another burger, Ares one, and pulling his steak over. Forming an assembly line, Nathan fed all of them, making Ares work for his food. When he made Ares stand and walk for the last bite, Amanda uttered a tiny little laugh.

  When Nathan had finished his steak, he could see Amanda’s little eyes getting heavy. He picked her up and laid her on the cot and moved away. Her hand shot out and tried to grab him but there was a lot of gauze on it. He took her hand and held it in his as he leaned over, looking at her. “I’m going to check the doors. Ares is here with you. Amanda, he is a trained attack dog. If anything gets by me, it won’t get by him. I’ll be right back but I’ll never be far. You can call for me and I’ll come running, okay,” he said, smiling.

  “Promise you won’t leave?” she asked.

  “Yes Amanda, I promise with all my heart,” he told her, caressing her face. She smiled at him and closed her eyes. “Ares, guard Amanda,” Nathan said as he stood up, and Ares moved over by the cot. Nathan grabbed his poncho liner and covered Amanda up. Amanda reached out a wrapped hand and put it on Ares’ back.

  Nathan put his clothes and gear back on and walked around the store. Looking out to the north window, he saw a small campfire burning by the Interstate. He walked back to the casino and heard Amanda snoring softly; Ares was sitting by her cot, watching the room. Nathan reached down and grabbed the last backpack he had bought and a hydration bladder.

  With the pack in hand, he went through the store, grabbing food and supplies and laying them on the counter. Seeing the lighter display, he grabbed two and put them on the counter with the other stuff. Opening the electronic cabinet, he found a small LED flashlight and dug through the closet till he found batteries. He wasn’t using his yet as they were all taped up. He tested the flashlight to make sure it worked then nodded in satisfaction and added it to the pile.

  He realized the electronic cabinet was metal, he was sure for security reasons, and the shelves were covered in velvet. Grabbing another flashlight, he dug out more batteries. Then he noticed several handheld radios in the back of the cabinet. Spotting some Motorolas, Nathan grabbed them. Then he started breaking everything down and bagging or taping it up. When he was finished, the bag weighed somewhere around thirty pounds and could feed Amanda for a week. The bag held everything but clothes and weapons. She wasn’t getting any weapons, and clothes were slim pickings.

  He found her a few t-shirts, a pair of shorts, two packs of panties and two packs of socks. He walked over to a display rack that had ten
nis shoes in clear plastic bags. Nathan grabbed Amanda’s size and looked at them. If Nathan’s parents had ever bought these for him, he would’ve run away from home. The sandals weren’t an option, however, as the only thing holding them together was the dirt.

  Sighing, he walked toward the counter and noticed Neil’s shirt and boots. He picked up the boots; they weren’t very old and were small in size. He looked in the boot for the size and scoffed, seeing W-6. “Yeah, right these are six wide. Maybe for a midget,” Nathan said, and then started laughing. “Neal, you had to buy girl boots for your feet, you little twerp,” he said.

  “Maybe a little over a size too big but she can wear socks,” Nathan muttered to himself, carrying the boots to the counter. He poured some powder in so Amanda couldn’t get Neil cooties. Grabbing a shine kit, Nathan polished them up and put the kit in her bag. Walking the aisles again, Nathan picked up a large can of coffee. He only had few pounds so he grabbed it and some powdered cream.

  Walking over to the rack of sunglasses, Nathan grabbed her two pairs then went and looked at the mechanic gloves but none were even close to her size. He grabbed two packs of Playtex gloves and a watch. Putting the watch on one of the straps of her pack, Nathan finished loading her pack. Putting her undies and socks in bags beside her hygiene supplies, he walked over to the vitamin aisle and grabbed several bottles of Gummi vitamins and put them in a bag.

  When he was done, he looked down at his watch seeing it was almost two a.m. “Time for bed,” he said, walking into the casino. “Ares, guard the house,” he said, sprawling out on the floor as Ares trotted out. With his head on Amanda’s pack, Nathan was asleep almost instantly.

  Chapter 11

  Day 4

  Dreaming someone was pressing down on his back and butt, Nathan slowly came awake. Then he realized the discomfort was real. He tried to sit up but his left arm wouldn’t move. He looked down and saw Amanda curled up at his side. He tried to slowly pull out his arm without waking her but she lifted her head and looked at him.

  “Morning,” he said, and she just smiled as she sat up. He was really envious with how fast she sat up. His body was throwing a raging temper tantrum. Hearing panting by his right ear, he looked over and saw Ares. “Dude, your breath stinks,” Nathan told Ares, and Ares licked his face. Amanda laughed as Nathan made faces, wiping dog slobber off his face. Ares walked out of the casino room and Nathan stood up. With her Q-tip-like hands, Amanda grabbed at him.

  “Don’t leave, please,” she begged.

  “I’m not, sweetie. I have to let Ares go use the bathroom but you can come with me,” he told her. Reaching down, he lifted her up to her feet as she held on to her towel, trying to tuck it in. He moved her hands and tucked the towel in so it stayed wrapped around her. She grimaced as she took a step. Nathan looked down and saw the dressing on her feet had bloody spots on it with yellowish tint. He bent down and picked her up, carrying her in the bend of his arm.

  Ares was waiting on them at the door, dancing in a circle. True to form, when the door cracked open, Ares shot out which made Amanda laugh. Propping the door open, Nathan saw Ares jump out of the ditch after his business was done and start running back and forth, making Amanda laugh even more. Nathan observed her closely. She had deep green eyes with wavy light ash brown hair. Her face was still swollen around the cuts, and her bottom lip and eye was still swollen. She was as tall as a thirteen-year-old, but man, was she skinny. His first instinct was to feed her, but since he once used to be a skinny kid, Nathan didn’t try to force feed her. At least Amanda was just skinny and not bony, he thought, turning to watch Ares.

  He was just running around chasing a butterfly and the butterfly was winning. Nathan smiled, watching him; then Ares stopped and ran back to Nathan and stood beside him, looking toward the north at the road with the bristles on his back standing up. Turning to look, Nathan saw three men running down the road; they were almost to the parking lot entrance.

  “Amanda, get behind me. If anything happens, call Ares inside. If anyone tries to get in, point at them and tell Ares to ‘kill.’ Understand?” he said, putting her feet on the ground and standing back up. Amanda hid behind him as he brought his rifle around to the front of his body, his left hand on the fore grip and his right grasping the grip, finger outside the trigger housing as he flipped the safety off.

  When they were fifty yards away, Nathan yelled, “That’s far enough friends!” and pointed his rifle in their direction. “The store is closed and the merchandise is gone. I’m guarding the building,” he told them in a loud voice.

  “Hey man, give us some food,” one yelled out; another man was mumbling to him, edging the speaker on.

  “Don’t have any to spare,” Nathan told him.

  “Bullshit, man, I know there’s food in there,” the first one said. Nathan pegged him for the leader.

  “I don’t care what you know, you’re trespassing. This is your last warning. I’m in a good mood today and not in the mood to drag more bodies to join the stack in the cooler.” Nathan told them a little lie.

  “Man, I told you the people at the shelter said he killed people. Let’s go,” the quiet one finally spoke.

  “He ain’t going to kill a man trying to get some food,” the leader said and Nathan brought the rifle up to his shoulder, sighting in on the man’s chest. He wanted to just send Ares out, but if things went bad Ares was going to have to protect Amanda.

  “You’re fixing to die!” Nathan shouted.

  “I’m with ya, Junior, let’s just take the shit!” the second man shouted. The leader reached behind his back as Nathan squeezed the trigger, feeling the rifle stutter. Phhhta-Phhhta-Phhhta. The M-4 spit out three suppressed shots, all three striking the leader in the chest and dropping him with his hand still behind his back.

  Swinging his point of aim, Nathan centered on the other one who’d been edging the leader on. He was just staring at his fallen buddy in shock. “You were with him to take the shit,” Nathan said, squeezing the trigger and watching three impacts on the man’s chest as he fell down screaming. Moving his aim to the quiet one, he held the crosshairs on the man’s chest.

  The man held up his hands in a pleading motion. “Please sir, I didn’t come at ya,” he begged.

  “Lay your weapons on the ground and don’t say you don’t have any or I’ll just kill you. Then empty your pockets of everything. When you’re done, hold your hands up and turn away from me so I can frisk you. If I find more on you I’ll kill you. Even a pair of fingernail clippers. And your pockets better be empty. The only thing you better have on you are your clothes,” Nathan said grimly.

  The man lifted up his white hoodie with a bloody fist print on it and threw down a gun and some magazines. Then he threw down stuff from his pockets and patted his body and turned around, looking away from Nathan.

  “Amanda, go inside and take Ares with you. Only open the door for me,” Nathan told her.

  “Ares, come here, boy,” she said, but Ares stayed where he was.

  “Ares, go with her and listen,” Nathan told him. Ares turned around and went inside with Amanda. Keeping his rifle aimed at the last man, Nathan walked across the parking lot. Getting closer, he saw both downed men were still alive. The leader was choking on his blood and his helper was grunting in pain. Nathan saw his hands move and swung down, sighting in on his head and squeezed. Phhhta-Phhhta-Phhhta. The rifle spit and the man’s head disappeared.

  Swinging his rifle back up and aiming at the quiet one, Nathan continued walking toward him. Dropping the rifle, Nathan let it dangle across his chest on the single-point sling then pulled his pistol and put it to the back of the quiet one’s head. “Don’t move,” Nathan said as he frisked him and didn’t find anything. “Why’d you come here?” Nathan asked.

  “We wanted some food, man,” he whined.

  “Lie again and you’ll die. I’ll shoot you in the gut so you can live your last days in pain,” Nathan told him, pressing his pistol in the quiet one’
s back.

  “We heard from some folks that some trucks left here yesterday and we was just checking it out,” he whimpered.

  “You’re testing my patience. I already have to move two bodies; a third won’t make much of a difference,” Nathan told him. “You knew someone was guarding this building,” he said.

  “Yeah, we was going to pop ya,” he said meekly, and Nathan raised up his pistol, putting it to the back of the quiet one’s head. “Hey, you wanted the truth,” he cried out.

  “Yes I did. What was the shooting about last night?” Nathan asked.

  “Another crew came down from Atlanta and we chased ‘em off,” he said.

  Nathan turned around to look at the two he’d shot, and for the first time noticed the leader was white and the helper was black. They were both dressed like gangsters. He looked at the quiet one and noticed his pants were at his knees. “Keep your hands up and turn around,” Nathan told him and he complied.

  “I should kill you but I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt. If I ever see you again I’ll kill you. Do you understand?” Nathan asked, and the quiet one nodded.

  “Kilo’s going to be mad you killed his brother,” he told Nathan.

  “Well I suggest you run the opposite way Kilo is,” Nathan said. “There’s nothing inside worth your life. Even if you took it just for the building, the cops would take it back. You’re too close to town.” Nathan studied the man. He was a black kid around nineteen. “Now go, and remember if I see you I will kill you,” Nathan told him as he started backing away. “That means run,” he added and the quiet one took off.

  When he was a hundred yards away, Nathan looked down at what he’d dropped: a large bag of weed, a wad of cash, a Taurus 9mm and a magazine. Grabbing the cash, gun, and magazines, Nathan moved over to the other two. Helper had a cheap .380 piece of crap and a few hundred dollars. Taking the pistol apart, Nathan threw it in separate directions. Then he moved to Leader and rolled him over, pulling up his shirt.