Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home (33 page)

“Yes she would,” Nathan said, then looked at Jasmine.

Jasmine nodded. “All those in favor of the buggies, raise your hand.” Everyone raised their hands. Even Emma did, though she didn’t know why. “Okay, if Casey is ready, we leave in two days,” Jasmine said.

“Then we will be home six days later,” Amanda said, smiling.

Nathan stood up. “Let’s do the morning routine and start separating the food.”

Amanda and Casey sat down as the group moved off. “You were really going to let Trix go?” Casey asked.

“Yeah, I was afraid we would sell her and they would shoot her for food,” Amanda said.

“Nathan wouldn’t let them do that,” Casey said.

“Once they bought her, they could do what they want. Here there aren’t a lot of people, so I know she will have fun and be happy,” Amanda said, watching the group.

Casey thought about it and smiled. “You’re right, this is for the best. I will always remember her.”

“Nathan has, like, a hundred pictures of us on them, so we can still kind of see them,” Amanda offered.

“I can’t wait to see home,” Casey said with a dreamy expression.

“Nathan has pictures,” Amanda said. “Want to see them?” Casey nodded and Amanda went for Nathan’s laptop. Harry Potter had run the batteries down on the tablet.

When the group came back they saw Amanda and Casey hunched over Nathan’s laptop. When they came over and saw Amanda giving Casey a picture tour of the compound, they sat down with them. Nathan moved over and worked with Athena. Since Amanda couldn’t, he took over the training. Once again, Nathan loved having Ares. He made teaching Athena easy.

After the tour, Jasmine came over as he was separating food. “Your ‘retreat’ home is awesome,” she said, and started helping.

“Wish I had done more now,” Nathan said. “Let’s pack all the MREs and dry goods. The cans and jars let’s eat till we leave.”

Jasmine grabbed his arm. “What about the ‘stuff?’”

“Half on each vehicle, so even if one doesn’t make it we have something for when this ends,” Nathan said.

“Just how much?” she asked.

“Before this we would’ve been multi-millionaires. About a hundred and fifty pounds of gold and seventy in silver, then of course the diamonds,” he said.

Jasmine smiled and kissed him. “Taking care of your family.”

“Damn right,” he said, and heard Emma squeal. He turned to see Ares holding her down, licking her face. “Remind me to wash her face before I kiss her.”

The others started the process of loading the buggies evenly. Nathan was surprised at how much room was left when they had all the extra weapons and ammo stored. When they stopped for lunch, Nathan was tempted to take his saddle. He was really going to miss those gel pads.

It was midafternoon when the buggies were packed and the first thing Nathan thought of when looking at the buggies was the Beverly Hillbillies meets Mad Max. Nathan called everyone over and Harry Potter had the rest of the afternoon.

Chapter 23

Day 60

As the sun set, Jasmine watched Nathan walk around the buggies, checking everything. Yesterday Nathan had had John follow him around the lake for an hour to learn how to drive. Jasmine turned and looked at the empty small valley. They had put the horses out without hobbles the night they decided to use the buggies. The next morning they were gone. Casey was the worst affected, but she didn’t cry, then she refused to give up her horse blanket. They did see the horses one last time.

Nathan had everyone load up to practice and see what needed to be moved. Then he led John back down to the blown-up farm and topped the fuel tanks off. Jasmine laughed when, between both buggies, three gallons were taken out of the big diesel tank. That was when they saw the horses again. They were running across the plains, with Smoke and Knight out front and the two donkeys behind them. They watched the horses stop and prance around, playing, then gallop off over a hill.

Nathan nailed a letter to a post beside the diesel tank. He walked over to a flagpole and hauled down the Stars and Stripes, the same flag that was flying above his buggy now. Before they left the devastated farm, Nathan filled one more five-gallon can with diesel and lashed it to his buggy. Jasmine tried to reason with him; the buggy held ten gallons and had two five-gallon fuel cans. If the buggies did what they said, that was fourteen hundred miles. Jasmine just couldn’t understand why he wanted another can of fuel.

When they got back to camp, they had to make some adjustments. The first was for Emma, who was thrown everywhere between the seats. Nathan took his saddle and turned it upside down and forced it between the seats, then used blankets to make Emma a padded seat. The next was the dogs. They slid side to side on the slick aluminum metal beside the seat. Once again, Nathan solved it. He tied horse blankest over the metal, and the dogs didn’t slide anymore.

Once that was done, Nathan loaded everyone up with NVGs and rode around. He would stop and ask questions, then ride some more. Nathan gave his thermal binoculars to Tom, sitting behind him in the gunner’s seat. Next, Nathan put a thermal scope on the SAW and gave that to Jasmine so she could use it in her gunner’s seat.

Watching Nathan and the dogs chase Emma and Chip around, Jasmine smiled, then turned to look at the things they were leaving. Jasmine wasn’t stupid, she knew they had it a thousand times better than most, and hoped she had led them in the right choice.

“You about ready?” John asked, walking over to her.

Jasmine turned around. “Yes, I’m ready to be home.”

“Me too,” John said with his customary smile. Jasmine looked him over and still was shocked at the young man in front of her. She remembered, in what seemed a lifetime ago, the fat kid. Now John was stocky and lean with muscles.

“Come on, let’s tell Nathan he can’t play anymore,” Jasmine said. They had already done a walkthrough but didn’t bother covering their tracks with the stack of supplies and tent up.

“Nathan, are you ready?” John called out.

“Yeah. Make sure Casey has her new vest on,” Nathan said, picking up Emma and Chip. He carried Chip to Jasmine. “If someone shoots, aim your gun and just lay waste.”

“I will, don’t worry,” Jasmine said, taking Chip and kissing Nathan.

Nathan took Emma and put her in her seat. Then Nathan propped up a vest they got from the Homeland boys in front of her. Nathan looked over at Amanda, who was wearing the other vest from them. Hers did fit better than Casey’s. Casey could almost pull her head down inside of the vest like a turtle. They both still had on the soft vests. Nobody complained about the vests anymore.

Looking around at everyone, Nathan smiled. “Let’s go home.”

“Now you’re talking,” Amanda said.

Starting the engine, Nathan dropped it in drive and turned on his radio. They weren’t going to use them unless they had to, but as fast as they could travel, they needed to be able to communicate. Another change was the map on Nathan’s leg. When you travel forty miles, you can remember your route. Tonight’s goal was a hundred, and it was a lot of back dirt roads once again.

Throwing up dirt, Nathan sped away from the lake, up to the road, and over the mountains. As the light started to fade, Nathan lowered his monoculars. Glancing down, Nathan saw he was staying at around fifteen miles an hour.

When they reached the top of the mountain, Nathan slowed and looked around. “Helicopters to the south,” Amanda said, pointing. Nathan saw them way off in the distance.

He slowly drove off and looked back to see John following, and sped up. When they reached the bottom of the mountain, Nathan turned onto a small blacktop road. He could literally see for miles, and slowly pushed the pedal down. Glancing down, he saw the needle pegged at sixty. “I was wrong again.”

As they flew down the small blacktop, every so often they saw a house off the road. They passed one gas station that actually had lights on, but they didn’t stop. Just over an hour later, Nathan turned onto a gravel road that was well maintained. Still able to see for miles, Nathan kept the pedal down.

Nathan picked up the map and glanced at it. “Shit!” he cried out, looking back at the road and swerving around the cow standing in the middle of the road. He slowed and keyed his radio. “Cow in the road.”

“Yeah, we saw you swerve!” Jasmine yelled back over the wind in her face.

Amanda took his map. “I’ll navigate, you just drive.” She looked down at the map and looked around them. “We turn right twenty-three miles ahead.” Smiling, Nathan watched the road for cows.

It was eleven when Nathan turned onto another blacktop and took off down the road. Nathan was diving along casually, scanning around when Tom’s foot tapped his shoulder. Nathan keyed his radio. “Slowing.” He took his foot off the gas and the buggy coasted to a stop. Tom looked down at him.

“I see a bunch of people off the side of the road at a house.”

“How far off the road?” Nathan asked.

“About half a mile,” Tom said.

Getting out Nathan climbed up beside Tom, and up there he could see a house in the distance, but his thermal monocular only showed heat in front of it. Lifting his monoculars, Nathan took the thermal binoculars. “Whoa,” he said. He could see a twenty people in front of the house. But what caught his attention were the motorcycles parked next to each other.

John pulled up beside them and Jasmine leaned over. “We are not attacking them.”

“No shit, their bikes can outrun us,” Nathan said. “We haul ass past them, they can’t see or hear us, so we are ninjas in the night.”

Jasmine shook her head as Nathan jumped down and climbed behind the wheel. His buggy shot down the road. Jasmine held on and John floored it. John didn’t gradually pick up speed, he stomped the gas till he matched Nathan’s speed.

Keeping the SAW aimed at the house, Jasmine sighed when they passed it, but was shocked when Nathan slowed again a mile down the road. As John pulled up, Jasmine watched him take something off the buggy and motion Tom down. Nathan moved behind them about twenty yards, and when she saw him put a tube on his shoulder she climbed out.

She ran over. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Giving them something to think about,” Nathan said, looking through a box on the side of the tube. “Oh yeah, it locks.” Grinning, Nathan passed the tube to Tom. “There is a big box truck beside the motorcycles. That’s your target.”

Tom grinned, looking through the box on the tube, and Jasmine slapped his arm. “They could be friends.”

“The man tied to the tree in the front yard tells me otherwise, and the woman lying in front of him doesn’t like what the two men are doing to her,” Nathan said.

“What about being ninjas?” Jasmine asked.

“If the Javelin is like on the video games, we still will be,” Nathan said.

“Video games!” Jasmine whispered harshly.

“Shit, I’ve never seen one fired,” Nathan said.

“I’ve got a lock and I’ve selected vertical attack,” Tom said.

Nathan pulled Jasmine away. “Send it.”

A loud
pop!
sounded briefly, lighting the area followed by a
whoosh
. Nathan lifted up the thermal binoculars and saw the people just laughing and drinking. No one looked at them. Nathan jumped when the thermal whited out. He lowered them to see a fireball form a mushroom and extend upwards. Then a loud explosion hit them, shaking their chests. Nathan looked back to see the house gone.

“Time to go,” Nathan said, pulling Jasmine to the buggies.

“You are learning explosives,” Jasmine said, climbing up on her buggy.

“You said I knew them,” Nathan said, climbing behind the steering wheel.

“I lied!” Jasmine shouted as Nathan sped off, and John stomped the gas, throwing her and Ares back.

Flipping his monoculars down, Nathan looked over to see Amanda and Natalie smiling. “Cool, huh?” he shouted over the wind.

“That was awesome,” they said together. Laughing, Nathan continued on.

At midnight, Nathan pulled over beside stream flowing into the Pathfinder reservoir. Not seeing anything for miles, Nathan turned off the buggy and climbed out. John pulled up beside him, and Tom ran over to John’s side. Hearing Tom tell John how cool that was, Nathan smiled and pulled Emma out. “Athena, come.”

Athena climbed out, ran over, and squatted. “Guys, let’s eat and pee.”

Amanda came over, carrying the map. “Are we going to continue on?”

“I say let’s head for the secondary rally point,” Nathan said.

“Nathan, we went over a hundred miles in six hours,” Amanda said, smiling.

“Let’s do it again,” Nathan said. Amanda started dancing around the buggy.

After having his dignity squashed, Nathan carried Emma back to the buggies and started feeding her. Carrying Chip, Jasmine moved beside them. “You mad?” Nathan asked, feeding Emma.

“Not really, but don’t you think that was risking us?”

“Not really, and no more than the flag,” Nathan said.

“I warned you about the flag,” Jasmine said.

“People have reported people driving around in dune buggies that work for the government. The new government flag looks like the U.N. flag. I want the general population to leave us alone. They see the flag, they know we are patriots,” Nathan explained.

Jasmine sat Chip down when he finished eating so he could chase the dogs. “Are we going to do more cool shit like that?”

“It was cool,” Nathan said, and put Emma down.

“Nathan, I really want to limit the amount of people we piss off,” Jasmine said.

Nathan put his arm around her. “Baby, they don’t know it was us, and even if they did, who cares? They don’t know where to find us.”

“I’m finally your baby,” she said, leaning her head over.

“Got that right,” Nathan said, kissing her. “Time to hit the road.” With everyone loaded, they sped off down the road. They stayed on roads, not dirt tracks like they were used to, and the needles stayed pegged.

It was several hours later when Tom tapped Nathan’s shoulder with his foot. “Slowing,” Nathan called over the radio, and coasted to a stop.

Tom leaned his head down. “There is a truck across half the road, and two men sitting in chairs on the shoulder. I think they’re asleep.”

Nathan got out and took the thermal binoculars. A pickup truck was blocking the westbound lane. He had to agree with Tom, the two people looked like they were asleep in their chairs. Nathan handed the thermal back and walked back to John’s buggy. “John, flip to battery, but be ready to crank and go. We are going to sneak through.”

Jogging back, Nathan turned off the engine and flipped to battery. Easing the pedal down, he crept down the road. As they got closer, Nathan saw a chain from the truck to a post across the eastbound lane. Easing onto the shoulder, Nathan passed between the truck and the two old men sleeping.

Past the old man roadblock, they saw a sign for Jeffrey City. Nathan could already see the end of town and another roadblock. “Tom, are they asleep?” Nathan asked.

“One might be, but the other one is peeing,” Tom said.

Nathan keyed his radio. “Crank your engine and follow.” Nathan cranked the engine and flipped off batteries. He stomped the pedal and sped down the road. He saw the same setup as he moved to the shoulder.

The old man was walking back to his chair yawning, when, out of nowhere, two black dune buggies shot past him. The old man rubbed his eyes and looked around. Not hearing any motors, he shrugged and sat back down in his chair.

“Think he saw us?” Amanda asked.

“Pretty sure. But what can he say, two cars drove by but didn’t make any noise?” Nathan said.

South of Lander, Nathan pulled off the road onto a dirt track. They drove back for a mile and stopped beside a small stream. The backed both buggies in the same gully and set up camp. With no trees around, Nathan pulled out the camo netting, throwing it over the buggies, and grabbed his pack.

Everyone was shocked with Nathan crawled under his buggy, spreading out his woobie. The buggies had some serious ground clearance, so he’d be damned if he was lying in the sun. Tom set up a Mew in Nathan’s passenger seat.

Jasmine crawled beside Nathan only to find Emma on his chest and the girls around him. “I have to move faster.”

Nathan laughed. “I barely had my stuff laid out and they were on it.”

Jasmine chuckled, then got a dreamy look. “Two hundred miles.”

“Yeah, we would make Idaho tonight if we didn’t have to stop in Yellowstone,” he said.

“I know. We promised,” Jasmine said.

“Jasmine, how would you feel if it were reported in a week F-U was killed? He’s the voice of the patriots now,” Nathan said.

“I know, but I was only guessing a hundred miles a night,” she said, taking his hand.

“Man, do I miss cars,” Nathan yawned, and drifted off to sleep.