The King's Highway (Days of Dread Trilogy Book 1) (12 page)

He smiled a sheepish grin. “Admiring your beauty.”

“Yeah, right.” She rolled to her back, both eyes open. “You some kind of pervert?”

“Why ever would you query such a thing? Of course, I assure you, fair mademoiselle, I am in no way depraved!” He scooted around and sat up. “And why would you consider it wanton of me to esteem you? In my assessment, you are exceedingly exquisite, one extraordinary-looking lady.”

“Al, really?”

“Personally, I love to admire all beautiful things, a sunset or starlit sky.” He stuck his bottom lip out, obviously thinking. “A hay meadow at dawn or still lake at dusk. Beauty intoxicates, especially when of the female persuasion.”

She sat up. Her whole body protested, but she ignored it. “So you really think I’m pretty?” Dare she say it? “Beautiful?”

“Yes, I absolutely do. Hasn’t everyone always told you so?”

She ignored his question. Before, only her daddy said it, and he was prejudiced. “So, what are you, Al? A freshman?” She liked the idea that a high school boy thought she was so attractive.

He laughed. “Yes and no.”

“That doesn’t make sense; either you are, or you’re not. Which is it?”

“Age-wise, yes. I’d be a ninth grader, but in actuality, I’m in my second year—a sophomore—at SMU. Or rather, that was so before the EMP.”

“Southern Methodist University?” She shook her head. “How in the world did that happen?”

“Well, when I failed kindergarten, Dad got involved.”

She chuckled. “You go from flunking kindergarten to SMU in what, seven years? I don’t think so.”

With a pained expression, he shrugged. “I’m certain it sounds stranger than fiction, but at the tender age of five, the class bored me. I didn’t excel at coloring within their lines, a major gaffe in the majority of academic circles. I preferred spending my day at school reading my dad’s sci-fi mystery novels. I smuggled them in my lunch bag.”

“I’ve never heard of such a genre.”

“Anyway, the Cretan only failed me because she hated my intelligence, me being smarter than her. My presumption is that frequently correcting her grammar probably didn’t help any.”

Was he for real? “All that when you were only five?”

“Yes, but Mother always called me an old soul.”

She opened her mouth but didn’t speak. Voices drifted on the breeze, lots of voices. “Do you hear that?”

“Yes.” He stood. “I do. It emanates in the west. And it sounds as if it’s getting closer.”

She looked around. Cooper and Aria still slept, but Jackson and the dog were nowhere to be seen. She stood. “You stay here.”

“Yes, ma’am, but if I may inquire, where are you going?”

“To find my brother.”

The nausea in the pit of her stomach concerned her. She hated even the thought of…but nothing could have happened to him. Especially not with Boggs along. Jackson had always been her protector. She didn’t like it one little bit that he’d gone on to high school and left her in the eighth grade.

Still, everyone knew he was her big brother, and that he would not tolerate anyone getting out of line with her.

At the edge of the woods, Jackson sat in deep cover, staring at the rather large group of folks. Men, women, and children worked their way east around the dead autos. He glanced at her then back to the group. She knelt beside him and studied the tribe a few seconds.

“Maybe we should make contact, see about joining up with them.”

“No. Look closer. See the ones in the center pushing the carts?”

“Yeah. What about them?”

“I think the guys with the guns are the bosses, and that the ones in the middle are their slaves.”

“No. That can’t be.”

How she hated that dead-pan face he gave her. Like, what an idiot. “Watch them for a while. See if you don’t agree.”

She did exactly that. Within seconds, one of the gunmen shoved a cart pusher for no apparent reason. The poor man almost fell. “Why’d he do that?” She looked at her brother. “That’s terrible.”

“No one to stop him.” He slipped his hand into her hers and squeezed gently. “Come on.” He eased up and stepped backwards. “We don’t want them seeing us.”

She let him pull her up then walked next to him but kept an eye on the group. “Well, I think it’s awful that the devil is running amuck.”

“Is that what it is? Satan himself making them do it, huh?”

She didn’t answer him. Why couldn’t he see the truth about things? Who did he think wrote ‘Follow the King’s Highway’ on that note?

She looked skyward and smiled.

Thank you, Father.

After lunch, one of the dried army meals, Jackson tried to nap. But each time he dozed, the slavers pulled him back awake. Is that what happened to his mom? He hated thinking about such a thing, hating the idea of his sister or brother getting caught, too. Why had all this taken place? He found no answers or any rest.

A hot shower, a warm bed, and someone else to be in charge would be the best.

Someone to watch over him.

For a while, he wallowed in poor me. Then something his father said more than once came to him. A man does whatever a man has to do. His dad only said it when something real unpleasant needed doing, like the time he fixed his grandfather’s septic tank. Jackson could swear that he still smelled that nastiness.

Yuk.

But…either he and Dad did it, or everyone lived with a stopped-up toilet for the whole three-day weekend. Seemed country plumbers didn’t come on holidays.

“You’re more man than boy now,” his father had told him before shipping out that last time. “Act like it. Take care of your sister and brother.”

Jackson stood and stretched, thinking Dad would be proud of him for stepping up. But he needed to remain focused on the there and then. Thinking four or five moves ahead might be the thing to do in a game of chess, but it was no game he played.

It was his life, and he only needed to concentrate on his next move.

Then putting the moves together, one after another, he would accomplish his goal.

Without fail, he had to get them all to his grandparents in one piece.

Easing over to where the boys sat, he waited until the nerd told his brother his latest move. “Hey, guys.” He looked to Al. “Where’s that moon chart?”

The whiz pointed to his pack. “Right on top, sir.”

Jackson retrieved it then leaned against a tree. The moon rose at eight-ten tonight. He pulled out his map. It showed the railroad, but not the high-lines. “McKenzie, get me the old man’s note. I want to take another look at it.”

“Please goes a long way, you know.” She pulled it from the back of her book. scooted over, then held it out. “Here.”

Right after the N on RR was what he figured would be another pylon number. Shame it didn’t have distances like Google Maps. He’d just have to check every high line number that cut across the railroad. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too far.

He didn’t care much for walking on the crossties, especially through the northern suburb cities of Dallas. He remembered his mom and dad talking about how there just wasn’t any country out there anymore; how the little cities had grown together all the way to McKinney. Plus, he didn’t know the area like he knew Irving.

But so far, the note had proved trustworthy.

Jackson waited until moonrise to get going, hoping to make fifteen miles that night. But if everyone was as tired as he, that might be too ambitious. The moon rose on the backside of full. So how many more nights would they be able to see well enough to travel? He had to get them out of the Metroplex.

Aria slowed until she walked beside him. “You sore?”

“Yes, how are you feeling?”

“Not too bad. Al says the wound is looking much better. I’m still not used to him being my doctor though.” She walked in silence for a while. “You have a girlfriend?”

“Not really. What about you? Did you have anyone special?”

“There was this one boy, but…” She shrugged. “Well, he acted pretty goofy over me, but I must admit, it was getting old. And his jealousy…he was just out of control. Didn’t want me looking at anyone else, much less talking to them.”

“Some guys are like that.”

She bumped her shoulder against his, but softly. “Are you one of those guys?”

“No way. If someone doesn’t want to be with me, then I’m not getting all idiot over it. Dad always says girls are like buses, there’ll be another one along in a few minutes.”

She bumped him again. “That’s terrible, comparing girls to buses.”

“Maybe, but still true. There’s a lot of starfish in the sea.”

“So now girls are starfish. Actually, that sounds a little romantic. I like how you added the star to the old cliché.”

He laughed. “No. Girls are just girls.”

“True. And boys will be boys.” She touched his arm with her whole hand, from the tips of her fingers to the heel of her palm, and it shot through him like the current that should be running on those high wires. “But you’re acting more like a man, Jackson.”

He bumped her back and smiled. That was maybe the best compliment anyone had ever given him. “Thank you for noticing.”

“You’re welcome. Will you do me a favor?”

“Sure, if I can.”

She leaned in close and whispered. “Would you take over changing my bandages? I’ve tried not to let it bother me, but Al just gives me the creeps.”

He looked at the nerd. He and Coop were walking the crossties together right behind the dog. McKenzie kept up the pace between them and him. “Has he done anything he shouldn’t?”

“No, but…” She shrugged and looked up at him.

“But what?”

“It’s just, if someone has got to touch me, I’d rather it be you.”

“Okay, but I think it’ll be more appropriate to get my sister, and let’s not make a big deal about it. I’ll say something, then Al can show her how the first time.”

“But can she? She seems to hate the sight of it.”

“We’ll see.”

The boys reached an intersection and stopped short just like Jackson had told them to do. He joined them. “Keep it real quiet for a while; on the other side of this street, the tracks run through two neighborhoods. We don’t want to wake anyone.”

“How far have we come?”

“We’ve gone almost five miles, Sis. Why?”

“Do you know how much longer we have to be on these stupid tracks?”

His eyebrows shrugged. “Not a clue. My map doesn’t show the high-lines. We’re just going to have to stay with the railroad until some pylons cross them then check the numbers against the note.”

“I like walking on the crossties.”

McKenzie gave Cooper her best you’re-being-an-idiot look. “The ties are terrible. The distance between them is too short, and skipping one is too long.”

“Sorry, walk on the rocks. Doesn’t matter either way. We’re on the tracks for now, so what good does complaining do? Now be quiet, and let’s get going.”

A few fires flickered off in the distance, none of them close. Twice, dogs barked but Boggs didn’t answer or appear to be concerned. Man, he loved that dog. Hopefully, when he came back to look for his mother, Boggs would want to come with him. But if he didn’t, it would be comforting to know the guardian watched over Coop and McKenzie in his absence.

Something inside assured him that she was still alive, same as his father. He could feel it in his bones or gut or wherever a person sensed such things.

Aria walked next to McKenzie; apparently, she’d flirted enough with him. If she’d been in one of his classes, he definitely would have been interested. But at school, would she have given him the time of day? Enough girls had called him handsome, so he figured he wasn’t so hard to look at. Still, he’d never attracted a girl as pretty or exotic as Aria.

Those chicks usually went for the older guys with fast cars and their daddy’s credit cards. Far as he was concerned, they were stuck-up snobs, and he couldn’t stand the type, all looking down their noses. Maybe Aria lived by that golden oldie song: if you can’t be with the one you love…you know, baby…go ahead and love the one you’re with.

Some of the guys used to tease him for knowing all those old sixties and seventies songs, but he liked them. Guess he knew all the old songs’ lyrics as well as his mom. She said she knew them from her parents playing them all the time. The music his grandparents had grown up on told stories and came in so many varieties.

Well, he did like some of the new stuff, but not a lot of it.

Guess it didn’t matter anymore.

Without electricity, there’d be no radios and no CD players either. Now, MP3s might work again someday, wouldn’t they? He’d have to ask Al, but without really asking. Other than what some musicians remembered, for the most part, he guessed all the old music was lost.

The wind stiffened, and the temperature fell a good ten degrees. A drop of rain stung his cheek. Oh great, a storm blowing in? Just great. He zipped up his army coat. It sure was nice of Aria’s Poppy to put so much stuff away. He must have spent a pile of dough on it. Did greenskeepers make a lot of money?

For the next bit, the rain steadily increased. He had to get them in somewhere dry. It wouldn’t do at all to get soaked in the cold night. The younger boys stopped at the next intersection. He joined them, searching the surroundings. “What’s that?”

McKenzie glanced at him. “What’s what?”

He nodded toward building-shaped shadows across the street. Looked pretty big. “Over there. Let’s check it out; we need to get out of this rain.”

A school building rose right there next to the tracks. How could it be more perfect? Jackson got his troupe under a wide covered walkway then worked his way around the brick building. Couldn’t find an open door or a broken window, though. How had it gone this long without being vandalized or taken over as a fortress?

He found a courtyard between two buildings. “Al.”

“Yes, sir.”

“See if you can find a rock or something that I can use to break a window.”

“Wait.” Cooper looked behind him. “That tree there. Help me up it, and I can get on the roof.”

McKenzie grabbed his arm. “Don’t you dare. You’ll fall and break something.”

Jackson took her hand off his arm. “Stop talking for mom. Coop’s the best tree climber I know, and he’s right. There may be a way in without breaking a window. That’d definitely be better.”

“Whatever.” She snuggled into her jacket’s front collar. “He better not get hurt, or I’m blaming you.”

“Come on, Coop.”

Al stepped up. “Wait.” He held out a candle and one of the lighters from Aria’s drum. “You’ll need this once you’re in.”

“Good idea.”

His brother got onto the roof, no problem, but the longer he was gone, the worse Jackson’s gut rumbled and twisted. Why hadn’t he listened to McKenzie? Then after what seemed like hours, but was only maybe ten minutes, the door flew open. Cooper, holding his candle, grinned at them. “Come on, everyone! It’s dry and a lot warmer in here.”

After exploring, Jackson figured the nurse’s suite would be the best place to bed down for the rest of the night—two separate rooms that all locked from the inside with no windows.

“Okay, people, let’s get some rest.” He nodded toward the inner room. “You ladies take that room. We’ll be out here.”

McKenzie gave him her stop-being-king look then held her hand out. “We need candles and matches.”

He let Al and Cooper have the cots, so tired he didn’t care where he lay down. Boggs curled at the edge of his little master’s bed. Once the boys finally shut up, the rhythmic rain patter mesmerized Jackson. Cold and rainy, no one would be out in that mess. Safe. No need to sleep with one eye open.

Plus, there was always the wonderful dog.

Sometime later, wetness woke him. He opened his eyes to a black darkness and for just a few seconds, didn’t know where he was. He swiped at his cheek and knocked away a cold nose. He pushed it away. “Boggs, get back! What is it?”

The dog didn’t answer.

Jackson rolled over to his hands and knees then stood. He groped his way to the door and eased it open. Daylight filled the outer office, streaming in from a row of skylights that faced the hall. He looked back, the cots were empty. Man, how long had he slept?

Boggs walked to the outer office’s door then looked back at him. “Okay, I get it. You need to go.”

He found the door to the courtyard, grabbed the teacher’s chair out of the closest classroom and propped it open. The dog hurried out. Jackson went to hunting his people. He chuckled to himself. Was that what they were? His people? McKenzie and Cooper were for sure, but what about the other two?

Short-stopping the boy’s toilet, by habit he hit the handle. To his surprise, it flushed. He found the others in the cafeteria’s kitchen; each had a spoon eating out of a really big can of stew. McKenzie held out a clean one toward him. “Here. Dig in, There’s plenty.”

Cold canned stew, it had come to that. Yuk. But he took a bite, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as he expected. Sure filled the empty hole in his stomach. After several bites, he pointed his spoon at Al. “The toilets work.”

“I identified that datum earlier this morning, or…should I say afternoon?” He grinned.

“How come?”

“I’m uncertain.”

Cooper held his hand up.

“What, you little goofus? Just because you’re in a school doesn’t mean you need permission to talk.”

“There’s a big ol’ huge tank up on the roof.”

Grabbing another bite, Al walked to the sink and turned on both faucets. Water ran just like the flash had never happened. He turned the right side off, but held his hand under the other one.