“If we can’t make the rally point, why not come back here?” Tom asked.
“Water’s rising too fast; you’d never make it in a few hours,” Nathan said, strapping the M-4 to the front of his saddle. The SAW he hung over his shoulder.
“You know how to use that grenade launcher and machine gun?” Jasmine asked, situating the boy on her saddle.
“Yes, I have an M-203 and shot the SAW in training,” Nathan said. “I just haven’t shot a real grenade though, only practice chalk rounds,” he admitted.
“Why do you want them with you now?” John asked, a little worried.
“It’s light outside and we really can’t run. Worst case, I can talk someone out of chasing us,” Nathan said moving Emma around in her sling then climbed up. Ares looked out at the water then up at Nathan. “Hey I can’t carry you too,” Nathan said looking down at him.
Kicking Smoke, Nathan led them out to the road and the water was up to the horses’ bellies. Nathan turned Smoke, heading north on the water-covered road. When he had gone to get the boy Nathan had followed the county road south since it was closer. Now he was heading north to another county road that ran over the interstate instead of under it.
He was sure people were under the overpass. Glancing down at the SAW to make sure it had a full belt in it, he looked back up. Sloshing through the water, the group made the mile to the turn in half an hour. Up ahead, Nathan saw a group of people on the interstate under the overpass.
As they neared the interstate the water got shallower, and a hundred yards past it they were on the muddy road. “Stay calm,” Nathan said over his shoulder, resting his right hand on the SAW as the few people pointing at them waved out from under the bridge. Emma babbled away under his duster as he adjusted the SAW forward.
Nathan’s group kept the horses at a steady walk toward the bridge. The other group was about twenty strong now and moving toward them. When the group walked on the road blocking them thirty yards away, Nathan spun Smoke to the left across the road and leveled the SAW at the people. “Stop and don’t come closer. Get out of our way and let us pass!” he shouted.
“Give us a ride!” someone shouted.
“Give us some food!” several shouted.
“Move out of the way!” Nathan shouted, flipping the safety off.
“Let’s just take—” someone started to shout as Nathan pulled the trigger. He was totally unprepared for the noise. Smoke jumped but Nathan yanked back on the reins and dug in his heels, swinging the SAW left and right at the group, sending a stream of lead into them. Some in the group just dropped and others raised their hands to surrender. Nathan raked his aim across their bodies.
When the SAW locked back empty Nathan dropped it and pulled the M-4 off the front of his saddle. He sent bursts into anything moving. Like the SAW, the M-4 didn’t have a suppressor and was thunder in the air. Not that it mattered to Nathan and the others, they had the hunter’s ear and ear buds in for the radios canceling much of the noise. Emma didn’t have any and she thought the world was ending as she screamed. The boy riding with Jasmine tried to climb behind her.
Feeling his bolt lock back Nathan, dropped the empty and slammed in another, continuing to shoot anything moving. He changed magazines again and aimed at the group. The safety meter on the hunter’s ear turned off and he heard Emma screaming. “Let’s go!” he shouted. He rode over the bodies, some of which were still moving. When he reached the other side he spun Smoke around so he could cover his group and noticed John off his horse picking up something off the ground. He climbed back on his horse and kicked it into a run. He flew past Nathan and Nathan wheeled Smoke, around kicking her into a run. When they cleared the bridge Nathan glanced over his shoulder and saw a few more people come from under the bridge, running to the mass he had shot.
When they were several hundred yards away he told everyone to stop. Pulling out his binoculars he looked at the mass of bodies to see people fighting for stuff the corpses had. Dropping his binoculars he hung the M-4 back on his saddle and trotted Smoke to the front of the group. “Emma, it’s okay,” he said, taking her out of her sling and hugging her.
Emma wasn’t screaming but she was sure crying as the others fell in behind him. The boy had turned around, wrapping his arms and legs around Jasmine. The one thing that bothered Jasmine, the boy never cried out, he just wanted to hide.
Half a mile from the bridge, Emma had stopped crying and they were back in the water. It was about a foot deep as they trudged on and still the rain fell. They felt they were leading their horses across a lake. When darkness fell everyone turned on NVGs and silently shivered.
It was just before nine p.m. when Nathan led them out onto a road that wasn’t submerged. With lifted spirits they followed on having to lead their horses through small sections of the road that was submerged but nothing like before. At midnight they crossed into Kansas, and Nathan made everyone get off and do exercises and eat.
It was only misting rain now as they all stood around quietly eating and looking at Nathan. “What?” he asked looking around at them.
“Why didn’t you get out of the way so I could shoot?” Amanda demanded.
Not expecting that, “Ah what did I teach you about that?” Nathan asked in a shocked voice.
“Never shoot if a team member is in front of or near your target unless you have to. That’s why I didn’t shoot, you could’ve moved,” Amanda snapped.
“Amanda, I really didn’t have time to play it out. They were going to work themselves into an attack or I should say a few were going to work the rest into an attack,” Nathan told her.
“You teach me to shoot, make me wear this damn vest, then don’t let me help. I mean we all wear these stupid vests and carry these weapons everywhere. I’ve cleaned it every day and my pistol. Don’t you want us to help?” she asked, tapping her foot.
“Yes I want you to help but I would prefer to keep you from shooting at people as much as possible,” Nathan admitted.
Amanda came over and put her head on his chest. “Nathan, we are never going to be normal kids again. I don’t think even if I live to be a hundred, I will ever see a normal kid again. You told me it was them or us. I choose them dying and I don’t feel bad,” she said.
This girl is entirely too smart, Nathan thought. “You’re right, firecracker. Move forward like you were taught next time,” Nathan said, hugging her tightly.
John walked over handing Nathan two magazines. “Here,” he said. “Picked them up for you.”
“This is what you stopped for?” Nathan asked, shocked. John smiled and nodded. “Two empty magazines aren’t worth the risk,” Nathan said.
“They weren’t a threat. Those under the bridge didn’t want any of what you handed out,” John said.
“Don’t take a chance like that again,” Nathan said, patting John’s back.
“Are you okay with it?” Jasmine asked.
Stopping the smart-ass reply that was on the tip of his tongue, Nathan thought about what else she could mean. Then he still played it safe. “Yeah, I’m good.”
Holding the boy, Jasmine smiled at Nathan. “Let’s go, he’s getting heavy,” Jasmine said.
They all climbed on their horses and were off again. Even though nobody got much sleep they weren’t sleepy, only tired, wet, and cold. Sleep for them could be put off. Emma wasn’t soaked but she was damp from all the rain running down Nathan’s neck under his duster. But she was warm hiding under his coat in her sling, babbling. Nathan had grown so accustomed to it now he rarely heard it. Occasionally, hearing the babble become serious, he would pat the outside of his duster, letting Emma know he was listening. He had tried long and hard to understand what she was saying but had given up, figuring he wasn’t smart enough to know what she was saying.
The rain was still falling as Nathan pulled out his thermal and scanned around. In this part of Kansas, the land was divided into one-mile squares. Roads ran north and south and east and west every mile.
>
As they rode down the road, Nathan soon noticed light coming from behind the windows of some of the farmhouses they saw. He could tell it was from candles or lanterns but it was light. Since one or two farms were set up on each mile section there weren’t many houses.
It was four a.m. when he led them off the county road onto a gravel driveway. It didn’t lead to a house but to two massive barns. “Don’t you think we are pushing our luck, sleeping in a barn two nights in a row?” he heard Jasmine ask behind him.
“Jasmine, we have to dry the horses off, especially their hooves. They’ve been walking in water for almost three days,” Nathan said. Nathan stopped the group a hundred yards from the barns and crept up with Ares. Seeing that Ares didn’t smell anything, Nathan went in the first barn and found a bunch of farm equipment. Moving to the next barn he found it was filled with hay and bags of seeds.
Almost keying his radio, Nathan stopped and walked outside waving for them to come up. He led them in the massive steel barn. He pulled a lantern off the pack animals and lit it up. The poor lantern barely filled the small corner they were in with light. Pulling out the rope they made a tie off line for the horses and donkeys.
All the towels they had were wet so they hung them up and Nathan had the boys roll out the tent so it could dry. He called Ares and went to see if there was anything in the other barn they could use. Looking around he found enough tools to start his own shop. Then off to the side he found a fish fryer and a propane bottle, and carried them back to the group.
Setting up the fish fryer beside the hanging clothes he turned it on. Everyone gathered around it like it was a campfire thankful for the warmth. Nathan looked at the little boy who was standing beside Jasmine, holding out his hands like everyone else. “He say anything yet?” Nathan asked.
“No,” Jasmine answered. “What do we call him? I mean we can’t say ‘he’ or ‘boy.’”
“Did you look in the back of his underwear?” Tom asked.
Jasmine looked at Tom like he lost his mind. “He doesn’t have a wallet,” she said. Not able to help it, Nathan dropped to the ground laughing.
“No, to see if he has his name written on the back. Mom did that for mine so when I went to camp I knew they were mine,” Tom said.
“He is a little boy, you do it,” Jasmine said, looking at Nathan with disdain.
Tom moved over and held up his hands to the boy, who just stared at him. “I just want to see something, I’m not going to hurt you,” Tom said, pulling out a flashlight. The boy stared at him with curiosity as Tom turned it on and looked behind him. He did jump when Tom touched his underwear. “Hold on,” Tom said. “Yep, something’s written here,” he said and everyone moved toward them, making the boy uneasy.
“C-h,” Tom said, trying to make out what was written. “C-h, and I can’t make out…” he mumbled. “It says Chip,” Tom said. The boy turned and looked at him with shock. Tom looked him in the face. “Chip?” The boy smiled. “Hello Chip, I’m Tom,” Tom said. The little boy wrapped his arms around Tom, hugging him.
It had been so long since he heard his name spoken, Chip started to cry. Tom picked him up, hugging him. “It’s okay Chip, you’re in our family,” Tom said, holding the crying child. Nathan had stopped laughing when Chip started to cry and was getting up.
“Chip, I’m Jasmine, remember?” Jasmine asked, holding out her arms.
Chip let go of Tom and wrapped his arms around Jasmine as the others came over to say hello. John stood beside Nathan. “Nathan, how can a kid that size survive out there?” John asked, trying to figure it out.
“We don’t know how long he’s been on his own, but I can tell you this, kids survive,” Nathan said. “Think back to every news broadcast you saw in third-world, war-torn countries. You always see kids. Unlike adults, they aren’t held by rigid thought process. They figure out how to survive.”
“So kids have a better chance?” John asked, confused.
“To some extent, but they are physically weaker so the strong prey on them. Then they can hide,” Nathan said.
“Hide?” Amanda asked.
“What have I told you since that day you found me? If something happens to me, run and hide,” Nathan said.
Waving her hand at him brushing Nathan off, Amanda said with determination, “I have a gun now and can use it.”
“As long as your little ass is running, I don’t care,” Nathan popped off. “I want everyone to start sleeping now. I want two people up keeping an eye on Chip.”
“Why?” Jasmine asked.
“Hello? We have a lot of guns and he could hurt himself and us if he touches them,” Nathan said in a snotty voice. Seeing Jasmine narrow her eyes, Nathan knew he messed up. “I’m just saying. Now I have first watch. Get some sleep,” Nathan said.
As the others lay down, Nathan cleaned his gear, listening to Emma babble.
Chapter 6
Day 39
Emma sat beside Nathan, watching him sleep. No matter how much she talked to him he didn’t wake up. She leaned over and noticed his eyes moving under his eyelids. Letting out a squeal as she climbed onto his chest happy he was awake. When Nathan didn’t pick her up, the smile fell off her face. Looking at his face again, she saw his eyes still moving behind his eyelids. She put her finger on the moving eyelid.
Feeling the eye moving, she squealed, but Nathan didn’t pick her up. This time she poked the eyelid. Nathan did wake up, but not how she wanted him to.
“Shit!” Nathan screamed, sitting up and grabbing his left eye. Emma rolled off his chest when he sat up rolling to the floor. Nathan looked around with his right eye for someone to punch. “Who the hell hit me in the eye?!” he shouted.
“Hehehehe,” Nathan heard giggling below him. Slowly he turned and looked down at Emma, who got to her feet and held out her hands to be picked up. The others came running over hearing Nathan cuss.
“Emma! Quit poking me in the eye,” Nathan cried out, rubbing his eye. He opened it to find that the world was blurry. Emma began to yell, holding out her arms letting Nathan know she wanted to be picked up now.
“Damn it,” Nathan said, picking her up. As soon as Nathan picked her up, Emma was happy and started pointing at everything, telling Nathan about it in her babbling language. Nathan turned to the others. “You guys can’t keep her from beating me in my sleep?”
“I told you,” Amanda snapped.
“Amanda, you kicked me so hard today when you slept I have a bruise on my leg,” Nathan snapped. “Casey and Natalie tried to crawl under me and Emma eye-gouged me,” Nathan said, irritated.
The three came over. “Sorry,” they said in unison.
“Oh, quit that. You know its fine. I just need coffee,” Nathan said, hugging the three. John brought over a cup of coffee, which improved Nathan’s mood tenfold, although his eye still hurt. Nathan looked around noticing almost everything was packed up. “I take it you guys are ready to go?” he asked.
“It quit raining about two,” Jasmine said, leading Chip by the hand. He was dressed in clothes way too big for him. “They’re Casey’s clothes,” Jasmine whispered. Nathan smiled at the little boy dressed in hunting camo and socks on his feet.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Nathan said walking over inspecting the horses. He checked their hooves, and one of the donkeys hit him with its tail. Nathan found nothing wrong, so he began to feed Emma.
It was late afternoon when they set out and the mood was much better with the emptiness around them. Jasmine trotted up beside Nathan with Chip riding in front. Nathan took off his sunglasses, rubbed his sore eye, and put them back on. “Something on your mind?” he asked.
“Yes, but don’t bite my head off,” she said. “Do you feel bad?”
Nathan looked at her, “No actually I feel great, except my left eye is sore,” he told her.
“No, about shooting that group,” she clarified.
Letting out a chuckle, “No, they were going to kill us or in the least take ou
r shit. Between these horses and pack animals, we are carrying about a ton of stuff,” Nathan replied.
“Even the kids?” she asked in a low voice.
“I didn’t notice any. If I had, I still would’ve pulled the trigger,” Nathan replied casually.
Jasmine looked off into the distance. “I don’t know if I could’ve,” she said softly.
“We’ve had this conversation before. You worked it out just fine,” Nathan assured her.
“Those were adults. And you were right, but…,” she said, lost for words.
“Remember what I said about a hostage? Never give up your gun,” Nathan said, and she nodded. “Same thing applies here. If they hide behind a kid it’s on them, not you. If you can take the shot without hurting them it’s okay, but if not, pull the trigger.” Nathan told her picking up his binoculars.
“I’m trying, Nathan,” she moaned.
“That’s all you can do, Jasmine. Remember what happens if you don’t pull the trigger. Someone in our group dies,” Nathan said lowering the binoculars. “Get behind me,” he told her.
Jasmine saw a group of people working in a field in front of a house. They stopped when they noticed the group riding toward them. Nathan spotted several kids and women so he wasn’t very worried. Emma was sitting up in her sling watching the world and for once was quiet. Watching the group ahead he noticed two men off to the side of the group ahead who were looking at them with binoculars.
Nathan kept the horses at a normal walk. When his group was less than a quarter of a mile away, the two men who were watching them through binoculars headed to the road. “Hang back some, and don’t point a weapon at them unless they point one at you. Country can shoot,” Nathan said over his shoulder. He kicked Smoke to speed her up, putting some distance between him and the others. Ares and Athena trotted along beside him.
When he was twenty yards from the two men, Nathan reined Smoke in. “Afternoon,” Nathan said, tilting his head to the group. Emma let out a holler, holding up her sippy cup. “She says hi as well,” Nathan said, stopping ten yards away from the two men. Ares and Athena sat down in the road beside him. The men laughed when Nathan deciphered for Emma.
Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home Page 7
