Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home (31 page)

Letting out a small yelp, the coyote jumped back. Not seeing Lonny get up, the coyote came back, sniffing at his feet. Lonny could hear the sniffing but didn’t feel it on his feet. They were numb. “Git,” Lonny snapped again, but the coyote didn’t move this time and licked Lonny’s foot.

Lonny could feel his right leg move as the coyote licked it. Pain shot through his bones when the coyote bit his big toe off. His skin might be numb but his bones weren’t. Lonny bit through his lip, sending more blood down his chest. He felt more pain as the coyote started chewing on his foot.

With monumental effort, Lonny jerked his legs. “Get out of here!” he barked. The coyote stepped back but knew Lonny was like a calf he would sometimes find, helpless. Letting out a growl, the coyote moved back and started chewing on his calf. Lonny tried to move but could only twitch as pain shook his body. Holding in his screams, he grunted with each bite.

Nathan lowered his binoculars, seeing another coyote trot up to Lonny, joining the other one. “He’s not screaming,” Nathan said, getting in his buggy. Tom lowered the spotting scope, hearing Nathan’s buggy roll off. He started his and followed. Part of Tom wished he hadn’t looked but had listened to Nathan, while another part wanted to watch until the end.

Jasmine looked up to see the two buggies pull up under the trees next to the tents. She walked over to Nathan, who was looking up at one camo net for the buggies suspended over the camp area under the tree limbs. The canopy of leaves was thick, but you could see some breaks. But with the net up they couldn’t be seen from above. The stand of trees was fifty yards long and about that wide, with their camp right in the center.

“Nice,” Nathan said, pointing up.

Jasmine hugged him. “Yeah, John thought of it and put it up.”

“How are the girls doing?” Nathan asked as John and Natalie started taking the feed off Tom’s buggy.

“Amanda walked to use the bathroom by herself and is sitting up. It still hurts Casey too much to walk, so I carry her,” Jasmine said.

“Let me check on them,” Nathan said, taking off his vest.

Jasmine grabbed his arm. “Will you please wash off first?” Looking down, Nathan saw dried blood on his clothes. “Your face and hair too.”

Nathan nodded and started stripping. He grabbed his shaving bag and headed to the lake. Stepping in, Nathan sucked in a breath from the shock of the cold water. Wading out, Nathan scrubbed down and washed his hair. Getting out and drying off, he shaved in the cold water, and his face let him know it didn’t like it.

With his face burning, he walked back to camp and dressed in new clothes. Putting on a brave face, Nathan went in the tent. Amanda was propped up on her pack with a notebook in her lap, writing in another one. Casey was sitting up, drawing, with her back resting on sleeping bags. They looked up when Nathan walked in and smiled.

Grabbing the first aid bag, Nathan pulled out his stethoscope and BP cuff, moving over beside Casey. Ares was lying on her other side and looked up at Nathan, giving a little whine. Nathan looked at Casey. She was much paler and her eyes had a sunken appearance. “Hey, girl,” Nathan said, wrapping the BP cuff on her arm. He pulled back the blanket and saw her entire belly was now a bruise and slightly distended. She wouldn’t let him touch it. Her pulse was up and BP was low.

Moving on to Amanda, Nathan found her getting much better and her lungs were sounding good. She let Nathan press on her chest lightly, and Nathan rubbed her head. “What are you writing?” he asked as he started planning what he could do for Casey.

“I’m rewriting the notes you made,” she said, shaking her head. “Nathan, you really need to work on your writing.”

He laughed. “I know, and I will, I promise.”

“Did you let Lonny go?” she asked as she tried to read his writing.

Nathan nodded. “Yep, he was making some friends with some coyotes when I left.” Amanda smiled as she tried to read Nathan’s writing. Nathan kissed both of them and stepped out to find Jasmine and the others waiting.

Waving them away from the tent, Nathan looked at Jasmine. “Casey’s bleeding into her belly.”

Closing her eyes, Jasmine dropped to her knees. “What can we do?”

“We can’t operate, so don’t ask. The bleeding looks to be slowing down. Her belly isn’t much bigger than it was this morning, but her pulse is up and her blood pressure’s down. How much fluid has she drunk?” Nathan asked.

“Not much today. She threw up what I gave her the last two times,” Jasmine said, trying to stand. Nathan helped her up. “What can we do?”

“She needs fluids. We have three bags of saline, but she really needs some blood,” Nathan said.

“Can’t we take her somewhere? Hell, even Denver?” Jasmine asked.

“No,” Nathan said. “They won’t help a little girl even if they could. If I thought they could I would turn myself in if they would take care of her.”

“Can’t we give her some of our blood?” John asked.

Looking over at John, Nathan shook his head. “No. We have to know her blood type and the blood type of the person giving it to her or we will just finish what the man that shot her was trying to do.”

Jasmine grabbed Nathan’s arm. “Casey is AB positive.”

Jumping back in shock, Nathan gasped. “Are you sure?”

“You told me to ask their mother everything. When I told Lillian that, she gave me their complete medical history. She was a nurse. Tom, Natalie, and Casey are A positive, and Emma is B positive,” Jasmine said with hope on her face.

“Do they have any drug allergies?” Nathan asked, and Jasmine shook her head. “I’m O positive, so I’ll give her some. The kids are too little to donate. I’ll start an IV and give her some fluids.”

“What if she has a reaction?” Jasmine asked. Nathan gave her a look. “I worked in a vet’s office.”

“I have a few doses of IV drugs, but not much. I’ll give her some Benadryl and Tylenol before I start the ones by mouth; we have a lot of that,” Nathan said, moving over to the pack saddles. He pulled out the big medic bag and carried it to the tent.

Nathan walked in the tent and set the bag down. “Casey, I have to start an IV on you and give you some fluids. Then I’m going to give you some of my blood. When I’m done you will feel better.”

“I don’t like shots,” Casey moaned as Nathan put two pills in her mouth, making her swallow them with a sip of water.

“I don’t either, and I have to get one to help you, so you can be tough, can’t you?” Nathan asked. Casey nodded with tears in her eyes. “I’ll go first.” The others were standing at the tent door watching as Nathan took his camo jacket off. The veins on his arm stood out without a tourniquet as he swabbed his arm with alcohol.

Watching in wonder, the group was astonished when Nathan put an IV in his arm, then taped it down and flushed it. Then he moved over to Casey and put one in her arm. She wasn’t as indifferent as Nathan was about it, but she stayed still.

As Nathan hooked up a bag of saline, Jasmine stepped inside. “Have you done IV drugs before?”

“No,” Nathan laughed. “I live alone and I found out long ago the best way to get rid of a hangover is IV fluids. So I learned how to do it myself.”

Jasmine shook her head. “You are totally crazy.” Nathan just smiled as he hooked up the fluids to Casey’s needle. Nathan dug in the bag and pulled out a syringe connected to plastic tubing. The tubing was about two feet long and the syringe was connected in the middle of the tubing. “That’s a blood transfer device,” Jasmine said, looking at the syringe.

Nodding in respect, Nathan connected one end to Casey’s IV tubing. “Yes it is. They use them in hospitals for neonates that need blood. You can buy them online and at most vet supplies.”

“How much do you give her?” Jasmine asked.

“I’m rounding her weight to twenty-five kilos. For kids you give ten cc’s for every kilogram, so I’ll give her two hundred. This is whole blood, not packed cells, so I have to decrease the amount,” Nathan said as he pulled saline into the transfer device, priming it. When fluid came out his end, Nathan connected it to his IV. “Jasmine, watch how I do this and take over. I’m going to get lightheaded.”

Jasmine nodded as Nathan closed a clamp on Casey’s end and pulled back the plunger. Blood flowed out of his IV, filling the syringe. When the syringe was full, Nathan clamped his end off and opened Casey’s end. He gently pushed the plunger down, sending his blood into her IV.

“Casey, tell me if you have any trouble breathing or you start to itch,” Nathan said.

“I have to pee,” she said.

“You’re going to have to hold it, sweetie,” Nathan said, still sending his blood into her. Nathan looked up at Jasmine. “See how I eased it in over ten minutes?” Jasmine nodded. “Here, you take over. She gets four more syringes’ worth.”

Feeling dizzy, Nathan lay down beside Casey. Ares moved from the other side of Casey between her and Nathan, putting his head on Nathan’s chest. As Jasmine took over, Nathan patted Ares’s head. “You should stay with her.”

“He’s beside me, that’s all that matters,” Casey said, patting Ares’s back.

When Jasmine had the third one in, Nathan was feeling lightheaded. “John, get me a bottle of water.”

Jasmine stopped and looked at him. “What?”

“Nothing, keep going,” Nathan said as John handed him a bottle of water. Nathan sucked it down in one pull.

Jasmine started mumbling to herself then looked over her shoulder. “Find Nathan something to eat, like a cookie from the MREs.” Jasmine turned, looking down at Nathan. “I’ve given blood before, but you haven’t slept, and have been constantly moving. Now shut it.”

Nathan laid his head down as Emma climbed up his body and lay down, putting her head beside Ares. “Hey, doodle bug,” Nathan said, patting her. “I hope someone is keeping an eye on the M-U.”

“It’s right here behind us,” Tom said, watching the process.

Amanda put down the notebook she was writing in. “Nathan, I just want to point something out. The E-M-F-T-U that they call a Mew. It’s second generation.” Nathan blinked, not really seeing what she was pointing out. “Nathan, it’s Mewtwo,” she said. Nathan was still lost. “Like the Pokémon.”

Nathan started to chuckle, along with everyone else. It worked into a laugh and Casey splinted her stomach as she tried not to laugh hard. Nathan wiped his eyes. “Damn, I didn’t see that one.”

John chuckled. “They call the dune buggies Warthogs.”

“Those are in Halo,” Amanda said.

Nathan smiled. “Those guys like video games. I have to say I do as well.”

“Nathan,” Amanda said, “what if they called them that so if anyone heard or read about it they would blow it off?”

Thinking about it, “It’s possible,” he admitted with a nod.

“Lonny called the groups around us ‘players’ more than once in your notes,” Amanda said.

Nathan closed his eyes so the room would quit spinning. “Amanda, I do not doubt you, but I can’t think now.”

“Amanda, later,” Jasmine said, easing the last syringe in. Amanda looked at Nathan and smiled. She rubbed his shoulder and continued rewriting his notes.

When Jasmine was finished she held up the blood transfer device. “Nathan, how do I clean this?”

He opened his eyes. “Throw it away; we can’t risk it out here. We have one more.”

Natalie handed Jasmine some cookies and crackers. Jasmine forced Nathan to eat them and drink another bottle of water. Slowly sitting up, Nathan looked at Casey and noticed her skin was pinker. John slipped inside and gently picked up Casey, carrying her outside so she could use the bathroom.

“She looks better,” Jasmine said, taking the IV out of Nathan’s arm.

“We’ll know how bad the bleeding is by how much blood we have to give her,” Nathan said.

“We can’t just keep giving her blood if it’s leaking into her belly,” Jasmine said.

“If we can’t operate, yes we can,” Nathan said, reaching for his messenger bag.

Like he was carrying nitroglycerin, John gently carried Casey back in and laid her down. Ares moved his head off Nathan and put it on Casey. “Casey, what do you want me to read?” Nathan asked.

“Do you have Harry Potter?” she asked hopefully with a full smile.

“I have all of them,” Nathan said, pulling out a pack under his head and turning on his tablet. Nathan started reading as the sun fell from its high noon spot. The group sat and listened, enjoying the small break from reality in this new harsh world.

Chapter 21

Day 55

Feeling a tongue licking his face, Nathan groaned. “That better be Jasmine.” He opened his eyes to see Ares panting over him. “You know I don’t like that.”

Ares whined and looked away across the tent. Nathan shot up, instantly awake. Following Ares’s gaze, he saw Casey grimace. Nathan crawled over bodies, not caring if he woke them, which was good because when he sat up quickly he threw a sleeping Emma off his chest. Luckily, Emma rolled off and landed in a pile of blankets, still asleep.

“What’s wrong, little one?” Nathan asked with a worried tone.

“I have to pee really bad,” Casey groaned. Nathan got up and gently picked her up and carried her outside, not bothering to grab anything. He found Natalie outside with Athena and the Mew on the card table and her watching the screen in the morning sunrise.

Nathan gave her a smile as he walked over to the bathroom area. They had made a small seat using long sticks tied between some trees. Helping Casey sit down, Nathan turned around. “Thank you,” Casey gasped in relief.

“You’re welcome,” Nathan smiled. Casey’s skin was still pink.

“I’m done,” Casey said. Nathan picked her up. “Nathan, will you promise me something?”

“Whatever you want,” Nathan said, walking back to the tent.

“If something happens to me, don’t leave me behind. I want to be buried close to where you guys are,” she said in a serious voice.

Just hearing that, Nathan felt his legs getting weak and he started gasping for breath. “Nothing’s going to happen. You look better today.”

“I just don’t want to get left behind,” Casey said, looking down.

“Casey, I swear to you on everything I am, I would never leave you behind,” Nathan said as tears rolled down his face.

Casey leaned her head onto Nathan’s chest. “Thank you. That’s what has always scared me. I would be all alone.”

“You will never be alone,” Nathan promised, feeling like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. “Let’s have you stay outside today,” Nathan said, setting Casey in one of the folding chairs. Casey put her little arms on the arms of the chair.

“I would like that,” she said.

Nathan went inside the tent and grabbed some blankets. He padded Casey’s chair and pulled another one over, resting her feet on it. The two camping chairs facing each other were so large they almost formed a bed for Casey. Trying to get what Casey had asked about out of his head, Nathan examined her.

Her pulse was strong and her skin was good and pink. The bruise still covered her belly, but it wasn’t as dark, and Nathan almost started dancing when he measured her belly and found it was smaller than it had been the previous night.

Much happier, Nathan started fixing breakfast. With his coffee brewing, Nathan went over to the pile of Homeland equipment and picked up one of the radios. He looked at the screen and turned it on. He saw his red and white dot get much whiter, but the screen didn’t fuzz out.

He heard some radio traffic and set the radio down where he was fixing breakfast. It wasn’t long before the others came out. Jasmine squatted down beside him, pouring a cup of coffee. “I almost passed out from not seeing Casey.”

“Sorry, she had to pee, and I think she needs to be outside,” Nathan said, pouring a cup of coffee.

“How is she?” Jasmine asked

A smile spread across Nathan’s face. “She is doing well. Her belly is smaller and her pulse is still strong. She didn’t have blood in her urine today.”

Jasmine sighed. “I’m so glad.”

“Me too,” Nathan agreed.

“Are you thinking three or four days before we can risk moving her?” Jasmine asked.

Nathan looked away. “I don’t have a clue. We will stay here till she’s ready.”

“I know that,” Jasmine snapped. “I just want to make sure we have enough to wait.”

“The horses have enough food in grain for two weeks easy, and that’s without grazing. With what we picked up, our food stocks are just over three weeks,” Nathan said.

“I know, I did the inventory. But if we have to stay for over a week or two we will have to secure more food,” she said.

“We will kill some game this afternoon,” Nathan said.

“Why not now?” Jasmine asked, looking at the back of the lake and seeing deer.

“No, today, we stay under the trees,” Nathan said, grabbing a bowl and filling it with oatmeal. “Emma,” he called.

Emma ran over, sitting on his legs, as Jasmine racked her brain trying to make the connection. Finally, she gave up. “Okay, why do we have to stay under the trees?”

“Some people are going to be really pissed off,” Nathan said.

Putting her hands over her face, Jasmine moaned. “What did you do?”

“Left a surprise,” Nathan grinned.

Dropping her hands off her face, “We can’t run. If they come we have to kill all of them or be killed.”

Stopping the ‘plane’ in front of Emma’s face, Nathan turned to Jasmine in shock. “Yes, but what do you think they would do if they searched the area and found those dead bodies? They would call in support and search. When they land they lose a lot. They will know the area is hostile and the ones responsible are gone. You don’t leave booby traps and stay close. We are over fifteen miles away so they have a lot of ground to search. I just don’t want them to get lucky.” Still waiting on the ‘plane,’ Emma leaned forward and emptied the spoon.

“I just think that’s ‘kicking the ant hill’,” Jasmine said at the others came over to eat.

Nathan looked up to see Amanda filling a bowl. “What?” she asked. “Casey’s out, so I get to come out.”

“Sounds good to me. But get a chair and park it. I’ll be over to fix it like Casey’s,” Nathan said.

“I don’t care, I want to see the trees,” Amanda said, hobbling away.

Nathan watched Amanda sit beside Casey. “You’re right, though, Jasmine. They are going to find out: you fuck with my family and I’ll kill your newborn child before I slit your throat.”

Jasmine fell back on her butt. “Ah okay.” She watched Nathan’s face and could tell he was serious. “I’m not saying it wouldn’t be right, but damn. You would hurt their families?”

“To teach them to leave mine alone, you’re damn right,” Nathan said, refilling the ‘plane.’ “I’m going to tell you something. I have kept track of the man who killed my parents. He got to watch his kids grow up and have grandkids. He took that from me. He drank and got behind the wheel. It wasn’t an accident, it was murder, the same if he had used a gun. But the judge gave him probation and a ‘stern’ warning. He took my family from me and I’ve almost killed him a hundred times.”

Nathan paused, landing the ‘plane’ and loading it back up. “I’ve sat outside his house with a sniper rifle. People ask what it would serve. It won’t bring my parents back. I’ll tell you, he wouldn’t get to spend any more time with his family. I would know he wouldn’t get to see them again. It is true, revenge is a dish best served cold. You need to think about it before acting on it.”

Jasmine was staring at Nathan with her mouth hanging open. Nathan laughed. “You want to know why I haven’t killed his ass?” Slowly, Jasmine nodded. “Because I’d be the prime suspect. Unlike him, I would go to prison. That’s irony, isn’t it? He killed my parents and got probation, I shoot his ass and I’ll go to prison. It’s like my parents didn’t mean anything to anyone and I don’t matter.”

Jasmine crawled over and snuggled into Nathan’s side. “I’ll do it for you.”

“What?” Nathan coughed, startled.

Jasmine looked up at him. “I’ll do it for you.”

He shook his head. “No, if it gets done it will be done by me.”

She laid her head back on Nathan. “You deserve everything in the world. You care for others and even though you don’t let people get close much, when you do, you love them unconditionally. I’m not saying you’re perfect, but you’re one of the best people I’ve ever met.” She wrapped her arms around him. “And you’re mine. If that’s not worth ‘dropping some lead,’ I don’t know what is.”

Totally speechless, Nathan just gazed ahead, bug-eyed. “Wow,” he finally uttered.

Jasmine snuggled tighter in his side. “That’s what I think of you too.”

Wrapping his arms around her, Nathan pulled her close. Emma immediately started complaining. This was
her
time. Nathan kissed Jasmine as Emma climbed up, slapping both of them on the face to let them know she was still here and the ‘plane’ wasn’t flying.

Breaking the kiss, Jasmine pushed back. “Emma’s bitching.”

“I’m almost convinced the only time she isn’t is when she’s asleep,” Nathan declared.

Jasmine let out a laugh. “Nathan, you do everything for her. If she wants something, Emma gets it.”

Nathan picked up Emma, who was babbling in a grumpy tone, bitching in babble. “She is cute, and sometimes she’s really adorable when she loves on me.”

Jasmine wanted to tell him so badly he sounded like a daddy, but held her tongue. “Little Emma has you in the palm of her hand.”

“Yeah, but since several others do as well so it doesn’t matter,” Nathan said, standing up. “I’m going to check on the horses. I want to be near the radio at eight.”

“What’s on the radio at eight?” Natalie asked.

Tom snorted. “A surprise.”

“Jasmine,” Amanda called out like a queen. “When you go after that asshole, I’m coming. Are we clear?”

“Amanda,” Jasmine said, rearing her head back on her neck.

Amanda raised her hand to Jasmine. “Drop it. I let you have him for a boyfriend. We go together.” At a loss for words, Jasmine just sat there, wondering how to respond.

“I’m coming,” John said.

“Me too,” Tom chimed in. Then Natalie and Casey joined them.

Jasmine raised her hands up. “Guys, we still have to get home. Then let’s talk about this.”

“I know where he lives,” Amanda said, smiling.

Jasmine looked down at her. “Okay, but no one says anything.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Amanda replied in an insolent tone.

Jasmine looked up at the sky. “I’m sorry, Mamma. I know what you were talking about now.”

Nathan walked up as Jasmine was talking to the sky. “What’s that about?”

“My Mamma told me when I was a teenage girl I had a sassy mouth. I didn’t believe her,” Jasmine said with a smile. “I do now.”

“You’re still a teenage girl,” Amanda popped off.

“I rest my case,” Jasmine said, smiling.

Nathan didn’t say anything, but just sat down, picking up the Homeland handheld radio, listening. The others sat down, just enjoying relaxing. The radio beside Nathan suddenly crackled. “Mac-J one, flight Whiskey Delta Whiskey inbound, touch down in two mikes.”

Looking at his watch, Nathan smiled. “Damn, they are punctual.”

The same voice came over the radio. “Hotel Oscar, this is Whiskey Delta Whiskey, have visual on Mac-J one site and hogs are not in the pen. No call back given. Over.”

“Whiskey Delta Whiskey, this is Hotel Oscar, Mac-J one may be under Mike Uniform. Off-load players and hold for ten mikes. Over.”

“Roger, Hotel Oscar. Setting down and off-loading players, over,” Whiskey Delta Whiskey called back.

“Whiskey Delta Whiskey, have players secure area till Mac-J one returns. New orders state you stay on station till Mac-J one returns. How copy, over,” Hotel Oscar said over the radio.

“Affirmative, Hotel Oscar. Players have boots in dirt. New orders ho—” the transmission suddenly cut off with a hiss of static. Nathan smiled at looked around at everyone. Several seconds later the sound of an explosion rolled over the mountain.

“Whiskey Delta Whiskey, repeat your last, over,” Hotel Oscar called out. He repeated the message two more times, then a new voice came over the radio.

“Hotel Oscar, this is Mac-J nine. We heard an explosion to our northwest, over,” Mac-J nine called out.

“Mac-J nine, what was distance to the explosion? Over,” Hotel Oscar asked.

“Hotel Oscar, we don’t have visual on explosion. We only heard it, over.”

“Mac-J nine, what is your distance from Mac-J one? Over,” Hotel Oscar asked.

There was a minute’s pause before Mac-J nine answered. “Hotel Oscar, we are four-niner clicks southeast of Mac-J one.”

“Mac-J nine, break chat room and locate to Mac-J one location and report, over,” Hotel Oscar ordered.

“Hotel Oscar, have multiple hostiles around us. Looking at four armored trucks a thousand meters to our front now. Have to stay under wraps, can’t vacate area. Suggest you send a sky eye to check on Mac-J one, over,” Mac-J nine called back.

“Negative, Mac-J nine, three sky eyes were taken down this morning. Whiskey Delta Whiskey had to come in at fifty feet off the deck to avoid fire. You must leave chat room and check on Mac-J one. Over,” Hotel Oscar called back.

“Hotel Oscar, looking at over a hundred dismounted hostiles along with the light armor. There are six in this chat room. A hundred is bigger than six, over,” Mac-J nine called back.

Nathan just stared at the radio like it was a TV playing a game show. It was over a minute before a new voice came over the radio. “Mac-J nine, this is senior Hotel Oscar. We know how to count; you are a player. Move out to Mac-J one’s location.”

“Hotel Oscar, if we move, we get game over. Another Mac-J nine player informed me we have hostiles moving behind us, setting up Arty. Player reporting nine setting up now. Over.”

“Mac-J nine, any other chat rooms open now? Over.”

“Hotel Oscar, Mac-J sixteen is supposed to open chat room in ten mikes, over.”

“Roger Mac-J nine, suggest you prepare to destroy Mike Uniform, over.”

“Copy on Mike-Uniform, see truck setting up antennas. Tracking team is coming on line. Mac-J nine going to lobby, over and out.”

Nathan started laughing and John looked at him. “I understood most of it, but what is ‘Arty?’”

“Artillery. The patriots are getting ready to take Cheyenne back,” Nathan said, smiling.

“You can track radios even if they are scrambled?” Tom asked.

Nathan nodded. “Yes, you don’t need to hear what’s said, only that a key has been pressed.”

The radio cackled as Nathan ran over, grabbing Lonny’s laptop. “Mac-J sixteen, this is senior Hotel Oscar.”