HARD ROAD: Heaven Bound

by Terry McDonald

  The screaming from inside intensified. Long before the roof fell in, the screaming stopped.

  When he was sure no one could be alive, he went to Al. He found him frozen in position, his arms outstretched, holding the pistol pointed towards the house. Two bodies lay smoldering in the ashes just outside where the door had been. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. It took an effort to push Al’s arms down and pull his attention from the still flaming ruins of the building.

  “It’s done, boy, they’re dead. We need to get away from here.”

  Jake led him back to the road, setting a fast pace. They were quickly at the drive to the farm. He pulled Al to a stop.

  “Take a minute to breathe.”

  Al stood, taking in several deep breaths. Abruptly he bent and vomited. He remained bent, breathing ragged breaths and vomited again.

  “I could hear them screaming and crying,” he sobbed as he stood. “They burned to death. Why didn’t they run out your door? They burned and screamed.”

  Jake faced him and placed his hands on Al’s shoulders.

  “You did a man’s job back there. They were too drunk and dazed to find a door.”

  “They fell through when the door came off. I had to shoot them ‘cause they was still moving, but they was burned up,” Al said, tears streaming from his eyes.

  “Don’t shed any more tears than they would for you, boy. They don’t deserve pity.”

  Al shrugged Jake’s hands from his shoulders.

  “I don’t pity them,” he replied, tears still rolling from his eyes. “I wanted them dead so’s they’d leave us alone, but they kept screaming. They kept screaming and burned to death. ”

  “Al, I kill vermin any way I can. I shoot’em, blow’em up, burn’em up, it’s all the same to me. Dead is dead.”

  “I ain’t never killed nobody. I don’t even like killin’ animals. I just want to go home. I want to go home, Mister Jake, and I know there ain’t no such place anymore, and I’m scared, and I don’t want to kill no more people. I’m afraid of you and so is Beth and Janie, but we got to be with you 'cause you’re a grownup. I need my sisters. Maybe they heard the gunshots and scared to death we’re dead.”

  Al turned and walked away. Jake followed at a respectful distance, thinking his own thoughts, mentally kicking himself for letting his lust for vengeance put a child at risk.

  *

  After Jake moved the backpack and bags into place, there was a flash as Beth lit the lamp. Al went to his sisters and began conversing with them in whispers. A few minutes later Beth came to sit beside him. She set the small lamp on the ground and gave him a shove to get his attention.

  “I ought to stick you with my knife right now. Al told me what happened. You could have got you and my brother killed, and me and Janie would be sitting in here wondering why ya’ll weren’t back. Are we safe now?”

  “Beth, I don’t know. I was worried those men from this morning might be part of a larger gang, and they were. Four of them left in a truck, most likely going to where other people are. We found the most trash I’ve seen in one place since I left Wisconsin and there are more of them in the area. If I were by myself, I’d grab my stuff and light out of here like a rabbit running from a fox.”

  “You ain’t… aren’t by yourself, but that don’t mean you got to be any different. You’re alive and healthy. By ourselves, we’re as good as dead. If you think it’s bad to stay, you do what you think is best. If you don’t mind us going with you to the Promised Land you talked about, we’re ready.”

  “If you've decided not to bury your butcher knife in my chest while I’m sleeping, I won’t mind if you three tag along. I say we get away from this area tonight. According to my map, there is a small river about fifteen miles from here. That’s where I planned to be this evening. If we leave now we should be there by midday tomorrow.”

  “Jake, I’m sorry about the way I was. I was mad and hurt. You killed the ones I was mad at, but I still had the mad inside me, so I gave it to you. You don’t hurt us and I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  “Fair enough, and believe me, I understand mad. You said he kneed you in the ribs. Are you able to walk...?” Jake caught himself short. “What I want to ask is, are you okay?”

  “Thank you for asking. It stiffened up some since this morning, but nothing’s broke. Why did you shoot him while he was still on me? His face came off while I was looking at him. Some of him went in my mouth.”

  “Beth, I’m older than you, and because I am, I know more about people. How could I be sure he didn’t have a knife on him? What if he decided to cut your throat when he finished? I know now he didn’t have a knife, but I wasn’t taking any chances.”

  Beth thought about his answer before speaking. “I’m glad you didn’t take a chance. If you was right, and waited, I would have been dead.”

  “I’m sorry it went down the way it did,” Jake responded with sympathy.

  “It’s not your fault. I’d rather have a nightmare than be dead.”

  “Friends?” Jake asked.

  “No. You seem different, but not yet. I guess we need to get our stuff and get going.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “One other thing, next time there’s killing needs to be done, you take me. Allen is a sweet, good boy, and I want him to stay that way. There ain’t nothing sweet about me, I mean aren’t, isn’t…anyway, I’ll be better for you than him.”

  “I made a mistake tonight. I have my own reasons for killing those people and I would have done it no matter what, but I should have sent him back.”

  “At least you admit it. He’ll do what he has to do. I just don’t want him to do it now. Things sit in your mind better when you’re older.”

  “Oh, and you’re so much older than him?”

  “I’m older than I am. Deep inside I’m not young. My mother had a saying. The eyes are the windows of the soul. Look at my eyes and tell me if you see a child.”

  Jake gazed into her eyes. The flickering light of the lamp was playing tricks. The longer he stared, the deeper her eyes drew him past the golden brown of her iris, and further into her.

  He felt a sensation, as though his mind separated from his body. There came a nauseous, disorienting moment of blankness, darkness, a searching, and then he was again seeing her face. It wasn’t the face of a skinny young girl. He saw the filled out features of the woman she would become, and she was beautiful. His mind touched hers, and he had a sensation of information exchanged on a level beyond his grasp.

  The lamplight flickered and he felt a queasy feeling as something slid from his mind, leaving behind a taste of sweet chocolate in his mouth. Once again, he was seeing a young woman. Al was squatting beside him. As Jake felt control of his body return, Al gave his shoulder a rough shove, nearly toppling him.

  “Leave my sister alone!”

  Janie was shaking Beth who stared at Jake with a dazed expression.

  She spoke to Al. “It’s okay. You and Janie go over by the cave hole.”

  Janie began crying. “You and Jake was froze for a long time. We was trying to make you move.”

  Beth gave her a hug. “I know, honey. Go with Al. I need to talk to Jake.

  Jake watched the two move the short distance to the cave mouth and then turned to Beth.

  “Where were we? What just happened?” Beth whispered.

  “I don’t know,” Jake replied. “I was having trouble with the lighting and got caught in some other thoughts.”

  “I don’t think so,” she disagreed. “I tried to move my eyes, but they was stuck like something had hold of me, like something crawled from your head to mine. You were looking at stuff inside my mind. What did you see, Jake?”

  “Not me. Whatever it was had control of me too.”

  “I don’t care about that, I felt you looking and I want you to tell me what you saw... and don’t lie.”

  “It was weird. I saw you as a grown woman.”

  Beth waited for him to continue. When he di
dn’t, she filled the gap.

  “Tell me what else you saw. I saw stuff about you too. Lots of stuff.”

  Jake decided to be forthcoming. “I’m going to tell you. Your face changed to an older face, not much older and you were healthy, your face was fuller and you were beautiful. Then I felt like something out of my control was digging through your mind, but it wasn’t communicating with me. Then the kids shook us out of it. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. What did you see?”

  “I ain’t talking about it right now. We need to get out of here like you said. I need to think and I can think just as well walking.”

  “That’s fair enough,” Jake agreed, glad to quit speaking about the incident. He had some thinking to do also. “We’ll do as you asked and shield Al whenever I can. Let’s get out of here. I’ll carry my gear and one of the bags. You three eat the rest of the biscuits and jam before we set out.”

  *

  Jake thought about the moment with Beth as they walked. He had never experienced anything like that before, and was at a loss. The vision had been vividly real, and like her, he had felt that something had taken hold of him. He had an idea about the source of the strange incident but not the why. He decided there was no explaining the inexplicable and diverted his attention to the chore at hand, safely putting distance from the murderous group they had encountered.

  They journeyed through the remainder of the night. He ended carrying Janie a good portion of the time. Except for one long stretch along a road, they traveled cross-country. It was past midday before they arrived at their destination, more a wide creek than a river. They went downstream and came to a place where it widened at a curve and formed a deep pond.

  The day was still warm and they had encountered no signs of human activity as they traveled. Jake was bone tired and Janie was asleep in his arms, but the two older ones seemed rejuvenated as soon as they set the bags down. Beth made a pad of clothing for Janie to lie on.

  “Al, I’ve got to get some sleep too. I’m worn out,” Jake said. “Would you mind trying to catch some fish for supper?”

  “Can we set a fire to cook?”

  “No, use my stove, it smokes less than an open fire, and only use dead hardwood. You all may want to wash while it’s still warm.”

  “I’m going swimming,” Al, declared, “and then I’m going fishing.”

  “Cool,” Jake said. “You two keep alert.” He bent to remove a pistol from his ankle holster and called for Beth. “Take this,” he said, handing the pistol to her. “Keep it with you from now on. You’ll find two more clips in my pack.” He scuffed some debris away with his feet, laid down where he was, shut his eyes and went to sleep.

  CHAPTER 4

  Jake awoke to the sound of his own scream. His eyes opened and he saw his three companions leap from beside the little stove and rush off in the direction of the creek. Lingering fragments of his dream still clouded his mind, but not so much that he could not register the frightened faces they presented. They stood tight together over thirty feet from him. He sat up, still slightly dazed from waking so suddenly.

  “Nightmare,” he called out. “I was having a bad dream. I’m sorry.”

  “You sure you’re okay?” Beth called back.

  “Yeah, I’m awake now.”

  Beth led them back to the stove, watching him with a wary expression. They stopped ten feet from him, still grouped close, with Janie hiding behind Beth, peeking at him from around her hip. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m sure. Listen… I had a bad… something bad….”

  “Something happened to you that give you bad dreams.” Beth supplied. “I think you’re still half asleep.”

  “Thank you. Yes, something bad happened, but I don’t want to talk about it right now. I’m sorry I startled you.”

  “Scared the shit out of us is what you mean.”

  “How long was I asleep?”

  “Maybe an hour, you started making noises and talking before you screamed.”

  “I need more sleep. Beth, can you wake me if I start making noises again?”

  “I’ll poke you with a long stick ‘cause ain’t none of us getting close to you.”

  When he next awoke, it was to the sounds of them bustling about, talking in low voices around the cook stove. The aroma of fish cooking in the frying pan was nothing like what he had smelled in his dream. Beth was teaching Janie how to feed sticks of wood into the small hole at the stove base. Jake, sat and stretched his arms over his head with a big yawn.

  “Man, did I need sleep,” he said, stretching again after standing. “I feel ten years younger.”

  “You don’t look ten years younger,” Beth said, glancing at him with a guarded smile to soften her statement. The smile changed to bewilderment. “What happened to the cut on your face?”

  His hand instinctively went to his cheek.

  “Yeah, that one, the one that’s not there.”

  “That wasn’t a cut. It was just a streak of blood from where a thorn punctured my cheek.”

  “Looked like a cut yesterday,” she replied skeptically. “You might want to wash before it gets dark. Supper’s almost ready. I made flat bread with some of your flour.”

  “You’re speaking to my heart young lady,” he said, returning her smile. “I’m definitely ready for some fish and flat bread.”

  Out of sight, Jake stripped and waded into the chill shallow water of the river. He scrubbed fast and toweled off with his dirty shirt. He felt the spot where the thorn had sliced his cheek and found no indication it ever existed. Healing fast was one thing, but overnight was another thing to add to a list of strange things. Back at the campsite, Beth was picking bones from a piece of fish for Janie.

  “Your food’s over there,” she said, pointing towards his pack. “We already ate.”

  Jake found his plate crowded with two fish and three tortilla-like pieces of bread. The bread was unleavened and Beth had used no spices, but it smelled delicious. He did not speak until every morsel was gone.

  “I thank the fisherman and the chef. That was truly a meal worth remembering.” He removed his toothbrush and paste from his pack, and turned to speak to them.

  “I’m embarrassed about what happened earlier. I haven’t had a nightmare like that in over two years. I thought I was done with them. I lost some people close to me. The things that happened yesterday, and having young people around, triggered some painful memories. I’ll try not to let that happen again.”

  “How you going to do that?” Beth asked. “Dreams is dreams and they just happen. We can put up with noises and screaming, if that’s all that’s coming.”

  Jake carried the dirty utensils with him to the creek and scrubbed them with wet sand before returning to the camp. He noticed the fire in his compact stove was almost burned out which was good since it was very close to nightfall.

  “We’ll have to rough it tonight,” he announced. “It’s too late to build any kind of shelter, and to tell the truth, I’m too tired to fool with it. My sleeping bag will unzip to make a blanket, I figure we can scoop pine needles for padding and snuggle under it. We need to move away from this site. It’s too exposed and I saw bear tracks by the water. This pond is probably a watering hole.”

  “Before we move, I need to do something,” Beth said. “I saw some scissors in you pack. I’m going to cut our hair off. We’re a mess, and our heads itch.”

  “Tell you what, while you do that, I’ll find a spot to sleep and move our stuff. Stay alert and keep your pistols handy.”

  “You got any more jam?” Janie asked, “I’m still hungry.

  “No little lady, I’m afraid it’s gone. There’s a piece of your sister’s flatbread left. I bet if you asked Al, he’d put some honey on it for you. He may even get you some jerky from my pack, if you ask him nice. Be sure to say please.”

  “Al, can I have some honey bread please?” She asked in her sweetest possible voice.

  *

 
As she dug through Jake’s pack searching for the scissors, Beth spoke to Al and Janie about something on her mind.

  “You remember how Willie made fun of us when we were studying the books. He said, “There ain’t nothing the world hates worse than a smart sounding nigger.” I think he was stupid. We’re traveling with Jake, and he cares about how people talk, so let’s try to sound less ignorant.

  “I’ve been trying,” Al said defensively, “but it’s hard to remember what we learned from Mamma and the books.”

  “I been telling ya’ll you don’t talk like the books say,’ Janie said smugly.

  “You don’t talk any better than us,” Al retorted.

  “Beth and you cuss a lot.”

  Beth spoke to stop the bickering. “We’ll work on it. Like I said, being around Willie didn’t help us any. Just pay attention to how Jake talks and we’ll get better at it.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” Al asked.

  “What he said, bad dreams. Anybody can have bad dreams. You sure had your share of’em when you was littler. Now, who wants to be the first to get snipped?” She stood, holding the scissors high, opening and closing them while making an insane face. Janie hid behind her brother.

  “Al wants to be first, ‘cause you’re scary. ‘Sides, I still got to eat my flatbread,” she said holding out the bread folded over a strip of jerky with honey dripping from both ends.

  *

  Jake found a spot to overnight about two hundred yards away, a cozy nest among the branches of a recently fallen oak tree. The trunk and leafy branches would not only act as a windbreak, but also serve to conceal them. He returned to retrieve a load of their gear. Beth and her siblings were at the river.

  The sun was set, but he could see the moonlight reflecting off the scissors busily cutting at what remained of Janie’s hair. Al was kneeling by the water scrubbing his scalp.

  Jake gathered the remainder of their gear. When he returned they had about a quarter inch of hair and the effect was to make them seem even skinnier.

  “We’re not pretty, but we sure feel better,” Beth said.