Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home (14 page)

“Looks like we’re eating breakfast,” Nathan said, looking at Emma and she curled back her lips and smiled at him. It still sent a shiver down Nathan’s spine. “You’re so weird.”

When Nathan walked into the barn the others were shocked to hear him talk gibberish to Emma that she answered. “They have been together too much,” Jasmine said, pulling on her vest. Chip sat at her feet, watching the conversation between Nathan and Emma, then turning to look back at Jasmine.

Amanda walked over as Nathan put Emma down and started getting dressed. “Do you know what you were saying?” Amanda asked, picking up Emma.

Nathan looked at her confused. “About what?”

“What were you saying to Emma when you came in?” Amanda said.

Nathan stopped tying his boots. “I wasn’t talking to her.”

“Yes, you were. You were talking in that blabbering she does,” Amanda said.

Looking down Nathan finished tying his boots and put on his vest. “No, I wasn’t.” Nathan slung his rifle across his chest and held out his hands for Emma, but Amanda turned away from him.

“Maybe you two need some time apart,” she stated.

“I’ve carried that child across three states and have been humiliated as a butt wiper and toilet. She has peed on me, pooped on me, spit on me, thrown up on me, and beaten me, and now all of a sudden you are worried about my state of mind,” Nathan said in a crazy-sounding voice.

Not liking the look in Nathan’s eye, Amanda handed Emma over. “Here.”

As Amanda walked away, Nathan looked at Emma. “Yeah, I know you’re a mess but at least I can hang you on a coat rack.” Emma giggled. “Greg said breakfast is ready in the back yard,” Nathan said, handing Emma back to Amanda.

“Oh, you give her back,” Amanda snapped.

“Yeah, I just wanted you to know the humiliation I go through and that you aren’t the only one who controls me,” Nathan said walking over to the pack saddles.

Amanda narrowed her eyes at Emma. “I found him first, he’s mine.”

Emma curled her lips back. “No!” she shouted.

“Hey I can kick your butt,” Amanda informed Emma. Emma blew a raspberry, covering Amanda’s face with spit. Wiping her face off, Amanda mumbled, “If you weren’t so cute I would bounce you.”

“Bitch,” Emma said very clearly, and started giggling, more from the shock on Amanda’s face than the actual word.

Finally the shock wore off and Amanda glared at the two year old in her arms. “Ah, I know you didn’t call me a bitch. I will kick your ass.”

Emma squealed with laughter, clapping her hands. Amanda couldn’t help but grin. “Bitch,” Emma stated again, and the grin left Amanda’s face. Emma squealed and clapped her hands at the other shocked faces.

“I’m going to bounce you like a basketball,” Amanda vowed.

Nathan stood up. “You try it and I’ll wear your ass out with a belt.”

Amanda spun around. “You didn’t even say anything to her!” Emma clapped harder in Amanda’s arms hearing her yell.

“Look how many times I told you, and that hasn’t done any good,” Nathan pointed out. Amanda glared at Nathan, who glared right back. “Take her to the table in the backyard and I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Casey grabbed Amanda’s free arm and pulled her outside with Natalie following. Laughing, Jasmine picked up Chip and headed to the backyard.

John and Tom walked over to Nathan. “Nathan, you were talking to Emma in gibberish,” John said.

“I know. I was trying to figure out what she was trying to tell me. I don’t even know what I was saying,” Nathan replied, making Tom and John laugh. Nathan pulled some things out of the supply pack and headed outside.

Reaching the backyard they found several picnic tables were set up and one was covered with food. Nathan walked over to Greg, “You don’t need to do this for us. You need to ration your food.” Greg and his family laughed. Nathan didn’t see what was so funny.

“Nathan, this is a normal meal for us. We made everything on this table,” Greg said. “We have over a year stored up here and another year’s worth over at my oldest boy’s farm.”

Nathan barely heard him. He was staring at the platter of homemade biscuits. “Then you only have to worry about protection,” Nathan said, taking his eyes off the biscuits. “I noticed you only had two AR-15s and a shit load of hunting rifles.”

Greg nodded. “Yeah, and we can shoot with those hunting rifles. I was in the service and so was one of my boys, and we have ARs. To be honest, we only bought them to plink with. I wish I had a few more.”

Lifting up his hand, Nathan handed over one of their extra M-4s. “We can only spare one.” He set down a metal ammo can and pulled out a Beretta, laying it beside the can. “That’s five hundred rounds of 5.56 and two hundred 9mm for the Beretta,” Nathan said. He took Emma from Amanda. Amanda had totally forgiven Emma and really didn’t want to let her go.

Greg and his family stared at the weapon and the other gifts. Greg rotated the gun and saw “Property of the U.S. Government” stamped on the side. “Shit,” Greg stated and most of his family nodded in agreement.

“You got this off some of those you killed didn’t you?” Greg asked.

Nathan shook his head as he started filling a plate. “Naw, they killed those ones.” Nathan motioned to the others.

The family looked at the kids and Jasmine. Amanda waved at them. “Nathan was just going to talk to them till they tried something. We got tired of waiting.” It took no prodding of Nathan’s group to start eating. Greg’s family was shocked that the kids and Jasmine could kill so quickly. The new rules of the world had begun to come home to them.

Chapter 12

After breakfast Nathan walked around with Greg and his sons, showing them how to improve their defenses and supplies. Then he told them about making fall-back positions. They walked and talked till noon, stopping as lunch was laid out. Again Nathan was amazed at the amount and variety of food.

When they were finished eating, reluctantly Nathan told his group to get ready. They headed to the barn with most of Greg’s family following. Once the horses were saddled Greg held out his hand to Nathan.

Nathan shook it. “You be careful,” Greg said.

“I’m trying, but people keep trying to kill us,” Nathan replied.

“You just shoot them first,” Greg said. “I put some supplies in your gear for the horses. You know how to shoe a horse?”

“I’ve done it a few times but it takes me forever, about half an hour a hoof,” Nathan admitted.

“As long as you do it right it don’t matter. I put a hammer and nails with a few spare shoes and some shoe boots in case they throw one till you can fix it,” Greg said looking at the Nathan’s kids hugging members of his family. “My wife put some food in your bags as well.”

Nathan sighed, “You need to keep that. We have food.”

“You will learn a valuable lesson here. When a woman wants to do something, let her. It’s better for you in both the short and long term,” Greg said. “Besides, you’ll have good stuff to eat.”

Nathan liked that piece of advice. “You read that stuff and keep an eye out. If you can, move a few more people closer. Remember, always be ready to run.”

Greg looked around at his farm. “We will. I can’t promise we will run far.”

“As long as you get away, you can come back and rebuild. You can’t do much dead,” Nathan said.

“That is the truth. We will be waiting on your broadcast to let us know you made it,” Greg said as Nathan put Emma in her sling. Greg’s wife had given Emma a sucker that was as big as her face and she licked away. Nathan could see the next bath time was going to be a challenge.

“Just don’t broadcast from here,” Nathan said, climbing up on his saddle.

“Don’t worry, we won’t.” Greg held up the M-4 Nathan had given him. “And if trouble comes, I’ll let my gift say hello.” The rest of Greg’s family came over to shake Nathan’s hand. Nathan heard sheep bleating and saw Ares chasing them in the backyard. “Ares, will you quit!” Nathan shouted

Ares stopped and looked at Nathan like he lost his mind. Giving one last glance at the sheep, Ares trotted over to the group. Athena had just sat down to watch Ares and got up, following Ares to the group. Greg laughed as he stepped back from Nathan’s horse. “You can’t be too mad at him, he just chases them. He never bit one.”

“That’s all he does, sheep are his one weakness. One of my group has about twenty. Ares will be in hog heaven when we get home,” Nathan told Greg as he adjusted Emma and his equipment. Like always, it was for Emma’s comfort, not his. When he thought she was comfortable, Nathan glanced back and saw everyone was ready. “Good luck to you, Greg. If this ends we’ll come back and see you,” Nathan said, kicking Smoke.

“You too, Nathan. I’ll keep the rocking chair on the porch for ya,” Greg called out as Nathan reached the road.

The rest of the group waved goodbye when they reached the road. A mile down the dirt road, Nathan turned west. On their left they could see Greg’s farm off in the distance. Hearing hoof beats behind him, Nathan glanced over his shoulder seeing everyone spread out across the road behind him. “Guys, when I say a line I mean parallel to the road, not perpendicular,” he said.

“Nathan, even Mr. Greg said this area doesn’t have many people,” Natalie said behind him.

“Better to break bad habits before they start,” Nathan replied.

“You think they will make it?” Jasmine asked.

“They have an excellent chance, that’s for sure. Unless the government or a large gang comes at them they will do fine,” Nathan said.

Jasmine smiled letting out a sigh. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Nathan looked over his shoulder. “Except for weapons, they are set up better than our group in Idaho.”

“It’s because they have so much farmland, isn’t it?” Amanda asked.

“That’s part of it. They are already living off the land, off-grid and know how to do it already. They have the skills to live and not just survive,” Nathan said, lifting up his thermal binoculars.

“You have the skills,” John said.

Not seeing any human hotspots, Nathan let the thermal drop, almost hitting Emma. “Yes, but I’ve only practiced growing crops and raising animals. Living off-grid takes some getting used to. But since there is no grid anymore that is a moot point. I’m thankful we have a vet with us or we’d be screwed.”

“You have a vet?” Jasmine asked.

Amanda let out a sigh. “Jasmine, I know I’ve told you like a hundred times. Billy’s wife Janice is a vet.”

Jasmine gaped at Amanda in wonder. “I can’t commit them to memory till I meet them.”

“I’ve been telling you about them,” Amanda said with attitude.

Jasmine knew better than to respond with the attitude Amanda was showing. She looked back at Nathan. “Greg’s daughter Karrie said we haven’t been pushing the horse very hard. Are we going to start adding miles?”

“Since we hit Oklahoma we’ve been averaging fifty miles a day. I’m happy with that,” Nathan said.

“Amanda said we were only doing thirty-nine,” Jasmine snapped him, looking at Amanda.

Nathan shrugged. “You’re the one listening to someone who counts on her fingers.”

“I used a calculator, damn it,” Amanda snapped. “And if you divide how many days since we traveled by how far we went, it was thirty-nine point two.”

Nathan shook his head. “You used the number of days since the world stopped, not travel days. We stopped at the lake for a day, the Mans’ farm in Mississippi for three days, a day in Arkansas and a day at Greg’s farm. And remember we didn’t even start for five days.” Amanda drew herself up in her saddle, taking a deep breath. “Don’t, I’m not in the mood,” Nathan warned not having turned around.

Amanda slumped in her saddle. “I tried,” she pouted.

“That you did, and did an excellent job. The inventory you and the girls completed was spot on,” Nathan said.

“How the hell would you know? You didn’t check it,” she demanded.

“I kept my own mental inventory,” Nathan said. “Now I don’t know what Greg’s wife gave us, but I will add it tonight.”

“That’s just being a smarty pants,” Amanda accused.

Nathan turned around in his saddle. “Amanda, food and supplies are rather important. Don’t you think someone needed to know what we have so they know when we need more?”

Amanda looked down. “Yeah.”

“Don’t be down. Now that you and the others see it I’m not going to worry about it,” Nathan turned back around.

Amanda broke out in a cold sweat. “You can’t put that much responsibility on us.”

“Just a little while ago you were pissed that I knew what we had,” Nathan pointed out.

Amanda glanced around for help and the other looked back at her. The faces of the others told Amanda was on her own. “Okay, I figured you knew some of what we had but not all of it. I was wrong,” she admitted.

“No, you weren’t wrong,” Nathan said. Amanda jerked her head up. “You were confirming our supplies and making sure the group was taken care of. I have a lot of other things to worry about. You were just checking.”

Amanda didn’t remember thinking that. Casey and Natalie patted her leg, smiling. “We will keep track of the food,” Amanda said.

“That’s good. Are you listening to the radio?” Nathan asked not looking back.

Amanda slumped. “No.” She pulled out the ear bud and turned on the radio. She got out her notebook and pen. Soon she was writing what she heard. Nathan turned around to watch her write. Amanda was writing in a saddle on a moving horse, and her penmanship was excellent.

Seeing Amanda’s hand moving across the page, Jasmine smiled. “Nathan, is our final rally point our campsite?”

“It usually is,” Nathan said.

“Not really,” Jasmine said under her breath but Nathan still heard it. “That’s what I was asking about traveling farther, it’s just over seventy miles.”

“We’ll keep this pace if we can, but if it wears us down we will slow down. Remember, today is a long travel day. After today we will continue moving at night,” Nathan said as they crossed a bridge over a small river. They scanned ahead and spotted a house over a mile away. It was the first one they had seen since leaving Greg’s.

They were barely a half a mile from the bridge when Nathan turned onto another dirt road. Nathan scanned with the thermal again, seeing no hotspots for humans but finding a lot of deer. Turning around in his saddle, he was happy to see everyone was once again spread out behind him.

When the sun was on the horizon, Nathan led them off the road to a small creek. As the horses drank, everyone took care of business and opened some food. It was MREs, which Nathan barely considered food. They only ate cooked food in camp.

As the others ate, Jasmine sat on the ground, letting Emma and Chip play. In the six hours they had been traveling they had seen a total of nine houses. At most of them they observed people out working. Nathan never led them closer than a mile. The expanse of farmland around them was mind-boggling.

Amanda looked up from her notebook. “Nathan, where’s Hastings?”

“About ninety miles to the northeast,” he said, watching Emma chase Ares. Chip was throwing rocks in the water, laughing. Chip still hadn’t talked, but he was starting to laugh more. “Why?” Nathan asked, looking back at Amanda.

“Someone called ‘Green Machine’ said a group of bikers attacked there last night and left this morning. They killed a few people and took some women,” Amanda said.

Nathan raised his eyebrow. “Did they say which way they headed?”

“Northwest,” she said before shoving a handful of food in her mouth.

Nathan climbed off of Smoke and walked over to Amanda. “Any word on government close?”

Amanda didn’t look up as she wrote. “No. Several were talking about some ‘slugs’ that got ‘salted’ a few days ago. It sounds like they were driving around to farms to see if there were people there.”

“Have you heard from F-U-G-man?” Nathan asked.

Amanda shook her head. “No, but a woman called ‘Rolling Dolly’ said he would be on at seven.”

Nathan looked at his watch. “It’s six. Why don’t you quit writing and give your hand a break? I want to know what F-U-G-man has to say.”

Relived, Amanda sat up and clipped her pen to her notebook, shaking her hand. “Boy that’s some work,” she declared.

“Yeah, but its work I couldn’t do,” Nathan admitted. “I could listen but not even I could read what I wrote down.”

“Can I help?” Natalie offered.

Nathan turned to her. “Can you write as fast and neat as Amanda?” Natalie shook her head. “Neither can I, so don’t let that get to you.”

“I’m not doing anything helpful,” Natalie whined.

“Bullshit,” Nathan replied. “You are watching our sides, our flanks.”

“You’ve already seen what I’m looking at before we get there,” Natalie informed him.

“So someone can’t move into an area once I’ve looked at it?” Nathan asked. Natalie shrugged. “I’m looking way ahead; it would be easy to sneak up on our sides if we weren’t watching. Amanda is busy and Casey can’t help much now because she has to stay close to Amanda. With Amanda listening to the radio and writing Casey is basically driving two horses.”

Natalie’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t think about that.”

“You better. How would you feel if someone attacked from your area, killing some of us?” Nathan asked. Natalie’s eyes got big. “See? You have a very important job. The only ones who don’t are Emma and Chip. Chip does help set up camp. I’m not sure what Emma is trying to tell me.” Natalie laughed.

“I’ll do good,” she promised.

Nathan shook his head. “You already have. We haven’t been attacked.”

“I haven’t seen anyone,” Natalie said.

“I’m sure we’ve been watched by ones we can’t see. Remember the ones that saw us and we didn’t see them? They didn’t attack us on the road. They followed us to camp, hoping we would let down are guard. They saw us always looking out. It wasn’t worth attacking us then. I’m positive others have noticed and left us alone,” Nathan explained. Natalie smiled.

Amanda jumped off her horse and stretched. Nathan picked up her notebook and quickly scanned it. He was happy to see a lot of what Amanda wrote was bartering and very little of it was food. There were a few people looking for friends and relatives and some relaying messages. A few entries were about the battle around Salina and a battle going on in Wichita. Unlike Salina, the government was in Wichita in strength, and those fighting were getting hit hard.

Shaking his head, Nathan put Amanda’s notebook back and hugged her. A smile split her face as he squeezed her. Seeing Amanda’s reaction, Nathan went to all the girls and hugged them. Jasmine was disappointed till Nathan hugged her. Then he kissed her, a real one on the lips.

When he let her go she was just standing in shock as he walked away. “Whoa,” she said, fanning her face with her hands. Chip walked over to her, smiling. Jasmine picked Chip up. “I think I’m wearing him down.” Chip just looked at her with an innocent smile.

Calling Ares over, Nathan caught Emma as she chased the dog. Ares looked at Nathan with a thankful expression. Nathan pulled out a piece of jerky and gave it to Ares before climbing in his saddle. Emma wasn’t happy about playtime being interrupted and didn’t feel the need to be quiet about it. Nathan said nothing as he wrestled her into her sling.

When Nathan held up her sippy cup and cookies, Emma shut up and reached out. Handing them over, Nathan looked at the sticky mess that the sucker made. Emma’s hair had massive clumps where the sugar dripped in it and her face was filthy. “I’m glad I don’t wash you,” Nathan said. Then, checking to see if everyone was mounted up, Nathan kicked Smoke, leading her back to the road.

Nathan patted Smoke. “Don’t worry girl, when we get home you get a month off.” Smoke blew through her lips, giving off a nicker. Nathan wasn’t sure what that meant so he just ignored it. As the sun eased to the horizon everyone put on NVGs. Reluctantly, Nathan pulled out his head harness with both the thermal and NV monoculars mounted. “You give me another headache like that and I’ll take the chance of riding in the day,” Nathan told the harness.