“What’s this?” she asked, looking down at it.
“Bullet-resistant vest,” he told her, nodding in approval.
“I’m a kid. Why do I have to wear this?” Amanda asked.
“Kids get shot too and it will take a hit, or a kick, really well,” he told her. He picked up the plates. “These are rifle plates to stop a rifle bullet,” he told her.
“I have to wear it?” she asked, motioning to the vest.
“If you come with me you do,” he told her, walking to the casino room and putting the plates in her pack. “Now at least your pack can stop a rifle round,” he said.
“You need this more than me,” she pointed out.
“My vest with all the stuff on it is a bullet-resistant vest, just bigger. That one’s to be worn under clothes to hide it,” he told her.
“Okay,” she said, sitting down and holding out her feet and wiggling the boots. “I didn’t think I would like them but I do,” she said, admiring them.
“I’ll try to find some that fit better,” Nathan promised.
“What happened, Nathan? Were we attacked by aliens?” Amanda asked.
He was fixing to laugh but he could see how she could think that. Sitting down beside her, he explained a CME and an EMP, using simple terms. He was by no means an expert, but he explained the basics. When he finished, she looked down at her lap. “It’s always going to be different, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yes Amanda it is. It’s going to get a lot worse and a lot of people are going to die,” he answered. He didn’t believe he had the right to lie to her.
“I was going to be in a play next week,” she told him.
“What play?” he asked.
“The Wizard of Oz,” she said sadly.
“I was in that when I was in school. I was the scarecrow,” he told her.
“I was going to be the Good Witch of the North,” she said, smiling.
He put his arm around her and she laid her head on his chest. “We are a lot alike, Amanda. I lost my parents when I was young too,” he told her.
“What happened?” she asked, never thinking he might not want to tell her.
He took a deep breath. “It was April and I was a senior in high school. My parents had traveled to Spokane. They told me it was to be alone but I found out later it was because they had gone to buy me a truck for a graduation/birthday present. On the way home, a man crossed over into their lane, hitting them head on. They died instantly but he lived. He was drunk. He was four times the legal limit and already had three DWIs,” he said, remembering it like it was yesterday.
“I have no other family. Both my parents were only children. They had appointed a guardian for me in their will but they wrote the will when I was twelve. I turned eighteen two days before graduation and the judge let me live alone until then. I found out on my birthday why they went to Spokane, when the truck was delivered to the house with a bow on it,” he said with a zoned-out stare.
“Where did you live? Daddy always told us it took him and Momma to pay for the house and stuff,” she asked.
“The insurance paid off the farm and funerals. Mom was a nurse and I got her retirement. My Dad retired from the military when I was ten and I received that for a while. The estate lawyer had to fight to get it but I got it,” he answered.
“You were alone?” she asked.
“The whole school cheered when I got my diploma, but yeah,” Nathan said. “When I got my nursing degree, no one was there, but when I got my degree in criminal justice, I had Billy, Aidan, and Rusty there,” he said, smiling as he remembered them and their wives yelling and jumping up and down cheering as he walked across the stage.
“Who are Tim and Sherry?” she asked. He gave a startled jump, snapping back to the present. “You said they live on your land and Ares listens to them,” she reminded him.
Laughing, he said, “You have a good memory. I met Tim when he was training to become an officer at the academy. I was one of the instructors and liked him right away. I got to know him and his new wife for over a year and they started hanging around with me, Rusty, Billy, Aidan, and their families. They lived in some real crappy apartments and I lived on a fifty-acre farm with a huge house and a guest house, just me and my animals. So I offered them the guest house rent free if they helped on the farm,” he told her.
“What happened to the man who killed your parents?” she asked.
“Oh, he got five years’ probation and had to do some community service,” Nathan told her with scorn in his voice.
“That’s not fair,” she said. “You know where he is?” she asked.
Nathan nodded. “He lives forty-three miles southeast of Spokane in a double-wide trailer on a farm. He is now fifty-nine and has four grandkids. He would’ve retired next year,” he said.
“You know where he lives?” she almost shouted.
“Oh yes, I check up on him every few months. He got one more DWI after my parents’ deaths then said he got sober and got religion,” he told her.
“I’m sorry, Nathan,” she said, putting her head back on his chest.
“I’m sorry you lost your family, Amanda,” he told her, patting her head. “Let’s fix some food and check our gear. I want you to be able to leave in five minutes,” he said, standing up.
“Can I have some chicken tenders?” she asked.
“You bet,” he told her, picking her up and carrying her to the diner. Ares was jumping up and down, trying to tell Nathan that Amanda was his toy, not Nathan’s. Nathan laughed down at him, promising that he’d get to play with her later.
After they ate, Nathan redressed her hands and feet, seeing they were looking much better. While they were packing up, he took out one of his old ACU jackets and boonie hat and gave them to her. It took some work to make the hat small enough to fit her, but they did it with safety pins.
When she was loading her pack, Nathan noted she had added several items. Among the items was a notebook and two teen magazines from the rack. On the cover of one was a teen boy; he couldn’t remember the name but knew of him and it sent loathing down Nathan’s spine just looking at him. He wasn’t going to tell Amanda she couldn’t take them. If she wanted to carry them she could.
They ate dinner then played go fish and checkers. She beat him two to three in each game. Letting Ares outside, they walked around the building and then Nathan headed over to his truck, willing it to start. He even went so far as to turn the key one last time; letting out a sigh, he emptied the glove box of all personal information. Then he checked the Suburban, front to back, making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. The only thing he found was a picture of him with the guys and their families at one of Billy’s kid’s birthday parties. He took it. Walking back inside, he grabbed his cellphone and some lighter fluid then headed out back.
Grabbing some wood, Nathan threw it in a burn barrel, soaked it with fluid and set it on fire. Then, one by one, he threw the pieces of paper in: his insurance, title, maintenance records and such. Then he pulled out the memory card after downloading everything off the phone, broke the phone in two parts then threw it in. It was only seven o’clock but it felt much later as he watched the fire.
“Why did you do that?” Amanda asked.
“The papers had my name and address on them. The phone has a lot of information I don’t want other people knowing,” he told her, throwing more wood in.
“That’s smart,” she admitted. “Hey, there’s a ladder going up to the roof from inside. Can we go up it please?” Amanda begged.
“Sure,” he said as she jumped up, clapping. She called Ares as she trotted to the front door. On the way to the ladder in the storeroom, Nathan grabbed his binoculars. Ares was a little pissed off that he couldn’t go, and he let them know as he barked at them. “Ares, quiet,” Nathan said, looking down the roof access door. Nathan was almost positive that Ares gave him a ‘go to hell look.’
“Man, you can see a long ways up here,” he heard Amanda say
behind him.
Turning around and looking, Nathan had to agree. He walked over to stand beside her on the north side, looking toward the Interstate. Up here he could see over the trees and across the road all the way to the Interstate. He looked through the binoculars and saw a lot of people walking on the Interstate heading each way. On the exit bridge he saw a large group of people at what looked like a shanty town.
“That’s a lot of people,” Amanda said.
“Yeah, it’s about an hour till dark and that’s hundreds of people traveling,” he said, handing her the binoculars.
“Cool,” she said, taking them. “Can we leave tomorrow?” she asked, looking out at the Interstate.
“Don’t you want to let your wounds heal first?” he asked.
“They barely hurt anymore and they aren’t bleeding,” she said with the binoculars to her face.
“What’s the hurry?” he asked her.
Lowering the binoculars, she looked up at him. “That group of people on the bridge wasn’t there when I came through. They’re going to come down here and you can’t kill them all. You said you only have six hundred bullets for the big gun,” she told him. “And more gang friends are going to come. They know I got away,” she added, looking down.
He put his arm around her. “Amanda, even if that was the same gang, they could care less about you. I killed two of them,” he told her.
“I know. They will want to kill you now too,” she told him in a whisper.
Reaching down, he lifted her face up by her chin to look at him. “I may not be able to kill them all but we can outrun them,” he said. “If they follow, I’ll just leave them lying out like those down there,” he added, nodding his head toward the bodies.
“We can leave tomorrow?” she asked, smiling.
“Let’s go make sure we’re ready first,” he told her, and she handed him the binoculars and took off running to the ladder. Ares started barking when he saw her, telling her to hurry and get down.
Amanda went to the store and found her some little binoculars and a small tote bag for a laptop. She wanted the bag when she saw Nathan was taking his messenger bag. Nathan sure wasn’t leaving it; it was another fifteen hundred cubic inches he could use.
Nathan opened the case of MREs he had bought and showed her how to break them down, throwing out the utensils and other useless stuff and leaving only the food. It was only around three ounces per pack but twelve packs added up to three pounds saved. He grabbed some more bandages and the last of the ointment, putting it in his bag.
They put on their equipment and packs then stepped on the scale in the shower room. Nathan was carrying one hundred and thirty-seven pounds of stuff; Amanda was carrying thirty-four pounds; and Ares was carrying twenty-nine pounds. Ares wasn’t leaving his blanket. Seeing they were packing, he kept grabbing it and pulling it over to his pack, just to let them know.
Nathan was real tempted to leave his old pair of boots but decided not to. You just don’t throw away good boots, especially on a trip of this magnitude. Amanda made one last run to the store and came back with another ziplock bag full of water-flavoring packs. Nathan smiled at her as she put it in her tote bag; he already had two bags full just like it. He joined her in her run, getting a ThermaCELL and all the refills on the shelf. He had one and now she had one; he also grabbed more bug repellant. They had mosquitos at home but here the damn things could throw you down and rape you.
They went outside to let Ares go to the bathroom and Nathan took down the recharging station for the batteries. Going back inside, Nathan watched as Amanda locked the doors and checked all the others as he followed. Getting back to the casino room, Nathan put the solar panel and batteries in his pack.
It wasn’t even nine o’clock when they went to bed. Nathan put her on the cot and he lay down on the floor. He really didn’t want to leave early and was unsure if he should start out on his journey or head to Jessie’s.
Chapter 12
Day 5
Something kept tapping his chest and he was dreaming it was a woodpecker. Struggling to open his eyes, he lifted his head and saw Ares sitting at his feet. “How did you tap my chest from down there?” he asked Ares in a groggy voice.
“I did. He needs to pee,” Amanda told him.
He looked over and saw her sitting there. Then he realized she had been sleeping on the floor beside him with the blankets he had given her. “I gave you the cot,” he said.
“I had a bad dream,” she whispered, looking down at the floor.
He sat up and rubbed her head. “That’s okay. You’re better to have next to me than Ares. He chases rabbits in his sleep and scratches me with his claws,” he told her, making her laugh. He looked at his watch. He had put on the good one from his pack. It wasn’t even five a.m. yet. “Ares, you better be quick,” he said, standing up.
Nathan put on his vest and started the routine of buckling up then grabbed his rifle. He turned to see Amanda already dressed and ready. She had on her little hat and his coat, with shorts and combat boots. He wanted to chuckle but controlled himself.
They stepped out of the casino room. Amanda was fixing to run for the door but Nathan grabbed her arm. “Some people are on the road,” he told her as he looked out the window.
Amanda looked out the same window but it was still dark. “How can you tell?” she whispered.
“Shadows moving on the road,” he told her.
“Is it the gang’s friends?” she asked with a worried tone.
Nathan shook his head. “Not unless they have toddlers in the gang,” he told her.
“There’s kids out there?” she asked.
“Yes, there are kids out there but also adults. They are walking down the road that way,” he said, pointing south. “Three adults, a kid, and a toddler,” he added. He pulled her to him and kneeled down beside her. “Look at the background of the shopping center across the street but don’t focus on it and you will see shadows moving,” he told her, pointing.
Looking where he was pointing, she did what he said and suddenly five shadows popped in her vision. “I see them,” she said kind of loud.
“Not too loud,” he said. “They can’t see us but they might hear us.”
“Sorry,” she whispered, watching the people walk down the road. “Ares has to pee. What are we going to do?” she asked.
“Let’s take him out the back,” he told her.
“There are no windows back there; we can’t see outside. Somebody could be waiting,” she told him.
Nathan nodded and pulled her close, hugging her to his side. “Good girl. You saw the danger, but have we used those doors?” he asked and she shook her head. “They would go for the doors we use and there are two doors out the back not counting the bay doors. We will just open the door and stand beside it and let Ares out to do his business,” he said.
“He could run off and chase somebody,” she said.
“Not unless you tell him to,” Nathan said, turning around and going back into the casino room. He stopped at his pack and pulled out the hand-held night vision scope. They went through the shop to the south door and Nathan cracked it open. As he held the scope to his eye, night was suddenly green-tinted day. He saw over a dozen deer in field and a raccoon in the dumpster but nothing else.
“Ares, go,” he whispered and Ares took off. The raccoon saw Ares and stood up, chirping. Ares froze and let out a low growl. The raccoon jumped in the air and scurried off.
“What is that?” Amanda asked, pointing at the scope. He passed it to her, putting her wrapped fingers through the nylon handle and pulling it to her eye. Looking through the eyepiece, she took a sharp breath. “Woo,” she exhaled. In the green light spilling across her face he could see her smiling from ear to ear.
Ares ran back inside but she was still looking around. “Come on, let’s get some food started,” Nathan said.
She lowered the scope. “I want one of these,” she said as he closed the door.
�
�Ah, that one is a cheap one. My other one mounts on a bracket and hangs over your left eye. It has much better definition,” he told her, leading her through the shop.
“Kind of makes it hard to see after though,” she said, blinking her eyes. Her left eye could see fine but her right was blind. “How much did this one cost?” she asked out of curiosity.
“Two hundred,” he told her.
“And what did the expensive one cost?” she asked.
“Three thousand,” he replied.
“Dollars!” she shouted this time.
He turned around, laughing. “Yes, volume,” he warned.
She threw a hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
Putting a hand on her back, he pushed her forward and followed her into the diner. After he closed the blinds, he laid his rifle on the counter. The skylights let in more than enough light to see by. “There were scopes just like that one; two of them in the electronic cabinet here, but Jessie took them,” he told her.
“I so want one,” she said, climbing up on a stool. He took out the food and started setting everything up. “Can I help today?” she asked.
“Well I guess so,” he told her, and she jumped down and ran behind the counter.
She turned the oven on and grabbed a pan for the biscuits. “I cooked breakfast at home,” she told him, greasing the pan. He shook his head, marveling at her resiliency.
After they ate, he eased over to the window and peeked out but didn’t see anyone. The sky was starting to lighten up and he turned around to see her fixing more biscuits.
“Still hungry?” he asked.
“No, but you cooked a thousand pounds of bacon,” she told him. “I’m just making some biscuits to take with us to eat with the bacon,” she added, putting the pan in the oven.
“Pack your stuff,” he said, grabbing his rifle.
“We’re leaving now?” she asked, almost jumping up and down.
“No, but we need to get in the habit of waking up, eating, and repacking. In other words, always be ready to run,” he told her, heading to the casino. With only the blankets out it didn’t take long; true to form, Ares grabbed up his woobie in his mouth and pulled it over to his pack. “I’m not going to forget it,” Nathan told him, reaching over and folding it up and tying it to his pack. “I worry about you. I should’ve called you Linus,” he told Ares, rubbing his head.
Dark Titan Journey Book 1 Page 18
