The King's Highway (Days of Dread Trilogy Book 1) (10 page)

Aria didn’t much like the nerd messing with her, but also knew he was right. Her poppy had seen to it that she always had whatever medicine she needed and insisted she should use it. She slipped off the pack, pushed back the jacket from the drum she’d claimed as her own—not that all of it wasn’t hers—then lifted her shirt.

Al grabbed the edge of the bandage. “Fast or slow?”

She looked at him. “What?”

“Would you prefer I remove the tape swiftly or leisurely?”

“Swiftly, uh, fast.” She looked away. She wished she’d told Jackson that she’d rather he do it, but it was probably better for the nerd to handle it. He seemed to enjoy the doctor role without anything personal getting in the way. She really didn’t want the leader getting the wrong idea, but having him touch her side would be way better than the brainiac fussing over her.

“There, all done.”

She pushed her shirt back down. “Thanks.”

“What’s that?” Al pointed to her chest.

She glanced down. Something white poked out of the little inside chest pocket on her jacket. She pulled it out and unfolded it. With each word she read, her breath came harder. Tears welled and overflowed racing down her cheek.

McKenzie stepped beside her and held Aria’s arm. “What is it?”

Girls crying gave Jackson the heebee-jeebies. He hated it. Man, they could get weepy over almost anything, too. McKenzie went to boo-hooing over a baby miniature donkey picture one time that she thought was so cute. He eased closer. A part of him wanted to hug Aria and tell her everything would be okay, but he didn’t know that.

Besides, she might take it wrong. Cooper would for sure.

Al leaned, looking at the piece of paper. “What is it? What does it say?”

Sniffing, she swiped at her cheeks. “A note. It’s from Poppy. He says he loves me and for me to be strong for him and my brothers.” She sniffed again, looked at the note, then carefully folded it up and put it back in her jacket’s inside pocket. “I’m sorry. I’m ready now.”

While his sister and little brother fussed over Aria, Jackson waited, albeit anxiously. The minute they finished, he stepped off. “Okay, people, let’s move on.” Cutting straight across the course to the King’s Highway, he followed it for quite a ways, then it split, going in two different directions. Great. Which one was he supposed to follow?

The shade a group of elm trees offered just off the wide green highway afforded a great stopping place after the march he’d had them on. “McKenzie, you still got the old man’s note?”

Kneeling, she dug in her pack then pulled out her book. The piece of paper must have been marking her place, because she retrieved it and handed it to him, but keeping her finger between the pages. Just like her to use it as a bookmark.

He studied the numbers for a minute then nodded toward the closest pylon. “Al, go see what that one’s ID numbers are. Coop, you go check the other one. They’re on a little metal –”

“I know, I know.” His little brother ran off and was on his way back from the farthest one before the know-it-all even got out to the closest.

The series of numbers Coop recited matched the note. Jackson waited, and sure enough, Al’s didn’t. If he was to follow the note, ‘Follow the King’s Highway’ like it said, then he needed to take his group north, not east. But it seemed that would sure take him the wrong way.  

McKenzie touched his arm. “What are you thinking?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. I guess we go north.”

She nodded then took the note from him and put it back into her book.

For a few hundred yards, the high wires passed through bottomland, then they cut across the water. He stopped short and pulled out the map. Great; a branch of the Trinity River. “Okay, guys. Drop your packs. Al, you work your way south; Coop, you go north. Stay in the cover. We’re looking for a narrow, and hopefully, shallow crossing, okay? Got it?”

Coop shrugged. “Yes, sir. Soon as you tell me which way’s north.”

Jackson pointed to his left. “That way.”

“Got it.” He hurried off.

“Sir, maybe I should go with him, and you could take south.”

“Go on, you can handle it. I want to be here in the middle if anyone needs help.”

His sister slipped off her pack. “I’ll go with you, Al.”

“Excellent.”

Easing to the ground real lady-like made him wonder if Aria might be in pain. She sure didn’t seem real girly-girl. Not as much as McKenzie anyway. A lot like his mother, lady-like but handy and capable enough to handle things. He liked the way she knew she needed either a regular screwdriver or a pair of pliers.

Not many girls would. His sister for sure. She probably couldn’t tell them apart, not unless she’d just read it in a book.

“Jackson.”

He looked at her. “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“What for? I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, you did. You saved me. I would have laid there on that island and died if you hadn’t come along.”

A chuckle escaped. “I was just trying to keep from getting eaten.”

Her eyes widened. “Know what you mean. That tiger scared me half to death.”

“Al said it was a lion. I just know it sounded big. He said tigers liked the water, but lions steered clear because of the crocs.”

“Crocodiles in Texas?” She laughed a little. “No, really, you didn’t have to help me or share your food either. If you’d been one of those bangers…” She closed her eyes and shivered. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Okay, I accept your thanks, but I need to thank you for all the great gear.”

She smiled, and her eyes did, too. The sparkles in them raced straight to his heart. He let himself swim in the big brown pools before forcing himself to look away. It wouldn’t do for him to go goofy over Aria, no matter how beautiful and exotic looking. He had no trouble understanding Cooper’s attraction, but Jackson needed to focus on getting everyone to safety.

Not cloud his brain being all mushy over a girl.

She touched his arm. “Something wrong?”

The touch sent an electricity through him.

Shaking his head for an answer, at first he avoided looking into those peepers again. He’d known girls who wanted everyone to love them. They’d do whatever it took to make a guy go nuts over them, then laugh at the poor sap. But he didn’t think Aria was one of those types. She seemed too nice…and genuine.

Then he faced her. “No, nothing’s wrong.”

He leaned out a bit then looked in both directions. “Aria, I’m real sorry about your family. If you don’t have anyone else, I’m sure you can stay with Meems and Pop, our grandparents. They have a big farm, and they’re real nice folks.”

“What about your parents? What happened to them?”

“Dad’s a marine, and he’s overseas. Afghanistan. Mom left for work the morning of the flash, but…” He shrugged. “She just didn’t come home. I wanted to go look for her, but I couldn’t leave McKenzie and Cooper.”

“Where’d she work?”

“Downtown Dallas, but she had an early meeting in Rockwall that morning.”

She sighed. “Maybe she’ll be at your grandparents’ when we get there.”

“That’d be great. I sure hope so. McKenzie left her a note and told her that’s where we were headed.” He looked again. His sister and Al hurried toward him at a fast jog, but didn’t appear to be running from someone; neither of them looked over their shoulder or seemed distressed. He pulled the pistol out in case though and held it straight down next to his leg.

Stopping short, Al bent over with both hands on his knees, sucking wind.

McKenzie, barely breathing hard, glanced at the nerd then went straight to her pack. She nodded south. “There’s a pretty good crossing about half a mile that way.”

“Good.” Jackson stepped out into the clearing, looked all around, then stuck two fingers over his lower lip and blew his loudest whistle. Man, he absolutely had it down. The exact one his father had used on him. Just like he had his little brother on a string, the boy showed real quick.

“Al find a place?”

Jackson nodded, but he figured it was McKenzie more than the nerd.

Even though he trekked over a mile out of the way, not getting his clothes wet again was worth it. For the next hour or so, he followed the high-lines from the heavy woods along the river, then the cover played out, leaving a quarter mile or so gap.

He stopped and pulled out the map and studied on it for a while. Then suddenly, it dawned on him. He knew this area. Irving’s River Bottoms, the fields where he’d played baseball so many years was a bit north and west. They’d officially changed the name to Trinity View Park, but the place would always be the River Bottoms to him.

Why hadn’t he paid more attention when he’d been driven to games? But that was a silly question he knew the answer to. Back then, he’d been a carefree kid.

Man, were those days ever gone.

Nodding toward McKenzie, he made a suggestion she’d probably like. “What do you say we eat something? Want to?”

“Sure, as good a place as any. Want to try one of those army meals?”

“No, they’ll keep. The pork won’t. Let’s finish him up first.” The pig wasn’t as good cold, but it stopped his stomach from grumbling.

Handing out a Sonic ketchup packet to everyone, Cooper puffed his chest. “Here, but y’all owe me.”

“Okay, Bubba, we owe you a ketchup.”

“No, I’m bartering. I want to play chess.”

Jackson chuckled. “Sure, we can do that as soon as we get to Meems’ and Pop’s.”

“You guys play chess?” Al tore off a bit.

“Coop’s a real whiz. I haven’t beat him in months.”

The nerd smiled at his little brother. “I’d love a challenging game with you, youngster. We can play now.”

“You got a board?”

“Unnecessary. We’ll play mental chess.”

“Huh? How do we do that?”

“I notify you of my moves, and you inform me of yours.”

Jackson shook his head. “How do you keep it all straight?”

Al smiled. “If one is truly proficient, one can envision the board with one’s mind’s eye.” He glanced at Coop. “Think you can manage it?”

“Sure. May take me a few games to get it down really good, but playing without a board will be great.”

For the first three moves, Jackson followed their game then abruptly lost track of which piece was where. It amazed him how his little brother caught on to the method though. He finished nibbling his piece of pork and decided not to eat any more. If it was a true statement that armies marched on their bellies, his wouldn’t be going too far on what filled their backpacks chock-full.

Man, was he ever wrong about thinking that little pig’s meat would last three or four days. Hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours, and there wasn’t much left at all. Of course, he had let them eat all they wanted, like the supply would never end or something. Maybe he needed to be more miserly with any food that came their way.

Then again, no one had gone without, and it had been eight days since the flash.

So they’d been on the road four days. And he didn’t even have them out of Irving yet? No way would he get them to Meems’ and Pop’s in the two weeks he’d first thought it would take. He stood and hitched his pants up. Ought to put another hole in his belt; he’d already moved it to the last one.

Pulling out the revolver, he pointed it at the ground. “Okay, people, we’ve got a ways to cross with no cover. Let’s be at it and be careful.”

McKenzie closed her book, put it in her pack, then swung the load over her shoulder. “Want me to go first?”

“Sure. Nice and easy. And you hook’em back here first sign of anything, you hear?”

She puckered her whole face, but thankfully, didn’t say a word.

He pointed at his brother. “Coop, you go next. Leave when she reaches that first clump of trees over there.”

His little brother nodded, but wasn’t paying that much attention. “My queen’s rook takes your last bishop.” He faced Jackson. “I go next after Sisser, got it.”

Al frowned at the nine-year-old. “Are you Bobby Fisher or something?”

Jackson snickered. “Told you he was a chess whiz. You go after Coop gets across, okay?”

Once the nerd stepped into the shade on the other side of the gap, Jackson nodded at Aria. “I’ll come once you get there.”

She stepped close and bumped her shoulder against his. “Shouldn’t we stay together?”

“No, go on. I’ll come when you guys are all safe.”

She smiled at him. “Fine, but I’m not a guy, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Go.”

She frowned, but did like he said; he couldn’t help but notice her as she strolled across the clearing as though walking from one class to the next. He loved the way she moved. He’d been making himself not watch her from the moment Cooper led him to where she lay in the grass on that island, but there she was right out in the open.

Not a guy for sure.

She reached the trees. He glanced around then trotted toward the others.

After maybe two miles, the trees and brush stopped abruptly; the high-lines continued over what had to be Irving Boulevard, with a pylon on either side of the road where it bridged the river. A few folks, mostly men, walked among the stalled cars and trucks up there. Each carried a load or pulled a wagon or pushed a metal grocery cart.

One guy zigzagged through the dead autos on a bicycle, stuff tied on the front and back. A rifle strapped over his back dared anyone to mess with him. Jackson wondered if he had any bullets then looked at the others. “Get comfortable. We’re going to wait here ’til dark.”

Al and Cooper resumed their game; McKenzie cleared a spot next to a tree, leaned against it, and retrieved her book. Jackson sat crisscross just inside the shadows where he had a good view of the men as they meandered across the bridge. Where were all the women?

After a few minutes, Aria joined him. She eased to the ground very lady-like. “Something dawned on me when you jogged across the clearing back there. It all came back in a flash, and I hate you.”

He looked at her. What in the world had he done? She didn’t look familiar at all. “You hate me?”

She nodded. “I haven’t thought about it in years, but yes. You broke my heart eight years ago.”