He took the pump shotgun and looked it over. It was an 870 tactical with extended magazine tube and a five-shell holder on the side. Looking at the shells and seeing buck shot, he nodded with approval. “Let’s go,” he said, walking off. John and Amanda followed him Tank Top grumbling and grousing behind them.
Working the slide, Nathan emptied the shotgun then put in six rounds and handed the gun to John. “Don’t play with it. I’ll show both of you how to work it tonight,” he said, handing him the other shells. They rounded a curve about a mile away from the abandoned car and Nathan stopped and looked around.
“There,” he said, pointing a hundred yards away at the tree line. He led the two a ways back from the road. “Let’s eat,” Nathan said, dropping his pack.
Looking back the way they had come, Amanda whispered, “Are you crazy? They could have friends.”
“Oh I know they do and they’re close,” he said, kneeling down.
“Well let’s go,” she whispered, still not dropping her pack.
“No, I don’t want them catching us in town or worse, going to get more friends. We will know by the time lunch is finished how they will play. If they are bent on revenge they’ll be here soon. If not, they will bed down and wait,” Nathan said.
“There could be a bunch of them,” John said nervously.
“No, we would’ve heard them and Ares would’ve smelled them,” Nathan said.
“He didn’t smell those three,” Amanda pointed out.
“The wind was behind us,” Nathan said, reaching into his pack and pulling out the cooked rabbit. “I want both of you to stay right here and eat. Give Ares some. He’s staying here with you. I will be right in front of you watching the road. You’ll be able to see me. We leave in thirty minutes,” he said, getting up. “If you hear gun shots just stay down till dark. If you see anyone but me coming, let Ares say hi.” He headed back to the road.
Amanda and John looked at each other and sat down. Putting the meal between them, they slowly ate. Ares would shove his head over, reminding them to give him some. Amanda dropped his pack and pulled out his bowl as John handed her a bottle of water. She filled Ares’ bowl as they sat there in silence, afraid someone could hear them swallowing.
Squirrels scampered through the trees, but they ignored them. Suddenly Ares turned his head, letting out a low growl. Amanda put her hand on him. “Quiet, Ares,” she whispered. Seeing John moving to lie down on the ground, Amanda did the same, pulling Ares down with her.
Nathan was just inside the tree line behind an oak tree. He waited about thirty minutes till he heard running feet coming at him. Bringing the rifle to his shoulder, Nathan aimed down the road. A few seconds later he saw three men trotting toward him with Tank Top in the lead. He was now carrying a bolt action rifle. The one closest to Nathan was carrying an AK with a forward grip, and the guy on the far side was carrying a shotgun.
Pulling his rifle tight into his shoulder, Nathan sighted on AK first since he posed the biggest danger. When they were fifty yards from him, Nathan squeezed the trigger, hitting AK in the chest and dropping him. Swinging to Tank Top, Nathan squeezed the trigger just as Tank Top turned to look at AK. The three rounds hit him in the left chest and he crumpled, dropping his rifle. Shotgun dove to the ground as Nathan swung his aim to him. Shotgun rolled, trying to aim his weapon just as Nathan squeezed the trigger, hitting the asphalt where Shotgun had been a split second before. Lifting his aim, Nathan squeezed again, hitting Shotgun in the left side above the hip.
Shotgun let out a scream as Nathan moved up and shot him in the chest. Dropping his magazine, Nathan rammed in another, listening to the others whimper. Getting tired of it, Nathan flipped to single and shot both in the head. He stood there quietly for about ten minutes, listening. Nathan then stood up, picked up his magazine and walked back to the kids. Again he saw them both holding their pistols. They were pointed in a safe direction but held at the ready just like he’d showed them.
He didn’t want them to try to get into gun play yet. He wanted them to think ‘Run’ and not fight till they were more prepared. But he’d talk to them about it at another time. “Get your stuff on,” Nathan said, grabbing his pack and tote bag.
“We saved you some,” John said, holding out the wrapper.
“Bring it,” Nathan said, watching Amanda put on Ares’ pack. John picked up the shotgun. “Let’s go, and stay close,” Nathan said. Moving slowly out to the road, Amanda and John saw the three bodies. John felt sick looking at the two that Nathan had shot in the head.
Nathan walked over to the AK and picked it up. It had a folding stock and a nice tactical scope with a fiberglass stock and fore grip. He saw AK had a range bag slung across his shoulder. Pulling it off and trying not to get much blood on it, Nathan opened it up to see four more magazines and ammo. Seeing shotgun shells, he reached in and pulled out a sling that had fifteen buckshot rounds in the pockets. Dropping it back in, he looked at AK’s gold necklaces covered in blood and sighed.
Pulling money out of AK’s pockets, Nathan moved to the shotgun. It was a nice Benelli, but better for duck hunting than fighting a battle. Taking the shells from the gun and the man’s pocket, Nathan threw them in the AK’s tote bag. It seemed Shotgun was the poor one of the group, having only drugs in his pockets. Nathan grabbed his bling and saw it was real. “Not too poor,” Nathan said, throwing it in with the other bling. “Let’s go,” he said.
“What about that gun,” John said, pointing at Tank Top’s rifle. “I hunted with one just like that. You can hit someone real far away.”
“Yes you can, but it only has the bullets in it. No extras. It’s not worth carrying something that heavy that we can’t use but a few times. And remember, it’s not sighted in for us,” Nathan said, leading them away. He handed John the tote bag. “Here is your bag.” Nathan reached in and pulled out the sling and clipped it to the shotgun. Then he grabbed the magazines and walked over to Amanda. “Put these in your bag and keep this slung. Don’t put your hand on the trigger or the grip. Don’t worry, it’s not loaded, but I don’t want people to think you can’t cut loose,” Nathan said, handing the AK over.
“When do I get a machine gun?” John asked.
“It’s not a machine gun,” Nathan said. “If Amanda could shoot the shotgun I would’ve given it to her. But it would set her on her little ass if she did. You can handle it,” Nathan said. All geared up, they started off to town.
Little did they know that if they’d gone just half a mile past the stripped car and down a small dirt road a few hundred yard into the woods, they would’ve found a large stash of food, weapons, ammo, cash, a working truck, and a mountain of other useful supplies. The supplies would just sit there wasting away as the world slowly sank into chaos.
It was noon as they stepped literally from the woods right at the edge of town. “What town is this?” Amanda asked.
“This is what’s left of the base. Saks is up ahead,” Nathan said. As they walked on he saw two HUMVEEs driving away from them with soldiers standing behind machine guns. Nathan looked down to make sure his badge was uncovered. “John, get right behind me and keep the shotgun on your shoulder. Amanda, don’t let go of my hand unless I let go,” he said, and they moved closer.
Nathan stopped abruptly, just about giving both of them heart attacks. Reaching in his tote bag, he pulled out the ten-foot leash for Areas. He handed the leash to Amanda as he clipped it to Ares’ collar. “Hold it tight,” he said and led them on.
Almost panting, Amanda felt like her heart was beating a million miles an hours as she held Nathan’s hand in one hand and held onto Ares’ leash in a death grip with the other. Everywhere she looked she saw military trucks like they had on TV. There were men and women running around, all carrying really big guns, yelling and jumping in trucks. A few looked at their small group but they didn’t pay much attention to them. She looked up at Natha
n, who was just looking straight ahead.
Looking closely at his eyes behind his sunglasses, Amanda saw they were moving everywhere but his head stayed pointed straight ahead. Her head snapped forward and she copied what he was doing. It took them an hour to walk out of the area, having to stop a few times to let trucks drive past them down the road. The road they were on ended ahead at a stop sign at a T-intersection, and directly across the road was a field with hundreds of people walking around with a lot of tents put up.
Now accustomed to the quietness of the new world, the sounds of activity were making her nervous. Amanda could see men, women, and kids moving everywhere; she didn’t know what they were doing but they all had panicked looks on their faces. When they came to the stop sign two pickup trucks loaded with people drove by. She noticed they weren’t Army trucks but regular old ones. Nathan just about ran her over when he turned left onto the road in front of the camp of people. A man ran over and began walking backwards in front of them.
“Please give me some food,” he begged.
“None to spare, sir, and if you ask again I will be forced to detain you,” Nathan barked at the man. The man’s shoulders slumped and he wandered off toward the camp.
Staying on the road, Nathan was keeping a pace Amanda wasn’t used to and her legs were starting to get tired. She tripped once as Nathan turned off the road they were on and moved into a subdivision. “We can rest just a little further ahead, okay?” he said softly, looking down at her.
All she could do was smile up at him. Her mouth was so dry she couldn’t talk. Fear was racking her body and all she wanted to do was hide. She saw Nathan’s hand reach across her to her drinking tube and put it in her mouth. Amanda gripped it with her teeth and started to suck down water.
“Slow down, not too fast,” Nathan murmured. She raised her head to look around; there were still people around the houses, but nothing like the numbers they’d seen at the camp and the old military base.
Seeing Amanda wasn’t drinking anymore, Nathan reached back over and took the tube from her mouth and clipped it back to her pack. “Thank you,” she whispered and he squeezed her hand.
“Someone’s following us,” John told them in a low voice. Amanda almost took off running hearing that.
“How far back?” Nathan asked.
“I’m not good with distance but they are by that house with the four men sitting on the porch,” John said.
“Eighty yards,” Nathan said and Amanda just looked up at him in awe. “Tell me if they get closer than that. Can you tell if they have a rifle?” he asked.
“They don’t have a rifle, but I don’t know about a pistol. I’m scared to use my binoculars,” John said in a quivering voice.
“Good man, that’s thinking. It would draw attention to us,” Nathan said. “There’s a food mart up ahead. We will take a break in the parking lot,” Nathan told them in a low voice.
“Bullshit! We are leaving!” Amanda shot back in her regular voice.
Nathan looked down at her in shock at her response.
“I agree with Amanda. Let’s get the hell out of here,” John whispered loudly. Still looking at Amanda, Nathan could tell she was terrified.
“Okay, we will continue, but let’s slow down a bit,” he said, easing the pace.
Amanda nodded and tilted her head up at him. “Okay, but if you stop I’ll meet you at the rally point,” she said matter-of-factly. “Something’s wrong here,” she said, turning her head to look straight ahead.
Nathan smiled, glad she could feel it. He had no idea what was going on here but he didn’t like it. “The person is getting closer, half the distance so forty yards … and it’s a girl,” John whispered.
“What does she look like?” Nathan asked.
“She’s a little taller than Amanda but filled out really well with pretty tanned skin. She has blue shorts, red tight shirt, hiking boots, long black hair, no jewelry, and a large black backpack like mine,” John whispered back, making Nathan chuckle.
“She’s a hottie, huh?” Nathan asked.
“How do you know? You haven’t even seen her,” John said, amazed that Nathan could tell just from his description.
“John, you told me everything but her eye color,” Nathan said, trying not to laugh.
“She has on sunglasses so I couldn’t see,” John admitted. “I snuck a quick peek with my binoculars.”
Unable to control himself, Nathan stared to laugh. “Just watch her and make sure no one is following her,” he said.
“Haven’t spotted anyone yet,” John reported.
They’d walked another half hour when Nathan spoke. “We are stopping ahead for ten minutes. Don’t take your packs off and stay close,” he told them.
“Hello, we’re still here,” Amanda said in a low voice, looking at a crowd of people at a small store.
“Amanda, we have to stop and give Ares water. He doesn’t have a drinking tube,” Nathan said.
“Oh Ares, I’m sorry,” Amanda said, reaching down and rubbing his neck. Ares looked up at her, panting hard with his tongue hanging out. Amanda felt bad just looking at him. “I’ll get you some water in a minute, Ares, don’t worry,” she promised and he rubbed up against her, knocking her into Nathan. “I know Ares, I love you too,” she said, running her hand down his back.
Nathan stepped off the road and onto a lawn in front of an abandoned business. He stopped under a tree and Amanda dug into Ares’ pack, pulling out his bowl. Nathan handed her a bottle and Ares was lapping it out of the air as she poured.
As he looked around, Nathan could still see a lot of people in front yards, and some were looking back at them. He turned to look at the building behind them and saw it was a computer repair store. “That’s why it’s empty,” he mumbled.
“She’s heading to us,” John said in a low voice. Nathan turned around to look.
“If anyone tries anything, just kill everybody. Ares is still thirsty,” Amanda commanded. Nathan smiled as he gazed at their follower.
He had to agree with John. She was a hottie. Young, but a hottie. She peeled off the road and crossed the lawn towards them. She slowed her step as she neared. “Can I come closer please?” she asked. Nathan nodded and she walked over. He looked down at Ares, still lapping, and Amanda, who had taken off his pack and was rubbing his fur.
When their follower got closer, Nathan could see she was in her late teens or early twenties. She stopped in front of them and held out her hand. “I’m Jasmine,” she told them, taking off her sunglasses.
Pausing for a second, he reached out and shook her hand. “Nathan,” he said.
“You guys were moving along,” she said, smiling. “You must know about the refugees coming in?” she asked.
“Nope, just moving through,” he said as Ares finally quit drinking.
“That’s why I was following you. I knew you were leaving,” she said, and Nathan shook his head.
“No, this is our group. Go join another,” he said, knowing what was coming.
Jasmine looked him in the eyes. “You’re the first I’ve seen who aren’t a bunch of rednecks, gang bangers, or people who’ve never walked further than the front door of their house. I’m not stupid. I’ve seen over a dozen women raped in the last week, two people shot, one beat to death, and three stabbed. I know what’s going to happen if I stay here longer,” she said.
“Amanda, get the pack on Ares, we’re leaving,” Nathan said, seeing several people take an interest in the group. “Jasmine, I’m sorry, but we’re leaving,” he said.
“Fine, I’ll follow,” she said, putting on her sunglasses. Across the street two men came out of a house and pointed at the group. With the grins on their faces, Nathan knew they weren’t pointing at him.
“Okay, you can come with us but I’m the boss. The first time you don’t do what I say and endanger u
s I’ll tie you up and leave you behind. If you get one of these kids killed you won’t be far behind,” Nathan said like he was ordering pizza, and then he looked at Amanda as she put the bowl in Ares’s pack.
Nathan didn’t say anything to them as he grabbed Amanda’s hand and started walking out of the subdivision. Not long after that they came around a curve to a four-lane highway like the one the camp was on. “Ahh, shit,” Amanda said, looking at the road.
“Amanda, watch your mouth. Enough is enough, you’re a little girl. You’re tough, but still a little girl,” Nathan said, never breaking pace to the highway.
“Watch my mouth?” she popped back. “That’s a big fucking road. Bad stuff is close to big fucking roads,” she said, pointing with her left hand holding the leash.
“I’m not kidding on the mouth, I’ll spank your butt,” Nathan said, looking down at her with a gleam in his eye. “I know it’s a big road but you are attracting attention. We want everyone to think we’ve been here a thousand times and know where everything is at,” he reminded her.
She looked down shamefaced. “Sorry,” she said.
“You can cuss tonight when we camp, just not too loud or where I can hear it,” Nathan said. Amanda jerked her head up with a smile as they turned onto the highway and crossed over to walk on the southbound lane side.
They made it another mile only to see a camp on the other side of the road. A group of young men were standing just off the shoulder of the road yelling out stuff no doubt aimed at Jasmine. “Jasmine, hold John’s hand,” Nathan said over his shoulder.
A few minutes later he heard several “Awws” from the group followed by a few challenges at John. “John, don’t even look at them,” Nathan warned, never slowing pace.
“Yes sir,” John said and Nathan let it slide, hearing the tremble in his voice. He didn’t know if it was from fear or from holding Jasmine’s hand. Knowing boys, Nathan figured the latter.
Dark Titan Journey: Wilderness Travel Page 5
