Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home (5 page)

“Would you—” Casey started.

“Don’t,” Nathan said. “Casey, if I die, so be it but where does that leave you guys?”

She looked down at her lap and leaned over till she was touching Nathan’s arm. Nathan picked her up and sat her beside him. He looked over at Jasmine who didn’t know what to say. “We can’t save everyone,” John said sadly behind him.

“Hey look to the north, those guys are beating someone up!” Amanda shouted.

“Amanda, keep your voice down and back up from the door. When you are that far out you can be seen. That’s why I’m sitting back from the opening,” Nathan commanded. Amanda stepped back. Nathan took her binoculars and looked to the north. He soon found six men beating two women and a man. “John, go get the sniper rifle,” Nathan said.

“If you shoot everyone will know we’re here,” Jasmine said.

“I’m only going to shoot once,” Nathan said as John carried over the Lapua. Nathan handed Emma to Jasmine and set up the rifle as John set up the spotting scope. Nathan got in a good prone position, lifted the stock to his shoulder, and found his target. “Range?” Nathan asked.

“Eight hundred and seventy-four yards to the one with the cowboy hat,” John said.

Nathan reached up and dialed in his point of aim. “Rain looks like it’s falling straight down,” Nathan said.

“No, it’s going a little northeast,” John said. Nathan found a bush in his scope and guessed about an eight-mile-an-hour wind. He adjusted for windage.

“Even with a suppressor it’s going to be loud in here,” he warned them, as he slowed his breathing. A man in a cowboy hat was kicking the man on the ground as his buddies ripped clothes off the girls. Cowboy stepped away from his victim, looking at his buddies and laughing.

Nathan smiled. “On the way,” he said, squeezing the trigger. John watched the trail the bullet left and was stunned when it hit Cowboy in the back. John’s mouth fell open when the two men in front of Cowboy fell down.

“Fuck a duck, you got three!” he said, watching one of the other men that fell down get up without an arm. The other one was holding his side with his mouth open, like he was screaming.

“The girls and man are running away,” Amanda told everyone.

“How did you do that?” John asked, watching One Arm dance around and fall down.

“Luck. I was trying to hit Cowboy and the one I got in the side. They were standing in front of each other. After I pulled the trigger the other guy turned into the path,” Nathan said. “Amanda, look around and see if anyone is looking this way.”

Standing up, Nathan motioned to John. “Cover me,” he said, pointing to the sniper rifle. John nodded and crawled over behind the rifle. He aimed it toward the semi where the boy was hiding. Not saying anything else Nathan headed down the ladder to his pack. He pulled out the tactical pants and t-shirt he had worn at the gas station. Holding up the t-shirt, he studied the word “Sheriff” printed across the front. He could hear those he left behind in his mind in what seemed two lifetimes ago and smiled.

“Miss you guys,” Nathan mumbled, then got dressed.

Jasmine came down seeing him pull on his tactical pants. “You’re not wearing your big vest?” she asked, pointing to the large vest he wore every day.

“No, it might scare the kid,” Nathan said. He walked over to all the hanging gear they were drying out. All the kids with the exception of Emma wore vests as they rode. Nathan pulled it off the line and found it was still wet but he put it on then grabbed his shirt. “You need to have somebody watching the other way in case that shot was heard,” Nathan told her and pulled out his 1911. Giving it a press check, he holstered it, then called Ares over.

“Let me go with you,” Jasmine offered.

“So if both of us die these kids can die a slow death?” Nathan asked, shocking her.

“Let me go instead of you,” she said.

Shaking his head, “No, I don’t want you to get hurt,” he said reaching out rubbing her cheek. “I’ll be back,” he said in his best Arnold impersonation, making her smile.

Opening the door he and Ares ran out in the rain and were instantly soaked. That was the one thing he didn’t like about the south: This was classified as a shower. In Idaho this was classified as a torrential rainstorm. Nathan stopped and looked out across the field and decided not to risk crossing the field and ran toward the road.

The road would take him half a mile south, then he would go the half a mile to the interstate and walk the half mile to the kid. He remembered making fun of some gangbangers for doing the same thing, but the field they passed didn’t look like a lake. Moving down the road the water was over ankle-deep, so running was out of the question.

It took him an hour to reach the interstate and his mood had deteriorated somewhat. Two men came out from under the bridge as he walked up the ramp. “Unless you’re giving me food, shut the fuck up, or I’ll cap both of you,” Nathan barked.

The two jumped back and headed back under the bridge. Nathan no sooner hit the bridge than he saw the three men who were with Cowboy walking toward him. All three had rifles and stopped seeing Sheriff on his shirt. Not saying anything, Nathan drew his pistol aiming at the first one squeezing two rounds at the first one, hitting him in the chest as Nathan dropped to his knee. Before the man fell, Nathan sent two rounds into the next man’s chest.

Nathan was already aiming at the last one’s chest when the man started to raise his lever action. Squeezing the trigger Nathan popped him twice in the chest and dropped his magazine, speed-loading the next. Standing in a low crouch, Nathan scanned the area and saw a few people looking at him, none closer than fifty yards. He picked up the partial magazine and put it back in his belt.

Under the bridge the two men looked at each other. “Damn, glad we didn’t ask,” one said, and the other nodded.

Moving up to the bodies, Nathan searched them to find two alive. Not finding anything he wanted, he stood up. “Ares, kill ’em,” he commanded and walked away. Ares lunged, taking the first one’s neck in his mouth. He clamped down, shaking his head vigorously. Hearing his friend making gurgling noises, the other man raised his hands up as Ares spun toward him.

Leaping at the next man, Ares passed between his arms and locked on his throat. The man started to scream but was quickly cut off as Ares clamped down on his throat. Nathan hadn’t walked more than twenty feet when Ares trotted up beside him. “Good boy,” Nathan said, patting his back.

Nathan keyed his radio. “Is the kid still there? Over,” he asked.

“What the hell was that about? Over,” John asked.

“Didn’t have to worry about anyone finding you guys, over,” Nathan said glancing behind him. He spotted several people moving toward the bodies he left.

“Yeah, the kid is there. He climbed back under the trailer when you lit up those guys, over,” John said.

“Anyone see people staying close to the kid? Over,” Nathan said, crossing over the median and heading to the semi.

“Negative, over,” John answered. “You have a group of nine coming toward you in the other lane. They have just been walking down the road and didn’t stop by the three dead ones you shot from here, over,” John said.

“Thanks. I can’t see them from out here. Keep an eye out for me, my line of sight isn’t as good as yours, over,” Nathan said, coming up to the semi. He walked to the back of the trailer, squatted down, and duck-walked under.

“Little guy, I’m here to see if you’re okay,” Nathan said, looking toward the back axles. Crammed over them was a small boy, looking at Nathan with terror in his eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you. If I tried the dog here would rip my arm off. He likes kids and anyone that tries to hurt them he bites really hard,” Nathan said. The boy’s expression went from terror to total surprise.

“Ares, come say hi,” Nathan called out. Ares moved over beside him looking at the kid, panting. The kid saw the blood on Ares’s mouth and scooted back. “Those guys were trying to hurt a kid. I told them to stop but they didn’t, so Ares stopped them,” Nathan explained.

The kid looked at Ares and gave a little smile. “I’m Nathan. Who are you so I can tell Ares?” Nathan asked, but the boy didn’t look at him.

Seeing he wasn’t going to answer, “If you come with us, Ares will keep you safe,” Nathan offered. The kid looked at him with doubt on his face. “We have food.”

The kid just stared at him and never moved. It was then that Nathan noticed the kid was shivering and his lips had a bluish tint. “We can get you warm,” Nathan said and sat there waiting. He stayed crouched over for ten minutes and neither he nor the kid moved. “If I was going to hurt you I would’ve done it by now,” Nathan said, and the boy moved back from him.

John came over his ear bud. “That group is starting to get close to you, over.”

“People are coming and they know where you are hiding. We have to go,” Nathan said, but the boy didn’t move. Nathan looked at Ares. “I knew this was a bad idea,” he said moving toward the boy. Like an animal, the boy growled at him and grunted.

Nathan dove between the trailer and axles, grabbing the kid’s arm. As Nathan started pulling him out the kid bit his hand. Nathan grunted and pulled the kid out. Nathan held him tightly, carefully prying his hand out of the kid’s mouth. Taking off his glove and looking at his hand Nathan saw little teeth marks but no broken skin. Putting his glove on and trying to keep the kid from thrashing about, Nathan spun him around, putting the kid’s back to his chest.

“I didn’t bite you,” Nathan said carrying the kid out from under the trailer and standing up. Turning around he saw the group John had called out thirty yards away. The kid was growling and kicking. Several kicks had come close to the jewels. Nathan tucked the kid under his left arm as the group looked at him.

“You know, some days it doesn’t pay to get up,” Nathan said as several in the group pointed at him. Many of them brought weapons out, and, though nobody pointed one at him, they were aimed in his general direction. As one, the group moved toward him and Nathan turned his radio to voice so the others could hear what he said.

A man with a green hat and black beard stopped in front of the group. “Kid yours?” he asked.

“No, but don’t see how it’s any of your business,” Nathan said.

“Doesn’t look like he wants to go with ya, so I’m making it my business,” Green Hat challenged.

“You walked past three dead men that were trying to rape two women. If you keep going you’ll find the other three, dead like their friends. I don’t like people sticking their nose in my business,” Nathan said.

Green Hat chuckled. “You’re awful brave for one man.”

This caused Nathan to laugh, unnerving the group. “Who the hell said I was alone? You have snipers aiming at you now.” The others looked around nervously.

“Bullshit,” the man said. The kid never stopped kicking and grunting, trying to get out of Nathan’s arm. Nathan looked at the group and noticed one of the group standing apart from the others.

“Tell you what, your man there in the red rubber boots,” Nathan said, motioning with his head. “How about one of my boys kills him to prove this is our road? You act bad here and we kill you.”

Red boots froze and the others looked at him. “Hey now, wait, we was just thinkin’ you was going to hurt the kid,” Green hat said, holding up his hands. “Everyone, get your hands off your guns,” he said over his shoulder.

“Smart,” Nathan said. “Now you may continue. But if you hurt innocent people on this part of the road, you will die.”

“Hey, mister,” Green hat said, and Nathan put his right hand on his pistol.

“Sir, you ask me for food an’ I’ll shoot you. Don’t you think if I had some to spare I would give it to you? As it is right now this kid beating the shit out of me will get what little I have,” Nathan said with a cold stare.

The entire group raised their hands up. “Sorry, sir,” Green hat said.

“You better get moving, we have a motorcycle gang close,” Nathan said, pulling the still-kicking and grunting kid back to his chest. His arm was getting tired.

Green hat nodded his head. “Yes sir, we saw a few of ‘em ten miles back.”

“Well hurry along, because when they get here, they will get upset,” Nathan said, wiping water off his face. The group hurried past and Nathan held the kid out at arm’s length, “Hey I saved you. Will you stop?”

Never in his life had Nathan ever seen such a feral look on a human. Grunts and growls escaped the boy as Nathan turned to see the group walking past the three men he shot. Getting tired of the feral child, Nathan headed to the exit ramp. He was tempted to just try to cross the field since the rain had picked up. Looking at the barn his group was in, Nathan could barely make out the shape, much less see it clearly.

Leaving the interstate he was soon walking in standing water again, but it was deeper than before, coming almost to his knees. Ares moaned as he swam/walked beside Nathan. “Don’t whine at me. I wanted to leave Mowgli and see if the wolves would raise him but the others wanted him,” Nathan snapped.

The last half mile the kid quit kicking and swinging, but he still grunted at Nathan. A shiver ran up Nathan’s spine as cold seeped in. His feet were so numb he could barely feel them as he dodged a floating body turning off the road. Walking toward the barn, Nathan noticed water was all the way up to the house. The barn fared better with the water about ten yards around it making the barn look like it was on an island.

Jasmine opened the door and Nathan walked in, heading to the gas grill shivering. He handed the kid to Jasmine. “Careful, it bites hard,” he said, stripping wet clothes off.

Amanda handed him a towel. “Why’s he acting like that?” she asked, looking at the boy. His hair was golden blond and looked like rats had been sleeping in it. His wild eyes were a deep blue and his skin was tanned. The only clothes he wore were Star Wars underwear. Cuts and scrapes covered his thin arms and legs. His stomach was just slightly swollen, making his body look smaller.

“Scared,” Nathan said. “Dry off Ares please. He had to swim to get Mowgli,” Nathan said, drying off.

“He’s named after the kid in the Jungle Book?” Amanda asked, amazed.