Nomad Supreme

by Craig Martelle

  After a few moments, she bumped his hand and pointed back to the cow.

  “Fine,” he replied, pulling the knife without the silvered blade and got to work.

  ***

  Water splashed into his face and brought him around. He spluttered and coughed as he blinked the water away.

  “Cock!” he blurted out. There was a group of people, all dusty and many with bloody lips, standing aside and watching. Billy leaned over him, smiling.

  “Good, you’re awake,” Billy said pleasantly. He sported a black eye and his knuckles were raw and bleeding.

  Mark rubbed his head, feeling the knot. “Which peckerhead hit me?” he demanded.

  “None of that. The fight’s done. People needed to blow off some steam, although I applaud your courage in walking into the middle of it. Stupid, but courageous as all can get out. I applaud you!” Billy clapped softly.

  Mark was confused.

  Ivan showed up behind Billy, shouldered his way past, and helped Mark to his feet. “Nightwatch, what the fuck?”

  “Billy has it under control. That’s it for today. We’re heading home. Back at it tomorrow, same route, and Billy said he was going to walk with those two knuckleheads who started it,” Ivan said as Mark stood unsteadily.

  “Who hit me?” Mark demanded. Ivan shrugged.

  “Let it go.”

  “No!” Mark yelled, swaying. “Which one of you douchebags hit me?”

  Pepe had an arm draped over Maria’s shoulder. She raised one hand and waved it.

  “God damn it!” Mark declared and tried to storm off, but tripped and fell. Ivan picked him up.

  “I told you to let it go.” Ivan maintained a tighter grip on the sergeant so he didn’t escape a second time.

  ***

  The door cracked and an old face looked out. Lacy was facing the old man from twenty feet away. Gerry and James flanked her and watched. They had their hands on their rifles, but the weapons were pointed away.

  “The wolves came after my cattle!” he declared boldly through missing teeth. “Ain’t seen no wolves out here ever before.”

  “They came with us. They know that those are your cattle and they will leave them alone from now on. Won’t they, Ted?” Lacy yelled over her shoulder.

  Ted was sitting on the ground and the wolves were packed in tightly around him. He had retreated into himself and the wolves were keeping him company.

  “I’m Private Lacy. That’s Corporal James and Private Geronimo. Kiwidinok is holding the horses. Gunner Ted and his wolf pack. We’re from the Force de Guerre and we’re here to bring civilization back,” Lacy mimicked what she’d heard the colonel say.

  “Civilization? What kind of nonsense are you spewing, girl?” The old man curled his lip as he spoke. Lacy clenched her fists.

  “Private. Private Lacy, not girl,” she coldly instructed him.

  “Yeah, whatever,” the old man said. James stepped forward and grabbed her arm to keep her from beating the crap out of the old man.

  “Stop that, you son of a bitch,” an old woman’s voice called out, followed by the sound of a slap.

  “God damn it, woman!” He ducked back behind the door. There was the sound of another slap and then the door was flung open.

  “Holy shit!” Gerry said as he looked at the woman who could have been Mrs. Grimes’ twin sister.

  “You look like nice, young people, nothing like others we’ve seen,” she offered as she approached, wiping her hands on her apron. It was hard for the three to look unkindly on the old woman, although they remained fearful. They each shook hands with her. “I’m Betty and this train wreck is Lester.”

  “We just wanted to get to the bottom of what happened to our friend. Now that we’ve learned what there is to know, we’ll be on our way. We have a bit of a ride. We are at the old power plant in Waukegan, I believe it’s called. Within a year, we expect to have the power turned back on and we also expect to have three hundred and fifty more people settling in this area,” James said.

  The old lady raised her eyebrows, whether in surprise or disbelief, they couldn’t tell.

  “We will be looking to trade with anyone who has something to offer, especially in the way of food. We will have our own cattle, so maybe we can work something out. Or you could move closer to us where we’ll take the responsibility to keep you safe.” Lacy sounded confident, but nothing was swaying the old man. “Nice wall. I expect it kept out the crazies. You won’t be bothered by anyone like them again. It’s our job to make sure of that.”

  “Thank you for your time,” James said, then he turned and headed toward his horse. The others followed, leaving Betty and Lester to themselves. Nothing speaks as loudly as actions. They had no intention of getting into the old couple’s business.

  Gerry swung by the wolf pack to see if Ted was okay. It took ten minutes of calmly talking with the man before Gerry convinced him it was time to go back to the power plant. When Ted finally agreed, he sent the pack ahead. As one, the nine wolves stood and loped away from the small walled compound and toward their new home.

  ***

  “My God! I can’t eat another bite,” Char complained, sitting back. Terry looked at her stomach, distended, almost like a snake that had choked down a turtle.

  Terry pointed to her stomach and then held his hands up. He lifted his shirt and tapped his six pack. She lifted hers and slid her hand around in a circle as if she were rubbing a genie’s belly.

  “What am I going to do with you?” he playfully asked.

  “Nothing, until some of this digests,” she parried, continuing to sit with her shirt pulled up and distended stomach exposed.

  The fire was smoldering, just as Terry wanted it. The meat was packed tightly within his field expedient smoker, a blanket keeping in the heat and smoke. He’d have to keep turning it to make sure everything was fully treated. They needed the buffalo meat to last for the next month.

  Which was what he figured it would take Char to digest all that she’d eaten. She gorged as a Werewolf, but after changing back to human form, she had eaten again.

  “The injury?” Terry thought out loud.

  “I think that was it. Those little mutant nanocytes are going to town in there. They need food to replace all the energy they expended fixing me.” She sighed contentedly, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

  Terry watched her, enjoying how she looked, while knowing that her real beauty was on the inside.

  He turned to the buffalo hide, a massive thing that he’d mostly skinned in one piece. Terry used a rock to clean off the inside and scrape the leather free of any residual tendon, fat, or muscle. After that, he’d use a mixture made from the animal’s brain to tan it.

  He thought it was disgusting, but when that was the only thing available, that was what was used. It worked perfectly fine. He wanted the hide to soften so he and Char could use it as a blanket while traveling in the cold or as a floor covering. He wondered if Clyde would want to chew on it.

  He wondered how Clyde was doing.

  ***

  “Our Billy Spires?” Adams asked.

  Sue sat on the couch after a full day. Clyde was across her lap, snoring softly. She absentmindedly stroked his fur. Adams and Xandrie were looking at her, waiting for her to answer.

  “Yes, Billy seemed as happy as a pig in shit when he was wailing on those people,” Sue finally replied. “At the end of it all, everyone was smiling and laughing, everyone except Mark. Maria brained him with a rock!” Sue recounted the story of the brawl.

  “These people are lunatics,” Shonna offered, amused at the situation.

  “But they’re our lunatics,” Adams answered.

  The smoke from their barbecue wafted in through the open windows. Xandrie bolted out the door to check on their dinner. Although they preferred their meat closer to raw, the current stock had just thawed. To the Werewolf palate, the difference between fresh and frozen was best offset by a few minutes on an open fire to sear the outsid
e and bring the inside temperature up. They’d eat it rare and enjoy it.

  “Where’d you get this stuff?” Sue asked.

  “Hunting has been off a bit, and these people eat a lot! So we had to help ourselves to one of the freezers.” Adams looked smug.

  “Oh no,” Sue cried. “Billy’s conducting an inventory tomorrow to start rationing out the frozen foods. All new stuff is to be turned into jerky. He told you that. I was right there!”

  “So what? We need to eat.” Adams stood and put his fists on his hips. “We’ve already done the starvation thing and fuck no.”

  He stormed outside to join Xandrie.

  “There’s going to be hell to pay,” Sue called out the window.

  ***

  Maria held a rag with cold water on Pepe’s face. He winced when the rag touched.

  “I can’t believe you were rolling around in the dirt like that. What? Are you fifteen again, fighting for the honor of taking me to the dance?” The smile lines around Maria’s eyes crinkled as she looked at her husband.

  “He wasn’t very nice, and I’d had enough. To say that the heat and drought was Terry Henry Walton’s fault was stupid. Ernie’s stupid, and I had to punch him right in his stupid face!” Pepe whined.

  “That’s fine, dear,” Maria cooed.

  “And I’ll do it again, too, if he opens his stupid mouth!”

  “Now, now, my little fighter, we’re not going to have a next time. Leave him be. It’s going to be a long enough walk as it is without the great greenhouse feud to keep us company. It’s too hot outside to let those fires burn,” she told him, making it clear that her tolerance was at an end.

  Pepe didn’t have to think for long as he nodded to Maria. He couldn’t have everyone mad at him. “Okay. No fighting.”

  He hoped he could live up to his promise. He thought of Ernie. He still wanted to punch him right in his stupid face.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The horses were loaded with hundreds and hundreds of pounds of smoked buffalo. It had taken two days to prepare that much and Terry was out of patience.

  “I’m not hungry for buffalo. I may never be hungry for buffalo again,” Terry said. Char felt the same way after eating to excess and then staring at their ad hoc smokehouse for the last two days.

  “I’m going to have to be pretty hungry before I take another bite and judging from my metabolism, that’ll be about two-thirty this afternoon,” Char replied, surrendering to the situation.

  “What’s happening to us?” Terry asked.

  “Did you know that your eyes glowed red when you fought Timmons?” Char declared.

  “What? You never thought to share that tidbit with me before now?” Terry was surprised by the revelation.

  “Ain’t nothing but a thang,” she answered, letting the words roll off her tongue slowly.

  “Vamps glow red,” Terry stated.

  Char nodded. “I know, but you’re not one of them.”

  “How can we be sure?” Terry wondered, looking into the distance as he contemplated the possibilities. He only felt stronger, not like he wanted to drink anyone’s blood. He couldn’t feel the etheric like the Werewolves and definitely not like a Vampire.

  “We’re sure,” Char told him. Her tone suggested that the topic was at an end.

  “I’m still not hungry for buffalo…” he replied.

  ***

  Mark looked at the platoon, standing at attention in formation. Billy was stopping by soon to talk with the Force.

  The sergeant wondered what kind of wisdom Billy Spires was going to share. Mark’s head still hurt from getting hit, even though it had happened days ago.

  “At ease!” Mark called from in front of the formation. The people kept their right feet planted while they stretched their legs and their bodies.

  Hank was making a great deal of noise. They had shut the gate to his enclosure, but he wanted out. He was standing against the fence, watching the people.

  The grizzly cub decided to take matters into his own paws and started to climb over the fence. The top board of the gate split and cracked in half as Hank balanced his entire body weight before going over. He fell outside the enclosure, no worse the wear.

  He ambled to the formation where he nudged Blackbeard, before sitting by the young man’s side.

  Mark and the others had watched the whole thing and missed Billy’s arrival.

  “Ah-ten-SHUN!” Mark ordered and the group snapped to attention.

  “This is me, Mark, relax,” Billy said, slapping the man on the back.

  “Sergeant,” he whispered back.

  “Yes, Sergeant!” Billy perked up, pleased with himself.

  Mark wondered if Billy had found a stash of anti-psychotic drugs and was helping himself. He seemed different and not in a good way. He was too happy.

  “At ease!” the sergeant ordered.

  Blackie instantly dropped a hand to scratch the bear behind the ears. Hank sat quietly, enjoying the attention from his human friend.

  The others leaned to and fro in order to see the mayor.

  “I wanted to talk to you about the security of the people of New Boulder,” Billy started, holding his hands behind his back and shuffling in the dirt of the barracks’ front yard. The smile had disappeared and he looked like the Billy of old, the one before Terry showed up in town.

  Billy’s voice was gruff.

  “The fight that we saw, that Mark got into the middle of, wasn’t the only one you’ll see. There will be more, many more. What do we do?”

  Billy paused, pursing his lips and chewing over his next words. “Terry, Char, and I spent some time talking about this. The question is, when we are traveling, will your attention be better spent watching out, away from our people, or watching in, seeing what they are doing and keeping our own people from making trouble. What do you think your colonel said?”

  No one answered so Mark stepped up. “That we look outward, watch for threats to the people of New Boulder.” He knew that was the right answer, because the colonel had said repeatedly that the town’s people were not the threat.

  “That’s right,” Billy called out, loud enough for everyone to hear. “But who will keep the peace within the town? We don’t have enough people to have a police force.”

  “Why not?” Mark asked without thinking how that question might resonate. “Not trying to argue, Billy, but when we leave, everyone’s job is going to be walking. Can’t we get some of the older people to watch over the others, stop them before they get to swinging at each other? Like Mrs. Grimes. She keeps us in line.”

  The snickers from the platoon suggested Mark had hit a chord. Billy watched them closely.

  He hadn’t considered that. “Wait here,” he told them, and he walked to the front door. He called inside to see if Mrs. Grimes was there, although he could not have imagined where else she would have been. She must have yelled back because Billy opened the door and walked in.

  Mrs. Grimes started yelling for him to remove his shoes, followed by Billy arguing, followed by the sound of a wooden spoon impacting flesh.

  The platoon chuckled uncontrollably. They wanted to hear Mrs. Grimes giving a good one to Billy.

  Everything quieted down and the platoon lost interest. Hank decided it was time to play and rolled over Blackie, continuing down the squad and knocking the rest out of formation.

  When Billy returned, it looked like a scrum with the bear in the middle of a pile of bodies. He stopped and watched, then continued toward Mark.

  “I’ll tell you, Mark, that I was starting to worry about all this, but bringing Mrs. Grimes and those like her into the mix, that was genius. I expect even Terry Henry Walton would approve!” Billy reared back and took a full swing, slapping Mark on the arm.

  Mark saw it coming and braced himself, tightening the muscles in his body as he’d been taught how to take a blow without getting hurt.

  Billy’s hand stopped cold. “Force de Guerre workouts making you as hard as woo
dpecker lips!” The mayor laughed as he walked away. The sergeant watched him go, understanding that Billy had been trying to put on a brave face while stress had been tearing at his insides. The happiness was feigned, which Mark had thought to be drugs.

  It was just Billy’s small body screwing with him.

  We could all use a little stress relief, Mark thought as he turned to face the formation, which had degenerated into rolling bodies surrounding one young grizzly. “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” he yelled.

  ***

  “Stop chewing your stitches!” Ted said in a huff as the wolf looked at him with its big yellow eyes. He stared back, his eyes just as yellow, until the upstart young male looked away.

  The wound was healing and the wolf’s licking was helping to keep it from getting infected, but he was biting at the stitches. Gerry and Kiwi watched Ted work with the shaggy gray beast.

  “I have a question, if you don’t mind me prying,” Geronimo started.

  Ted motioned for him to continue.

  “You are so gentle, a kind person. If I hadn’t seen it, I would never believe that you’re a Werewolf, not anything like what we saw from the others,” Gerry haltingly said. He didn’t want to say Timmons’ name, but when he was in his Were form, he was violent and vicious. Until he lost his hand, he had maintained that persona in human form, too.

  “Werewolves are like people,” Ted replied, smiling and petting the wolf at his feet. “There are all kinds, just like our lives. I liked my life before, and I like my life now. They are different, but both good.”

  Gerry wasn’t sure what Ted’s answer meant. He’d have to think further.

  Kiwi approached and put her hands on Ted’s arm. “When you know who you are, when your mission is clear and you burn with the inner fire of unbreakable will, no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can dampen your purpose. You know that you are alive. This is what Black Feather has told us.” Kiwi’s eyes were unfocused as she repeated the quote.

  Ted stopped petting the dog and put a hand on the young girl’s head. To her, he would have looked like a man not much older than Gerry.