Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home (7 page)

Waving her hand at him brushing Nathan off, Amanda said with determination, “I have a gun now and can use it.”

“As long as your little ass is running, I don’t care,” Nathan popped off. “I want everyone to start sleeping now. I want two people up keeping an eye on Chip.”

“Why?” Jasmine asked.

“Hello? We have a lot of guns and he could hurt himself and us if he touches them,” Nathan said in a snotty voice. Seeing Jasmine narrow her eyes, Nathan knew he messed up. “I’m just saying. Now I have first watch. Get some sleep,” Nathan said.

As the others lay down, Nathan cleaned his gear, listening to Emma babble.

Chapter 6

Day 39

Emma sat beside Nathan, watching him sleep. No matter how much she talked to him he didn’t wake up. She leaned over and noticed his eyes moving under his eyelids. Letting out a squeal as she climbed onto his chest happy he was awake. When Nathan didn’t pick her up, the smile fell off her face. Looking at his face again, she saw his eyes still moving behind his eyelids. She put her finger on the moving eyelid.

Feeling the eye moving, she squealed, but Nathan didn’t pick her up. This time she poked the eyelid. Nathan did wake up, but not how she wanted him to.

“Shit!” Nathan screamed, sitting up and grabbing his left eye. Emma rolled off his chest when he sat up rolling to the floor. Nathan looked around with his right eye for someone to punch. “Who the hell hit me in the eye?!” he shouted.

“Hehehehe,” Nathan heard giggling below him. Slowly he turned and looked down at Emma, who got to her feet and held out her hands to be picked up. The others came running over hearing Nathan cuss.

“Emma! Quit poking me in the eye,” Nathan cried out, rubbing his eye. He opened it to find that the world was blurry. Emma began to yell, holding out her arms letting Nathan know she wanted to be picked up now.

“Damn it,” Nathan said, picking her up. As soon as Nathan picked her up, Emma was happy and started pointing at everything, telling Nathan about it in her babbling language. Nathan turned to the others. “You guys can’t keep her from beating me in my sleep?”

“I told you,” Amanda snapped.

“Amanda, you kicked me so hard today when you slept I have a bruise on my leg,” Nathan snapped. “Casey and Natalie tried to crawl under me and Emma eye-gouged me,” Nathan said, irritated.

The three came over. “Sorry,” they said in unison.

“Oh, quit that. You know its fine. I just need coffee,” Nathan said, hugging the three. John brought over a cup of coffee, which improved Nathan’s mood tenfold, although his eye still hurt. Nathan looked around noticing almost everything was packed up. “I take it you guys are ready to go?” he asked.

“It quit raining about two,” Jasmine said, leading Chip by the hand. He was dressed in clothes way too big for him. “They’re Casey’s clothes,” Jasmine whispered. Nathan smiled at the little boy dressed in hunting camo and socks on his feet.

“We’ll see what we can do,” Nathan said walking over inspecting the horses. He checked their hooves, and one of the donkeys hit him with its tail. Nathan found nothing wrong, so he began to feed Emma.

It was late afternoon when they set out and the mood was much better with the emptiness around them. Jasmine trotted up beside Nathan with Chip riding in front. Nathan took off his sunglasses, rubbed his sore eye, and put them back on. “Something on your mind?” he asked.

“Yes, but don’t bite my head off,” she said. “Do you feel bad?”

Nathan looked at her, “No actually I feel great, except my left eye is sore,” he told her.

“No, about shooting that group,” she clarified.

Letting out a chuckle, “No, they were going to kill us or in the least take our shit. Between these horses and pack animals, we are carrying about a ton of stuff,” Nathan replied.

“Even the kids?” she asked in a low voice.

“I didn’t notice any. If I had, I still would’ve pulled the trigger,” Nathan replied casually.

Jasmine looked off into the distance. “I don’t know if I could’ve,” she said softly.

“We’ve had this conversation before. You worked it out just fine,” Nathan assured her.

“Those were adults. And you were right, but…,” she said, lost for words.

“Remember what I said about a hostage? Never give up your gun,” Nathan said, and she nodded. “Same thing applies here. If they hide behind a kid it’s on them, not you. If you can take the shot without hurting them it’s okay, but if not, pull the trigger.” Nathan told her picking up his binoculars.

“I’m trying, Nathan,” she moaned.

“That’s all you can do, Jasmine. Remember what happens if you don’t pull the trigger. Someone in our group dies,” Nathan said lowering the binoculars. “Get behind me,” he told her.

Jasmine saw a group of people working in a field in front of a house. They stopped when they noticed the group riding toward them. Nathan spotted several kids and women so he wasn’t very worried. Emma was sitting up in her sling watching the world and for once was quiet. Watching the group ahead he noticed two men off to the side of the group ahead who were looking at them with binoculars.

Nathan kept the horses at a normal walk. When his group was less than a quarter of a mile away, the two men who were watching them through binoculars headed to the road. “Hang back some, and don’t point a weapon at them unless they point one at you. Country can shoot,” Nathan said over his shoulder. He kicked Smoke to speed her up, putting some distance between him and the others. Ares and Athena trotted along beside him.

When he was twenty yards from the two men, Nathan reined Smoke in. “Afternoon,” Nathan said, tilting his head to the group. Emma let out a holler, holding up her sippy cup. “She says hi as well,” Nathan said, stopping ten yards away from the two men. Ares and Athena sat down in the road beside him. The men laughed when Nathan deciphered for Emma.

Both men were stout and were farmers by trade, judging from their dress and build. One wore a black cowboy hat and the other wore a tan one. “Little lady, thank you for a warm welcome,” tan cowboy hat said. “Looks like you ready for trouble, sir.”

“Yes sir, we’ve had more than our share. And I expect more is coming,” Nathan replied.

“Mister, I don’t know where you come from or where ya headin’, but trouble’s everywhere. You don’t need to be havin’ them kids and little lady behind you exposed to it,” tan hat said. His friend nodded in agreement.

Nathan laughed. “We’ve been moving since this started. I was in Georgia when it hit, and I’m trying to get home to Idaho. Most of them have been with me since Alabama. Some have been with me since I started. We ran into gangs, cutthroats, criminals, vagabonds, Feds, and military. They all tried to kill us but we killed them first,” Nathan replied.

The smile fell off both of their faces and black hat stepped forward. “You serious?”

“Unfortunately,” Nathan said.

“Word on the CB is a big flood is hittin’ Oklahoma,” tan had said.

Nathan nodded. “Thought I was going to have to teach these horses to swim.”

“Why were the Feds and military try to kill ya?” black hat asked.

“They wanted me to give up my guns and go to some camp,” Nathan said.

Black hat hit tan hat on the shoulder. “See, Mel? I told ya the government was up to no good.”

“Stan, I never said they wasn’t,” Mel said and looked at Nathan. “Some Homeland fella came and told the Sheriff he was under their control last week. Said to get ready to do a census.”

“Mel, you have trouble closer than you can imagine then. I killed two U.N. troops in Arkansas that were killing Americans. Word I got was a bunch of them killed a group of citizens in Little Rock, and the National Guard didn’t like that and fought back. Homeland pulled a bunch of loyal troops in and was fighting a battle, trying to kill all of those National Guard boys,” Nathan said watching both men’s shoulder slump.

“So all the stories on the HAM and CB are true then?” Stan asked.

“I don’t know. I’m telling you what I’ve seen with my own eyes or through my scope before I pulled the trigger,” Nathan said. He studied the rifles the men were carrying. “I hope you two have more than those bolt action rifles.”

“Yeah, we just wanted something to hit with,” Stan said, holding up his rifle.

“Hide half of what you have, maybe even most of it in case they surprise you with an inspection,” Nathan offered.

“Shit, I’ll kill ‘em,” Mel said. Stan nodded.

“Gentleman, can I trade for some clothes for a kid we picked up a few days back?” Nathan asked.

“You want to trade for clothes? Hell, we’ll give you some clothes for a kid.” Mel said and turned around. “Judy, come here!”

“So you use CBs and HAM around here a lot?” Nathan asked as a young woman ran toward them.

“Yeah, all the time,” Stan said.

“Need to watch it, because they are monitoring radio. Not only transmission content, but where they are coming from as well,” Nathan warned as he radioed the others to come up.

Judy stopped when she reached Mel. “Yes sir,” she said. Nathan noticed she wasn’t breathing hard even after running a hundred yards over broken ground in cowboy boots.

“How big is this young’un?” Mel asked.

“He’s about three and half feet tall and forty pounds,” Nathan said.

“How old is he?” Judy asked.

“I don’t know. He hasn’t talked,” Nathan said and the three fell silent.

Mel waved at Judy. “He told you how big he was. Go get some clothes out of the attic.”

“Dad, kids’ clothes are by ages,” she said.

“Go ask Mama,” Mel said, and Judy ran off. “Mister, I would love to offer ya some food but it’s kind of tough right now,” Mel said to Nathan.

“Thank you. We are hunting and it’s going good so far,” Nathan said. He liked these people but he wasn’t about to tell them he had food. Little did he know they had plenty of food and weren’t saying so for the same reason. When his group finally reached Nathan, he went back to the pack animals and pulled out the AK and the bag they had taken off the man.

Nathan led Smoke to the two men and handed the stuff over. “For the clothes,” he said.

Stan grabbed the rifle. “Shit, an AK! I saw plenty of them in the Gulf.” He regarded Nathan. “We said we was givin’ you the clothes.”

“I appreciate it. I’m giving you the rifle and ammo. Just a word of caution, it’s not legal,” Nathan warned them.

“Come on up to the house, we can feed ya a meal,” Mel said.

“Thank you, but we really want to keep moving. Trouble caught up to us in Arkansas and I want to stay ahead of it,” Nathan explained and they caught his meaning.

Stan shot a glance at Mel. “Those Homeland boys are stayin’ in Independence. Let’s get the others and feed ‘em to the hogs.”

Mel glanced at Nathan a little worried, “Stan, you need to keep your ideas to yourself.”

“Don’t mind me,” Nathan said. “If they find us we’re getting shot. A word of caution, don’t use or take any radio they have. They can track them.”

“How did you find all this out?” Mel asked.

“He caught a major and Homeland director and made them talk before putting a bullet in their heads,” Amanda offered behind him.

Nathan spun around. “Did you hear what Mel said to Stan? Don’t offer what we’ve done or what we are going to do!” Amanda looked down at her saddle, ashamed. “Amanda, it’s okay this time but don’t do it again,” Nathan said. She looked up, smiling.

When Nathan looked back at Mel he was smiling. “I have two daughters. My condolences,” he said. Nathan didn’t trust himself to answer.

“Can you give us a few tips?” Mel asked.

“Have a place you can run to ready now. When they come you won’t get but one chance,” Nathan said.

“Even out here?” Stan asked.

“We watched helicopters gunning down people on the highways,” Nathan replied as a four wheeler sped away from the house, heading toward them. It stopped and Judy got off with another woman who Nathan took as Mama.

“Where’s the little one?” Mama asked. Jasmine rode forward. Mama looked at him and pulled out some clothes from a bag she carried. Chip shied away from her but Mamma didn’t pay him any mind. She held up little boots and tennis shoes. She handed Jasmine jeans, boots, shirts, and a jacket. “It’s all I got put up for one this size,” she apologized.

“Thank you, this is great,” Jasmine said.

“Why don’t y’all come up to the house for a spell?” she asked, heading back to the four wheeler.

“Sorry ma’am, but we need to be heading off,” Nathan said.

“It’s getting dark. You won’t make it much farther,” she said.

Reaching up Nathan flipped his NVGs down. “That’s when we like to travel. Most trouble beds down at night,” Nathan said.

Mel walked over. “Mister?” he said, holding out his hand.

“Nathan,” Nathan said, shaking Mel’s hand. “I wouldn’t tell many that, I’m sure they have my name now.”

“We got to figure out a place to run to,” Mel said, stepping back.

“Find an abandoned house nearby with a storm cellar and use that. Try to stay as long as you can till you have food out of the ground. If you can make your place look like nobody lives here that may work for a while but don’t transmit from here anymore,” Nathan warned.

“Thank ya. I think me and some boys are goin’ to take a trip to Independence to get some hog feed,” Mel said, smiling.

“We have enough hog feed for a year,” Mama snapped.

“Not this kind,” Mel said, putting an arm around her. “Nathan, you watch out for yours,” Mel said tipping his hat.

“Mel, Stan, you do the same. Get you a good group around you and keep your powder dry, a storm is here,” Nathan said, tilting his head.

Nathan led his group off down the road and the family watched them go. Mel told Mama what Nathan had said. “You think that man really did that?” Mama asked.

“Nathan’s done a lot more than he told us, I figure. I can tell you he’s going to do a lot more,” Mel replied. When they couldn’t see Nathan’s group, they headed back to the house and started coming up with a plan. They would face hard times and loss but the family would survive.

Chapter 7

Day 40

Nathan crawled out of the ravine they were camped in and scanned I-35 with his binoculars. They had made excellent time last night and set up camp at dawn in a ravine a mile from the interstate. Even though they were a mile away everyone reported hearing vehicles on the interstate. Nathan saw a military convoy heading south. There were several flatbed trucks carrying armored vehicles he had never seen before. Oddly, there weren’t the ever-present people moving on the interstate. There were stalled cars, but they were all pushed to the side of the road. Crawling back down to the ravine, he stood up and walked back to camp.

Amanda was in a mood, seeing there were no trees as far as the eye could see. “This state sucks,” she let everyone know again. “You can’t hide! I mean, why would anyone want to live here?” she asked, throwing up her hands.

“Firecracker, you think this is something? Wait till Wyoming,” Nathan said.

“There has to be a way home that has trees,” she said.

“Yeah, if we go up into Canada,” Nathan replied, smiling. She threw up her hands. “We are hiding, so relax,” he said.

“Shit, Nathan, anyone can see us. You can see the curvature of the earth,” she said.

Having learned you can’t argue with a teenage girl, Nathan sat down. “That was a military convoy that just went past, heading south.” Nathan said grabbing his tablet.

“Where—” Jasmine started. “Never mind.”

“Thank you,” Nathan said, flipping through screens on his tablet.

“What are you doing?” Amanda asked coming over.

“There was stuff on those trucks I’ve never seen before,” Nathan said.

Amanda sat down beside him. “How are you going to find out? The Internet is down.”

Nathan looked up at the sky mumbling. “I have programs for that,” he said looking down and continued scanning pictures. “There that’s one, the Puma. It’s from Germany,” he said and continued scanning and found four more. “That’s German, Belgian, Russian, and French armor,” he said stunned.

“How can they get tanks and heavy vehicles here so fast?” John asked.

“I don’t know,” Nathan shrugged.

“There was already a lot here,” Tom said.

“What?” Nathan asked.

“There was already a lot here,” Tom repeated.

“I heard you the first time. I know we had U.N. troops in America but not armor and armored vehicles,” Nathan said, putting away his tablet.

“On the web there was talk of several massive depots of foreign equipment. One in Mississippi had a thousand Soviet vehicles,” Tom said. Nathan lay down, looking at the sky.

“And you just found this on the web?” Jasmine asked.

“No, one of my buddies told me and sent me the link,” Tom said.

Jasmine shook her head. “I’m not stupid. Those vehicles cost millions. Why would they just park them over here?”

“Positioned before they were needed,” Nathan said, and everyone looked at him. “This changes nothing; we still have to get home.” He sat up. “We are waiting till dark before crossing and we have to head a mile north to cross.”

“Why can’t we cross right over there?” Amanda asked, pointing toward the interstate.

“There is a concrete divider between the lanes. I don’t think we can pick up the animals and put them on the other side,” he said in a slow voice.

“Oh,” Amanda said, realizing she was getting on Nathan’s nerves.

They packed up and headed north to another ravine. Nathan taught more survival skills as they waited till dark. When the sun touched the horizon, they headed to the interstate. It was dark but the sky was clear as they rushed across, trotting down a dirt road.

When they were several miles away Jasmine moved up beside Nathan. “You know, I never realized how big this country was and how many dirt roads there were until I met you,” she said.

“I’m glad I was able to show you,” Nathan replied and looked over to see Chip was asleep. Jasmine had tied him to her so he could sleep as they rode. “He still hasn’t said anything?” Nathan asked.

Jasmine let out a long sigh, “No, I’m worried,” she said.

“Don’t be. It’s not something you can fix,” Nathan said.

“What if he saw something horrible and needs professional help?” she asked.

“Oh I’m sure he saw something horrible. But professional help is bullshit. You can work through anything with family and friends,” Nathan said. “Jasmine, what do you think the pioneers did when bad things happened? What about third world counties? They move on and continue to live. In America everyone wants a pill to fix it.”

“America had the best in psychiatric care in the world,” she said.

“Of course. They were naming mental disorders that nobody knew they had till they made up a name for it. People have been working through their problems since we were fighting sabertooth tigers,” Nathan said.

Gradually they rode out of the plains into farmland. They rode in silence till Jasmine gathered the courage to ask, “Nathan are you sorry you took us along?”

Startled, “What?” Nathan replied with a jump, and saw her take a breath. “I heard the question, but what do you mean? I’ve told you I like having you guys along.”

“I’ve seen how you ride. We are holding you back. I’m sure without us you’d be almost or at home.”

“Maybe, maybe not. You might look at it as holding me back. I look at it as making me think before I act,” Nathan answered.

“You don’t do anything without thinking it through,” Jasmine stated as fact.

“Shit, ask my friends when we get there,” Nathan scoffed. “I’ve never had to think about more than myself, if I made a bad choice I was the only one who paid. Just to let you know, I’ve made plenty of them.”

Jasmine listened and was amazed that suddenly she could see into Nathan’s life. “Thank you,” she said, for more than Nathan realized.

“My pleasure,” he said, lifting his thermal looking at a house up ahead.

“Trouble?” Jasmine asked, dropping her hand to her M-4.

“No. That’s the tenth house in a row I know there is nobody home. The door is wide open,” Nathan said.

“Maybe they left?” she offered.

“Why? They are in the middle of nowhere and they are on a farm. People that live out here have to stockpile food because winter can cut them off for a month or more,” Nathan replied. After thinking about it like that, Jasmine didn’t like it either.

Amanda trotted up on the other side of Nathan. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “Nathan, what happened here?” she asked.

“Huh?” he asked, caught off guard.

“The houses we’ve passed, no one is in them. I’m keeping count and I’m at twenty-nine. Three of them have gardens right in the front yard with plants up and everything. And that one right there,” she said pointing at the house he had just looked at. “A dog is lying on the porch dead. That’s the fifth time I’ve spotted that.”

“What do you mean, a dead dog is on the porch?” Nathan asked, lifting up his thermal.

“It’s been dead a long time. It’s mostly skeleton. John saw its collar,” Amanda said.

“Wait here,” Nathan said, trotting his horse up to the house. When he got close he noticed suitcases thrown on the porch. Getting closer, he saw what was left of a big dog. The bullet hole through the porch and the blood told Nathan how it died.

Nathan spun around and passed the group. “Come on,” he said, and the others followed.

They all knew a town was up ahead, Nathan had said they had to cross a bridge there. But Nathan never rode toward a town at a fast trot. He did slow when they reached the blacktop, leading them to the shoulder. Every house they passed looked vacant and they only heard insects. They soon came to a sign that read Cottonwood Falls.

As they entered town Nathan moved them to the middle of the road and looked everywhere with his thermal. He stopped them and rode up to another house, seeing the door open. Nathan looked down at Ares but he was just looking around. Nathan waved for them to follow and led them through neighborhoods of the small village.

In a few yards they found suitcases. All the houses had wide-open doors. They found one house with the doors bashed in. Nathan led them back to the road they came in on and headed north, passing some businesses. Unlike the homes, the businesses’ doors were all closed and no windows were broken. Nathan spotted a Dollar General and led them through the parking lot where he climbed off his horse. He handed Jasmine his reins as he walked to the door.

Taking out his lock picks he had the door open in a few minutes. He stepped inside and they could see him walking around. He came back outside looking around. They could all see he was trying to figure out what was going on.

When he spoke they all cringed as his voice broke the stillness. “These people were taken and they were taken right after the event, no more than a few days,” he said.

“How can you tell they were taken a few days after the event?” Jasmine asked.

He pointed over his shoulder. “There is a lot of food in there,” he said. “Girls, go inside and load up what you can find. Remember weight is a factor. Tom and John, you two stay out front and keep an eye out.”

“Where are you going?” Amanda asked, not liking the idea of Nathan not being right beside them.

He pointed across the parking lot to a general store. “There. I’ll do the same,” he said, taking Smoke and Ares.

The girls entered the store staying together. They started grabbing all the dry goods and Amanda grabbed Ziploc bags. The others gave her questioning looks. “Trust me, if we don’t get them Nathan will get pissy,” she enlightened them. They found laundry bags and threw their stuff in. Thinking they had enough, they dragged it outside. Jasmine spotted some kids’ clothes and grabbed some for Chip. Then she noticed sippy cups and got some for Emma and Chip, then she picked up a few toys and headed out.

The boys packed the bags of stuff on the animals. When the girls’ bags were tied on they saw that Nathan had a stack beside Smoke. The boys quickly stowed the stuff. Nathan handed several large map books to Amanda.

“Put them up,” he said. When she put them in her saddle bag she noticed they were topographic books for several states. “The Sheriff’s station is right up there,” Nathan said pointing and led them to it.

Like the businesses, the door was closed and the windows were intact. Nathan went over to a squad car and looked inside the headed to the front door. He picked the lock and walked in. The group stayed outside, feeling very nervous. Nathan came out and climbed up on Smoke. “Let’s go,” he said, kicking Smoke.

“What did you find in there?” Jasmine asked.

“A note on a Captain’s desk saying a Homeland officer was going to be there the day after the event. I couldn’t find anything with a date written four days after the power went out. All the guns and ammunition are gone. That squad car didn’t have its shotgun in it either,” Nathan answered.

“What do you think happened?” Amanda asked.

“I’m not sure yet, let me think,” Nathan said, leading them over the bridge. Strong City was just over the bridge and, like its neighbor, was totally vacant. All the houses’ doors were open but the businesses were left alone. Nathan saw a store up ahead. “John, do we need more food?” he asked.

“I don’t think the horses and donkeys can take much more,” John answered.

“Fine, let’s get the hell out of here,” Nathan said, leading them down the road. They followed the blacktop road for an hour, and when Nathan pulled off onto a dirt road, everyone fought the urge to cheer. The road twisted and turned around small farmsteads and, though they couldn’t see all the houses, the ones they did see had the front door open.

Everyone was lost in thought till they noticed the sun brighten the horizon. Nathan led them off the dirt road, heading to a farm. When they got close they saw the front door open. Without saying anything, Nathan jumped off his horse and walked up to the house with Ares.

Nathan smelled it before he even stepped inside. Covering his nose, he stepped in. The mess inside had an orderly rush to it. He found the bloated body of a man on the floor with a bullet wound in its chest. He looked around then headed outside and took Smoke’s reins, leading the group to the barn.

Nathan let the group set up while he walked around the land. An hour later he returned, and just sat down dropping his pack. “It doesn’t make sense. Why this area? The chickens are dead, there is food in the house, and I didn’t find any guns, but a man was shot in the living room. It looks like two big trucks pulled up and left,” he said, thinking out loud.

“You think because this area is so remote, that’s why they took everyone?” John asked.

“Most of the areas we’ve been through are in the middle of nowhere,” Nathan said.

“Maybe they just hadn’t got there yet,” John offered.

Nathan stood up and began pacing. “There is no way they can round up that many small towns,” Nathan said.

Amanda cleared her throat, hoping she wasn’t going to make him mad. “Nathan, what about small towns that can support themselves? There are a lot of farms here.”

He looked at her and smiled. “That’s good, firecracker.” Amanda smiled. “Eat and start watches. I’ll be back in a little while. If I’m not back in two days, leave without me,” Nathan said, opening the door.

“Hold your damn horses, mister!” Jasmine shouted, heading off the others.

“I’ll be back. I want to check something out and I can’t do it with you guys,” Nathan said.

Jasmine closed her eyes. “Be careful,” she pleaded. He just smiled and took off out the door with Ares close behind.

“What do you think he’s doing?” Amanda asked.

Jasmine threw her hands up. “Heaven only knows!” she exclaimed.

“We know he’s not going far,” John said. They both looked questioningly at him. “He didn’t take his horse and his pack is right there,” John pointed out.

“Let’s eat. Natalie and I have first watch,” Jasmine said.

Amanda and Casey were on watch when they saw Nathan in a slow jog coming across the field. “Think that means trouble?” Amanda asked.

“No,” Casey told her.

“Yeah you’re right, he would never lead it here to us,” Amanda said watching Nathan. She headed over to the door and opened it for him. Nathan was soaked in sweat and breathing hard as he walked in. “Care to explain?” Amanda asked, making him chuckle.