John smiled bigger. “Thank you. Can I tell you something and you won’t get mad?”
“Sure,” Nathan said, trying to will the trucks to go faster.
John looked down. “You’re my best friend,” he said, embarrassed.
Nathan reached over and squeezed John’s shoulder. “You’re one of mine too. My best buddies will be yours too,” Nathan told him. John looked up shocked.
“You mean, they’ll like me?” John asked flabbergasted.
“John, you’re a good guy. I don’t know what kind of people you’ve been around but I’m guessing they sucked,” Nathan said as the truck slowed as it struggled up a hill, pulling the sixty-foot trailer.
“They always made fun of me,” John mumbled.
Fighting the urge to rock back and forth in the seat to help the truck up the hill, Nathan glanced over at John. “I don’t know if you’ve looked in the mirror lately, but you have lost a lot of weight,” Nathan said.
John looked up, smiling. “Sixty pounds,” he said proudly. “Even though I’m not losing much anymore.”
“You’re getting to where you’re supposed to be. I’ve noticed you are starting to put on muscle.” Nathan grinned at him.
“I wish my mom could see me,” John said with a longing look.
“She can,” Nathan said quietly as the truck crept up to the top of the hill. “Shit we’re going to be coming in during daylight,” Nathan said grabbing the radio.
“Boss, we are going to be coming in during waking hours, over,” Nathan called out to Rodger. They didn’t want to use names.
“Yeah, I was just talking about that with my guys. We might need to take alternate route, over,” Rodger replied.
The alternate route was the bridge to the south of Amory. They had assured Nathan it didn’t have a roadblock, since it sat outside of town. “Boss, that’s close to trouble, over,” Nathan replied.
“You have a better idea? Over,” Rodger called back.
“We could hold up somewhere till dark, over,” Nathan offered.
It was a few minutes before Rodger answered. “Negative, we are expected and I don’t want the others to come looking for us. I’ll lead since I know the back roads to the bridge, over,” Rodger said.
“Negative on you leading. You are too small and have hot stuff behind you. I know the route, so don’t worry. But everyone be ready to ‘play’, over,” Nathan said.
“You can bet on that. I’m going to have to rebuild the transmission after this, over,” Rodger called back.
Glancing over, Nathan instructed John, “Get ready. If someone shoots, just aim and squeeze.” He motioned for Ares to lie down. John nodded and the smile eased off his face as he checked his weapon.
Fifteen minutes later Nathan turned off their route, heading for Amory, then turned off onto a small dirt road. He had to slow down to a crawl as he turned onto another dirt road and looked in his mirror to see the trucks pulling double almost dive into the ditch so the trailers would stay on the road.
Seeing everyone had made the turn, Nathan started to pick up speed slowly. As he drove down the dirt road, Nathan got out his map and checked his position. The sky was getting brighter and the NVG was starting to white out. Reaching up he turned down the intensity and gripped the steering wheel tighter.
Several miles later he spotted the highway that ran to the bridge only a mile up the road. “John, keep alert,” Nathan said, as he barely slowed making his turn. Up ahead he spotted Amory in the distance and the roadblock at the edge of town.
“I see them,” John said, bringing his rifle up and following the roadblock as they turned. When they straightened out, John lost sight of the roadblock and looked forward. “The bridge is clear!” he said with joy.
Sighing with relief, Nathan said a silent prayer, glancing in his mirror to watch the trucks behind him make the turn fast. Seeing the Chevy, make the turn Nathan pushed the pedal down, building speed as fast as he could. “They’re shooting at us!” Rodger called out.
“Don’t stop! Let’s get the hell out of here, over!” Nathan yelled as he crossed the bridge over the Tombigbee.
“It looks like a truck just pulled out from the roadblock after us!” Rodger yelled.
“Shit!” Nathan yelled as he pulled to the side of the road. “Everyone keep going, we’ll catch up, over,” Nathan shouted into the radio as he guided his truck to a stop on the side of the road. The other trucks drove past as Nathan turned to John. “If something happens to me, get back to the farm on foot, understand?”
With his heart pounding, John nodded as Nathan jumped out of the truck and shut the door before Ares could get out. As Nathan’s feet hit the asphalt, he brought up his M-4 just as Rodger passed by him. Looking through his scope, he saw a truck crossing the bridge. He could see several people in the back of the truck shooting at him. Since they were a mile away, Nathan paid them no mind as he kneeled down in the road, sighting on the grill of the truck. Raising the crosshairs up till the bottom mil mark on the reticle was on the grille.
He slowly squeezed the trigger when the truck was six hundred yards away, and the rifle bucked in his hands. Watching closely, Nathan saw the impact on the bumper. Smiling, he flipped the weapon to burst and lowered his aim since the truck was coming at him. Squeezing the trigger the rifle shuddered. He saw all three hit the grille and steam erupted out of the engine block. Not stopping, Nathan emptied the magazine and loaded another.
This time he aimed at the windshield. It took two bursts till he saw the windshield spider web out. The truck was only three hundred yards away as it coasted off the highway into the ditch. Shifting his aim, Nathan put the rest of the clip into the side of the bed and cab. Feeling his bolt lock back, Nathan jumped up and grabbed the door, jumping in. He threw his rifle at John. “Load it quick! If they weren’t pissed off before they are now!” Nathan shouted slamming the shifter into first gear.
John dropped the empty magazine as Nathan looked into the mirror and saw a man open the truck’s door and fall out. Nathan was in third before he saw a muzzle flash behind him, and the old deuce picked up more speed.
“Look out!” John yelled. Nathan took his eyes off the mirror and looked forward to see Rodger’s car on the side of the road, picking up speed. Nathan slowed down, keeping Rodger’s car and trailer in front of him. He didn’t want a lucky shot to hit the fuel trailer. Mythbusters said it couldn’t be done, but he’d be damned if he was going to find out if a bullet could ignite a five hundred gallon fuel trailer.
In a few seconds they rounded a curve to see the other trucks moving at a slow crawl. “I’m moving to the passing lane. We are going home, over!” Nathan shouted in the radio.
“Shit, we were waiting on you, over,” Nathan heard someone call out. It was false dawn and his NVG was becoming useless so he took it off. Seeing Nathan take his off, John did the same.
“You think you got one?” John asked, passing Nathan’s M-4 back.
“Have no idea. I just wanted them to leave us alone,” Nathan said grabbing his rifle.
“Is it alright to feel a little weird?” John asked looking out the front window.
Nathan laughed, “I think I need to change underwear when we get back.”
Shock spread across John’s face. “You were scared?” he asked in disbelief.
“Shit yeah, I was scared,” Nathan said. “If getting shot at doesn’t make you scared you are insane.”
John breathed a sigh of relief. “Well that makes me feel better because I might need to change my undies as well.”
Nathan laughed as they continued down the road. After only ten more minutes they were pulling into Bob’s long driveway. Before they even got close to the house they could see people pouring out of it running toward them.
John reached over tapping Nathan’s arm. “I guess they are glad to see us,” he said smiling
and sticking his hand out of the window waving at the crowd. Nathan smiled as he pulled over to the barn.
When he stepped out of the truck he was hit by Jasmine as she flew at him, knocking him down. They landed in a crash with Jasmine hugging him tight. Nathan winced from the impact as he felt other impacts driving him into the dirt. Opening his eyes, Nathan saw the kids piling on Jasmine’s back, crying.
The weight started to get to Nathan, driving the air from his lungs. He really wanted that air. Not meaning to hurt them, Nathan started throwing people back till he could breathe. “John!” he heard Amanda yell. Rolling over to his hands and knees, Nathan watched John get the same treatment. The only difference was that Amanda reached him first, not knocking him down. Jasmine and the others took care of that.
Pulling in air to his lungs never felt so good as Nathan closed his eyes, filling his lungs, and felt small arms wrap around his neck. Opening his eyes, he found Emma latched on his neck. “Miss me?” he asked.
“No,” Emma said with her arms around his neck.
“Did you get a job?” Nathan asked, smiling getting up on his knees and hugging her tightly.
“No,” Emma said smiling. Then she looked up. “Sky,” she said.
Nathan laughed. “Yeah, that’s the sky,” he said getting up and walking over pulling bodies off of John. By the time he got to John, John’s face was red from lack of air.
Jasmine spun around with blazing eyes. “We were telling him we were glad you got back!” she shouted.
Seeing the wild look in her eyes, Nathan took an involuntary step back. “And for that we are much appreciative but he needs air. You guys were crushing the air out of him,” Nathan said, pointing at John, whose face was still red.
Jasmine’s hands flew to her mouth as she helped John up. “John, we’re so sorry!” she cried out, followed by everyone else.
With everyone’s help they pulled John up. He had his customary smile. “Oh it’s okay, I’m glad to see y’all too,” he said, hugging everyone. Ares bounded out of the cab of the truck, barking at the group, telling them, ‘Hey I’m here too.’ The kids hugged Ares and Athena joined them.
Jasmine turned to Nathan, who was stretching his back. “What happened? How did you hurt your back?”
Looking at her out of the corner of his eyes, Nathan snapped, “From someone knocking me on my ass.”
“You got beat up?” Jasmine cried out.
Nathan stumbled back. “Ah no, when you knocked me on my back knocking the air out of me,” he replied.
Flying at Nathan, Jasmine wrapped her arms around him and Emma. “I’m so sorry. I was just worried. You guys were supposed to be back before sunrise,” she said pulling back wiping tears from her eyes.
Nathan wrapped her in a hug. “It’s not like we wanted to be late. But thank you.” He kissed the top of Jasmine’s head. Not liking that ‘kid’ kiss, Jasmine moved her hands to the back of Nathan’s head, pulled it down, and kissed him on the lips.
“You kiss me on the lips buster,” she said, releasing him and smiling.
Fighting not to blush, Nathan laughed. “People could get the wrong idea.”
Jasmine scoffed, “Like I care.”
Bob ran over with the rest of the family. Howard and his family wrapped up Nathan and John then Bob walked over as Nathan held out his hand not wanting to be crushed again. Bob batted his hand out of the way and wrapped his arms around Nathan.
“Oh shit,” Nathan muttered as the bear hug started. Luckily Bob’s wife Mindy slapped Bob’s arm.
“Bob, quit squeezing him so tight. He’s changing colors,” Mindy snapped.
Letting Nathan go quickly, Bob stepped back. “Sorry,” he said, embarrassed. “Just glad y’all made it.” He reached out to shake Nathan’s hand.
Nathan looked at the outstretched hand with dread. If his arms can do that, will he break my hand? Nathan thought as he slowly grasped Bob’s hand firmly and quickly pulled in Bob for a ‘man hug’ with one arm. Caught off guard, Bob returned the hug and Nathan let go, getting his hand back uncrushed.
“We’re glad to be back and to see you too,” Nathan said, hugging Mindy.
“We’re fixing to start unloading,” Bob said, pointing to the barn. “We pulled out the tractors.”
“Is one of the rooms in there empty?” Nathan asked, pointing at the barn.
“Yeah,” Bob answered.
“Can we use it to store some stuff?” Nathan asked.
“Hell yeah, I’ll give you the keys to it,” Bob said, walking toward the barn.
“Later will be good. If you don’t mind, I want some food,” Nathan said.
Bob stopped and turned around. “The rest of the guys you went with are already inside eating. We’re emptying the trucks,” Bob said.
“We’ll empty this truck,” Nathan said, pointing at the deuce-and-a-half. “Don’t worry, you will understand later.” Nathan motioned to John to follow him to the house.
Seeing the two head to the house, Jasmine and the kids followed. They entered the back into the kitchen and Jasmine led them to the dining room area. In there they found the group that had made the run eating. Nathan put Emma down, which made her start yelling.
“Emma, I need to eat,” Nathan whined, looking down at Emma.
Emma reached up and was opening and closing her hands. “Naafen,” she cried out.
Surprised by that, Nathan smiled and reached back down. “Well since you almost said my name I guess I have to hold you now,” Nathan said, picking her up. Emma squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Grabbing Nathan’s arm, Jasmine led him to a chair at the table then brought him a plate. Like a starving man, Nathan vacuumed up the bacon, eggs and hash browns. Looking around the table at the group and seeing John smiling filled Nathan with warmth he had not felt in a long time.
Chapter 17
Day 21
When Nathan finished eating he led his group back to the barn and was amazed to find most of the trucks empty. Looking at his watch, Nathan confirmed that he had only been inside about an hour. “Shit, they are fast,” Nathan said leading his group to the deuce-and-a-half.
“What?” Jasmine asked.
“They’re almost are done unloading,” Nathan said.
“Nathan, Bob has five boys and one daughter, who are all married with kids. Then you have Rodger’s three boys and their families. Then you have the four field workers and their families. Last night while you guys were gone, six deputies showed up with their families. They have close to fifty people who can work here,” she told Nathan.
“Wow,” Nathan said. “Then they have an excellent shot at making it.”
“I’m still not staying,” Jasmine snapped.
Not even replying, Nathan walked over to Bob, “Which of those rooms can I use for storage?” he asked.
Bob pulled a key from his pocket and led Nathan to a small room in the corner. “We used to store parts in here but it got too cramped so we built a bigger one,” he said pointing at a much larger room on the other side of the barn. Opening the door, he showed Nathan a small ten-by-ten room. “This big enough?”
Nathan nodded. “Oh yeah.”
When they were alone, Nathan and his group unloaded the truck, putting some ammo and all the gold, silver, jewelry, and cash in the small room. Locking the door Nathan went up to the loft with everyone tagging along. They looked out the loft window over the farm. “I’m sleeping up here,” Nathan told everyone. “You can sleep in the house if you want.”
“Casey and I are staying here with you,” Amanda said. Everyone else agreed they wanted to sleep there as well.
They went back to the house and gathered up their packs and the wagon, moving everything but the wagon up to the loft. As they were setting up, Bob brought them some old army cots to use. Nathan took a quick nap and was up
again for lunch. He made his way to the picnic tables that were set up outside and he and his group sat down. The kids moved so Bob and Rodger could sit beside Nathan.
Rodger took off his duty belt. “I could sleep for a month,” he said dropping down on the bench.
“I hear ya,” Nathan said. “I had to take a nap.”
“I did too,” Rodger replied. Bob snorted with laughter.
Nathan grinned at the two. “Since you two run this group, I need to meet with you tomorrow afternoon. Just you and no one else. I really wouldn’t advise telling anyone about what we discuss or what I give you.” They both looked more than a little alarmed.
“What the hell do you have?” Bob asked.
“Tomorrow,” Nathan replied, and Bob reluctantly nodded his head in agreement.
Rodger leaned over the table. “Our other brother, Dennis, will be here tomorrow. Can we bring him?”
“Does he help make decisions for this family?” Nathan asked.
Bob and Rodger laughed, and Bob answered, “The General thinks he runs this family! If it weren’t for him the farm wouldn’t be here, not to mention the help he’s given us since this started.”
“Fair enough,” Nathan told them.
Bob grinned. “Just to let you know, Howard is his favorite nephew. Dennis and his wife can’t have kids so they spoil ours and the grandbabies. He’s been by twice since this started but only for a few minutes. He told us last week he was coming up to spend the night tomorrow.”
“Do you think he knows what’s going on?” Nathan asked.
The smiles left Bob and Rodger’s faces. Rodger nodded. “He knows a lot about what’s going on. He hasn’t told us much but he knows much. He’s keeps a straight face but we know him and Dennis is worried about something.”
Staring off, Nathan thought about what he needed to get done then addressed Bob. “I need you to get some people to show the kids how to ride and care for horses. I’m going to use several hundred rounds of ammo teaching the kids and Jasmine how to shoot. If you don’t mind.”
“We can start this afternoon. We have enough saddles to get started,” Bob said.
Dark Titan Journey: Wilderness Travel Page 25
