Nathan turned his head. “I don’t see anything.” Jasmine wanted to know what was going on and Amanda turned around, holding up a pack of training bras.
“That’s sweet,” Jasmine said, hugging her. Amanda ran over to the others to show them. Jasmine smiled at Nathan. “That was sweet.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nathan replied, looking away.
Jasmine laughed. “Not only how did you find them, but how did you know what size to get?”
Turning around, Nathan was in shock, “They come in different sizes?”
“Yes,” Jasmine giggled. “How did you know they would fit her?”
“There’s a little girl on the package,” Nathan explained his reasoning.
Jasmine wrapped her arms around him. “They do come in different sizes.”
“You didn’t like your present?” Nathan asked. Jasmine ran to her sleeping bag. Lying at the foot was a bag of premium coffee. Picking it up, Jasmine let out a squeal almost equal to Amanda’s. The others jumped up, looking at their presents. Everyone got a pair of outdoor slippers, used but in good condition. Natalie, Casey, and Tom picked up messenger bags and watches. The bags were really just soft laptop cases but they had always looked enviously at the others, feeling left out. John picked up a pair of sunglasses, putting them on and smiling. They all had notebooks with pens and pencils, and a few knick knacks he had found. Amanda found a storage clipboard and several nice writing pens.
Nathan watched them, smiling, as they all smiled, showing each other what he brought them. Feeling a tap on his leg, Nathan looked down and saw Emma playing with her stuffed dog. She held it out. “Woof.”
“And that will be his name,” Nathan said, carrying her over to the group. The group hugged Nathan for the presents. Casey looked at the package of training bras. “Casey, don’t start. When you get older,” Nathan said, and she just looked up at him, smiling.
Jasmine laughed at him. “Nathan, you act like you gave birth to them.”
Nathan glanced at her. “These are my kids,” he announced, and the group fell silent. “And I would like for you to be my girl.” When Jasmine leapt at him, it wasn’t like Amanda had done. Jasmine was more solid. When she hit Nathan, wrapping her arms around him, she sent him to the ground. It really didn’t matter, because she’d already knocked the air out of him. The kids ran over, dogpiling on. They only got off when they noticed Nathan was red in the face.
They helped Nathan up as he gasped for air. “Damn, I’ve never had a girl try and knock me out when I asked her to go steady.”
Wrapping her arms around him, Jasmine smiled. “I’ve done everything but throw you down trying to catch you.”
Nathan laughed and looked around at the kids. “You hear that? Stepmom is crazy.”
“That’s why she fits in,” Amanda said.
“Let’s eat, guys, we need to start moving,” Nathan said. Nobody moaned as they started moving. Nathan pulled Jasmine away and pulled out the drawings Chip made. “What do you see?” Nathan asked.
Jasmine took them. When she gasped, Nathan was a little happy he had seen something. “My god, Nathan.”
“What the hell do you see?” Nathan asked.
Holding up one drawing, Jasmine took a deep breath. “A mound of dead bodies, people running, and a man eating someone, crying.” She held up the other one. “People trying to hide and a man looking for them, killing who he finds, and a kid hiding under dead bodies.”
“Well I got some of it,” Nathan said. “I think he saw this.”
“What do we do?” she asked.
“Let him draw it out and work through it. He knows he has protection and love, so we will just watch him,” Nathan said.
Jasmine nodded. “Okay, we can do that.”
As the sun dipped below the horizon, they helped get ready to go. After the daily routine, the food was gone, horses were loaded, and everyone climbed on their horse. Nathan glanced around, seeing they were ready, and flipped his monoculars down and headed west. It was pasture land, so he just let Smoke walk as he searched ahead for danger and holes. They rode northwest through the pastures, and cows could be seen everywhere. Nathan liked that. If a plane or chopper flew over there would at least be other heat signatures around.
They stopped around midnight to let the horses drink, and Amanda rode over to Nathan. “Nathan, a little while ago some guy came on saying the government was trying to push out from Denver to Salt Lake. He didn’t say how they got there.”
“Now that’s shit we need to know,” Nathan said. “We’ll just cross I-25 farther into Wyoming.”
“What if they push farther into Wyoming?” Amanda asked.
“We go farther north than they are,” Nathan replied. “Eat something and keep an ear out.” Amanda smiled and moved back over to Casey and Natalie. Nathan turned to Jasmine to find her staring at him. “It doesn’t mean anything now. Interstate twenty-five is almost two hundred miles away.”
Jasmine laughed. “I know, I’m just looking at you.”
“Why?” Nathan asked.
“If I’m not mistaken, I’m your girl. If I want to look at you, I can,” she said.
“Well, okay then. It’s not much to look at,” Nathan said.
Jasmine scoffed, “Whatever.” Nathan smiled, then looked down at Emma with an arm wrapped around Woof, sleeping hard. Nathan adjusted her in the sling; she looked uncomfortable.
Not long afterward they were trekking across the land. Looking around the rolling hills, Nathan felt like a pioneer. A pioneer with NVGs and thermal sight, super hearing, automatic weapons, and space age supplies, but he still felt like a pioneer. Hearing a horse move up beside him, he wasn’t surprised to see Jasmine.
“Whatcha thinkin’?” she asked.
“We are some badass pioneers,” Nathan admitted.
Jasmine nodded in agreement. “That would be a good assessment. I was just thinking, we haven’t heard any gunfire again.”
“They took everyone that can shoot a gun,” he replied.
“I know, but they had to miss people, and there are motorcycle gangs popping up everywhere,” she said.
Nathan said, “If you’re outnumbered, hide.”
“The absence of gunfire doesn’t bother you?” she asked.
Shaking his head, Nathan grabbed his thermal binoculars, scanning around. “No, it lets me know trouble isn’t around.”
“Or trouble is just overwhelming targets before they shoot,” Jasmine said.
Nathan laughed. “Now you’re thinking! I didn’t think of that.”
Jasmine sat up straighter. “Just trying to help.”
“You are,” Nathan said, lowering the thermal. “The kids see you as a protector, and that eases their fears.”
“John is better at it than me,” Jasmine confessed.
“He may give direction but he looks to you for assurance,” Nathan said. “He also sneaks a peek when you walk around in panties and bra.”
Giving off a snort, Jasmine looked over at him. “There is no peek involved.”
“Just helping him out,” Nathan said. They rode in silence with the occasional low sound of conversation behind them. They rounded a hill looking down into a small valley, and Nathan raised his thermal binoculars, scanning around.
Suddenly, Nathan pulled Smoke to a stop, and Jasmine stopped her horse. “What?” she asked.
“There’s a house down there, and it looks like there is a dead horse in the corral, with two live ones. Someone alive is laying in the yard,” Nathan said.
“Let’s go then,” Jasmine said, looking down the valley. She could make out a house and barn surrounded by several small hills.
“Our campsite is only two miles from here,” Nathan said, dropping his thermal. “Let’s move a little closer.”
Jasmine got behind him as he headed down into the valley and approached the house, keeping a small hill between them and the house. Nathan stopped and climbed off Smoke. He eased up the hill on
foot and scanned the house with his thermal binoculars, then walked back to the others.
He stopped beside Jasmine. “There’s someone alive spread-eagled in front of the house. The front door’s open but all the windows are broken out. I’m going in closer to see what’s up.”
Nathan dropped his pack and motioned for Natalie to get Emma. Handing over Emma, Nathan checked his gear. “If you hear shooting, go to the rally point. John, get the sniper rifle and cover me. If you see one person, kill them. More than one, head to the rally point. If I shine my IR light at you, get the others and move up to me.”
Jasmine eased her horse closer. “Be careful.”
“That is my first goal,” Nathan said, squeezing her hand. He climbed on Smoke. The house was now less than two hundred yards away but there was no cover. Kicking Smoke into a slow walk, Nathan slowly rounded the hill with Ares beside him. He could see the two horses standing in the corral and a dead horse with them. Nathan could tell Ares didn’t like something.
As he rode forward, he didn’t see anything else moving. Slowly approaching the spread-eagled figure, Nathan saw they were laid on railroad ties. When he was twenty yards away from the figure he climbed off. He could now tell it was a man covered in wounds and nailed to the railroad ties. Nathan knelt beside the man and touched him as Ares looked at the house.
The man gave a jerk. “Who’s there?” he croaked in a dry voice.
“A friend. Are the ones who did this close?” Nathan asked in a low voice, watching the house.
The man started sobbing. “No, they left yesterday. Please kill me.”
Nathan looked down and jumped back; the man’s eyes had been gouged. “Sir, who did this so if I run across them I can kill them.”
The man stopped crying. “Fifteen guys on motorcycles and four more in two vans. My family is inside. They made me watch, then—” The man stopped and started crying.
Nathan looked at the man’s wounds and was surprised he was even alive. “I’m sorry sir,” Nathan said.
“Please kill me and put me with my family,” the man begged in a dry voice.
“Yes sir,” Nathan said, pulling out the HK and placing it next to the man’s temple. “I’m sure they’re waiting for you,” Nathan said, and pulled the trigger. Hearing the suppressed shot, Ares spun around. Seeing Nathan next to the dead man, Ares walked, over nuzzling him. “Yeah, and it started out such a good day,” Nathan said, rubbing Ares’s head.
Nathan entered the house and cleared it. When he stepped outside, he was covered in sweat. He pulled out his IR light and shined it at his group. Putting his light away, Nathan fell on all fours and puked till there was nothing left. Hearing gasps he looked up, seeing John and Jasmine beside the man nailed to the railroad ties.
Getting to his feet, Nathan wobbled over to them. “Let’s check the barn,” he said, moving toward it. He motioned for the girls to get off their horses. They tied them to the corral fence and moved over. Casey took Emma and Chip held on to her arm as they stood back. “Just like you’ve been taught,” Nathan said, and led them in the barn. They moved through just like he taught them, not finding anything.
“Get Casey and them in here and set up camp. I have something that I promised to do,” Nathan said, walking toward the door, dropping his vest, and moving his rifle to his back. He stopped at a workbench to grab a crowbar.
As Nathan walked out the door John dropped his gear and headed to the door. “John,” Jasmine called out. “Nathan didn’t tell us we could.”
Turning to look at Jasmine, John didn’t have his customary smile. “He didn’t say we couldn’t. He said only to set up camp. He said he had a promise to keep. I watched what he did for that man and I’m going to help him keep it.”
Spinning around, John headed out the door as Jasmine looked at the others. “I’m going to help. Amanda, you’re in charge. Tom, keep an eye out, you’re primary security. Get camp set up and let’s show Nathan we can do a lot of things at one time and he doesn’t have to do it all.”
They jumped up and started moving as Jasmine walked outside. She saw Nathan and John prying the man’s arm up. Confused, Jasmine hurried over and stopped when she realized the man was nailed to the crossties. Jasmine dropped to her knees and threw up. Nathan turned to look at her as John moved over to the other arm.
“You don’t need to see this,” Nathan said as he moved over to help John.
Wiping her mouth off, Jasmine stood up and walked over. “No, we are a team and family. You can’t do all the heavy lifting.”
Nathan nodded as he and John pried up the other arm. Jasmine walked inside and came out with a curtain she had ripped down. She closed her eyes, wanting the images in the living room to go away, and walked over to Nathan and John. It didn’t take long to free the man and roll him in the curtain.
Picking the man up, Nathan rolled the body on his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “Neither of you have to do this. What’s upstairs is a hundred times worse than the living room.”
“We’re wasting time, Nathan,” John said, moving to the door. Nathan gave a weak smile and followed him inside.
The sun was up when they were finished and stepped outside. John fell to his knees and dry heaved again. They had all thrown up and dry heaved too many times to count. Using the pictures on the wall, they found the man’s family: two sons, three daughters, and wife. As John and Nathan grabbed bodies, Jasmine tried to clean them up, then they dressed them all, placing them side-by-side in the parents’ bed. They had found three more bodies and didn’t know if they were family or friends, so they placed them side-by-side in another room.
Walking off the porch, Nathan went to a water faucet and turned the handle. He was pleasantly surprised to see water come out the hose. Grabbing it, Nathan held the water hose over his head soaking himself and his clothes. Jasmine and John walked over when he was finished and did the same thing.
After John handed the hose to Jasmine, he turned to Nathan. “I know you said never attack unless sure of victory, but if I see that group, leave me. I’m going to kill as many as I can.”
As Jasmine turned the water off, Nathan turned to John. “You’ll have to get in line.”
Jasmine wiped her face off, heading to the barn. “Guys, let’s check on the others.”
They followed Jasmine to the barn and when they stepped inside they were very surprised. Everyone’s packs and sleeping rolls had been laid out neatly. The horses were brushed, eating hay and feed in stalls with a full water trough. The saddles and blankets were hanging on the railing for the stalls and a table in the middle of the area had food waiting on them. Casey was sitting with Emma and Chip, playing. Amanda was listening to the radio as she washed clothes, and Tom was up in the loft, walking around from window to window.
“You guys did a great job,” Nathan said.
Amanda looked at him smiling. “The shower is set up in the back. You’re not going to believe this, but the water hose has two facets like a sink, and one of them is hot water.” The three sighed. “Get your clothes off so I can wash them. They might be dry before we leave, but I’m not promising anything.”
“John, go,” Nathan said, walking over to his pack as Emma ran at him. “No, Emma, I have stuff on me I don’t want on you.” Emma pouted at Nathan as Casey picked her up and carried her back to the play area.
Without saying anything, John grabbed his stuff and walked to the stall Amanda pointed at. Jasmine was still standing in front of the door, looking down at the floor in a daze. Nathan stripped down to boxers and emptied his pockets, handing his clothes to Amanda. Putting on his flip flops, he stepped over to a room with bags of feed and put on shorts.
Coming out, he saw Jasmine still standing in front of the door, staring at the floor. Nathan lifted her chin up to look at him. “Don’t dwell on it. You won’t ever forget, so don’t think you can. We didn’t do anything wrong, animals did. Accept that you did all you could and move on. If you keep thinking about it, the thought will
eat you alive.”
Tears crept to the corners of her eyes as Jasmine stared at him. “I’m going to see that in my dreams, aren’t I?”
“Yes, but wake up, control your breathing, and tell yourself you did what you could. And if you ever see those cocksuckers you will send them to hell,” Nathan said.
Jasmine wiped her eyes. “I will be happy to pull the trigger.”
“Don’t be happy, just pull the trigger. If you enjoy killing, you are no better. You can be happy to be alive after killing someone, but remember, they put themselves in the position of you pulling the trigger. They committed suicide by trying to kill you or others. Just be happy the better person lived,” Nathan said as he pulled her to his chest.
Nathan shivered from her wet body as Jasmine borrowed in his chest. “Nathan, I didn’t see any bullet holes in the house and none of the people were shot. How did the gang get them?”
“I think they stormed the house. The back door was kicked open and there were two dead dogs in the back yard,” Nathan said.
“You don’t think they had someone awake on guard?” she asked, mystified.
“No,” Nathan said, and felt Jasmine look up at him. He looked down at her face. “Jasmine, they thought they lived far enough from society that they didn’t have to worry. The closest paved road is sixteen miles away and the closest store by road is fifty, and it only looks like a gas station from satellite photos. They felt safe.”
“We won’t ever make that mistake,” Jasmine said, hugging him and letting go. She turned to see John walking back in a daze. “I’m going to tell John what you told me. Go shower.” Thankful, Nathan grabbed his shower kit.
When he finished showering, Nathan felt much better. Walking back to the group, he found John with is customary smile. Grabbing her stuff, Jasmine walked by him and kissed his cheek. Nathan pulled out clean clothes, pulling them on and adjusting the knee pads till they felt right, then grabbed his tablet. When Jasmine came back he started reading to the group as the kids slept and Tom walked the loft, listening to the story and protecting the family.
After half an hour Nathan stopped his reading and looked around, seeing the girls and kids asleep. John and Jasmine were still awake. “Guys, you need to sleep,” Nathan said, getting up and putting on his boots.
Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home Page 21
