Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968
Author: Thomas E. Ricks
Date: 2022-10-04 00:00:00+00:00
Description: #1 New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas E. Ricks offers a new take on the Civil Rights Movement, stressing its unexpected use of military strategy and its lessons for nonviolent resistance around the world. “Ricks does a tremendous job of putting the reader inside the hearts and souls of the young men and women who risked so much to change America . . . Riveting.” —Charles Kaiser, The Guardian In Waging a Good War , the bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks offers a fresh perspective on America’s greatest moral revolution—the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 19
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

DARK TITAN

WAR ZONE

Homefront

. . . .

Book 4

Thomas A. Watson

William Allen

KINDLE EDITION

AN APOC-PRESS BOOK

DARK TITAN

War Zone

Homefront

Book 4

© 2018 by Thomas A. Watson & William Allen
All Rights Reserved

Edited by FastTrack Editing

Sabrina Jean

Covers by Christian

Christian Bentulan

This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Dedication

To my little Renie and all my fans, thank you.

Introduction
by Thomas A. Watson

I know it has been a long time since we have been in the world of Dark Titan and I do apologize. I had always planned on ‘Warzone’ to complete the Dark Titan story, but things kept coming up. And ‘Warzone’ had to pick up at the time ‘Journey’ ended. After legal battles were done to get my story back, I tried to pick up the story again. I have written ‘Warzone’ twice. The first was over a hundred thousand words and I stopped the second at eighty thousand. I hated both and erased them. (Yeah, Tina nearly fainted. She did have to go have a drink.)

But the characters weren’t the same ones who arrived in Idaho. Nathan wasn’t the grown-up kid. He more resembled Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger in the stories. I finally realized, on the second try to do the book, it was because of the others at the compound changing my style of the characters. My favorite character in the story, John, wasn’t nearly the same. In the first two attempts, I actually didn’t like John, and that wasn’t going to do. Even little Emma, who I just adore, was changed.

If I’m not happy with my characters, I’m sorry; I won’t and can’t put them out. The stories were good, but it wasn’t Nathan and the group. They literally grew up in one night.

I was talking to Will at one of the shows and was telling him about Dark Titan. (Sorry, Will Allen and his brother M.C. are my adopted brothers, and we do shows together across the country). He offered to help. After giving the outline to the ending, places and character bios, we sat down and dug in. So, we tried the first ten chapters and Nathan and the crew were back to just the way they were in ‘Journey’.

After I stopped jumping up and down, I told Will he was going to co-author ‘Warzone’ with me. Well, he said he would be more than happy to write with me to help, but I didn’t need to share Dark Titan with him. So, believe it or not, I didn’t argue and acted like a grown-up, I just marched right in and told Tina.

Tina, being Tina, called Will and I don’t know what was said, but Will got back with me that day and told me he was more than happy to be co-author and become part of Dark Titan. (Yeah, Tina can be a worrywart, but you have to love her.)

When Tina read the story and told us she couldn’t even tell who wrote what, Will and I were very happy. The only complaint from anyone was from Tina; Will loves to use the tab key when he writes, and it makes formatting harder. At one point, I really think Tina was going to fly out and meet up with Will, just to break the tab key on his computer.

But we have outstanding beta readers and fans who know how to help, and momma (Tina) was happy. Ask Will or M.C., if momma ain’t happy, all three of us will go around kicking everyone in the shin to make damn sure nobody is happy.

The story still follows the same direction I envisioned. My outlines always start with the end and a few highpoints like major battles or funny ideas. But other than that, I have no idea how the story will get there. There are many scenes and plots that are Will’s alone, and I really like them.

Most importantly, Nathan and the gang are who they were when they arrived. They didn’t wake up the next day as terminators. It only happened once during the story, but Will highlighted parts of a chapter and said, ‘John changed rather dramatically’. And taking a step back and reading it, he was right, so I changed John back to what I love about him. He’s probably the happiest person alive since the collapse, and I can always see his friendly smile in my mind.

Don’t get me wrong, I always planned for the characters to change to meet this new world. But not so much they weren’t who they started off as, and damn sure not overnight or in the space of a week. I’m happy with Dark Titan once again, and excited to dive back into that world.

Without Will, I can say Dark Titan would’ve continued being pushed back until I could write the story I originally envisioned. And like I always say, without Tina, there is no Apoc Press, which means no stories from Tommy. And without all of you readers, there wouldn’t be an Apoc Press, so thank you.

Recollection from William Allen

Ever see the fat kid in the candy store? Yes, I said fat. That was me, after all. I have more in common with John than Nathan that way. At any rate, that would be me panting over the mountains of milk chocolate and creamy nougat when Tommy approached me about lending a hand with the next Dark Titan book. Why? Perhaps a little explanation is in order. We were at a convention, selling books and shaking hands with our readers when Thomas A. Watson, author, mentioned he was having a little trouble getting back into the proper groove for the next planned story arc in the Dark Titan series.

By this time, I’d already read the first three books, the source material if you will, several times. Enough so that when Tommy started discussing characters and plotlines hinted at in the original series, I was able to jump right in and grasp his points. I was already a huge fan of the series, and here is an author I had huge respect for, asking for my assistance. I felt like the minor league player in the bleachers being called up to come pitch in the World Series.

At this stage, we took out our respective yellow pads and started jotting down notes and swapping characters back and forth, like those same proverbial rotund youths trading baseball cards at recess. The ideas were flowing fast, and with Tommy’s framework already in place, getting the rough edges smoothed over only took a little time and elbow grease.

Thankfully, Tommy’s wife and partner Tina was there to help our readers looking at our books, because Tommy and I were off in our own little world populated with lethal teens, mind-controlling toddlers, and the biggest kid in the sandbox. Clearly, the next installment of Dark Titan was well under way by that point. Now you, the reader, hold the final product in hand. Please let us know how we did, and leave us a review on the appropriate sites while we get to work on the next book.

Title Page

Credits

Dedication

Introduction

Recollection

Chapter 1 ……………………….………….1

Chapter 2……………………………..…….8

Chapter 3………………………………….13

Chapter 4………………………………….20

Chapter 5………………………………….28

Chapter 6………………………………….33

Chapter 7………………………..………..37

Chapter 8………………………..………..44

Chapter 9……………………………….. 50

Chapter 10………………………………59

Chapter 11……………………………...63

Chapter 12………………………………70

Chapter 13………………………………77

Chapter 14………………………………87

Chapter 15………………………………94

Chapter 16………………………………103

Chapter 17………………………………113

Chapter 18………………………………119

Chapter 19………………………………129

Chapter 20………………………………134

Chapter 21………………………………145

Chapter 22………………………………151

Chapter 23………………………………161

Chapter 24………………..….…………171

Chapter 25…………….……..…………182

Chapter 26……………...………………193

Chapter 27………….…………..………198

Chapter 28…………….……..…………206

Chapter 29……………...………………211

Chapter 30………….…………..………217

Other Works…………………………..220

CHAPTER ONE

Cracking his left eye open, Nathan let out a long groan. “Girl wasn’t kidding about treating me like a cheap bicycle,” he mumbled, lifting his head up and looking around the dark bedroom. The only light he could see was coming from the cracked open door of the bathroom.

Glancing over at the bedside table, Nathan blinked his eyes trying to clear up the blurry numbers of the clock. “Three a.m. of what day?” he sighed, lifting his arm and fumbling with his wristwatch until the back lit up, so he could see the date. “Only fourteen hours,” he scoffed, pulling his body to the side of the bed. “Surprised I didn’t sleep for a week.”

He looked back in the bed and didn’t see Jasmine. “She used me and just left my ass,” Nathan chuckled, getting up and stretching. Heading into the bathroom, Nathan looked in the mirror. His black hair that normally reached just above his shoulders, was now well past them.

Turning on the sink, Nathan smiled, cupping his hands under the water as it got hotter. “If I never shave in cold water again, that’ll be fine by me,” he said, splashing water across his face and remembering the past few months. Unable to help it, Nathan turned the shower on and just stared at the flowing water.

Taking them over sixty days to reach home, he’d really missed the comforts of civilization. Nathan stepped in the shower and stood under the hot water for ten minutes before he started washing. When he was done, he stepped out drying before turning on the bedroom light.

Walking over to his closet, Nathan opened it up and stepped back. “Why did Tim and Sherry bring all my clothes? I just can’t see where a business suit will come in handy now, much less all of my suits,” he wondered out loud, then dug in to find tactical pants and a polo. Setting them on the dresser, Nathan pulled out some shorts and a tank top.

Looking into the mirror over the dresser at his own reflection, “I can finally push iron,” he told his reflection.

Nathan chuckled to see the spurs sitting on Jasmine's nightstand as he made up the bed. “Glad she was kidding about those,” Nathan laughed, grabbing his tennis shoes, he left the room.

Walking out, Nathan heard a squeal and turned to see Emma jumping off the couch, running full bore at him. Reaching down, Nathan scooped her up. “Hey, doodlebug,” he said, nuzzling into her neck.

Looking over at the couch, Nathan saw Jasmine holding Chip, who looked asleep, then noticed Tim and Sherry sitting in the recliners. Nolan was in Sherry’s arms drinking a bottle, but stopped and pushed the bottle away when Nathan walked over with Emma just babbling away in his arms.

“Hey, little man,” Nathan said, bending over and letting Nolan grab his fingers.

“Thought you would sleep later than this,” Tim laughed as Nathan leaned over kissing Nolan and then hugged Sherry.

When Nathan let Sherry go, Tim stood up and hugged Nathan. “I haven’t slept that hard since I took drugs for a migraine in Kansas,” Nathan admitted, and Tim let him go, leaning back.

“It’s been a while since you got a migraine,” Tim reminded him, sitting down.

Nodding as he moved over and lifted Jasmine’s legs up and sat down, putting her feet in his lap, “Yeah, and I always think the last one was the worst,” Nathan said, then leaned over kissing Jasmine.

“When did you get up?” Nathan asked while Emma patted his face to look at her.

Jasmine smiled as Nathan turned to look at Emma while she continued to babble, pointing around the house. “About an hour ago,” Jasmine smiled. “Emma sniffed you out and was trying to stick her arm under the door.”

“Hey,” Nathan said, looking Emma in the eyes. “You’re the one who ran to Tim and Sherry’s room.”

Happy she had his attention, Emma threw up her hands as she babbled with a smile. “I guess you’re thirsty because I have a sudden desire to fill a sippy cup,” Nathan sighed, and Emma clapped her hands.

Moving Jasmine’s feet, Nathan stood back up. “You could’ve informed me before I sat down,” Nathan told Emma as he looked in her face and headed into the kitchen.

Tim and Sherry both smiled, listening to Nathan talk to Emma as if he understood the constant babble. “Jasmine, I love you and those kids,” Sherry said with a huge smile, taking the empty bottle from Nolan and started burping him. “Neither of us have ever seen him like this.”

“I’ll say,” Tim laughed, reaching over and squeezing Sherry’s hand. “Bill was awestruck when you rode in.”

“Bill?” Jasmine asked, racking her brain and going through the throng of people they’d met.

“Billy,” Tim clarified. “Only Nathan can get away with calling him Billy, and then only sometimes. Billy is actually ‘Junior’, but not even Nathan gets away with calling Billy that.”

Furrowing her brow, “I don’t remember Amanda telling me that,” Jasmine mumbled, but they heard her.

“Well, Amanda was calling him Bill,” Sherry said as Nolan let out a loud burp.

“Is this coffee fresh?” Nathan called from the kitchen.

“Yes, babe. Sherry and I fixed it less than an hour ago,” Jasmine called out over her shoulder, then turned back to Tim and Sherry. “Glad you told me about Bill, then. Anyone else not go by a name only Nathan calls them?”

“Not really,” Sherry said, looking down at Chip curled up in Jasmine’s lap. “He has bad dreams.”

Closing her eyes, “We know,” Jasmine sighed. “I’m scared about what he’s seen.”

“You aren’t getting coffee!” Nathan snapped in the kitchen, and Emma’s babble turned into an irritated jabber.

Opening her eyes when Emma’s jabber turned to bitching, “Nathan, you gave her coffee in Wyoming. Put some ice in her sippy cup and let her have coffee!” Jasmine shouted out. “I’m not in the mood for a bitchy Emma because it transfers to you!”

“I gave her some once, and she was moving nine hundred miles an hour!” Nathan shouted. “Damn it, that’s mine!”

Jumping up, Tim ran into the kitchen as Sherry leaned over to Jasmine. “Nathan dotes on you something fierce, and nobody has ever seen that,” Sherry smiled, then let the smile drop off as her face turned into a scowl. “You break his heart, and I’ll drop your body down a mineshaft.”

“Please,” Jasmine scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You have no idea the hell I had wearing his ass down to give me a chance. I was almost to the point of tying his ass up and molesting him, in hopes of winning him over.”

Sitting back in the chair, somewhat glad to hear that, Sherry nodded. “Believe me, I can see that.”

Hearing the jabbering stop, Jasmine looked up when Nathan carried Emma back in drinking her sippy cup. “I see she got coffee,” Jasmine grinned, lifting her feet up.

After Nathan sat down, Jasmine put her feet back in his lap. “Tim fixed it for her,” Nathan huffed, lifting a coffee cup up and blowing on it as Tim came back in grinning.

“Sorry, but last night we found out Emma only stops when she gets what she wants,” Tim said, sitting back down.

“The others been up?” Nathan asked.

Shaking his head, “Not really,” Tim said. “We’ve heard them go to the bathroom.”

Putting his coffee mug down, Nathan sighed as Emma held out her sippy cup. Taking it, Nathan put it beside his coffee and Emma wrapped her arms around his neck, curling up on his chest. “Guys, I swear, it looks like you emptied my closet at the house,” Nathan said, rubbing Emma’s back.

“We did,” Sherry confirmed, getting up and laying Nolan down on a pallet on the floor.

“Can you give me a quick run-down?” Nathan asked.

Nodding, Tim got comfortable in the recliner. “After I hung up with you, I called the guys to tell them you were on the road. Now, everyone had hauled all their gear out to the compound, but Bill and Rusty were called into work. Aiden was called in the day before,” Tim said, raising his eyebrows.

“Called in off vacation?” Nathan asked, and Tim nodded. “Okay. So, everyone’s families were already out here at least?”

“No, the wives were tired of hauling the kids fifty miles back to town, just so the kids could go to school. I found out later, everyone was actually back at their own houses when I talked to you that last time,” Tim told him. “I was just about to start calling the guys when the shit hit the fan.”

“I thought it was a power failure until I looked at my cellphone,” Sherry said, forcing a smile.

“Sherry, don’t feel bad. I’d bet anything, I tried to start my damn Suburban a hundred times,” Nathan admitted.

“We figured out what’d happened when the transformer in the front yard blew up; that we’d been hit by a CME,” Tim said, reaching over and patting Sherry’s hand. “It caught some trees on fire and we had to break out all the fire extinguishers. We didn’t know about the EMPs then because I cranked the vehicles up in the garage, forgetting about the copper mesh you had wrapping the house.”

Taking a sip of coffee, “Anyway,” Tim continued. “We already had all the primary stuff loaded. Aiden and I had taken all the horses up the day before. Thankfully, our truck was in your garage, and Sherry and I decided to go ahead and load up. I know you wanted us to wait, but Sherry and I agreed, you had too much shit at your house we needed.”

“Guys, I wanted you safe, not the stuff,” Nathan said with an irritated tone, looking down at Emma sleeping on his shoulder.

“We know, but when we got up here none of the guys were here, so we unloaded the trailers and went back to the house. When we got to the house, I left Sherry and Nolan there and headed over to Bill’s. Let me tell you, he was ready to beat the kids for leaving the ATVs outside the shed, since it was hardened like your house, but both four-wheelers were dead. We loaded them up anyway and I think we can get them running again, but there’s been too much going on here. As of right now, only your ATVs and carts, along with Aiden’s are working. So far, only your vehicles and my truck are working, but Bill is sure he’ll have his Bronco running this week,” Tim said, taking a deep breath.

“How did the guys get their kids home from school?” Nathan asked, taking another sip of coffee.

“They had to go and get them,” Tim answered. “It was midnight when I brought everyone back here. Bill wanted to use your truck, but I told him over my dead body, and let him use the farm truck.”

“Billy boy knows better than to ask to use my truck,” Nathan scoffed.

Tapping Nathan on his belly with her foot, “The truck your mom and dad bought you?” Jasmine asked.

“Yeah,” Nathan nodded, and waved his hand over at Tim and Sherry. “They are the only ones besides me who get to drive my graduation Blazer.”

“I let Sherry drive it up here with Nolan after we loaded up. But with my truck, the farm truck, and your Blazer, we had more than enough room,” Tim said, then sighed. “When we got here, is when Vince told Bill about the compound’s tractor. Ephraim was using it down in the valley, since his was broken.”

“Ephraim’s done a lot for us, so that’s just bad luck. I hope nobody got mad at Vince,” Nathan said.

Sherry gave a grunt. “You know Anita did.”

Trying to put faces with names, Jasmine held up her hand. “Okay, Vince is the guy with the silver hair, right?” Jasmine asked.

“Yeah, he’s a doctor and was voted chief of the compound at the last meeting,” Nathan told her, then looked over at Tim and Sherry. “Were Floyd and Anita there when we got here last night? I didn’t remember seeing them.”

Nodding with a lopsided grin, “Oh, yeah. Anita was some kind of pissed,” Sherry snorted. “She’s been trying to say because you weren’t here, all your supplies became compound assets.”

Holding his hands up, “Hold on, Sherry. Let me get Nathan caught up before you unleash on the slut,” Tim said quickly.

“She wishes she was a slut,” Sherry scoffed. “Nobody wants her nasty ass.”

“Will you please point her out?” Jasmine asked with a malevolent smile, and Sherry nodded.

“Anyway,” Tim sighed, rolling his eyes but feeling no remorse for Anita. “We carried the empty trailers back to your house and loaded up your tractor, after making sure it worked, then everything else from the house and barn. Including both shipping containers, it took us two more trips. The only place we didn’t empty was the storage area in the barn. Bill wanted to, but you always said that cache was our last backup.”

Nodding in agreement, “Tim, you were able to get the shipping containers here?” Nathan asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, but had to have the five ton pull them up the mountain to the compound,” Tim chuckled. “I didn’t want to risk hurting the farm truck, it’s only a two ton. But by day three of the event, we had everything from everyone’s homes that we needed. Then we started the protocols here.”

“Anyone not make it?” Nathan asked, dropping his hand to Jasmine’s legs and rubbing them.

“Yeah, Jeremey and Vicki,” Tim sighed. “They were in Belize. Vince talked to them the day before the event. They weren’t due to fly out for seven days.”

Shaking his head, “Damn, that sucks,” Nathan sighed. “So, any from Jeremey’s group show up?”

“Nope,” Tim said with despair.

“So, we are down three fighters and six trigger pullers right off the bat,” Nathan moaned as Tim glanced at Sherry winking, then cut his eyes over to Nathan caressing Jasmine’s legs.

“You making it back home more than makes up for that,” Sherry laughed, nodding at Tim.

Looking off as he caressed Jasmine’s legs, “I don’t see Jeremey and Vicki making it home, guys,” Nathan sighed. “I know we killed over a hundred easy. I was starting to get worried about ammo. And from what we’ve heard, Mexico is a hundred times worse. So unless they got on a boat, they’re screwed.”

“Yeah, we’ve heard some bad stuff from Mexico,” Sherry said, getting up. “Two weeks ago, they were reporting massive body burns.”

“So, any problems around here?” Nathan asked as Sherry headed to the kitchen.

“Nothing close to us, but Coeur d’Alene’s had some trouble. Food ran out there a month ago. There was a detachment of UN troops there and everyone attacked them,” Tim said. “Missoula is basically gone. They welcomed in the UN troops and everyone in Montana got pissed off about that. From what we’ve heard, three quarters of the city has been destroyed. To our west, Spokane is a war zone. We’re dealing with mostly Chinese troops here, but two weeks ago, we started hearing about troops from Indonesia landing.”

Laughing quietly, “Yeah, we heard they tried to send Chinese troops down into Utah, but everybody and their mother took shots at them,” Nathan said.

“Not just there. Snipers are taking out UN troops and loyal military troops by the truckload. From what we heard on the radio, it’s like people are at the county fair expecting prizes for how many UN troops they knock down,” Tim added as Sherry came back with another cup of coffee. “Reports from overseas are the Chinese aren’t sending more troops because of massive riots at home, and they tried to invade Japan.”

Turning to Sherry, Nathan smiled. “So I take it, you and Anita had words?”

“Yeah, she tried to say since you weren’t here, your stuff belonged to the group,” Sherry said, taking a sip of coffee. “Before I could get cranked up on her ass, Vince shut her down and then Lanny unloaded on her.”

“Lanny is the black man, right?” Jasmine asked, really wishing Amanda was there to keep her up on all the people.

Patting Jasmine’s leg, “Yes,” Nathan told her. “He’s the pastor and also the treasurer for the group.”

Glad she’d gotten that right, Jasmine smiled at Nathan. “Sorry, I only worried about remembering your friends,” Jasmine said, then turned to Tim and Sherry. “Most importantly, you two and Nolan.”

Tim and Sherry both smiled at Jasmine as Nathan set his coffee down. “What are you trying to avoid telling me?” Nathan asked.

“Hell, I knew he would see it,” Tim groaned, looking away and taking a deep breath. “The, ah, sheriff is staying at your house, with seven deputies and their families.”

“Excuse me?” Nathan mumbled, cocking his head to the side.

“Don’t be mad at us. Bill said they could until you came back and gave your decision,” Sherry added quickly. From the looks on Tim and Sherry’s faces, Jasmine could tell they didn’t want Nathan pissed at them. She could remember giving that look to her mom and dad when they asked about her brother.

Cringing, “Nathan, I’m sorry, but I agreed with Bill on this,” Tim said, and Nathan raised his eyebrows. “We know who’s there, and I would prefer them to squatters we don’t know.”

“I take it, they thought they would find a house full of stuff and aren’t happy?” Nathan asked, and Jasmine could feel his body tighten up.

“Yes, and no,” Tim said slowly. “They’re ecstatic about the garden, but disappointed about all the stuff being gone.”

“When did you find them there? And just why the hell are they at my house?”

“Went to check on the houses and yours was the only one that hadn’t been ransacked. Aiden’s was burned down,” Tim told him. “The sheriff has been ordered detained, along with all deputies. Your house is still registered under your parents, and your legal mailing address is a P.O. Box. You have Bill’s address as your contact.”

“Yeah, but you know how much shit I’ve ordered and had delivered to the house?” Nathan chuckled. “I guarantee you, the feds know where I reside.”

“I know. The sheriff said the same thing, but the feds would also know you were in Atlanta, so your house would be vacant,” Tim said, and the smile vanished from Nathan’s face. “The sheriff said when you got home, if you wanted them gone, they would leave. But, Nathan, we have someone protecting the place. Holy shit, you should see what someone did to Bill’s house. It’s going to be cheaper for Bill to just buy a new house. Every wall, commode, sink, and window was broken.”

“Since you didn’t empty the area in the barn, I take it you haven’t told the sheriff about it?” Nathan asked.

“Hell, no. He may be my boss part time, but it’s your house,” Tim snapped.

“Are they in yours and Sherry’s house?”

“Yeah, two deputies and their families are in the guesthouse,” Tim answered.

Closing his eyes and giving a long sigh, “Tim, that is yours and Sherry’s house, not the guesthouse. I’m not in the mood to go outside,” Nathan said flatly, and Tim smiled.

Then like a switch, all expression left Tim’s face. “You’re fighting Sherry this time. She’s not pregnant.”

“I’ll bite your ankles,” Sherry piped up, laughing.

Jasmine laughed with them and looked at Sherry. Sherry was five-foot-six and built like the mountain woman she was. Her long, wavy brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and Jasmine felt both Sherry and Tim were only a few years older than herself, but made a mental note to ask Amanda.

All the guys’ wives were pretty, and all were built just like Sherry. Like athletes. At five-foot-four on a good day, Jasmine felt very short, since Sherry was the shortest wife of Nathan’s friends.

“So, you think it’s worth it?” Nathan asked, looking from one to the other.

“Nathan,” Sherry said in a low voice. “People are acting insane, just tearing stuff up. I agreed with Tim not to tell the sheriff to pack his shit. I don’t want to see your parents’ home torn apart. We know how much it means to you.”

Nodding as he smiled at them, “I know you do and if they treat it well, we’ll let them stay,” Nathan said, then shrugged. “You know we can make them leave.”

“I know, but I hope we don’t have to do that,” Tim groaned.

“Think Chip will lay down on the couch?” Nathan asked, looking over at Jasmine.

“Yes, why?” Jasmine asked, grinning.

“I’m going to work out and wake up the kids,” Nathan said, getting up and putting Emma beside Nolan on the pallet. “I don’t like dealing with all of them alone.”

“Oh,” Jasmine said disappointedly.

As she put Chip down, Nathan leaned over. “I’m all for round two, but I want all my attention on you and right now, I can’t,” he whispered, making Jasmine giggle.

“Let me go trade up on some clothes,” Jasmine said, and Nathan noticed she was wearing his boxers and t-shirt.

While Jasmine headed to the bedroom, Nathan headed down the hall to wake up the kids. Sherry turned to Tim, shaking her head. “Holy shit, that girl has some knockers,” Sherry gasped.

CHAPTER TWO

The old rocking chair squeaked a regular rhythm as Rusty sat drinking his morning coffee, mulling over the events of the last few days. Nathan’s abrupt return, cutting weeks or even months off what the community expected, had been a welcome surprise. Though as a rule, Rusty never liked surprises.

Russell “Rusty” Bertram was a big believer in having a plan and sticking to it. He also recognized early on in life, he wasn’t the most intellectually gifted of all God’s children. In school, he’d found he’d had to work twice as hard as some of his classmates to make the above-average grades his parents expected, and by the time he’d reached high school, Rusty’s dogged determination and sheer stubbornness had caught the attention of the coaching staff. That, in turn, brought him to the eye of the local Army recruiter who’d talked young Rusty into enrolling in ROTC while in high school.

As a high school senior, Rusty stood at a somewhat-average five-foot-ten and weighed in at one hundred seventy pounds, soaking wet. While he was quick off the ball, his speed in the forty was nothing to write home about. In short, Rusty didn’t have a prayer to play at a higher level, but in high school, his hard work and willingness to sacrifice his body had given him the opportunity to make varsity as a sophomore, where he’d played tight end and middle linebacker.

Rusty found he liked the physical nature of the game, but his size and lack of speed also reinforced the idea that football wasn’t his life. So he played, watched the cheerleaders, and enjoyed the experience. He especially found himself watching Elizabeth Hardigan, a tall, slender girl in his class who impressed Rusty not just with her high kicks and long legs, but also with her intellect.

A recent transfer to their school when her father’s job had brought them to Rolla, Elizabeth had rolled into school her junior year like a minor celebrity. For all her good looks and trendy clothes, Rusty quickly discovered Elizabeth was also taking all the advanced classes their small rural school in Missouri had to offer. Rusty took many of these same advanced classes, but Libby, as she preferred to be called, made it look easy where Rusty sweated out each semester as he fought to just maintain a ‘B’ average.

Even back then, Rusty had made plans, and as he’d gotten to know the new girl, he’d realized he had no chance with the talented and outgoing Libby Hardigan. Clearly, she was way out of his league. Except, of course, no one had told Libby that.  So, truth was, sometimes Rusty did like surprises after all.

Walking out onto the porch, Libby saw the look on Rusty’s face. “What are you thinking about so hard, man-o-mine?”

Libby knew him and his quirks by now. Twenty-two years married and two kids later, she should. To Rusty, the years seemed to have left Libby untouched, and at forty-two, she still fit in her wedding gown. And that darned cheerleading outfit, when he could persuade her to wear it.

“Just pondering if the return of our resident wild-child is a good enough excuse to break out the pom-poms tonight,” Rusty quipped, and he saw the familiar pink blush creep across his wife’s lovely face.

“Honey,” she hissed playfully, “not where the boys might overhear.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rusty responded, still feeling the thrill of teasing his wife. “I got you. Still, who’d have thought it? Nathan, the eternal bachelor, showing up and proclaiming all those children as his? And attached to a pretty girl, young enough to be…”

“A pretty girl? Is that all you see, you old coot?” Libby fired back. “Just how pretty is she?”

“Please,” Rusty said, holding up a placating hand. “Like I can even handle what I got here at home? And I was talking about Nathan. When did Nathan ever not have a pretty girl following around after him? Some of them, like that Patrice, were world-class beauties, and there’s Nathan, just about oblivious to them all.”

“You’re right about Nathan,” Libby conceded. “But that Jasmine is something else. She’s not like any of those airheads Nathan usually ends up with. Even with those amazing boobs of hers. The whole time you men were gabbing, I was watching her. Her eyes never stopped moving, watching for threats and memorizing her surroundings. She has a brain.” Libby almost cheered the last.

“Really?” Rusty asked, and he wanted to kick himself for not being more observant. Well, he remembered trying not to observe those bodacious breasts on the young lady, so maybe he should cut himself some slack.

“And that little one, Amanda? She was the same. Did you know she already knew everybody’s name before she even got here? Memorized who was who from the pictures Nathan had on his iPad. And she’s just thirteen.”

“And an orphan,” Rusty added, his thoughts going back to some of the things Nathan had revealed. “Just like all those kids. Four of them, they had to watch when their Momma was murdered right in front of them.”

“That’s terrible!” Libby cried out, her hands going to her lips as she spoke. “I didn’t hear Nathan say anything about that. Does he need us to take in some of them?”

Rusty shook his head before he replied. “Nope. You heard them. Nathan and Jasmine. They’re all planning to stay with Nathan. Might be a tight fit with Tim and Sherry already there, but since his place is bigger than all the posse put together, there’s no way Nathan’s letting them get split up.”

“I’m so glad they made it back, honey,” Libby nearly whispered. “It was torture watching Tim and Sherry fret over Nathan like they were, and I swear, even little Nolan seemed to understand something was wrong.”

“Me, too. On top of everything else, I have some selfish reasons as well. With that trash floating out of Coeur d’Alene, having another two or three solid fighters backing us is all for the better,” Rusty admitted.

“What? Who are you counting besides Nathan?” Libby demanded. “Not any of those children, Russell. Oh, you mean Jasmine, for one.”

“Yes, Jasmine. Nathan won’t want her on the front lines, of course, but she can stand watch and fill a defensive position. And that John is hardly a child, honey. He might still be a little green, but you could see the way he carries himself,” Rusty said, cutting his eyes over to his wife before he continued.

“Well, you might have to watch some of the kids too, or they’ll be gearing up the first time Nathan goes out on patrol. Again, that Amanda will be first in line. She was with him first, you know? Amanda followed Nathan all the way from Georgia, and he taught her to fight and survive the whole way.”

“We will not start using child soldiers here, Rusty,” Libby announced, but her words felt more like a plea than a proclamation to her husband.

“We’ll try to avoid it, hon, but the choice might not be up to us. If we get hit by a big enough force, the decision could be out of our hands,” Rusty replied philosophically. “All of us, all the families here, have been extraordinarily lucky so far. You know how I dislike relying on pure, blind chance. We must keep adapting our plans to the circumstances if we want to continue to thrive here.”

“Luck? No, this’s all due to planning, like you said. And sacrifice. Well, except for Floyd and Anita. They really are lottery winners.”

“Yeah, but leeches is more accurate,” Rusty replied sourly, the country Missouri accent slipping in as it rarely did.

“You think Tim had a chance to talk to Nathan about the sheriff and those other deputies yet?” Libby asked cautiously. She wasn’t afraid of what Rusty might say, but she felt guilty for leaving that unfortunate bit of news to be delivered by the young man. Just the thought of a ‘Nathan tantrum’ made her shiver.

“If Jasmine’s let him come up for air yet,” Rusty countered with a laugh, drawn out of his temporary funk by the idea of that beautiful young woman finally taming their elusive Nathan. And all those children in tow as part of the deal. Heck, the youngest might only be two years old, Rusty thought.

Thinking about those children made Rusty think of his own two boys, Randal and Shane. Randal, at fourteen was becoming quite the cowboy, and didn’t seem to mind their somewhat-forced relocation, but Shane still suffered infrequent withdrawals from his electronic world of gaming and playing around on the internet. The slightly-built and bespectacled twelve-year-old looked like the prototypical science nerd, but his mother insisted the boy had a real honest-to-goodness talent for computers. Not just for fooling around on, but for writing his own programs or apps. Rusty had learned long ago to accept Libby’s opinions on the matter, so he tried to be understanding.

“I was thinking,” Rusty mused aloud, and Libby waited. By now, she knew Rusty better than anybody on the planet.

After a minute, watching Rusty’s lips move as he seemed to be talking to himself, Libby knew it was finally time to speak up.

“What’re you thinking about, hon?”

“Just doing some figuring in my head. I think we need to get the boys busy with some new drills. Randal for sure, and Tyler, if Bill agrees. Maybe some of the other older teens as well. Work with them on some of the defensive schemes we’ve established here, so they know the proper codes and such.”

“What about Robin and Gina? And you can’t leave out any of Nathan’s ‘Little Posse’,” Libby asked, naming Bill and Aiden’s daughters. “They’re both teenagers too, and Gina is a top shooter in her age bracket.”

“Gina’s only thirteen, Libby!”

“Yes, dear, and so is Amanda. Don’t forget, Nathan trusted her to watch his back.”

Libby’s words made Rusty pause. Thanks to his boys, the security chief knew most of the teens in their age range at the retreat and for the most part, he held a favorable opinion of these teenagers. They routinely shot together, and Rusty recognized that Gina Conklin, Aiden’s only child, might be the best long-distance shot, not only in her age group, but in the whole under-eighteen crowd. With nineteen core members or families, and almost that many added as members brought in close family or friends, there were quite a few.

“Okay,” Rusty acquiesced. “It can’t hurt to talk to their daddies, anyway. If we can use them in the least dangerous positions watching the valley, that should free up some of our older, more experienced folks for other activities.”

“Like taking out the trash in this county,” Libby continued. “That’s what you want to do next, isn’t it, honey?”

“Yes, Libby, that’s what I want to do next.”

“Well, maybe that’s why Nathan wanted to talk to you and the other two stooges tomorrow.”

Rolling his eyes, “So, we’re the Three Stooges now? How do you figure that, woman? Just because we call Nathan and all the kids ‘The Little Rascals’?”

Libby’s smile grew at Rusty’s fake indignation. Rusty, Bill, and Aiden were, despite their external differences, like peas in a pod when you put them together. And just like their kids, when they were with Nathan, mischief was afoot. Nathan was the true ‘child’ of the posse and she couldn’t even classify him as a real-life stooge in her mind. Larry, Moe, and Curly were much more mature compared to Nathan.

Trying not to laugh at her realization, “Easy. You’re Moe, with your big ideas and insistence on a plan. Bill is Larry, with the good heart and a desire to get things done, but never seems to pan out, and well, then there’s Aiden...” Libby paused.

“Yeah, well, he’s our Curly, so don’t make fun of the differently-challenged,” Rusty snarked back.

Actually, Libby couldn’t think of anything wrong with Aiden Conklin, except sometimes his exuberance for some new thrill exceeded his ability. And truth be told, his common sense. Aiden reminded her a bit of an older Nathan at times, especially when he started talking about his teenage years spent riding bulls and bucking broncos. Statistically, Libby knew the actual number of rodeo riders coming out of Texas remained small, given the overall population of the state, but somehow, you did end up with the occasional stereotype. He even looked a little like a younger Sam Elliott, with the full mustache and prematurely graying head of hair.

“Whatever Nathan wants to talk about, I have a feeling there’s more to the story of their trip across country than he’s already shared,” Libby said, getting back to the more serious matters at hand.

“I’d have to agree with you, hon,” Rusty replied. “I can tell he’s got a lot on his mind, and it ain’t just that girl of his, or those kids. Our boy’s done seen some mighty evil things in his travels. You can see it in his eyes.”

“Well, you’ll just have to hear all about it later, but for now, you’ve got chores to see about and I need to lay out some lunch for this pack of carnivores before we head to the common room for breakfast. Tomorrow will just have to take care of itself.”

“Okay, okay,” Rusty agreed, hauling himself out of his chair. “but, does this mean I’ll get to play with your pom-poms tonight?”

“Git, you letch,” Libby scoffed, and then when she reached the door, she struck a little pose, leaning back against the doorjamb, and continued with her voice dropping to a silky purr, “and we’ll see what happens when the lights turn way down low.”

Rusty hopped to it, eager as a kid in a toy store, with all his grim ponderings banished for the time being.

CHAPTER THREE

After working out, Nathan let his group get cleaned up and dressed before he gently woke up Emma to avoid her wrath. Because they were still on light duty, Amanda and Casey were not allowed to work out very hard. By the time Nathan led them out of the house to head to the common room for breakfast, he was ready to leave on his own. Not the valley but the planet.

“Amanda, pestering me doesn’t make me give in,” Nathan snapped. “In fact, you know it does the exact opposite to me.”

“I feel fine,” Amanda whined, and Nathan came to a stop. Slowly, he turned around and Amanda jumped behind John.

“Oh, no! Don’t get me in the way!” John cried out, quickly moving so Amanda couldn’t hide behind him.

“So, Amanda,” Nathan said, moving Emma to his left side. “You hate me and despise everything I’ve done for you? You think my love and caring for you is just a crock of shit?”

Amanda’s mouth fell open, along with the other kids. Raising her hand, “I didn’t say anything, Nathan,” Casey said in a little voice.

Letting out a cry, Amanda flew at Nathan, wrapping her arms around him and bawling her eyes out. “I love you, Nathan!” Amanda wailed. Jasmine was holding Chip and like the others, they had their mouths open in shock. Thinking the statement was beyond harsh, Jasmine made a mental note to talk to Nathan about tact and young girls’ feelings.

Reaching down, Nathan tilted Amanda’s head back until she was looking up at him. “Amanda, seeing you and Casey shot was almost more than I could bear. I haven’t hurt like that in a long time. You may feel better, but until I’m convinced both of you are okay, you two will stay on light duty,” Nathan told her. “I can’t even describe how much that hurt me.”

With tears in her eyes, “I just don’t want people here to think I’m lazy!” Amanda wailed. “You think so much of your friends!”

“Amanda!” Nathan snapped, and she stopped wailing, but tears still ran down her face. “For one, I really don’t give a shit what anyone thinks. But I can tell you this, none of my friends would ever think that about you, knowing I’m the one who said you couldn’t do anything. Sherry asked if she could spank you because you tried to carry your backpack inside.”

The tears stopped immediately as Amanda gasped. “Sherry wanted to spank me?!”

“You’re damn right, I did,” Sherry snapped, walking up behind them. “Nathan told me I couldn’t because he wasn’t sure what you could handle. But you try shit like that again, I’ll fight Nathan. It won’t be the first time.”

Leaning closer to Jasmine, Tim whispered. “Sherry bites if she starts losing. Just warning you, and it hurts. She grew up with two older brothers and two younger so she can fight, and won’t hesitate to do it.”

Burying her face in Nathan’s chest, “I love you, Nathan. I just want you to be proud of me,” Amanda said into his chest, muffling her voice.

“I am, firecracker. Just please do what I ask,” Nathan sighed as Emma leaned down, patting Amanda’s head.

“We have,” Tom said quickly.

Turning to Jasmine, Nathan saw her snap her mouth closed. “I’m making one request in our relationship,” Nathan begged. “I want sons only. The daughters I have now are going to drive me insane.”

“You decide the sex of the offspring, babe,” Jasmine laughed out, then walked past him.

“Amanda, please. Don’t keep on after I’ve told you no. I know how tough you are,” Nathan said, rubbing her head.

“I won’t, I promise,” Amanda said, but Nathan was finding he really didn’t believe her.

“Let’s eat, guys,” Nathan said, turning around and pushing his AR under his arm, pulling Amanda to his side.

“Wow,” Tim gasped, holding Sherry’s hand and following the group. “Never in my life would I ever believed a woman would land Nathan, much less he would adopt a passel of kids.”

“He still has a learning curve, but we’ll help,” Sherry beamed, following everyone inside.

Walking in, Jasmine stopped, looking around the large common room and it was packed. Seeing Bill and the others at one of the long tables, Jasmine waited on Tim and Sherry to pass, making sure that’s where Nathan would sit. There was no doubt in her mind, Nathan would sit close to them.

As soon as he came in, Nathan put Emma down to hang up his AR and Emma took off squealing, chasing Ares and Athena. Looking over at Tim and Sherry as they sat down, Jasmine shook her head glancing at Apollo.

Ares was huge for a German Shepherd, but Apollo was so massive, he made Ares look small. The playful look on Ares’ face never crossed Apollo’s and Jasmine didn’t want to admit it, but Apollo scared the shit out of her. Apollo always looked pissed-off and Jasmine was sure if he ever bared his teeth, she would wet her pants.

“He won’t bite you,” Sherry said, and Jasmine realized she’d been staring very noticeably at Apollo.

“I think Apollo could take down an elephant,” Jasmine said, setting Chip in a chair.

Before Amanda sat down, Jasmine reached over to grab her arm, guiding Amanda to sit down beside her. “I want you to point everyone out and tell me their names again,” Jasmine whispered.

“Emma!” Nathan shouted, and everyone in the common room stopped talking and turned to see Emma standing in the center of the floor, looking back at Nathan. “Go get to the table, so we can eat.”

“No,” Emma snapped, putting her hands on her hips and started babbling.

When she stopped, Nathan put his hands on his hips. “Don’t you sass me, Emma,” Nathan snapped.

Furrowing her tiny brows, Emma looked up at him and started babbling while her head bobbed side to side. “Hey, you’re the one who climbed in bed with Tim and Sherry!” Nathan barked at her.

Stomping her foot, Emma’s babbling became louder. “I didn’t lock the door! You talk to Jasmine!” Nathan popped off.

Dropping into her chair and trying not to blush, “We have got to separate Nathan and Emma,” Jasmine sighed while Emma continued on, her babble getting louder.

“Emma, I wanted to take a dump alone!” Nathan shouted, and Emma jerked back. “I finally have a toilet and a door! I wanted peace, but I see a little eye peeking under the door with little fingers wiggling in the gap?! I don’t need someone to wipe my butt like you do!”

There were several snorts and stifled laughs around the common room as Emma cranked up again. “Emma,” Nathan said, keeping his right hand on his hip and held up four fingers of his left. “I have four bathrooms in the house! Four! You could’ve got anyone else to go with you!”

Raising both arms and jumping in the air, Emma stomped both feet down still jabbering loudly.

“Emma, I’ve taken one daughter down this morning, and I’m getting ready to take another down,” Nathan warned.

“I would like to see that,” John scoffed, leaning back in his chair. Nathan’s six-foot stature towered over Emma’s tiny frame. Clearly not intimidated, Emma put her hands on her hips again and looked up at Nathan with a glare, the top of her head barely reaching Nathan’s knees.

With a stern look, Emma babbled, “La, bac ta.”

“Of course, I’m going to feed you with the airplane,” Nathan gasped, clearly feeling insulted.

“Wah na toh mi tenk,” Emma babbled, looking at Nathan with hard eyes.

Holding up his hands as he shrugged, “Okay, I may have forgotten a few times on the trip here, but in my defense, I had a lot of things to worry about,” Nathan told her. “But when I was reminded, I started the airplane, did I not?”

“Oof,” Emma said, looking at Nathan but pointing at the table.

“Emma, Apollo has to get used to you. You climb on him like you do Ares and Athena, and I will kill Apollo when he growls at you,” Nathan explained, and now many in the common room were staring in awe at the exchange.

Poking her bottom lip out, Emma looked down at the floor. “Paa lan teek neoo gri,” Emma babbled softly.

“Emma, Nolan is almost as big as you are, but if you eat really good, when we get home, you and I will hold Nolan in the chair. But you are never to try to pick him up by yourself, understood?” Nathan sighed.

Lifting her head, Emma clapped her hands and gave Nathan her exposed teeth smile. Closing his eyes as he let out a long groan, “Emma, I’ll give you five thousand dollars right now if you stop smiling at me like that,” Nathan begged, and Emma squealed before running over and latching onto his leg. “You want it in hundreds or twenties?”

Emma looked up, babbling. “Okay, I’ll hold on to it. Now, can we eat, doodlebug?” Nathan asked, and Emma let go of his leg before holding her arms up to him.

At the understood command, Nathan picked her up. Nathan turned and saw the entire room was silent with everyone looking at them in utter awe. Only the group he’d arrived with didn’t have the look of awe. “What?” Nathan asked, walking over to the table.

“Nathan,” John sighed. “You have got to quit talking to Emma for a few days.”

“I haven’t talked to her, except begging her to let me take a dump in peace,” Nathan scoffed.

“Um, Nathan?” Bill said, clearing his throat. “You were just talking to her like you understood what she was saying.”

“Pfft,” Nathan scoffed. “I’ve tried to understand what she’s saying, but I’m not smart enough.”

Seeing Bill take a breath, Amanda leaned over the table to look at him. “Don’t,” Amanda warned. “You keep on and Emma will unload on you, then Nathan always unloads next, and you can damn sure understand what he says. Nathan always takes her side.”

Bill sat back in his chair, looking down the table at Nathan and Emma talking to each other softly. “Bill,” Jasmine said. “I’m telling you, I don’t know how, but I’m convinced Nathan gave birth to each of these kids. I’m still trying to figure out how to cut the umbilical cord to the one in his lap.”

“Yeah,” Casey said, cutting her eyes toward Emma. “She gets mad if you want some love. You have to trick her.”

“The line’s open!” a woman shouted.

Reaching over, Jasmine grabbed Amanda’s arm, pulling her up. “Okay, one more time. Tell me who everyone is,” Jasmine whispered, leading Amanda to the front of the common room where the food was laid out.

Giving a long sigh, “The older man and woman serving the food are Isaac and Ruth. They’re over the kitchen,” Amanda said as Jasmine followed her to the food line. Grabbing a tray and then plates, Jasmine stared at Isaac and Ruth while silently repeating their names as she moved down the line, filling her plates up.

“The black man with the brown-haired lady is Lanny, the pastor, and that’s his wife Regina. They’re talking to Vince and Leslie. Vince is the one with the silver hair and he’s the doctor.”

“Okay, I remember him,” Jasmine said, grabbing utensils.

“See the Asian man and woman with red hair?” Amanda asked, putting bacon on her plate and Jasmine nodded. “That’s Greg and his wife, Cathy. They’re over inventory for the compound.”

Picking up her tray, Amanda waited as Jasmine loaded three plates. “You’re getting everyone’s food?” Amanda asked.

“Hardly,” Jasmine huffed. “This is mine, Chip’s, and Emma’s.”

Stomping her foot, “Why didn’t you tell me, so I could fix Nathan a plate?” Amanda grumbled. Carrying her tray back to the beginning of the line, Amanda stepped in front of John. “Excuse me.”

“When you get better, I’m getting some of Nathan’s tobacco and spitting in your ear,” John warned.

Ignoring John, Amanda started another plate for Nathan. “Okay,” Amanda said when she slid her tray down next to Jasmine again. “The man and woman with the two labs are Heath and Joan. They lived here and kept the place up. Nathan calls them ‘the mountain people’,” Amanda said as Jasmine turned.

Heath had a long black beard with streaks of gray. After seeing the beard with eyes in Alabama, Jasmine wasn’t impressed by any beard anymore. Joan was rather tall with a weathered face, but wore a very gentle smile.

“Who’s the slut?” Jasmine asked, picking up her tray.

Grabbing a glass of juice, Amanda laughed. “That could only be Anita. She wasn’t here last night, or I didn’t see her, but she’s sitting with her husband at the table with Greg and Cathy.”

Moving her gaze, Jasmine found them and saw Anita was looking at her with a scowl. Anita had brown hair and seemed like a woman terrified of aging. Studying her face, it appeared Anita applied makeup with a spray gun. Feeling hate at first sight when Anita glared at her, Jasmine took her left hand off the tray while she waited for Amanda, and flipped Anita the middle finger.

“That’s not nice,” Amanda giggled, picking up her tray and seeing Jasmine flip Anita off. Anita let out a gasp that made several people turn and follow her line of sight to catch Jasmine as she dropped her hand back to the tray. “Anita’s husband, Floyd, is a plumber and is over all the water distribution for the hydro stations and greenhouses.”

“I’ll learn plumbing, so Nathan doesn’t have to even talk to them,” Jasmine declared, holding her chin up.

Giving off a loud scoff, “Nathan has never asked Floyd to do anything,” Amanda corrected, heading for the table. “Okay, Billy, oh sorry, only Nathan can get away with calling him that. Bill is the oldest of Nathan’s friends. He’s the one with the dirty blonde hair in a buzz cut. His wife’s Janice, the brunette beside him and she’s the vet. They have two kids, Tyler and Robin, sixteen and fifteen.”

“Next is Rusty, he’s the one talking to Nathan now. Rusty is over security,” Amanda said as they reached the table and saw a man just a little taller than Nathan with very dark brown hair. “That’s Rusty’s wife, Libby, beside him,” Amanda whispered.

Taking the plate for Nathan off her tray, Amanda set it down in front of him with the glass of juice. Leaning over, Amanda kissed his cheek as Emma scowled at her. “Emma, I will bounce you like a basketball,” Amanda warned, and Emma gave her a grimacing smile.

When Jasmine put Emma’s plate down, she looked at Libby. Libby was several inches shorter than her husband with dark blonde hair. “Don’t let her fill up on biscuits,” Jasmine told Nathan.

Pulling Emma’s sippy cup out of Nathan’s cargo pocket, Jasmine transferred the glass of juice to it and put the sippy cup on the table. While Nathan continued talking to Rusty, Jasmine saw Emma giving her that weird smile. “Be nice, and I won’t lock the door,” Jasmine offered, leaning over and kissing Emma, then Nathan.

Moving back over to her chair, Jasmine sat down and took Chip’s plate off the tray, then stopped. Putting it back, Jasmine took her own plate off and moved the tray in front of Chip. As she cut up Chip’s food, Amanda sat down next to her.

“The two boys talking to John and Tom are Rusty and Libby’s kids, Randal and Shane. Randal is fourteen and Shane is twelve,” Amanda told her. “The last of Nathan’s buddies is Aiden. He and his wife Penny are talking to Tim and Sherry. They have a girl, Gina. She’s thirteen and is talking to Bill’s daughter, Robin.”

Moving her eyes around the room and repeating the names over and over, Jasmine noticed a lot of other people Amanda hadn’t mentioned. “Who are the others?”

“The people I told you about are the members of the compound who’re on the board. There are nineteen families altogether who’re members. That’s why there are nineteen cabins around the valley. The others are friends or relatives of members. When you have those down, we’ll continue,” Amanda said, and Jasmine shook her head and bit her tongue. “You’re only allowed to bring in as many people as you have food for and can feed for two years. Basically, a ton per person, per year.”

Jerking her head to Amanda, “You mean to tell me, Nathan has fourteen tons of extra food?” Jasmine gasped.

“All Nathan ever told me was he had over twenty tons of extra food,” Amanda told her while Jasmine looked from person to person that Amanda had told her, memorizing their names with their faces.

“Is that all the members on the board?” Jasmine asked, grabbing her glass.

“No, I don’t see Jeremey and Vicki. They’re over planning and development,” Amanda answered, and looked down the table to see the airplane flying to Emma.

“They didn’t make it, nor did any of their group,” Jasmine told her. “They were on vacation in Belize.”

“Aw, man,” Amanda groaned. “Nathan said they were good fighters.”

“So, everyone has extra people?” Jasmine asked.

Glancing around, Amanda moved closer to Jasmine, leaning toward her ear. “None of Nathan’s group does. Nathan’s never said it, but I think he had so much extra food in case any of them wanted to bring in more family. But no one ever did. I don’t know what it costs to be a member, but I’m betting it’s expensive,” Amanda said in a low voice. “Floyd and Anita don’t have extra people either, but everyone else does.”

Looking around the common room, Jasmine could tell it wasn’t built cheaply. The open floor was an easy six thousand square feet, with two large rooms at the front and a large kitchen at the back of the room. “Are all the houses like Nathan’s?” Jasmine asked in a low voice.

“All houses had to be built into the side of the mountain and when finished, not be seen from the air. From the pictures, I can tell you, none of his friends’ houses are as big as his. Now, Jeremey and Vicki had the biggest, that I do know from the pictures,” Amanda said. “Nathan’s house has a basement, but Jeremey’s and Vicki’s house has an upstairs and a basement.”

Nodding, Jasmine asked, “So, everyone has to provide their own food?”

“Yes, but the yearly dues the group paid were used to buy food as well for the group. Then, they would have meetings and if someone found a good deal for the group on anything, and a majority voted, then everyone would pitch in to buy it,” Amanda told her, and leaned close again. “Most of the time, Nathan paid the part for his buddies,” she whispered. “I don’t think cops make very good money.”

“They don’t,” Jasmine assured her. Glancing over and seeing Chip eating, Jasmine glanced around while repeating the names of those she knew and saw Nathan still talking to Rusty.

Landing the plane, Nathan smiled at Emma as he refilled the spoon. “I was going to have a slideshow and describe my route tomorrow, but I could do it today, like this evening,” Nathan said, then made airplane sounds before guiding the spoon back to Emma. “But, I want to talk to the posse alone.”

Hearing the group’s nickname, Rusty gave a grin as he nodded and then looked at the others. “If you could do that, it would be great. Everyone needs to know this is bad.”

“How many you think you took out getting home?” Aiden asked.

Giving a shrug, Nathan looked down the table at Amanda. “Firecracker, how many did we take out coming home?”

“If everyone we shot died, we capped one hundred and seventeen,” Amanda answered. “That could be low because I think we shot more crossing the interstate into Mississippi.”

The entire hall was deathly quiet on hearing the number and Nathan gave a visible shiver, thinking about the bodies charging them on the bridge. “Sounds about right,” he mumbled, refilling the spoon and flying it to Emma.

“What-,” Aiden started, and Bill stopped him.

“No. Wait and let Nathan tell all of us about his trip, then we can talk about it,” Bill said, and grinned watching Nathan feed Emma.

“Billy, how old were Tyler and Robin when they spent the night with me for the first time?” Nathan asked.

Used to that address from Nathan, Bill just thought for a minute. “Tyler was six and Robin was five.”

“You sure? They seemed younger,” Nathan asked, looking down the table when Emma pushed the airplane away.

“No, that’s how old they were,” Janice nodded, sitting beside Bill. “Why?”

“I don’t remember wiping their butts,” Nathan declared, and Jasmine gave a snort, shooting apple juice from her mouth and across her plate.

Glancing at Jasmine, Janice saw most of Nathan’s group giggling softly. “Nathan, as well as I can remember, all ‘The Little Rascals’ were potty-trained before they spent a night at your house.”

Holding Emma up in the air, “We work on potty-training, starting today,” Nathan declared.

“Nathan, Emma is potty-trained, she just can’t wipe,” Jasmine chuckled.

“Hey, that’s the important part, so she’s not trained yet,” Nathan snapped.

“Nathan, you’re a nurse,” Janice grinned.

“Billy!” Nathan popped off. “Control your wife.”

“Nope,” Bill responded, grabbing his coffee cup.

Jumping up, Nathan glared at his buddies. “You have no idea how humiliated one feels when a kid assumes the position to be wiped. You know at that moment, you have no dignity left.”

“Nathan,” Rusty said in shock. “You do realize, we all have kids. Each of us has had to do that.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Nathan huffed, walking around the table. “Emma, we are going to the bathroom! Quit putting it in my mind, I don’t have to pee!”

“Oh, this is so good,” Sherry laughed, leaning over against Tim.

“Maybe we do need to separate them,” Rusty offered.

“Try it, I dare ya,” Amanda huffed.

Giving a big nod, “Yeah, Nathan always takes Emma’s side, and she tattles,” Casey informed them as Tim took a sip of coffee.

Amanda turned to Jasmine and asked, “Why are your spurs on the nightstand beside Nathan’s bed?” Jasmine’s face instantly turned bright red and Tim sprayed coffee across the table.

CHAPTER FOUR

The entire group was in the dining hall staring at Nathan in shock when he’d finished his slideshow. His own group wasn’t there. They had left after supper, going back to the house. They could remember the trip vividly enough and didn’t need reminding. “Questions?” Nathan offered, glancing around.

“You tortured federal employees?!” Anita shouted.

Cocking his head to one side, “Really? That’s all you got from my trip?” Nathan scoffed. “But yes, I did, and just to let you know, any who threatens my group can look forward to the same,” Nathan challenged with a grin.

Giving a shiver, Rusty leaned over to Bill. “I think I would’ve left that out for the main group and just told the posse,” Rusty whispered.

“I know I wouldn’t have shown the video evidence,” Bill replied.

Getting up, Vince walked to the front and stood beside Nathan, turning to the group. “I, for one, am thankful, but everyone must remember the contract you signed. If you tell anyone outside what this group does after the compound becomes active, you forfeit all property here. And I’m telling you, we will enforce it. When you leave here, the only thing you will have on is a pair of underwear,” Vince told the group, but was looking directly at Anita.

“I can guarantee you, they wouldn’t make it out of the valley,” Aiden chuckled.

Vince turned to Nathan, grabbing his hand and shaking it. “Nathan, glad you made it and thank you, for letting us know just how bad this really is.”

When Vince let his hand go, Nathan shook his head. “Vince, we aren’t even at the bad part yet,” Nathan told him, and there were several gasps around the room. “Everyone here will know when it comes. When we have people attacking us to rape the women and eat the dead, then they will understand it’s bad.”

Giving a shocked nod, Vince turned toward the group before Nathan put more nightmare material in his mind. “Now, I’ve heard some complaints about my decision of Nathan and some of his group not taking guard duty until they recuperate. I’m the chief. So suck it up,” Vince almost spat out, staring hard at Anita.

“I can take my turn,” Nathan said, closing his laptop and unhooking the projector.

“Not until I give the order,” Vince snapped. “Now, I want to see Amanda and Casey, just to give them a once-over physical. I trust your judgement, but they were shot. Let them be mad at me for keeping them on light duty.”

Giving a relieved sigh, “Oh, thank you,” Nathan said.

“Let’s end the day and if you have questions for Nathan, he’s home now so just catch up with him later,” Vince told the group, and everyone seemed happy with that getting up and heading for the doors.

Bill and the posse moved up to Nathan, watching the others leave. When it was just the posse left, Rusty grabbed Nathan’s arm, spinning Nathan to face him. “You charged an entrenched sniper position?!” he almost shouted in Nathan’s face. “Nathan! You were always joking and playful, but when it came to tactical operations, you were always down to business. You don’t do that!”

Putting the projector down, Nathan let out a long sigh. “I wasn’t thinking,” he admitted in a soft voice. “I saw my two little girls get shot. It wasn’t till the next day, I realized what I’d done.”

“That’s the Nathan we know,” Tim nodded to the others. “Just do it. But I have to agree with Rusty, you never make that kind of mistake tactically.”

When Nathan looked at his buddies, they could see the torment he still felt. “They were just doing what I told them, and still got shot. How was I supposed to react?”

Reaching over, Bill put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Nathan, if you don’t think at all times, you can cost them their lives. What would’ve happened if that sniper had taken you down? It was just dumb luck Ares got to him before the sniper took you and Ares out.”

“I know!” Nathan snapped. “I’ve never had to look out for anyone but me! And they all just tagged along, thinking I’m some super terminator!”

“Calm down, buddy,” Bill said in a low voice. The one area, hands down, where Nathan had the posse and wives beat was a temper tantrum. Bill was certain not many walking the earth could compare. “Nathan, we see how much they mean to you and I, for one, love it.”

The others nodded vigorously to that. “I honestly can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same, but you’re the one who’s gone across the country learning tactical drills,” Bill said, glad to see Nathan calming down.

“I know,” Nathan mumbled, then looked up at the gang. “Truth be told, if it wasn’t for my group, I wouldn’t have made it back. I would’ve moved too fast and engaged targets I shouldn’t have.”

“Um, speaking of that,” Rusty interrupted. “Why on earth did you even attempt to leave hostiles alive behind you?”

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Nathan turned to Rusty. “Sometimes, you just get tired of killing,” Nathan answered. “Granted, I’m getting numb to it like I never thought possible but, at the time, I was just tired of killing. That was a mistake on my part because my kids and the girls took the responsibility, and dropped the hammer on some I didn’t. That’s why I won’t even try it again.”

Dropping his hand off Nathan’s shoulder, “I want your honest opinion. Will we get hit here?” Bill asked.

“Bill,” Nathan said, turning to him. “I’m surprised you haven’t been yet. We need continuous patrols out, and to set up contacts with the people still around here. We can use them as an early warning system.”

Bill turned to the others as they all nodded at him. “Yeah, we’ve been telling Vince that and I’m sure tomorrow, that’s what he’s going to talk to you about,” Bill said.

“Hey, he can kiss my ass!” Nathan snapped. “I will take my own group out on patrols if the others don’t go. I’m not going to rely on isolation and hope it keeps us hidden. You fight your battles away from your home, not on the outskirts of it.”

“Damn straight,” Rusty chimed in.

“Oh, it’s so good to hear the old Nathan,” Aiden grinned. “Don’t get me wrong, I love what your group has done for you, but you acted more like a teenager than our kids.”

“That’s why our kids worship the ground he walks on,” Bill chuckled, jerking his head toward Nathan. “Our Nathan is growing up,” he added proudly.

“Not willingly,” Nathan almost spat. Hearing that, Aiden just grinned. “So, Billy,” Nathan said in a serious tone, stressing the name Bill hated on purpose. “I hear you let the people move into my house.”

“Shit,” Bill mumbled, glancing at Tim.

“Hey, bitch!” Tim snapped. “He wasn’t coming down on me for not telling him. I have to live with him, and my wife. Sherry informed me, we were telling Nathan and not waiting on you to do it. I will happily go outside with you before either of them.”

Giving a nod, “I agree with Tim on that,” Aiden interjected. “Be damned if I would want Nathan and my wife irritated at me!”

The rest of the gang all quickly took Tim’s side and stared at Bill. “Okay, I didn’t look at it like that,” Bill admitted. “Yes, I told the sheriff he could but, Nathan, I did it because I know you would rather have people you know in it than ones you didn’t.”

“They fuck up my house, you and I will have words,” Nathan warned.

“Asshole, some of us don’t even have houses anymore!” Bill snapped.

Crossing his arms over his chest, “Motherfucker, as long as my house still stands, everyone in the posse has a home away from here,” Nathan challenged.

Aiden, Rusty, and Tim all pulled out their wallets. “I got fifty that Nathan takes Bill in two minutes,” Aiden said, throwing money on the table.

“I say sixty seconds,” Tim scoffed, throwing money down.

“Please,” Rusty chuckled, throwing money on the table and Bill grinned, someone was going to bet on him. “We are talking about Nathan’s house. I say he drops Bill in twenty seconds.”

“Really, guys?!” Bill cried out, looking at them and they just grinned.

“Billy,” Nathan sassed, and Bill turned with a scowl to Nathan. “I’m not saying I don’t agree, but you just offered up my mom and dad’s house. I could’ve put enough traps around it to keep out trespassers.”

Letting the sassy call of his name go because he knew it would do no good with Nathan, Bill stared into Nathan’s eyes. “If you want them gone, I’ll kick them out myself, but like you just said, we need all the help we can get,” Bill replied.

“Fair enough,” Nathan said, and finished packing his stuff up.

“Nathan, clear some time out soon and you give us the real briefing,” Bill said, and Nathan nodded with a grin.

“Trust me, I left a lot out that’s just for the posse,” Nathan replied, grabbing his stuff. “You wouldn’t believe the toys the feds have.”

Back at the house, Jasmine looked up when Sherry walked in. Sherry grinned, seeing Jasmine in the recliner and holding Nolan to her chest with Chip and Emma on either side. “Have to say, you make a good momma,” Sherry grinned.

“Trust me, I had to learn,” Jasmine replied as Sherry moved over to get Nolan. “I just got him to sleep, so unless you’re taking him to put in the crib, just leave him.”

Stopping in mid-grab, “Nolan always goes right to sleep after supper,” Sherry said.

“Not when Emma keeps playing with him,” Jasmine corrected, cutting her eyes down at a sleeping Emma.

Fighting off an urge to hug Jasmine, Sherry gave a grin as she turned and sat on the couch. “Jasmine, I have to say, you were an answer to all our prayers.”

“There is no way Nathan was that bad,” Jasmine huffed, and Sherry just stared back with no expression.

“From listening to Amanda, you’ve heard about the girls he dated. I say ‘dated’ because none were girlfriends,” Sherry stated, and Jasmine nodded. “I swear, Nathan always went after the shallowest female he could find.”

“But they were all pretty,” Jasmine almost growled.

“Jasmine,” Sherry sang out. “Almost all of them would’ve been classified as drop-dead gorgeous,” Sherry corrected, and saw Jasmine’s face harden. “That’s why when Nathan pulled up and we saw you…” Sherry paused, waving her hand out at Jasmine. “We, and I don’t mean the posse, I mean the wives, almost started throwing rocks at you.”

Jerking her head as the anger vanished and blinking rapidly, clearly confused, “Huh?” Jasmine mumbled.

“Jasmine, you are a super hottie, just like the ones he dated. Younger, but still a hottie,” Sherry grinned. “Then we watched you and saw you weren’t a shallow puddle emotionally, and actually had a brain. But most importantly, we saw how Nathan doted on you.”

“Sherry, I’ve seen the pictures of some of the girls. I’m not even in the same league,” Jasmine scoffed. “And please don’t mention my age around Nathan. That was his biggest hang-up.”

“That’s my point. You caught him because you wanted him and yes, like I said, I’ve met his hussies,” Sherry snarled the last word. “They were beautiful, but not a damn one had the brain power to change a lightbulb. They thought only of themselves. But I’m not kidding, no one has ever seen Nathan head over heels for anyone. You break his heart, you will vanish.”

Rolling her eyes, “After what I went through to get him?” Jasmine huffed. “I almost had to fight Amanda because she wanted to be his girlfriend, and she was going to cheat, making me go through Ares first.”

Shaking her head, “Sorry, but I would’ve backed off,” Sherry admitted. “Amanda scares me.”

“No, the one you should be scared of is asleep beside me,” Jasmine clarified, glancing down at Emma. “I swear, Nathan was involved in her conception somehow.”

Leaning back and getting comfortable on the couch, “No, I became scared of Amanda after that presentation Nathan just gave,” Sherry told her. “I see her as Nathan used to be, no fear and acting on impulse, thinking she’s ten feet tall and bulletproof.”

“Yep, that’s Amanda,” Jasmine responded immediately, then cocked her head to stare at Sherry. “Was Nathan really like that?”

With a serious expression, Sherry turned to Jasmine. “On patrol one time, Nathan walked into a biker bar to make an arrest, not waiting for backup. He beat down nine, sending four to the hospital before the first backup arrived. And that’s just one story among many. After listening to the presentation he just gave, at least now, Nathan thinks out his actions along with the risks, and I can tell that’s thanks to all of you.”

Shaking her head, “Sorry, that just doesn’t sound like the Nathan we know,” Jasmine objected.

“Then you should see why we all love you guys so much,” Sherry laughed. “You made him grow up some.”

“Where’s some batteries?” Amanda asked, walking down the hall.

“You mean to tell me, you don’t know?” Jasmine gasped.

“We haven’t unpacked the Warthogs,” Amanda snapped. “I don’t know where everything’s at here.”

“I’m shocked,” Jasmine chuckled.

“What kind do you need?” Sherry asked.

“CR123,” Amanda answered. “My tactical laser light on my M4 is weak. And I need four for my night vision.”

“Amanda, what are all of you doing back there?” Jasmine asked with a sigh.

“Duh,” Amanda said, rolling her eyes. “Cleaning our gear and getting ready to fight. Nathan says, ‘Always be ready to run’.”

Turning to Jasmine, “That is new to Nathan, I assure you,” Sherry said, getting up. “The old Nathan told everyone, ‘When in doubt, beat the shit out of everything around you and if anything continues to move, kill it’.” She headed to a metal locker and opened it up. “Here you go,” Sherry said, exposing stuffed shelves of different batteries.

Walking over and grabbing several packs, Amanda scanned the shelves. “The meeting is over?” she asked, then closed the locker.

“Yes. You guys had a fight getting here,” Sherry said, heading back to the couch.

“We were doing good till that cock-wipe shot Casey and me,” Amanda popped off. “I’m going to find his family and burn them alive,” Amanda snarled, then spun around heading back down the hallway.

“And you wonder why she scares me?” Sherry mumbled.

“Oh, she’ll have to get in line because any family we find of those men, belong to me first,” Jasmine snapped. “You don’t shoot my girls and expect me not to kill your family, your neighbor, the kid who sat beside you in kindergarten, and your dog. And when I’m walking out of the house over the bodies, I’m going to rape the goldfish. I’m tempted to find all the kids they went to Sunday school with and skin them alive.”

“Okay, so Amanda has some competition in my fear,” Sherry mumbled.

“Sherry, how much did this cost?” Jasmine asked, motioning to the house or more appropriately, the bunker.

“Why?” Sherry asked.

“I’ve been in the rest of the gangs’ houses and each one is barely over a thousand square feet. Nathan’s seems twice that.”

“No. With the basement, it’s over six thousand square feet,” Sherry told her. “About the cost, I don’t know, but Tim says Nathan forked over three hundred grand just for this to be built.”

“I’m not surprised,” Jasmine muttered. “How much are the dues Nathan talked about?”

“The group dues?” Sherry asked, and Jasmine nodded. “A grand every four months.”

Jasmine barely raised her eyebrows, then Sherry continued. “But there are always projects they were putting in. The hydro generators, solar panels, wind turbines, composting toilets, equipment, and the list goes on. In the time we’ve been with Nathan, a year hasn’t gone by when he didn’t fork over an extra five grand for other dues.”

“And the rest of the posse could afford that?” Jasmine gasped.

“No, not all at once. Nathan paid their share and they paid him back,” Sherry answered.

“I was wondering what they paid cops up here,” Jasmine admitted.

“Nathan never cashed any of the checks they paid him monthly with,” Sherry told her. “I know because I’ve seen them in the basement safe when we tried to pay him some for the new tractor the group voted on. The same one that’s broken now,” she huffed, then narrowed her eyes.

Leaning over the armrest, “He won’t take cash because we tried that,” Sherry snarled. “The son of a bitch went and bought two four-wheelers for me and Tim when we tried. Oh, and let me give you some free advice; don’t ever try to not take a gift from Nathan. Think of the worst two-year-old tantrum you can imagine, and you aren’t even close. You will push the sweetest elderly lady you’ve ever known in your life down a flight of stairs, just to get him to shut the fuck up.”

“Okay, I’ve seen some of the tantrums,” Jasmine admitted. “I didn’t want to push an old lady down any stairs, though.”

“Wait till you see a real one,” Sherry grunted. “Tim and I love Nathan with all our hearts,” Sherry told Jasmine. “He’s like the older brother I wish mine would’ve been, but at times, acts like my younger sisters on the rag, all at the same time.”

Nodding, “Yes, I can see that as well,” Jasmine agreed. “But Nathan said he wasn’t rich, Amanda asked him several times.”

“Jasmine, Nathan’s idea of rich is being on the Forbes list,” Sherry corrected. “Now, he wasn’t a billionaire, but he damn sure was a millionaire. I found that hard to believe at first, seeing the way Nathan spent money, but he also invested and saved. The money he got from his parents, he turned into a small fortune.”

“Amanda got some of that.”

With a sly grin on her face, Sherry arched one eyebrow. “To answer the question you aren’t asking, yes, that’s why many of those girls dated him,” Sherry told her, and Jasmine’s cheeks turned red, embarrassed Sherry had figured it out. “Yes, Nathan is a hunk, but they saw a rich haul. They knew he was a nurse and a deputy because he wanted to be, not because he had to. Many wanted him to buy a ‘real’ house and thankfully, that’s when Nathan started looking for the next one.”

“I’m that shallow?” Jasmine asked.

Giving a laugh, Sherry reached over patting Jasmine’s leg. “No, you’re finding out about him from others because I can tell, you came from money.”

“My family wasn’t rich!” Jasmine gasped.

The sly grin fell off as Sherry rolled her eyes, not believing that. “Oh, you two were so made for each other,” Sherry sighed. “And before you ask, yes, I told some of the skanks to ask Nathan to buy another house just to get rid of them. Well, I didn’t, Tim did. But I didn’t object. Tim is a guy, and if he thought the hotties were skanky, money-hungry whores, I wasn’t going to argue.”

Feeling Nolan stirring in her arms, Jasmine started rocking. “I hope you know, Nathan sees you and Tim as his family.”

“We know. He introduces us as his brother and sister,” Sherry snorted. “Let me tell you, that has gotten Tim and I some very serious looks. What kind of family do they have? Nathan’s younger brother and sister are married with a kid?”

The front door opened, with Tim and Nathan walking in. Tim stopped to look at the kids piled on and around Jasmine. “Why didn’t you get Nolan off her?” he asked Sherry.

Seeing Sherry narrow her eyes at Tim, Nathan walked past him. “I would shut up if I were you,” Nathan advised. “She hits like a man and bites like a pit bull.”

“Put me in a headlock again,” Sherry challenged Nathan.

Shaking his head, “Not even on a bet,” Nathan declared with dignity, putting his laptop bag on a desk. “My dogs don’t bite that hard,” he mumbled, walking over and kissed Jasmine. “You look uncomfortable.”

“No, I was only uncomfortable when Emma and Chip were awake,” Jasmine said, hearing running footsteps down the hallway. “I swear, they can smell you,” she mumbled as Amanda, Casey, and Natalie ran in before wrapping their arms around him.

“I can put my M4 back together blindfolded in two minutes,” Natalie stated proudly.

“All right,” Nathan said proudly, hugging the group tighter.

Turning to Sherry, “One day, I’m going to see his girls pee standing up,” Jasmine said with a straight face.

“I can pee standing up,” Amanda popped off.

Closing her eyes as she shook her head, “I rest my case,” Jasmine sighed.

Ignoring Jasmine, Nathan looked down at the girls. “Amanda, Casey, you have an appointment with Vince tomorrow, so he can check you out.”

Pushing back, Amanda looked up with a scowl. “You’re my doctor.”

“I’m a nurse, and you don’t become the doctor to your own family if you don’t have to because you could make a mistake,” Nathan said.

“I don’t want a shot,” Casey said in a little voice, stepping back.

“That, I can’t promise because he will probably want bloodwork, but I thought you were tough,” Nathan told her. Casey poked out her bottom lip, breaking out the puppy dog eyes.

“I don’t like shots either, but I don’t whine about it. Just do it and get it over with,” Nathan instructed, wanting the sorrowful expression to be gone.

“Will you be there?” Casey asked, and Jasmine gave a snort.

“Why in the hell wouldn’t I be there?!” Nathan cried out in shock.

“Oh, I see future boyfriends trembling in fear already,” Jasmine chuckled.

Leaning close, Amanda looked up at Nathan. “Jasmine’s being weird,” she whispered. “I didn’t do it, before you ask.”

Hugging the girls, “Go put your gear up and get in bed,” Nathan laughed.

“Can’t we play games or watch TV?” Amanda asked in shock.

“As long as you do it in bed, that’s fine,” Nathan replied, and the girls took off.

“I’m player one!” Amanda cried out, making Nolan stir in Jasmine’s arms.

Watching the trio disappear down the hall, Nathan turned to look at Jasmine only to find her looking up at him with a scowl. “What?” he asked, watching Jasmine rocking Nolan back to sleep.

“You need to tell them to use their inside voices,” Jasmine instructed.

“Oh, this coming from the person who yells out when we’re supposed to be moving ninja-like,” Nathan huffed.

Rolling her eyes, “Nathan, you can take my side every once in a while,” Jasmine whined.

Grinning, Nathan leaned over kissing Jasmine again. “I’ll tell them, but they’re happy, and I don’t want to ruin it,” he told her in a soft voice.

“Alright, but don’t make them feel bad,” Jasmine said quickly.

“Ready for bed?” Nathan laughed, picking up Emma.

“Long time ago,” Jasmine chuckled as Nathan picked up Chip.

“They can sleep with us,” Tim offered, coming over to get Nolan.

Getting up, Jasmine shook her head. “We’ll take you up on that another day, but if Emma doesn’t wake up with Nathan close tomorrow, we’ll all be feeling her wrath. I personally would rather face a hurricane.”

CHAPTER FIVE

The next morning, Nathan already had coffee in a carafe on the counter when he led his four friends into the kitchen. Jasmine had loaded up the younger children, along with Sherry and Nolan for a visit with some of the other ladies at Rusty and Libby’s, while John, Tom, and Amanda, with Ares leading the pack, decided to go check out the fishing prospects at the nearby creek running through the floor of the small valley. In reality, Nathan knew the kids were just exploring. They had all set out within minutes after completing the few chores he had listed for them that morning. Everyone in Nathan’s household knew the subject matter to be discussed and none, not even Amanda, felt the need to be present.

“Thank goodness for the coffee plants,” Nathan said under his breath as the men all doctored up their cups of coffee. Rusty, as he’d picked up in the Army, still drank his black, but the others in the posse added either cream or sweetener or both.

Finally finished, the men followed Nathan out onto the deck. The deck, situated under the cover provided by a stand of red cedars, offered a somewhat-obstructed view across the width of the valley and added a lovely visual backdrop in contrast to Nathan’s ugly words. He spoke slowly, thinking hard for the proper words while he described, in great detail, the story they had heard the night before in only the broadest of strokes. He started with his first few days at the store, and this time, he left out the funny anecdotes and focused on the cold facts.

They were all experienced lawmen. Plus, Rusty and Bill, had seen combat during their respective services in the Army, so they had some basis to understand what Nathan was saying. When he spoke of the helicopter-inserted troops, both to monitor the opposition forces and outflank them where possible, Rusty simply nodded, since he’d ridden in the back of a Blackhawk doing just that more than once in the dusty hell that was Afghanistan. But that was years ago and thousands of miles away. Not here. Not in America.

The deputies listened as Nathan described the early confrontations he had survived at the beginning of his quest, when he’d dealt with gang members intent on seizing first the store, and later, their packs. And their female traveling companions.

Unlike the group briefing, Nathan left nothing out, describing the rape and rampant murder across the land in gross detail.

These details horrified Nathan’s friends, but what came later seemed to strike an even deeper chord. The description of the race across Arkansas made Bill look particularly distraught, and Nathan remembered Bill had an aunt and uncle who’d lived in Little Rock.

“So, you’re sure this guy really was a major in the U.S. Army? Not just some paramilitary or militia thug playing at the role?” Bill asked, his voice curious but his face drawn with anxiety.

“Uh, yeah,” Nathan replied, almost not wanting to admit what he’d done. They had seen the pictures and video last night but thankfully, those had left out much of what Nathan had done. It didn’t take much imagination, since the men in the video ‘magically’ got worse-looking between each question. At the time, using any force, any action, to gather intel seemed like the right thing to do. Now, sitting here with his friends and drinking coffee in the quiet calm of morning, Nathan began to feel uncomfortable as he continued. “I used enhanced interrogation techniques beyond what you saw in the video.”

“You waterboard him?” Aiden asked, a glint of the old humor in his eyes.

Thinking over his words carefully, Nathan looked away, not wanting to have to say the words. “Tied ‘em to a tree for most of a day without food and water. I did threaten to cut their legs off, though. I think they knew I was serious when I shot their Russian Army bodyguards and let Ares eat the one still moving. I’ll let your mind fill in the blanks on how they got the cuts and lumps on the video.”

“What do you mean ‘they’? You only mentioned the Army major,” Rusty observed. “And what did you do to them when they answered your questions?”

“The other one was a mid-level drone with Homeland. Those guys really seemed to get off on going out in the field and counting the corpses, since he wasn’t the only one I rounded up. As for their fate, well, I let them go. Untied them like I said I would.”

“Nathan, you can’t leave enemies like that behind,” Bill nearly moaned with exasperation. “I know we talked about it, but come on.” He liked Nathan. He really did, but that Dudley Do-Right thing of his might come back to bite them, if the Homeland guy had any idea about Nathan’s identity. At least, track him to the house now occupied by the sheriff and their fellow deputies.

“Oh, I shot each man in the head after I got as much information as I could, but I did cut their zip ties loose after. A deal’s a deal, after all,” Nathan explained, and as he looked around at the slightly stunned faces, he saw realization begin to dawn. Whatever problems they’d experienced locally was only the beginning. Nathan, at least for the moment, remained ahead of the learning curve.

“So, what did you find out?” Rusty asked, his tone that of a man not sure he wants what he’s asking for, but knowing he needs the information. For Nathan, it reminded him of patients he’d overheard when they’d asked their doctor, ‘So, what kind of treatments are available for this type of cancer?’

Rusty’s question made Nathan pause, while he considered the implications. The kids already knew most of it, since Nathan couldn’t very well censor what they overheard, but Nathan knew they would not speak out of turn. All of them, save Emma and Chip, had understood the danger when Nathan had explained it. Their friendly neighborhood radio broadcaster, codename FU-GMAN, might be in a position to spill the details of the conspiracy, but doing so locally just attracted too much attention.

“You guys heard some of this already on the radio, but let’s pretend that anything you say around the wrong person could get everyone you love killed,” Nathan finally said, his voice completely devoid of emotion. Trying to encompass the seriousness of his warning, Nathan continued, “I mean, the commanding general over the Mississippi National Guard is worried these asshats will drop a fuel-air bomb on his family’s farm if he breathes a word about what he knows, and trust me, I know lots more now.”

“Jeez, Louise,” Aiden murmured, “I guess I really don’t need to know that bad after all.”

“Let’s just agree, we keep the details I’m sharing here as top secret. Everything said here today goes into a lockbox.”

“Nathan,” Rusty protested. “You know, Libby is going to be hounding me for more details.”

“Same with Janice,” Billy echoed, “and you know if Janice wants to know, all she has to do is sic Penny on Aiden. Man, he collapses like a Bangalore sweatshop in a typhoon when his woman comes calling.”

“Now that ain’t fair!” Aiden protested. He then continued, his voice a taunt now. “I didn’t say nothing when Penny was asking me about where you got that black eye, Billy.”

“Redneck, you know I hate it when you call me Billy!” Bill exploded, “and the only reason you didn’t tell Penny was because you didn’t know she was a he, either. Freaking drag queen.”

“I think the proper term these days is ‘transgender’,” Nathan added piously, glad to see the boys loosening up a bit as they teased back and forth.

“I don’t think he was transgender, Nathan,” Rusty added, joining in the fun. “I was down at the jail when his wife came in with his lawyer. I think he just liked to dress up in women’s clothes. So, just a crossdresser.”

“A crossdresser who couldn’t hold his own liquor and started a bar fight that landed two men in the hospital. And who, also had the forethought to slip a handcuff key in his garter belt,” Aiden chuckled.

Nathan hadn’t been present for the infamous Kelley’s Bar incident, but he’d heard the story often enough in the last two years. In law enforcement circles, the really good stories managed to make their way into local lore, and the ‘Great Sausage Fight’ proved to be no exception.

The suspect in question, wearing the obligatory little black dress, teased shoulder-length black hair and trampy pancake makeup, had downed several margaritas and flirted with half the men at the bar over the course of the evening. All the while, lifting wallets off two patrons celebrating an NCAA basketball victory for neighboring Gonzaga before being caught red-handed by a third.

When Aiden and Bill arrived, responding to what dispatch called a simple case of theft at the local drinking hole, the two deputies discovered a full-fledged brawl in progress. The presence of the two deputies soon cooled off the conflict, since it turned out one of the more chivalrous cowpokes took exception to the bartender laying hands on the poor damsel in distress. In the ensuing melee, a thrown beer bottle ended up shattering against one of the wooden support posts in the center of the one-room bar, and sprayed glass shrapnel across the pool tables. One man ended up needing ten stitches to close the wound over his right eye, and a young lady needed to have a chunk of glass removed from her back.

Since no one claimed the thrown bottle, and no one stepped forward as a witness, Bill and Aiden had to let that part of the incident go, even though privately, both had their suspicions. No, their trouble started in the parking lot when the handcuffed suspect managed to dig into a pocket sewn into the back of the thigh garter, pull a David Copperfield-worthy magic trick, and slip the bonds in one smooth motion.

The suspect then delivered a solid right cross to Deputy Bill’s eye and broke into a sprint across the asphalt in a dash for freedom. Aiden, quick as a snake, tackled the escapee and in the ensuing scuffle, the little black dress took major structural damage, exposing first the falsies in the padded bra and for the full monty, the tucked male appendage flopped out of the restraints of the fire engine red thong panties.

“Forget the Sausage Fight, boys,” Tim insisted, going serious, “this is dangerous shit here. We can’t tell the wives, or anybody else outside this circle.”

“Guys, I’m serious,” Nathan added, his voice stressed. “If any of your wives give you any grief, send them to me. I’d be happy to explain. Agreed?”

Sobered by Nathan’s concern, all four, including Tim, agreed.

With that, Nathan quickly filled the gathered men in on what he’d learned from his various contacts, and the interrogations he’d performed along the way. Several times, he received pained groans from Rusty, Aiden, and Bill as the details unfolded.

Rusty, for one, nearly spilled his coffee when Nathan revealed the true numbers of foreign troops already suspected of being in the country.

“Nathan, we got word of Chinese troops in Coeur d’Alene, but five million? We don’t have enough ammo to fight that many.”

“We aren’t going to have to fight them all,” Nathan assured his friend. “Any word on how many they have in Idaho?”

Rusty shrugged before replying. “For Coeur d’Alene, I’ve heard different figures. Maybe five hundred? A short battalion, anyway. For some reason, they seem to be more focused on Spokane, with more than a thousand purported to be onsite.”

“Fairchild,” Bill answered quickly, then shrugged. “If they’ve got working planes, which is apparently the case, they’d want Fairchild for the runways and the fuel dump. Also, it makes sense because the Washington National Guard had units co-located there. Probably wants to make sure they stay out of trouble.”

“The question for you men, is whether you want to stay here and mind our own business, or go pick a fight with a bunch of Chinese soldiers,” Nathan put out, looking around the deck to meet each man’s eye. Rusty just growled when he came under Nathan’s scrutiny.

“What are you planning on doing?” Rusty asked.

“Oh, John and I have already decided to fight. We would have done more before, but we had the kids to worry about. Now they are here at the retreat, we can see about addressing our new neighbors. Biggest problem I see is keeping Casey and Amanda from going with us,” Nathan explained with a nonchalant air, like he was talking about the weather. “I’m hoping Vince extends the light duty.”

Bill reacted first, his cheeks showing a bit red at the idea of bringing women and children along on such a dangerous mission. While not a chauvinist in the classic sense, Bill Engvist had grown up steeped in the traditional way of many Western ranchers. This meant more than deferring to his elders and tipping his hat to ladies he passed on the street. He was more the type who made sure women and children got to the lifeboats first, and would use his fists to ensure that happened.

“Nathan, you just have to put your foot down and tell them they can’t come,” he announced, his pale Northern European features reddening when he spoke with emphasis. “They’ll listen to you. When we do this, it won’t be pretty.”

Images of a tattered mass of dead and dying humanity scattered around a rain-swollen bridge flashed in his mind, and Nathan shook his head to clear the thoughts. Before he could respond though, Rusty spoke up first.

“We can’t go anywhere until we deal with that gang out of Spokane,” the older deputy stated plainly.

“How big are we talking about?” Nathan asked with a sigh, wondering if the madness would ever stop.

He’d seen too much in the months it’d taken to get home to ever think mankind would change during his lifetime. Nathan never considered himself a philosopher, but the world was changing, and so was he. Best he could do, he discovered, was take care of what he considered his, and try to hold back the forces of evil from overtaking his country. If enough like-minded men and women joined in the struggle, then and only then would their nation have a chance at recovery.

“Around fifty or sixty strong, according to the last word we got from the sheriff. That was two weeks ago though, and it sounded like they were recruiting. Traveling on a heading northeast out of Coeur d’Alene. Hitting small towns and wiping out farmsteads as they went.” Rusty delivered the words in short, concise sentences. Delivering the necessary data without any extra verbiage. It was something left over from his time as a Military Policeman and later, as a deputy.

“You’re right, Rusty,” Nathan conceded. “We can’t let a force that size come sniffing around here. We might be able to hold the passes, but our neighbors would be fair game. I know …,” Nathan continued, holding up a hand to forestall Rusty, Bill, and Aiden, “I know the folks around here haven’t exactly been welcoming to us, but think about it for a second. If they are wiped out, who will we trade with? But more importantly, who will be our early warning system? And eventually, who will our kids marry? Nineteen families, some without any children I remind you, makes for an awfully shallow gene pool. I know some have others, but they don’t even double our numbers.”

“Who are you,” Aiden asked with his typical exaggerated drawl, “and what have you done with our Nathan?”

“That’s a might-bit-more forward thinking than we usually hear from you,” Rusty added. Bill and Tim, for their part, just sat and watched Nathan with fixed, curious expressions, as if waiting to see what the Oracle might spout out next.

Finally, Tim shook his head. “Are you a clone of Nathan?” he asked out loud.

“I’m a family man now, gentlemen,” Nathan replied with the slightest hint of a grin. “I have responsibilities now, so your ‘Wild Child’ is finally starting to grow up.”

“Hallelujah!” cried Bill, making the other four men give him a surprised look. “Be nice to have a few more grown-ups around here!”

Rusty rotated his head slowly, like a turret sighting on a distant target. When his eyes locked with Bill’s, he only had one word to say.

“Seriously?”

CHAPTER SIX

After the meeting with his fellow deputies, Aiden managed to keep his peace once he returned to his small home, but his wife knew something was up. Despite his reputation for doing crazy things, from their earliest dates, she knew Aiden to be a quiet, thoughtful man, but Penny could also tell when her man was preoccupied. He was thinking hard on something, and she could barely restrain her curiosity.

Fortunately, their daughter Gina supplied enough chatter for the three of them when she talked about the new boys, John and Tom. While Tom was her own age, she gushed over his maturity, and wasn’t John just a dreamboat?  All those muscles, she enthused, and her mother tried to hide her smile. Gina might still be their little tomboy, but in the last year, she’d taken up the habit of boy-watching with a vengeance. The talk continued on while the two women of the house prepared an early dinner, since Aiden would be on watch duty at the sentry house that night. Every few nights they preferred to take a family meal, rather than eat with everyone in the reception hall.

Over a simple but delicious meal of beans and rice, flavored with slices of ham taken from their own small hog operation, Aiden continued to listen to his daughter talk about the newcomers. She wondered aloud why the new kids didn’t relate more details about their trip, and while Aiden had a pretty good idea for the reason, he kept his mouth shut. After dinner, he graciously volunteered to wash the dishes if Penny would help dry. Taking this cue, Penny sent Gina to grab a shower and get ready for bed, thus leaving the two adults free to talk in the kitchen.

“What’s got you so wound up, Buster?” Penny finally asked, setting aside the first plate to dry. They had a dishwasher, but by mutual agreement, the Conklins seldom used it. Even the most efficient model was an energy hog, and their small solar array and battery setup appreciated the frugality.

“You haven’t called me that in years,” Aiden observed, his mustache twitching as a slight grin spread across his features. The thick mustache might have been called a Fu Manchu had it been cut shorter, but Aiden cultivated it into what his father had once called a ‘soup strainer’ style.

“Quit trying to avoid the question, Aiden,” Penny nearly barked with exasperation. “What did Nathan have to say that got you so tense? We already know the world has gone to hell outside our little valley, so getting confirmation can’t be the only thing bothering you.”

“You think Gina’s ready?” Aiden asked, his voice softer as he posed the question.

“Ready? Ready for what?”

“You know we talked about giving the kids more training, Penny. More…realistic scenarios and things like that. You really think she can take that kind of a workout?”

“That’s why you’re fretting, Aiden?” Penny asked, but she knew it had to be more.  Sometimes, her husband could be so frustrating with his southern gentleman upbringing.

“That’s part of it, honey. You’ve heard the broadcasts, from FU-GMAN?”

“Yes, Aiden, but please don’t change the subject. And did Nathan ever say how he knows this guy?”

“He didn’t want to talk about FU-GMAN, but I’m sure he’ll tell that story later. That is the subject though, Penny. Nathan backed up everything the man has been saying, and more. He’s essentially confirmed the government knew the CME was coming, and took steps to use the disaster to their advantage. In conjunction with other countries who want to dominate the whole world. By suppressing the public. Those documents Tim showed us, the ones mentioning this ‘Dark Titan’ plan, are just the tip of the iceberg.”

“And how does Nathan know all this?” Penny demanded, her patience wearing thin. “I thought he was busy dodging government agents and roving bands of looters on the road, when he wasn’t saving orphans and wooing young ladies.”

“Honey, you asked me what was wrong, and I’m trying to tell you. I asked about Gina because if Nathan is correct, it might not be long before our little girl has to use her skills to protect us all. Rusty talked about going after the Spokane gang again, and I think he’s right. Even more, I believe Nathan when he says he got his information from someone close to the source.”

“What do you mean by that?” Penny inquired, and Aiden swallowed, wondering how to answer the question without causing her additional worry. In the past, everyone who knew him, considered Nathan to be a good-hearted person, maybe a bit of a prankster but overall, a nice person. He might still be all those things, but Aiden had seen a darker, more practical side to his friend when he’d related how he’d obtained the intel he now possessed.

“Ah, you know how much Nathan adores those kids, right?” Aiden asked carefully.

“Of course,” Penny replied with a touch of snap in her voice. “Anyone can see that.”

“Well. Just imagine what someone like Nathan would do to anyone who ordered one of those children injured.”

“What does that have to do with…” Penny started, then stopped. “Amanda and Casey? I remember Jasmine said they were still getting over being shot. Their body armor stopped the bullets, but Casey was still moving with a bit of pain.”

“One of the men Nathan questioned, he was the one who gave that order. I gather Nathan and John dealt with the actual shooter, but the man who was in charge ended up in Nathan’s hands.”

“I hope Nathan made him squeal like a pig before he killed him,” Penny growled, and Aiden took a step back, shocked by his wife’s feral response.

“Ah, I didn’t ask, but I got the impression he received his just desserts,” Aiden confirmed, again taken back by his diminutive wife’s fierce reaction. Penny Conklin’s five-foot-five height matched her barely one hundred and thirty-five pounds in an altogether pleasing, but petite package. Her slender, high-breasted figure and short cut hairstyle might give the impression she was one of those cold, Eastern society women who demanded to be called Mizz in public, but Aiden knew her better than that. In fact, at this moment, her low, guttural growl reminded the lawman more of an agitated junkyard dog.

“Good,” Penny confirmed. Then in a smooth voice that was almost a pleased purr, she continued, “So, the federal government means to put us in re-education camps or kill us outright? That’s what has you stirred up over Gina?”

“Right,” Aiden said, relieved to find himself back on more familiar ground. “Probably just kill us. From what Nathan said, anybody who disobeyed the government, even if it was just violating the travel ban, got a bullet. He reported finding hundreds of citizens shot down in the streets by what could only have been government-issued weapons. Some of which, he said he knew were operated by foreign troops.” Before Penny could ask the inevitable question, he continued, “Nathan said he found the spent shell casings for a machine gun firing 12.7x108mm rounds.”

“And that means absolutely nothing to me, Aiden,” Penny said with a slight sigh of exasperation. “I go to the gun shows, honey, but I don’t memorize the calibers like you boys do. I know the calibers for my boomsticks, and that’s good enough for me.””

“Well, I had to think about it too,” Aiden confided. “That’s almost a 50 caliber BMG, but Rusty reminded us the actual dimensions are 12.7x99mm. This other round is used by a lot of countries in the former Soviet Bloc, including the Russians.”

“Gotcha,” Penny replied as the pieces fell into place. “We’re really getting our own real-life version of Red Dawn, aren’t we? And you’re worried Gina will have to fight on the front lines in this conflict?”

“Yes,” Aiden all but hissed. “I know we can’t stay here bottled up in our little valley forever, but I was hoping to spare our child the worst of it. At least until she gets older. She’s only thirteen, Penny.”

“I know, Aiden. I was there when she was born, remember?” Penny said, her tone sassy for a moment. Then she continued, her voice softer now. “I hate the idea of having to shoot anybody, and I hate it even more for our little girl. But, God help me, I don’t see the Powers-That-Be giving us much of an alternative. If FU-GMAN is correct, and you’re telling me Nathan has independent confirmation, then there’s no choice but to fight.”

“That’s what I figured,” Aiden replied, cracking a smile. “With my little hellions, how can we do anything but fight?” Then more seriously, Aiden continued, “First, Rusty thinks we need to get a handle on those raiders out of Spokane. We can’t even think about taking the fight to those Chinese troops until we have some idea of the size and composition of this enemy closer to home.”

“He thinking about going out and scouting the area? Awful lot of ground up here to cover,” Penny pointed out.

“Way too much of it’s vertical, for my taste,” Aiden grumbled. It was a familiar complaint, and only meant to bring a smile to his wife’s lips. Even after all their years together, she delighted in calling him ‘flatlander’. Aiden had grown up in the Texas Panhandle, which had a few tall hills and a mesa or two, but otherwise sprawling grasslands. Penny, on the other hand, was a local girl and raised nearby in Sandpoint. Only her considerable charms had proved capable of drawing this rambunctious rodeo cowboy into settling down in a place where several feet of snow in the winters was not unexpected.

“Yeah, there’s lots of places in the mountains to hide, which is why we picked the area,” Penny agreed, “but not when you have a large group of outlaws laying waste to the communities.”

“That’s a valid point,” Aiden conceded. “We’ll just look for the biggest cloud of smoke and head that way.”

Penny swallowed her next words when she heard Gina come bustling into the kitchen. At thirteen, the girl looked like a smaller clone of her mother, her hair and eyes were the same, but at just five feet (or maybe a touch under) Penny was waiting for her growth spurt to hit. What really made Gina look much smaller was her very slender build. She wasn’t skinny by any means like Amanda. She was just small-framed.

“Hey, ‘Lil Bit,” Aiden called, giving Penny a significant look before turning to face his daughter. “You want to spend some time at the range tomorrow after I get back from duty?”

“Sure thing, Dad. You know I love shooting with you,” the young teen enthused.

“Well, I was thinking we’d have some other folks out as well. Maybe Randal, Tyler, and Robin, as well as some of Nathan’s kids that don’t go with him. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds good, Dad. As long as they don’t mind getting smoked at the six-hundred-meter range.”

“Yeah, um, about that…” Aiden stammered. “I think we’ll be working on some closer-in shooting at first. I want to run you guys through some tactical drills, too.”

“Oh, that’s cool. Nathan has been working on some drills with all the kids. Well, except for Emma and Chip, that is. They’re still too little.”

A new world, Aiden told himself. They were in uncharted territory in a new world, where a child as young as ten years old, like little Casey, needed training to shoot and move. If she wanted to ever see eleven...

CHAPTER SEVEN

The house looked much the same as when he’d left it, Nathan noted, but he still felt weird driving up to see the changes wrought by others. The fence remained in place, for instance, but the steel gate had been damaged at some point, and a poorly-crafted patch job stood out sharply in comparison.

“My daddy built that gate,” Nathan pointed out sharply as he pulled to a stop. At Rusty’s suggestion, he was driving his beat-up farm truck they’d collected for the retreat. No sense in advertising we got those little new flitters, Rusty reasoned about the Warthog buggies, and Nathan had agreed. Now, after leaving before daybreak and spending over six hours on the logging roads to approach from the back way, Nathan was beginning to feel the pressure build when he saw the familiar territory of his home.

Tim, sensitive to his friend’s emotional state, simply pointed out, “They fixed it as best they could with the resources on hand, Nathan.”

“Also means they weathered another attack,” Rusty added. The three of them were the only ones in the first truck, but behind them, Nathan knew the trio of Jasmine, Amanda, and John waited in the other truck. Nathan had wanted to come alone, but he’d been overruled. No one, not even Nathan, knew what might happen if he tried coming by himself.

As Rusty had bluntly stated his position. “Nathan, you ain’t going without some adult supervision.”

Nathan pouted, but as Amanda had pointed out, he was proving Rusty’s case for him. Darned girl is too smart for her own good, Nathan fumed, but he agreed. Message received. He would go, but only with an escort.

They parked in plain view of the gate, and the two working vehicles and a half dozen people drew the attention of the two deputies on guard duty.

“That you, Rusty?” one of the guards called out.

“Hey, Mack. Yeah, just me and Tim and a few more friends.”

“You don’t have that many friends, Rusty,” the deputy named Mack called back, not sounding quite so friendly either this time. “Why are you here? Something happen at your little bugout fortress?”

“We’ve come to see the sheriff with news,” Rusty continued, fighting to keep the frustration off his face and out of his voice. Mack’s derisive dig made Rusty want to backhand the bastard through a wall. He’d approached nearly a dozen other deputies over the years, trying to get a commitment for the retreat plan. The initial idea had not been to lock themselves away from the rest of the county and their responsibilities. No, in the event of an emergency, Rusty wanted a secure base for the families, so the county’s law enforcement personnel might be able to focus on the job of protecting and serving their community.

Instead, Rusty faced ridicule from his dismissive coworkers, who were quick to label him as Chicken Little. Rusty also rapidly came to realize that the inane ‘Armageddon Preppers’ television show might have done more harm than good. Sure, the families depicted might have possessed some good ideas, but the producers of the program only wanted to highlight the most outrageous of personalities. In a nutshell, they wanted to titillate, not educate. Thus, serious-minded individuals like Rusty ended up being viewed by many as a crackpot.

In the end, only with the quartet of Aiden, Bill, Nathan and Tim, did Rusty find men with the will and commitment to do something about securing their future. Too few, as it turned out, to implement the original emergency management plan Rusty had envisioned.

“We had another mob attack the house,” Mack explained. “They were desperate, but not very smart.” Seeing Rusty’s distracted air, Mack took a closer look at his group and gave an audible gasp when he recognized Nathan.

“I thought he was…”

“In Atlanta,” Rusty finished for Mack. “He was. Now he’s here. Home.”

“Well, hell,” Mack muttered. “I thought we could stay here until…”

While Mack continued to speak, Rusty and Tim led the way, trailed by a bemused-looking Nathan and his three traveling companions. All six came walking up to the gate with grim expressions and weapons close at hand. Rusty promised Mack, the sheriff would want to see Nathan, no matter what else transpired, but the older deputy couldn’t guarantee the embattled lawmen would be willing to exit Nathan’s home without quite a bit of spirited discussion.

Nathan didn’t care. This was his home. The place he grew up, and the place where his parents’ ghosts resided, as far as Nathan was concerned. He could see the trees planted by his father, and the gazebo his mother had demanded her menfolk build for her one summer after she’d seen one in a park in Denver. No matter the thing would be covered in ten feet of snow in the winter and would require a special sloped roof, so the weight of that same snow wouldn’t collapse the structural members. Ten-year-old Nathan had set to cutting the necessary boards with typical youthful zeal, and after several ruined two-by-fours, he was introduced to another of his father’s lessons. Measure twice, cut once.

Looking around, Nathan could see all the familiar landmarks of his home, from the big red barn to the ranch-style main house and on to the smaller equipment shed Tim had helped him erect two summers ago. Things were off, though. The windows of the house, bordered by the decorative but functional metal shutters, appeared to be sealed up tight for the first time since they’d been installed, and the sheet metal walls of the big barn looked wrong somehow. The color was wrong on two of the panels, and the next one to the right was darkened, as if damaged by fire.

They’ve been patched, he realized, with some of the spare corrugated sheets he’d kept stashed in the rafters of the equipment shed. Somebody tried to burn down my barn, Nathan thought, and the anger bubbled up in his system. Tim and Rusty let these freeloaders stay here and they couldn’t even be trusted to keep the property secure.

While Nathan and his small party approached the wide front porch, he realized one of the guards, a deputy he recognized from the evening shift named Mack Tate, walked along beside Rusty and whispered urgently to the older deputy. Nathan barely paid him any attention, as his focus remained on the state of disrepair he saw all around on what had once been a shrine to his dead family. Flanking Nathan, John and Jasmine remained on high alert, and Amanda spent half her time walking backwards as she covered the rear. The three could feel the uneasiness radiating from Nathan.

When Nathan stepped up onto the wide front porch, he saw the front door, a heavy, steel, fire-rated model painted to look like wood, stood slightly ajar. Even in one-quarter profile behind the door, the spare, lanky frame of the sheriff could be made out from the dim conditions inside.

“Good afternoon, Nathan,” Sheriff Frank Hargrove said, his voice steady despite the turmoil boiling in his gut. He’d never seriously considered Nathan’s return, despite Tim’s assurances the man would still be coming home.

After the first chaotic weeks of looting and killing, the Sheriff had assumed it would take an army to travel across that much of the war-torn countryside, so he’d felt confident in accepting Bill and Tim’s offer. That beat trying to take the well-equipped farmhouse under his own form of Eminent Domain. Too bad those kids had taken all the food with them, though.

All those thoughts and plans came crashing down as soon as Frank Hargrove saw Nathan walking up to the front door. He’d been alerted by the field phone strung from the gate house when Vinnie Esterhaus, the other deputy on duty, nervously spread the word while Mack tried to slow the newcomers down with his constant chatter.

He’s come with only five, the sheriff thought quickly, and we have the house, so maybe we can take them. This idea was dismissed almost as quickly as it came to the sheriff, though. His men still thought of themselves as deputies, Frank knew, and he doubted they would be willing to gun down some of their own. For Frank, more politician than law officer these last dozen years, the rules felt more flexible. His new motto might be boiled down to ‘Do whatever it takes to protect me and mine first’. Looking at Nathan’s face, Frank quickly realized, they might be able to take this small group, but not many of his own would survive. Of those that did, he knew for a fact, when the rest of ‘The Posse’ showed up for revenge, there would be no survivors.

Rusty and Tim had been badly mistaken about their friend’s mood, taking Nathan’s brooding silence for agreement to the status quo. Nathan gave little hint of his thoughts, other than a slight flush to his features, and Jasmine, Amanda, and John knew Nathan was on the verge of going ballistic on someone. They’d seen that look before. The other two members in their party, familiar with the old Nathan, still didn’t have a clue until Nathan opened his mouth.  Rusty and Tim might have been forgiven their error, if the stakes had not been so high.

“Get your shit and get the fuck out of my house, you no-good, freeloading asshole!” Nathan roared, the veins in his neck protruding like high tension cables.

“But, Bill said…” Frank started, shocked by this side of Nathan, his reserve deputy.

“Bill said you could stay, if you kept the house and grounds protected!”  Nathan thundered, gesturing around wildly. “Does this place look protected?! Look at that damage! This is un-fucking-acceptable!”

At Nathan’s first growl, Amanda, John, and Jasmine drew their sidearms within a split second of each other, triggered by the sound in Nathan’s voice. John and Jasmine held their pistols at low ready as they eased into a back-to-back stance, but Amanda didn’t hesitate when she covered the trailing deputy.

With the raised voices, Deputy Tate clearly decided something was wrong, and his hand drifted to the butt of his still-holstered pistol. Amanda sensed the man’s motion and reacted instantly.

“Get your hands up!” Amanda shouted, her high, girlish voice suddenly sounding much more menacing. “Get them up! I won’t tell you again!”

“Look, little…”

Whatever Mack Tate might have said would never be known as Amanda unleashed on him.

“Call me little girl, motherfucker, I dare you!” Amanda screamed, her voice drowning out even Nathan’s bellowing as she vented on the deputy. “Say it! Say it, and I will shoot you right in your tiny, shriveled little pee-pee and watch you bleed out!”

“R…Rusty, a little help here?” Mack demanded.  His fingers remained poised over the holstered pistol, but he could see the girl’s eyes. They were wide, but without emotion. Mack stared hard, and he saw his death there.

“I don’t know,” Rusty replied laconically, feeling a bit guilty, but relishing the opportunity to get some of his own back. He didn’t want things to spiral out of control here, but if they did, he was backing Nathan and his crew. “I don’t reckon I got a lot of friends here after all, right? I can tell you, that young lady will kill you if you reach for that shooting iron on your hip. I can honestly say, she’s killed more than any of you, or me, if you want to get technical.”

“Damn right, I’ll shoot you! Then I’ll skull-fuck the hole I scoop out of your head!” Amanda bellowed, and Nathan, hearing the last few pronouncements from his adopted thirteen-year old daughter, halted his diatribe against the sheriff in mid-sentence.

“Will she pull the trigger?” Sheriff Hargrove managed to croak out in a strangled voice. As he gestured with his left hand, Nathan had instinctively taken a grip on the sheriff’s shirt with his right, bunching up the fabric as he lifted Sheriff Hargrove clean off the floor.

Hearing this, and knowing he was about to choke the man out, Nathan eased his grip and lowered the sheriff, so his feet were once more touching the tile of the entryway. He stepped back a pace, watching the man’s hands. If he twitched wrong, Nathan was going to kill him.

“Yeah,” Nathan replied with more than a touch of scorn in his voice. “She’ll kill him graveyard dead and never blink when she ransacks his corpse.”

“But she’s just a kid!” Sheriff Hargrove exclaimed.

“Sure, but it’s a hard world out there these days,” Nathan growled, the thought of how he’d first seen Amanda, nearly catatonic and so caked in mud and filth, he couldn’t tell if the creature in front of him was a boy or girl.

“Amanda’s thirteen, and she and my other kids took out a whole team of hardcore, military-equipped killers without batting an eyelash. They also did it without letting me know what they’d planned. If Mack doesn’t comply, she will kill him and then start on everybody else here.”

“Mack, stand down!” the sheriff called out, his voice interrupting Amanda’s ongoing stream of trash talk.

“But, Sheriff…”

“Mack, I don’t think she’s bluffing, and she’s got the drop on you. Nathan here says she’ll do it, and we don’t need the trouble. Not after everything else we’ve been through.”

Turning his attention back to Nathan, the sheriff continued to speak, his voice steeped with resignation and pain.

“Just give us a few days to find another place, Nathan, and we’ll be out of here. I know how much the homestead means to you, but there was just no way to keep them from reaching the barn or the machine shed when a group hit us last month.” Hargrove made a gesture with his hand, holding it with the palm flat while he signaled the other deputies to stand down.

“We just don’t have enough men to hold this perimeter,” Sheriff Hargrove continued, his voice filled with regret. “With the women and kids all here, we have to keep some back to provide a guard force when the rest of us go out and hunt for food. When our scouts go out, they hit us while we’re short-handed.”

Nathan grunted, his blood still boiling, but a new voice caught his attention then.

“Pwease don’t make us go, mister.”

“Leeann,” Sheriff Hargrove said, his tone more of a whine than a serious complaint. “Why aren’t you down with the other little ones?”

Nathan didn’t know her age, but she definitely qualified in the ‘little one’ category. Judging from his own kids, he roughly estimated her as older than Emma, but younger than Casey. Maybe closer to Chip, he thought. So, maybe four years old, he quickly guesstimated.

“I wanted to see, Mister Sheriff, sir.”

“One of the deputies’ kids, Sheriff?” Nathan asked, knowing Hargrove’s two children were both teenagers.

Hargrove glanced down again, and when he looked up, Nathan again saw the pain in the man’s eyes. “No. Her mother was Rachel Marshall. One of the dayshift dispatchers. She was off the day this all started. By the time we managed to get a patrol over to her neighborhood, she was, well, our boys found Leeann hiding in the shed out back.”

Nathan flinched at the words. He vaguely recalled Rachel from one of the department cookouts. She had been a petite, blonde-haired woman in her late twenties. Divorced, Nathan remembered. He could guess what’d happened to the pretty woman when the town fell apart.

“So, you took her in?”

“What else were we going to do with her?” Sheriff Hargrove asked. He sounded offended by the question, and Nathan nodded. Crap, he thought. Things are really tough all over.

Dropping his hard gaze from the sheriff, Nathan took another step back and released a heavy sigh. Rusty and Tim took a step back, seeing the red begin to fade from Nathan’s face.

“Why didn’t you fort up at your office?” Nathan asked the question, even though he suspected he already knew the answer.

“Too close to the center of town, and too many windows. We were under siege there within a week. People wanted us to feed them, get them clean water, and fix the power. Like we could even do that,” Sheriff Hargrove huffed with exasperation. “No, we couldn’t stay in town, and at least out here, we have water and can hunt for food.”

“Did you bring in any others when you moved out here?”

The sheriff seemed embarrassed when he replied.

“Like I said, we’ve got a bunch of women and children under our care. In addition to our own wives and kids, we took in another sixteen. Either mothers with no husband, or children with no parents. They just showed up, either at the office or here, and what else could we have done?”

You could have turned them away, Nathan thought. Left them to die in the streets or be taken as slaves, or worse. Plenty of that going around these days. Just take care of your own, and to hell with everybody else.

Nathan ran a hand across his face and glanced back at his friends. Tim and Rusty. John and Jasmine. Only Amanda still looked ready to kill somebody, and Mack was staring at Nathan with a look that dripped anger and frustration over the situation. Nathan realized with a flash, this whole thing was going very differently than he’d pictured it in his head. Especially after he’d observed the damage done to the house and grounds.

“All right, Sheriff.”

“All right, what?” Hargrove asked cautiously.

“You and your guys can stay here till we get this mess straightened out. But, I have some conditions.”

“I’m listening. And what do you mean by ‘this mess’ exactly?”

“Until we can get our country back, for one thing, and we drive out these foreigners occupying our country, for another. But you guys are going to need to do your part, too.”

Sheriff Frank Hargrove stared at Nathan like he’d grown a third eye, right in the middle of his forehead. “Son, I don’t know how much more we can do, but do you have any idea just how badly we’re screwed? There’s hundreds of thousands of these Russians and Chinese troops in our country already.”

“More than that, Sheriff,” Nathan replied, but he decided, at the last minute, to delay briefing the man on just how many, or how he knew. He didn’t want anything getting back to the gangs or the Chinese, and Nathan knew if captured, any of the deputies would talk. “But we can do our part here in the county, and maybe more in Idaho. Eastern Washington, too. First thing, though, I need to talk to my people about how we can help you. For now, hold tight here. I’ll be back in a few days.”

Sheriff Hargrove looked at Nathan again, more carefully this time. These past few months had changed many people, and most were changed for the worse. People he’d once thought of as friends and pillars of the community, turned to stealing and worse to feed their families. What had changed about Nathan?

He’d known Nathan Owens a long time, having seen the local boy grow up to be a man. Or more properly, in the sheriff’s opinion, a man-child. Nathan always seemed to be coasting through life, dabbling in different pastimes or extreme sports that suddenly struck his fancy. He knew for a fact, there wasn’t a deputy in Idaho with as much tactical training as Nathan had put himself through. Nathan’s parents didn’t spoil the boy, but he’d always struck Frank Hargrove as being too unfocused in his personal life. And look at that string of beautiful women throwing themselves at him, while Nathan moved from one to the next.

Yes, he was a good deputy, probably better trained than anyone else on the force, save for Rusty, the sheriff had to admit, but he’d always seemed too…something. Rusty was a natural cop. To Nathan, the job seemed more like a game. Not weak, never that, but somehow incomplete. Through his contacts in the county’s medical community, the sheriff knew Nathan had made a ton of money as a traveling nurse, but he could have made more, if he’d been willing to forego his volunteer duties with the department.

This Nathan, however, struck Hargrove differently. Still had the petulant temper of a child, perhaps, but the man’s hard gaze spoke of something more, something forged in fire, but still ice cold. For an instant, Frank had seen a look of careful calculation in the former reserve deputy’s eyes. Frank Hargrove swallowed convulsively as he thought about that look, for he’d also seen his own death there as well.

“All right, Deputy Owens,” Sheriff Hargrove managed to say, working his own less-than-subtle statement in there. “We’ll make our stand here. For however long that may last.”

Nathan nodded, then cast a look over at Rusty and Tim. “Just give us a few days. We may have a proposal.”

With that, Nathan stepped off the porch. Before he could turn to leave, Sheriff Hargrove couldn’t help himself and asked, “So, who’s the pretty girl?”

“Her name is Jasmine,” Nathan replied, the anger slowly disappearing from his voice as he spoke. “Maybe I’ll introduce you next time. And if she’s still willing, I hope she’ll someday be my wife.”

Stumbling into the door frame and nearly falling down, yep, Frank Hargrove thought, that boy has definitely come back changed.

CHAPTER EIGHT

While Rusty, Nathan, and Tim were occupied with their road trip to visit Nathan’s old home, Bill Engvist and Aiden Conklin decided to act on Nathan’s suggestion to get some range time in with the kids. Originally, they’d just planned on taking the teens, but complaints by Aiden’s daughter Gina that twelve-year-old Shane Bertram, Rusty’s youngest, shouldn’t be left out and mindful of their own prior ruminations, Bill and Aiden had acquiesced. This resulted in quite a few tweens tagging along as well.

Along with Bill’s two children, Tyler and Robin, and Aiden’s daughter Gina, they picked up the Bertram boys, fourteen-year-old Randal, along with Shane. Plans discussed in the dining hall that morning spread rapidly via word-of-mouth, and more than twice the expected turnout showed up for the morning’s session. Any of the teens that missed the word of mouth were alerted by crank phones.

Each cabin had an old military crank phone wired in to call any guard station, cabin, or the reception hall. All you had to do was flip the labeled toggles beside each phone to who you wanted to talk to and crank the handle, ringing the other end.

When Nathan’s kids heard about the outing, nothing could stop them from attending. Well, not after Tom asked Sherry so very politely, who declared they would be allowed to go once they’d finished their chores. Sensing an opportunity for these youngsters to begin integrating into the community, Sherry thought it was a good idea. The three oldest of Nathan’s kids left Chip and Emma with Sherry to watch, along with little Nolan. Sherry thought about teasing the kids while they prepared to leave, but stopped when she caught the look of determination on Casey’s face, looking entirely too mature for the typical ten-year-old as she strapped on tactical gear.

Unlike most of the kids their age, Tom, Natalie, and Casey showed up at the range carrying their own weapons, rather than having them transported by adults. Each one also had on a tactical vest loaded with gear. They arrived on foot. Bill saw the trio come running at a steady jog, and when he caught their movement through his field glasses, he gave a low whistle.

He had to admit to himself, the three kids managed to cover the ground in good time. From Nathan’s recessed tunnel home, his kids ran a half mile to reach the designated shooting range. The range, which amounted to a staggered series of small, covered stations, open-sided shacks really, nestled up close to a sheer fifty-foot cliff face. Bill noted none of the three, even little Casey, appeared winded by the exertion. Then they reached the last dip in the valley floor, one of several scattered undulations, and momentarily disappeared from view.

“What’s up?” Aiden asked, gesturing to the binoculars.

“Nathan’s kids must’ve heard we were shooting today. They didn’t bother using buggies and just hoofed it over. Give it a second, and they’ll come back up. Right about there,” Bill replied, pointing where he thought the three kids would reappear. Except they didn’t stick with a straight line, and their boonie-clad heads began to appear a good fifty yards farther along the rise.

“Ah, they tacked a bit as soon as they got under cover. That’s smart,” Aiden remarked. Despite his own daughter’s shooting skills, he still felt leery about the more aggressive training favored by some of the other parents, most notably Nathan. These are just kids, darn it! Aiden kept saying in his mind.

“Sorry we’re late,” Tom rasped to the adults when the trio came trotting into earshot, fighting to get his breathing under control. Some of Nathan’s drills demonstrated how hard it was to hit a target if you were winded. When the three stopped, Bill and Aiden stared hard at the kids dressed out in full ‘battle rattle’.

“No problem, Tom,” Aiden replied, gesturing. “We’re going to start out on the rifle range first, then move over to the pistol range for some plinking.”

“Yes, sir. We’d like that,” Tom responded politely. “Haven’t had a chance to shoot since we got here.”

While the adults were focused on the three newcomers, their children and the other two dozen or so offspring of the retreat dwellers stood in small clumps, sharing small talk and gossip. Over the years, these children had been drawn together for periodic camping trips, house-raisings, and cattle roundups. As a natural result, a number of cliques had formed, just like they’d experienced in school. The three ‘Owens’ kids stood off to the side, and since they’d arrived last, the trio took the last spot in the three lines set up for rifles.

Bill acted as range master for the first three shooters. Everyone donned their shooting glasses and ear protection, known universally as their ‘eyes and ears’, while Bill explained the rules for safe gun handling. Next, he went over his commands, explaining what each call meant and what the shooters should do when they heard one. This was a much-repeated litany, but Bill, his voice hard like a drill instructor when he acted in this capacity, fired off several hypotheticals and straight-up questions to his three would-be shooters, two of them being his son Tyler and daughter Robin, and the third being Rusty’s oldest, Randal.

Bill and Aiden stacked the deck with these first shooters, not out of nepotism, but because all three teenagers had years of shooting experience under their belts. Tyler Engvist, at sixteen, was already a juniors Three Gun regional champion, and his sister Robin was always his closest competition. Randal might not be in the same league yet, but he still spent a good deal of time punching holes in paper and dinging steel with his father and friends at the range. Best of all, the three had excellent range sense and practiced better etiquette than most adults.

Indeed, the three shooters blew through the first stage, stationary shooting at a known distance, and then progressed dynamically along the next segment, knocking down steel plates with mechanical precision. Since this was supposed to simulate real world shooting, rather than “Three Gun” rules, the trio stayed on their rifles the entire way and blazed through the targets with barely a bobble. No one was running a stopwatch, but Bill had to admit, the kids ran a fast pace with a nearly flawless round.

While Tyler, Randal, and Robin ran the course, Aiden stood with the other children and offered tips and advice on how to handle their firearms. Safety was emphasized and reinforced as Aiden repeated the rules for safe gun handling. Aiden watched all the young shooters, but he couldn’t help paying particular attention to the three orphans adopted by Nathan. According to Nathan, none of these youngsters had any prior shooting experience before he’d adopted them into his clan. He’d explained how he’d worked with all his crew, repeating and demonstrating basic rules of handling firearms, but the need for at least some suppressive fire from the children had meant pushing the kids, and hard.

Indeed, when their time came, the trio of newcomers didn’t have the speed of their older, more experienced counterparts. And smaller fingers, especially for little Casey, meant magazine changes took longer, but while Aiden was watching these details, Bill took note of something else. When the three older teens ran the course side-by-side, they were each acting alone. With the Owens, Tom, Natalie, and Casey, the maneuver proceeded with a very different flavor.

“Out!” Casey cried, dropping her magazine and slamming a fresh one home, then fisting the bolt back into the battery with a firm smack. “Up!”

They moved as a team, taking the targets under fire when they came to bear, and though they moved slower than the more experienced kids, Bill also noticed one of them always seemed to be watching their rear. No one had thought to set up targets that way, but the experienced deputy saw how they moved and gave a short whistle under his breath anyway.

As the group policed up their dropped magazines and took turns scooping up the expended brass into a waiting five-gallon bucket, Bill pulled Aiden aside for a quick conference.

“So, what did you think of Nathan’s kids?” he asked softly, keeping his head turned, so the inquisitive little devils couldn’t read his lips.

“Pretty good for beginners, I’d say. They actually impressed me with their teamwork. Isn’t there a saying you always use, ‘shoot, move, and communicate’? Nathan seems to have impressed that for sure,” Aiden concurred, but he caught Bill’s eyes and stopped.

“What?”

“Our kids move like this is a sport or some competition,” Bill explained. “Them? They look at this like serious training. Did you notice how they were constantly looking around? Keeping their heads on a swivel?”

“Yeah, and it did affect their time, but I didn’t see any impact on their accuracy. Let’s face it, they haven’t been shooting as long as the others, so they aren’t as fast,” Aiden agreed, but he could tell Bill had something else on his mind. Again, he repeated, “What?”

“Yeah, they don’t move as fast as Tyler or Robin, or even Randal. Our kids were focused on their times and knocking down targets.” Bill winced, thinking back on some of their previous discussions, before he spoke again.

“Nathan’s kids, though, are looking for more tangos. Covering their six to put hate downrange. His kids are preparing for war, not practice time on a range. They move like they’ve spent the last six weeks patrolling in Fallujah. Think about that for a while, Aiden. That littlest one, Casey, she’s ten years old, and she should barely be strong enough to pull back the charging handle, but she doesn’t seem to have that problem. Heck, man, she’s still getting over a bruised spleen from being shot. She still maintained pretty good situational awareness.”

“Yeah, I get it. They’re hardcore, but they still have a lot to learn,” Aiden protested weakly. He’d seen his own daughter run through the course earlier, and for the first time he could remember, Aiden felt a troubling pain in the pit of his stomach. Uneasy at seeing his little girl, who was just in pigtails the other day it seemed, now trotting to the next shooting station with an M4 clutched in her grip.

“That they do,” Bill murmured in agreement. “But I think they may also have a lot to teach. Nathan said he tried to shield them from the worst of the shit out there, but he also admitted sometimes, there was nothing he could do.”

With that, the two men moved on to the pistol range. Here, only about half of the children and young adults possessed parental permission to participate. PC-cubed, Rusty once dubbed it. Some parents, who were okay with their children learning to handle long arms, balked at the idea of their ten or twelve-year-olds being allowed to practice with pistols. None of the firearms instructors complained. That was the parents’ prerogative, after all. The retreat’s covenants merely required all adults over the age of eighteen to possess firearms proficiency, and no one had ever even suggested taking Floyd or Anita Gasmeyer to the range.

Bill thought about the Gasmeyers, or the ‘Gasbags’ as his wife Janice referred to them, and simply shook his head. Anita was the sole heir to Raymond Bryce, one of the retreat’s founding members, and how that evil shrew of a woman could manage to be related to such an upstanding gentleman would remain one of life’s mysteries, but there it was. She was Raymond’s daughter, Bill conceded, but she had none of the old man’s spirit or intelligence. All she had going for her was a foul mouth, a store-bought pair of silicone sweater puppets, and a worthless leech of a husband.

Oh, well, Bill thought with a mental sigh as he watched the kids at the ten-yard range. Again, the three older teens approached first and after calling the firing to action, Bill watched with understandable parental pride when his son and daughter smoked the targets with little difficulty. He’d started Tyler and Robin out on .22 Mosquitos when they’d been Casey’s age, but by now, both his children had hands large enough to use the Glock 17s without any trouble. For Randal, his dad Rusty had made sure the fourteen-year-old could handle his latest pistol with ease before gifting him with an Argentinian knockoff of the venerable Browning Hi-Power. Though Bill, Rusty, and Aiden preferred a larger caliber, they all thought 9mm was an adequate round for the kids.

Again, Bill called the range and watched the shooters with an eagle eye while Aiden stood to the back of the group and worked with the youngsters still waiting their turns. Aiden reminded all the kids to keep their pistols with the chambers empty, and wait with magazines out of the weapons.

Some of the younger participants were using semi-automatic pistols, many still in .22 caliber, but Tom and Natalie sported Glock 17s identical to those carried by Bill’s kids. Even though she wore a holstered pistol, Casey stood aside and didn’t have the weapon out.

“Something wrong, Casey?”

“Uh, I can’t…Nathan gave me this pistol and showed me how to use it,” the petite girl all but whispered, her cheeks shading to pink as she spoke, “but…he doesn’t know I can’t pull the slide back like everybody else. I have to cheat and use my knees to lock it back. I didn’t want to do that out here. Please don’t tell Nathan.”

Glancing over at his own daughter, Aiden bit his lip to prevent himself from saying anything too strong. Gina might be a firecracker, but the thirteen-year-old could still dissolve into tears at the wrong word.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. We’ll find you something else that works better for you,” Aiden replied with care.

“No, that’s okay,” Casey reassured the man. “I’ve already shot someone in the face with this pistol, so I know it works,” Casey smiled, and Aiden almost puked when his mind provided images he didn’t want of the little girl fighting for her life. “I just need to work harder. Nathan gave me this pistol. He said it was mine, and he showed me how to take care of it and everything. I don’t want to disappoint him. Especially since Jasmine didn’t want me carrying a pistol, but Nathan said I could.”

Hearing the sincerity in the little girl’s voice gave Aiden a lump in his throat, and he turned away to hide a tear that threatened to find its way free despite his best efforts. Her words confirmed Aiden’s earlier opinion of Casey as being a sweet, considerate child. Except, she had no choice but to change in this harsh new world.

“I wouldn’t think of doing anything like that, Casey. But I’m sure Nathan won’t be disappointed if you take a little time to grow into your gear. I’ve known him a long time, after all. If you want to shoot your pistol next time, I’ll help you. Nathan would want that.”

Getting a tentative nod from the girl, he turned to watch the next group of shooters step up to the line. This was the last pair, and he noted with interest, the shooters were Casey’s older brother and sister. Bill, standing far to the side and two steps back, called for Tom and Natalie to insert their magazines and then chamber a round. After getting verbal confirmations from both, Bill announced the range was hot and for the shooters to engage. This was a bit more formal than most ranges, but Bill successfully used this formula of giving his instructions many times, when dealing with younger shooters.

By this time, the silhouette targets had taken on a fairly ragged appearance, but even so, the pattern used by Tom and Natalie was one Aiden and Bill recognized immediately from their own training at one of Nathan’s many shooting clinics. Three years before, Nathan had talked Tim, Rusty, Aiden, and Bill into accompanying him to a three-day tactical pistol shooting class being held at one of the more exclusive, and expensive, indoor ranges in Spokane. None could turn him down when Nathan told them he had already paid for the course for them.

For Nathan, attending these kinds of classes amounted to a day at the park, and Tim could easily set his own hours while working for the logging crew, but for the three full-time deputies, this excursion required submitting vacation paperwork and getting departmental approval. In other words, a real headache. Surprisingly, Sheriff Hargrove not only approved, but also kicked in some cash for the ammunition they needed, even for Tim who was only a reserve deputy, since each student needed a minimum of a thousand rounds for the class. The group was thankful they didn’t have to ask Nathan, since he’d already paid for the class.

Despite their apprehension, this was Nathan after all, the training proved to be very useful for everyone involved. Three of the trainers turned out to be former law enforcement, two from Arizona and one from Texas, and before they got anywhere near the range, the instructors insisted on a half-day of classroom instruction. This wasn’t ‘death by PowerPoint’, either. Instead, the morning had passed quickly as the half hour segments, each taught by a different instructor, focused on various hypothetical but real-world scenarios faced by lawmen and civilians.

But that wasn’t what prompted Aiden to exchange a quick look with Bill as soon as the two youths finished emptying the two magazines called for by the exercise. No, it was the pattern they both recognized.

“Two to the chest, one to the head,” Bill observed, raising his voice so the two young shooters could hear him over the earmuffs. “Nice. Nathan teach you that?”

“Yes, sir,” Tom replied respectfully as he ejected the magazine, then worked the slide to ensure there were no surprises waiting in the chamber. Showing the chamber to be empty, Tom holstered the pistol. “Nathan said to use that pattern if we absolutely, positively needed to kill somebody. Not sure what he meant by that, though,” the young man continued. “We would never shoot somebody unless we thought they needed killing anyway.”

“Mozambique Drill. Two to the chest and one to the head,” Aiden continued, using the common term for the practice, intended to handle a hostile who might be wearing body armor.

Natalie, repeating the motion of her brother, demonstrated the empty chamber as well and gave Aiden an eloquent shrug.

Shoving the pistol in her thigh holster, Natalie furrowed her brow. “I don’t know, Mr. Conklin. I’ve never been to Mexico.”

At this last innocent comment, the two men couldn’t maintain their composure and started chuckling, which quickly evolved into outright laughter. Tom looked to Tyler when the boy’s father continued laughing, but the older teen had no answers either.

“I don’t know, man. Sometimes, parents are just weird,” Tyler shrugged.

CHAPTER NINE

After a day at the range for the younger crowd, and Nathan’s emotional return to see the damage done to his parents’ home, Bill suggested a quiet evening at home with a few friends might be just the thing for their peace of mind. His years as a deputy gave Bill the ability to read emotions, and Nathan was clearly upset. And he, along with anyone at the compound, would do anything to ward off a ‘Nathan Tantrum’, and that included pushing a sweet little old lady down a flight of stairs.

Bill hadn’t yet heard the story of the confrontation between Nathan and Sheriff Hargrove, but he could see the tension between the posse group that had gone out. So, he volunteered to host a barbeque for them at his house, and Rusty and Aiden were quick to accept. Nathan, still looking preoccupied, tried to beg off, but Jasmine, performing her new skill of wrangling her future husband, graciously accepted.

“We’d be delighted,” Jasmine interjected, cutting off Nathan’s half-hearted litany of excuses. They were sitting in the great room of Nathan’s mountain home, what the kids were starting to call their burrow, and while the adults, now including John, were sitting and talking, the younger members of the clan trooped out for gun cleaning in Nathan’s well-appointed armory.

“NAFAN!” Emma cried out, imperiously demanding the attention due a young crown princess. She’d escaped, again, from Amanda and was standing two feet from Nathan when she bellowed.

“Ahhhh!” Nathan exclaimed, once again caught off-guard by his ninja child. Not only could she control minds, Nathan realized, but she could also turn invisible.

“What?”

“NAFAN, SIPPIE,” Emma demanded, waving the plastic container emphatically. What followed was a string of gibberish that apparently only Nathan could decipher. Having seen this show before, none dared interrupt the young princess, or face her wrath.

“Yes, I’ll refill your sippie,” Nathan replied in a more reasonable tone. “But you can’t go with us tonight. This is big people business.”

“NO!” Emma hollered in protest, stomping her tiny foot with considerable gusto. Then she proceeded to release another torrent of babble, complete with arm waving, and what could only be interpreted as rude gestures.

“Grrrrrr,” Nathan growled, mimicking a black bear with a sore tooth. Emma, for her part, replied right back with her own feral growl. One that sounded more like an enraged rodent than anything else. They locked eyes, each exerting their own will with a glare.

“Oh, stop antagonizing the child, Nathan,” Jasmine finally said. “She missed you like crazy today. Of course, Emma can come tonight. I’ll just be a second packing her bag and we can go.”

“Missed her designated butt wiper, you mean,” Nathan grumbled, and folded his arms in a show of protest. Emma copied the move, after a few false starts, and gave Nathan her patented teeth-baring grin.

“Weird kid,” Nathan muttered to himself. Jasmine, with ears like a predator, gave Nathan a smack on the arm that stung more than he wanted to admit. Rubbing at the red spot, Nathan offered a patently false smile to Bill and finally bowed to the inevitable.

“Bill, we’d love to have dinner with you and your family tonight.”

“Great!” Bill exclaimed, trying to keep the laughter inside, and failing. Only Nathan could get into a staring contest with a two-year-old and lose. “I’d better get going, so I can get the steaks out to thaw. Jasmine, are you okay eating elk? It’s really good.”

Jasmine grinned. “Since meeting Nathan, I’ve eaten all kinds of things. Elk sounds great. Are you sure you want us to bring the whole herd? That’s going to be a lot of food.”

“Hey, I’m sitting right here!” John interjected in mock indignation. The young man had come a long way from the morbidly-obese gamer kid Nathan had picked up along the side of the road. After simultaneously hitting a growth spurt, at the same time he began to drastically drop weight, Jasmine could barely remember the old John. However, he retained the same sweet, low-key demeanor that made him so popular with the other kids. Though less than four years separated their ages, Jasmine looked upon John as one of her kids. Well, stepchild, since John had once dubbed her as his ‘hot stepmom’.

“Oh, honey, I didn’t mean anything by that. If anything, Amanda still out-eats you most meals.”

“Sorry,” John replied sheepishly ducking his head, realizing Jasmine hadn’t meant anything hurtful by the comment. He should have known, but after years of enduring the taunts, John still felt the occasional stab of insecurity.

“What did I miss?” Rusty asked, still trying to wrap his head around the idea of little Miss Amanda turning into a full-blown gangster right in front of his eyes. No, not a gangster. Most of those guys couldn’t shoot for shit, and Rusty fully expected Amanda could back up her threats.

Aiden, for his part, didn’t have the same problem, after hearing about the incident from Tim. He had a teenaged daughter, after all. He might never expect Gina to make the same threats, but he suspected she might be just as hostile if someone were ever to threaten her father.

“Remember, John had a bit of a weight problem at one time,” Aiden supplied helpfully to Rusty, hoping he would remember the deluge of pictures of John when Nathan had first found him. Nathan simply nodded, just the once, where John wouldn’t see.

“Yeah,” John simply agreed. “I was as big as a house when Nathan and Amanda first found me. But Nathan still took me in and taught me how to take care of myself. How to do something besides eat when I got stressed.”

“I still can’t see it,” Tim chimed in, reaching out an arm to accept an embrace from a silent Sherry when she joined the rest of the group in the great room. “I think those photos Nathan took were altered.”

She’d been chopping up green beans for canning and still had a smudge on her cheek, which Tim wiped away without commenting. She caught the move, correctly interpreting what he was doing, and offered her husband one of her dazzling smiles.

“See what, sweetie?”

“That John used to have a weight problem,” Tim whispered softly into her hair.

“Really?”

While that interplay was taking place, Aiden, Rusty, and Bill were making their farewells and heading for the door. If Bill was going to be doing the grilling, then the other two men knew they should be heading home for their own signature dishes. Over the years, Rusty and Libby had learned to make a mean coleslaw and Aiden’s wife Penny relied on a cherished family recipe for the best potato salad any of the group had ever eaten. Aiden, for his part, scrubbed potatoes and stood back while Penny worked her magic.

“Well, if we’re doing barbeque, I guess I need to go get my old standby ready,” Nathan said, heading for the kitchen. Jasmine and John went to follow, but Tim shooed them back with a wave while Sherry tried to hide a snicker before turning to pursue Nathan. He would need her help, and she wanted to check on Nolan in his playpen. Her little man was being quiet. Too quiet, in her experience.

“Why’d you stop us?” Jasmine demanded with a hiss of exasperation.

“Because when the boys do barbeque, everybody has their specialty dish,” Tim explained patiently. “For Nathan, it’s his baked beans. Except, well…I take it, you’ve noticed Nathan will eat just about anything, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Jasmine and John replied in unison.

“Nathan can make decent meals out of simple trail rations and a pot of water, but he isn’t what you might call ‘adventuresome’,” Tim continued. “Basic and to the point is our boy Nathan. But, he takes pride in his beans. He really just opens a can of Bush’s Baked Beans, heats them up, and calls it good. Not that there’s anything wrong with Bush’s, but like I said, there’s a bit of pride involved. Sherry will help Nathan season them just right, and everybody will be happy.”

John shrugged. “I’ll eat whatever Nathan fixes, Tim. And he does really good with fish, too.”

“Oh, sure,” Tim nodded along in agreement. “You bring him the fish and he’ll fry you up a mess, or bake them. I prefer them grilled, myself. ‘Course, Nathan hates to fish with a pole. His ADD kicks in and he gets bored something fierce.”

“Well, that explains some things,” Jasmine whispered to herself before continuing out loud, “Anyway, thanks for the information. For someone who claims to be so simple, I’ve found Nathan Owens to be much more complex than he lets on. Funny though, for someone who looks as good as he does, he doesn’t even seem to notice. Instead, his cooking is one of his vanities.”

Tim laughed and waved his new friends to join him in the kitchen.

At Bill’s house later that evening, the guests broke down into fairly predictable groups, as were common at such gatherings. The adults gathered around outside watching Bill work his magic on the grill, and the older kids clustered up in Tyler’s room.

“You guys did good on the stages today,” Robin commented. At fifteen, she wasn’t especially happy with the name her parents had stuck her with, but it beat her middle name all to pieces. She’d been named for her grandmother, her mother’s mother, so she couldn’t complain much, since the old lady was pretty cool. She just got tired of being asked when Batman was getting there.

“Yeah, that was good for not having any more training than you’ve gotten,” Randal added.

“I couldn’t even use my pistol,” Casey groused, taking on a pouty attitude at odds with her normally sunny outlook. “That sucked.”

“Hey, you just need to get a little bit bigger,” Gina responded. “We’ve all been there, even these guys. Right?”

“I’m sure you did great, Casey,” John added, his sincerity winning him a smile from Casey. She liked John, but then, just about everybody did. He never said mean things, and always tried to protect them just as much as her own brother Tom did.

Since Tyler didn’t have enough chairs in his room, the kids decided to sprawl out on the floor, hanging out while Tyler set up his game console. They only had two controllers, so the planned video game marathon would need to be done in stages.

“How did things go at Nathan’s house?” Natalie asked, no longer able to contain her curiosity. She wished Nathan had allowed her to go as well, but John and Amanda really were further along with their training.

With a cringe, Amanda stuttered, “Ah, uh, the house wasn’t in very good shape. Looked like they’d been attacked. Nathan was not happy.”

“Did you see any of the people there?” Shane Bertram asked. He was the younger of Rusty’s two boys and while he was nearly the same height as his older sibling, he looked like a stiff wind might blow him away. “Any of their kids, I mean?”

“Aw, Shane, are you still sweet on Sharla?” Gina Conklin teased, and then sat back a bit when Amanda flashed her a warning glance.

They might be the same age, but there was just something about Amanda. She wasn’t that big, though her slender build made her seem taller than her actual height. No, it wasn’t necessarily a physical threat, but in the primitive part of her brain, Gina recognized Amanda as someone not to be trifled with. Someone dangerous.

“Sorry, Shane,” John broke in with his answer. “We didn’t see anybody but the sheriff and a few of his deputies. I know they’ve taken in some women and children from town. I heard Nathan say something about one of the dispatchers. She didn’t make it, but the sheriff managed to get her child out, at least.”

“I feel so bad for them,” Gina said in a near whisper, her earlier teasing attitude gone. “The people in town, I mean. I wish there was something more we could’ve done for them.”

“They tried,” Robin piped up again. Not one for video games, she was instead searching through a box of books she’d slid out from under her older brother’s bed. Looking up, Robin caught Gina’s eye and continued, her tone serious. “I know my dad, all yours, and Nathan, tried to get the other deputies to join in here. I know the supply buy-in wasn’t cheap, but our family managed it. So what, if we didn’t get a ski boat, or go on a Caribbean cruise every year? Our parents made the sacrifice and begged them to do the same.”

“All right,” Tyler interjected, holding up a hand and finally getting drawn into the conversation. As the oldest of the ‘Little Posse’, he often found himself playing peacemaker in their little group. “I agree. I wish we could’ve done more, but you can’t sit here feeling guilty about it. Soon enough, we’ll get our chance to help out. I know they won’t be letting us go out to fight, but we can still man the security bunker here and take watches up on the bluffs. That’ll free up more of the grown-ups to fight.”

“Uh, when Nathan goes to fight,” John started, then paused, looking around. All of Nathan’s kids already knew, but he didn’t want to cause problems later. “I’m going with him.”

“Me, too,” Amanda added, her own eyes like a hawk’s while she watched the reactions of the others.

Tyler sat back, bumping the television with his sudden move, while shaking his head in denial.

“John, no offense, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’ve had more training than anybody else here, and I don’t think my dad’s going to let me go with them.”

John smiled his easy smile and patted Tyler on the back.

“Tyler, I get what you’re saying, but that’s the way it has to be. I’m not saying I’m ready to head out tomorrow because I know I still need some training, but Nathan’s already given me his word. When he goes to war, I’m going with him. I’ve seen what happens if you don’t fight evil away from your home.”

“And me, but that’s it,” Amanda added, her look daring anybody to dispute her. Of course, nobody but Natalie and Casey were willing to buck her pronouncement.

“If you’re going, then so am I!” Natalie cried, her features clouded with emotion.

“Me, too!” Casey exclaimed. “I might not be able to use that stupid pistol good, but I can still use my rifle.”

“Whoa,” Tyler said, again shaking his head. “John, if Nathan agreed you could go with him, then I know he’ll keep his word. As for you ladies, again, I’m not trying to be sexist, but I don’t see Nathan going along with this plan. Do you want to know why?”

“Because he loves us,” Casey said softly, bowing her head as she spoke. Tears formed in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “When he thought Amanda and I were…when he saw us get shot, something changed in Nathan. It was like his soul was bleeding.”

“That’s what I meant,” Tyler said. “You are his kids. I can see it in the way he looks at you, just like the way my mom and dad watch me and Robin. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you guys to get here, but now that you’re somewhere Nathan thinks of as safe, it would be a terrible distraction for you to go back out with him again.”

“That’s why the military won’t let siblings serve in the same unit,” Randal piped up. “Dad has a brother just eighteen months younger than him, and they both went into the Army to become Military Policemen. When Uncle Sammy joined up, they never even got stationed at the same base.”

“Where’s your uncle now? If it’s okay to ask, I mean,” John queried. Even after his interaction with Nathan and the rest of their crew, John still felt a bit apprehensive with new people.

“I don’t see why not,” Randal replied. “He was working for the U.S. Marshal’s service after he got out. He worked out of the office in Portland, but there’s no telling where he might’ve been when all this happened. All we can do is pray for him.”

“Well, I want to talk about something else,” Tyler said, breaking in and trying to raise the declining mood. He knew everybody likely had some friends or relatives they worried over, but sitting here stewing didn’t help. “Who’s going to take me on at Blast Dropout? Fair warning, folks, I’m pretty good.”

“I’m out,” Robin said quickly. “I’m tired of getting my butt kicked at that game. Any takers?”

“I’ll give it a go,” Amanda chimed in, ready for the challenge. “Now, what do I do? Is this like a mouse?”

While Amanda and the rest of the kids occupied themselves in Tyler’s room, the adults were gathered out on the patio exchanging stories about how their day had gone. Nathan, having cooled off from his earlier anger, proved to be in a much-improved mood.

None of the men seemed to notice, but at various times, Libby, Janice, and Penny cast curious looks at a slightly blushing Jasmine, while Sherry just sat there rocking Nolan with a Cheshire cat smile on her face. She knew where the two had spent their afternoon.

“I’m telling you, Bill, that little firecracker outdrew Mack like he was standing still,” Rusty declared, spinning out the conclusion of his tale like they were sitting around a campfire instead of clustered around the grill. “And her language! Man, that Amanda could make a sailor blush without working up a sweat. But boy, I tell ya, she had that grown man buffaloed.”

“She’s really that good with her pistol?” Aiden asked, and he paused to take a sip of his coffee.

“She can hit what she’s aiming at,” Nathan confirmed. “And she doesn’t know fear. Jasmine’s the same way. John’s better with a rifle, though. The others are still learning.”

“Well, they all did good at the range today,” Bill allowed, falling into his range officer role. “Followed instructions better than most adults, and hit their targets fine. Could stand some more work with their speed, and we didn’t really get into transitions this time.”

“Would she have shot Mack if he’d gone for his pistol?” Janice’s question brought all eyes to Nathan, who replied without hesitation.

“Definitely. You have to understand,” Nathan paused now, trying to find the right words to describe what he’d experienced. “I know you guys have had it rough here, but out there, where we’ve been, there’s only you, your friends, and valid targets. If Amanda judged Mack as a valid target, she would’ve killed him with no more hesitation than you or Rusty would give shooting a rattlesnake.”

Janice tried to hide a shiver as she digested this news. Looking away, she saw where Chip and Emma were playing. She noticed that while the little girl seemed happy to be digging up tiny shovelfuls of sand in the sandbox, Chip was otherwise occupied with chasing Ares around the fenced-in yard.

“He still hasn’t spoken?” Janice asked, her voice shadowed with concern. Jasmine followed her eyes and shook her head. Nathan watched the interplay and added his own thoughts.

“He will when he’s ready. We keep him fed and safe, and let him know somebody cares about him.”

Jasmine nodded, thinking back to the freezing little boy Nathan had rescued from the flood. He’d only been wearing a pair of filthy underpants, and the only way they’d known his name was from checking the waistband to see where someone, likely a loving mother, had written his name.

“He’s already come a long way,” Jasmine said. “He’ll say something in his own time.”

Sensing the mood shifting, Rusty decided to change the subject and broach a topic Nathan had only hinted at before. “You said you had something you wanted to discuss with us, Nathan. Is now a good time?”

Nathan nodded, taking a quick glance around the group before opening his mouth.

“You guys heard how I reacted at seeing the house,” he started, ducking his head sheepishly. “And I want to apologize to you, Rusty, and to you as well, Tim.”

Nathan looked around again, meeting the eye of each man in turn. “I know you men have a high opinion of Sheriff Hargrove, and usually I think he’s a decent guy, for a politician. But I was just so angry when I saw what’d happened to the place, I lost my cool.”

“Nathan, if I knew what was going to happen…” Tim started, but Nathan held up a hand to his friend.

“Tim, don’t worry about it. If you hadn’t let them stay, the whole place would likely be nothing but cinders now. I was just upset at the time. Seeing the damage. Then, when I saw that little girl, and I heard what the sheriff had to say, I just couldn’t follow through with my threat.”

“I understand,” Rusty said. “When I saw what those animals did to my place, I wanted to bust some heads.”

“Well, on the way back from town, I’ve been thinking. What could we do to help? Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t support all of them here. But…”

“What’re you thinking?” Jasmine prompted, when Nathan became lost in thought.

“Well, before we can do anything, we need to take this to Vince and the rest of the board,” Nathan said, still making calculations in his head.

“For what? You still haven’t said what you had in mind, Nathan. Use your words,” Rusty chided, and Jasmine wanted to pat the older man on the head for saying what she was thinking.

“Oh,” Nathan mumbled, then looked around again. “Sheriff Hargrove said he had a bunch of women and children they’d rescued, along with their own families holding out at my folks’ place. I was just thinking, since Jeremey and Vickie are stuck out of town, they wouldn’t mind if we temporarily moved some or all of those dependents over there.”

The silence that followed made Nathan wonder if he’d misjudged his friends, but then Rusty bit back a curse as he looked at his wife, and Aiden walked over to rest his palm on Penny’s shoulder. Bill, standing there with the spatula in hand, didn’t even have to look at Janice before answering for the group.

Enunciating slowly at first before speaking normally, Bill chimed in, “We. Are. Idiots. Of course, you should take this to Vince to raise at the next meeting. This would be a perfect use for that monstrosity.”

Nathan gave a nervous chuckle as he sat back in his wrought iron patio chair. Jasmine beamed, taking her man’s left hand into her own and kissing the knuckles, but gave her man a curious look.

“What’s wrong with Jeremey’s house?” she asked cautiously, still feeling the waters.

“Jeremey was one of the original investors in the retreat,” Rusty supplied, getting into the story as he told it. “He bought the only house on the property at the time, that three-story Victorian some banker back east thought would make for a wonderful resort hotel. As you can guess, the front Victorian is just a facade. The rest burrows back into the mountain like ours. That banker bought the land sight unseen, and had the house built based on pictures the real estate agent sent him. That agent got her commission all right, and the banker spent a fortune trucking in the building supplies, but never bothered to check for little things like utilities or road access.”

“Took ‘em a year to build it, sandwiched between the winters,” Bill tossed in, not to be outdone in the storytelling department.

“Just about the time the last of the sod was laid, the Market Correction in ‘87 wiped out the banker, or so the story goes. Anyway, he ended up losing the property as part of the bankruptcy,” Rusty continued, not missing a beat. “When Jeremey saw the thing, he wasn’t just impressed with the house itself, but also the mountains all around and the valley. He approached Vince and some others, and the development corporation was born.”

“It was Vince who came up with the idea for Bedrock City,” Aiden added for good measure. Seeing the lost expression on Jasmine’s face, the deputy just waved away the comment for later explanation.

“Anyway, that big old mansion, well, really it’s more like a fancy motel, was where the first settlers lived when we were carving out the rock houses,” Rusty continued, smirking at Aiden as he spoke. “Jeremey and Vickie continued to live there even after the rock houses were completed, on account of Vickie’s claustrophobia. The mess hall, barns, and Heath and Joan’s house came after we finished the excavations.”

“So you think Vince and the board will approve?” Nathan asked hopefully.

“If it was just outsiders, I don’t rightly know,” Rusty admitted. “But with at least some of the refugees being the wives and children of other deputies, and some orphans in the mix, I can’t see Vince turning them away.”

“That would be a good deal,” Nathan said, then he continued laying out his plan. “If we can free up some manpower, once we clean up this gang problem, maybe Sheriff Hargrove and the other surviving deputies can get back to the job of protecting the area again. I say, we insist that’ll be the cost of our aid.”

“Isn’t that kind of cold, Nathan? I mean, are we holding their families hostage for them continuing to do their jobs?”

Nathan regarded his friend for a long moment, his smile from earlier fading.

“The world has turned into a real cold place these last few months, Bill. You’ve heard the broadcasts from FU-GMAN and witnessed the violence around here, but I pray you never have to walk over bodies piled up like discarded ragdolls.”

Nathan’s voice caught at the end, and Jasmine knew he was thinking of the massacred women and children they’d passed on the road, gunned down by either their own troops or foreign hirelings. She sat carefully in Nathan’s lap, straddling his hips until her forehead pressed gently into his. From the look on his face, Jasmine worried he might be approaching another migraine from the stress.

“UNC BIWIE!”

The shouted exclamation caught everyone off-guard, causing long-time parents to instinctively cast about for their little terrors. Nathan and Jasmine, despite being still new to the parenting business, immediately knew the source of the imperious voice.

“UNC BIWIE, UP!” Emma shouted again, straining her little body with her arms raised to the heavens. Clearly, Emma’s vocabulary was expanding, as were her demands.

Bill and Janice Engvist had two sons more than half-grown, but had never experienced the joys of raising a little girl. So, frozen by the sudden outburst, the couple just stared at the tiny child at their feet.

“I think she wants you to pick her up, Uncle Billy,” Nathan choked out the words over his growing laugh.

“Grrrr… Nathan, you know I hate that name,” Bill ground out, his lips drawn back in a remarkably good impression of Emma’s own tortured-looking grin as he looked down at the little girl. He was trying to play nice for the tot, but he really wanted to chase Nathan around the yard like Chip was doing with Ares.

“Oh, lighten up, Francis,” Aiden quipped, again referencing a movie that went completely over Jasmine’s frame of reference. In one part of his mind, Nathan took note and resolved to fix some of that ignorance with the next movie night.

“Well, you’d better pick her up quick, before she starts having to flex her mental powers,” Tim chimed in, fighting to suppress his own laughter. “Nathan is convinced that little one can put thoughts in his head.”

“Oh, she can,” Nathan added. “And not just her. The other ones can, too.”

“What other ones?” Janice asked, sharing a wink with Libby and Penny as she prodded. “The other kids you brought back with you?”

“Uh-huh, but just the little girls,” Nathan continued. “Amanda and Casey. Natalie, too, but she doesn’t use her powers as often. Not Jasmine, though. She’s all grown up. Seems to have outgrown that ability.”

“Uh-huh,” Bill remained noncommittal as he scooped up the little child, who now proceeded to jabber away in her own language. Whatever she was saying, Bill noticed Nathan seemed to be paying close attention. Whatever, Bill thought, mentally forgiving the child for using the name he detested. He knew he only had Nathan to thank for that little gift.

“No, I can’t seem to mentally convey my wishes into that thick head of his,” Jasmine confided, “but I’ve learned to get my point across in other ways.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Nathan all but shouted, grinning like a fool, and that was the last straw.

When Natalie and Gina came out to check on the food, the two girls couldn’t figure out why the adults were all laughing hysterically. It wasn’t like they had YouTube to watch anymore.

“Man, grown-ups are just weird,” Gina observed, and Natalie just nodded, unknowingly repeating the boys’ recent observations on the matter.

CHAPTER TEN

Nathan felt better after sharing charred meat with his posse, and over the next few days, he took the time to seek out each one of the council members to request a meeting in the dining hall. Well, all except Anita and her husband. He delegated that odious task to Vince, but then, that’s why he was president of the association.

After dinner, folks started filing out and Nathan’s posse came by, one by one, to wish him luck with his proposal, but each one knew getting the council to make a quick decision was low. Not that any of them, except for the Gasmeyers, would be opposed to extending a helping hand, but the key lay in getting something done in a hurry. Vince took his responsibilities seriously as head of the community, and he would want to take his time in considering the proposal and all the likely ramifications.

Unfortunately, Nathan knew they were working against the clock. They needed to act, and act decisively, before the Sheriff and his remaining deputies all perished trying to protect a gaggle of defenseless women and children.

When Jasmine got up to leave, carrying her tray in one hand and a sleeping Emma in the other, Nathan leaned forward and spoke so only she could hear.

“Stay. Let Natalie take doodlebug home.”

“But Nathan, I shouldn’t be…”

“Yes, you should. Stay. Please,” he stressed the last word, and Jasmine saw the expression in Nathan’s eyes. He wasn’t just asking to be polite.

“Sure, but won’t some of them be upset?”

“Fuck ‘em,” Nathan said, some of his bravado coming through as he offered her a mischievous grin. “You’re my partner, right? And you are going to be my wife. They might as well get used to seeing you in these meetings.”

As the last few diners filed out, Nathan and Jasmine left the table and wandered into the kitchen to help Isaac and Ruth finish washing the dishes. In spite of the EMP, the automatic dishwashers for the plates, glasses, and silverware continued to function, leaving only the pots and pans for manual cleaning.

“I can’t believe the washers survived,” Jasmine commented. Of course, the electrical equipment in the buried tunnel homes still functioned, but this one-story, metal-walled structure was seemingly exposed to the force of the electromagnetic pulse.

“Oh, honey,” Ruth said with a forced laugh. “I wouldn’t let the boys install a single electric plug before we had the design in place to turn the whole building into a giant Faraday cage. I wasn’t ready to start cooking for this many over an open fire pit, or on a wood-burning stove.”

“Place is a real energy hog, too,” Isaac chimed in, rinsing out the last of the dishes as he placed them in the tray for the washer. “Needed more juice here than we could figure out how to supply at first. Leave it up to Nathan to find us a solution.”

“Don’t say it that way,” Nathan protested as he sealed up the plastic bucket with the evening meal’s scraps. “You’d already figured out how to use the hydro-generators.”

“Where does that go?” Jasmine asked, pointing at the bucket Nathan was carrying to the back door.

“Hogs,” Nathan replied cheerfully. “We feed them, so they feed us. Circle of bacon. I mean, circle of life. We try to avoid unnecessary waste.”

“Yes, and yes, Nathan, we already had the little water bugs, but they barely produced enough to keep the lights on in the houses when running the well pumps,” Isaac declared, a twinkle in his eye as he added the last bit. “You were the one who tracked down the brilliant engineering student who designed Bertha and her offspring. They went all the way to Moscow to get her.”

“Moscow?” Jasmine said with a start, visions of leggy, blonde, Russian runway models dancing in her head, but then she jerked her eyes back to Isaac as Ruth tried to conceal her grin. “Trying to mess with the new girl, eh? Moscow, Idaho, home of the University of Idaho and the Fighting…what are they called?” She paused, looking at Nathan.

“The Vandals,” he replied with a satisfied smile.

“Appropriate, in this day and age, I guess,” Jasmine responded with a smile of her own, but this one was sad and knowing. She could only imagine the state of the campus by this point.

“And I think that’s our cue to get this meeting started,” Isaac noted, stroking his beard. “Before the young lady decides to take her revenge for our little misdirection.”

The council gathered at one of the larger tables in the mess hall, and Jasmine took a moment to look around at the expectant, or in the case of Anita, disagreeable faces as Nathan led her to a seat. To no one’s surprise, Anita spoke up before Nathan could even open his mouth.

“What is she doing here?” Anita all but snarled, her eyes cutting to the younger woman. “I thought this was supposed to be a council meeting. Unless she’s here to take the minutes, of course. Is your new girlfriend supposed to be the new secretary?”

“Floyd,” Nathan said conversationally. “Control your woman. Now.” Nathan continued, not skipping a beat, “You all might as well get used to seeing my fiancé here. She will attend council meetings when I’m unavailable, and she will have my proxy. But that’s not why I asked for this meeting.”

When the murmuring subsided, Nathan held up a hand, like a child in school asking to be recognized. Vince, fighting to hide a grin of his own, pointed to Nathan to speak.

“I’m sure all of you have heard about our visit to my home,” Nathan said, stressing the word ‘home’ as he spoke. “Sheriff Hargrove, at the invitation of my friends, has taken shelter there with seven deputies and their families. They’ve had a hard go of it, getting attacked several times by bands of looters and outlaws. No doubt, some of the same people we were trying to lock up before all this mess started.”

“Even all the way out there?” blurted out Greg, who quickly colored with embarrassment at his own outburst.

Nathan nodded before continuing. “The sheriff said the violence in town has grown out of control, and they’ve also been unable to do much to stem the tide out in the county. The town itself is under control of the Chinese, however tenuous, and there’s not much he can accomplish there. But the county is another matter.”

“What do you mean, Nathan? What can he do with so few deputies?” Vince’s question was a legitimate one, and Nathan had expected it.

“If the Sheriff could get just two or three of those deputies out on patrol, either on horseback or even on foot, and they had reliable communications, he could do a lot for that area. Seeing the enemy coming is half the battle, my daddy always said.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but we don’t have any radios to spare,” Floyd murmured, sighing apologetically. “We need everything we have here.”

“Oh, don’t worry about the radios,” Nathan replied with a dismissive wave. “I picked up some stuff along the way they can use. No, my proposal is to take some of that weight off Sheriff Hargrove, and invite some of his dependents to stay in Jeremey and Vickie’s house instead.”

“Uh, what?” Lanny asked, clearly startled by the proposal.

As Vince cleared his throat to speak, Anita took the opportunity to voice her displeasure.

“HELL, NO!” she bellowed, her tone and volume such that a Marine Corps drill instructor might have approved. “You are NOT bringing in some useless bunch of leeches who will consume food and resources meant for THIS group!”

Pausing for breath, she continued her rant with her outside voice at full volume. “We let you bring in your gang of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals because Vince said they would make good security, but having a bunch of strangers here would not only deplete our supplies, but also endanger our safety!”

Jasmine watched Nathan with nervous attention as Anita’s rant went on along the same vein for another minute. She knew Nathan detested the woman, but he seemed undeterred by her vicious flow of words. Looking at him more closely, she saw Nathan was wearing his wireless earbuds.

Finally, Nathan nodded to himself and stood, catching the others by surprise. All except Jasmine, who continued to study her man and saw when his thighs flexed, telegraphing the move.

“Now, if you’re about done spewing your filth, maybe the grown-ups can have a chance to talk while you go polish your claws or buff your boobs,” Nathan said with a condescending tone that made Jasmine stifle a laugh. “The people who actually matter will likely have some questions.”

Damn, that boy can do snotty when he wants to, Jasmine decided.

“Nathan,” Vince began, picking his words carefully as he spoke. “You know I want to do what’s right. I want to help those who are in danger out there. The stories you’ve shared, frankly scare the hell out of me.” Reaching out, he found his wife’s hand under the table and gave her a squeeze, which she returned.

“While I cannot fault your altruism, I can’t see how exposing this refuge to the danger of detection can have any long-term benefits. Wasn’t it Rusty who said we needed to lay low and not attract any attention? Despite our favorable position here, hidden in the mountains, I worry about word getting out. On top of the security concern, there’s the issue of feeding that many refugees without endangering our own members.”

“Vince, I agree with everything you’ve said,” Nathan replied serenely, which earned a few surprised gasps from the others. “We are too few to fight off a determined, well supported attack. That’s why we need to spend more time working out our contingencies. But if we can take in these people, it shouldn’t expose us to more danger of discovery. You see, we won’t be bringing in anybody who doesn’t agree to stay here, on site, for at least a year. They come here, it’s for the long haul, and no one, not even their family in town, will know this location.”

“Well, they can’t have any of our food,” Anita proclaimed loudly. “My family has invested too much…”

“Jeez, Anita, give it a rest,” Nathan interrupted. “Yes, you are entitled to the stores set aside by your father.” Then muttering under his breath, Nathan continued, “Lord knows, you haven’t actually contributed a broken nail or a calloused finger to help.”

“I heard that!” Anita shrieked, and Nathan had to laugh.

“Apparently, the only thing you’ve got that does any actual work is them ears and that mouth, Anita. Again, let the grown-ups talk. Also, you can forget about making any claim on the supplies left by Jeremey and Vickie. That was your plan, right? Once you’d burned through what your dad had stashed back for you, you planned to take the provisions set aside for the members not present? Like you wanted with the provisions from my home? Yes, I heard about that, too.”

“Nathan, let’s try to stick with the topic at hand,” Vince said, seeing Nathan getting ready for one of his patented tantrums.

“Yes, honey, focus,” Jasmine whispered, and rubbed his leg under the table. That simple act got Nathan thinking about rubbing, and a goofy grin suddenly sprouted across his tanned features. Then Jasmine pinched his thigh, and his mind came back to the proposal.

“Look, folks, I understand your reluctance,” Nathan finally said. “I’m right there with you on the need for discretion. Fact is, this is still a triage situation. We can’t go inviting in every lost soul, much as we might want to. I wish we could. I really think, if we could relieve some of the pressures on the sheriff, the results for our safety and security here would be worth the effort.”

“So, how many are you talking about, Nathan?” Lanny asked, and Nathan knew he had them thinking. “And do you have a breakdown of who you want to bring in?”

“No solid numbers at this time, but I’m estimating not more than twenty. That’s women and children only,” Nathan said. He’d gotten the numbers from the sheriff, but Nathan wasn’t sure if that included all their families or not.

“We can feed them for quite some time out of Jeremey and Vickie’s supplies, Nathan,” Isaac said. “But what happens if the two of them somehow make it back from Belize? I know you said it was unlikely, but well, you came back.”

“Then I’ll make up the difference, Isaac. Much as I’d love to see that happen, I’m sad to say, their chances aren’t good. Also, no matter what the conditions there are, our friends would be much better off staying in Belize.”

With that somber reminder of not just Jeremey and Vickie, but all their absent friends, Nathan got the discussion back on track. As expected, Anita fought every step of the way, but Nathan sensed agreement from the others. For the other members of the shareholder council, the idea of helping people in this time of crisis seemed to serve as a substitute for aiding their own loved ones trapped too far away.

In the end, Nathan didn’t get the vote he was pushing for, but he hadn’t really expected it this soon. Let them think it over for a few days, Nathan resolved, and they could hold the vote in three days at the regularly scheduled meeting. Nathan felt sure he had their attention now.

He didn’t mention his plan to bring more ammunition to the sheriff, to go along with the radios. As long as Sheriff Hargrove was willing to use it on anyone threatening the farm, Nathan was willing to draw the cases of ammunition out of his own stocks. The way Nathan looked at it, every thug taken out by Sheriff Hargrove and his men was one less crossing the mountain passes later.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Walking into the dining hall carrying Emma, “-so what is your point of aim?” Nathan finished asking a question. Most looked over when the group walked in to see Nathan, John, Tom, and Natalie in full tactical gear.

“Your point of aim would be six high and eight mils to the right,” Amanda called out as they headed to the table.

“Very good, firecracker,” Nathan said, putting Emma down.

“You need to let us answer some questions,” John popped off as he took a small backpack off.

“Get faster,” Amanda huffed.

Walking over to hang up his M4, “I’m going to start dipping, just so I can spit in your ear,” John threatened.

“Nathan used it all up,” Amanda chided.

Spinning around with fire in her eyes, “You started dipping again?!” Sherry shouted at Nathan.

“Yeah, I was a little distraught with being caught thousands of miles from home!” Nathan shouted back as Emma jabbered behind him. “Emma, I don’t care if there is cake left from last night, you aren’t getting any at lunch unless you eat all your breakfast.”

Putting Chip down, Jasmine gave an impressed nod. “And you say you don’t understand what she says.”

“I don’t,” Nathan snapped, walking over and hanging up his M4. “I have the sudden desire to eat cake, and I don’t like vanilla cake!”

With a wild look in his eyes, John stormed over to the table glaring at Amanda, Casey, and Natalie. “All of you need to stop that!” he shouted at them. “Just ask! Don’t be putting shit in our heads!”

Amanda and Casey looked at John like he was insane, but Natalie gave a small grin. “What the hell are you talking about?” Natalie asked.

“Oh, don’t play dumb, we know,” John said, spinning on his heel and heading for the food.

“All of you really need to stop,” Tom nodded, then took off after John.

“Okay,” Amanda said, turning to Nathan. “What was that about?”

“Like you don’t know,” Nathan snorted as he picked up Emma. “No cake!” he snapped at Emma, and she let out a torrent of babble.

Taking a deep breath, Amanda started rubbing her temples. “Oh, I’m getting a headache.”

“What?” Vince asked, walking over.

“Boys are giving me a headache,” Amanda stated, then glanced up to see who was talking. “Oh, don’t even think about extending my light duty, my headache is from boys,” she snarled at Vince.

“Amanda, I hate to tell you, but boys will be giving you headaches for years to come,” Vince grinned, then patted her head. “I’ll see you two in the morning.”

“What?” Libby blurted out.

“Vince comes over in the mornings for workouts, telling Amanda and Casey what they can and can’t do,” Sherry grinned.

“It’s not funny!” Amanda cried out. “He put us on light duty for a month. A Month!”

“Amanda, I can’t go on patrol either, since some of our group is here,” Jasmine said with a hostile tone.

Janice got up as Chip ran around the table to her. “You really want to go on patrol?” she asked in a shocked tone.

“Hell, yeah,” Jasmine snapped. “I’m responsible for mine and my family’s safety. I don’t trust anyone else on that, sorry. Stuck here, I can’t put what I’ve already learned to practice.”

“Shit, you see what they do to girls out there and you would demand to fight, just so you could kick some ass when it comes for you,” Amanda spat out, pushing back from the table. “Jasmine, go get the tray from Nathan. Emma’s trying to climb up on the counter for the cake.”

Getting up quickly, “You’re taking care of Emma today,” Jasmine snapped, taking off.

“Hey, I’m on light duty, and nothing about Emma is ‘light’!” Amanda shouted, walking around the table and heading to the food line.

“Casey, you’ll help with Emma, won’t you?” Natalie asked, getting up. Emma was their sister, but still a pain to deal with.

“Sure,” Casey grinned, getting up.

Tyler jumped up and stormed over to his dad. “I’m older than all three of them and they’re going?!”

Taking a deep breath, Bill let it out slowly. “Son, I don’t care if they were growing a third arm out of their ass,” Bill replied. “Once your mom and I agree, and you learn how to move on patrol, then we’ll talk.”

With his face red, Tyler stomped off. “I agree with Amanda, boys give you a headache,” Bill sighed.

“I thought you were going to talk to Nathan about the kids going on patrol,” Janice said.

“I did, and he said it was a good idea the other kids didn’t go on patrol until they learned what to do,” Bill told her. “He told me I couldn’t say shit about his kids. Trust me, those weren’t his words, but that was the idea.”

“So, do we need to let Tyler go with you on patrol?” Janice asked.

Shaking his head slightly as he rubbed his temples, “Not until he learns how to move on patrol,” Bill answered, thinking back to the range. “What they know on the range doesn’t translate to real life. It helps, but he needs to know how to put what he’s learned into practice.”

“In case you’re wondering, if Amanda and Casey weren’t on light duty, they would be going, as would Jasmine,” Sherry told everyone. “I would be stuck babysitting Chip and Emma.”

Everyone at the table turned to see Nathan pulling Emma off the counter where the cake was. “How in the hell did Emma get up there?” Aiden wondered out loud.

“Janice, I think we need to let our boys train to go out. But they’ll only go out when I do,” Bill said with a long sigh. “And it wouldn’t hurt for you to get Jasmine to show you what she’s learned.”

Thinking about what Bill said, Janice watched Nathan carry Emma back to the table. When he sat down, she cleared her throat. “Nathan, how long do you think Tyler needs to train before he can go out on patrol?”

Knowing how Janice felt about her ‘boy’, Nathan took the safe road. “A month, tops,” Nathan replied, fighting Emma who was trying to climb down and head back for the cake. “Will you stop?”

Janice turned to her son and nodded. “You heard him, and only when he and your father approve will you get to go out.”

Tyler jumped up and hugged his mom. “Thanks, Mom,” he grinned and took off.

“You could’ve waited taking your kids out,” Janice snapped at Nathan.

“Stop it!” Nathan barked at Emma, then turned to Janice. “No. I’ve seen what’s out there just as they have, and I want them able to fight, not only for themselves, but for their family. I don’t want them to ever question, can they fight and kill. Nor do I ever want them to depend on others to defend them.”

Jasmine came over carrying a tray and set a plate down, and Nathan glared up at her. “It’s a small piece of cake, Nathan!” Jasmine shouted. “My god, she’s kicking your ass! Let Emma have some cake for that reason alone!”

Walking to Nathan’s other side, Amanda set down a plate for him. “I told Jasmine no, but you see how well that went,” Amanda mumbled, then headed to her chair.

Turning around in Nathan’s lap, Emma saw the cake on the plate and dove for it, letting out a squeal. Nathan pushed the plate away and grabbed the spoon. “I don’t know if I like you today,” Nathan told Jasmine as he loaded the airplane.

“Hey, if I’m going to be stuck with Emma, she damn well better be happy,” Jasmine told him. “Be happy I didn’t bring her the entire cake.”

Watching Jasmine head to her chair, Nathan felt the spoon in his hand jerk and glanced down to see Emma had leaned up to it to feed herself. “Okay, eat your food and you can have the cake,” he mumbled.

When John and Tom returned with their plates, they both narrowed their eyes at Amanda, Natalie, and Casey. “None of us know what you’re talking about,” Amanda shrugged, and since Natalie had never told what she and Jasmine overheard in Arkansas, she wasn’t lying on hers and Casey’s point.

“Humph,” John grunted, pulling out an electronic tablet. While he and Tom ate, they stared intently at the tablet, scrolling the picture very slowly.

“What are you doing?” Tim asked as he burped Nolan.

“Memorizing our route,” John answered. “This was easier when we stayed near roads.”

When Nolan gave a burp, Tim tucked him in the crook of his arm and started eating. “You haven’t changed the route, have you?” he asked Nathan.

“No, but you and the others have hunted here, and know what I’m talking about when I say the ‘cave ridge’, ‘three mile mark’, ‘dead ridge’, or the ‘waterfall’. They don’t,” Nathan answered, just loading the spoon and Emma leaned forward before clamping her mouth over the spoon. “I don’t even have to make the airplane sounds,” Nathan mumbled, refilling the spoon.

“How did Vince act when you told him about the patrol we’re going on?” Bill asked.

“Thought it was a good idea,” Nathan replied.

“Oh, it comes from Nathan and it’s a good idea, but from the security chief, it’s a risk we don’t need to take,” Rusty popped off.

Nathan glanced down the table at Rusty. “No, I told him what happens if the bad guys get through. That if he was lucky he would die, but the women of his house wouldn’t get that kind of luck. I offered pictures, but he didn’t want to see them.”

Jerking back, “Kind of harsh,” Rusty blurted out.

“Just the truth,” Nathan replied. “After that, Vince wanted you to come up with a patrol schedule, and go over the current defense plans and watch schedules.”

“Now we’re talking,” Rusty grinned and grabbed his coffee mug. “It’s time to be proactive.”

“You’re not worried that being proactive will bring trouble down on us?” Libby asked her husband.

Giving a shrug, “Trouble’s going to find us. Like I told Vince, we can stick our heads in the sand and hide, but someone can still come up and kick our asses still stuck up in the air,” Rusty replied. “I’d like to whittle trouble down before it gets here.”

“Yeah,” Nathan nodded as he started feeding Emma the cake. “I tried several times to be ‘humane’, and each time, it was a mistake. Now, I’ll just drop the hammer on any I cross who I deem a threat.”

Emma gulped the spoonful of cake and looked up at Nathan with a huge smile. “Take,” she mumbled.

“Cake,” Nathan corrected as he laughed. Then Nathan made the ‘Ca’ sound several times while he reloaded the spoon.

“Caca-ke,” Emma giggled as the spoon moved toward her mouth.

“I’ll take it,” Nathan grinned, watching Emma engulf the spoon. Refilling the spoon, he lifted his gaze up and saw the posse and their wives staring at him. “We’re working on correct enunciations,” he told them.

“She’s two,” Libby huffed. “All ours could say was ‘no’, and they could say it very well.”

With a soft smile, Janice leaned her head on Bill’s shoulder as she looked across the table at Jasmine. “Oh, we love you so much,” Janice sighed.

Shaking her head as she grabbed her coffee cup, “The kids did that to him,” Jasmine stated. “Emma knows other words,” Jasmine said, cutting her eyes to Nathan at the end of the table. “And she can enunciate them very clearly.”

“Been there,” Bill laughed. “Robin’s first words were momma and dada. Her third word was bitch.”

“Bitch!” Emma sang out from Nathan’s lap, and Jasmine dropped her head on the table with a thump.

Jerking her head off Bill’s shoulder, Janice slapped Bill’s arm rather hard. “Look what you did!” Janice shouted with fire in her eyes.

Lifting her head off the table as Janice was rearing her hand back for another smack. “Janice!” Jasmine called out, and Janice turned with her right hand still held high. “That’s one of the words Emma knows very well.”

“Oh,” Janice said lowering her hand, and Bill rubbed his arm.

As usual, Nathan ignored it and just shoved cake into Emma’s mouth. “The ‘B’ sound is very hard to make and yet, Emma has no trouble,” Nathan said somewhat proudly.

“But you get on me,” Amanda mumbled before she took a bite.

“And me,” Casey sang out with a smile.

“Girls, not in the mood,” Nathan said, shoving more cake in Emma’s mouth, so she couldn’t talk.

Looking up from the tablet, John turned to look down the table at Amanda and Casey. “Well, both of you string multiple words together. Emma usually only says one,” John told them.

“Pfft,” Amanda huffed. “Then you haven’t listened to her.”

“Firecracker, just drop it,” Nathan advised, putting the last of the cake in Emma’s mouth.

Turning to John, Amanda stuck her tongue out at him and then quickly turned away, filling her mouth full of food. “Nathan, I want to start dipping,” John stated, staring hard at Amanda.

“Good luck finding some tobacco to dip,” Nathan chuckled. With swollen cheeks full of food, Amanda turned to John and just smiled.

Shifting his gaze from Amanda, John turned to Jasmine. “You better give me and Tom some brothers,” he advised, then looked back down at the tablet. “We have too many girls in our family now.”

“I don’t make that choice, John,” Jasmine grinned. “That’s all on Nathan.”

“He does what you say,” John mumbled, and Tom gave a snorting laugh.

“I want a bra to wear,” Casey sang out of the blue.

A loud ‘clank’ sounded when Nathan threw Emma’s spoon on the plate. “What the hell?!” Nathan cried out in shock. “Do you girls wake up each morning just thinking of new ways to shock my system?!”

The entire table turned to Nathan as he stood up, glaring down the table. Moving Emma to the crook of his arm, Emma looked at the table with her weird grin and started clapping. “Come on! My little girls and bras aren’t what I want in my mind!” Nathan cried out.

Bill stood up nodding as he turned to his daughter Robin. “You tell ‘em, Nathan,” Bill sang out.

Pushing back from the table, Aiden jumped up before turning to his daughter Gina. “And a daddy never wants to hear ‘I want some thongs’ from his little girl!” With her face turning pink and her mouth hanging wide open, Gina stared wide-eyed at her daddy.

“Ewww,” Nathan shivered at that thought, dancing away from the table. He turned to Natalie, Amanda, and Casey, “Ask for ‘em, and I’ll ground you till you’re thirty,” Nathan warned. In shock, the girls looked at Nathan like he was possessed.

“And little girls don’t need their belly buttons pierced!” Bill scowled at Robin. “The only reason a teenaged girl needs a belly button ring, is to put the lock on the chastity belt!”

“Preach it to us, Bill!” Aiden sang out, raising his hands in the air.

“Nathan?” Penny called out as she tried to pull Aiden back into his chair. “If I’m not mistaken, you dated not one or two, but three underwear models.”

“Hello!!?!!” Nathan hollered out. “They weren’t little girls, and they damn sure weren’t MY little girls.”

“She wears thongs!” Amanda cried out pointing at Jasmine, and Jasmine’s head hit the table again while her face turned red.

“She’s my WOMAN!” Nathan cried out. “Not my little girls! I’m warning you now, ask for a belly button ring, you won’t leave the cabin till you’re sixty.”

“Tell ‘em how it is!” Aiden cheered. “Daddies don’t want to hear it!”

Leaning back in his chair and watching the spectacle around him, Rusty gave a relieved sigh. “I’m so thankful we only have boys.”

Casey took a breath to speak and Nathan raised his finger, pointing at the ceiling. “Ah,” he warned. “I’ll get Vince to put you and Amanda on bedrest for the next decade.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Natalie said, offering a forced smile.

“I’m going to pee on something,” Nathan said, spinning away from the table and heading for the door.

Jerking her head off the table, Jasmine jumped up before chasing Nathan. “Give me Emma!” she cried out. “The last time she saw you pee, she tried for two days to pee standing up.”

Handing Emma off, “You need to talk with them,” Nathan advised.

“Nathan, they’re girls, not babies,” Jasmine snapped. “You wouldn’t act this way if John or Tom wanted to wear thongs.”

Startled at just the thought, Nathan stumbled back. “Well, you’re right,” Nathan admitted, and Jasmine smiled. “I would grab their underwear and yank it up to their throat. By the time they pulled the wedgie from their ass, they wouldn’t ever want to see a thong again.”

The smile fell off Jasmine’s face as Nathan grabbed his gear. “You need help,” Jasmine mumbled.

“I need help?” Nathan huffed, pulling his tactical vest on. “Our little girls are talking about thongs, bras, and belly button rings.”

“No, only one, and she only mentioned bras,” Jasmine corrected. “The rest came from the other daddies in the room.”

“Damn right, it did!” Bill shouted out, leaving the table.

As Bill grabbed his gear, he mumbled, “I swear, they do it just to see how many colors my face will turn.”

“I’m having second thoughts about a daughter,” Tim said, rocking Nolan in his arms.

“Oh no, you said you wanted several little girls,” Sherry smiled.

Turning to Sherry, “I would like to change my order,” Tim replied with a straight face, and Sherry busted out laughing.

Turning the tablet off, John stood up grabbing his tray. “The thought ever crosses my mind about wearing thongs, and I’ll kick my own ass,” he mumbled, then carried his tray off.

Watching Nathan walk out, Jasmine spun around storming over to the table. She stopped across from the girls. “What have I told you?” she snapped, looking at all three of them. “You talk to me about that shit and I’ll talk to Nathan.”

“Shit,” Emma sang out, clapping her hands.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Jasmine let it out slowly. “Girls, we are still a shock to his system and I’m sorry, but he sees each of you as his little girls,” Jasmine said slowly. “Casey, don’t ever do that again.”

“Jasmine,” Casey whined, and Jasmine turned to her with a glare. Casey stopped instantly.

“Now, do we have a deal? Because if you keep upsetting Nathan like this, I’ll take his side from now on,” Jasmine warned, and all three girls’ mouths fell open in shock. “Let’s see how far you get without me in your corner. Nathan will have each of you in full tactical gear with chastity belts under it till you’re married.”

Slowly, Amanda raised her hand and Jasmine turned to her. “What’s a chastity belt?”

“Really?” Jasmine moaned.

“Is it a designer belt?” Amanda asked, and Tim gave a snort as he shoved Nolan in Sherry’s arms and bolted for the door.

“Amanda, think of it as metal underwear that can be locked, and your dad has the key to take it off,” Jasmine offered as Emma sang out “Shit!” again, clapping her hands.

Cocking her head to the side, “But I’d have to get the key just to go to the bathroom. What’s the purpose?” Amanda asked as they ignored Emma.

“Amanda, you and I are having a talk today,” Jasmine sighed, then spun on her heel heading back to her chair.

“But we would need the key to the metal underwear, not Nathan,” Natalie chimed in, and Casey nodded.

Leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling, “Momma, I’m so sorry for the way I acted,” Jasmine said with sincerity.

Trying hard not to laugh, “I’ll watch Emma and Chip while you and the girls have a talk,” Sherry offered.

Dropping her head to look at Sherry, “I should make his ass do it, but Lord only knows what he would tell them,” Jasmine moaned.

Shaking her head, “Don’t even entertain that idea, Jasmine,” Penny huffed. “Trust me, just do it, and then tell Nathan to keep his mouth shut about it. Aiden gave Gina the talk after I did, and it took me a year to convince Gina her daddy was full of shit. He had her convinced most boys would put an alien into girls that busted out like in the movies. Only the boys daddy liked wouldn’t put aliens inside.”

Completely at a loss for words, Jasmine just gawked at Penny. “Yeah, he got that from Bill,” Janice growled. “Robin beat the shit out of the little boy next door, yelling at him, ‘You aren’t putting an alien in me! Because Bill hated that kid.”

Having no trouble or doubt that Nathan would do something similar, Jasmine nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’ll take care of it.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Leaving the horses in a small depression, it was noon when Nathan led the group to a tree-covered ridge line overlooking a valley. The closest town to the compound was Trout Creek, Montana. Calling it a town was a stretch, with a population of 261, as was calling it ‘close’. Trout Creek was almost twenty miles away by air. If the patrol had been on foot, the group would’ve been pushing it to reach Trout Creek before sundown, but they were on horseback.

Bill was the first to voice his displeasure at the idea of riding horses, and Nathan told him he could walk. Having no such plans, Bill saddled up his horse. Like the rest of the posse, his family’s horses used to be kept at Nathan’s house, since he had a pasture.

With Nathan leading, the posse soon felt way under par while watching how Nathan, John, Tom, and Natalie rode. They were actually patrolling from horseback, scanning around themselves nonstop. But it wasn’t until they were a mile away from the compound that the posse paused.

That was when Nathan pulled out the Mew 2. The unit Nathan had told them about, but they’d had a hard time believing it really existed.

The posse gathered around, watching Nathan while Tom went to each person, making sure their radios were off. When the unit came on, they turned to the screen and saw a few white dots near the center. Each wanted to ask questions, but Nathan just turned the unit off and packed it back up.

Then, every two miles they would stop, so Nathan could hook up the Mew 2.

Looking across the valley three miles away, Bill saw the collection of houses that made up Trout Creek. He turned to see Nathan turning on the MU unit. “Houses are burnt,” John said, and they turned to see him laying prone on the ridge and looking through a spotting scope.

“Any movement?” Nathan asked, punching in the code.

“Won’t that tell us if someone’s there?” Aiden asked, pointing at the Mew 2.

“Only has an effective range of electronic detection around four kilometers. Human electrical fields are under two kilometers,” Nathan answered, watching the screen come on.

“I’m not seeing anything right off the bat,” John said.

Tim was standing right behind Nathan, staring at the screen of the tablet in Nathan’s hands when it came on. When a red light appeared just outside of the second circle, Tim dropped to one knee looking down into the valley.

“John, glass that house two clicks to the east at the base of the hill,” Nathan said, not looking away from the screen when another red dot sprang up near the fourth ring, but higher up on the screen.

“I don’t see anyone outside, but someone’s staying there or has been recently. I see a fire pit still smoking in the front yard,” John said as Nathan sat the tablet down. “Tom, something is almost four clicks to the northeast.”

The posse turned to see Tom sitting next to a tree and holding the largest binoculars any in the posse had ever seen. “I see a small house there,” Tom replied. “Don’t see people.”

Natalie came up carrying the Savage BA110, putting it down beside John as she went prone next to him. Rolling on her side, Natalie pulled out her binoculars and saw Apollo beside Nathan while he stared at the screen, and noticed only Tim was near Nathan and the MU. “Yeah, Apollo is scary,” she mumbled, pulling out a notepad and then rolled back to her stomach.

“Yeah, Apollo always looks pissed-off and ready to kill something,” John told her as he peered through the spotting scope. “When Nathan tells Ares it’s time to work, he has to put on a mean face. Apollo never takes his off.”

Glad she wasn’t the only one scared of Apollo, Natalie held the binoculars with her left hand as she made a sketch of the valley below them with her right. “I see something flashing in the light near the river,” she said, and John moved his spotting scope. “Southeast, opposite bank below the ridge.”

“Damn. Good eyes,” John said zooming in. “Nathan, I got people six miles to the southeast on the other side of the river. I have no idea what they’re doing. All I can tell is they’re people.”

Putting the Mew tablet down, Nathan moved over beside John. “Let me see the scope.”

Handing the scope up to Nathan, John gave a startle to see Apollo right beside him. John gave a nervous grin when Apollo stepped up and licked his face. “Aw, man,” John mumbled, wiping his face off. “I thought you were about to eat me.”

“Why? Apollo likes you,” Nathan said, peering through the scope. “It looks like they’re mounting a solar panel,” Nathan admitted.

Not wanting to doubt Nathan, John just couldn’t see ‘like’ on Apollo’s face as they stared at each other. “All I could tell was they were people, and something would flash when they moved,” John said.

“Twenty-two hundred meters to southeast, just off the road at the lone house, I have four bodies hanging from a tree in the front yard,” Tom called out.

Tim, Bill, Aiden, and Rusty all started pulling binoculars out as Nathan passed the spotting scope back to John. “John, get your map out and start marking houses that’re burnt out,” Nathan said, walking away.

Putting the scope down, John stayed on his side returning Apollo’s stare. “Nathan, why isn’t Apollo following you?”

“John, I just told you, Apollo likes you,” Nathan grinned, kneeling down next to the Mew.

“Um, Nathan, Apollo looks like he wants to eat my face.”

“No, you haven’t seen him working or mad. That’s just his regular demeanor,” Nathan assured him.

Giving Apollo a nervous smile, John turned around before setting the spotting scope back in front of him. “I don’t want to see his pissed face, then,” John mumbled.

Lowering his binoculars, Rusty saw Nathan pulling out his map. “You aren’t excited about bodies hanging from a tree outside a house?”

“Nope. I saw federal troops stringing up a little kid who couldn’t have been older than seven. After watching that and not able to do anything, your perspectives change,” Nathan answered.

Giving a shiver as he lowered his binoculars, Bill turned to the kids. Moving over to Nathan, “Nathan, it seems like John, Tom, and Natalie are more prepared to kill than to scout,” Bill noted.

“Yes, ‘kill’ should always be at the front of your mind, I’ve found out,” Nathan said, making marks on his map.

“What are you marking?” Tim asked, leaning over Nathan’s shoulder.

“Houses we have EMF detection from,” Nathan answered. “Someone’s alive there, and I just want an idea of how many are around us.”

“Hope you’re not wanting to go down for a closer look,” Tim said.

Shaking his head, “Not this time,” Nathan replied. “My main goal was to check the mountain roads to our east for tracks, and other than animal tracks, I haven’t seen shit. Now, I’m worried about the tracks we made on the road coming to the compound.”

“Dude, we aren’t fighting Davy Crockett,” Tim gasped. “We don’t have to erase tracks.”

“Yes, we do,” Nathan said, glancing at the kids one at a time. “We were tracked down several times. It doesn’t take people long to detect disturbances around them.”

“So, that’s why you didn’t want to take the warthogs or the ATVs?”

“No, the warthogs, I don’t want anyone spotting from a long way off. The ATVs, sorry, but I haven’t taught my kids to ride them yet, much less patrol from them,” Nathan smiled.

Narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Nathan, “I’m still trying to figure out if you’re an evil clone,” Tim mumbled.

“Nathan, I have a truck moving along Highway 200,” John called out softly.

Leaning to look around Tim, “Military?” Nathan asked.

“No, sir. It’s red and jacked way up in the air.”

“John, what have I said about calling me ‘sir’,” Nathan sighed.

“Oh, sorry,” John mumbled, soon losing sight of the truck as it continued north. John was sure if Apollo wasn’t right beside him, he wouldn’t have slipped up and called Nathan sir again. Risking a glance, he found Apollo now sitting beside him and panting.

“I got watch, eat,” Nathan said, moving over to Tim and taking the marine binoculars John had started out with. All three sat up, pulling off their small packs and digging out food. Realizing he was staring at John again, Bill turned away. It was just hard for him to picture John as the round boy in the pictures when Nathan had first met up with him.

In just over sixty days, John had lost nearly two hundred pounds. The pictures Nathan showed the entire group, you could see the daily change because not many days went by when Nathan didn’t take pictures. That didn’t surprise anyone in the posse, Nathan always took pictures.

Bill just shook his head, glancing at John out of the corner of his eye. Now, John looked like a college football player. “That couldn’t be healthy,” Bill mumbled.

“Huh?” Nathan asked, staring out over the valley.

“Nothing,” Bill said, turning to look out over the valley. “What do you think?”

“There are still people down there, so nobody will be going up in the hills to look for stuff,” Nathan replied.

Not sure he’d heard right, Bill turned to Nathan. “Are you saying you’re happy there’s bait in this valley?”

“Um, yeah,” Nathan nodded as he scanned with the binoculars. “I don’t know them, and they are staying in an area that’s easily accessible. Hell, I can tell from here, the house two miles to the northeast that’s burnt down was attacked. There’re tire marks all through the yard and a body in the driveway. I know those down there know about it. You don’t stay in an area that’s already been hit unless you take measures like blocking off the road, making your place look deserted, fortifying your location and have lookouts about.”

Not liking Nathan’s attitude, but not able to counter it, Bill just shrugged. “Just seems callous.”

“Bill,” Nathan said in a serious tone, and Bill turned to look at the side of Nathan’s face. “That isn’t callous thinking. It’s cold, dark, evil-ass thinking, but all we can worry about is our own.”

Feeling relieved, Bill turned back to the valley. “When do you want to head back?”

“As soon as they’re done eating,” Nathan answered, finally lowering the binoculars.

Leaning against a tree not far away, Rusty let out a long sigh listening to Nathan and Bill. Some of the changes he liked about Nathan, others not so much. But for some reason, he thought it wouldn’t be long before many of them would view the world in the same spectrum as Nathan and his group. Kill and don’t think about it.

It wasn’t until they'd started the patrol that Rusty realized just how far the others, himself included, were behind the power curve. “I’m done, Mr. Rusty. You can eat,” Natalie said, getting up.

Turning to her with a smile, “It’s Rusty,” he told her. “Like Nathan, I don’t like being reminded I’m an elder, so don’t call me sir.”

“Oh,” Natalie said, looking back into the valley. “I really like mountains, ‘cause flat land sucks.”

“Me and you both,” Rusty chuckled.

Folding up the spotting scope, John put it in the padded case while Apollo just sat beside him panting. Purposefully ignoring Apollo in the hopes he would go away, “Nathan, can I take point back?” John asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be behind you with Apollo,” Nathan answered.

Getting up, John returned Apollo’s stare. “Sorry, but you just look like you could rip my arm off and sit there with it in your mouth, never changing your expression.”
“John, I told you, Apollo is what a trained dog is supposed to act like. Ares isn’t, so don’t judge Apollo too harsh,” Nathan said, handing the marine binoculars to Tom.

Picking up the sniper rifle, John held it out to Natalie. “Then I like the improved version,” John nodded.

Taking the BA110, Natalie gave a glance to Apollo. “I agree with John,” Natalie mumbled, and headed back to the bowl where the horses were tied up.

When the group reached the horses, Natalie put the sniper rifle in the scabbard on her saddle. “When’s the next patrol?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Tomorrow,” Nathan answered.

“What?” Bill asked, spinning around.

“I want to check out that checkpoint on Interstate 90 near Lookout Pass. If we’re lucky, we can snipe a few,” Nathan answered. “Just want to check it out before we hit it.”

“Whoa, hold up, butterbean,” Aiden said, strolling over. “That unit hasn’t moved, and I would prefer not to give them a reason to. They do keep trash from using the interstate.”

“Aiden, the trash you speak of is sanctioned by the feds,” Nathan said, then gave a grunt as he climbed up in his saddle.

“Nathan, we aren’t attacking them unless they prove a threat,” Aiden snapped. “They are almost sixty miles away, but it would take us two days to get there on horseback. Going cross-country, you know the distance would be closer to a hundred. They’re fine where they are. Don’t go kicking a hornets’ nest if we don’t have to. We have enough trouble closer to home.”

“Yeah, but those’re the ones with the toys that really hurt, and they know how to use them,” Nathan scoffed.

Glad Aiden was handling this, Bill and Rusty climbed in their saddles. “Nathan, if that unit moves closer, I’ll back you on hitting them, but until then, I’ll break your shit, so you can’t poke the bear,” Aiden warned. “You’re not sticking our dicks in a hornets’ nest.”

“You’re serious,” Nathan said, staring at Aiden.

“You’re Gawd damned right, I’m serious,” Aiden snapped. “We have a very large gang roaming around and all kinds of small groups, and you want to pick a fight with the biggest kid in the schoolyard? Nathan, you’re home. You can’t evade too far, so change your mindset. You poke that bear, and those troops’ friends will start using those toys you’re worried about, causing trouble for us all.”

Studying Aiden’s wiry frame, Nathan could see he was wound up. “Fine,” Nathan sighed. “We’ll set up on the Coeur D’Alene River Road just west of Prichard, and see what’s moving around us.”

Getting ready to mount his horse, “That’s over thirty miles away from the compound!” Tim cried out with one foot in the stirrup.

“Yeah, and that road is far enough from the interstate the feds won’t monitor it, and it poses our biggest avenue of attack,” Nathan replied. “The easiest way to get to the compound is to turn off before Prichard. Unless they know the area, they aren’t taking the mountain roads like we do.”

Spinning around, Aiden stormed over to his horse. “Oh, I see you still have that two-year-old stubborn streak,” Aiden mumbled, then looked up at Bill and Rusty. “You two can join in anytime.”

“I’m liking the idea of laying up and watching what’s moving around us,” Rusty nodded.

Aiden skidded to a stop and turned to Rusty with a glare. “Libby must have worn the cheerleader outfit last night,” he stated.

“I wish,” Rusty scoffed. “No, Nathan’s right. Our greatest threats by road will come from Prichard. Setting up for a day or so and watching what’s moving around will give us a good idea of how far out we have to patrol. We see a lot of traffic, we'll need to keep groups ten to twenty miles out. We don’t see much traffic, we can stay in a ten-mile patrol area and just watch the one road that leads to the compound.”

Thinking about it as he climbed up in the saddle, Aiden hated to admit it, but it was sound reasoning. He just didn’t like having so many shooters away from the compound. “What do you think, Bill?”

“It needs to be done,” Bill replied. “We should’ve been doing it already, but we were counting on our isolation to keep us hidden.”

“I don’t like so many shooters away from the compound,” Aiden admitted with a sigh.

“Hey, I was only taking John and Tom,” Nathan replied, and Natalie took a deep breath to protest. Throwing up a hand, “Don’t,” Nathan warned, not even turning to look at her. “I had to listen to Amanda, Casey, and Jasmine because you came today. And I know they aren’t finished.” Letting out a long sigh, Natalie just slumped in her saddle.

“Bitch, you aren’t going by yourself,” Bill snapped. “You might see a tank and want to mount it on your wall.”

“I told you, I’m taking John and Tom,” Nathan shot back.

Turning to John and Tom, Bill saw a huge smile on each. “My point exactly,” Bill nodded.

“I’ll go with him,” Tim said. “I’ll need someone to take my guard shift tomorrow night.”

“I’ll get Tyler to take it, since he wants to put on his big boy pants,” Bill offered.

Giving a nod, Nathan guided his horse up the ridge. Staying right behind Nathan, John finally understood what Nathan was talking about regarding his horses. Unlike the horses they had ridden to Wyoming, Nathan’s horses were more surefooted going cross-country. It was easy to tell Nathan’s horses were used to being ridden, and could cover more ground than the ones they had turned loose.

“You know the path,” Nathan said over his shoulder. “Stop every four clicks, so we can scan with the Mew.”

Giving a nervous nod but filled with excitement, John rode past Nathan to move along the ridgeline, weaving around the trees. Hearing a horse move up beside him, Nathan turned to see Tom. “Yeah?”

“Why isn’t Apollo leading with John?” Tom asked.

Letting out a long sigh, “Tom, Apollo isn’t Ares. He’s doing what he was trained to do. If you want me to explain it simpler, Apollo isn’t as smart as Ares,” Nathan said.

Watching Apollo trot along in front of Nathan’s horse, “Oh,” Tom finally said. “Well, when Ares and Athena have puppies, I want one of theirs.”

Laughing softly, “I don’t see a problem with that, but don’t expect one to act like Ares,” Nathan replied.

When Tom pulled back another horse trotted up, but Nathan didn’t turn around. “What, Billy?”

“How the hell did you know it was me?”

“Your horse is the only one that sounds like a buffalo walking,” Nathan answered.

Patting his horse on the neck, “Don’t listen to him,” Bill said softly. “I just wanted to ask, the way you’re talking, you plan on staying out longer than one day.”

Glancing over, “I was leaving around three or four in the morning, and staying out for at least two days, maybe three. We need to see the movement along the road at night just as well as the day,” Nathan said.

“Nathan, you just got back. Let me take out a group,” Bill told him.

“I wish you wouldn’t because I’m going, and Aiden is right. We don’t need to have so many shooters away from the compound.”

“Okay, cocksucker, you think I can’t do it?” Bill snapped.

“Oh, I know you can, but you need to spend some time working with Tyler and Robin,” Nathan replied, never turning to Bill. “Bill, if we have to run, it’ll happen fast,” Nathan said in a low voice. “I don’t want you to ever have the same worry I had getting here. I don’t want you to ever have to look down at one of your kids after they’ve been shot. I pushed my kids too hard learning violence of action. If a large enough force comes, we’ll have to haul ass, and that isn’t the time for you to be explaining how to really fight.”

Riding just behind Nathan, Bill thought about what Nathan said until John stopped to scan with the MU. “Understood, Nathan, and thank you,” Bill said as Natalie rode up to him, leaning over in the saddle to make sure Bill’s radio was off. “I can check my radio,” Bill told her.

“They’re just doing what they were taught, Bill. You saw her check my radio too, so stop bitching,” Nathan told him. “Like me, they like having something that can tell you if trouble is around. It was Tom’s job on the way out, and it’s Natalie’s job on the way back.”

“I can still check my radio, and each time we’ve stopped it’s been off. I love that Buck Rogers thing. Just wish we could make more.”

Everyone else agreed with a nod as Natalie rode down the line and Nathan climbed off, pulling the Mew off the back of his saddle. Hooking the cable from the box to the tablet before screwing the antenna on the box, Nathan turned to Natalie and she gave a nod beside Aiden at the back.

“Bill, they know I trust them to do the job I gave them,” Nathan said, smiling to see the tablet screen was clear. “If they can handle one important job, then I give them more responsibility, like their chores. I wish I could baby them, but I’m terrified of what would happen if I did.”

Watching Nathan pack the Mew up, “Janice and I are having a talk when I get back,” Bill mumbled to himself. Glancing ahead, he saw John scanning ahead with thermal binoculars and then turned to see Tom doing the same, but looking behind them. It didn’t matter the Mew said nothing was near, they were doing what they had been taught, backups to backups, trusting that everyone did their job.

“What a world,” Bill muttered again as he reined his horse around.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It was still daylight when they reached the valley, even though it was eight p.m. “I like the mountains,” John said with his customary smile back on his face. “Now I see why you called the mountains in Arkansas ‘hills’.”

“The ridges around the valley are all over five thousand feet, and the valley is barely at four thousand,” Nathan chuckled, taking his helmet off. “Our valley is higher than those hills we moved around in Arkansas.”

Seeing Nathan take his helmet off, John took his off. “That dam is where the hydroelectric is, right?” John asked, hanging his helmet from the saddle horn.

“One turbine, the others are further down. There’re pipes buried ten feet under the ground, piping water to them from the base of the pool behind the dam,” Nathan told him as they rode down into the valley.

Turning back to the large stream running along the valley floor, “Why so deep?” John asked.

“John, up here, you have to bury waterlines deep or they’ll freeze. That pool is almost twenty feet deep and nearly froze up a few years ago.”

Giving a shiver at the implications, “It gets that cold up here?” he hesitantly asked.

“Twenty below isn’t that uncommon in a bad winter. Forty below in a harsh winter,” Nathan grinned.

“Shit,” John gasped softly. Looking down at the tactical gear he was wearing, John asked, “Um, you think I can find something warm to wear before then?”

“You’re covered, Big John,” Nathan chuckled. “I can’t let you turn into a popsicle.”

Riding across the meadow, they passed Heath and Joan’s cabin. It was the only building not buried completely into the side of the mountain, and didn’t look like the many solitary cabins in the mountains. Reaching the trees on the other side of the valley, John turned to look at the closed-up house just past Nathan’s. It belonged to Jeremey and Vicki, the couple who didn’t make it to the compound.

He looked at the second-floor balcony over the deck that led to the door. “Man, that place looks big,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, I almost built mine that size, but couldn’t justify spending that much,” Nathan told him. “Jeremey gave me a set of keys. I can show you around inside,” he offered.

“That would be neat,” John grinned. Then dropped his grin and asked, “Why did they give you a key?”

“Jeremey and Vicki lived in Utah and only came up for meetings and scheduled compound working days. They wanted me to keep an eye on the place for them, especially during the winter. Lucky too, because a year ago their furnace went out, but as luck would have it, Tim, Sherry, and I were up here.”

“Furnace?” John asked, clearly confused.

“Yeah, we all have propane tanks, just to heat the places during the winter when we’re not here. We can’t ask Heath and Joan to keep everyone’s fireplaces going.”

“Um, why didn’t Jeremey just give a key to them, since they live here?” John asked, looking at the shipping containers near a garage dug in beside the house like Nathan’s.

Taking a deep breath, “Joan is the only person here who you could say is a friend to Anita,” Nathan answered.

“The slut?”

Blowing snot out his nose when he laughed, “Yeah,” Nathan laughed, wiping his face off. “When I say Vicki hated Anita, I’m being nice. Jeremey is rich, rich like I wish I was. Anita all but threw Jeremey down and raped him. Hell, at the Christmas party last year, Anita took her shirt off and put her tits in Jeremey’s face,” Nathan chuckled. “I mean, she pressed his face between her tits, just to be clear.”

“Whoa,” John gasped with wide eyes.

The chuckle died on Nathan’s face. “No, the ‘whoa’ was Vicki was sitting right beside Jeremey when Anita did it,” Nathan said. “Holy shit, did a cat fight ensue.”

Hearing laughing and snorting behind him, John turned to see Bill, Aiden, Tim, and Rusty all red in the face and laughing. “Man, Anita is a slut,” John mumbled, turning back around in his saddle.

“John, I picked the closest ‘PG-13’ action Anita’s tried to pull on Jeremey,” Nathan grunted.

Turning to Nathan, “Has the slut tried something like that with you?” John asked, and Tom and Natalie kicked their horses to get closer.

“John, there aren’t many here the slut hasn’t tried to sleep with,” Nathan sighed.

“Nathan, you’re not being fair,” Tim chuckled. “Wh-.”

“Shut up!” Nathan snapped, cutting him off. “I threw the bitch out, so don’t bring it up!”

“Anita could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch standing flatfooted twenty feet away,” Aiden cackled.

“Why are they still members?” John asked.

“Being a slut isn’t grounds for removal from the compound. But Anita needs to watch herself because the women here now can just cap her ass. It’s not like someone can call the cops,” Nathan huffed.

“If someone kills her, they won’t be kicked out?!” John cried out more in shock that death wasn’t a punishable ban.

Shrugging, “If they admitted to it, the group has grounds to throw them out, but I would ask for leniency,” Nathan offered. “John, there are sluts, and then there’s Anita. She’s a class unto herself.”

Pulling his horse to a stop, John turned to Nathan who stopped with him. “Nathan, I’m telling you now,” John said, taking a deep breath, “if Anita tries anything on you with Jasmine around, we’re going to have to bury a body. If Anita tries that in front of Amanda, we’re in trouble because Amanda will cap her in the mess hall in front of everyone. Jasmine would at least be more formal, doing it without witnesses.”

The posse laughed until John got to Amanda, and they all stopped laughing instantly. “Amanda would shank her,” Natalie shrugged.

“Really?” Rusty asked.

“Yeah,” John said, rolling his eyes. “Amanda was ready to fight Jasmine once, and Amanda loves Jasmine with all her heart. With Anita, Amanda won’t even think twice about going all gangsta.”

Holding his chin high, “That’s my firecracker,” Nathan said proudly.

Letting out a groan, “Great, we have a female version of Nathan to look forward to,” Bill said.

“You wish,” Nathan scoffed. “Amanda’s going to be ten times smarter than me by the time she’s twenty.”

“All right, that’s a very scary thought,” Tim mumbled.

Bill, Aiden, and Tim all turned to Rusty. “What?!” Rusty cried out.

“You’re over security. You tell Anita, if she acts slutty with anyone in Nathan’s group, she’s going to die,” Bill said flatly. “I’m here to tell you, if it comes to it, the posse will take over this compound before any of us are kicked out.” There was much truth in the bravado statement. The posse was the only real shooters in the compound. All could shoot, but the others were white-collar workers. Only the posse could be called blue-collar, and Nathan only because he wanted to be.

Kicking his horse back into a walk, “Guys, you don’t have to worry. Everyone loves us more than Anita or Floyd,” Nathan said.

Turning to Tim, “So, that’s why Jeremey gave Nathan keys to his house? Because Joan is friends with Anita?” Tom asked.

“Yep,” Tim nodded as his horse followed Nathan’s. “Heath and Joan have been here since the compound got started. They used to have keys to everyone’s cabin, but that stopped when Anita inherited her dad’s place. Heath’s the only man Anita hasn’t tried to fu-,” Tim stopped, realizing what he was about to say. “Um, Heath’s really the only one she hasn’t tried to be a slut with.”

“She’s tried with you?” Natalie gasped.

“No, I’m not a member or rich enough,” Tim laughed. “She’s only flirted once or twice, but when Sherry grabbed a handful of hair a few years back, Anita lost all interest in me.”

Seeing the wives with Jasmine on the deck, “Wonder if that’s good or bad?” Nathan mumbled, slowing his horse and climbing off.

“I got him,” John said, taking the reins from Nathan. With Tom and Natalie following, John headed to the fenced-off area across the road in front of Nathan’s house where his horses were corralled.

Jasmine got up and Nathan glanced around, not seeing Emma or Chip. “You threw the kids away?” he asked.

“No, they’re taking a nap,” Jasmine laughed and then became serious, making Nathan take a step back. “I had the talk with two of our girls.”

“I talk to them all the time,” Nathan responded.

“No, the talk,” Jasmine corrected, and cut her eyes to Natalie leading her horse away. “Our other daughter will get hers tonight.”

A look of reverent bliss overcame Nathan’s face and he knelt on the first step. Bowing his head, Nathan kissed Jasmine’s boots. “You are a Goddess sent to walk among us mortals,” Nathan sang out. “Whatever you want, I’ll never be able to repay this.”

Everyone stared in shock at the spectacle of Nathan bowing, and Jasmine was at a total loss for words. “Um,” Jasmine blushed, then remembered what she wanted to say. “There’s a condition to this.”

“Name it. Who do you want killed? I’ll get you a moon rock,” Nathan offered, laying his head on her boots.

Laughing, Jasmine bent down to pull Nathan off her boots. “No, you must promise me, if any of our girls ask questions, you’ll send them to me.”

Jumping up, Nathan engulfed Jasmine in a hug. As Jasmine struggled to breathe, Bill shook his head standing behind Nathan. “That’s a mistake,” he mumbled. “I had Robin convinced boys would give her an alien until Janice spoiled it.”

“Nathan, can’t breathe!” Jasmine croaked out with her face turning blue. Loosening his hug, Nathan kept Jasmine pulled to his chest.

“I agree with everything I have,” Nathan vowed. “I’ll have the talk with all the boys.”

Leaning over to Bill, “Yeah, that’s a mistake,” Aiden agreed. “As many girls as Nathan has, it would’ve worked on one of them.”

Pulling Jasmine back, Nathan locked his lips on hers. Breaking the kiss, Nathan stared into her eyes. “I love you.”

“Holy shit,” Sherry mumbled with a grin.

Looking over at Sherry, “I’ve told Jasmine I love her,” Nathan snapped.

“But you said it in front of everyone!” Sherry cheered, throwing her arms up.

The front door opened, and Amanda and Casey walked out. “You don’t have to demonstrate!” Amanda declared, holding up one hand. “We understood the talk very well, thank you.”

“Amanda!” Jasmine gasped.

Nathan pulled Jasmine to his left side, wrapping his arm around her. “Come here, girls,” Nathan told them with a smile. They came over and he hugged both of them. “Any questions, go to Jasmine,” he told them with relief.

“Like I would ask you!” Amanda cried out with her face buried in his chest.

Looking at Jasmine, “Have any of you eaten?” Nathan asked.

Shaking her head, “No, we were waiting on you,” Jasmine answered.

“Go put the horse up, so we can eat,” Penny told Aiden.

Opening his mouth to reply, Aiden’s mouth snapped shut as Bill yanked him so hard Aiden almost fell. “If you piss Penny off, it’ll spread to all the wives, so drop it,” Bill warned, leading his horse away.

“Yeah, you mess up cheerleader night, and your body goes in a deep mine shaft,” Rusty huffed, and Libby dropped her head down as her cheeks turned red.

As the others headed to the dining hall, Nathan headed inside with Jasmine and dropped most of his gear. “Super hottie,” Nathan said, walking into their bedroom. “I’m going out with Tom and John to watch the only major road that leads to us. I want to see how much we have to worry about people moving near us.”

When Nathan finished, he gave a cringe as he moved to the bed to wake up Emma. Expecting a torrent to start from Jasmine at any minute, Nathan gently woke up Emma. “That’s a good idea,” Jasmine said, walking around the bed to wake up Chip.

Jerking upright, “Huh?” Nathan mumbled in shock.

“I said, that’s a good idea,” Jasmine repeated, picking Chip up. “I trust you to do it, and not sugarcoat what you find. But when you get back, I want a few days with you.”

Glancing down at Emma still sleeping, “Your spurs handy?” Nathan asked. “Your cheap bicycle won’t pass out this time.”

“In my nightstand,” Jasmine laughed. “That’s why you’re taking some time off.”

Wiggling his eyebrows, Nathan bent down picking up Emma. “I got a hottie for my woman,” Nathan sang out.

Jasmine busted out laughing as Emma lifted her head up in Nathan’s arms, looking around. Realizing she wasn’t on the bed, Emma looked up in Nathan’s face and let out a squeal, throwing her arms around his neck. “Hey, doodlebug,” Nathan said, hugging her back.

“Nphan,” Emma said, then babbled.

Heading for the door, Nathan let out a groan. “Emma, I don’t like watching Sponge Bob.”

“I feel that one will give me a headful of gray hair,” Jasmine mumbled, following them out and Chip looked up at her with a smile.

“Loove ew,” Chip said.

Jasmine froze with her eyes going wide. Pulling Chip tight to her chest, “I love you, Chip!” Jasmine cried, hugging him tight.

“Was that Chip?” Nathan asked, turning around as Emma continued to babble. “Emma, hush,” Nathan whispered.

“He said I love you,” Jasmine wailed, hugging Chip.

Stepping over, Nathan wrapped his arm around them. “Today just couldn’t get any better,” Nathan sighed with tears in his eyes.

They walked out with Nathan’s arm around Jasmine while she held Chip tight. Finally, Jasmine started wiping tears off her face when they neared the reception hall, and Emma leaned over in Nathan’s arms, talking to Chip who just smiled at her. “What happened?” Sherry asked, waiting at the door with Tim and Nolan.

“Chip said I love you!” Jasmine cried out, and the waterworks started up again.

“Ahh,” Sherry screeched, throwing up her hand holding Nolan in the crook of her arm as she charged over to wrap her arm around Jasmine and Chip, pushing them out of Nathan’s arm. Holding Emma to his chest, Nathan stepped back to see Sherry crying just as hard as Jasmine, and Tim taking Nolan.

“I didn’t cry that hard,” Nathan mumbled as Tim came over carrying Nolan.

“I was getting worried about him,” Tim said, nodding toward Chip as he wiped tears out of his eyes. “I’ve seen the pictures he draws, and they scare me, a full grown man.”

Shaking his head, “I knew Chip would come around,” Nathan said as Sherry let Jasmine go and used her shirt to wipe her face, then leaned over using her shirt to wipe the tears off Jasmine’s face. Waiting for the waterworks to cease, they finally walked in.

Staring around the room, Nathan could see tension on everyone’s face. “Don’t care, it’s a good day,” he mumbled as Jasmine ran over to their table, announcing the good news. The entire table stood up cheering, along with several in the room, but Nathan could tell it was subdued.

When everyone sat down, Nathan saw the food line wasn’t open yet and took his seat. Looking down the table, he saw Amanda with a rather evil smirk looking across the room. Following her gaze, Nathan found Anita glaring back at Amanda. “John,” Nathan moaned, turning to John.

“I’m not talking,” John mumbled. “But I’m glad Chip finally did. I always knew it would be Jasmine he would speak to first.”

At the other end of the table, Amanda jumped up while throwing her hands out in mock gang signs. “Whatcha gotta say, ‘hoe? You dissin’ me?! Get your face out my grill! I got my gat and I’ll crank that bitch up on your punk ass!”

Letting out a sigh, Nathan shook his head looking around the table. “I’m sorry, but a skinny little white girl just can’t pull off the gangsta,” he told everyone. Bill, Aiden, and Rusty were all turning red as they fought not to laugh. Their wives were failing miserably as they all snorted and bit their lips, shaking in their chairs. It was funny, but they didn’t notice none in Nathan’s family were laughing.

“Yeah, I called you a hoe!” Amanda sang out, wobbling her head side to side. “Come get you sum, biiitttccch!” Many in the reception hall were fighting not to laugh at Amanda trying to be gangsta, and at the target of her wrath.

“Nathan,” Vince snapped, almost storming over. He stopped beside Nathan, staring down at him. “Children aren’t allowed to show disrespect to adults! You have got to be the parent here!”

Slowly, Nathan turned and lifted his gaze up to Vince with a forced smile. Jasmine started getting nervous seeing the forced smile, then saw Nathan’s left eye twitch. Across from her, Bill, Rusty, and Aiden all stopped laughing. “Oh, shit,” all three said in unison, and Jasmine knew that wasn’t good.

Pushing Emma into John’s arms, Nathan stood up slowly. “Vince, you are absolutely right!” Nathan declared in a thunderous voice. “That was very disrespectful!” Jasmine froze, thinking Nathan was carrying Amanda’s little outburst toward Anita a little too far. Jasmine hated the bitch, so she really didn’t see a problem.

Turning away from Vince, Nathan locked his eyes on Amanda, who just returned his stare with a ‘I don’t give a shit’ look. “Amanda, that was rude! A whore is a respectable member of society!” Nathan shouted. “They get paid to give out the pussy! Men and sometimes women come from near and far to pay for that pussy! Whores work hard selling that pussy! Anita is a skanky slut who can’t give or pay people to take her pussy! You have disrespected all whores by grouping Anita with them! You are punished! I have taught you better than that, young lady!”

Unable to hold it any longer, Sherry slid out of her chair and hit the floor laughing. “Amanda, for the next week, you will be second player on all Xbox games, do I make myself clear?!” Nathan shouted. Folding his arms, Aiden dropped his head down on his arms as he busted out laughing. Not even smiling, Jasmine was getting worried as she stared at Nathan’s face. There wasn’t any joy in his expression and she could see how taut his posture was. She couldn’t understand why the posse had started laughing, but had to admit, the laughing coming from them sounded forced.

“Nathan,” Amanda whined, and Nathan threw up his hand, stopping the whine.

“Whores work, providing a needed and appreciated service and you have disrespected the entire profession! No, young lady, you are punished! Now, apologize!” Nathan demanded as Bill vibrated in his chair like he was having a seizure, biting his hand to keep from laughing.

Rolling her eyes, “I’m sorry to all whores that I called you a whore, Anita, you skanky-ass slut,” Amanda sighed out. Libby and Janice slid out of their chairs, joining Sherry on the floor laughing.

“Amanda, that was very big of you,” Nathan said in a voice just loud enough to be heard over the laughter under the table. He turned to Vince who was standing with his mouth hanging open. “Vince, I’m sorry my daughter disrespected whores like that. I thought her apology was elegantly phrased.”

With Nolan cradled in his left arm, Tim let out a howling laugh. Then he started slapping the table with his right hand. “I have tried to teach my kids better than that,” Nathan said with sincerity. “Whores provide a valuable trade and shouldn’t be put down like that.”

With his mouth gaping, Vince just blinked at Nathan for several seconds, then turned away in shock, slowly walking back to his table. “I’m a good parent and Amanda will be punished! She doesn’t like being second player!” Nathan called out to Vince while he shuffled back to his table slowly.

Jumping up, Anita stormed out of the reception hall. “Fuck you all!” she screamed, and her husband Floyd jumped up, running after her. Getting very worried, Jasmine still wasn’t laughing as she stared at Nathan’s tense face while his jaw muscles flexed in rage. She had been with him long enough to know, Nathan was way past livid.

“Why don’t you find your dick and give it to your bitch!” Nathan bellowed as Floyd hit the door running outside. Turning toward the door as his body trembled, ready to unleash, Nathan’s upper lip curled up slightly. Staring at the door hard with narrowed eyes, Nathan’s breathing was steady and deep. “Fuck this,” Nathan spat, and started for the door.

“Guys!” Bill cried out, climbing over the table. Rusty and Aiden jumped up running while Bill jumped off the table, heading for Nathan as he strolled for the door. Jasmine looked down as Tim shoved Nolan into her arms with Chip.

When Jasmine had Nolan, Tim took off as Jasmine turned and saw Bill tackle Nathan. Before Nathan could fight back, Aiden and Rusty were on him as well, keeping him down. Leaping in the air, Tim came down on the pile, wrapping his arms and legs around both of Nathan’s legs. Rusty had Nathan’s left arm and Aiden the right while Bill had Nathan in a headlock with his legs wrapped around Nathan’s waist.

“Apollo, Ares, sit!” Sherry shouted, scrambling to her feet when the dogs moved toward Nathan.

“Nathan, calm down,” Bill said, and Jasmine suddenly realized there wasn’t any laughter anymore. Janice and Penny came over, taking Nolan and Chip.

“Go,” Janice told her.

Turning back toward Nathan, Jasmine saw the dogs sitting down while the posse held him down and Sherry climbed on Nathan’s chest. “Calm down, Nathan,” Sherry told him softly.

“I’m going to rip that cunt’s head off and shove it up her worthless husband’s ass!” Nathan bellowed.

Jasmine ran over as Sherry rubbed Nathan’s cheek. “Nathan, she’s not worth it,” Sherry said gently.

Seeing the guys struggling to hold on to Nathan, Jasmine sat next to Sherry on Nathan’s chest. “Nathan,” she said in a snippy tone, and Nathan locked his eyes on her. Jasmine had a moment’s pause before she continued. “You will leave that bitch alone. Her ass is mine, and mine alone,” Jasmine told him.

Suddenly, Nathan stopped struggling to get away, shocking the posse. “I’m not kidding, Nathan. Her ass is mine and if you get in my way, you’ll be finding some of those hard-working whores you were just talking about,” Jasmine threatened, and Sherry spun her head around, looking at Jasmine in shock. “I told you, the girls are my responsibility and if I can’t handle it, then you can charge in.”

Closing his eyes, Nathan took several deep breaths while the posse tentatively loosened their holds on him. “I know, stud, but she’s mine,” Jasmine said in a much softer tone and caressed his face. “She’s not worth your anger, so just let it go.”

Taking his arms from around Nathan’s head, Bill gawked at Jasmine. “Where in the fuck have you been?”

Letting out a sigh when Nathan opened his eyes and looked at her, “Waiting on him,” Jasmine smiled.

“I’m good,” Nathan sighed, and the gang stood up as Sherry grabbed Jasmine, pulling her up. Bill put his arm over Nathan’s shoulder along with Aiden, and Rusty and Tim moved to the doors, holding them open. They all walked outside with Nathan.

“You are awesome,” Sherry beamed, then hugged Jasmine.

“All of you were laughing!” Jasmine cried out, pushing Sherry back.

Nodding, “Yes,” Sherry agreed. “Half the time, that’s enough to stop Nathan when he gets pissed off. That’s the Nathan we know. The eternal teenager with the temper of a two-year-old, and the ability to fight like a fucking rabid ninja.”

“Oh,” Jasmine mumbled. “So you knew he was mad?”

“Please,” Sherry scoffed. “Tim and I haven’t been with Nathan as long as the others, and it shocked us the first time. What’s really bad, is when one of the others get mad with Nathan. The last time was a concert we went to in Portland.”

Rolling her eyes, “Holy shit, some asshole pissed off Nathan and Bill,” Sherry paused. “That was the biggest fight I’ve ever seen in my life. Aiden and Rusty jumped in, then Tim. The band stopped playing when the entire arena erupted in a brawl. I’m two months pregnant, jumping in the fight with Penny, Libby, and Janice to hit anything close to the posse. We are so lucky we didn’t get arrested.”

Turning to the door, “I don’t like it when Nathan’s mad. He doesn’t think,” Jasmine said.

“Duh,” Sherry sang out, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning Jasmine to face her. “That used to be Nathan. Always walking around with a chip on his shoulder, daring someone to knock it off,” Sherry told her slowly. “Now, you see why we love you so much. Nathan has a purpose now. All of you!”

Cutting her eyes toward the door, “He’s going to be okay now?” Jasmine asked softly.

“Oh, yeah,” Sherry grunted with a smile. “You just have to reason with the teenager. When we get home, make him take some ibuprofen, or he’ll get a migraine in the next few days.”

Jasmine jerked her gaze to Sherry. “Yeah, that’s why he gets migraines,” Sherry nodded. “Now you see why Tim and I were shocked Nathan just didn’t shoot anyone who crossed your path. I asked him. Want to know what set him off? It wasn’t the night vision or the thermal.”

Shaking her head, Jasmine stopped and slowly nodded. “Nathan was getting mad at all the fighting around him, and he felt helpless protecting all of you,” Sherry told her. “No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t steer all of you clear of the fighting. Stupid on his part?” Sherry asked, raising her eyebrows. “Very. But I’m proud of him because he continued acting like an adult. That’s when I knew you were the one, and he saw those kids as his own.”

At a loss for words, Jasmine just stared at Sherry. “Jasmine, Tim and I love Nathan with all our hearts, but holy shit, he could act like a child,” Sherry sighed. “Even this,” she said, waving her hand around, “wasn’t like the old Nathan because it normally takes me half an hour to calm his ass down. You come over and did it in minutes. Sorry, but you aren’t going anywhere. You try to leave, I’ll handcuff you to the fireplace.”

A smile finally sprang up on Jasmine’s face. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Can I tell Nathan I’m sorry?” Amanda asked, walking over.

Turning to Amanda, clearly confused, “Why are you sorry?” Sherry asked.

“For making Nathan really fuckin’ mad!” Amanda cried out.

Reaching out, Sherry pulled Amanda into a hug. “Babygirl, you didn’t piss him off,” Sherry laughed. “Vince did. That’s why he’s sneaking out the back door to apologize.”

Lifting her head up from Sherry’s chest, Amanda turned with Jasmine and saw Vince slipping out the back door. “Granted, Anita and Floyd are going to pay for it,” Sherry laughed. “But I don’t care. I hate that bitch anyway.”

“Why is he mad at Vince?” Amanda asked.

Grabbing Amanda’s chin and turning it to face her, “Vince disrespected you, and basically said Nathan wasn’t being a good parent,” Sherry clarified.

“I’m going to kick his ass,” Amanda said, pushing back from Sherry.

Holding on to Amanda, “No, Vince didn’t mean it,” Sherry said quickly. “He was trying to maintain the peace, but everyone knows ‘don’t piss off Nathan’. He’s not nice when you do.”

Giving a laugh, “Nathan’s either your worst enemy or best friend,” Jasmine noted.

“No,” Sherry said. “The posse, all of us and the family he brought back, that’s all who can call Nathan a best friend. For us, we won’t feel his anger. But we still have to deal with the tantrums. My hope is he’ll put those aside because I’m not kidding,” Sherry moaned. “I’ll push a nice old lady down a flight of stairs and beat her to death with her walker, just to get him to shut the fuck up.”

Walking over holding Nolan, Janice nodded. “Listen to her. I’m a vet as you know, and I love animals, but when Nathan’s throwing a tantrum, I’ll stomp the cutest kitten to death just to make him shut his mouth.”

Stepping back in shock, “Whoa,” Amanda mumbled. “That bad?”

“You’ve heard of Peter Pan syndrome?” Janice asked and Jasmine nodded. “It’s an improvement from Nathan syndrome. I’ll give you an example.”

Giving a smile, “I won’t mention names, but seven months ago, Nathan bought a crib,” Janice said, and Sherry groaned. “The mother complained, and the tantrum started. Robin was fourteen, a fourteen-year-old girl looked at me and said, ‘Momma, he’s whining like a bitch, make him stop’. That came from a teenaged girl.”

“Janice, the fucking crib had a flat-screen TV and surround sound! I don’t even want to know what he paid for that!” Sherry shouted.

Turning to Sherry as she bounced Nolan in her arms, “You know, just accept it and shut up, so we don’t have to listen to him,” Janice sighed. “We had to put up with Nathan for five days bitching till you finally told him thank you and hugged his neck.”

Grabbing Jasmine’s hand, “I don’t want to see a Nathan tantrum,” Amanda confessed. “I’ll deal with pissed-off Nathan. At least, that’s directed outside the group.”

Giving an approving nod, “Nathan was right. You are a very smart young lady,” Janice smiled.

“Honey,” Sherry asked carefully, “Not that I mind, but what did Anita say that set you off so…eloquently?”

Jasmine snickered at the way Sherry phrased the question, but all humor disappeared when Amanda looked at the women surrounding her and gave her answer.

“After Jasmine said, you know, that Chip said, ‘I love you’, I heard that whor…I mean, slut, whisper to her husband something about ‘it being about time the little retard did something’.”

A painful silence stretched out for several seconds as the group of women struggled to control their emotions. Finally, Jasmine regained the power of speech.

“Thank you, Amanda,” she said formally to the teen, then she turned her attention to the other mothers standing in a semi-circle.

“I know now is not the time, but at some point in the future, all of you realize that problem will need to be addressed, correct?”

No one needed to even mention the name to know she meant Anita.

With her face set in stone, Jasmine calmly stated, “When that time comes, I volunteer to pull the trigger.”

Somber nods greeted Jasmine as she and Amanda swept out of the room with their heads held high. Nothing more needed to be said on the subject, but one last observation needed to be expressed.

“I do love that girl,” Libby said, and the others laughed as all the air seemed to rush back into the room.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It was nine in the morning when Nathan yanked the reins back on his horse as a gunshot in the distance sounded out. “Been a while since I’ve heard that,” Nathan mumbled.

“Nathan,” John whispered, moving up beside him. “That was near Prichard.”

“No, that came from Prichard,” Nathan corrected.

Before John could speak, another gunshot rang out. “Want to break out the Mew?” John asked.

“John, we did that ten minutes ago. We’re still three miles away. Hard miles, because we have to drop off one ridge and cross a draw to climb another ridge,” Nathan said. “Let’s move up to where we have to drop down, then break out the MU.”

“I got our back,” John nodded as Nathan steered his horse along the ridge. They only made it another hundred yards when they heard a burst of automatic rifle fire. Not stopping, Nathan did slow his horse down, still moving along the ridge. Before he reached the ridge that was north of Prichard, where they had to drop down into a draw to cross over to the next ridge, Nathan stopped and climbed off.

Tom, John, and Tim all gave a sigh to see Nathan pulling the Mew off and turning it on. “Not good,” Nathan mumbled while looking at the screen, then turned to the ridge to the south that overlooked Prichard. Less than a kilometer on the other side of the ridge and across the river, Nathan saw lots of red and white dots at the three-kilometer mark to the south.

He was happy that he didn’t see any on the ridge to the east of Prichard where they were headed. Turning to John, Nathan waved him up. When John was beside him, Nathan handed him the main unit of the Mew that had the antenna sticking up with the three spaced out balls.

After John had the tablet, Nathan took the main housing and strapped it to the back of his saddle like he usually carried it. But this time, he didn’t turn the unit off, leaving it hooked up to the tablet. After the main unit was tied down, Nathan climbed up on his horse before taking the tablet from John.

“Tell Tim not to turn shit on,” Nathan said in a low voice, and John nodded as Nathan gave his horse a kick, guiding it down the draw. After telling Tim, John took up his spot at the back behind Tom.

Keeping his eyes on the ground, Nathan guided his horse around stumps and large rocks, giving the screen a glance every few seconds. When he started up the ridge that ran to the east of Prichard, another burst of automatic gunfire sounded off and everyone knew it was close.

Keeping the ridge between them and Prichard, Nathan followed it around and then slowly moved to the crest. On the screen, all the white and red dots were staying in the same spots on the other side of the Coeur D’Alene River. There were so many, the entire area of the screen was red with many white patches. Moving into a saddle on the ridge, Nathan could now hear voices from the houses. Prichard was only a subdivision in the middle of the wilderness.

Moving out of the saddle between two knolls, Nathan reached the top of the ridge and moved until he could see out through the trees. To the west, he saw the open valley with several fields and houses. Moving back into the trees, Nathan climbed off his horse and shoved the tablet for the MU in his saddlebag. Easing to the east, he found a spot he could see the collection of houses five hundred feet below him. He didn’t need his binoculars to see people splashing in the river and moving amongst the houses.

Easing back, Nathan rejoined the others, motioning for them to get down. “Smell it?” Tim asked, and Nathan nodded.

Sniffing the air, “What is it?” John asked. “Smells like someone needs to empty a cat’s litter box.”

“Meth lab,” Nathan replied. “And if we can smell it this far away, it’s a big-ass operation.”

“This is real bad,” Tim said, gripping his M4.

“This area will be camp, string up a rope we can tie the horses to. John, Tim, you take the west side overlooking the valley,” Nathan said, turning west. “There’s a group of eleven just off the road near that circular drive subdivision. Find out what they’re doing. We need to know weapons and vehicles, so get pictures. Tom and I will take the east side, watching Prichard. The Mew will stay with the group watching Prichard, since that’s where most are. There are so many there, we can’t even count them with the Mew. The group here will be focused on that. We swap every two hours, so we can stay alert and not get used to faces. At five, one in each group will sleep for a few hours, then trade off when we swap.”

“Let’s get this over with,” Tom mumbled as another shot rang out behind them from Prichard. “What are they shooting at?”

“With tweakers, you can never tell,” Tim replied. “What do we do if some come up here?”

Thinking for a second, “I just can’t see them climbing a near vertical hill, but hey, they’re tweakers,” Nathan shrugged. “Let them get close and kill them,” Nathan said, looking at each person. “We’ll decide to pull out after dealing with the body.”

Shifting his weight from one leg to the other, “Um, Nathan?” John said. “We ah, can’t use thermals or NVGs with the Mew on, and we have to leave the radio on for ten minutes at the top of every hour, in case the compound needs us.”

Nodding, “Yeah, I’m thinking on that,” Nathan admitted.

“How about we turn the Mew on after turning the radio off and leave it on for fifteen minutes. When the Mew is off, one from the Prichard side can move over to the valley side, giving the clear,” John offered, and Nathan raised his eyebrows. “Ten minutes before the top of the hour, one from the valley side can move over to the Prichard side and let them know the equipment is off.”

Looking at Tim and Tom, “You get that?” Nathan asked, and both nodded. “Then that’s how we operate.”

Nathan patted John’s shoulder and the group set up a hitch line to tie the horses to, then gathered equipment before moving off. With Tom beside him, Nathan crept up over the ridge to the spot he’d found to watch Prichard. Spreading out his woobie, Nathan turned to Apollo, then looked at the woobie. Walking over, Apollo laid down on the end of the woobie while Nathan and Tom laid on either side of him.

They pulled out optics and set up the Barrett fifty, since John had the BA110 .338 Lapua. John wasn’t comfortable with the fifty yet, so Nathan volunteered to haul the artillery piece. Grabbing a camo net, Nathan spread it over them before the two peered through binoculars and spotting scopes, making notes.

It was after the first change when Nathan and Tom were on the valley side of the ridge, and they got to see why the group was hiding off the road. Three motorcycles came rumbling down the road, heading for Prichard. “Got ‘em,” Tom said, looking through the spotting scope.

“Mew off?” Nathan queried, his mind running over the timetable.

“Yes, for another five minutes,” Tom confirmed.

“We may want to video this,” Nathan murmured, and Tom nodded before pulling out his own electronics.

With his binoculars, Nathan watched the group hiding near the road. ‘Hiding’ was Nathan’s term because the group was just sitting under a garage awning that sat under some trees. When they heard the motorcycles, the group moved to the road and Nathan watched them lift a heavy chain up, tying it off between two trees.

“That’s more forethought than I’ve ever seen from a tweaker,” Nathan mumbled, staring at the chain hanging across the road. There was no doubt, every person they had spotted so far was tweaked out.

Even with the Mew, they were having a hard time getting numbers in the subdivision because the tweakers would stay in very close groups, and there was a lot of electricity in the subdivision. John and Tom both got to see the talk Nathan had given them, demonstrated on the sandy banks of the river. One rather large group just swimming in one spot was staying near fifty, and Nathan recognized six he had seen, having arrested them before. One, Nathan was surprised to see, since he had been sentenced to ten years for assault just before Nathan had left for his nursing conference.

This side was easy, there was only this one group. Watching the eleven spread out across the road, Nathan saw this wasn’t going to be a surprise ambush and lifted his binoculars up. Locking on the bikes, Nathan confirmed what his ears told him, these were custom Hogs. All three riders were wearing leather vests with what looked like M4s strapped across their backs. Catching a glint from one of the rider’s arms, Nathan zoomed in and saw a two-inch-wide shiny metal band around the upper left arm. The band was above the bicep and below the deltoid.

“Not good,” Nathan mumbled to himself once again.

“What?” Tom asked, taking pictures with the integrated camera in the spotting scope.

“Iron Lords,” Nathan replied. “That’s one of the gangs Sheriff Hargrove told us about. I knew we should’ve shot the Kester brothers years ago. Get this on video, so we can study it later.”

When the bikes rounded the gradual curve that followed the river around the finger ridge Nathan was on, they saw the group across the road. Nathan heard the rattle of pipes decrease when the bikers slowed and none of the bikers seemed worried, which made Nathan’s anxiety increase.

The motorcycles had never been going faster than fifty, so had no trouble slowing down. Then it hit Nathan. “Tom, did you see the motorcycles start to slow before the curve?” Nathan asked.

“No, one is pissed, flipping the middle finger to the tweakers,” Tom answered. From eight hundred yards, all Nathan could see with the binoculars were the bodies. With the spotting scope, Tom could tell one of the bikers had shaved his face recently, but needed to trim his eyebrows.

The three bikes stopped across the road side by side, about twenty yards from the chain. Nathan could see the driver in the middle waving his arms about. “The one in the middle is yelling,” Tom reported.

“I don’t see the other two going for weapons,” Nathan said, making a note to get John’s marine binoculars.

“Oh, they aren’t. Both are laughing,” Tom reported. “One at the roadblock is yelling back.”

All of a sudden, six of the tweakers lifted their rifles and opened up. M4 automatic fire rolled across the valley and Nathan saw sparks from the bikes where the shells hit. Only the rider on the right was able to get off his bike before being cut down. In twenty seconds, it was over.

Nathan saw one at the roadblock turning around, throwing his hands up in the air. “One of the tweakers isn’t happy,” Tom reported. “He just pulled a pistol.”

Hoping the tweakers would thin their own ranks, Nathan watched with optimism before the apparent tweaker leader turned around, strolling over to the bikers. Leveling his pistol, he shot each one in the head, then seemed to look the bikes over with profound interest.

“Nathan, I’m not sure, but I think he’s mad because the others shot the bikes,” Tom offered.

Moving his binoculars back to the others, “Yeah, they want the rides,” Nathan said, watching one of the tweakers put something in his mouth and then saw the flick of a lighter. “We’ve seen them shoot up, ingest, and smoke meth. I bet if we took all the teeth from that ambush group, we couldn’t make a whole set of teeth.”

The lead tweaker called some over, and the bodies were pulled off while others lifted the motorcycles off the road. Impressed as he watched the tweakers strip the bodies nude, Nathan was surprised when all three motorcycles started up without any trouble. A brown pickup rounded the curve from Prichard loaded with more tweakers. “Mark the time,” Nathan said. “I count eleven in the back of the truck.”

Three ambushers drove off on the motorcycles, heading back to Prichard. The others tossed what was taken from the bodies into the pickup while the new group climbed out. Tweaker leader stood, watching the seven left from his group climb in the back of the truck and then joined them. “Tweakers surprised me again,” Nathan mumbled, watching the new group drop the chain off one of the trees, letting it lay on the road.

“Why don’t they just leave it up?” Tom asked.

“Tom, I can’t even think of a reason,” Nathan admitted.

Hearing gunfire behind them off in the distance, Nathan lowered his binoculars. “I bet that was the other roadblock at the T intersection just past Prichard,” Nathan guessed.

Unlike this roadblock, that group stayed somewhat hidden. The one on the other side of Prichard, the group was sitting around on the road. There were two trucks pulled across blocking the main road, and a chain blocking the smaller road that ran in from the north.

At the next change, Nathan and Tom met John and Tim in the camp. “They shot a man who came up with his family on Prichard Creek Road on bicycles,” Tim told them as soon as they knelt down. “They stripped the man’s body, but took the woman and two kids off into the houses.”

“Three bikers on our side,” Nathan reported, pulling out his drinking tube. “I think they were with the ‘Iron Lords’ Sheriff Hargrove told us about. Each one had a metal band on their left arm.”

Pleasantly surprised, Tim raised his eyebrows. “Gang infighting? That’s only good for us.”

Shaking his head, “Not necessarily,” Nathan said. “From what we all know of the Iron Lords, the Kester brothers are organized and deliberate. From what the sheriff said, they’re now fifty to sixty strong. If word gets back to the others, tweakers are taking them out, we’ll have a war right here.”

“And how is that not good for us?” Tim asked.

“One, we don’t know how or what direction the Iron Lords would hit them, and we have no idea where the tweakers or Iron Lords would run if the battle goes bad for them. We could find groups just hauling ass getting lucky, taking the right road into our valley.”

Giving a long sigh, “Yeah, I could see our luck turning bad, and that could happen,” Tim agreed.

“You agree with the house I think is the lab?” Nathan asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Tim gasped as he nodded. “I saw them pouring the waste into the river,” he paused, “from a fifty-five-gallon drum. I’m not lying when I say John and I think we saw fish float up.”

“Whoa,” Nathan mumbled in shock. “That would make a shitload of meth.”

“No, the kicker, the lab is still cooking. Nathan, they are making the shit by the pound down there, and it’s for them. They aren’t selling. In six months, all of them should be dead.”

Holding up his hand, “Tim, I’m sorry to say, but you’re wrong. It takes a lot more to kill cockroaches,” Nathan assured him. “Next, we can’t be sure they aren’t selling. We haven’t even been here a day.”

“Nathan,” Tim cried out in whisper. “Have you seen how much these assholes are using? I saw one girl smoking meth while she shot up! Everyone down there has a pipe they use nearly every hour.”

Nodding, “Yeah, seen that,” Nathan admitted.

“Nathan,” John said, clearing his throat. “I think we need to meet up like this every second time we swap, just to find out what the other team has spotted.”

“That’s a good idea,” Nathan nodded, giving John a wink.

As Tom followed Nathan off, “You just told me we were going to do that,” Tom said.

“Yeah, and John thought of the same idea,” Nathan grinned as they laid prone on the ridge.

Just after darkness fell, Nathan and Tom saw an SUV and five trucks pull in from the east. They didn’t travel to the roadblock at the T junction. Instead, the vehicles pulled off at a house just before the junction and drove through the yard, bypassing the roadblock and heading to Prichard. “Nathan, there are a lot of people in those trucks,” Tom whispered.

“I see,” Nathan said, looking through the thermal binoculars. Forty minutes later, four pickup trucks rounded the curve from the west. They pulled off the main road into the subdivision of Prichard.

“Nathan, they added too many at once for me to count with all the trees around the houses,” Tom said.

“Yeah,” Nathan nodded. “It’s time to swap.”

Meeting back at the camp, Nathan saw Tim shaking his head. “What?”

“They don’t put the chain up because they don’t stop their patrols,” Tim said. “They move the trucks because we heard vehicles but no gunshots.”

Shaking his head, “No, they pulled off the road at those houses with that bridge over the creek, going through the yard and bypassing the roadblock,” Nathan said, kneeling down.

It was easy to see under the cloudless sky, so he waited until the other three knelt down with him. “Guys, I want to go down there,” Nathan told them.

“Nathan, I can only imagine what is going on in Prichard because the darker it got, the wilder the group at the chain roadblock got,” Tim barked in a low voice. “Hell, we can’t even get an accurate count, there are so many down there and convoys keep coming in adding more.”

Holding up a hand, “Tim, several of those houses are just white and red blobs on the MU. We’ve all watched them and seen people coming and going, but have no idea how many are inside. You’re right. I’m just going to recon to get a better grasp on numbers,” Nathan explained.

“By yourself, huh?” Tim huffed.

Shaking his head, “No, I’m taking John and Apollo,” Nathan replied, and John felt his mouth go dry. “You and Tom will stay up here on the sniper rifles. We don’t need to keep an eye on the chain roadblock.”

“Nathan, we know they’re bigger than us,” Tim said.

“Yeah, last count was one hundred and fifty-seven just partying near the river where it looks like they’re gathering wood for a bonfire, and I really don’t feel that was close even for the party, but with these groups that just came in, the numbers increased a lot,” Nathan paused, looking at Tim hard. “Those patrols coming in, I’m sure they added over a hundred easily from each patrol.”

Turning away and just looking through the trees, “I swear, every tweaker in northern Idaho and western Montana is down there. How did they find each other?” Tim mumbled.

“Tim, you’ve helped bust up tweaker parties,” Nathan huffed. “Hell, that one we busted up last year at the park on Lake Coeur D’Alene had over a hundred. That’s why we had to call in the state police, there were more of them than us even after we called in all the reserve deputies.”

“Okay, you have a point,” Tim said. “I agree, we need a better assessment of just what is under all those trees around the houses.”

“If for some reason that group at the chain roadblock comes up here, because the Mew stays off, then take them out and pull back. I want both of you on thermal scopes. We’ll leave radios on and when you two move out, call, and we’ll meet up with you at Peak Creek at the triple falls,” Nathan instructed.

Shaking his head, “There’s no way in hell those guys could even make it up this slope,” Tim scoffed.

“I’m always amazed by what a tweaker does for no apparent reason, so don’t count it out,” Nathan said, and loud music sounded below them. “Don’t shoot unless we get compromised.”

“Understood,” Tim nodded.

Nathan turned to John. “Ready?” Nathan asked, tugging on John’s tactical vest over the ghillie suit and making sure it was tight. Not trusting his voice, John just nodded. “Mount your goggles on your helmet,” Nathan said, pulling out his quad tube goggles.

“John, take my path and don’t deviate. If I go around the left side of a tree, you take the left side too,” Nathan said, adjusting the contrast in his goggles until he liked the image he had.

Watching Nathan lead John down the slope, Tom and Tim moved off, gathering the stuff from the west side of the ridge. The duo then moved the gear to the east side and finally, both got down behind a sniper rifle. It was thirty minutes later when Tom saw the two wading across the river. “You see ‘em?”

“Yeah, I’m just hoping this is a good idea,” Tim replied, shifting the Barrett toward the houses.

“Nathan always has good ideas,” Tom objected.

“That he does, but sometimes, it’s how he executes those plans that bite him in the ass,” Tim stated, and Tom couldn’t think of a defense for Nathan. Because many times, Nathan had told them the exact same thing.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Just six feet behind Nathan, John copied his every movement as they eased down the slope. That was easier said than done. With his M4 in his right hand, John had his left hand out on the slope while he leaned back, stepping down the seventy-degree slope. Standing upright, John had both feet and his left hand on the ground, and he prayed he wouldn’t slip.

Many times on the trip to Idaho, Nathan had taught John and the others to move through the woods, but not one time had there been people around to sneak past. Glancing to his left, John saw a large rocky slope that was vertical, and was thankful Nathan hadn’t taken that route. Turning to look down the slope, John saw the road and several houses on the other side near the river, along the river road northeast of Prichard.

Losing sight of them, John turned back to Nathan creeping slowly down the slope. Then, he realized Nathan always kept a tree below him. When he reached the tree, Nathan would ease around it and then aim for the next one below. “In case he slips, he won’t go far,” John mumbled at the revelation.

It was then, John realized because he was following Nathan’s exact path like he’d been told, he too was keeping a tree and Nathan in front of him. He’s so awesome, John thought. Scanning just ahead of Nathan, John felt a little envious to see Apollo wasn’t having any trouble, literally slinking headfirst down the slope.

They were only fifteen yards from the road when they literally stepped off the slope onto flat ground, and could hear the river over a hundred yards away. Dropping to one knee, Nathan stared ahead just listening. The Mew had told them nobody was in these houses every time they’d checked it. Almost continuing on, Nathan stopped and eased closer to the road.

Darting across, he could hear John behind him, running on his toes like Nathan had taught him. Stopping near a tree, Nathan looked at the houses and two mobile homes along the river bank. Pushing up, Nathan headed for the closest house, since it was the only one that had the door closed. Peeking in the window, he saw stacks of boxes and tried the doorknob, finding it locked.

Looking back in the window at the stack of boxes, Nathan could see from the labels they were canned food. Moving along the front of the house and peering into windows, Nathan saw each room was packed with boxes of canned food. He saw labels for everything from creamed corn to tomato sauce. All the boxes he saw were the same that were normally shipped to stores, and Nathan just wondered where the tweakers had gotten them and why they were over here.

“Some of these tweakers have a few brain cells still functioning,” he mumbled, and headed across the yard to a mobile home. He didn’t even approach the door, able to see the inside had been ransacked. He stopped, and after seeing the next houses ahead looked ransacked, he just passed them by.

Following Nathan, John was thinking of how he could make the Mew more portable and put a small display in his goggles. Keeping his head on a swivel, John watched behind them and the path Nathan was taking. Gripping his rifle tight, John could feel his gloves were soaked with sweat, even though it was cool. Processing that, John realized his clothes were soaked and felt sweat dripping off his face when it ran from under his helmet.

Slowing his pace as he neared the bridge that crossed the river before the road reached Prichard, Nathan glanced down at Apollo and saw Apollo looking north under the bridge toward Prichard. Hearing the loud music, Nathan was somewhat thankful.

Picking his way down the bank, Nathan stepped into the water and eased across. With the sound of rushing water, he wasn’t worried about splashing, he just didn’t want anyone to see two shadows moving through the river.

When his right foot entered the water, John’s eyes grew big as he processed the chill. And these fuckers were swimming in this! his mind screamed as he followed Nathan’s path. When the cold water reached his thighs as they reached halfway, John said a prayer that it wouldn’t get any deeper. Seeing Nathan wasn’t reacting to the water, John gritted his teeth and ignored the chill.

Reaching the bank, Nathan scanned it quickly before picking a spot and walking up. Apollo climbed out soaking wet, and John was shocked when Apollo climbed out but didn’t shake off. Soaking wet, Apollo just stayed at Nathan’s side going up the bank. Cresting the bank, Nathan headed for a tree and took a knee, glancing over his shoulder and seeing John copying him.

“Shake,” Nathan breathed out, and John barely heard it. Apollo shook the water off for a second and then stopped, staring across the road. Studying Apollo as he gazed across the road, John could easily see Apollo killing everyone in his mind’s eye. There was no playful anything in Apollo’s rigid stature, and his eyes just gave the impression of looking for a target.

Seeing Nathan’s arms move, John shifted his gaze to see Nathan letting his rifle just hang under his right arm by the one-point sling. Pulling his XDM pistol from his thigh holster, Nathan pulled out a suppressor with his left hand and screwed it onto the pistol. Leaning back, Nathan turned his head slightly toward John, but kept his eyes across the road.

“You stay on your rifle and keep the same distance, but just to my left. If one gets close, I’ll deal with them. If one walks out behind us and you think they’ll spot us, you shoot them,” Nathan breathed out and John nodded. “Tweakers are very hard to put down. You shoot three times just like you’ve trained, two in the chest and one in the head.”

Sucking his cheeks inward attempting to wet his mouth, John finally spoke. “I will.”

Getting up, Nathan eased across the road in a low crouch with John following behind just to his left. John breathed a sigh of relief when they cleared the road and entered the trees again. When John took a deep breath, he felt his lungs hurting and wondered where the cat litter box was because he smelled the ammonia from cat urine, so strong it burned his nose.

Turning around quickly, “Don’t breathe deep, the lab is just ahead,” Nathan told him in a low voice.

Giving a nod, John kept his breathing shallow and was shocked when Nathan didn’t continue straight ahead, but paralleled the road. They soon came to a small road that turned off the main road and led into the subdivision. Glancing down the road toward the subdivision and not seeing anything, Nathan led them across.

Not liking roads anymore while he darted across, John followed Nathan through the trees at a slow pace and could see light through the trees to his left. When Nathan went to one knee facing the light through the trees, John did the same. Realizing his lungs didn’t hurt when he breathed, and the smell of cat urine wasn’t as strong, John really wanted to ask some questions. Racking his brain, John couldn’t figure out why anyone would let a litter box stink like that. He just couldn’t process someone cooking something to ingest when it had that as a smell.

Looking up in the treetops, John could see them swaying slightly and realized the wind was blowing down the river. When Nathan spoke, John gave a startle because Nathan had to put some volume in his voice to be heard over the music. “We were downwind of the lab, that’s the light you see ahead. We’re moving up to the tree line where you’ll stay and cover me. I want to see the lab because we might use it like a bomb.”

Getting up, John nodded as Nathan moved ahead with Apollo at his side. Keeping his eyes scanning, John knew that was one big party on the large sand bar half a mile away, and the music was even loud here. When he reached the tree line, John knelt next to a tree holding his barrel low while Nathan ran across the road.

Moving across the road, Nathan flipped up his NVGs before they shut off. Light spilled from the house and Nathan could hear big fans inside. Stopping next to a tree, Nathan saw an industrial six-foot circular fan in a hole cut into the garage door. Looking at the front of the house, he saw lights behind every window and fans in many open windows blowing the fumes out of the house.

“Yeah, they don’t have to worry about someone calling the cops for the smell,” Nathan mumbled, glancing around. He could see people on the road deeper into the subdivision, but none close. Pushing off the tree with his left hand, Nathan held the pistol level with his right hand as he moved toward the garage.

Reaching the door he lifted his head, looking through the window and his eyes nearly fell from his skull. His biggest bust had been twelve ounces of meth. Bill had the record for the posse at twenty-one ounces. Laid out under heating lamps throughout the three-car garage, Nathan was looking at hundreds of pounds of meth. “Fuck me,” he breathed out, dropping down.

Keeping his left shoulder close to the house, Nathan motioned for Apollo to follow and Apollo dropped behind him. Reaching the corner, Nathan peeked around it. The front door was open with a fan blowing air in, and through the bay window, Nathan could see figures inside with respirators on moving around the kitchen and living room. Glass beakers and tubes were everywhere, letting Nathan know he didn’t need to stay around anymore. Darting past the front porch, Nathan stopped at the wall and saw a fan in a window ahead, blowing air out.

Holding his breath, Nathan eased up and could instantly tell the room at one time had been a little boy’s bedroom, but now was lined with metal shelves. The shelves were packed with gallon bags filled with meth. Turning away and glancing around, Nathan darted away from the toxic spewing house, hoping he could still father children someday and not grow an arm out of his forehead.

Reaching the trees across the road, Nathan let out his breath and tentatively took a sniff and could barely smell the lab. Gulping down a breath, Nathan moved back to John. “We’re getting the hell away from that house,” Nathan informed him, flipping his goggles back down.

Not even waiting for John’s nod, Nathan turned to head deeper into the subdivision. A looped drive ran through the subdivision, and John noted very few houses on the outside leg of the elliptical closest to the main road where Nathan led them. They passed a small clearing a hundred yards past the lab they had seen from the ridge. The open space housed rows of solar panels, and Nathan slowed while trying to listen for the rumble of generators, but it was impossible with the music.

Continuing on, Nathan motioned ahead at a group walking, or more appropriately, dancing down the road. They were heading away from them toward the music. Nathan slowed to let them get ahead and John counted nine in the group. John could tell at least three were girls from the way they were dancing.

Now three hundred yards down the road and away from the lab, Nathan knelt next to a tree before staring at a house across the road. John knew this was one of the houses that’d shown up white on the MU from human electrical fields, and only a little red from electronic fields.

On the MU, the lab had looked like it was bleeding it was so red, and they’d never seen white.

“Cover,” Nathan said in a normal voice because of the music.

Seeing John pivot and hold his rifle low, Nathan eased across the road. Coming up on the house, the first thing he noticed were most of the windows had boards over them. Not plywood, but boards like slats from under a bed. Slowing as he neared the house, Nathan smelled human waste, and it got stronger the closer he got to the house.

Before reaching the house, he heard a kid crying inside and dropped lower, crouch walking to the wall. Reaching the wall, Nathan rose up above the window ledge and saw a room without any furniture packed with women and kids. Dropping back down, Nathan didn’t want to see more and turned to head back across the road. Feeling Apollo pass him and glancing down, Nathan looked down the road to see a man walking down the middle of the road toward him.

The man was a good fifty yards away and bringing his hands to his mouth when Nathan aimed his pistol and slowed his pace. A sonic crack was barely heard over the music, and Nathan watched the back of the man’s head blow out. As the body dropped to the ground, Nathan heard two more sonic cracks and watched the bullets impact on the man’s chest.

“Well, he’s doing what I taught him,” Nathan nodded, leaning forward and speeding up. Not seeing anyone else, he darted out to the body and saw a meth pipe in one hand and a lighter in the other. “The boy capped you before you could suck the glass dick,” Nathan chuckled, grabbing the glass pipe and lighter.

Grabbing one arm, Nathan pulled the body off the road and into the trees, then turned motioning John to him. Facing into the subdivision, Nathan scanned around waiting on John. When John knelt beside him, Nathan put his pistol down and took the M4 off the man’s shoulder. It had an ACOG sight and Nathan saw ‘Property of US Government’ stamped on one side.

Dropping the rifle on the ground, Nathan frisked the body and pulled out a plastic bag. “Shit, that’s four ounces,” he mumbled, setting it by his pistol. He found two magazines for the M4 and a revolver shoved in the small of the man’s back.

Grabbing the drugs and pipe, Nathan shoved them in his left thigh pocket. “You’re taking the drugs?” John asked in shock.

“I’m not going to use them,” Nathan chuckled. “We aren’t hiding the body and if I left the drugs, they would know someone outside the group killed him. Trust me, a meth head will kill his own momma for some crystal. Now when they find him, they’ll think one of their own did it.”

“Fuck, you’re so cool,” John mumbled.

“Where the hell did he come from?”

“The next house that’s whited out on the MU,” John motioned down the street toward two houses further into the subdivision.

“Good shooting, Big John,” Nathan said, turning to the house.

“I was scared he would see you before you got close enough to use your pistol,” John said quickly. “Nathan, I saw a group of thirty-seven leave that house heading for the music. That man just turned, leaving the group and heading this way.”

Reaching over and patting John’s leg, but not turning to face him, “You did good, now let’s move,” Nathan told him. Staying inside the tree line, they continued on and Nathan saw boards over the windows like the last house. He was about to tell John he wasn’t going to check it out when the front door opened.

Coming to a stop, Nathan dropped down to one knee when a man came out, dragging a teenaged girl by the arm. As the man shut and locked the door, he turned to John. “We aren’t doing shit, understood?”

Gritting his teeth, John gave a nod as the man pulled the girl across the yard. The girl wasn’t fighting, but she wasn’t going willingly. The man suddenly turned, punching the girl in the chest. She let out a cry they heard over the music and before she could fall, the man held her up rearing his fist back again. Holding her chest, the girl stood up and stopped struggling as the man led her down the road.

“This sucks donkey dicks,” John mumbled.

Turning to John, “John, we got a freebie with the one you capped. As many tweakers as there are around us, if we try to be heroes, you and I will die, and I assure you, it won’t be pretty,” Nathan explained. Seeing John give a nod, he turned and saw the man and girl farther down the road, passing another house a hundred yards away that was lit-up. This house was huge. They had seen people coming and going constantly all day. Like the lab, this house was red on the MU, so they knew there were lots of electronics inside.

Continuing on and getting closer to the lit-up house, Nathan saw movement near a tree at the end of the driveway. “What the fuck?” he mumbled, slowing to a stop. Not sure what he was looking at, Nathan kept moving through the trees when the shadow near the tree let out a piercing scream. When they were thirty yards away, Nathan stopped, shaking his head.

“That’s a naked man chained to a tree like a dog,” John said beside him. “What’s he doing to his arms?”

“Look at the sign on the tree,” Nathan said, jerking his chin.

Wondering how he’d missed the sign, John read: ‘Don’t steal from Big D or you die going dry.’

“They’re going to let him die without water?” John asked.

Shaking his head, “No, that’s a meth head. He’s clawing the skin off his body because he can’t get any more drugs. I’ve seen some cold shit in my day, but this ranks right up there at the top,” Nathan replied.

“But he’ll be off the drug,” John pointed out.

“No, meth is very addictive, and he’ll be dead by tomorrow night, just from those wounds he’s clawed into his arms and legs. Now I know why they didn’t have guards on the lab,” Nathan explained. “That’s about the only way to make meth heads listen.”

Feeling sorry for the meth head, John followed Nathan until they could see the front of the lit-up house. A group was sitting in chairs on the porch, but the yard was packed full of people. There were so many packed so tightly and moving about, it was impossible to count them. “Motherfucker,” Nathan hissed, going to one knee and putting his pistol on the ground before lifting his rifle up.

John started panting, thinking Nathan was about to open up, then saw Nathan flip his goggles up and use the scope on his M4. “Doyle Bailey, you slimy cocksucker,” Nathan growled, and John had no trouble hearing it over the music.

Lowering his rifle for a second, Nathan turned and saw another lab set up in the garage with the door rolled up. Bringing his rifle up, he saw a man working at the makeshift lab, but wasn’t wearing a respirator. “Oh, you bitch. You’d better be glad you have so many here because I would pull the trigger on your ass in a heartbeat.”

“Don’t like it when Nathan knows the bad guys on a first name basis,” John mumbled as Nathan let his rifle hang and picked up his pistol.

“John, did you ever see that man, the one with the girl between his legs, today?” Nathan asked.

Having purposely avoiding looking at the house for just that reason, John took a deep breath before flipping his goggles up and sighted on the man’s face. He looked around forty, clean shaven with deep black hair that was brushed back neatly. “No, I never saw him,” John said, lowering his rifle and flipping his goggles down.

“I’m tempted to come back for his ass,” Nathan snarled, lowering his own goggles back down.

When Nathan turned and headed off, John gave a small sigh of relief. From watching Prichard all day, John knew there was one more house that’d been white on the MU, but unlike the other two, this one was visited much more. A part of John just wanted to tell Nathan they should just go, after watching the man drag the girl out of the last house.

They could now see clusters of people across the road, moving through the trees and yards of the houses. Scattered about were burning barrels with groups standing around them, and John had given up on keeping count. Hoping Nathan wasn’t going to cross the road to check the house ahead, John walked sideways, so he could bring his rifle up on targets faster.

Stopping across from the house, John looked behind them and could see the main road through the trees. The music was pretty loud now, and he could see the flicker of a bonfire over the trees. Knowing how many were partying around the bonfire made John nervous. It had looked like an outdoor rock concert before they’d come down the ridge.

Studying the house across from them, Nathan would glance around, memorizing where people were at. “Apollo, stay,” Nathan commanded, then said, “Cover me.”

John felt his pulse skyrocket when Nathan darted away, clearing the tree line and crossing the road. When Nathan stopped next to a tree, “He knows what he’s doing,” John kept repeating as he pulled his rifle tight against his shoulder. When his NVGs flared from a light in the house, John gave a startle and then scanned the groups around the house.

Moving from tree to tree slowly, Nathan saw boards over the windows like the last houses. He was about to leave when he heard a man yell inside. Since he’d heard the yell over the music, Nathan’s interest was piqued.

Like a shadow, Nathan moved below a window and flipped up his goggles before peeking inside. Two men were holding a struggling man down while another shoved a syringe in the struggling man’s arm. Nathan’s eyes grew wide when he turned to scan the room, and saw young men and women around the room. Many were curled up in the fetal position and others were laughing. “Oh, we are so fucked,” Nathan mumbled, dropping down.

Flipping his goggles down, Nathan eased back to the road and had to sit in the shadows when another large group walked down the road. Nathan was so proud of John for not engaging them, but he could see John aiming. When the group was just ten yards further down the road, Nathan darted across behind them.

In his mind, John knew if he had to pee he would’ve wet his pants, watching Nathan slip across the road just a few yards behind the group. When Nathan stopped beside him, John lowered his rifle. “They’re getting some of the people they’ve taken captive hooked on meth,” Nathan told him. Each stared at the other with the four tubes of the NVGs. “John, they’re growing an army,” Nathan clarified. “One that’s hooked on a drug they’re making.”

A shiver ran down John’s spine, “That’s so fucking cheating,” he mumbled.

“Did you hear any talking from that group who just passed?” Nathan asked.

“Nathan, I can barely hear you over the music. I had to take my hunters ear out because it shut off,” John reported.

Shaking his head, “Give it here,” Nathan told him. Taking the hunters ear, Nathan pulled out his knife. “Keep it in or your ears will be ringing, and you’ll need your hearing on the way home.”

Reaching up, John pushed the earbud for the radio deeper in his right ear. When Nathan handed the hunters ear back, John put it in and could still hear the music, but it was much lower. Then, he realized he could hear voices and turned. The closest tweakers he could see were on the far side of the house and around a burning barrel. “You are so showing me how you did that.”

“Altered the frequency it picks up,” Nathan told him, staring past the house where they were getting people hooked on meth. “That group was talking about ‘a rite of passage’ when they passed. Let’s go.”

Following Nathan until they’d almost reached the main road, John followed him across the subdivision road toward the river. They had to change course several times because of people in the woods. Some doing drugs, and others rolling around on the ground in lust, but John knew these were tweakers because they had been doing it all day.

Able to see the bonfire now through the trees, John almost ran into Nathan, he stopped so fast. Swearing he’d heard a baby scream, John turned to keep watch behind them and heard a gag come from Nathan. Turning to check on Nathan, John saw him spin around fast. Nathan grabbed John’s face and turned it away from the bonfire. “Don’t you fucking turn toward the fire, John. I mean it,” Nathan panted in his ear as the crowd at the party let out a loud cheer. Since the cheer drowned out the blaring music, John knew there were a lot of people at the party now.

“You lead us out and I swear, I’ll beat you if you turn to look,” Nathan warned with a heavy voice, like he was trying not to cry and puke at the same time. Knowing it’d scared Nathan, John wanted to assure Nathan, he wouldn’t look even if someone shot at them from the bonfire.

Taking the same path out they had taken in, John soon had them back across the road. Nathan moved past him. “John, stay behind me and not to the side,” Nathan said, knowing that went against all patrol rules. But he didn’t want John to see anything he didn’t see first.

Moving past the house where the leader was still sitting on the porch with others, John thought Nathan was going to shoot him by the way Nathan glared. When they passed the house, Nathan moved deeper into the woods and John could barely make out the houses through the trees.

“Cover me,” Nathan said in a strangled voice, flipping up his goggles. Bending over at the waist, Nathan violently puked and John spun away, aiming his rifle. Hearing another retch erupt from Nathan, John wanted to leave this malevolent place as he gripped his rifle tight, aiming toward the subdivision. Anything that could upset Nathan like this, John was sure it would drive him insane.

Apollo came over and licked Nathan’s cheek while he waited for more to come up. “The ninth circle of hell has descended on Earth,” Nathan mumbled and spit. Standing up, he flipped his goggles down.

“Follow,” Nathan said, and moved back closer to the subdivision. John thought they were leaving until Nathan led him across the outer subdivision road between the houses. They crossed the road that ran in front of the houses along the river.

Moving across the road, John covered Nathan as they moved from house to house and Nathan peeked inside. At one house, a man stepped outside smoking a glass pipe and Nathan lifted his pistol, squeezing the trigger.

John only heard the rack of the slide when the forty-five bullet hit the man in the face, blowing out the back of his head. Moving to the porch, Nathan frisked the man and pulled a plastic bag from his jacket and took the glass pipe.

“Nathan, this house is full of boxes of medicine and jugs of cleaner,” John said when Nathan stepped off the porch, leaving the body.

“So were the last three houses. That’s what they cook down to make meth,” Nathan answered in a flat voice.

John wanted to point out that Nathan didn’t have to shoot the man who’d walked out on the front porch because they were moving toward the back of the house, but thought better of it. Seeing they were headed toward the bridge they’d crossed beside, John felt a wave of relief wash over him. He could feel the waves of anger emanating from Nathan.

“What was in the other houses?” John asked, hoping to get Nathan’s mind off what he’d seen that’d messed his mind up.

“Food,” Nathan growled through clenched teeth, and John was instantly sorry he’d asked.

When Nathan just strolled out into the river, John moved up and grabbed his shoulder. “Nathan, I don’t want to know what you saw, but you have to remember to keep your mind here, just like you taught me,” John told him.

Jerking his head around like he was in shock, Nathan crouched down. “Good boy,” Nathan said, and moved stealthily across the river. When Nathan led them to the spot they’d first come down, he unfastened the one-point sling and clipped the other end to the front of his rifle. Pushing the rifle to his back, Nathan led John up the slope on hands, toes, and knees.

Halfway up, Nathan heard engines coming from the valley and turned around, sitting on the slope while he pulled his rifle around to his front. Sitting below Nathan and panting hard, John pulled his rifle around and decided for the umpteenth time, he definitely liked going downhill more than climbing uphill. Aiming his rifle downhill, John thought it was darker and looked up to see clouds rolling in from the west, rather ominously blocking out the stars.

Below them, arrayed along the road, they saw a convoy with six quad cab pickups pulling trailers packed with people in the back hooting and hollering, along with four box trucks drive past. “Let’s go,” Nathan said, and John pushed his rifle to his back and spun around to start climbing before Nathan left him. Looking up, he saw Nathan was waiting on him. When John nodded at Nathan, he continued up the slope.

John did feel better seeing even Apollo was struggling going uphill.

When they reached the ridge and could stand up, John felt exhausted pulling his rifle around changing his sling from a two point back to a single point like Nathan was doing. Easing to a stop, Nathan gave a trilling whistle that sounded like a bird John had heard before, but couldn’t place.

A soft whistle sounded ahead of them and Nathan continued on. Stepping to the side of Nathan as they walked, John felt his pulse quicken only seeing Tim on the Barrett. “Where’s Tom?” Nathan asked, stopping beside Tim.

John heard Tim sniffle and smelled the unmistakable smell of vomit. “I sent him back to the horses after…” Tim stopped, giving a small gag.

“Did he see?” Nathan asked in a panic.

“He saw them tie the baby to the spit. When the group moved to the fire, I told him to run to the horses,” Tim answered in a breaking voice. “I checked on him ten minutes ago and he was doing okay.”

Turning to John, Nathan saw tears rolling from under the NVGs in rivers. “Go to Tom and pack up, we are going home. Right fucking now,” Nathan told him. Feeling numb as he gave a nod, John turned slowly walking away.

“I’m sorry I let Tom see that much,” Tim whimpered.

Bending down and packing up the MU, “How in the hell could we have known?” Nathan replied.

Letting out a gasp, “Oh God, did John…” Tim couldn’t finish.

Shaking his head, “No, but it was just dumb luck,” Nathan said, hearing more engines, but they were coming from the east. He looked over Prichard and saw a line of lights pull off the road before the roadblock. Counting thirteen vehicles but not knowing what kind, Nathan just started packing.

“How bad are we fucked?” Tim asked.

“We are so fucked, we aren’t even on the scale anymore,” Nathan replied. “And I’m not talking about numbers.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Under a steady rain, it was noon when they reached the valley. Two hours after they started back the clouds opened up, but nobody cared. Nathan rode with the Mew on and the tablet in his hands. The only time they stopped was to use the bathroom, or for Nathan or Tim to get off and dry heave, but most of the time, they just leaned off their horse. Neither had anything to bring up, so it was just a reflex in case something did.

Reaching the dining hall, Nathan saw the ATVs parked around it and could tell most were there eating lunch. Pulling his horse to a stop, Nathan turned to confirm the Mew was off and shoved the tablet back into his saddle bag.

Passing the reins to John, Nathan looked in his face. “Unsaddle the horses, clean your gear, and then shower. After that, I want you and Tom to get on the Xbox. When I get home and take care of my stuff, you two better be able to beat me hands down on Call of Duty,” Nathan told him.

John glanced over at Tom, who just gave a numb nod. “Okay, Nathan,” John said, kicking his horse.

Watching the boys ride away, “You suck ass on Call of Duty,” Tim said.

“They don’t know that,” Nathan replied, and spun around.

Throwing the door open, it banged hard against the wall. Nathan turned to their table and saw everyone smiling. “Amanda, get Emma. Casey, get Chip, and Natalie, you get Nolan. All of you go home. Right now!” Nathan barked.

Seeing a strange look in Nathan’s eyes, they jumped into action, grabbing the little ones and moving toward the door fast. “All kids out!” Nathan shouted as everyone stared at him in shock. Not seeing anyone move, “Move your fucking ass before I put my foot so far up it, you’ll taste the dirt under my toenails!” Nathan bellowed, and kids bolted for the door whether their parents wanted them to or not.

Turning back to his table, Nathan saw Randal and Tyler were still there. “What part didn’t you understand?” Nathan growled.

“We’re old enough,” Tyler snapped, as Tim gave a gag and ran for a garbage can. Shoving his head in the can, Tim gave several loud dry heaves.

“Get your fucking ass out of here before I yank it off and shove it up your ass!” Nathan shouted. “You’ll be able to tell everyone you really got to fuck yourself!”

Tyler and Randal took off for the door. “If your parents tell you, that’s on them!” Nathan bellowed at them as they ran out the door.

Standing up, “Nathan,” Bill started, but Nathan held up his hand stopping him. Bill didn’t stop just because of the hand, but saw Nathan’s tongue thrusting out like he was silently gagging. Opening his mouth wide, Nathan turned away, bending over and putting his hands on his knees, fighting the nausea.

“Here,” Tim said, handing him a wastebasket. Nathan set the basket on the floor, but kept his face over it. “It’s the smell of food,” Tim managed to whisper over the nausea, and Nathan nodded before turning his attention to the milling crowd.

“We are fucked!” Nathan informed the stunned group. Not liking how the two were acting, Bill slowly sat back down. “There’s a group in Prichard, and Tim and I tried to work on numbers on the way back, but couldn’t…” Nathan stopped when he gave a small heave.

Walking over with a bottle of water, Tim handed it to Nathan while he got a mouthful from another bottle, swishing it around his mouth. Leaning over, he spat into the wastebasket. After Nathan rinsed his mouth out, he stood up and turned to his table. “We know the leader. It’s Doyle Bailey,” Nathan panted.

“Big D?!” Bill shouted, jumping up, and Nathan waved Bill to sit back down.

Blinking slowly, Nathan slowly nodded, like his head hurt from the motion.

“And he is Satan,” Nathan pronounced darkly. “Bill, they’re making meth in hundred-pound batches. I saw one room lined with metal shelves that had gallon bags packed with the shit,” Nathan paused, pulling the two bags from his thigh pocket.

Aiden looked at the bluish tint on the crystal powder and let out a low whistle. “That’s primo shit,” he mumbled.

“Bill, there was over a thousand pounds in that one room,” Nathan said as Tim threw his head back, gargling more water to clear his mouth. “They’re big and getting bigger. Way over five hundred, easy,” Nathan panted, looking at the water bottle in his hand with longing.

Leaning over the table, “Getting bigger?” Bill asked slowly.

Getting worried, Jasmine tried to get up, but Sherry held her arm as Nathan nodded. “Yeah, some of the ones they capture, they hold down and inject them with meth, getting them hooked.”

“Holy mother,” Bill mumbled, flopping back in his chair.

Shaking his head, “Haven’t got to the bad yet,” Nathan gagged out, and Tim threw his head down as he heaved, the water he just drank hitting the wastebasket. “They have military weapons, ammo, and stockpiles of food. They’re dug in, but are so big, they don’t feel threatened,” Nathan said, finally just setting his bottle down on the table.

“You tell ‘em. I’m going home,” Tim said, moving for the door.

“You did good, Tim,” Nathan said, then turned to their table and saw Jasmine had watery eyes focused on her man. “Jasmine, Tom’s seen something no human should ever see. Thankfully, he didn’t get to see all of it, but he saw enough.”

Nathan paused, suppressing another bout of sickness, before he continued. “I’m begging you, will you go and see if he’ll talk to you? But you tell him, he is never to mention it to any of the other kids. Not ever. He can talk to you or me.”

Feeling her blood turn cold, Jasmine stood up nodding. “I’ll talk to him,” she said, and took off running for the door.

Taking his rifle off, Nathan tossed it on a nearby table while everyone in the hall sat in horrid shock, just waiting. Apollo came over and sat beside Nathan, then Ares came over whining. When Ares sat down next to Nathan’s legs, he leaned over to rest his head against Nathan. “I saw some of the ‘Iron Lords’ the sheriff told us about. The meth heads stopped them at a roadblock and killed them,” Nathan said, stalling the worst.

“That’s good,” Rusty said. “We can let the gangs fight it out.”

“No!” Nathan cried out in alarm, turning to Rusty. “They might get pushed north into us!”

“Okay,” Rusty nodded. “So, do we hit the meth heads?”

“We can’t, they’d look for us. Rusty, there’re so many,” Nathan finished in a low voice. “We…” Nathan stopped when his tongue rolled up and he bent over, gagging hard. Staring at Nathan, Bill felt his skin go cold and clammy, knowing Nathan was fighting to tell them something.

When the dry heaves stopped, Nathan spat again into the wastebasket. “We need a group to leave today. They need to get to the sharp curve where Lost Creek meets the river. The road’s already partially blocked by a rock slide, but we need to make the road completely impassable, and I mean, a group needs to be leaving in the next few hours.”

Jumping up, Lanny held up his hands. “Hold on, Nathan. We vote on major actions like that.”

Moving in a blur, Nathan grabbed the butt of his pistol, but didn’t pull it out as he stared hard at Lanny’s face. “Fight it, and I swear to God, I’ll kill you where you stand,” Nathan said while tears welled up in his eyes. Bill saw Nathan’s fingers tighten on the grip, and he slowly stood up to move toward Nathan.

Lanny’s eyes grew wide, knowing he would be staring down the barrel of the pistol if he flinched, then shifted his eyes to Nathan’s face and saw tears were pouring from his eyes. The dam of self-control finally burst and the words poured out.

“I saw…” Nathan paused, blinking through the tears. “I saw them tie a crying baby to a roasting spit,” Nathan said with his voice breaking, and Bill dropped in his chair hard. “There was a large group of them around a bonfire and…,” Nathan swallowed, starting to release the pistol grip. “When they held the spit in the fire, they all cheered.”

Sucking in a breath as he wept, Nathan’s arm fell from his pistol. “Then they passed it around, everyone taking a bite!” he wailed out, throwing his head back. “That’s their ‘Rite of Passage’!”

Rusty felt his vision wavering and his head wobbled on his shoulders as his brain processed the proclamation. “God help us,” Rusty panted as Lanny’s legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor.

“And one of my boys saw some of that,” Nathan wept and then bent over, heaving hard. Even though nothing was coming up, Nathan stumbled over to the wastebasket. “I shouldn’t have taken them,” Nathan panted as strings of saliva dripped from his mouth.

Pushing off the floor, Lanny made the sign of the cross over his chest as he got to his feet. He turned to his wife, “Regina, go get our guns and put them in the buggy. I’ll get some rope, shovels, and pickaxes,” Lanny told her. Standing up slowly, Regina gave a numb nod before she turned and left out the back door.

Moving over to Nathan, Lanny put his hand on Nathan’s back. “You had no way of knowing, Nathan. But now, your boy knows evil is close. You go sit with him. When I get back, I’ll come over and pray with both of your boys, and you,” Lanny said, then turned to the room. Any action this large should’ve been voted on, but Lanny wasn’t doubting what Nathan had seen. In truth, he was thankful it was Nathan who had gone. Anyone else would’ve tried to help, and that would’ve been the end of the compound.

The shock on everyone’s face was absolute. Even Anita was sitting with her mouth gaping open. “I’m leaving in half an hour, with or without you,” Lanny told them, and gave Nathan another pat, squeezing his shoulder before heading for the door.

“Lanny, have lookouts. If they spot someone coming from Prichard, just hide. They can’t know anyone’s to the north,” Nathan said, straightening up. “We can’t let them reach the valley, there’s too many. They aren’t locusts, they’re evil incarnate.”

Nodding, “I understand. You go be with your boys,” Lanny told him, pausing at the door and then walking out into the rain.

Rusty stood up, trying to recover his equilibrium.

“I need seven two-man teams to help block off the road!” he called out, and looked down at Libby. “Tell Tyler and Randal to get their guns and head to Nathan’s. We’re taking his side by sides, and bring yours. But you don’t tell them why. You and I will talk about what to tell the kids later.”

Nodding as she stood up, “Okay,” Libby panted, her own eyes misty with tears.

“Those not going, I want armed and in defensive positions until we’re back, just in case we’re spotted!” Rusty called out.

“We need to block the upper logging road,” Bill said, standing up. “We can use the winches on the ATVs to pull down some trees, so any coming along will think the wind did it. That beetle kill area would be a good place.”

“Take who you need,” Rusty nodded.

Anita stood up trembling. “We don’t know how to drive it, but someone can take our side by side. It has one of those winches,” she offered. “Where should we get into defensive positions?”

Rather shocked, Rusty turned to Anita. “Um, if you and Floyd could get in the bunker and help those on guard, That’d be a great help, since that’s the only road to us.”

“The keys are under the seat,” Anita said, grabbing Floyd’s arm and pulling him to the door. “I’m sorry they saw that, Nathan,” Anita said, walking past him.

Not knowing who’d spoken, Nathan just nodded his thanks. “We have to hit them in sniper teams from the south, and make it look like the others,” Nathan blurted out. “They can’t come north.”

Walking around the table, Bill grabbed Nathan’s rifle. “You get home and make sure your boys are okay,” Bill told him in a stern voice. “Sherry,” Bill said, seeing Sherry staring off into space.

Blinking tears from her eyes, Sherry turned to Bill. “We have this. Make sure Tim is okay. If you need me when I get back, let me know,” Bill told her. “Take Nathan with you,” Bill added softly.

Getting up, Sherry walked over to grab Nathan’s arm. “Hold on,” Nathan said, spitting into the basket. Bending down, Sherry picked up the basket to hold it in front of Nathan as she guided him to the door. “Apollo, Ares, come,” Sherry said over her shoulder, and the dogs leapt up following them out.

“We should’ve been patrolling,” Rusty said when Nathan was gone. “We’ll keep two sniper teams out like Nathan wants, but another team will be sent out every day, checking every building around us for twenty miles.”

Nodding, Bill replied with a sigh. “Good idea, but keep Nathan and Tim here for a few days. They need to refocus.” Then, after a beat, he continued, “We need someone to tell Ephraim, and warn him.”

“I’ll do it,” Rusty said. “We need to get those families from Nathan’s house here now. After we start sniping, it’ll be real hard moving a group that big, forty miles on horses.”

“We do that first, like tomorrow or the day after. Nathan wants to get the ammo and weapons from Jeremey’s.”

“They’re in safes or in locked storage containers,” Rusty said as people headed out of the dining hall.

“Nathan has the combinations and keys. I think it’ll keep his mind and those boys’ minds occupied with menial tasks.”

“They can do it tomorrow. I’ll send my boys over to help,” Rusty nodded. “Fucking Doyle Bailey. I knew he was a snake, but man, that’s just…” Rusty stopped at a loss for words. “We should’ve planted evidence on his ass.”

“Don’t have to worry about that anymore. We see him, we kill him,” Bill said as Aiden came over.

“Not even the Kesters would go so low as cannibalism,” Aiden huffed. “I have to say, I’m proud of Nathan. He didn’t hand out any toe tags, and Nathan really hated Doyle before this.”

“Nathan would’ve been the first cop to have an arrest stick. Pulling over Doyle for a broken taillight and then finding that half gram of crystal in plain view, all backed up by dash cam? I’ve seen people put away for decades with less evidence on them, but the judge threw it out,” Bill related in disbelief.

“Good old 49-902,” Aiden said with a frown. It was the Idaho Code section allowing for stops related to defective motor vehicle equipment.

“What do you expect from the 9th Circuit?” Rusty pronounced with a sigh. The recent case out of California dealt with another defective taillight stop. The ruling, with stringent new guidelines for such stops, resulted in the suppression of the evidence garnered in Bailey’s arrest. It was all old news, but the long-time peace officers still rankled at the new rules, which they interpreted as another effort to tie their hands.

Shaking his head, “You know it’s bullshit when your DA asks the judge, ‘What the hell is that?’,” Aiden said. “Let’s get to it, guys.”

***

Walking into the living room drying his hair, Nathan saw the girls playing with the little ones. “Jasmine with Tom?” he asked.

“Yes,” Amanda answered, looking up. “And I don’t want to know, like, ever,” she added.

Shaking his head and letting the towel drape over his shoulders, “You’re right, you don’t,” Nathan said with a reassuring tone.

“John said you and Tim knew some of the gang, and even the leader,” Amanda said as Emma got up and ran to Nathan, holding her arms wide.

Catching Emma, Nathan picked her up before settling her on his hip. “Yes, and the rest of the posse knows them as well.”

“I know you were a deputy in Kootenai and Shoshone counties, but Bill and Rusty were only deputies in Kootenai,” Amanda blurted out.

“Amanda, there were bad guys before this. What do you think, they would just stop being bad guys?” Nathan asked, heading to the kitchen.

“No, it just doesn’t seem right, knowing the bad guys names right off the bat.”

“I can tell you, if I had been around here when this happened, I would’ve gotten my stuff here, and then I would’ve rolled out with a kill list,” Nathan huffed.

Lifting her chin up, “Nathan, I’m sorry,” Amanda said, and Nathan turned at the imperial tone. “Mr. Fisher is mine.” All tension left Nathan’s body while he stared at Amanda in utter shock, hearing the name of his parents’ killer. “He’s mine. I get to make him pay.”

It took over a minute to regain his composure, but Nathan finally shook his head. “If I find him again, sorry, firecracker, but he’s spoken for.”

“I’ll find him first,” Amanda huffed. “You’re the best, and I’m going to crank the gat on his ass.”

Experiencing more emotions at one time than he’d ever had in his life, Nathan just spun around continuing to the kitchen. Pulling out a crystal cocktail glass, Nathan just stared at it for several minutes, then put it back up in the cabinet. Next, he pulled out a much taller and bigger glass. Setting it on the counter, Nathan reached under the counter pulling bottles out.

Looking over her shoulder, Amanda saw Nathan pouring vodka into a tall glass. Getting up, she walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tight. “Can I do anything?” she offered in a small voice.

Picking up another bottle, “Make sure nobody hassles the boys for the next few days,” Nathan sighed. “They don’t need the other kids pestering them about what…” Nathan just stopped as he continued to pour.

Giving a shiver as hundreds of possible images of what had happened filled her mind, Amanda didn’t know she wasn’t even close. “I will,” she promised, still hugging Nathan tight and watched Nathan pick up another bottle. “How much are you going to pour in there?”

“It’s a Kamikaze, equal parts of vodka, triple sec, and lime. I hate alcohol, but I really need a drink,” Nathan sighed, just happy he wasn’t gagging, but he still felt nauseous.

Looking closer at the size of the glass, “So, it’s five ounces of each?” Amanda asked.

Setting the bottle of lime down, Nathan lifted her chin up. “You just figured that out?”

Shrugging, “Just judging by glass size, the volume looks approximately sixteen ounces. But I think you poured more of the vodka,” Amanda said, laying her head back on his chest. “The empty space at the top of the glass is about an ounce, but you said equal parts.”

Giving a chuckle, Nathan bent down kissing the top of Amanda’s head. “You amaze me, firecracker.”

Emma didn’t like that and swatted out, hitting Amanda on the top of the head. “No, mine,” Emma said very clearly.

Popping Emma’s hand, “What have I told you?” Nathan snapped at Emma. “I do have other kids, and I will love on them when they want it, or I do. You’ll get a spanking if you keep on.”

Never letting go or taking her head off Nathan’s chest, Amanda smiled. “I tried telling Emma I found you first, and she just kept calling me a bitch.”

“Bitch,” Emma sang out, then clapped her hands.

“All right, that’s enough,” Nathan mumbled, grabbing Emma’s hands so she couldn’t clap. “Don’t say that word, or I’m getting soap for your mouth,” Nathan warned, and Emma just looked at him in shock. She didn’t understand what he’d said, but understood the grumpy look he was giving her.

“Nathan, she eats the soap when she gets a bath,” Amanda chuckled.

Hearing running feet, Nathan turned to see Casey rounding the kitchen island. “Nathan, since you have all the Disney movies, can you watch one with us? Please?” she begged.

Leaning back and looking up at him, “Why do you have all those kid movies?” Amanda asked.

“Amanda, I told you, Bill’s, Aiden’s, and Rusty’s kids spent the night all the time. When they were little, no matter how hard I tried, they wouldn’t sit down and watch Lethal Weapon. So I bought them kid movies,” Nathan explained, then shrugged. “Have to admit, some of them are great.”

“But you have some baby shows still wrapped in the store plastic,” Amanda pointed out.

“Oh, those are for Nolan,” Nathan said. “He needed something to watch in his crib.”

Dropping her arms from Nathan’s waist and stepping back, “Where did you find a crib with a flat-screen and speakers?” Amanda asked.

Glancing around before he leaned closer, “I had a guy at Best Buy put it together for me,” Nathan whispered. “I couldn’t find one that came like that, so I bought a crib, took it to Best Buy, then bought the TV and surround sound, and got him to put it all on the crib.”

“It’s so cool,” Casey laughed. “So, can you watch a movie with us?”

Reaching back and pulling Casey to his leg as he hugged her, “Let me check on the boys. Then I’ll sit on the couch and all my girls can cuddle around me,” Nathan smiled.

Hugging Nathan’s leg, Casey looked up. “Chip may want to cuddle,” she said with a worried face.

“Then he can cuddle with us,” Nathan laughed.

Amanda and Casey ran back to the living room discussing what to watch as Nathan picked up the glass and downed half of it. “Dink,” Emma said, holding out her hands.

“No, I’m not sharing this,” Nathan told her.

“Nphin,” Emma grunted, reaching out for the glass with both hands.

“At one time, I really thought I was cool,” Nathan sighed, and put the glass to Emma’s mouth. When the liquid hit her mouth, Emma jerked back shaking her head and then tried to wipe her tongue off. “Because at one time, having a little girl drool in my drink would’ve made me sick. Now, I don’t even pause drinking after you.”

“Psssft,” Emma blew out, trying to get the taste from her mouth.

“Hey, I warned you,” Nathan said, then downed the rest of the glass. After refilling the glass, Nathan headed down the hall before turning in to the boys’ room. He found John in one chair and Jasmine in the other with Tom in her lap.

“Now that is cute,” Nathan grinned. “Both our boys are bigger than you, and you still put one in your lap.”

With her arms around Tom, Jasmine shook her head. “John wouldn’t sit in my lap.”

Nathan turned to John as he shook his head. “Nathan, I would squish her!” John cried out. “She can’t be much over a hundred pounds and I weigh two-fifty. I can’t squish my stepmom.”

Rolling his eyes to the ceiling as he pondered that, Nathan finally nodded. “Okay, you’re doing it because you think you might hurt her. I won’t pee in your bed after you go to sleep,” Nathan informed him. John and Jasmine both chuckled, and even Tom gave a soft chuckle.

Moving over and sitting on the edge of Tom’s bed, Nathan turned Jasmine’s chair toward him. “Tom, I’m sorry. I would give anything to take that from your mind.”

“I know you would, but don’t be sorry,” Tom said with a long sigh. “I’m glad I saw it. Well, not glad, but…” he paused, lifting his head up and looking at Nathan. “It lets me know just how dangerous and evil some people can be. I won’t ever let that happen to anyone in our family while I’m alive,” he vowed.

“If they can get past me, then you can have a crack at them,” Nathan said, lifting his glass and sucking half of it down while Jasmine stared at the glass.

“Sorry, Tom, but I’m the oldest, so you’ll have to wait after me,” John chimed in.

Balancing Emma on his leg, Nathan let her go and patted Tom. “If you need to talk, I’m here.”

“Nothing really to talk about,” Tom shrugged. “I wanted to help, but couldn’t. Even if you and John had been on the ridge, we still couldn’t have done anything. There were just too many of them. If we would’ve shot into that group, I think we could’ve gotten away. But then they’d know to come looking for us. There’s too many of them, and not enough of us to stop what they were doing for long. All we can do is protect our family.”

Nodding as he turned the glass up, finishing it off, “Or die trying,” Nathan said, lowering the glass.

“Nathan, Sherry said you don’t like alcohol,” Jasmine said.

“I don’t,” Nathan admitted. “I’ll drink a mixed drink every once and a while or have some wine, but never anything straight. But today, I needed a drink.”

Hearing a slight slur in Nathan’s speech, “How many kamikazes have you had?” she asked.

Cutting his eyes at her, “How did you know what it was?”

“That’s my favorite,” Jasmine laughed.

“You’re not old enough to drink,” John said, and Jasmine turned to John with a scowl. “I, ah, well…” John stuttered, turning away. He really felt bad for blurting that out.

“I was in college, and went to a lot of parties in high school,” Jasmine told him, turning back to Nathan who was grinning. “So, how many?”

Shrugging, “Two,” Nathan answered. “I’ll fix number three when I get back to the kitchen.”

“Can I get up now and not get a spanking?” Tom asked.

“You were going to spank him?” Nathan chuckled.

Holding her chin high, “Yes,” Jasmine said proudly. “I wouldn’t have liked it, and I really think I would’ve cried afterward,” she admitted, dropping her chin.

Getting up, Tom turned to Nathan with a genuine grin. “That’s why I sat in her lap. I don’t think I could’ve handled her crying for giving me a spanking.”

Standing up, Nathan laughed. “Well, the girls have informed me, I have to watch a Disney movie.”

“I’m in,” Tom said, and headed for the door.

Getting up and following, “That does sound like a good idea,” John admitted.

As Nathan watched them walking out, Jasmine noticed he was swaying slightly on his feet. “You’re a lightweight,” she mumbled, moving over to his right side and wrapping an arm around his waist, since Emma was riding his left hip. “You don’t want to take a nap?”

Heading for the door and draping his arm over Jasmine’s shoulders, “I’m not falling asleep today,” Nathan informed her. “I’m passing the fuck out.”

Walking back into the living room, they heard Natalie talking. “How did you know the names of the counties Nathan works for?”

“Idaho is our home state now,” Amanda replied.

As Nathan headed to the kitchen to refill his glass, he saw them on the couch talking. Leaning back, “You know all the counties in Idaho?” Natalie gasped.

“There’re only forty-four,” Amanda shrugged. “It’s important to know.”

Giving a grunt as he poured, “I don’t know all of them and I live here,” Nathan admitted. “I knew them in school, but that was just to pass the test. After that, it wasn’t worth the effort to maintain the memory.”

Standing beside Nathan as he fixed his drink, Jasmine understood now why he was wobbling on his feet and slurring his speech. Tim and Sherry walked out of their bedroom, noticing all the kids getting comfortable in front of the TV. “What’re we watching?” Sherry asked.

“Disney, and they’d better pick a good one,” Nathan replied, lifting his glass.

Seeing that, Tim walked over to the cabinet, pulling out a cocktail glass and then the bottle of vodka. He filled the glass and Nathan drained his. “Glad you buy the good stuff,” Tim said, downing the straight vodka.

“Good or not, I do that, and my nuts will go flying across the room,” Nathan huffed.

“Sissy,” Tim gasped at the burn in his throat. He set his glass down as Nathan started refilling his. “See? That takes too long.”

“Don’t care,” Nathan said as Tim took the vodka bottle. Jasmine was wondering if she should get Emma, but then wondered why Emma wasn’t trying to grab the glass. Anytime Nathan had a drink, she wanted some.

“We’re going to watch The Incredibles,” Casey announced.

“Good choice,” Nathan said, taking a sip this time and headed to the couch. Moving slower because his stagger was more pronounced, Nathan stopped at the end of the couch. “Where am I sitting?”

“Here,” Amanda, Natalie, and Casey replied, pointing to the middle of the couch.

Putting his glass on the coffee table, Nathan sat down moving Emma to his chest, before they piled on and around him. Sitting under Nathan’s right arm, Amanda turned to see Jasmine smiling. “You can sit here and I’ll sit in your lap,” Amanda offered as Chip climbed up, joining Emma on Nathan’s chest.

“No, you guys need some ‘Nathan time’,” Jasmine laughed.

The laugh stopped when Jasmine noticed the stern look on Amanda’s face. “I wasn’t asking. I’ll sit in your lap,” Amanda replied curtly. Seeing Jasmine not moving, “Ares!” Amanda snapped, and Ares jumped to his feet.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Jasmine gasped.

“You want to find out or sit down?” Amanda grinned.

“Ares won’t attack Jasmine,” Nathan chuckled. “Maybe lick her.”

“Shh,” Amanda hissed at him, then turned back to Jasmine. “So?”

Grinning, Jasmine moved over, and Amanda jumped up. When Jasmine sat down, Amanda got in her lap and they all snuggled into Nathan. “What’s it taste like?” John asked.

“Try it,” Nathan said as Casey lifted the remote.

Picking the glass up, John gulped half of it down, not even bothering to test it first. “That’s nasty,” he grunted, and Tom grabbed the glass, looking at Nathan. When Nathan nodded, Tom drained the other half.

“Aw, that tastes like gasoline lime,” Tom gasped.

“You sip it to test,” Nathan laughed.

“That’s how you drank it,” John replied, shaking his head to stop his wavering vision.

Hearing the movie start, they both sat down on each side of the pile. With Nolan in her arms, Sherry climbed in the recliner with Tim. Nathan didn’t make it ten minutes before his head tilted back and he was sound asleep.

John and Tom both slumped over onto the pile halfway through the movie, and Tim almost made it to the end before passing out.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The horse trailer wouldn’t be the most comfortable conveyance, Rusty thought as he surveyed the hastily-repurposed interior, but it would do in a pinch. Set up to carry up to six full-sized horses, the metal-sided trailer now boasted three rows of salvaged school bus seats bolted to the thick wooden floor. A similarly arranged trailer, attached to the other heavy truck, waited just a few feet away. Where refugees would hopefully be riding in just a few minutes, now rested an array of boxes and crates to be delivered as cargo.

They’d pulled up a half mile short of the farmhouse, emptying out of the cabs with rifles at the ready. Vince moved at a deliberate pace, but proved game enough when he took a knee and turned his gaze to the cluster of buildings in the distance.

“I hope we are in time,” Vince whispered to himself.

***

The drive in had been another kidney puncher when the two heavy farm trucks towed the trailers over rutted logging trails and dusty fire roads. The four men kept their heads on a swivel the entire trip, with Rusty and Bill spending most of their time on guard while Tim and Vince guided the trucks over the rough terrain. All four men kept their eyes scanning, with no thought to the fierce debate from the night prior that had led to the mission’s current composition.

Nathan, of course, had wanted to go. It was his house, after all, and his initial plan to extend the invitation. Rusty had put his foot down, with an emphatic “Hell, no,” thrown in to boot. After the previous, near-disastrous trip, Rusty feared letting Nathan get within fifty miles of the house and acreage.

Finally, Rusty had pulled what he knew was the ultimate trump card, which was effective because it was also true.

“Nathan, you know Bill and I have to go. But if we’re going to do this, then I need to make sure our families are protected. Aiden’s pissed too, but we can’t spare the guards here, and I trust you to watch out for Libby and the boys.”

“Rusty…” Nathan whined.

“Stay here just this once, Nathan, and protect the families. Hell, I know you’re itching to get over to Jeremey’s place to inventory his armory. Why don’t you do that while Libby and the rest of the girls get the place ready for habitation.”

Nathan started grinning when Rusty finished his pitch.

“I’ll be sure and tell Greg and Lanny you’re lumping them in with the ladies,” Nathan taunted, but Rusty didn’t mind.

“They can kiss my ass,” Rusty retorted. “Until they start busting caps like Amanda does, they can bitch all they want.”

“She is something, isn’t she?” Nathan replied, a father’s pride in his voice. Rusty heard it, and he understood Jasmine’s insistence that Nathan had somehow managed to birth that girl all by his lonesome.

***

“What’s going on, Rusty?”

Deputy Mike Patterson was one of the more senior deputies, and he’d had a bit of a beer belly going on before the world went to shit. Rusty hadn’t spotted Mike in his previous visit, but from what Rusty could see now, the forty-something deputy was down below two bills and needed some new pants.

“Sheriff home today or out on patrol?” Rusty replied, giving Mike a flat stare while the other deputy maintained his crouch behind the stack of railroad ties being used as an improvised fighting position.

“He’s in the house,” Mike finally said. “Sorry I missed you boys when you came by before. You really got a fortress up in the mountains?”

“Can’t call it a fortress, Mike. Decent setup, though.” Rusty didn’t feel comfortable talking about the retreat, but he knew some information needed to be shared for the good of the mission. “Best thing going for the location though, is the place is far from here. And any towns, for that matter.”

While Rusty talked, Mike was up and slinging his rifle, unbolting the heavy crosspiece holding the gate in place. Rusty couldn’t see the other deputy on post across the driveway, but he knew someone was there from the rifle barrel he could make out. Not pointed in his direction, not yet, but that could change in a moment’s notice.

“Who else you got in the trucks, Rusty?” Mike queried. The gate was unlatched, but the deputy held the metal braced in one hand.

“We only brought a small group, Mike. Just me, Bill, and Tim from the department. Also carrying Dr. Vincent O’Keefe. He’s sort of the president of our little Homeowners Association,” Rusty offered, simplifying Vince’s position, rather than taking the time to explain the way the group operated. “He insisted on coming with us to explain the offer being made.”

“Dr. O’Keefe? Didn’t he run the Family Practice group over at the Kootenai Health Center?”

“He did. Now he’s head of our clinic,” Rusty explained.

“And what’s this about an offer? You guys want to take over here?” Mike blurted out, reflexively defensive at the idea.

“Didn’t the sheriff explain? When we got back to our fallback location, Nathan placed a motion before the board to offer sanctuary to the women and children you’ve taken in here. I know at least some of them are family to our people who’ve fallen, so we wanted to help.”

“How you figure they’re our people, Rusty? You kinda walked out on us, after all,” Mike asked, his voice rising as his agitation increased.  “I’m surprised you got the balls to show up here now. You and that asshole Engvist, after deserting your post.”

“Really? I don’t recall my patrol area included Nathan’s house, asshole,” Rusty retorted through gritted teeth. “You’re squatting here on Nathan’s property because you got nowhere else to go. This ain’t no satellite office, Mike, and you had plenty of opportunities to join our little group if you’d just made the commitment. But, I think you called us a ‘pussy panic party’, if I recall correctly.” Rusty’s voice rose as his years of frustration boiled up in the heat of the moment. “That’s what you thought of us when I raised the subject, remember? We wanted to do something to help the sheriff’s department to actually do the fucking job of protecting the county, but now look where you are. Hiding out in the basement of a man you despised because he was a better deputy as a part-timer than you were as a full-timer.”

“Whoa, Rusty! No reason to get personal,” came the voice of Vinnie Esterhaus, and Rusty took a step back, literally and figuratively when he heard his old friend. “We all wish we could’ve done things different, but that’s hindsight. So, you really did come back after all?”

“Said we would,” Rusty mumbled, slightly embarrassed at his outburst, especially since Vinnie must have heard at least part of it. “But there’s more. Shit, there’s lots more. That’s why I asked about the sheriff. Plus, you really should get that gate open, so we can bring in those trailers.”

“Why’s that?” Vinnie asked, willing to take the bait offered.

“Because we brought presents.”

“What kind of presents?” Mike asked grudgingly, and Rusty responded with forced good cheer.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise, but here’s a hint. If you were looking for a size, I’d look in the section marked 5.56x45mm.”

“Hot damn!” Vinnie exclaimed with a laugh.

***

“Hot damn!” Nathan exclaimed with a laugh. He quickly glanced around like a guilty child at his outburst, but the sight of all that beauty concentrated in one place just seemed overwhelming.

“That get your motor running, honey?” Jasmine asked with forced innocence, unable to wipe the smirk off her face as she studied Nathan’s glazed features.

“I think he’s got more ammo than me,” Nathan managed to say. “That’s why he had this berm built. It’s a powder room.”

After spending the morning going through and inventorying Jeremey and Vickie’s armory, Nathan was still shocked at the amount of ammunition the duo had squirreled away at their retreat. Maybe I shouldn’t be, Nathan thought suddenly, when he remembered the sheer number of racked and ready M4s, M16s, M110s, and other civilian versions of military rifles. All perfectly legal and also, stored appropriately. Then Nathan got a small chill up his spine when he thought about the whole row of even bigger rifles, still cased and already scoped. Nathan had many of the same rifles, but the numbers meant, in Nathan’s mind, Jeremey and Vickie were really wealthy individuals.

“Uh, we’ve got one of those too, Nathan,” Jasmine said, not sure she’d heard correctly. “Downstairs, other side of the kitchen by the mudroom.”

Nathan laughed again, his grin so wide it made Jasmine’s cheeks hurt, while he explained.

“No, sorry, honey. ‘Powder room’ is an old term my daddy used. It goes back to the old black powder magazine days, or the storage area where mining companies stored their explosives. Like this. Thick walls, often underground, and isolated away from the rest of the compound.” Nathan stepped inside and glanced around rapidly, scanning the row upon row of shrink-wrapped pallets. He saw the familiar yellow warning tags stuck to the sides of the boxes and peered closer to get a better look at the labelling for the contents.

“How many?”

Nathan did a quick count of the stacked pallets, then multiplied by the number of rounds per case. “I can’t see what’s on that back wall, or under the benches there, but at least three hundred thousand rounds. But that’s not what I meant. There’re five more rooms, and I want to check each one before I give a final tally.”

“Well, tell me quick,” Jasmine joked. “I need to get back in the house before those women think we’re out here playing ‘hide the salami’.”

“Wait, are they out of lunchmeat? We’ve got some back at the house,” Nathan replied, his grin remaining in place.

Jasmine beamed, happy to see Nathan’s sense of humor bouncing back after what he’d seen on his last mission.

“I’ll tell you what, stud,” Jasmine popped off in reply, her voice taking on that sultry tone she knew got Nathan’s motor running. “Why don’t you stick around for a bit, and I’ll see about taking care of that baloney pony.”

“Well then, little lady, Yippee Kai-yay!”

***

“Any way Nathan could have been mistaken?” Sheriff Hargrove temporized, reeling from the news delivered by Rusty Bertram. Frank Hargrove trusted Rusty, but he didn’t want to accept news of this nature. Civilization may have fallen apart, but the sheriff couldn’t wrap his head around the implications of what Rusty reported. Not second hand, and not from what the sheriff wanted to believe was an unreliable source. Clearing his throat, Sheriff Hargrove spoke again, aware of the eyes on him when he did so.

“I mean, it could have been a raccoon, right?”

The gathering took place in the living room of the old farmhouse, and with the deputies not on duty, their spouses, and the six unattached women in the house all on hand, as well as Rusty’s contingent, the cluttered space was nearly standing room only. The children, as per the standard operating procedure, waited in the basement, shepherded by the teenagers. At least, they would be spared word of this latest atrocity.

Before Rusty could respond to the sheriff’s plea, Tim interrupted with a torrent of emotion.

“Wasn’t no fucking raccoon, Sheriff. Not a squirrel or a fucking chipmunk. It was a fucking baby, roasted alive over the fire pit!” he roared, his voice cracking with the strain. “He was alive, goddammit! Alive when they wired his little arms to that pole, and I can still hear his screams in my sleep.”

“Oh, shit,” whispered one of the deputies, and sounds of gagging could be heard from more than one of the women present.

“Nathan was there, and he saw maybe thirty seconds of what was going on,” Tim continued, his voice low and pained. “I was on overwatch, and I had to sit and observe for nearly ten-fucking-minutes. I had to sit there, and I couldn’t do a God-Damned-Thing about it, or Nathan and John were dead too.”

Tim turned away at this point, overcome by emotion, and the hard silence that stretched on for several seconds, failed to cover the sound of the young man’s sobs. Several of the civilians present seemed on the verge of their own breakdowns.

When Rusty looked over at Vince, he gave a nod to the doctor, who stepped in to claim the floor.

“Sheriff, based on the circumstances and in consideration of your precarious position here, our community is willing to lend a helping hand. As part of that assistance, I’m here to extend an invitation to some of you here, for a place of refuge at our retreat site.”

That announcement, as expected, unleashed a storm of questions, demands, and comments from the gathered group. The sheriff, anticipating something of the sort based on what Nathan had said before, stepped forward quickly to quell the noise, despite his own lingering shock at Tim’s outburst.

“Hold on, hold on, people!” Sheriff Hargrove shouted, his deep, authoritarian voice overriding the shouted questions for the time being. Knowing there had to be a catch, he asked what to himself, were the most important questions first.

“What do you want in exchange? And how many can you take?”

Vince expected these questions, so he was able to answer quickly.

“We want to offer a safer place for your dependents, especially the orphans and widows you’ve taken in. Nathan didn’t stay long enough last time to get an accurate count, but we have seating in the trailers for approximately sixteen. Perhaps twenty, but that is the limit to what we can feed, house, and clothe.” Only pausing to take a breath, Vince continued in the same tone as before. “As for what we want, the only thing we ask is that you and your men continue to do what you can here to protect the community, and to keep us informed via HAM radio, if you have any news you need to pass on to us.”

“I’ve heard the occupying forces are cracking down on anybody they catch broadcasting,” Deputy Esterhaus stated, giving Vince a hard look. “Plus, we don’t have any radios with that kind of capacity anymore.”

“Oh, we brought one for you to use, and it includes a solar charger and a way you can set it up to transmit remotely,” Vince explained. “You record your message, set it with a time delay, and haul it miles from here before it will transmit.”

“Why don’t you just take all of us? You should take everybody.”

This was from Deputy Tate, and Rusty gave him a glare that didn’t seem to register on the man. Tate was a slob and a slacker at the best of times, and his dismissive statements toward Rusty and his condescending attitude regarding Amanda, meant the man wouldn’t be welcome at their new home in the mountains any time soon.

Before Rusty or Bill could light up the deputy, Vince stepped in to defuse the situation once again.

“As I said, we have enough supplies to stretch, but not enough for everybody. Maybe after the harvest, we’ll have some extra to share, but we can’t commit to that just yet.”

“After the harvest? You expect this to go on that long? You don’t think the government will have these invaders out of our country before that?”

The question from one of the wives caught Vince flatfooted, and he openly gaped at the clueless woman. Bill, who recognized the young lady as the wife of Deputy Gary Dawkins, finally spoke up.

“Sheryl, it was the federal government who invited them in,” he said as softly as he could manage. “The lights going out? They knew it was coming, and somebody in Washington decided to take advantage of the situation to remove as many undesirables as possible.”

“But the President would never do something like that,” Sheryl replied, her tone certain. “He’s a good man, and he cares about the little people.”

Bill shrugged, giving Deputy Dawkins a pitying look as he responded, “If he didn’t, then somebody high up in the administration sure did. Patriot groups are the ones fighting the Chinese, not the soldiers still loyal to the Beltway bandits.”

“Look, we can debate the issue later,” Rusty added, glancing around the room and meeting the eyes of several of his long-time peers. “Vince can give you the lowdown, but we are only taking volunteers, and only those who will agree to live under our rules.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound scary at all,” quipped one of the women Rusty didn’t recognize. She looked to be in her early thirties, but might have been younger. She had the same gaunt, starved, cast-to appearance that Rusty saw in all the faces here. They had some food set back, or more likely, scavenged from somewhere, but not enough to go around. Rusty knew Nathan’s garden had to be producing some of what these people were eating, but it was clearly insufficient for these numbers.

“Ma’am,” Vince interjected, raising his voice. “The rules are very simple. If you don’t work, you don’t eat,” he explained, his answer perhaps more blunt than he might have otherwise responded. “There are plenty of things to do around our retreat, some more difficult than others, but the bottom line is, we have the jobs, if you are willing to do them. We are offering some of you a chance to survive, if you are willing to work for it.”

Vince’s words, though straight- forward, seemed to trigger an avalanche of increasingly strident questions.

“But what about the children?”

“Who’ll make sure you men don’t enforce a patriarchal society on us, once you have us under your control?”

“Oh, brother,” Bill whispered just loud enough for Rusty to hear. “Can’t we just unload the ammo, call it a gift, and get the heck out of here?”

Tim, overhearing the comment, lifted his head and looked around the room. He was tired and emotionally wrecked. While he wanted to help, Tim wasn’t willing to waste much more time here.

“If you want your children to be eaten by cannibals, then keep it up,” he growled, glaring at the assembly. “We are offering a place that’s not perfect, but a damned sight more secure than this house. We all have wives back home who’ll gladly take in the orphans you have here, but if you don’t like the idea of contributing to our community, then keep your asses right here and continue to be a drain on the sheriff and his men. Now, anybody got any intelligent questions?”

Tim might not have realized it, but his blunt words and don’t-give-a-shit attitude convinced most of the doubters to sit still and listen to what the white-haired doctor had to say. Two hours later, the two trucks were back on the road. This time, carrying a cargo of alternately hopeful and terrified refugees to their new home.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Leaning back against a tree north of the township of Murray, Nathan looked at the road a quarter of a mile to the east and fourteen hundred feet below them. On the east, or right side of the road, was a sheer rock face and on the left, was a two-hundred-foot drop. Glancing at his watch and letting out a sigh, “You would think the tweakers would move faster,” he mumbled.

Pulling back the sleeve of his ghillie suit, John glanced at his watch while sitting next to Nathan. “We’ve only been here for six hours,” John pointed out. They had started out yesterday morning, dressed in ghillie suits to start the sniping campaign on the tweakers. They’d found every building in Murray had been burnt to the ground. Being overly cautious, Nathan had led them to the ridge they were currently on.

“I really expected a group to have passed by now,” Nathan huffed, turning to Tom leaning back against a tree with his eyes closed. “You slept on the ride here,” Nathan joked, feeling Apollo on his right side stirring in his sleep.

“Just resting my eyes,” Tom grinned, keeping his eyes closed.

“Hungry?” Jasmine asked, coming up behind them.

Lifting his head up, Nathan looked north and saw Natalie on the spotting scope watching the road, since Prichard was only five miles away to the north. “Not really,” Nathan said, laying his head back on the tree.

Looking at the scope on the Barrett he was using, John grinned. “Why didn’t you get scopes like Jeremey did?”

“John, each of those scopes cost more than four grand. The Barrett 107 I bought cost me nine grand, and I got a deal on that. Why do you think I didn’t buy a super scope?” Nathan answered. He was just happy to take two 107s from Jeremey’s stash.

“But they take all the calculations out,” John answered, still in awe at the scopes. The scopes and the Barretts were only some of the new toys they’d gotten from Jeremey’s. John really wanted to keep more of the stash, but Nathan said ‘no’ and distributed most of it among the posse. Nathan had put a ballistic scope on the BA110 and his own Barrett. He’d kept one 107 with a scope, and then gave one to Tim and the other to Aiden, since they liked shooting long distances.

Hearing how much the 107 had cost, Jasmine turned to look at the weapon. “And Jeremey had six of those?” she gasped.

“Here.” Nathan chuckled. “You wouldn’t believe what he had at his house in Utah.”

“Like what?” John asked, sitting up.

“More guns and weapons than you can imagine, a P51 Mustang, and three fully-functioning tanks,” Nathan answered, and John’s eyes got wider. “They weren’t modern tanks, but tanks nonetheless.”

Kneeling next to Nathan, “Can I please have just a few of the glowing bullets?” Jasmine pleaded.

Laughing as he dropped his right hand onto Apollo’s back, “Jasmine, like I told you. Tracers work both ways. You know where your bullets are hitting, but the other side knows where they came from,” Nathan told her.

Giving a groan, “All right,” Jasmine said, getting up and moving back to Natalie. She looked at the M240B and had to admit, she loved the two hundred round belt of ammunition strung out. Lifting her gaze to the road across the ravine, “Glad I have lots of bullets,” she mumbled.

Turning and looking at the suppressors on the Barretts, it amazed Jasmine they didn’t bend the barrel. With the suppressor on her M240, the gun was almost as tall as she was, but Jasmine could carry the thirty-pound gun. She could also carry the Barrett, that was just as heavy with all the extra stuff on it, but she had already told Nathan, she wasn’t shooting it. The only thing she wanted on her machine gun, besides glowing bullets, was a real scope and not the ACOG mounted on it.

“Trucks from the south,” John called out, dropping his binoculars and diving behind his Barrett.

Pulling the stock to his shoulder, Nathan glanced over at the five loaded magazines beside him before glancing over to see Tom on the BA110, and Jasmine pulling the stock of the 240 to her shoulder. “On my mark, John,” Nathan said.

Aiming at a sign on the road, Nathan hit the laser to range the target and saw his crosshairs didn’t move, letting him know it was still zeroed from this morning when they’d set up. A few seconds later, he could hear the sound of motors. Taking his eye off the scope, Nathan turned to look south, and saw the line of vehicles. “Four pickups and four cargo trucks traveling, about thirty,” he estimated.

Putting his eye back on the scope, Nathan held the crosshairs over the road. It seemed to take forever, but he soon spotted a gray pickup in his scope when it rounded the curve. Flipping the safety off and taking a deep breath, Nathan let half out while keeping the crosshairs in front of the pickup, level with the engine. When the truck was halfway along the straightaway across from him, he squeezed the trigger. The gun bucked, and Nathan guided the crosshairs back to the truck.

Watching the truck and hearing Nathan shoot, Jasmine thought he’d missed. Nearly a second after he’d pulled the trigger, Jasmine gave a startle when a hole punched through the fender just above the wheel. The pickup lurched right and hit the guardrail in front of the cliff face. Ten people riding in the back were thrown about, and six were tossed out of the back. Flying through the air, they hit the asphalt hard.

While steam billowed from under the hood and the driver fought to keep the truck on the road, Nathan squeezed the trigger again as all the vehicles slowed. Hitting the guardrail again and throwing another person in the back out, the truck skidded sideways to a stop, nearly blocking the road. When another hole punched through the driver’s door, the windows turned red, like a paint balloon had popped inside the cab.

Aiming at the cargo truck at the back of the line, John squeezed the trigger when the man driving stuck his head out the window to look ahead. When the bullet hit the front of the truck, the man jerked his head back in, and John could see all kinds of fluids pouring out from under the truck and onto the road. Moving the crosshairs to the door, he squeezed the trigger watching the crosshairs buck, then shifted his aim to the cargo truck next up the line.

Seeing Nathan moving down the line to the next truck, Tom held aim on the cab of the first truck as the passenger tried to climb out the window. Aiming ahead of the target, Tom squeezed the trigger and racked the bolt, chambering a new round and never taking his eye off the scope.

He saw the .338 Lapua hit the man in the left shoulder, nearly taking the arm off. Tom moved his aim when a single rider left in the back of the truck stood up, holding his left wrist. Squeezing the trigger, Tom racked the bolt and saw his bullet hit the man in the gut. “Not where I was aiming,” he mumbled, moving to the next truck.

Seeing the man trying to climb out of the window get hit, Jasmine flipped the safety off and aimed twenty feet high like Nathan had told her to. Giving the trigger a soft squeeze, Jasmine felt the gun buck against her and let the trigger go. When she saw her rounds hitting well short of the road, she lifted her aim higher and squeezed again.

This time, she hit the left shoulder of the road and aimed even higher before giving another squeeze. Watching the back window of the lead truck spiderweb out, Jasmine smiled, moving her aim to those on the road who were trying to crawl away. Squeezing the trigger again, she held it down for a second, then let it go. She saw the man jerk about on the road, with puffs of dust when other rounds hit the asphalt around him.

Realizing just how high she was aiming, Jasmine was amazed she was hitting anything.

Changing magazines, Nathan moved to the fourth pickup truck trying to get out of the kill zone, but couldn’t turn around with the trucks stopped to his front. With the truck facing him, Nathan squeezed the trigger twice, then moved to the next one and saw it was a cargo truck. About to squeeze the trigger, Nathan saw a hole punch through the fender when the truck tried to back up.

Moving his aim to the cab of the pickup truck, Nathan squeezed the trigger as the driver’s door opened. When the driver turned to get out, the fifty-caliber bullet punched a hole in his chest. Sending three more shots into the cab and engine, Nathan saw a man looking over the front end of the truck and sighted in before squeezing the trigger. Missing his target by inches, Nathan cursed as he changed magazines and heard Jasmine firing long bursts, and could swear she was giggling.

The roar of unsuppressed gunfire sounded in the ravine when those in the backs of the pickups just aimed west across the gorge, holding their triggers down. Getting back on the scope, Nathan saw bullets punching into the truck when Jasmine let out a long burst. Watching men jerk as they were hit, Nathan moved the crosshairs onto a man crawling under the truck.

Squeezing the trigger, Nathan waited and saw the round land short. He lifted his aim just a little and squeezed the trigger again. He didn’t know where he’d hit the man, but he knew he had after watching the body jerk and the man roll onto his back under the truck.

Glancing down at the belt of ammo, Jasmine saw she only had a few rounds left. Grabbing another belt and clipping the new belt to the last few rounds, she glanced around making sure nobody saw that. Nathan had drilled them constantly on loading, so she wasn’t sure if that was allowed and had forgotten to ask.

Holding her aim above the next truck, Jasmine held the trigger for a full two seconds, watching survivors scramble behind the vehicles. When she saw a flash of sparks from under the third truck, Jasmine let the trigger go, wondering what she’d hit.

“I’ll find out later,” she said, and just held the trigger down for three seconds, raking her fire over the first three trucks.

Putting in his last magazine, Nathan looked across the ravine and saw thick smoke coming from the third pickup. “I like that,” he grinned, racking the charging handle back. Moving his crosshairs, Nathan couldn’t find any bodies that were moving.

“Reloading,” he said, grabbing his empty magazines. Pulling over an ammo can, he grabbed the huge bullets, shoving them into the magazines.

Glancing down the line when the M240 stopped, Nathan saw Jasmine clip a new belt to the last few rounds of the old one. Then he looked at the pile of brass beside her. “Jasmine, swap your barrel!” Nathan called out.

Lifting her head up off the stock and flipping the safety on, Jasmine flipped the lock and grabbed the handle, using her mittens to pull the barrel out. She then laid it to the side. Picking up a new barrel that already had a suppressor on, she slid it home and locked it down. Pulling the stock tight and dropping the mitten, Jasmine flipped the safety off and picked right back up.

Waiting for someone to pop out, Nathan saw a flash of flame under the third truck. Trickles of flames shot from the cracks around the hood. “Let’s see how long you hide now,” Nathan said, and another flash in the next truck started a fire. He watched the flames roll along the road, going up and down the column. Watching the flames flash under the vehicles, Nathan realized it was lighting the fluids that were leaking out onto the road.

Seeing the fire, everyone lifted off their gun and reloaded. “I have motorcycles coming!” Natalie called out. “Four miles away!”

“Aw, man, this was just getting good,” John moaned, shoving rounds in his empty magazines.

Seeing a group of people emerge from the far side of the last cargo truck and running down the road, Jasmine pulled the stock to her shoulder and swung the barrel until she saw them. “Outrun this,” she mumbled and squeezed. Then, she did just what Nathan had told her not to do, she didn’t let up.

In morbid fascination, Nathan and the others watched the cluster melt, dropping to the asphalt. In ten seconds, the suppressed 240 firing stopped and Tom squeezed the trigger, hitting one who’d somehow managed to avoid the steel rain Jasmine had dropped on their asses.

“She just shot thirty-four!” John cried out in awe.

“Tom, stay on them and set up. Jasmine, change barrels again!” Nathan called out.

“This sucks,” Jasmine huffed, pulling the barrel out and laying it down. Grabbing the other barrel, she locked it in and flipped up the feed tray. “Reload and change barrels, I’m going to work on this,” she mumbled.

Laying the new belt in, Jasmine heard the rattle of bikes. “You guys need to slow down,” she huffed, slowly closing the feed tray where Nathan had just slammed it down. Jasmine wanted to make sure the bullets stayed where she had put them. Only when the tray was nearly closed, did Jasmine hit it with her fist.

“Wait till they get past the bend and can see the trucks! Start at the back, so they can’t head back to Prichard and take out transportation first! Then, people!” Nathan called out. “Jasmine, you work from the back to the front!”

“Fifteen motorcycles,” Natalie announced. “Nine are carrying two people.”

Keeping his crosshairs in the kill zone, Nathan lifted his head up and saw the motorcycles a mile away, moving pretty fast on the narrow road carved into the cliff face. He didn’t need his eyes to tell him most were cruisers. His ears told him just fine. For a second, Nathan wondered if Bill and his team on the other side of Prichard heard the damn blasting pipes.

Hearing Tom shoot and turning back to the trucks, Nathan saw all were burning, with three a roaring inferno. “Thank you for the rain,” he mumbled, because forest fires out west were everyone’s worst fear. Hearing Tom shoot again, Nathan risked a quick glance back and saw some of the cluster of bodies were trying to crawl away, or rolling around on the asphalt.

Turning around and getting on his scope, “I would play dead and pray, but that’s just me,” he chuckled.

“They aren’t slowing,” John said beside him. “Aren’t they going kind of fast?”

“John, they can’t see around that curve, and that fire isn’t putting that much smoke off yet,” Nathan told him. “I think they’re doing close to sixty.”

“Oh,” John said, taking a deep breath.

When the first bikes came around the curve and saw the first truck on fire only two hundred yards away, Nathan saw them lock the brakes. “I watched you take that bike,” Nathan said, looking at the one in the lead.

The bikes behind them locked brakes and turned, so they wouldn’t hit those in front. Building in intensity, the calamity reached its climax when the middle of the pack came around the curve, finding no room to do anything except brake. All it took was one of the newcomers to space out at the right time and slam into one of the slowing bikes, sending bodies through the air. Two bikes fell over, skidding down the road. One slid into the lead, taking his bike out, and the other hit the guardrail and flipped over into the deep gorge below. Jasmine lifted her head off the stock, hearing the rider scream as he fell two hundred feet.

“Oh, shut up. You got off easy,” she mumbled, resting her cheek back on the stock.

Somehow, the last two bikes braked in time and stayed upright, and Nathan centered his crosshairs on one, letting out a slow breath. It was only when he’d squeezed the trigger, Nathan realized both were dirt bikes and not cruisers.

Holding his aim in case he needed a follow-up shot, Nathan saw a flash on the engine and the rider looked down when John squeezed the trigger. Not waiting, Jasmine squeezed the trigger, holding it for a second and then let it go before settling back into her ten round bursts.

Hearing Jasmine crank up, Nathan moved to the front and saw a bike moving down the road toward the burning trucks. Giving the bike a lead, Nathan squeezed the trigger three times slowly. The first shot missed behind the bike, but the second hit the engine. Nathan saw the last shot hit ahead of the bike, but saw the bike wobbling side to side as the driver lost power.

Grabbing a new belt, Jasmine reloaded her way, clipping it to the old one and moved her aim, raking the group in short bursts. When she saw all the bikes down, Jasmine concentrated on people.

When she saw a man jump up aiming a rifle with a large scope up at them, she held the trigger down. The rifle flashed, but then Jasmine saw his body jerk when bullets impacted from his knees to chest and on either side. Shifting her aim, Jasmine saw a man run and jump over the guardrail and into the gorge. “What the fuck?” she mumbled, lifting her head up and watching the man sail through the air, flapping his arms gracefully like he was trying to fly. When his body hit the rocks two hundred feet down, it seemed to explode.

About to get back on the scope, Jasmine saw a woman jump over the guardrail and heard the faint scream. Unlike the man before, the woman flailed about wildly, screaming as she fell. Not watching the impact, Jasmine shifted her aim before squeezing the trigger again.

Seeing all the bikes were hit and none of the bodies moving, Nathan lifted his eye off the scope. “Natalie, you see anything else coming?” he called out over the muffled tempo of the 240.

“No, nothing,” Natalie answered, never taking her eye off the spotting scope.

“Tom, are all of the first group down?”

“All that I can see,” he answered.

“Move to the second. Jasmine, change barrels and let’s pack up!” Nathan called out.

Lifting her head up, Jasmine looked down and saw she still had half a belt of ammo. “I still have bullets!” Jasmine cried out.

“Well, go ahead and shoot them. Then change barrels and reload,” Nathan replied casually and chuckled. Reloading the empty magazines, Nathan shoved them into a tote bag and saw John coming over, picking up his brass while Jasmine finished her belt off.

“Hot stepmom likes the 240,” John chuckled.

“Well, we know what to get her for Christmas,” Nathan laughed, moving over and picking up Tom’s brass.

“Hot stepmom is being a hog,” Tom said, lifting his eye off his scope. “Every time I found one moving, she brought the rain down.”

Putting the .338 brass in a bag, Nathan shook his head. “Sorry, but I’m not saying anything. Stepdad needs lovin’.”

Tom busted out laughing as he got to his knees and grabbed his empty magazines. “There at the end, I was hitting every shot. It makes a big difference when your target’s not moving fast.”

“Shit. On the trucks, I was hot. People, I was averaging one in three,” John said, rolling up the woobie Nathan gave him.

Walking over as Jasmine reloaded the 240, Nathan grinned when she carefully closed the feed tray. Then, he turned and saw the mountain of brass and links. “Glad I spread out a sheet,” he mumbled. “How many belts did you use?”

Jasmine turned to see Nathan picking up the corners of the sheet he had spread out beside her to catch her brass and belt links. “Seven,” she smiled, amazed Nathan had known just where to put the sheet.

“You did good, hot stepmom,” Nathan grinned. A muffled explosion sounded across the ravine and everyone turned to see the last cargo truck a roaring inferno. “Take out the rides, and put them on foot.”

Carefully picking up the 240 to avoid the hot barrel, “How many would you guess we took out?” she asked.

Giving a shrug, “Maybe seventy or so,” he replied.

“Damn, I was hoping for more,” Jasmine moaned. Bill and Aiden had gone over the pictures and video of the scouting Nathan and the guys had done, and put the number of tweakers in Prichard between six to seven hundred. But like Bill told everyone, more trucks kept coming in adding more bodies, and nobody knew how many trucks were out. So they still had no idea of what they were facing, and it didn’t help that the tweakers were adding numbers quickly. Jasmine didn’t like the fact Nathan was putting the numbers of tweakers at over a thousand.

“We took out rides, so that hurts their recruiting,” Nathan said, tying the four corners of the sheet up.

“Sorry, but I hope Bill gets more than we did,” Jasmine said, heading up to the ridge.

“Me too,” Nathan admitted in a sigh, staking a one-foot-by-two-foot piece of cardboard on a stick in the ground. The others grinned and Jasmine chuckled.

“Okay, I like it,” she nodded. “Amanda will be happy you’re using the calligraphy.”

We See You Punk Ass Bitches

Death to all tweakers

THE POSSE

***

Seven miles west of Prichard, Bill sat on the south ridge overlooking the valley. On the other side across the river, Coeur D’Alene River Road was tucked right next to a steep slope, and the river ran directly beside the road. “We’ve seen people riding bikes toward Prichard. Where the hell are their patrols?” Bill grumbled.

“Bill, we didn’t know who they were and couldn’t risk exposing our position,” Rusty said beside him.

Giving a long sigh, “I know, but I don’t have to like it,” Bill replied, seeing Aiden checking his watch. “What time is it?”

“Fifteen after four,” Aiden answered. “Wonder if Nathan and them had any luck?”

“Unless the tweakers use explosives, we won’t hear the tweakers’ gunfire from fifteen miles away,” Bill noted.

“This is around the time we saw trucks coming from the west,” Tim said, but knew everyone already knew that. Like Nathan, they had been sitting on the ridge before sunrise. As the group set up, Bill had left surprises on the roadway. The part they didn’t like, was Bill had to take his packhorse with him to set up the surprises. Unlike Nathan’s group, they took practice shots into the kill zone six hundred yards away and three hundred feet below them when Bill was done.

Aiden and Tim were on Barretts, and Bill and Rusty were on M240s.

Everyone froze, hearing the far-off sound of engines. “Start up on my mark,” Bill said, picking up a remote that had two toggle switches, one red and one blue. He looked at the tube on a tripod pointed into the valley. Making sure the directional antenna was hooked up for the thousandth time, Bill turned to look down the valley.

“Got ‘em!” Aiden called out. “Seven pickups and five box cargo trucks, moving about forty-five.”

Holding the remote in his left hand, Bill gripped the M240 and soon saw the line of vehicles. “Didn’t expect that many,” Bill admitted.

“Pull your panties up,” Rusty said in a whiny voice. “Are you on the rag? Because you’re bitchy.”

“He’s pregnant,” Aiden chuckled, pulling the stock into his shoulder. “Janice doesn’t like him on the pill, says it decreases his libido.”

“Fuck you all,” Bill snapped, never taking his eyes off the trucks. “If I was on duty, all except for the lead truck, I’d pull them all over for tailgating. There can’t be more than ten feet between each truck. Why are they driving so close?”

“They’re about to get that lesson,” Tim laughed, following the trucks in his scope.

The trucks slowed as they neared the bend that followed the river, and Bill held his thumb over the red toggle switch on the remote. Entering the bend, the trucks slowed more approaching a sharp curve and now, they could see people in the beds of the pickups. Flipping the red toggle with his thumb, Bill wasn’t expecting such a blast.

‘KABOOOM’ shattered across the valley, making their ears ring, and they felt the air get sucked from their lungs while the ground shook under them. “I fucking told you, a hundred pounds of C-4 was too fucking much!” Rusty shouted, watching his 240B jump off the ground.

Only ten miles away at the time, Nathan and his group froze when the ground shook, and then heard a sharp explosion roar over the mountains. More than one looked up, thinking airplanes were overhead dropping bombs.

Rusty saw the trees above the curve falling into the road, then realized there wasn’t a road where the trees were falling. The first truck drove into the slope, then into a crater. Just before it fell in, Rusty saw the concussion had blown the windshield into the cab. Since the convoy had slowed down so much, all hit their brakes to stop quickly with only a minor bump or two between vehicles. With how close they were driving, that really surprised Rusty.

Aiming at the rear of the convoy, Rusty squeezed the trigger and because of his test shots, he saw impacts on the cab of the last cargo truck. Putting the remote down, Bill gripped the 240 tight as he squeezed the trigger, aiming at the bed of the second truck.

When he saw the bodies dropping, Rusty shifted his aim to the last pickup, seeing the people scrambling to get out as he squeezed the trigger. Aiden and Tim moved from cab to cab, firing two rounds each.

Changing magazines, Tim saw several on the opposite side of the fourth truck in line, leaning over the bed and shooting at them. Opening his mouth to call it out, Tim saw bullets starting to impact on the truck when Bill shifted aim.

Hearing Rusty call reload, Tim continued down the line. When he was done, Tim demonstrated to the tweakers why the bed of a pickup wouldn’t stop a fifty cal. When Rusty started shooting, Bill reloaded. “Time?!” Bill shouted.

“I forgot to start the fucking stopwatch because you tried to blow us up, cocksucker!” Rusty shouted. All their weapons were suppressed, but everyone’s ears were ringing from the explosion.

“Children, please!” Tim shouted as he squeezed the trigger, blowing a tweaker in half. “I can’t take any of you anywhere!”

“Just blow it!” Aiden snapped.

Picking up the remote, Bill shouted, “Fire in the hole!” and then flipped the blue switch.

This time, everyone ducked down, covering their heads. Near the middle of the convoy, along the inner guardrail that kept cars from crashing into the river, a battered cardboard box, that advertised at one time it’d housed a fifty-five-inch flat-screen TV, propped against the rail vanished in a ball of light. ‘KABOOM’ roared over the valley when the second charge went off.

After the explosion, everyone lifted up to get back on guns and saw a truck, fifty yards above the road on the mountainside, rolling down the slope. “How the hell did it get up there?” Bill wondered out loud, then dropped his eyes to the road.

“Because a hundred pounds is too fucking much for one bomb!” Rusty shouted. “We all told you, but did you listen? NO!”

All the trucks were twisted hunks and unrecognizable. The only exception was the one that had been blown up the mountain before rolling back down. It was the only one that resembled a mode of transportation. One pile was in the curve where trees were across the road. The other pile was at the entrance to the bend. The road was completely gone between the two piles.

“A hundred pounds can’t do that,” Bill snapped, gathering his stuff.

“Bill, that’s a flat slope across from us. We’re in a narrow part of the valley. The blast had nowhere to go that way. You used a hundred pounds twice, so learn to add,” Aiden laughed. “It’s safe to say, they are dead.”

“If they aren’t, we leave them the fuck alone,” Rusty huffed. “I knew breaking into that Forestry Station and getting that C-4 was a mistake.”

Grabbing his pack, “Now you know why Nathan wouldn’t give you any of his explosives, Bill,” Aiden chimed in.

“All right, you nagging bitches! I used too much! Are you happy?” Bill shouted, pulling his pack on.

Grunting as he picked up his Barrett, “And all of you laughed when I hobbled my horse this morning,” Tim finished in a chuckle. Bill, Rusty, and Aiden all froze as Tim just headed up the ridge. “I did advise each of you, but what do I know? I’m only a reserve deputy who’s a logger. What the hell do I know?”

Curling his lips up in a snarl, “Bill, if I have to walk back on foot, we’re going to settle up,” Rusty warned. “I’m goin’ Nathan on your ass.”

“I was wondering why Tim kept saying we needed to hobble. Since the horses are on the other side of the ridge, the shock wave should’ve rolled over them,” Aiden shrugged.

“Hey, Texas shitkicker,” Rusty snapped. “You didn’t hear the explosion? We trained our horses for gunfire, not tactical nuke detonation.”

When they all walked over the ridge they stopped, seeing Tim take the hobbles off his horse and packhorse. But Bill’s horse and packhorse were gone, as was Aiden’s packhorse. “Oh, you are one lucky fucker,” Rusty chuckled, heading to his horse and packhorse. Never in his life was Rusty so thankful he had tied his horses to a tree, and not a rope hitch line like Bill had done.

“I’m sure they’re halfway back to the valley,” Tim said. “We can shift some gear, and you can ride a packhorse.”

“I didn’t think it was going to be that big,” Bill moaned. He knew the posse would never let him live this down.

Strapping the 240 down, Rusty turned to the others. “We’re taking the explosives away from Bill from now on. I don’t care if he has a demolition license. He’s repeatedly shown he’s not responsible,” Rusty said in a parental tone.

“We have given him multiple chances,” Aiden added, grinning.

“Last time I ever vouch for friends to join the fireteams,” Tim huffed. “You blow fire lanes, Bill, not the entire side of the mountain and catch the valley floor on fire.”

Holding up his hands in mock surrender, “I’ll admit, I was totally in the wrong on that, but you don’t drive a truck overloaded with crates of explosives and say, ‘Blow a fire lane there’,” Bill explained. “I’ll admit, I got excited.”

“If I would’ve been Nathan, I would’ve kicked your ass,” Aiden laughed, stowing his gear on the packhorse. “Blowing up his brand-new four-wheeler. That’s low.”

“I tried to buy him another one,” Bill shot back.

“You know that shit don’t work with Nathan,” Rusty snorted.

“Nathan laughed for three days,” Tim chuckled. “Glad I started carrying a camera everywhere like Nathan does.” Bill turned to Tim with a death glare. “Not many people can say they survived a blast that ripped their clothes off,” Tim smirked, turning away and grabbing the reins.

“Oh, the news crew who showed up wondering what bomb went off, got an eyeful of a butt-naked fire fighter. It just seems fitting Nathan always TiVo’d the local evening news,” Rusty said, then waved at his packhorse. “Your chariot awaits, Oh God of Thunder.”

“Fuck you all,” Bill huffed, storming over to the packhorse.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Flipping his NVGs down, Nathan looked back along the trail. It was near midnight and the others hadn’t shown up. He and his group were sitting on Kings Point, a mountaintop that sat two miles south of Prichard and overlooked the town twenty-one hundred feet below on the valley floor. Hearing footsteps, he turned to see John and Jasmine coming back.

“Well?” he asked.

Shrugging, “Nathan, the town looks just the same. Lights still on in the buildings and guards at the roadblocks. The only thing different is, no bonfire,” John said with a shiver. “Oh, and Jasmine spotted a lookout on the ridge we were on.”

“Why? They have a roadblock on the other side?” Nathan huffed.

“Nathan, they’re fine, or they would’ve called out on the radio,” Jasmine told him again.

“Those explosions sounded awful big,” Nathan mumbled. “They couldn’t have gotten that much from the Forestry shed.” Hearing a soft whistle, they all turned, dropping low. “Let me find out what Tom and Natalie have.”

Watching Nathan move off under the trees, Jasmine gave a sigh. “They’d better be all right.”

“You just told Nathan they were,” John hissed.

“Of course. He’s worried,” Jasmine snapped.

Moving along the ridge, Nathan crept to the tree line where Tom and Natalie were set up, looking down into the valley below. The valley below ended at the finger they had used to scout days ago. “Two trucks went by twenty minutes ago, but a group of horses just ran across the road heading toward us,” Tom said, then pointed.

“Beaver Creek Road is the only way the tweakers can get in and out of Prichard now,” Nathan said, looking down the slope at the trees covering the small valley. “How many horses?”

“Sorry, they moved across too fast,” Tom said.

Giving a sigh of relief, “That sounds like them,” Nathan said.

“Wish we had the Mew2,” Tom admitted.

“So do I, but we need it covering home more,” Nathan said. “I know it was rugged, but I was so scared we would break it. Putting it on that peak to the southwest will let us know someone is coming, long before they can walk close to the valley.”

“I know, and I like it there,” Tom sighed.

“Yeah, Tom. I still want to kick my ass for giving that SF team our spare. What the fuck have they done? Should’ve made them get their own.”

Turning to Nathan, “They did give us safe roads to travel,” Tom reminded.

“Okay, they cut a few days off our arrival,” Nathan huffed. “Next group we see, I better get some neat shit.”

“Nathan,” Natalie said, looking up. “Why are you cussing more? You aren’t scared, are you?”

Giving a chuckle as he knelt down, “No, princess, I’m not scared. But when I get around the posse, my language takes a turn. I’ll try and watch my mouth.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I think it’s funny,” Natalie told him. “I just wanted to know if I needed to be scared.”

Patting her leg, “I’ll let you know,” Nathan assured her.

“Horses,” Tom said, lifting the thermals up only to hit his NVGs. Flipping them up, Tom scanned the slope a half a mile away that ran up toward the ridge they were on.

Able to see the figures with his NVGs, “That’s not enough horses,” Nathan mumbled, pulling his AR up. “Can I see the thermals?”

Not replying, Tom just handed them back as Nathan flipped up his NVGs. Watching the spaced-out group moving up the slope, Nathan shook his head. “The one leading is Tim. He’s the only person alive that rides like he has a board shoved up his ass,” Nathan declared, and Natalie snickered. “It’s them, but they’re missing three horses.”

“Aw, I hope they didn’t get hurt,” Natalie moaned, and Nathan nodded, lowering the binoculars.

“Yeah, that could put us in a bind down the road,” Nathan said. “Let’s go tell John and Jasmine.”

They moved back into the trees and headed toward the peak. When Jasmine spotted them coming, she saw a casualness in Nathan’s step. “They’re all right,” Jasmine sighed out. Afraid to ask how she knew, John just kept his mouth shut.

“They should be here in a few minutes,” Nathan said. “But, they’re missing some horses.”

“That’s not good,” Jasmine grunted. “That could hurt us later.”

Having just heard Nathan say that, Tom and Natalie gave Jasmine a double take with gaping mouths while Nathan walked over and hugged her. “Now that you mention it, yeah, it might,” Nathan told her.

Ten minutes later, they heard a soft trilling whistle and Nathan responded in kind, and they saw the horses weaving around trees toward them along the ridge. As the posse stopped, “What happened to the horses? Were you shot at by helicopters or drones?” Nathan asked.

“No,” Bill snapped, climbing off and Nathan saw he was riding a packhorse bareback.

“What blew up?” Nathan asked. “You didn’t get into my bunker, and the Forestry shed never has more than two or three crates.”

Tying his horse to the hitch line Nathan’s horses were tied to, Rusty spun around, waving his arm out majestically. “Ask Oh Ye God of Thunder,” he sang out.

“I’m getting pissed,” Nathan warned. “Losing three horses could put us in a bind later.”

“I tried to warn them,” Tim chuckled, walking past Nathan. “But, oh no. Don’t listen to the reserve deputy.”

“Bitch, you heard how many times I warned Bill’s ass, he was using too much,” Rusty snapped at Tim.

“No!” Nathan gasped, dropping his shoulders like a ton had been placed on them. “You guys didn’t let Bill have some explosives, did you?”

“God damn it, Nathan! I took the class and got my demolition license!” Bill snapped.

“Bill, you took a twenty-hour government course!” Nathan cried out. “All they do is make sure you can tie your shoes and bubble your name in on a scantron with a pencil!”

“He wore boots, and used an ink pen to bubble his name in,” Rusty chuckled.

“Bill, the last time, you blew up a fucking mountain,” Nathan moaned, then looked at the others. “Why the fuck did you let him have some explosives? If Janice finds out, after she’s finished with ‘God of Thunder’, she’s coming for you.”

“I’m a big boy,” Bill snapped.

“Who uses too much explosives,” Tim nodded behind Nathan. “And Bill still doesn’t understand why Nathan won’t let him have a hand grenade.”

“Duh,” Nathan sang out, throwing up his hands. “The last time Bill played with explosives, I see his naked body hazed out on the evening news.”

“Hey, my clothes didn’t get blown off! A tree nearly hit me, and the limbs ripped my clothes off,” Bill snapped. “I made a mistake. I admitted it. Can we let it go?”

“What about the horses?” Nathan asked, dropping his arms down.

“Oh, I figure they’ll return to the valley when they get tired of running south, after they saw the world to their north blow up,” Aiden answered.

Shaking his head, “I’m really disappointed in you guys for letting Bill around explosives again,” Nathan told them, looking at each one. “Just how much did you find?”

When he turned to Tim behind him, Tim held up his hand. “Don’t, because I was voted off the island. Rusty said I was acting like a pussy, and Bill wanted to stop and find me some tampons. All I suggested was I set the explosives. Second, it seems the Forestry had just received a shipment, and the God of Thunder took over two hundred pounds.”

Somewhat startled at the amount, but pleased with Tim, “So, we had one adult,” Nathan stated proudly.

“Nathan, Bill said he stole it, so he was going to use it,” Rusty huffed. “You know how he gets with his toys, he doesn’t share.”

Giving a big nod, “That’s true,” Nathan agreed.

“Get the fuck off my back,” Bill growled. “We got rid of the convoy.”

“Yeah, there’s two craters in the road now with huge piles of scrap metal, not to mention twenty trees and half the mountainside piled in the road,” Aiden laughed.

Flipping his goggles up, Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh, Billy?” he called out, making Bill grit is teeth. “Just how much did you use?”

“Hundred pounds for each bomb,” Rusty chimed in. “I told him twenty would be more than enough.”

“You used two hundred-pound bombs in a narrow valley and you were only what, a few hundred or so yards away, not to mention above the site?” Nathan asked for clarification.

Stepping up beside Nathan, “That seems to sum it up nicely,” Tim smiled.

“Billy,” Nathan sighed, dropping his hand off his nose. “If you touch anything bigger than a firecracker, I’m telling Janice the truth. That’s your motorcycle in my garage, not mine.”

Bills mouth fell open as he moaned. “That’s just mean.”

“Oh, not as mean as Janice is going to be on your ass,” Aiden offered. “I’ll go along with that.”

Feeling dizzy, Bill turned to Aiden in shock as Rusty walked over to him. “I’ll show Janice the pictures of when you rode it to Dallas for that conference,” Rusty grinned.

“All right,” Bill panted in fear. “I have another three hundred pounds of C-4 and two spools of det cord back in the valley. My packhorse has another hundred and eighty pounds. I’ll turn it all over to Tim.”

The posse just stared at Bill, not moving. “So, you stole over five hundred pounds?” Natalie asked.

“It was all they had,” Bill answered quickly.

“Why did you bring two hundred pounds with you?” John asked, wondering how big the explosion would be.

“I wanted to make sure I had enough,” Bill actually whined.

Spinning away from Bill, “John, Tom, get the stuff off the packhorse and let’s do this,” Nathan said, walking away. “No, Billy! You aren’t watching!” Nathan called over his shoulder when Bill started to follow.

“But I’m not even touching them!” Bill gasped, watching Tom and John follow Nathan as each carried a Javelin.

“You’re being punished by the eternal teen. That’s bad,” Rusty giggled, walking past Bill. “That’s almost like Emma grounding Vince.”

“Jasmine,” Bill whined almost stomping his feet, and Jasmine shook her head.

“Fuck if I’m taking your side,” she huffed. “You’ll be lucky if your packhorse shows up without getting blown up.”

Walking over to Bill, “Mr. Bill, you can ride with me,” Natalie offered. “But I get to sit up front so I can see, because you can see over me.”

Giving a genuine smile, Bill patted Natalie’s shoulder. “Thank you, because that packhorse was killing my butt.”

“Let’s get the horses ready, so we can ride hard,” Jasmine said. Aiden and Tim helped her take down the hitch line. They all mounted up, holding the reins of the others’ horses.

Following Nathan to a clearing, John felt his pulse quicken. “Let’s see how they like this,” he grinned.

At the back of the group, Rusty suddenly had a revelation watching Tom and John behind Nathan. Not only could Nathan take his family out to fight, he felt safe doing it. It was like a new post-apocalyptic family activity. Instead of going to Disneyland, let’s go blow up some shit and spend some quality family time together as we drop the hammer on some of the scum of the earth.

“Don’t know if I’ll get there,” Rusty admitted to himself.

Stopping in the clearing, Nathan looked down into the valley at Prichard over a mile away while the boys took the end caps off the Javelins. Stopping beside Nathan, Rusty looked at the faint lights from Prichard. “Nathan, we need to hit the lab and the collection of vehicles near that roadblock,” Rusty said. “That house where you saw Doyle isn’t a priority. Granted, if we knew his ass was there, it’d be different, but we don’t. And you’ll only let us use two Javelins.”

“We only have ten, feel lucky,” Nathan huffed.

“Then let’s just hit the lab and save the other,” Rusty offered.

Shaking his head, “No,” Nathan replied instantly. “We have to limit their movement, and that’ll cut down on the number they can force into service.”

“Then let’s do it, before I change my mind and just tell Janice about Bill’s motorcycle,” Rusty said.

Turning to the boys, “John, take the lab. Tom, you take the collection of cars. Aim for one in the center. Both of you tell me when you have a lock. Make sure you select top attack,” Nathan told them, then turned back.

“I got a lock,” John answered and waited.

“Okay, I got a lock on a big truck in the center of the car lot,” Tom said.

“Fire,” Nathan said.

Two pops sounded when the missiles were shot out, clearing the tubes before the rockets kicked in with a whoosh. “Fuck you, Doyle,” Nathan said, following the streaks. John’s hit first, filling the valley with a flash, and a larger secondary explosion flashed just as Tom’s rocket hit.

‘Boom’ finally reached them from John’s hit and then a much bigger ‘KABOOOM’ rolled up the mountain, drowning out Tom’s impact. The lab was a raging conflagration and they could see the bluish tint to the fire. Glancing over to where the vehicles were parked, Nathan could see several vehicles burning and many blown over onto their sides.

“Let’s go home,” Nathan smiled, hanging a sign on a tree.

“Oh, that’s cold,” John laughed.

No Place is Safe and You Cannot Hide

Death to all tweakers

THE POSSE

CHAPTER TWENTY

Three days after getting back, and asleep in his bed, Nathan dreamed he was in the desert as the sun beat down on him. Looking over the sands, Nathan tried to move and find shade, but his body wasn’t listening. The desert faded away as Nathan’s brain rebooted, telling the body it was time to wake up.

“So hot,” Nathan groaned, struggling to open his eyes. Trying to push the covers off, Nathan couldn’t move his arms. The only extremity that tried to obey his commands was his left leg. Extending it out, Nathan didn’t feel any covers.

Worry entered his consciousness, and that gave his eyes the motivation to open. Lifting his head until his chin touched his chest, Nathan saw Jasmine laying on the right side of his chest with his arm trapped under her body. Seeing a very small head on his chest, Nathan lifted his head higher and saw Nolan asleep. “What?” Nathan mumbled, very confused. Turning to his left, he saw Emma and Chip burrowed into his left side.

The last thing he could remember from last night was being a cheap bicycle, and there damn sure weren’t any kids in the room then.

Putting his head back on the pillows, Nathan started wiggling his extremities to see how much movement he had. He could feel Jasmine’s legs wrapped around his right. Realizing he could only move his left leg, he decided to just lay there. Nathan’s bladder sent out a pain, letting him know that was not feasible.

Wiggling his torso and trying to slide out from under Jasmine and over Emma and Chip, Nathan heard Jasmine give a soft moan. “Hey, love,” she mumbled.

“When did the kids come in, and why is Nolan on my chest?”

Feeling Nathan moving, Jasmine turned to roll off, but Nathan helped. Jasmine flipped off Nathan’s chest with her face falling into the bed. Feeling the bed shaking, she lifted her head up and saw Nathan running off the end of the bed, still holding Nolan to his chest. Watching him leap off the bed, Jasmine chuckled as Nathan sprinted to the bathroom. Rolling back over, Jasmine let out a groan as she stretched.

With his bladder informing him relief measures were about to be taken without his consent, Nathan pawed at his boxers while he held Nolan to his chest. “Damn it,” he grunted, then looked down and saw his boxers were on backwards. Just shoving them down, Nathan gave a sigh that he’d beat the clock.

Feeling Nolan stirring, “Shh,” Nathan soothed, bouncing him lightly on his chest. When he was finished, Nathan felt deflated.

Moving to the sink, Nathan looked down at Nolan asleep and drooling on his chest. Turning on the sink, Nathan started to wash his right hand, but found it was hard to wash it without the left. Satisfied, Nathan headed back to bed and saw Jasmine propped on the pillows. “Kids?” Nathan just blurted out, motioning to Nolan and then to Emma and Chip.

“Emma and Chip wanted to come in an hour or so after you went to sleep,” Jasmine giggled.

“I’ve never put my boxers on backwards,” Nathan admitted, looking down.

“Oh, I did that,” Jasmine told him, and Nathan looked up. “Hun, they couldn’t get in the bed with you naked. I had your boxers almost on when I realized they were backwards, and I wasn’t taking them off again because Emma had her entire arm under the door.”

Shoving his boxers down and stepping out, Nathan put them on correctly. “So, Nolan crawled to the door?”

“No, he wouldn’t stop crying after Emma and Chip left Tim and Sherry’s room. He wanted to be with them, so I told Sherry he could sleep with us. I think they needed some cheap bicycle time of their own,” Jasmine grinned.

Sitting down on the bed and giving a nod, “Yeah, quickies can tide you over, but nothing beats a cheap bicycle romp.”

Feeling the bed move, they both turned and saw Emma just sit up with her hair going everywhere. “Pee Naphn,” she announced, holding out her hands.

“Jasmine is right here,” Nathan whined as Emma stood up, grabbing her crotch. “We will find a potty chair,” Nathan vowed, handing Nolan off.

The one and only time Nathan had made Emma go potty by herself, she’d fallen in the toilet, butt first. Nathan had come in and only saw Emma’s feet and hands sticking out of the bowl. She was small enough, her whole body could fit inside. Promptly pulling her out and giving her two baths, Nathan had told her he was sorry.

Nathan picked Emma up and held her at arm’s length when Emma grabbed herself to signal she couldn’t hold it any longer. Nathan and the others had learned to do this after getting soaked. Setting Emma on the pot, Nathan positioned her hands to hold herself up, and supported her back to keep her from falling in. “Your butt is the size of a half-dollar,” Nathan told her with relief, since he’d made it in time. Bathing Emma was a job unto itself. Sherry and Jasmine kept telling him to just wash her with a rag during the day, if Emma peed on herself. That just seemed wrong and nasty to Nathan, so Emma got a bath, but only when she lost control, peeing on herself in front of Nathan. Everyone else just wiped her off and let her go.

Holding Emma’s legs, so she wouldn’t fall in, Nathan yawned as Emma babbled at him. “No, we aren’t riding horses today,” Nathan said with his yawn.

“Lwa tic reed ahwe,” Emma babbled, and Nathan gave a startle.

“No, you can’t ride Ares,” Nathan snapped.

On the bed cradling Nolan in her arms, Jasmine shook her head as Emma babbled at Nathan with attitude. “Oh, I so pity the first boy Emma likes. I need to find out if Nathan was ever a sperm donor because that one is his.”

“I don’t care how big Ares is, you aren’t riding him!” Nathan shouted in the bathroom, and Emma just babbled louder.

Hearing scratching at the door, “Ares, sit!” Jasmine called out, and the scratching stopped.

“I told you, you aren’t allowed around Apollo! I know he’s bigger, but they’re dogs!” Nathan shouted, and Emma never stopped babbling.

The door opened, and Amanda came in with her hair puffed out. “What’s Nathan shouting about?” she yawned.

“Emma,” was all Jasmine said, and Amanda rolled her eyes and crawled up on the bed to lay beside Jasmine. When Ares and Athena jumped on the bed and laid at the foot, Jasmine almost told them to get off, but stopped because she didn’t know if Nathan allowed it.

Reaching out with her foot, Amanda rubbed Ares and then Athena. “Emma is a pain,” Amanda huffed. “She always gets her way.”

Jasmine bit her tongue to stop the remark on her lips and looked down at Amanda’s hair. “Amanda, I asked you to brush your hair before going to bed.”

Rolling on her back, Amanda rubbed Ares with her right foot and Athena with her left. “I forgot,” Amanda said. “We were playing John and Tom on Call of Duty.”

“Emma, you wipe, not pat!” Nathan moaned loudly.

Rolling over and propping up on her elbows, “When are you goin’ to get pregnant?” Amanda almost snarled. “If Nathan gets another baby, Emma won’t get so much attention.”

“Pfft,” Jasmine huffed, turning from Amanda to the bathroom door. “I’ll bet your ass anything, you’re wrong about that.”

“Can’t you just try?” Amanda whined.

Fighting to keep the blush off her cheeks, “Amanda, if it happens, it happens, but I’m not going to try. We’re being careful,” Jasmine replied.

“Will you be still for five seconds?! That’s all I need from you! I can’t brush your hair with your head spinning around on your shoulders! Are you possessed?!” Nathan cried out.

A few minutes later, a visibly annoyed Nathan came out holding Emma, who had a ponytail at the top of her head. “Why are the dogs on my bed?”

“They sleep on mine,” Amanda sassed, rolling over on her back and resting her feet on the dogs.

“Not on mine,” Nathan snapped. “Ares! Athena!” he barked, and both dogs jumped off the bed. Putting Emma down, she charged Ares to wrap her arms around his neck. “Who needs coffee when you have kids?” Nathan mumbled, heading for the dresser.

When Nathan started opening dresser drawers, Amanda sat up looking at his back. “Why do you have scratches on your back?” she asked. Jasmine turned to look, and her face turned pink.

Twisting at the waist, Nathan looked in the mirror at his back and grinned. “Cheap bicycle,” Nathan chuckled, and Jasmine’s face went from pink to red.

“Nathan, you don’t have a cheap bicycle. All your bicycles cost over a thousand dollars,” Amanda stated.

Shaking his head as he pulled on a tank top, “For someone who’s so smart, you can be really dense sometimes,” Nathan mumbled.

When Amanda turned to ask Jasmine and saw her red face, she stopped. “Oh, you were bumping uglies,” Amanda clarified. All strength left his legs and Nathan collapsed in a fit of laughter. “Sometimes he’s so weird,” Amanda sighed. “I like it much better when he’s not acting like an adult.”

Jasmine wasn’t surprised Amanda saw it. The kids loved Nathan because most of the time, he acted like them. More than once, she had heard one of the posse’s kids, or ‘little posse’ was what Nathan called them. They were called ‘Little Rascals’ by the others in the group, but this name included Nathan. “What’s wrong with Nathan, he’s acting like a grown-up?” She’d heard more than one kid ask that. It did amaze Jasmine, how Nathan literally changed overnight. And one thing she was certain of, the one responsible for the change was the same one Nathan was laughing at.

Getting up, Nathan walked over to the bed and picked Amanda up. Setting her on his hip, Nathan carried her to the bathroom. “Let’s get that hair done and start the workout.” Amanda grinned, wrapping her skinny legs around his waist as she held on like a bigger version of Emma.

“Oh, I do feel for the boys around here, and I pray they know how to run when they break the hearts of his little girls,” Jasmine grinned.

“Jazz,” she heard, and turned to see Chip sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” she smiled. “You’re not going to give me my morning hug?” Jasmine asked, poking out her bottom lip.

Letting out a squeal, Chip crawled over the bed fast. Hugging Jasmine from the side, so he wouldn’t squish Nolan, Chip kissed her on the cheek. Hearing a squeal at the foot of the bed, Jasmine sat up and her eyes got wide seeing Emma, astride Ares’ back. “He really fucking does understand her,” Jasmine gasped.

“Nathan, Emma didn’t listen and is riding Ares like a horse,” Jasmine sang out, and Emma turned to her with a scowl. “Hey, he told you,” Jasmine snapped.

“Ares, sit!” Nathan barked from the bathroom and Ares sat down. Trying to hold on with her legs and grabbing Ares’ fur, Emma let out grunts as her strength gave way and she slid off, hitting the floor. When Emma stood up, Jasmine didn’t need a translator to know Emma was pissed as she babbled in a yell.

“Keep on, and I’ll let Jasmine shave your head and make you sleep outside!” Nathan yelled out.

With wide eyes, Emma stopped babbling in shock and turned to Jasmine, pointing a finger at her. “Naphn nabie’a lelatya wwahita kkons ahbat,” Emma said, waving her finger at Jasmine.

“Nathan, what the fuck did she just say?” Jasmine asked slowly, putting Nolan down on the bed. One thing she did know, whatever Emma had said, it wasn’t nice.

“She’s my baby and you’re not, and you’re sleeping outside without a blanket,” Nathan interpreted.

“That does it,” Jasmine growled, jumping off the bed. Emma let out a scream, spinning around and took off for the bedroom door. Emma knew she was faster than the wind, but was surprised when she glanced back, and saw Jasmine was getting closer.

Pushing her legs harder, the world in Emma’s vision blurred from her speed as she ran into the hall and turned for the living room.

Walking to the door, Jasmine took several deep breaths to calm down and saw Emma waddling toward the couch. Reaching over, Jasmine picked her up and Emma let out a cry of shock that Jasmine could move so fast. “Stop!” Jasmine snapped, and Emma gave a surprised jerk that someone had talked to her like that.

“You will be nice, or you will sleep on the floor. Now, give me a hug or you don’t play today,” Jasmine warned.

“Naphn,” Emma pointed at the bedroom door.

“No, give me a hug or no playing for Emma today.” Like someone was holding a gun to her, Emma leaned over giving a slight hug. “That does it!” Jasmine cried out and ran over to the couch, and held Emma down before chewing on her stomach.

The squeal Emma let out should’ve been heard on the East Coast. With one hand holding Emma’s arms over her head and the other holding Emma’s ankles, Jasmine held her spread out, chewing on her stomach. Emma howled in laughter and pleaded for Jasmine to stop. All Jasmine heard was laughing and some minor babble.

Stepping out of his bedroom and rubbing his eyes, Tim saw Jasmine chewing on Emma. “What the hell was that?” Sherry called from the room.

“Emma. I think Jasmine’s tickling her till she passes out,” Tim offered.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Sherry called out. “Since you’re up, check on Nolan and start the coffee.”

Turning to look at Sherry still in the bed, “You pushed me out, and I didn’t wake up till I hit the floor. That’s the only reason I’m out of bed,” Tim informed her.

“Well, you’re out. Check on Nolan and start some coffee,” Sherry told him, pulling the covers up.

Shaking his head, Tim turned around to see Nathan walking out with Nolan in his arms. Seeing Nolan was wide awake and leaning out to stare at the source of the screaming laughter, “I got ‘em,” Tim said as Amanda and Chip followed Nathan out.

“He’s all right,” Nathan laughed.

Ignoring Nathan, Tim pulled his son from Nathan’s arms. “Oh no, he’s doing something for me,” Tim grinned, and strolled back into the bedroom. “He’s awake. Watch ‘im while I start the coffee.”

“Tim,” Sherry snapped as Tim set Nolan on her and walked out of the room. “I’m going to beat Daddy,” Sherry told Nolan, who was just grinning.

As Nathan walked over to the couch, Jasmine stopped chewing on Emma’s belly and the laughter stopped as Emma panted hard. “Sa, Sa, Sa,” she panted out, and her face looked utterly drained of all energy.

“She’s telling you she’s sorry,” Nathan said.

Letting Emma’s hands and ankles go, Jasmine leaned over Emma’s face smiling. “I was nice this time,” Jasmine smiled. “I love you, so don’t be mean to me.”

“ahvu ew,” Emma panted, and Jasmine didn’t need a translation. Scooping Emma up, Jasmine hugged her tight.

Seeing Nathan about to speak, “I know, she said, ‘I love you’,” Jasmine smiled.

“No, she didn’t,” Amanda huffed. “She just grunted.”

“I’m getting the boys up,” Nathan laughed, walking off.

After working out, the group just grabbed weapons and headed to the dining hall. Giving a groan that the food line wasn’t open yet, Nathan put Emma down and hung up his rifle. Hearing Emma squeal, Nathan glanced over his shoulder and saw Emma running full bore to the dessert table. “Ruth is doing that shit on purpose,” he grumbled.

“Holy shit,” Penny mumbled when Jasmine walked over. Normally, the group changed after the morning routine but today, they came in wearing workout clothes. The gray compression top and shorts Jasmine had on made her waist look very tiny, and didn’t reduce the size of her chest melons. In fact, they seemed to have grown.

Hearing his wife, Aiden turned and followed his wife’s gaze. Seeing Jasmine, his eyes grew. “Puddin’, you can’t put her down for dressing like that. You know they work out every morning,” Aiden offered.

“Aiden, if I had a body like that, I would flaunt it around in a string bikini,” Penny huffed. “Things get settled down, I’m getting implants,” Penny announced.

Wondering how or if he should respond, Aiden took the safe road. “I want you to dress like that now, and don’t go messing with my hooters. I like them just how they are.”

Penny turned with a smile and hugged him, “Oh, someone is getting thrown down tonight,” Penny giggled. Glad he’d chosen wisely, Aiden hugged her tight.

Strolling over while Emma pushed a chair to the dessert table to use as a ladder, Nathan’s step faltered. “She’s getting too damn smart,” he mumbled. Scooping Emma up before she climbed on the table, Nathan turned to see Ruth putting a huge pan of scrambled eggs on the serving line.

“Ruth, quit leaving these cakes out,” Nathan snapped.

“You hush,” Ruth popped off and came around the serving line. “That little one needs to eat as much as she can. She’s so little, I’m sure she has to run around in the rain just to get wet.”

When Ruth clapped her hands and held them out, Emma leaned out, going to Ruth. “That’s all Emma would eat, if I allowed it,” Nathan scoffed. “I have to put meat on her bones, not hype her up on sugar.”

“You get. I’ll fix her a plate,” Ruth said as Emma talked to her.

Since Ruth and Isaac were the oldest members, they were everyone’s grandparents, as well as the cooks. “Ruth, eggs and bacon on her plate,” Nathan said as Emma kissed Ruth on the cheek.

“Isaac made her some pancakes,” Ruth laughed out at Emma. “Go sit. Emma’s going to help me.”

Watching Ruth carry Emma into the kitchen, Nathan just gave a sigh. “This is hard work being a parent.”

“It’s supposed to be,” Vince laughed, walking up with Rusty. “Lanny and them got back last night.”

“They found targets that fast?” Nathan scoffed as he headed toward the table.

They both followed Nathan over to the table. “Yeah, they caught a group clearing the road where you hit them. They shot half a dozen, then pulled out,” Vince said as Nathan sat down, and they pulled over chairs.

“The other team said it looked like they tried to clear the landslide we created to block the road north, but stopped. It would take heavy equipment and days to clear it. Hell, half a mile of road is buried, and the slide hit the river and has backed it up. There’s a small lake now above the slide,” Rusty grinned. “Have to give it to ya, that was genius.”

“That just lets them know we’re here, didn’t it, hun?” Jasmine asked, watching Chip run around.

“Doll, this is the west,” Nathan laughed. “Rockslides are common here. Hell, we have slides that shut down interstates. There was already a small one there. That spot has one every year on its own. I knew if we helped it, we could make the road impassable.”

Leaning over, Jasmine kissed his cheek, “That’s my baby,” she smiled. Turning back to Chip, she saw him using the chair Emma had pushed over to the desert table, and she took off.

As Nathan watched Jasmine run over, Rusty leaned closer to him. “Lanny caught a tweaker,” Rusty said in a low voice.

Jerking his head and locking his gaze on Rusty’s face, “Preacher?” Nathan gasped. Rusty nodded and Nathan saw he was serious. “Why?” Nathan finally asked.

“He wanted to know why? Well, you know,” Rusty hesitated because he wasn’t about to say it.

“That really shook his faith,” Vince told them.

“There is no why. They’re evil incarnate,” Nathan said in a low voice while the members of the posse moved down the table, seeing the mini conference.

Shaking his head, “There is a why,” Rusty told him, glancing around to make sure no little ears were close. “Big D does it, so they can never leave, even if they shake the drug habit. If people ever find out you were a cannibal, they’d kill you. It doesn’t matter what side, color, or gang affiliation. You’re dead, and from what we’ve heard, it’s not a fast or easy death. Doyle’s bound them to the gang for life.”

Shaking his head in disbelief, “I should’ve shot his ass when I pulled him over,” Nathan muttered.

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty, Nathan,” Vince told him.

Jerking his eyes to Rusty, “Lanny get numbers?” Nathan almost panted.

Nathan’s heart nearly stopped when Rusty nodded slowly, not answering right away. “Over fifteen hundred,” he finally said. “There is good news. We’ve whittled them down over two hundred.”

“So, there’re only thirteen hundred?” Nathan asked with hope.

Shaking his head, “No, fifteen hundred was after our attacks. The one Lanny caught had a few brain cells still working. They keep up with numbers by how much meth they hand out in a day. Each tweaker gets an eight ball a day, if they perform the duties the day before. Like guard duty, convoy out to get supplies and survivors,” Rusty told him, and Nathan felt sick.

“There’s no way there are that many there, I’m sorry,” Nathan replied. “I can believe five to six hundred, you guys got from our pictures. We would’ve seen over a thousand, and you don’t send out that many on runs. I know I predicted a thousand, but to be honest, I was just going high.”

“You’re right, they have other camps, and one near Burke,” Rusty said. “Lanny and his team went to check it out. They just confirmed it, but didn’t scout it.”

“That’s not even ten miles from the interstate!” Nathan cried out.

“Yep, that’s where they catch many of the new recruits,” Vince nodded. “Just so you know, they’re adding around a hundred a week.”

“I feel sick,” Nathan mumbled.

“Well, this won’t help,” Rusty sighed. “They have a new lab set up and pumping the shit out in Prichard. But now, they have guards around both camps.”

“How did Lanny get the guy to talk?” Nathan asked suspiciously.

Giving a nod as he leaned back in his chair, “Just sat down, pulled out his Bible and talked,” Vince said. “It took him an hour to wear the guy down, but he did.”

“We still have the captive?” Nathan asked.

“Nope,” Rusty answered, shaking his head. “After Lanny got the answers he was looking for, he put his Bible away, pulled out his pocket knife, and cut the guy’s throat ear-to-ear.”

“I like it, that’s cold,” Nathan grinned.

“You need help,” Vince mumbled.

Getting up from the table, Nathan walked around Vince’s chair. “Where are you going?” Vince asked.

“To talk to Lanny, and tell him I’m sorry again for almost pulling a gun on him,” Nathan answered.

Watching Nathan walk over to Lanny’s table, “Man, he still feels bad about that,” Rusty mumbled.

Pulling a chair out, Nathan dropped down. Normally, Lanny was smiling and cheerful, but not since that day. “Heard you scored on your trip out,” Nathan said.

“Yeah,” Lanny nodded. “Nathan, don’t apologize again. I know why you did it, so let it go.”

“Lanny,” Nathan started, and Lanny cut him off.

“Nathan, I can honestly say, had the roles been reversed, I would’ve shot you or anyone else who’d even suggested we talk about it,” Lanny said, turning to Nathan. “Most here, I would’ve wounded,” he nodded. “Nathan, I just can’t believe that kind of evil is here, in this country.”

Giving a grunt, “You act like the evil just showed up,” Nathan replied. “It’s always been here, that’s why I never fell in with ‘overcome evil with kindness’. The way I see it, evil has a team and good has a team. Unless those on the good team stomp the evil team’s asses into the ground, evil will win. I’ll never forgive and forget. The only time I’ll show compassion to my enemy is after I’ve killed them. My family is on the good team, so I’ll just follow my own rules.”

Leaning back, Lanny laughed. “Yes, that is who you are. Your safety has never been a concern to you, but your friends and now family? You’re a mother hen and always have been.”

“That dates underwear models,” Regina chimed in. “How could you even date someone like Patrice? She was the worst of all of your hussies.” For a second, Lanny was about to reply and tell his wife why Nathan did. There was hot, then super sexy, and then there was Patrice. About to talk, Lanny stopped before deciding he needed to keep his mouth shut. Besides, he was glad to see his wife getting her spark back. These last few days had been hard on everybody. Team Evil, as Nathan put it, had cast a pall over everything in its wake.

Giving a shrug, “I was a guy, sorry,” Nathan replied. “But I have me a woman now,” he grinned.

Rolling her eyes up at the ceiling, “Thank you,” Regina told God.

“So, are we clear? Stop apologizing,” Lanny said.

Nodding, Nathan leaned close and looked around before turning to Lanny. “How do you ask a girl to marry you?” Nathan whispered. Lanny and Regina just stared at Nathan in a catatonic state. “I mean, do you do it like in the movies and get down on one knee? Or do you send her a card? I mean, how do you do it in real life? I can’t ask the posse because they would give me shit, but you’re the pastor. So, how do you do it?”

When he finished, Nathan realized neither was blinking. “Guys?” he said, waving a hand in front of their faces.

Glancing over his shoulder, Bill saw Lanny and Regina both catatonic and Nathan waving his hand in front of their faces. “Great, Nathan broke the preacher,” Bill sighed.

“I don’t want to know what he asked, so don’t tell me when you find out,” Janice informed him.

“What’s wrong?!” Nathan cried out, and each finally blinked as they jerked back in their chairs.

“You’re serious?” Lanny accused.

“Duh,” Nathan sang out. “I’m asking you because you’ve married people and are married, so how do you do this and not look stupid?”

Trying to think, Lanny turned to Regina. “You just ask her,” Regina smiled. “Tell her why you want to spend the rest of your life with her. Why she’s special and why you love her.”

Biting the inside of his cheek, Nathan nodded. “Okay, but do I need to get on one knee? Do it alone? I mean, when’s a good time?”

Turning back to Nathan, there was no question in Lanny’s mind that Nathan loved Jasmine. “Nathan, in normal times I would tell you, take them someplace special, just the two of you and ask her. Now, with the way the world is, I’m disappointed you’ve waited at all. Jasmine loves you and I never thought it possible, but you’re in love with her. Just ask her,” Lanny told him with a smile.

Taking a deep breath, Nathan let it out slowly. “Am I supposed to be, like, really nervous?”

“I forgot my own name when I asked Regina to marry me,” Lanny grinned.

Nodding, as he pushed back from the table, “I can do this,” Nathan said to himself.

Lanny could tell Nathan was a little pale when he left. “I feel so honored that he asked me,” Lanny chuckled.

“Me too,” Regina said, hugging him. “If Jasmine turns him down, she disappears,” Regina stated, and was surprised when Lanny nodded in agreement.

Trying to remain calm and not spank kids, Jasmine was sitting at the table holding Chip. “You aren’t climbing on the dessert table!” Jasmine shouted, and Chip just looked down in his lap. Lifting her head, Jasmine saw Nathan walking over. “Hun, are you all right?” she asked, seeing he looked pale.

“Yeah,” Nathan nodded, fidgeting with his hands. Then he pulled something from the pocket of his workout shorts. “Um,” Nathan stuttered. “Well, you know…”

Feeling lightheaded, Nathan paused, moving closer to the table to lean on it, and the entire table turned to him. “I just wanted to say I love you,” Nathan blurted out fast.

With a warm smile, “I love you too,” Jasmine replied, then the smile slowly fell as she saw Nathan break out in a sweat. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Nathan admitted. “I know I was pig-headed, but when I first saw you, my heart stopped. Before we left that lake, I admitted to myself, I was in love with you. I didn’t want to be because you’re like, super everything, and I’m just me. Never would I want anyone to look at you weird,” Nathan rambled.

Jasmine smiled as he spoke and then when he neared the end, he lost her. “That was so beautiful, but what about the weird part?” Jasmine asked.

“Well, I’m old and you’re not, and I fell in love with you…” Nathan sighed, and Jasmine forced her smile to stay on her face. “I mean, I’m like a pervert because you’re smart, can think, great with the kids, and oh my god, are you a hottie. Yeah, so, I just didn’t want anyone to look at you weird.”

With a huge smile, “The first fucker that does, I’ll cut their eyes out with a fork right here on this table. I just saw you, not a man or older man, just you,” Jasmine told him.

A goofy grin filled Nathan’s face. “Wow,” he chuckled like a stoner as the posse and their families watched in shock. “There’s been something I wanted to do, but just didn’t know how because I’ve never thought about it till I met you. But if you like, don’t mind, and I want you to… know you don’t have to and can live in my house forever, but I was wondering if, um…., you would like to, maybe think about or just do it…,” Nathan kept on stalling as Jasmine felt dizzy and started panting.

“… sometime in the future, or now, I’ll do what you want-” ‘BAMM’ sounded and Nathan jumped in the air like a startled cat. Landing on his toes ready to brawl, he spun toward the source and saw Rusty with his hand on the table because he had slapped it hard.

“Will you just spit it out?!” Rusty shouted. “You’ve been stalling for ten minutes!”

“Oh,” Nathan panted, turning back to Jasmine. Swallowing hard, Nathan held out his hand and a ring lay in his palm. “I want you to be my wife,” Nathan blurted out, and then gave a sigh like the world fell off his back.

With tears running down Jasmine’s face, Amanda took Chip from her lap. “I never thought you would ask!” Jasmine wailed out and threw herself over the table, wrapping her arms around Nathan’s neck. “I would love to marry you!” she cried out and before the others could cheer, Rusty leapt in the air with his feet landing on the table.

“YYYYYEEEESSSSSS!” he bellowed with his hands held high in triumph, freezing the rest of the table in their chairs. Except for Nathan and Jasmine, everyone turned to Rusty as he vaulted off the table and landed on the floor, dropping down on one knee and pumping his arm in the air. “YYYYYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSS!” he bellowed, then looked up at the ceiling. “I WON! THANK YOUUUUU!”

“I am the greatest!” Rusty shouted, bending over and spanking his rump as he danced in a circle. Both his boys looked around nervously, then slid out of their chairs and hid under the table.

“Libby,” Bill said, and turned to see Libby with her head on the table. “What’s wrong with Rusty?”

“None of your fucking business,” Libby snapped as Rusty jumped on the table again, looking down at her. Libby lifted her head up. “They haven’t said when,” Libby popped off.

“Oh, no! The bet was, HE, would ask before August. That was the bet, and it’s not AUGUST!!!!!!!” Rusty finished in a shout, throwing his head back and raising his arms in triumphant praise.

“What the fuck did you bet?” Janice asked somewhat worried.

Libby didn’t answer as Nathan and Jasmine realized Rusty was dancing on the table, spanking his own butt.

“Wow, I knew they’d be happy, but that seems a little extreme,” Nathan admitted, then held up Jasmine’s hand and put an engagement ring on her finger. “It was my mom’s. I’m not going to lie, I never thought I would use it.”

Looking at the ring, Jasmine just sighed while Rusty danced from one end of the table to the other. “Rusty, will you get the hell down?!” Libby shouted, shaking her head.

Leaping over Natalie’s head, Rusty landed on the floor and spun around, holding up each index finger. “Tonight is number OOONNNNEEEE!”

Glancing over, Libby saw both of their boys under the table hiding. “Rusty, you’re embarrassing the boys,” Libby snapped.

“That’s how they were CONCEIVED!” Rusty cheered, and Libby’s face turned from red to maroon.

Hearing snorts, she turned to see Bill, Aiden, Tim, and even Nathan smirking. “You guys gossip worse than women!” Libby huffed, trying to fight the blush down.

“One hundred times of my CHOICEEEEE!” Rusty shouted, jumping in the air and throwing his right fist up.

Hugging Jasmine tight, Nathan saw Libby’s face, and now her neck turning red. “Were pom poms involved in this bet?” Nathan asked, and Libby dropped her head down, banging her forehead on the table.

“YYYEEEESSSSSSS!” Rusty sang out. “One hundred times, baby, when I WANT!!!!”

Spinning to Nathan, Rusty pointed at him with each hand. “You da man!!!” he declared.

“I think Rusty’s almost as happy as I am,” Jasmine admitted.

With his arm around Penny, Aiden nodded. “That just shows you the power of Libby’s cheerleader outfit.”

Penny gave a nod. “Yes, and I don’t think Rusty needs control of that power,” she said, and the others busted out laughing. “Because, as Peter Parker will tell you, with great power comes great responsibility.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Moving along a small trail in the morning sun, Bill and Rusty were walking back from the lookout where the MEW2 was. “I like that damn thing,” Bill said.

“Yeah, I’m with Nathan. We should kick those troops’ asses for wanting his spare,” Rusty added. “I’m tempted to go with Nathan to find another one.”

Weaving around a tree, “Don’t get sidetracked,” Bill sighed. “We have enough to do without looking for magic beans.” When Rusty didn’t pop off, Bill glanced over his shoulder to see Rusty smiling, almost skipping along the trail. “I’m willing to bet that’s the last time Libby makes a bet with him,” Bill mumbled.

Reaching the dining hall, they found Aiden and Tim talking with Vince and Lanny. “Hey,” Bill said, walking up. “Trouble?”

“Nah, just talking about all those new people and how well they’re fitting in,” Vince said.

“Shit, I like it,” Rusty said with a wide grin. “With that MU out up on that mountain top, we only need five on guard duty. It would take fifty to monitor the same amount of area that thing can.”

Rolling his eyes, “Rusty, have you called in your bet every night this week?” Aiden sighed.

With a gasp, “Hell, no,” Rusty answered. “I have to save them up and ration them out.”

Bill glanced around, “Where’s Nathan?”

“At the range,” Tim answered, and the others turned to him. “What? Guys, they practice all the time at the house doing drills. And no, the kids are the ones who started it, not Nathan. He started teaching them martial arts each morning on the way here remember, and he’s continued, but they wanted, well, Amanda demanded that weapon tactics be started.”

The joy slid off Rusty’s face as he cleared his throat. “Um, does that make my kids slackers?” he asked.

“Depends,” Tim shrugged. “Listen to Amanda and it does, but if you listen to John, it doesn’t.”

“Compared to Tom, Natalie, and Casey, how good are Amanda and John?” Rusty asked timidly.

Shaking his head, “Go to the range and see for yourself,” Tim answered. “Jasmine had Nathan put together a SAW M249 for her after that last ambush. She’s tickled pink now she can shoot two hundred times before reloading. That girl loves a belt-fed weapon and when she found out the SAW shot the same ammo the M4s do, she wanted one.”

Bill glanced at Rusty when he spoke. “Who’s down at the range with them?” he asked.

“A lot of the new people and some of ours,” Vince answered. “I let Amanda and Casey off light duty this morning after their workout. Amanda informed the group they were going to the range today to do live fire.”

“I thought Nathan was going to lay out his next patrol,” Bill said.

Giving a curt nod, “Oh, he is,” Vince said. “But Amanda let everyone know real fast she was going, and wanted to make sure she was ready to ‘sling hate downrange’. Her words.”

Rusty turned to look at Tim. “Are my boys down there?” he asked.

“Yep,” Tim nodded. “And both of them are terrified of Amanda, just so you know.”

“Shit, I’m terrified of Amanda,” Aiden mumbled under his breath.

Studying Vince for several minutes, Bill finally spoke. “You sure Amanda and Casey are fine to come off light duty?”

“Bill,” Vince sighed. “They only had two weeks left and to be honest, I could’ve let them off a week or two ago. Call me a bigot, but I just have a problem with young kids eager to go out and,” Vince paused, holding up his hands to quote Amanda, “‘pop caps in bad guys’.”

“She does seem rather eager,” Lanny added.

“Ya think?” Tim huffed. “None of you had to listen to her after each patrol Nathan went out on! And to make matters worse, Casey follows her around like she’s a living god! To hear sweet little Casey, yell out she wants to ‘scalp some bitches’ is wrong on so many levels!”

Rusty turned to Bill with a serious expression. “We have to end this shit before Emma gets to be a tween,” he declared. “If it comes to it, we just Adam and Eve the entire country.”

“Adam and Eve the country?” Lanny asked, furrowing his brow.

“Kill everyone outside this group, except one man and one woman,” Rusty explained. “I don’t even want to guess how much of a bad-ass Emma will be as a tween. My son Shane tried to wrestle with Amanda two days ago, and she kicked his ass. It really didn’t help much when Randal jumped in, trying to save his little brother, and Amanda put him in an arm bar.”

Letting out a laugh, “She may be skinny, but that girl is strong and tough,” Tim chuckled. The others stared at Tim as he wiped his eyes. “Sherry finally found out what getting bit feels like when she wrestled with Amanda.”

Looking off at the mountains surrounding them, “I feel like I’m a bad father for some reason,” Bill mumbled.

Stepping over, Tim grabbed Bill’s arm. “Don’t. If your kids had been through what Nathan’s have, they’d be doing the same thing. Sherry and I join them for workouts in the morning and training at night, so when we face it, we’re at least better prepared,” Tim told him. “I hate to say it, but those kids are better prepared for close combat than most of us.”

The group just stared at Tim in shock as he turned on his heel, walking off. “Come on, and I’ll show you what I mean,” he called over his shoulder.

“Tim, we had Tom, Natalie, and Casey at the range already,” Rusty said, jogging up and walking beside him. “Yeah, they were more situationally aware, but the others shot better.”

Scoffing, “Dude, that was over three weeks ago. Ancient history to those kids,” Tim replied. “The only time Nathan could really train them was when they were stopped. Even then, they were tired, but they still learned. Here and now, the kids soak up what he teaches and what they study.”

“Study?” Vince asked, catching up.

“Vince, those tactical training books you see out every day when you come over? The kids are reading those. They’ve watched every training video Nathan has, and you know, that’s a large collection,” Tim snorted the last. The entire posse nodded at that.

Walking around the dining hall and into the valley, they followed Tim and could see a large group at the range. They weren’t in a cluster, but in several small groups. When they were fifty yards from the range, Tim stopped. John, Tom, Amanda, Natalie, Casey, and Jasmine each had a group with them, aiming an M4 at the targets. Two people were side-by-side aiming weapons, and each would drop the magazine before racking the bolt back like they were clearing a jam, then slap in a new magazine. After the two ran the drill ten times, another two would take their place and the lesson continued.

“My kids know how to run S.P.O.R.T.S. in their sleep,” Rusty said, watching Randal in Jasmine’s group run the drill.

“Rusty,” Tim sighed, shaking his head. “Just shut up and watch.”

Biting his tongue, Rusty continued watching and then noticed Nathan pacing behind the groups. He couldn’t help but smile, seeing Emma riding Nathan’s shoulders, Nolan in a baby carrier on his chest, Chip holding Nathan’s right hand, and another kid walking along with Nathan holding his left. “Who’s the other kid with Nathan?” Rusty asked.

“Leeann,” Tim chuckled.

“The little girl from the sheriff’s group?” Lanny asked, and Tim nodded.

“Chip has a friend, and she’s really helped him open up,” Tim told them, with some of the joy falling off his face. “I don’t even want to know what Chip’s been through before Nathan got to him.”

“Tim, is Nathan thinking of taking Leeann in?” Bill asked hesitantly.

“No, and he was very clear on that,” Tim huffed, and Bill gave a thankful sigh, thinking Nathan had already taken on more than enough. “Sherry and I are going to ask Nathan if we can adopt Leeann,” Tim said.

Watching the groups start over, Bill shook his head. This time, one person was clearing the M4 while the other aimed their pistol downrange at the target. “Why do you need Nathan’s permission?” Bill asked.

“Dumbass. We live with him, Billy boy,” Tim snapped, and Aiden turned away quickly, snickering.

Spinning to Tim with a glare in his eyes, “You aren’t Nathan,” Bill snarled.

“Well, quit thinking with your ass!” Tim popped off.

Trying not to laugh, Rusty stepped between the two. “Bill, you earned that one. So, sorry,” Rusty snickered. “If you don’t or can’t take Leeann in, we will,” Rusty offered.

Turning away from Bill back to the range, “We’re just waiting for the right time to ask,” Tim said as Bill calmed down.

“Load up!” Nathan shouted out, startling the group.

They all turned while two in each group loaded their M4s and pistols. Seeing red tape on all the rifle magazines, Bill gave a small grin. “Nathan has them using his magazines that double feed.”

“Yep,” Tim answered.

The group started shooting and, in each pair, one M4 malfunctioned and five yelled out, “Gun down!” and went to work clearing it. The second person in each group soon had a malfunction, but instead of clearing the rifle, yanked their pistol to shoot the targets downrange to keep hate on the targets. When the first person cleared their rifle, they called out, “Gun up!” and the pistol shooter ejected their pistol magazine and reloaded.

After holstering the pistol, they went to work on clearing their own jammed rifle. By now, the person on rifle had a malfunction, since they could only reload with the messed-up M4 magazines. Now, they covered with a pistol while the other cleared their rifle.

“He’s running them through combat drills?!” Rusty cried out.

“Yep,” Tim answered as they all watched.

Rusty grinned at little Casey, watching the two in her group on the firing line. Casey shouted at the two and they stopped what they were doing and turned to her. His mouth fell open when Casey pulled her pistol out, racking the slide with one hand, then aimed downrange. She popped off several shots, then ejected her magazine while her other hand yanked another pistol magazine off her vest and slapped it in before firing off more rounds.

Casey holstered her pistol and she talked to the two women on the firing line. “Casey said she had trouble racking the slide,” Aiden blurted out.

“Used to,” Tim stressed. “Nathan caught her using her knees to lock the slide back a week or so ago. So he gave her one of the compact XDs and put a charging handle on it. Then he had Casey sit in the living room as we watched TV and practice racking the slide. Now, Casey doesn’t have a problem running her pistol. Like I said, three weeks ago is a long time for those kids.”

When Nathan called stop, they watched everyone clear weapons and Aiden gave a startle to see his daughter in Tom’s group. “Penny didn’t tell me Gina was going to the range,” Aiden mumbled.

“Hey, Janice didn’t tell me Robin was going,” Bill said, waving a hand out toward John’s group. “Nathan has all the Little Rascals.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to enlighten them, but Tim kept his mouth shut. Be damned, if he was telling the daddies why their daughters were there. In Tom and John’s groups were several of the teen girls from the compound, and the newcomers. If they’d looked really hard, they would’ve noticed there were no boys in either group. When Tim saw Robin step real close to John laughing, he thought he heard a low growl from Bill.

“Stomach upset?” Rusty asked, turning to Bill.

“No,” Bill grumbled.

Following Bill’s eyes, Rusty saw Robin really flirting with John, as only a teenage girl could, and was making no effort whatsoever to hide it. “Oh,” Rusty said, then shrugged. “Bill, don’t get mad, but I like John more than any boy Robin’s ever talked to. But, I’m sorry to say, John doesn’t know she’s flirting.”

Hearing that, the anger left Bill’s body as he studied John closer, and just like Rusty said, John wasn’t aware Bill’s daughter was flirting with him. For some reason, this made Bill rather upset and the fact it made him upset, pissed him off. “What’s wrong with that boy?” Bill snapped. “Robin’s hanging on his arm and he isn’t even talking to her.”

“Hey, guys,” Nathan said, walking up and patting Nolan in the baby carrier on his chest. Tiny Emma was sitting on his shoulders like a queen, regally babbling at all her subjects below her. Not seeing Chip and Leeann, the others looked around and found them with Jasmine and Sherry.

Turning back to Nathan with fire in his eyes, “Is Robin not good enough for your boy John?” Bill blurted out.

Freezing because he wasn’t sure he’d heard right, “Ah, what?” Nathan asked.

Pointing behind Nathan, “Robin’s practically throwing herself at him, hanging off of John, and he’s almost ignoring her!” Bill snapped. Turning his body, Nathan saw Robin was holding John’s left arm. A cluster of teens was with them, mostly girls, just talking. “Nathan, you’d better talk to him. Robin’s prettier than any of those other girls,” Bill said, and Nathan stumbled back as he turned toward Bill. There was no doubt Robin was pretty, but to hear her very overprotective dad say it seemed unnatural.

“What?!” Nathan shouted. “Bill, you tried to convince the sheriff to do a drug raid on Robin’s last boyfriend just because you’d heard he smoked cigarettes!”

Stepping up to Nathan, “We aren’t talking about that!” Bill barked. “Is my little girl not good enough for your boy?”

At a total loss for words and wondering how to address that, Nathan looked at Rusty, Tim, and Aiden for guidance, but saw all three in shock. Then he shifted his eyes to Vince and Lanny. Nathan wasn’t sure, it looked like Lanny was about to pass out from shock, but Vince was snickering softly. Realizing he wasn’t getting help from any of them, Nathan shifted his gaze back to Bill. “Ah, Bill? John’s never had a girlfriend,” Nathan said softly. “The only girls he’s talked to are Amanda, Natalie, and Casey.”

A hopeful smile sprang up on Bill’s face. “Really?”

Like a switch had been flipped, anger filled Nathan’s face and he snarled, “Yeah, and if anyone says anything about it, teasing him, you deal with me.”

Bill spun around to the others. “Anyone talks about that, I have explosives,” he warned.

“You were supposed to give them all to Nathan,” Rusty said, coming out of his shock.

“Needed to keep some for emergencies,” Bill replied, turning back to Nathan. “So? Go run those other girls off, so Robin and John can talk alone,” Bill commanded.

Stepping back, Nathan stared at Bill with a confused expression. “What the hell is wrong with you doing that?” Nathan asked.

Looking back at the range, “I don’t want to scare John off,” Bill admitted, and Vince gave a hiccup before he spun around and walked off laughing.

Jasmine and Sherry walked over to the group and saw Lanny, Tim, Aiden, and Rusty staring at the back of Bill’s head in shock. Seemingly in a catatonic state, Nathan was staring right at Bill’s face, but Bill was looking toward John’s group still talking. “What’s this about?” Sherry groaned, holding Leeann’s hand.

Having no clue, Jasmine just shrugged as she adjusted the SAW on her back and held Chip’s hand. “What’s wrong?” Jasmine asked when they stopped beside Nathan.

“Jasmine,” Bill said, spinning to her. “Go run those other girls around John and Robin off, so they can talk.”

Without a doubt, that was the last thing either woman had expected. Jasmine’s jaw fell open and Sherry’s legs gave out. Landing on her rump, Sherry gaped at Bill as he gave Jasmine a pleading expression. Slowly, Jasmine turned to see Robin hanging on John’s left arm while he talked to the others in the group. “Bill, you hurt my boy, and I’ll skin your ass alive and roll you in salt,” Jasmine warned.

Shaking his head, Tim moved over and helped Sherry up. “Get Nolan, I’ll get Chip and Leeann. We’re going inside,” Tim told her. “The natural order of the universe has shifted, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Earth falls into the sun right now or pigs start flying.”

Numbly, Sherry stepped over, taking Nolan out of the baby carrier on Nathan’s chest and he never moved. Still in shock, Nathan’s eyes never left Bill’s face.

“Jasmine, I wouldn’t hurt John,” Bill stated emphatically as Tim and Sherry left with the kids. “Go make those other kids leave,” he repeated. “Mainly, the girls.”

Glancing back at John, Jasmine shook her head and stormed over to Bill. Shoving Nathan to the side, Jasmine stood toe-to-toe with Bill. “Listen here, buster. John’s a sweet young man. He’s never even held a girl’s hand,” Jasmine spat out, shoving her chest into Bill’s. Well, Jasmine’s chest pushed Bill’s belly. Not even feeling the push, but hearing what Jasmine said, Bill just grinned wider. The more he heard about John, the more he liked. “Your daughter breaks my son’s heart, I’ll break your dick off and shove it down your throat,” Jasmine finished in a growl.

Bill just nodded, never taking his eyes off the two. “You can have Janice and Tyler, if you help me fix John and Robin up,” Bill offered.

That did take the anger out of Jasmine’s sails and she stumbled back. “Your wife and son?” she mumbled.

“Yeah, go make those other kids leave,” Bill almost cheered.

Not sure what emotion he was experiencing, Nathan turned away and started walking off. “I’m taking a nap with doodlebug,” he called out as he stumbled off. Pausing her babbling, Emma waved ‘bye’ to her subjects while Nathan walked away.

“Jasmine, make Nathan go over there and run those other girls off,” Bill moaned.

Hearing ‘girls’ for the first time, Jasmine glanced over her shoulder and saw another girl easing up on John’s right side. The glare Robin was giving the girl, Jasmine was sure she would’ve run away if it’d been directed at her. “Bill, Robin hurts my boy and we’ll have words, but only after I stomp your ass,” Jasmine warned.

Spinning around, Jasmine walked over to John and the group. “John, I need you and Robin to go to the house and help clean guns,” Jasmine called out. Robin seemed to glow hearing that, and several of the other girls scowled at her.

“Okay, Jasmine,” John said with his customary smile on his face. Robin never let his arm go when John shouldered several range bags and started off toward the house.

“I clean my own weapons,” Amanda decreed, coming over.

Closing her eyes, Jasmine let out a long sigh. “Amanda, don’t start,” Jasmine moaned. “You can clean your weapons, but make John check them.”

“I don’t need him to check behind me,” Amanda snapped. “I could field strip an AR before he could.”

“Amanda!” Jasmine barked, and Amanda jumped back.

“What crawled up your butt?”

“Amanda, you will go back and make sure John and Robin clean the weapons we let the women who joined us use,” Jasmine told her, hoping Amanda would like that.

Happy she was the boss over something, Amanda perked up with a smile as she spun around and skipped over to Casey and Natalie. Closing her eyes, Jasmine just shook her head. “Being a momma sucks.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Early the next morning, Nathan was pouring a cup of coffee when he heard a knock at the door. Glancing into the living room, he saw all three dogs just looking at the door. “It’s one of the posse,” Nathan yawned, heading for the door.

He opened the door and found Bill standing in shorts and a tank top, with his family behind him in workout clothes. “Hey, Nathan. You mind if we start working out with you guys in the morning?” Bill asked with a grin.

Blinking the sleep from his eyes, “You hate working out,” Nathan stated in a groggy voice, then saw Robin bouncing on her toes behind her dad.

“Well, it’s time for me to get over that shit,” Bill replied.

Turning around and heading for the coffee he’d left in the kitchen, “I don’t care,” Nathan droned. Robin shot by her dad, nearly knocking him down, and stopped beside Nathan. Wrapping an arm around Nathan’s waist and putting her head on his arm, she gave him a hug from the side.

“Is John… and the others up?” she asked.

Grabbing his cup, Nathan cut his eyes down to Robin and saw she seemed too wide awake and eager for this time of morning, especially for a fifteen-year-old girl. The last time she and Tyler had spent the weekend with him, which was only a week before he’d left for Atlanta, Robin had slept until noon both days. He had known her since the day she was born and in truth, looked at Robin like a little sister. “Yeah, they should be out in a minute,” Nathan answered, seeing Janice and Tyler stop at the counter. Both looked like one should at five in the morning.

Turning to Bill when he walked up, Nathan saw he was wide awake like his daughter, just not bouncing with excitement. “Coffee?” Nathan asked, pointing at the pot.

“Thank you,” Janice moaned, shuffling over. Still half-asleep, Tyler followed his mom in the same shuffle.

A small screech sounded, and everyone turned to see a butt-naked Emma running out of Nathan’s bedroom. Heading straight for Nathan still screeching, Emma latched on his leg. Jasmine came out of the bedroom with a washcloth in one hand and a pullup in the other. “Emma, come here, so I can clean you up!” Jasmine snapped and Robin let go of Nathan and turned to look down the hall where the other rooms were.

Stopping her screech, Emma tried to climb Nathan’s leg like a tree. Setting his coffee mug down, Nathan looked up at the ceiling. “God, I know you’re testing me, but remember, conduct was always my lowest grade, and at the best of times, I was a C student,” Nathan stated as Emma latched on his leg hard with her legs when Jasmine reached her. “I have learned humility, God, so please stop,” Nathan begged.

Letting out a long sigh while Jasmine tried prying Emma’s arms and legs from around his legs, “I got her,” Nathan stated with no emotion.

When Nathan grabbed her, Emma let go with a smile. As Nathan turned, Emma looked at Jasmine with a scowl while Nathan carried her toward the bedroom. “Stick your tongue out at me and see if I don’t cut it off,” Jasmine dared with hard eyes, and Emma jerked back. “Nathan, just wipe her off,” Jasmine groaned as he entered the bedroom.

For a brief second, Nathan really thought about it. “She peed in her pullup, so she needs a bath,” he called out in a flat voice.

Tossing the washcloth into the sink, Jasmine looked up at the ceiling. “Hey! I told my momma I was sorry, so you can exorcise that demon from Emma anytime, God!” Jasmine cried out.

Lowering her gaze, Jasmine gave a startle to see Bill and his family. “How did you get here?” Jasmine asked.

With a big smile, “Nathan let us in,” Bill said.

Before Jasmine could respond, the door to Tim and Sherry’s bedroom opened. Stepping out while putting her hair up in a ponytail, “Who was killing Emma?” Sherry asked, and Leeann followed her out.

“Nobody,” Jasmine huffed, then mumbled, “not yet anyway.”

Walking out from the back hall, “Jasmine, what the hell did you do to Emma?!” Amanda barked with Casey and Natalie behind her.

Rolling her eyes up, “God, you can lighten up anytime,” Jasmine mumbled, dropping her eyes to Amanda. “Amanda, I’m in a bad mood, so don’t even start,” Jasmine warned. “Emma wouldn’t let me wipe her off with a rag.”

Showing attitude as only a teen could, Amanda scanned the kitchen and noticed Robin first, then Bill, Janice, and Tyler. “What’re you doing here?”

“Dad said it was time for all of us to get in shape,” Robin practically beamed, then cut her eyes down the hall behind Amanda.

Already in a bad mood, the first thought in Jasmine’s mind was Bill was pimping his daughter, but wisely kept her opinion to herself as Amanda walked past her and stopped at the bedroom door. “Nathan, Emma doesn’t need to have a bath every time she gets pee on her!” Amanda shouted into the bedroom.

“I washed your naked ass when it was dirty, so shut it!” Nathan yelled back, and Amanda turned instantly red.

Lifting her chin, eyes squinted in a gunfighter’s glare, Amanda strolled over to the coffee pot. “Anyone repeats that, and you won’t wake up the next day,” Amanda told everyone, grabbing a coffee cup.

Hearing a sharp intake of breath, Jasmine turned from Amanda and traced the sound to Robin, who was looking down the back hall. She didn’t even shift her gaze, knowing John was the reason for the gasp. “Hey,” John smiled at Robin. When John walked past her heading for the coffee pot, Robin never missed a beat walking sideways, keeping her front toward him.

“We are going to start working out with all of you in the morning,” Robin told him. As John poured a cup of coffee, rolling her weight from one foot to the other subtly, just enough to make her ponytail slightly sway side to side, Robin gave John a demure smile.

Feeding Nolan a bottle as he joined the group, Tim saw Chip walking in with John and Tom. “Chip slept with the boys?” he asked, rather shocked.

“Yeah,” Jasmine grunted harshly. “He said he was a big boy now.”

The harshness left her face when Chip ran toward her with his arms out. Scooping him up, Jasmine smiled at his small face. “I guess you are a big boy now, sleeping in the boys’ room,” she told Chip, nuzzling in his neck.

“Right,” Tom yawned, moving around John who seemed to be avoiding looking at Robin. “He crawled in my bed not five minutes after John turned the light out.”

“Aw, poor baby,” Jasmine mumbled, hugging Chip tight. “How did you know what time to come over?” Jasmine asked, turning to Bill and found him grinning.

Not looking away from Robin and John, “Tyler, what time does Nathan start working out?” Bill asked.

“Five thirty in the morning every day, except Wednesdays and Sundays,” Tyler responded with no enthusiasm.

Pushing through the crowd, Jasmine grabbed a mug. “Guys, go start warming up,” Jasmine said and everyone left, leaving only Tim feeding Nolan and Jasmine still holding Chip on her hip.

“Never thought I’d see the day Bill would be throwing his daughter at someone,” Tim chuckled softly.

Not finding that funny, Jasmine just sipped her coffee. “Nathan did make sure John knows the facts of life, didn’t he?” Jasmine asked, and Tim gave a loud snort stopping an outburst of laughter.

“Yeah,” Tim croaked. “John and Tom.”

“Natalie’s mom already talked to her and Tom,” Jasmine said, very thankful. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Tim snorted, turning away.

Taking a deep breath and rolling her eyes, “What did Nathan do?”

Turning around, but not looking into Jasmine’s eyes, Tim coughed and chuckled. “He put on a porno, telling the boys that’s how a girl got pregnant. Then gave a play-by-play description of what was going on.”

Hearing that, Jasmine’s body instantly became numb with shock. A small part of herself, minuscule in fact, thought that was somewhat smart. But the vast majority of her conscious didn’t even find it amusing. “He still has juvenile tendencies,” Jasmine sighed.

***

Riding on Nathan’s hip, Emma let out a squeal when they entered the dining hall, to let all her loyal subjects know she was there. When Nathan put her down, Emma ran around babbling to each table, thanking them for being loyal subjects.

Setting his mug down, “Emma, you aren’t the queen,” Nathan blurted out.

“What?” Jasmine asked, putting Chip down.

“Nothing,” Nathan sighed.

Watching Emma run to each table, Jasmine couldn’t help but grin. To say Emma was tiny was an understatement. At two and a half, Emma wore twelve to eighteen-months toddler clothes. Jasmine knew this because Sherry had tons of baby and kid clothes. When she first saw this, Jasmine was confused, seeing both girl and boy clothes. Picking some up, Jasmine saw they still had price tags. Sherry informed Jasmine, Nathan had bought those before Nolan was even born. After Nolan was born, Nathan kept asking when Tim and Sherry were going to have another baby.

Stepping close to Nathan, “Nathan, did you really show the boys a porno to explain the facts of life?” Jasmine whispered. She had wanted to wait, but she just had to know.

Giving a scoff, “Yeah,” Nathan grunted.

“May I ask why?”

Looking down at her like she was insane, “Didn’t you do that for the girls?” he asked, and Jasmine’s mouth fell open. “That’s how my dad told me,” he said, seeing the shock.

“Your mom let him?”

“No, Dad got back from deployment and Momma told Dad it was time for my talk, and left to go shopping. Dad pulled out a porno and gave me the talk,” Nathan shrugged. “What did you do for the girls?”

In a low voice, Jasmine told Nathan what she’d told the girls. When she was done, Nathan just shrugged. “I did the same thing, but just had moving pictures.” Feeling Emma getting into something, Nathan spun around scanning.

“Ruth! Quit leaving the damn cakes out!” Nathan shouted, breaking into a run.

Wanting to go back to bed and restart the day, Jasmine sat down as Bill walked over. “You worked out with Nathan?” Aiden asked, sitting with his wife across the table.

“Yeah, Nathan’s right. We need to be in shape,” Bill said with a smile.

Turning to Penny, “Maybe we should start going over,” Aiden offered.

Watching Gina run around the table to the other kids, Bill saw Robin still beside John who was just smiling, but still not looking her in the eye. With a contented sigh, Bill turned to Aiden and leaned over the table. “Let’s get something straight, John’s mine,” Bill snapped in a low voice. “I mean, Robin’s. So find another one for Gina.”

Penny froze in shock, staring at Bill while Aiden just shook his head. “You need help,” Aiden told Bill.

As Bill walked off, Penny turned to Aiden. “Honey, what the hell did all you do to Bill yesterday?”

“Not a damn thing,” Aiden sighed as Rusty and Libby sat down.

“Jasmine,” Rusty whispered across the table. “Is Bill pimping Robin to hook up with John?”

Glad she wasn’t the only one who’d thought it, Jasmine just shrugged while Libby elbowed Rusty in the ribs. “Robin and Gina spent the night at Nathan’s a lot, right?” Jasmine asked, not sure what she was feeling.

“Yes,” Penny answered, noticing Jasmine studying all the kids at the end of the table. “Jasmine,” she said, and Jasmine turned to her. “Not one day, has Nathan ever treated Robin or Gina like little girls. I’ll give you an example. At Gina’s tenth birthday party at Chuck E Cheese, a little boy was being mean to Gina. When she ran from the room filled with those small balls crying, Nathan picked her up. He found out what was going on, and he told Gina to go back in there and just where to kick the older boy. Then, he showed her how to make a fist, and told her to climb on top of him and hit him in the face a few times,” Penny paused, cutting her eyes at her husband. With a straight face, Aiden just looked across the table at nothing.

Taking a deep breath, “Well, Gina loves her Uncle Nathan and did just what he told her. Running back into the ball room, she kicked that boy between the legs as hard as she could. The boy fell down puking, and Gina climbed on top of him and started wailing away with her tiny fists,” Penny said, and Aiden’s face broke into a smirk as he tried not to laugh. “All three families and Nathan were banned from Chuck E Cheese,” Penny finished. “Jasmine, Nathan sees all of his ‘Little Posse’ as younger brothers and sisters, and they look at him like a big brother but sometimes refer to him as ‘Uncle Nathan’.”

Hearing this story made a lot of things click with Nathan in Jasmine’s mind. Feeling better, Jasmine saw Emma running over babbling. Not seeing Nathan chasing, she turned and found him and Bill talking to Vince. “No, Emma,” Janice said, running over as Emma pulled Nathan’s mug down.

“It has a spill-proof lid,” Jasmine said, turning to the table.

“It has coffee,” Janice said, putting the mug back on the table. Stomping her foot, Emma unleashed on her disloyal subject in a loud chattering babble.

Shrugging, Jasmine reached over, handing the mug to Emma. Taking the mug with a squeal, Emma turned it up. “Nathan puts ice in his coffee mug after working out, so Emma won’t get burned,” Jasmine moaned. She turned to Penny, motioning with her head toward Emma. “That one, he treats like a girl, and only a girl,” Jasmine clarified.

Shaking her head, still trying to comprehend this was ‘Nathan’ they were talking about, “I’m not going to argue that,” Penny agreed.

Watching Emma turn the mug, that was half her size, up and taking a drink, Aiden shook his head. “I remember when Nathan wouldn’t even drink after anyone. Like when Gina was six, and took a drink from Nathan’s soda. I never waited for the bitching. I just left and got him another soda.” Seeing Jasmine jerk her face over to look at him, “Oh, Nathan never whined like a bitch to the kids, he saved that just for us. As far as the kids are concerned, Nathan walks on water.”

Lowering the mug, Emma dropped it on the floor and gave the table her exposed teeth grin. “Glad our kids didn’t do that,” Libby mumbled with a shudder. Giving a loud yell, Emma took off running, nowhere in particular, just running around the hall, so her subjects could bask in her glory.

Picking the mug up and setting it back on the table, Jasmine saw Nathan walking back. “What’s up, hun?” she asked.

“The patrol will be back in an hour. The outpost just called in, saying they picked them up on the Mew,” Nathan told her, grabbing his mug and turning it up.

“I love that thing,” Aiden grinned. “It would take more manpower than we have, to secure and constantly monitor two and a half miles around us.”

“I thought it only reached out four kilometers,” Penny whispered.

“That’s two and a half miles, or about that,” Aiden whispered back, making Penny bite her bottom lip. “In area, that thing monitors over eleven thousand acres and almost a fifteen-mile circumference around us.” Hearing the numbers, Penny gave a startle, giving Aiden a hard glare.

“And just how did you figure that out - Mr. I Hate Math?” Penny snapped. “I’ve had guard duty with the Mew and those numbers aren’t on the screen.”

“I told him,” Amanda chimed in, walking over. Never taking his eyes from Penny, Aiden gave a big smile while throwing his arm out to Amanda extravagantly.

“And she did it without a calculator or using paper,” Aiden grunted in awe.

Looking over at Aiden as she sat down, “Um, that’s what Pi is for,” Amanda stated, clearly confused. “You know, the Mew goes out to three thousand eight hundred meters, that’s your radius. With Pi, you can figure out everything else with basic math. Why do you need a calculator and paper? Area of a circle is and circumference is C=2πr. What’s so hard about that?”

Leaning over, “I want Amanda to tutor Gina, instead of those computer programs we have,” Penny whispered to Aiden.

With no shame, Aiden nodded. “I already asked Nathan.”

Liking that, Penny smiled and turned to see the rest of the kids sitting down. When Gina sat down with Natalie, Penny almost told her to move down some and sit closer to Amanda and Casey, but didn’t. “So, who’s going out with Nathan today?” she asked.

Jumping up and glaring around the table, “I know for a fuckin’ fact, I am!” Amanda barked out, daring anyone to say otherwise. Penny just nodded in shock at the transformation, then noticed the kids in Nathan’s group paid Amanda no mind. But all the other kids wouldn’t even glance down the table, clearly frightened of the skinny teen.

“Firecracker,” Nathan laughed, “put it back in your pants. I told you, you were going, so drop it.”

Sitting beside her buddy Amanda, of course, Casey turned to Nathan and seeing her taking a breath to speak, he held up his hand. “I said you were coming too, so relax,” Nathan told her. “Nobody outranks me in my group, and all of you need to remember that.” Already knowing it but still not liking it, Aiden just gave a sigh as he rolled his eyes up and closed them.

“Aren’t either of you scared to get shot again?” Janice asked in a soft voice, leaning forward across the table.

Turning to Janice as she sat back down, Amanda took a breath, and Nathan spoke up first. “Amanda, you will speak to her with respect, or I’ll blister your ass right here and now,” Nathan warned with a growl.

Whipping her head around really fast to look at Nathan, Amanda almost wrapped her tassel of braided hair around her neck. “I would never disrespect Ms. Janice,” Amanda gasped in actual shock.

Seeing Amanda look at him with big doe eyes, Nathan gave a slight nod. “I didn’t think you would, but your dick was on your shoulder, and you tend not to think when that happens. I just wanted to remind you,” Nathan told her in a soft voice. Hearing a loud yell from a small source, Nathan turned to the front of the dining hall.

“Damn it, Ruth!” Nathan shouted, and stormed over to Emma, who was holding a large chunk of chocolate cake in her hands. Most of Emma’s face was covered in chocolate, along with her shirt. Seeing Nathan start for her, Emma let out a squeal and took off running while she lifted the cake, taking another bite.

“That’s who needs a spanking!” Amanda shouted out, then turned to Janice. For some reason, Janice liked the fact Amanda wasn’t armed at the table. “Yes, I’m worried about getting shot, I’m not stupid,” Amanda huffed.

There was attitude in Amanda’s voice, but it was only the universal constant attitude of all teens, so Jasmine let it slide. “Amanda, the day Nathan spanks Emma, he’s going to cry more than Emma,” Jasmine informed her.

Rolling her eyes, “Like he would ever spank her,” Amanda huffed, flipping her braid off her shoulder. Turning back to Janice, “Casey and I could stay here, hiding like little-”

“Amanda!” Jasmine barked, cutting her off. “Mouth,” Jasmine warned.

Letting out a long sigh, “Okay … cowards,” Amanda snapped, glaring at Jasmine. “Nathan says never depend on others to protect your family. Casey and I can fight and are going to do it,” Amanda said, turning back to Janice.

Taken back, Janice studied Amanda’s face, seeing the confidence. “So, you look down on others who don’t go?” Janice asked.

Cocking her head to the side, Amanda stared at Janice. Janice couldn’t help but smile because when Amanda was confused, it was blatantly apparent by her expression. “Everyone who wants to and can fight has gone out, except me and Casey,” Amanda said slowly, hoping she’d understood the question.

“I haven’t gone on patrol,” Janice stated.

Brushing her hand out like she was deflecting the statement, “Oh,” Amanda shrugged. “You can fight, but wait till you see motha’ fuckers rapin’ women and kids and then kill them, and you’ll ‘want’ to fight. When you see the shit out there with your own eyes, up close and personal, or to your own family,” Amanda paused for a second, “You’ll grab a gat and crank that bitch up on some asses,” she finished with certainty.

“Amanda, quit trying to be gangsta,” Jasmine sighed. “You just can’t pull it off.” Aiden and the others thought she had done fairly well, but it was the meaning Amanda had stressed that made everyone at the table give pause. Amanda had seen that happen to her real family, and wasn’t going to let it happen again without a fight.

Glancing to Bill and then the other adults in the group, Janice saw them staring at Amanda. “So, you think all of us, including my boys Randal and Shane need to go out on patrol?” Janice asked. Panic gripped Jasmine as she anticipated Amanda’s response.

Sitting up in her chair, “That’s for each person to decide, not me or anyone else,” Amanda answered, making Jasmine rather proud.

Glancing down the table, Libby saw all the kids were now staring at Amanda. “Do you think everyone here is good enough to go out on patrols?” Libby asked, and Rusty almost hit the floor. He couldn’t believe, Libby, his wife, was asking a thirteen-year-old girl’s opinion on something like this.

Turning to Libby and never faltering, “No,” Amanda answered. “I’m only going out with who Nathan takes.”

Even though Amanda was a teen, Janice was somewhat shocked at her response. “You don’t think I’m good enough to go out?” Janice asked.

“Yes, you are. I didn’t say you weren’t,” Amanda said quickly.

“So, who isn’t?” Janice asked, putting Amanda on the spot.

Thinking that was wrong, Jasmine spoke up. “Janice, you really have to ask? Look at all those women and kids we brought in. Half of them have never even held a gun till we took them to the range. There are several families here that members brought in who only knew which end of the gun was the dangerous end.”

“Oh, forgot about them, sorry,” Janice admitted. “I was talking about our group.”

Feeling rather upset that Janice was keeping Amanda on the spot, Jasmine tried to remain calm. There wasn’t a doubt in Jasmine’s mind, Amanda would answer the question, and do it bluntly. Amanda was smart, of that there was no doubt, but she severely lacked tact. “Amanda has her opinion and is entitled to them, as we all are,” Jasmine said with an edge to her voice.

Seeing Jasmine was forcing her smile, Bill reached over patting Janice’s leg. But he felt like Jasmine did, Janice was asking Amanda a question that a teenager shouldn’t have to answer. “Sweetie, drop it,” Bill said softly.

“No,” Janice said, turning to Bill. “Besides Nathan, Amanda is the only one who’ll tell the truth about this,” she snapped. “Everyone else, including you, brushes the question off or says we’ll train more.”

Hearing that, Jasmine bobbed her head slightly in agreement. When it came to speaking the truth, Nathan had no more tact than Amanda. Watching Janice turn from Bill, Jasmine saw her cut her eyes down the table to Tyler and Robin, and then it clicked. Janice wanted an honest opinion about her own kids, not herself. “Janice,” Jasmine said softly. “I’m asking you to drop it for now. Ask her later when she gets back.”

Jasmine didn’t want Amanda to become ostracized from the other kids. Traveling with Amanda, Jasmine could see why Amanda hadn’t had many friends in school. When asked, Amanda answered just how she thought, never sugarcoating anything. In time, Jasmine was certain she could teach Amanda some tact, but she wasn’t even going to attempt that with Nathan.

“Amanda,” Tyler called out, and she turned down the table to look at him. “I’m good enough, right?”

“You want the truth?” Amanda asked, and Jasmine’s head hit the table with a ‘thump’. Not expecting the question, Tyler gave a slight nod. “On the trigger, you’re pretty good, but you don’t keep your eyes scanning. Pulling the trigger is easy, but it’s only a small part of the battle, and even here in this valley were in a battle. You act like you’re on a range all the time, and the enemy is only going to come from one direction, where you’re looking. You keep your rifle slung more than in your hands, and you wear your pistol too far back. When you draw your pistol, you look down at your holster first. That also applies when you’re changing magazines; you look down at your vest to grab another. Never, ever, take your eyes off the target area.”

Hearing Amanda take a breath to continue, Jasmine jerked her head off the table. “He gets the idea, Amanda,” Jasmine snapped.

“Shut it, Ruth!” Nathan shouted, storming over to the table and everyone looked up to see Emma wrapped in a towel.

Glancing over her shoulder and seeing Emma was wet with a very grumpy face, “Where did you give Emma a bath?” Jasmine asked.

“In the kitchen sink,” Nathan popped off as he sat down, then turned looking over his shoulder. “Because someone gave her half a chocolate cake!” he shouted over his shoulder toward the kitchen.

“You let that baby have some cake, Nathan!” Ruth yelled back.

Turning back around, Nathan saw a plethora of expressions on the groups’ faces, ranging from shock to pissed-off. Wondering what he’d missed, “What?” he asked.

“Nathan, you think I’m good enough to go on patrol?” Tyler asked in a gruff tone.

“No,” Nathan sang out in a deep voice. “I told your ass that the last time on the range. You don’t keep your weapon in your hands, and don’t keep situational awareness around you.”

Tyler’s mouth fell open as he stared at Nathan. With Emma shivering under the towel, Nathan pulled her to his chest. Seeing the shock on Tyler’s face, Nathan could still remember him in diapers. “Now, do I think you’re good enough?” Nathan asked out loud. “No, I fucking know you’re good enough,” Nathan replied bluntly, then continued.

“Tyler, when we play paintball, you’re using your mind and watching around you. You kick ass,” Nathan told him, then looked at Robin, Randal, Shane, and Gina. “Every one of my little posse is good enough, but all of you are not doing what you know,” Nathan said, and each one perked up at hearing Nathan refer to them again as his posse. “Until each of you pulls your head out of your ass and treats this as a threat, none of you are going out,” Nathan told them in a flat tone, and turned to the parents.

“I don’t give a fuck what any of you say. You send them out before they’re ready, I’ll shank you with a butter knife and laugh,” Nathan threatened. Jasmine let out a long sigh, coming to the realization that Amanda actually had more tact than Nathan.

Leaning back in his chair, Tyler took a deep breath. “What else?” he mumbled.

Turning back to Tyler, “You don’t know your vest layout and fumble around too much. I don’t know why you moved your pistol further back over your ass, but that only works in Hollywood. Not one time at the range when you pulled your pistol or changed magazines, did you keep your eyes on the target,” Nathan told him.

Watching Tyler give a depressed sigh, “Tyler, you’re the only one in the posse I haven’t been around since conception,” Nathan said, and Libby let out a gasp. “What?” Nathan asked, glancing at Libby. “Randal was conceived in Grand Teton National Park, and Shane was conceived in Portland at the Pink Floyd tribute concert.”

Libby’s face turned three different shades of red while Rusty snickered, “I told you, you were loud.”

“Yeah, like you weren’t,” Nathan huffed, then turned back to Tyler. “Tyler, my kids learned these lessons under fire with people trying to kill them. My little posse will not learn the lessons that way if I can help it.”

“So, you really think all our kids are good enough to go out?” Penny asked.

“Shit,” Nathan grunted. “I get Gina to act like she does in paintball, watching around herself and knowing where everyone is at, keeping her weapon in her hands? I’m throwing a ghillie suit on her and ‘NOOOOOBODY’ will find her ass. She was king of hide-and-seek at my house.” The little posse group all perked up to hear Nathan praise them.

“Sorry I got mad at you, Amanda,” Tyler said, and Amanda furrowed her brow, wondering why and when Tyler had gotten mad at her.

“Why the hell were you mad at Firecracker?” Nathan blurted out.

“Janice asked if the kids were good enough to go out,” Jasmine offered, and the blood drained from Janice’s face.

Very slowly, Nathan rotated his head until his eyes fell on Janice. “Janice, I love you with all my heart and you know that. You’re a fierce mamma bear, and I know at times, you’ve looked at me like one of your kids because in the past, I won’t lie, I acted like my little posse sometimes,” Nathan said. Bill, Rusty, and Aiden nearly fell out of their chairs, hearing Nathan admit the fact he could act like a child. Granted, he was a big-ass, two hundred pounds of lean muscle, six-foot-tall child who could beat the shit out of a group of men, but a child nonetheless. Just hearing him admit it, at long last, was a shock to their systems.

Looking at Janice with very sad eyes and shaking his head, “But Janice, don’t ever ask Amanda something about others in our group that could hurt their feelings with them in earshot,” Nathan told her. “Amanda will tell you the truth and what she really thinks. Always, no matter who’s close. That’s one of the things I love about her, but it’s also the main one that drives me insane. I’m warning you now, you do it again, and I’m shaving your head and giving you a bikini wax with duct tape.”

Leaning over to his wife, “Ask Amanda something else, I want to watch the bikini wax,” Bill whispered.

Slapping Bill’s arm, Janice turned to Nathan. “I’m sorry, Nathan, you’re right, and it was wrong. I wasn’t thinking, I just wanted an honest opinion besides yours because sometimes for your little posse, you bend the truth,” she said, then turned to Amanda. “Amanda, I’m sorry and if anyone gets mad at you, let me know.”

“Never on that,” Nathan assured her. “Those kids have been my little posse since birth.”

Looking around the table in shock, “Did I make someone mad?” Amanda asked, replaying what she’d said and then turned to Tyler. “I asked if you wanted the truth, like Nathan told me to, and you nodded,” she wailed.

“You did? You really asked if he wanted the truth?!” Nathan cried out with a smile.

“She did,” Jasmine confirmed.

“Oh, I’m so proud of you,” Nathan said, reaching over and wrapping an arm around her.

“Here, Emma,” Ruth said, setting a plate down in front of Nathan. Emma stuck her head out of the towel cocoon and gave Ruth the toothy grin. “You can get your own, Nathan,” Ruth said, patting Emma’s cheek.

Letting Amanda go, Nathan turned to Ruth with a scowl. “You know how long it’s going to take me to feed her, after she’s already filled up with cake?” Nathan snapped as Ruth walked off.

Standing up regally, “I’ll bring you a plate, Nathan,” Amanda announced, holding her chin high.

“Nathan,” John called from the end of the table. “Tom and I aren’t kidding. We want brothers.”

Moving Emma until she was in his lap, “I’m having doubts on kids at the moment,” Nathan mumbled, picking up the spoon and cranking up the airplane noise.

Getting up, “I’m with Tom and John. I want boys,” Jasmine said.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

It was ten o’clock when Nathan led his group out. The returning patrol told them about a group of tweakers just north of Belknap, holed up in a house. What pissed Nathan off was the patrol didn’t even engage the tweakers. They’d just sat and watched them for half a day.

When Bill and Rusty heard the patrol giving the report to Vince, they got Aiden and Tim to join Nathan’s patrol with them. Vince didn’t say anything, but it was clearly evident, he didn’t like the fact they were going out to hit the group of tweakers. Those in Prichard, he considered a direct threat, but those in Belknap were further away, and over the mountains in Montana.

With Apollo and Ares beside Nathan, he led the patrol along the mountain ridges at a casual pace. What shocked everyone was Nathan brought along Athena, who was walking just beside Amanda’s horse. Since this was the first time Amanda and Casey had been out on patrol, Bill, Rusty, and Aiden watched them closely. Tim lived with them and knew what they could do, so he just scanned the area while he rode.

All the kids and Jasmine were always scanning. The reins were in their left hands, gripping the foregrips on their rifles. None of them appeared tense as they rode, just alert. Seeing Casey’s small figure riding in the saddle alone, holding her AR with a ten-inch barrel and a suppressor, just seemed unnatural to Bill, Rusty, and Aiden. They were at the back of the group, with John riding behind them.

“Shit,” Aiden mumbled, pulling closer to Rusty. “Are you seeing this?”

“What?” Rusty asked, glancing around.

“Watch them,” Aiden whispered. “When Amanda looks to the right, Casey is looking left, Jasmine is looking right, Natalie is looking left, and Tom is looking right,” he said, watching the group in single file behind Nathan.

Rusty watched when everyone slowly turned their heads to the opposite sides and Tom glanced back at them. When Tom leaned to the side, Rusty realized he was looking back to check on John, then he turned to see John scanning behind them. “Wonder how long that took them?” Rusty wondered.

Slowing his horse, Tom waited on Rusty. “When we stopped in Arkansas, Nathan really went over patrolling hard,” Tom told him in a low voice, but never stopped slowly scanning around. “Then after Amanda and Casey got shot, he really went over watching your area and responding to attacks.”

When he finished speaking, Tom sped up to get ten yards in front of Rusty. Rusty grinned as he adjusted his rifle across his chest and continued scanning. Being a cop meant watching, and the posse was good at it. It just amazed him the kids could stay on the boring task, because keeping watch was days and hours of boredom on end, then interrupted by seconds of sheer violence.

After moving for three hours, Nathan stopped just under the crest of a ridge where a small stream started. Climbing off his horse, Nathan tied the reins to a bush and pulled out a map. Walking over to Natalie, Nathan pushed the map in her chest. “Tell me where we are,” Nathan told her, grabbing her canteen.

Spinning Natalie around as she let out a groan, Nathan used her canteen to refill the camelback in her pack, then moved to the small stream. “Amanda,” Nathan called out softly as he filled the canteen. “Don’t help.” Everyone glanced over to see Amanda paused, but clearly heading for Natalie. Stomping her foot, Amanda turned around, still keeping watch.

Picking Nathan’s canteen up, Jasmine refilled his camelback and then passed it to him when he’d finished filling Natalie’s. “How did you know she was going to help?” Jasmine asked. “You never turned around.”

“Jasmine, you know as well as I do, Amanda wants everyone in her,” he stressed hard, “family and group to be the best. It doesn’t matter if it’s carving matchsticks, Amanda wants perfection. She’ll never admit it, but she’s the most competitive person I’ve ever met.”

“I know, but how did you know she was going to help Natalie? You weren’t looking,” Jasmine repeated.

Pulling his canteen out of the water, “Someone in her group was given a task they’re weak at,” Nathan shrugged, and pulled Jasmine down beside him. Refilling Jasmine’s camelback, “You’re not drinking enough water, first warning,” Nathan told her, turning to refill the canteen.

Fighting the urge to help Natalie, Tim eased up to Amanda. “What’s with the ‘first warning’?” he whispered.

“Second warning, Nathan holds you down and pours a canteen down your throat,” Amanda answered. “Third warning, he stops at a river, throws you in, and holds your head under the water. John’s the only one who got a third warning and it was only once, so we don’t know if there is a fourth.”

Glancing over and seeing Nathan refilling Tom’s camelback, Tim started easing closer to Natalie to help her. “Tim!” Nathan barked softly, and Tim spun away from Natalie like he wasn’t doing anything.

Pulling John over, Nathan refilled his camelback and glanced over at Jasmine to see her staring at Tim. “That used to be the most competitive person I knew,” Nathan told her. “That’s why Tim and Sherry wrestle so much, she gets tired of it. And before you ask, yes, Tim can take her, but as you’ve heard, Sherry will bite the shit out of you to get out of a hold. I swear, she bites harder than Apollo.”

Walking over to Natalie, Nathan leaned over her shoulder and she pointed at the map. “Close, but move one ridge south,” Nathan told her, and Natalie gave a dejected sigh. “Natalie, you did very well. If I had given you the compass, you would’ve got the right one. You just didn’t count that second creek we crossed. You just need to remember the lay of the land you travel through.”

Somewhat mollified, Natalie gave him a smile as she folded the map. “I like roads for reading a map, but not for traveling on,” she told Nathan, handing the map back. Leaning down, Nathan gave her a hug and kissed her on the head, then handed her canteen back.

“She mojoed him,” Tom sighed, and Jasmine gave a snort.

Speed walking toward her horse, so she wouldn’t laugh out loud, Jasmine saw John step closer to Tom. “It’s not fair. We get to pee on a wall and girls get mind control,” John groaned.

Bill, Aiden, and Rusty turned to Tim. “Don’t know, and I’m not asking,” Tim declared, spinning away and heading to his horse. Everyone mounted up and Nathan led them on.

It was just after three in the afternoon when Nathan stopped again. This time, Tom climbed off carrying rope. He moved over with Natalie, tying it up between two trees and making a hitch line. Everyone tied up their horses and moved over to Nathan. “Tom, Tim, you’re guarding horses,” Nathan said, and both nodded. “If they’re there, we’ll take them out and call you to bring the horses, so make sure your radios stay on.”

Bill took a breath to argue and Nathan jerked his gaze to Bill. “This is my patrol, and I’m in charge. On your patrol, you can be in charge,” Nathan snapped, and Bill just blinked at him.

Turning to the others, “Staggered line behind me, five-yard spread. The house is just over this ridge, four hundred yards from the base,” Nathan said, jerking his thumb back at the slope behind him.

“You brought us that close on horses?” Bill barked softly.

Turning to Bill, “First warning, Bill,” Nathan huffed.

“Nathan, want me to bring the sniper rifle?” John asked, grinning at Bill.

“No, the trees block this house from any long-range shots. We have to move within a hundred yards to hit them,” Nathan said. “We’ll stop two hundred yards from the house, so I can ease up and see the easiest way to take it out.”

Nathan’s group moved toward the slope as Aiden and Rusty moved over in front of Nathan. “Nathan, leave another of your kids, so Tim can go. We need shooters. Greg said he counted over twenty,” Rusty said.

Leaning to the side, “Tim, get your shit, Rusty’s staying with Tom,” Nathan called out, and Tim nodded as Rusty sucked in a breath. “Bitch, what did I say? This is my patrol. You invited yourself, so back off,” Nathan spat. “Guys, keep on, and this’ll be the last one we go out on together.”

“Can I just ask why?” Aiden chimed in.

“If anyone sees these horses guarded by teens, they’ll be more likely to attack quickly, but a teen and an adult? They’ll be hesitant and plan out the attack. This’ll all be over in an hour,” Nathan said, turning to Bill. “For your information, we have to walk over a mile to go over this ridge and down into the valley floor on the other side. That’s not close. And before anyone asks, Tim was always going on this patrol, so I knew who was guarding the horses before we left, till Rusty wanted to intervene.”

Stepping back and thinking about it, Rusty raised his eyebrows. “Damn, talk about psychology, that’s thinking on a scale I’m not used to from you. But yeah, it does make sense.”

Looking at Rusty hard, “I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and so has my group,” Nathan grumbled.

Holding up his hands, “That’s on me and you’re right, only one chief in the shit,” Rusty said quickly.

“Why didn’t Rusty get a warning? I got one,” Bill huffed.

Shaking his head at Bill, “Amanda, put your leash on Athena,” Nathan sighed. Patting his thigh, Nathan turned around as Apollo and Ares moved to either side of him, heading up the slope.

“Guard my buddy,” Tim told Rusty, and winked at Tom.

“If we would’ve said that to Nathan, he’d be spanking our asses,” Tom mumbled.

“Tom, they haven’t been in combat together, but they’ve done hundreds of raids. They’re just giving Nathan a hard time to make him relax,” Tim told him. “He’s wound a little too tight for their comfort.”

Watching Tim walk away, Tom turned to Rusty to find him grinning. “Nathan just seems like Nathan to me,” Tom shrugged.

“Tom, the Nathan we knew would’ve ridden his horse over that ridge and attacked the group from horseback by himself with just his dogs,” Rusty told him, and Tom’s eyes got big in disbelief. “Then he finds a family and grows up… just a little, mind you,” Rusty said, glancing around. “Trust me, it helped relax Nathan. And when Nathan is, shall we say, calm, he’s a force of nature.”

“So…,” Tom started, but didn’t know how to ask.

“I know each of you can fight,” Rusty offered. “Granted, I never would’ve thought about the reason for leaving an old man with a young man.”

“Just make sure you leave men to guard when others aren’t close,” Tom said with a shiver, and the smile fell from Rusty’s face.

Easing up and over the slope, Nathan glanced back and saw the others moving like he’d told them. He couldn’t help but grin at Jasmine cradling the SAW. She practiced with the M249 all the time, refusing to carry an AR. Jasmine was adamant, she only wanted a belt-fed machine gun. When they'd left, Nathan had to tell her several times, she couldn’t take the M240 since it was heavier than the M249. He really didn’t want her lugging around an extra ten pounds for a gun. But here she was, carrying the SAW instead of her M4.

Reaching the valley floor, Nathan moved through the trees and soon heard sounds of music. “These guys are fucking idiots,” he mumbled. Finding a small depression, Nathan waved everyone in and they set up in a circle before he moved off with Apollo, making Ares stay with Jasmine.

John saw Ares turn his head thirty minutes later and following his gaze, spotted Nathan coming back through the trees. It took several seconds before John realized, Nathan was walking upright and using no stealth whatsoever.

Stepping through the circle, Nathan went to one knee and started drawing in the dirt. “There are thirteen in the front yard, playing on a slip and slide or sitting under sprinklers. Amanda, Casey, John, Jasmine, and Natalie,” Nathan pointed to the drawing and indicated where he wanted them. “You will line up here, in that order, just inside the trees on the front of the house. There’s a pile of big-ass rocks in the front yard, so don’t let any get behind one and start shooting. Tim, Bill, Aiden, you’re taking the left side of the house here, so you can cover the rear. I don’t know how many are inside, but it sounds like a few,” Nathan told them, looking up. “Do I need to tell you where to set up?”

“No,” Tim snickered then stopped, noticing something on Nathan’s face.

Leaning closer to Nathan, “What’s on your face?” Amanda asked.

“Probably blood,” Nathan shrugged, reaching up and wiping his glove across his face. “I found two out back when I circled the house.”

“And you shot them? Without backup?” Amanda gasped.

“No, I cut one’s throat and Apollo ripped the other one’s out,” Nathan answered. “Trust me, those guys were fucked up. Seems they’ve found some shrooms. They were both just staring at a garden gnome in the backyard like it was talking to them. To be honest, as wasted as they were, I don’t even think they know they’re already dead.”

“You sure it’s the tweakers?” Jasmine asked.

“Oh, yeah,” he nodded. “Bill will recognize one of the women running around the yard. Those in the front yard don’t seem as wasted, but they’re sucking some serious glass dick.”

Glancing around timidly, “Glass dick?” Natalie asked in a small voice as she blushed.

“What others refer to as the glass pipe drug heads use to get high,” Nathan explained. “Any questions?”

“You see hostages?” Aiden asked.

“Two tied up to a lamppost in the front yard. Looked like young women,” Nathan answered.

“What about inside?”

“I didn’t go inside and if some are there, it sucks ass to be them,” Nathan whispered rather loudly. Turning to Jasmine, “Jasmine, when those in the yard are down, I want you to start at the right of the house, aiming three feet off the ground, and use a whole belt just swinging down the house. When you set up, remember to tell Ares to ‘stay’.”

He looked over at Bill. “When she starts, they should flood out the back. You’d better not let any get away because I’m not in the mood to chase,” Nathan stated.

“He doesn’t have explosives, I checked his saddle,” Aiden grinned. “Between us three we’ll get them, unless a hundred run out.”

“Front team,” Nathan said, looking at his group. “When Jasmine starts, I’m charging the front of the house and tossing in a flashbang, so watch your fire.”

With a cheerful smile, “Can I pop the first cap on their asses?” Amanda asked.

Looking at Amanda with no expression, Nathan let out a long sigh. “Bill, you’re over second team. Move out and get set up. Those in the front are spoken for.”

Getting up, Bill led Aiden and Tim off while Nathan continued staring at Amanda. “Hey, Casey and I’ve missed how many patrols and ambushes?” Amanda ranted.

“Amanda, gangster talk just doesn’t come off right for you,” Nathan finally said.

Lifting her chin, “I like it,” she said proudly.

“Take those in your own field of fire before engaging others,” Nathan said finally, turning to the others. “Remember, you have a team to the left and me to the right, so watch your fire.”

Not seeing any signs of hesitation, which if he had it would’ve surprised him, Nathan got up and led them off. When they could see the blue wood house between small breaks in the trees, Nathan pointed to each and dropped them off at their area. When it was just himself and Amanda, he leaned to her ear and had to talk loud over the music. “When you see me give a wave, crank your gat,” Nathan told her, then patted her on the butt and slipped off with Apollo.

Easing up next to a large pine as people hooted and hollered over the music, Amanda pulled the stock to her shoulder. “Athena, lay,” she commanded, and Athena laid down behind the tree. Seeing people running around and sliding on the plastic slide, Amanda scoped her field of fire and counted six. Since most in the yard were naked, it was only on her second sweep when she spotted the two women tied to a lamppost in front of the house.

Glancing to her right, Amanda saw Nathan moving closer to the house. Then she saw a group of ATVs on the right side and thought they looked really new. Not seeing targets, she turned and continued watching her area and saw one of her targets move out of her area and into Casey’s. “Damn it, hurry up, Nathan,” Amanda grumbled, and turned to her right again.

She saw Nathan crouch beside a tree and he gave her a wave. “Bitches,” Amanda snarled, turning and lifting her AR. Sighting on the closest man, she flipped the selector to semi and dropped her finger on the trigger. Gently pulling the trigger back, Amanda felt it buck, then stroked the trigger again and saw both rounds hit him between the nipples. Because of the music, none moved, never hearing the sonic crack of the suppressed shot.

Swinging her aim, Amanda sighted on a woman sucking a glass pipe, and shot her twice in the chest. Moving her aim, Amanda saw the group stop partying when other tweakers started dropping in rapid succession. Squeezing the trigger twice and moving her aim, Amanda worked through her area, taking five down.

Not finding more targets in her area, she lifted her head from the red dot sight and scanned the yard. “Shit!” she spat, seeing all thirteen were down. Pulling a magazine, she changed while she had the chance, putting the partial in her dump bag. When the radio shut off because someone shot it, Amanda did give a startle at the sudden silence.

Then, a steady stream of sonic cracks sounded, and impacts started at the right corner of the house. Like a demonic typewriter was going down the front of the house, Amanda watched Jasmine riddle the front with holes. A line of impacts six inches wide, three feet off the ground, worked its way down the house.

When Jasmine started unloading on the house, Bill saw a large group pile out the back door, and they opened up, cutting them down. After eleven were cut down on the back patio, the others tried to scramble back inside. Bill’s group took down four more with only three making it inside.

Changing magazines, Bill glanced to the front line and saw Jasmine pull back to reload and he paused his own reload. It looked like Jasmine was trying to hide clipping her new belt of ammo onto the last few rounds of the last belt. Not even having a clue why she would be hiding, since he’d seen her do that before on the gun range, Bill slapped in his new magazine.

Changing magazines, John saw Apollo and Nathan take off for the front of the house, running past some ATVs. “Fuck!” John cried out, seeing a naked man jump out of a side by side raising his hands in the air right in front of Nathan. Nathan never broke stride as Apollo leapt in the air and hit the man in the chest. Like it was happening in slow motion, John saw Apollo turn his head sideways as his weight knocked the man backward. Before the man hit the ground, Apollo had clamped his mouth on the man’s throat.

Apollo shook his head violently side-to-side briefly. When Nathan was less than a yard away, the man landed on the ground and Apollo jerked his head back. John’s mouth fell open seeing blood pulsate into the air from what was left of the man’s neck.

A chunk of flesh fell from Apollo’s mouth when Nathan reached him and like he was on a casual jog, Apollo fell back into a loping jog beside him. “Shit,” John gasped, pulling his stock to his shoulder tight, still covering Nathan. “Apollo kills much faster and more violently than Ares,” he mumbled.

Pulling a flashbang from his vest, Nathan pulled the pin with his thumb as he neared the front door. Letting the spoon fly, he tossed it inside and then dove to the ground. “Apollo, down!” he commanded, and Apollo stopped and went down beside him.

‘Bang’ sounded inside the house and Nathan jumped up. “Apollo, time to work!”

Leaning over her SAW, “What the fuck?!” Jasmine shouted, watching Nathan and Apollo enter the house. “He never said that was part of the plan!” she shouted, lifting her head from the stock. Then she saw Amanda, with Athena on her leash and Casey, break from the trees and run up to the large pile of rocks in the front yard. One got on each end and peered around, aiming at the house.

About to yell at Amanda and Casey that Nathan had never said to collapse on the house, Jasmine heard screaming from the house and several suppressed shots. “Natalie!” Jasmine called out, and glanced over to see Natalie looking at her. “Pull rear security,” Jasmine told her, and Natalie nodded before turning around and going prone, aiming into the woods.

“HOLY FUCK!” John bellowed, and Jasmine jerked her eyes to him to see John looking at the house. Feeling panic, she whipped her head back and her mouth dropped at seeing Apollo standing in the door with an entire arm in his mouth.

Having serious thoughts about asking Nathan to make Apollo sleep outside, Jasmine watched Apollo drop the arm and head back inside. “Prisoners coming out the front, so don’t shoot unless they drop their arms or run!” Nathan called over the radio.

“We don’t need prisoners!” Amanda shouted when the first walked out, holding up her hands. Five more followed and then Nathan came out. He had a man with his hands tied behind his back, dragging him by the hair on his head. Letting the hair go, Nathan kicked the man, tripping him.

The man hit the ground face first and Nathan called out on the radio, “Primary search of house clear. Bring up the horses and collapse on the house. Tim, Aiden, Bill, do a secondary to clear.”

Careful not to let the barrel touch her, Jasmine jumped up when Nathan kicked those holding their hands up to the ground, and one-by-one, tying their hands and feet. “Ares, heel up!” Jasmine called out, heading to the house at a cautious pace.

Amanda and Casey ran over, covering Nathan while he tied up the six on the ground. “You never said you were assaulting the house,” Amanda snapped, and Jasmine wanted to run over and hug her.

“Wasn’t planning on it. I was gonna set it on fire and make them come out, but realized it’s too dry for that. Not really in the mood to fight a forest fire,” Nathan answered, moving to the next in line. Finished with the last one, Nathan stood back up. “Ares, time to work,” Nathan called out, and Ares came over with his hackles raised.

“Guard,” Nathan said, pointing at the line of prisoners. “Apollo, guard,” Nathan said and pulled his knife out, heading for the two women tied to the lamppost. After cutting their bonds and before Nathan could say anything, the women took off on hands and knees. The others raised their rifles while the two women scrambled across the yard to the sprinklers and held their mouths over the streams of water.

“Jasmine, Natalie, keep cover,” Nathan said, seeing Rusty and Tom riding into the yard leading the rest of the horses. “John, Tom, gather. Amanda and Casey, check bodies.”

When Tom jumped off to join John, Rusty tied up the horses, seeing Nathan head back in the house. Hearing a suppressed shot, Rusty pulled his AR to his shoulder before seeing Casey lowering her rifle. Hearing another shot, he turned to see Amanda lowering her rifle. Then he watched as the two calmly went from body to body, shooting them in the head.

One weakly lifted his hands when Amanda walked over. “Shut up,” Amanda huffed, squeezing the trigger and moving to the next body.

Bill walked out with Aiden to see Amanda and Casey making sure the bodies were dead. “Seeing Casey with that innocent smile, busting a skull open and skipping to the next body…,” Aiden paused, “I can’t even think of anything to describe how wrong that seems.”

Tim came out leading four more women and they took off, running toward the other two still holding their mouths over the sprinkler. “How many?” Rusty asked, walking over.

“Shit, I have no idea how many were inside, but Jasmine cut them down,” Bill grunted. “A bunch,” he offered.

“Let me get by,” Nathan said behind them. Bill, Aiden, and Tim moved over, watching Nathan carry out an armload of stuff. Walking across the yard, Nathan dropped the stuff by the six women.

“You need to haul ass because their friends will be coming soon,” he told them.

One lifted her mouth from the sprinkler. “Can we come with you?”

“Doll, we’re waiting on them, and don’t care how many they bring,” Nathan shot back, and that caused the others to stop drinking from the sprinkler and look up at him in shock. “That’s why you need to make some tracks. Don’t get caught again because they’re much worse the second time.”

The women jumped up and started pulling on clothes from the pile Nathan had dropped. “There are six rifles and three revolvers there. Don’t even think of aiming them at us, or I’ll hand you back over to another group,” Nathan warned. “You need to be miles from here before nightfall.”

“Where should we go?” another asked.

Giving a curt laugh, “Nowhere is safe, so find a hiding spot and survive,” Nathan answered, turning away. “Bill,” he called out, and pointed to the man he’d led out of the house. “He’s the boss here. Go and talk to him.”

“Tim, go see what they have stacked on that trailer,” Nathan said, and Tim turned to see an older quad cab sitting on the far right side of yard under the trees with a trailer hooked up. In front of it were two of the most dilapidated box vans he had ever seen.

Glad he didn’t have to check the vans, Tim took off while Nathan headed to his horse. John and Tom carried over the weapons around the yard and started stacking them at the front of the house. “Aiden! Go inside and toss some food and water in some bags for those women, so they can get the fuck out of here!” Nathan called out as he dug in his saddle bag.

Watching Aiden take off inside and Rusty head around back, Jasmine glanced around while she stood under the shade of the trees with Natalie. She turned to see Nathan walking over with chains in his left hand, then realized they were leg shackles. Not even bothering to guess, she just turned away to keep watch as Nathan stopped beside her.

Nathan never spoke and just stood in the shade with her while the others moved about, doing what he’d told them or what they knew needed to be done. After ten minutes, Jasmine turned to look up at Nathan and saw Aiden carrying out loaded school backpacks and leather tote bags.

Stopping at the six women, Aiden saw the rifles Nathan had given them were lever actions. Two didn’t know how to load them and the others were showing them. “Ladies, I need you to listen,” Aiden said, and they all turned to him.

Since Nathan still hadn’t said anything, Jasmine cleared her throat. “How in the hell did Apollo rip an arm off?” she asked, and John and Tom ran up.

Giving a gruff snort, “Hell, you almost blew the guy’s arm off when you shot the house up. It was only hanging on by a strip of flesh when Apollo latched on,” Nathan grinned. “I shot two who were piling back inside, and Apollo came into the kitchen with the arm in his mouth. Those six dropped their guns and just raised their hands. Pussies,” Nathan grunted the last.

Listening, John was certain if Apollo had been coming at him with an arm in his mouth, he would’ve just shot himself in the head. “We got all the guns from the yard piled up,” John told him.

“Go in the house. Master bedroom has weapons, metal ammo boxes, and tote bags full of boxes of ammo. Pull them to the front. Don’t worry, it’s less than thirty guns. Then, collect the weapons the gang had in the house. I’ll separate what we take. You and Tom will keep your gloves on. Under no circumstances are either of you to eat or drink anything in that house. I don’t care if it hasn’t been opened,” Nathan said, and both nodded. “There’s a separate stack of ammo cans in the closet. Stack those apart from the others.”

As they moved off, Tim came up smiling. “The truck is an ’84 quad cab F250 with a lift kit and off-road package, and someone took real good care of it. The damn thing could be sitting in a showroom,” Tim said.

Giving a shrug, “I really don’t care what it is. What’s on the trailer?” Nathan asked.

With Athena still at her side, Amanda and Casey strolled over. “Oh,” Tim said, with the smile falling off. “Most of the trailer is packed with chemicals. Ether, acetone-,”

Tim stopped when he saw Nathan’s eyes narrow. “Anything we can use in day-to-day life and not to make drugs?” Nathan asked. “Because we aren’t making explosives until ‘God of Thunder’ gets the need to ‘blow up the earth’ out of his system.”

“Copper tubing and a shit load of glass beakers,” Tim shrugged. “The back of the truck is loaded with full five-gallon gas cans and one fifty-five-gallon drum.”

“Empty the trailer, so we can load those ATVs,” Nathan said, and Tim gasped.

“You know how much shit is on there? It’ll take us six hours to unload that trailer!” Tim shouted.

Feeling tired, “Tim,” Nathan sighed. “Cut the ropes holding the shit on the trailer. Crank the truck, put it in reverse and go real fast, then hit the brakes. Continue doing that till the trailer’s empty.”

Not moving his body, Tim’s head rocked back on his neck. “Like that’s the first thing someone’s going to think of,” Tim spat. He turned to motion to the ATVs. “Nathan, those are brand new. The two I checked don’t even have a hundred miles on them. Where the hell did these idiots find brand-new, still-working ATVs?”

Looking at the five four-wheelers and two side by sides, “I’m betting they found them at a dealership,” Nathan answered, and Tim turned back to glare at Nathan. “Tim, you were with me when I bought my last four-wheeler. It was stored out back, in what? A shipping container,” Nathan said, raising his eyebrows. “That’s where they stored what they didn’t have on the floor.”

Spinning on his heel, “Sometimes you make me sick,” Tim said, storming off.

“Hun,” Nathan said softly, turning to Jasmine. “Keep an eye out and rotate two out with Tom and John if they need it, but I doubt it.”

“Nathan, we can’t stay here,” Jasmine whispered, looking over at Aiden still talking to the women.

“We’re leaving, but don’t worry, this group was heading back tomorrow. Nobody’s coming,” he told her. “I got that from the one Bill’s talking to. Apollo asked for me.”

“But you told that woman…”

“Yeah, I said we were staying just in case one gets captured again. The bad guys will think we’re still here.”

Glancing down at the leg shackles, “Um, w-,” she started, but just stopped. “Never mind,” she said, hearing the truck crank up. Tim threw it in reverse and stomped the gas, shooting backwards. Before the trailer jackknifed, he stomped the brakes and half the load dumped off the back.

“Make sure the kids stay alert and drink,” Nathan said, leaning over and kissing her cheek. “Let me have Athena,” he said, taking the leash from Amanda. Then he headed across the yard, leaving Amanda and Casey with Jasmine.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Stopping at the water sprinkler, Nathan took off his helmet and held his head over the jets of water. “What’s he got the big handcuffs for?” Natalie asked Jasmine in a low voice.

“Shit if I know, and I’m not asking,” Jasmine replied.

“They’re tied up with zip ties. Why does he need leg shackles?” Amanda wondered out loud.

When he stepped back from the sprinkler, Nathan shook his wet head and then put his helmet back on, seeing the six women jogging off and heading into the woods. Giving Athena slack, “Come,” he said, and headed for the prisoners.

“Natalie, Amanda, will you two go and see if Tom and John need to take a break? And if they do, will you carry the stuff out?” Jasmine asked.

Bumping Jasmine with her hip, “You’re in charge. You don’t ask, you tell,” Amanda informed her, but headed for the house with Natalie in tow.

With a grin, “Casey, keep watch,” Jasmine said. They stood watch while the others completed the tasks before moving over to join them under the shade. Tim was the first back, and Jasmine turned to see Nathan putting some leg shackles on a female prisoner. Just looking at the woman, Jasmine could tell she’d been a meth head before the collapse. She looked fifty, but Jasmine was sure the woman wasn’t much over thirty.

“Apollo, Ares, sit,” Nathan said, getting up and hauling the woman up by her arm. He marched her a few yards away and left her standing in the yard, then returned beside Apollo and Ares. “Athena, sit,” he said, and Athena sat down panting with her tongue hanging out. “Yeah, it’s warm, and you’re about to get hotter.”

“Apollo, time to work,” Nathan said, and Apollo stood up and his body became taut. “Apollo, attack,” Nathan commanded, pointing at the woman he’d left standing in the yard. Seeing the massive dog charging, the woman let out a yell. With her hands still tied behind her back, she tried to spin, but tripped with the shackles on her ankles.

Apollo lunged, grabbing her right leg as the woman fell back and her yell turned into a scream when Apollo sunk his teeth in and started shaking his head violently. “Apollo, break!” Nathan called out while slapping his thigh and Apollo let go, backing away from the screaming woman. “Apollo, heel up!” Nathan called out, and Apollo bounded back before Nathan told him to sit.

“Ares, time to work,” Nathan said, and Ares bounced up, baring his teeth with the hair on his back raised up. “Ares, attack!” Nathan pointed at the wailing woman, and Ares took off. Amanda and Natalie came out just as Ares latched on. Apollo was still just sitting up straight beside Nathan, but when he turned to look at them, Amanda and Natalie hurried over to Jasmine.

“That’s some cold shit,” Tim gasped, watching Ares drag the woman when he’d latched onto her left leg.

“Fuck ‘em,” Bill stated matter-of-factly. “You all saw that pile of bodies out back. And you saw the fire pit. And I had to listen to what they had to say. This is deserved.”

“Not to mention what’s in the house. Better them than me in that padded suit,” Aiden popped off as he walked over to join them, and Bill headed to the horses.

Amanda went over and hugged Aiden. “But I had to have someone in the suit, so Nathan could start teaching Athena how to attack,” Amanda told him.

Hugging Amanda back, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t mind being in the suit for Athena, she’s not much more than sixty pounds. Ares is double that and when he latches on, even with pads it hurts. Apollo,” Aiden scoffed. “He’s just over a hundred and forty and when he hits, it feels like you got run over by a truck and when he bites, you’d think the truck parked on your arm.”

“Ares, break!” Nathan called out, and Ares stepped back. Nathan called him back over and made him sit. Playing out some slack in the leash, “Athena, time to work,” Nathan told her, and Athena bounced up playfully. “Athena, attack!” Nathan pointed, and Athena bounded off as he followed still holding the leash.

Athena didn’t latch on. She bit and then let go, then bit again. “Athena, break!” Nathan yelled, yanking the leash.

“He doesn’t have to be so mean,” Amanda moaned. “Athena just likes biting them a bunch of times.”

It took several times and Nathan kept working with Athena until she latched onto the woman’s arm, then Nathan started pulling the leash. Athena didn’t let go and started shaking her head violently. “Good girl, that’s it!” Nathan praised. “Don’t let go!”

“That’s what I call, ‘making use of prisoners’,” Bill smiled grimly, joining them again. “But I still think they’re getting off too easy.”

“Athena, break!” Nathan shouted, giving slack to the leash. When Athena didn’t let go, Nathan moved up to grab her.

“And that’s why I don’t train dogs to attack,” Tim nodded while Nathan pried Athena’s mouth off the wailing woman. He turned to the other prisoners to see them staring at Ares and Apollo in sheer terror. “Seems their drugs have worn off.”

After Nathan had Athena off, he led her back and started the attack again. “Nathan knows dogs,” Bill laughed, watching Nathan fight to get Athena to listen to the break command.

“Yes, he does,” Jasmine agreed. “Even on the trip here, both dogs had ideal diets. He got supplements from a farm we stayed at in Mississippi, just to make sure.”

“Amanda!” Nathan shouted, and Amanda jumped three feet in the air. “Go inside and find three big bowls and bring them out here. Wash them out with the sprinkler and fill them up.”

Amanda took off like a rocket for the house as Nathan moved back and started again. The woman was trying to crawl away when he sent Athena again. This time, without the leash. “Yep, I’m going to catch him more tweaker prisoners, so I don’t have to get in that damn padded suit ever again,” Aiden vowed.

Tom and John came out, dropping stuff off and then headed back inside. “Natalie, why didn’t they want a break?” Jasmine asked.

“They didn’t want us to see some people the tweakers killed, and have to walk over all the dead bodies you shot in the house,” Natalie told her.

“Did they bother you?” Jasmine asked, turning away as Nathan moved up to make Athena let go.

Shaking her head, “No, it stunk, but that’s it,” Natalie answered, and Jasmine nodded.

Inside, John pulled his forearm across his brow, wiping sweat off as he opened the closet. Grabbing two ammo cans, he went to lift and was shocked at the weight. “What the hell?” he said, putting them down. He popped one open and sucked in a breath to see it was filled with gold coins. In that instant, John knew what was in those metal boxes Nathan and he had loaded up in Mississippi. But then, he realized there weren’t that many they’d hauled back home.

Giving a shrug, John closed the lid and locked it as Tom came in. “Don’t try for more than two. These are much heavier,” John warned, giving a grunt and picking up the cans. Seeing how hard they were for John, Tom just grabbed one.

Walking outside, John found Nathan leading Athena back. “Nathan, the horses can’t carry this,” John told him. “There’re twenty of these fifty caliber cans in that closet.”

Nathan gave John a grin. “I’m going to have Rusty and Bill load them in the backseat of the truck.”

Looking down at the cans he was carrying, John lifted his gaze back to Nathan. “Tom and I will load them,” John said, and Tom came out using two hands to carry the ammo can.

“Apollo, time to work,” Nathan said, and Apollo stood up. “Apollo, kill!” Nathan snapped, pointing at the woman on the ground who was barely moving now. Leaping out in a sprint, Apollo charged the woman who was curled in a ball before locking his jaws on the back of her neck. The woman screamed as he shook her violently. When Apollo shook the woman out of the ball she’d been curled up in, he let go briefly to shift his bite and clamped on the woman’s throat from the side.

The scream cut off like a switch when Apollo bit down and shook his head. “I’m buying Apollo something nice,” John stated, turning for the truck. “I want him to always see me as a friend.”

“Apollo, break!” Nathan shouted, and Apollo lifted his bloody head. “Apollo, heel up,” Nathan said, heading for the shade with Athena and called Ares over, too. Amanda had three large bowls of water waiting for them. When they started drinking, Nathan knelt down to rub each one as sweat rained off his body.

“Tim, load those four-wheelers up, and I want all five on that trailer,” Nathan panted. “Don’t make me have to tell you how, and don’t break them.”

Jasmine turned to the trailer, then the four-wheelers. “There’s no way in hell,” she declared.

“Hun, will you go help the boys?” Nathan grinned, and Jasmine gave him a wink before heading to the house. “When they have those cans loaded, Rusty, Bill, load those weapons in the side by sides. Take military grade arms first, then the others.”

“Um, you’re taking the truck and trailer, right?” Bill asked, and Nathan nodded. “Why don’t we take one of those vans and load it up?”

“Bill, we’re going to have to take the south ATV trail in, and those vans won’t even make it along the logging roads to reach the trail,” Nathan said, taking his helmet off and drinking from his camelback.

Seeing Tom and Jasmine struggling to carry the fifty caliber cans, “We really need that much fifty ammo?” Bill asked. “Let’s take more smaller caliber then those.”

“No, those cans first. Then, with what room there is, we’ll load up what’s left,” Nathan said, finally standing up as Amanda bent down with Casey, loving on the dogs. “Girls, keep an eye out,” Nathan told them, and they both stood back up. “Apollo, Ares, Athena, heel up,” Nathan commanded, and strolled back across the lawn.

“Apollo, Ares, and Athena,” Amanda grinned. “Triple A.”

“Shit if I would’ve ever called them,” Aiden mumbled as Nathan pulled another prisoner out to be the attack dummy. Everyone gave a gasp when Nathan cut the man’s hands loose. Rubbing his sore wrists, the new attack dummy stared at the chewed-up corpse of the last attack dummy while Nathan dragged her to the side. “I’ve seen him do juvenile cold shit before, but this’s got to be at the top of the list.”

“Then you need to pull your panties up and go look at the bones in the fire pit out back, and the kids hanging from the ceiling inside,” Bill snapped.

This time, Nathan alternated between all three dogs, sending one at a time, but still had to go down every other time to pull Athena off. When Jasmine, Tom, and John finished carrying out the cans, all were dripping with sweat when they moved over to the shade. “I see Athena got Nathan good,” Jasmine said, seeing Nathan had a dressing on his left forearm.

“Yeah, and she got popped for it,” Bill said, leaving with Aiden. Hearing a four-wheeler, Jasmine turned and gave a double take when Tim drove the four-wheeler up onto the trailer. One was already loaded, but the front wheels were hanging over the front lip of the trailer like it was doing a wheelie. Easing up to the ‘wheelie’ four-wheeler, Tim goosed the throttle and the front tires climbed up the other four-wheeler. Tim stopped when the four-wheeler he was driving was riding the back of the first one. “Okay, I wouldn’t have thought of that,” Jasmine mumbled, pulling her drinking tube off and drank heavily. Under no circumstances was she going to get to second warning. She would pour her camelback out first.

Stomping her boot hard, “Nathan punched Athena,” Amanda snapped.

Clipping her tube back to her vest, “Amanda, any one of those dogs bite me, and I’ll shoot ‘em,” Jasmine informed her. “You know Nathan knows what he’s doing, so don’t interfere unless you want to be the one bitten.”

Thinking about that, Amanda nodded in agreement. “But that’s not how the books say to do it.”

Glancing over at Amanda, “And how many German Shepherds has Nathan trained?” Jasmine asked.

“Twelve of his own and nine for other deputies,” Amanda moaned.

“You’d better move!” Nathan shouted, and they all turned to see the current attack dummy laying on the ground like a log. Lifting his AR, Nathan squeezed the trigger and they saw the prisoner’s left knee explode. “Athena, attack!” Nathan shouted as the man howled out, grabbing his knee.

“Why does he want the bad guys to move?” Casey asked.

“That’s how he trains them. When the person stops fighting, the dog stops shaking, but Nathan says the dogs don’t bite hard if the person isn’t moving when they attack,” Amanda answered as Athena latched on the man’s left wrist.

Letting his knee go, the man screamed when Athena’s teeth ground into his wrist. “Nathan told him to move,” Casey nodded.

“I wouldn’t move,” John mumbled, and Tom nodded as they both sucked down water watching Nathan call ‘break’, but Athena was having none of that. Running over, Nathan grabbed her and commanded her to break, trying to pull her off. Athena let go and clamped on Nathan’s left forearm, making Jasmine’s heart stop. Seeing Athena start to thrash her head, Jasmine fought the urge to lift her rifle.

Stepping away from the prisoner, Nathan lifted his left arm, hoisting Athena off the ground. “Ares, sit!” Nathan shouted, and they turned to see Ares was moving toward Nathan with his teeth bared.

“Ares was going to hurt Athena,” Amanda gasped, and Jasmine nearly yelled for Ares to go.

They all turned to see Nathan hit the side of Athena’s head, yelling break. No one knew if it was from the hit or the command, but Athena let go, dropping to the ground. “Athena, sit!” Nathan snapped, and they could see the bandage on his arm was really red now with fresh blood.

When he pulled the dressing off, they could see blood dripping from his arm while Nathan pulled another dressing out. Putting it on his arm, Nathan talked to Athena, but they couldn’t hear what he was saying. “Okay, she earned that one,” Amanda admitted with a shiver, watching Nathan wrap the new dressing on his arm.

For several minutes, Nathan gave her simple commands and after each one he loved on her, then had her follow him back to Apollo. “Ares, heel up,” Nathan said as he jogged past.

“I wonder if Apollo has bitten him like that?” John wondered out loud.

Nodding her head, “Yeah, and so has Ares, but Nathan said Apollo’s bites hurt a lot more,” Amanda told him.

Keeping watch, everyone would glance over as Nathan continued sending the dogs down and the man couldn’t be still, since his knee was shot out and the dogs kept coming down at him. Everyone watching was very happy that Athena seemed to finally understand the command of break, after doing it ten times.

“I’m surprised the prisoner is still moving,” Natalie admitted when Nathan sent Ares down.

This time, the man held up his hands and Ares latched on the right one. Instead of thrashing about, Ares dropped to the ground and rolled. “I love it when he does that!” Amanda cheered as the others winced, hearing the man’s arm give a snap. It didn’t help, the fact Ares got to his feet and started shaking his head.

“Ares, break!” Nathan shouted, and Ares let the man’s arm go and turned to Nathan, cocking his head to the side. “Ares, I’m not playing,” Nathan warned. “Ares, heel up.”

Like he was pissed, Ares stormed over and sat when Nathan told him to. Like a spoiled kid, Ares did hesitate for a second before he sat down. “Athena, time to work,” Nathan said, pointing at the man as he sat up cradling his broken arm. “Athena, attack.”

The man screamed seeing Athena charge him, and everyone heard the other prisoners start to cry for help. A loud yelp erupted, and they turned back to see Athena had latched onto the broken arm. “Damn, sucks to be a bad guy around here,” Jasmine grunted.

When Nathan called break, Athena let go and came back when Nathan called her, and he dropped down to love on her. “Ares, time to work,” Nathan said, hugging Athena. “Ares, kill,” Nathan said, pointing at the man. Staring right at the man, Jasmine swore the man seemed to have relief on his face at hearing the command and seeing Ares charging.

Ares leapt like a missile, opening his jaws and clamping on the man’s throat as his weight knocked the man back. “Yeah, you thought you were getting off easy, but Ares doesn’t kill fast like Apollo,” Amanda teased, confirming Jasmine had seen relief on the man’s face.

Ares stood up shaking his head, and they heard the man gargling. “See? Ares plays,” Amanda nodded.

“Yeah, he only kills dogs fast,” John chimed in. Just as the gargling weakened, Ares shook harder and jerked back, and they saw the blood come up.

“At one time, this would’ve made me sick to see dogs trained to hurt like this,” Jasmine admitted. “But I can’t even count how many times Ares has saved us.”

“Why?” Amanda asked, turning to Jasmine. “Nathan’s training them like he’s training us. It doesn’t do any good to train to make cakes when people are trying to kill us. The dogs are weapons, just like we are.” Hearing it put like that, Jasmine felt more at ease.

Nathan headed over with the dogs and they dove into the water bowls. “Need me to look at that?” Jasmine offered, nodding at his forearm.

“It’s not that bad, she wasn’t biting me full force,” Nathan panted, holding his arm up. Pulling his drinking tube off, “She learned after the first time the harder she bit me, the harder I popped her. Plus, Ares almost reached her once, and I think that terrified Athena.”

“It would me,” Tom said as Tim came over.

Drinking from his camelback, Nathan looked down and noticed how close Apollo was to John. Apollo had circled his water bowl to stand closer to John as he’d lapped up water. Emptying his camelback, Nathan clipped his tube to his vest and moved over to Jasmine, taking her drinking tube. When Nathan started drinking from her tube, Jasmine was relieved she wouldn’t have to pour some water out.

When Apollo quit drinking, he lifted his head up and stepped back before sitting almost directly beside John. Clipping Jasmine’s drinking tube back to her vest, “John, hug Apollo,” Nathan told him.

Letting out a small gasp, John looked down to see Apollo looking up at him panting. The tan fur on the front half of his body was tinted red from blood. “Um, Nathan? I don’t want to,” John said, and everyone in the group turned to John in shock. Never once had John not done what Nathan had asked, and he’d always done it with a smile.

“What?!” Nathan cried out.

“Nathan, he had an arm in his mouth. I really like both of mine,” John said, never taking his eyes off Apollo.

Giving an angry huff, Nathan stormed off looking around at all the dead bodies in the yard. Seeing one with pants he stormed over, and John finally took his eyes off Apollo. Watching Nathan bend down and yank a belt from the dead man’s pants, John dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around Apollo’s neck. “I thought so,” Nathan mumbled, dropping the belt and walking back over as Bill and Rusty joined the others.

“Can I just ask, why?” John pleaded when Nathan walked up.

“John, Apollo has always stayed near you. But he’s attacking, and look where he went,” Nathan said. “He was moving to protect you. It took me three months to train him to do that with Tim and Sherry.”

“You need to rephrase, Nathan,” Tim clarified. “Apollo listens to Sherry much better than me.”

“John, stay here, and I’m going to call you over when I start on the next one,” Nathan said when Athena quit drinking. “Come on, Amanda,” Nathan said, turning around and Amanda bounced on her toes, clapping.

When Nathan called the dogs, John let Apollo go and Apollo licked his face before bounding after Nathan. “Oh man, that was gross,” John said, wiping his face off with his gloves.

Pulling another man over, Nathan cut his hands free and headed over to the dogs. When he turned around, he found the man standing rigidly straight like a statue. “Relax,” Nathan said, putting his knife away and the man continued to stand frozen.

“Let me send Athena. He’ll move.” Amanda glared at the man for interrupting her dog’s training like this.

“Amanda,” Nathan said in a low voice. “She has to learn to attack targets that move first. Then, you teach targets by pointing.”

“Move, bitch!” Amanda shouted, lifting her rifle up, but the man never wavered.

“Put your rifle down,” Nathan said, glaring at the man. “Last warning,” he offered, and the man didn’t move. “Apollo, time to work!” he shouted, and Apollo jumped up. Slowly raising his hand up and pointing at the man, “Apollo, frank and beans!” Nathan shouted.

Jasmine heard Tim, Bill, Aiden, and Rusty give startled cries as Apollo lunged forward and the man still stood frozen. Seeing Apollo only getting bigger the closer he got, the man started wavering and when Apollo was three yards away the man crossed his arms, shielding his face.

Stumbling back, Jasmine watched Apollo latch onto the man’s crotch. An ear-splitting scream echoed across the valley in a high-pitched octave not even young Emma could reach. When Apollo started thrashing his head, the pitch got higher as the man fell to the ground, grabbing at Apollo’s head. The more the man touched him, the more Apollo shook. Finally, the man stopped touching Apollo and he stopped shaking, but didn’t release.

“Holy shit,” Tom mumbled, and Jasmine turned to see him covering his crotch and then saw all the boys were covering their crotches. Then, she looked down and saw her own hands covering her crotch. “He passed out,” Tom said, and Jasmine looked up just in time to see the man come to.

When the man moved so did Apollo, and the man threw his head back and lifted his hands up, so Apollo would stop moving. “The old frank and beans,” Tim shivered.

“He taught that?!” Natalie cried out, and even she was covering her crotch.

“Oh, yeah. Nathan ever tell you about the only female dog he had, Pandora?” Tim asked.

“Yeah, the sheriff made Nathan stop bringing her on patrol. Nathan said she tore into a robber like she was looking for a prize,” John said, wincing as the man passed out again, but still Apollo held on.

Waving one hand out, “Now you know how she ripped into the package,” Tim told them, dropping his hand back to his groin.

“Oh man, that’s wrong!” Tom cried out, cupping his hands hard to his jewels and walked off. “Just fucking shoot my ass with a dull bullet!”

With one hand on her rifle and the other on her crotch, “That looks like it really hurts,” Casey confessed.

“I would rather give birth!” Bill shouted and walked off, shielding his manhood from the horror. “To an elephant!”

“Apollo, break,” Nathan commanded, and Jasmine gave a sigh, letting her crotch go when Apollo let go. The man let out a howl waking up and curled up rolling around on the ground, cradling his chewed-up frank and beans. “Apollo, heel up.”

Apollo trotted back with his tongue hanging out like he was laughing. “Send Athena,” Nathan told Amanda.

“Athena, time to work,” Amanda said, and Athena jumped up cheerfully. Pointing at the man as he rolled around, “Athena, attack,” Amanda commanded, and Athena took off. The man never acknowledged Athena latching onto the back of his left arm, shaking her head violently.

“Come here, John,” Nathan said, watching Athena. For a brief second, John thought about running off, but took a deep breath, knowing Nathan wouldn’t let Apollo attack his frank and beans. Trying to put a brave expression on his very pale face, John walked over before stopping beside Apollo. Tilting his head up, Apollo looked up at John like he was happy. Not able to help it, John took one hand off his crotch and patted Apollo.

“Call her back,” Nathan told Amanda. Amanda had to say it twice, but Athena let go. “Love on her, but not extravagantly,” Nathan told Amanda when she called Athena back.

“John, tell Apollo to attack, just like you do Ares,” Nathan said.

Pulling his hand back, John fought not to let it join his left hand still on his crotch. “Apollo, time to work,” John said, and Apollo jumped up, looking ahead.

“Wow,” Nathan mumbled when John told Apollo to attack and he took off.

John watched in shock, even letting his left hand fall to his side. “He listened,” John said in awe as Apollo latched on the man’s left arm and yanked it from him cradling his manhood.

“Jasmine, Natalie, come work with Ares. Casey, since Athena listens to you, join Amanda,” Nathan said.

When he called Apollo back, John dropped down loving on Apollo, even wrapping his arms around Apollo’s neck. “That boy’s braver than me,” Rusty admitted with no shame.

For fifteen minutes they sent the dogs down one at a time, and the man still hadn’t acknowledged any other bite. To prove the point to John, Nathan had Amanda and Jasmine try to get Apollo to attack, but he wouldn’t. Apollo would only follow basic commands. When John sent Apollo down the fourth time, Apollo latched on the man’s right arm, pulling it out from between the man’s legs. “That’s it, get him, Apollo!” John cheered, and Apollo got hostile with the thrashing of his head.

“John, when you cheer Apollo, just like Ares, that increases his ferocity,” Nathan said, and Apollo ripped the man’s right bicep off. That was enough to overshadow the pain from his groin and the man howled, grabbing the wound. “John, call break,” Nathan said quickly.

“Apollo, break!” John shouted as Apollo dropped the hunk of meat, about to go in again. “Apollo, heel up,” John said, and Apollo ran back in bouncing leaps. When he reached John, John dropped down hugging Apollo tight.

“Amanda, send Athena down before he bleeds out,” Nathan sighed, then shouted out, “pussy!” at the moaning prisoner. “My dog tried to let you rape his mouth like you did with those women, asshole!”

Athena bounded down after Amanda told her and latched on, but the man only gave out weak moans as the blood poured from his arm. When Amanda called Athena back, Nathan pulled the sprinkler over by the bowls and let the dogs get soaked while they lapped up water.

Taking off his vest, backpack, weapons, and helmet, Nathan joined the dogs under the sprinkler. “Bill, you and Rusty will drive the truck and trailer. I’m thinking Tim and Aiden can drive the side by sides,” Nathan suggested.

“Sounds good,” Bill nodded, glancing up to see the sun would be setting soon. “Want us to haul ass to the north logging road, then pull down to the south ATV trail?”

Nodding, “Yeah, we’ll go back the way we came. Shouldn’t be there much sooner than you,” Nathan said.

“Nathan, those don’t look like your side by sides. They look more like dune buggies,” Jasmine said.

“They’re Razors,” Nathan told her. “One’s a two seater and the other is a quad seat. They just don’t have the bed on the back you can shove a ton of shit in.”

After fifteen minutes, Nathan sent the kids and dogs back, but had Rusty haul over the prisoner while he soaked under the sprinkler. Talking about alternate routes with Tim and Bill for almost ten minutes, Nathan froze to hear Amanda shout, “Ares, frank and beans!”

“Damn it, Amanda!” Nathan bellowed, jumping up. He turned just in time to see Ares attack. The man was no fool and had seen what that was, and was more than willing to sacrifice his hands to save the frank and beans. “Amanda, call break,” Nathan shouted, running over.

Ares knocked the man down and bit the man’s face. This caused the man to lose his focus and remove his hands, and Ares let go and lunged down. When the man let out an ear-splitting scream, Nathan slowed his run letting out a groan. “Ares, break!” Amanda shouted, slapping her leg.

“It doesn’t work after he locks on!” Nathan shouted at her. “I swear, he thinks it’s funny the way they scream when he does that!”

“I don’t think it’s funny,” Rusty commented.

“Ares has done that before?” Jasmine asked, watching Nathan glare at Amanda as he stormed past her.

“Yeah, on a drug raid,” Bill said, trying to grin at the memory, but just couldn’t. “It’s not like Nathan can let it be known he has a dog that’s trained to take out the cock and balls. To be honest, Nathan probably would use it more, but Ares thinks when he grabs the frank and beans, they belong to him.”

Reaching Ares, Nathan stood over the man while Ares would give occasional shakes of his head, making the man scream. No matter how still the man stayed, Ares wouldn’t stop the thrashes. “Ares, break,” Nathan said softly, and Ares looked up at him with his mouth locked on the man. “You fucking bite me when I pull you off, I’ll kick your ass and chop up your woobie,” Nathan threatened.

When Nathan reached down, Ares let out a growl at him and shook his head side to side violently for a second, making the man howl in pain. For a brief second, Nathan was tempted to just let Ares hang on until he got tired, but the command to release had been given. Taking a deep breath, Nathan dove down.

Fighting Ares loose, Nathan tried to shove him back, but Ares snapped at his hand and then lunged back down, locking again on the man’s crotch.

“Okay, now I’m terrified of Ares,” Tom moaned.

Cursing at Ares, Amanda, and the world, Nathan fought Ares off two more times, only to have him latch back on. “Will you keep your dick covered?!” Nathan yelled at the screaming man.

Beyond pissed-off, “Apollo, time to work!” Nathan shouted, and Ares stopped thrashing his head suddenly.

“Uh-oh,” Jasmine gasped, seeing Apollo bound away from John to Nathan. Undoubtedly, Ares knew Apollo was coming and didn’t want any because he let go and jumped out of Nathan’s arms, sitting down before Apollo reached them. “Ares is scared of his daddy.”

Yanking his knife out, Nathan spun around and stabbed the screaming prisoner in the back of the head. The scream cut off and he yanked the knife out, glaring at Ares. Sitting across from Nathan with his tongue hanging out as he panted, like he hadn’t done anything wrong, Ares’ eyes glanced at Apollo just beside Nathan, then focused back on Nathan.

Getting his breathing under control, Nathan sheathed his knife and stood up. “If you would’ve listened, just this once, I would’ve let you latch back on and stayed there till it snowed!” Nathan shouted at Ares. He glanced down to see Apollo standing rigid, staring at Ares. “Apollo, sit,” he said softly, and Apollo sat down.

“I’m sorry!” Amanda called out, running over and saw Nathan had gotten his ass kicked by Ares. Athena may not have known how to fight Nathan, but Ares did. His face had several claw marks, and there was another bite on his left arm and one on his right forearm. “I just wanted to see if he would do it,” Amanda admitted in a mumble.

“Oh, Ares will do that attack for anyone. It took months to make him stop it after I used it once during a raid!” Nathan shouted as he got up. Seeing Amanda drop her head looking at her boots, Nathan gave a sigh and moved over, hugging her.

“Just promise me you won’t tell him that again,” Nathan offered.

“I promise,” Amanda squeaked out between sobs.

Letting Amanda go, Nathan walked over and shot the other prisoners, and told Amanda to get the leg shackles. Pulling out a large magic marker, Nathan made a sign on a large piece of cardboard. Then everyone gathered around the truck looking at the map, but the adventures weren’t done for the day.

When everyone heard the unmistakable buzz of a rattlesnake, they took off running in whatever direction they were facing. More than one screamed out obscenities as they ran, and two who weren’t girls let out very young, girl-like screams. Glancing back as he pushed his legs, John saw Ares bouncing back as a snake struck at him. When the snake pulled back, Ares darted in to grab the snake almost at the tip of its tail. Leaning forward, John pushed his legs harder while Ares started beating the snake off his rattle.

Wondering who’d screamed like little girls when he stopped twenty yards away, Nathan turned around to see the snake was fully extended as Ares thrashed his head about, smashing the snake into the ground with loud slaps. “I’m afraid one day, I’m going to shoot that damn dog,” Nathan mumbled as Ares let the snake go.

Shaking his head, Nathan followed the arc of the long black shadow up through the clear twilight sky. When the snake landed not five feet from him, Nathan ran over to the snake laid out straight as an arrow and put his boot behind the head. Lowering his AR, he blew the head off as Ares grabbed the body just before the rattle, picking the beat down right back up.

Nathan turned to Jasmine. “See? That’s why I know Ares thinks screams are funny, because the first time he did that I jumped into the Colorado River, and you see who he just threw it at,” Nathan told her.

“I want a clause in the marriage. If he throws a snake on me I can kill him, and you won’t leave me,” Jasmine offered.

Giving her a nod, Nathan headed to the horses while Ares thrashed about, getting the dead snake off his rattle.  When they left, Jasmine grinned at the sign nailed to the house.

Cannibals, Murderers, Rapists

Death to all

THE POSSE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The group made camp at midnight, just eight miles from the compound. Before dawn, Nathan rode ahead to let the compound know they were returning with rides. It may have only been eight miles, but they were all traveled by ATV trail, and it took three hours to drive the truck and trailer into the valley.

It was near noon and Nathan was out in the shop beside his cabin with his kids, the posse, and the little posse, working on the five ATVs and two Razors. On the porch, Jasmine was with the wives, setting up sandwiches for the group. Glancing over at the right side of the house, Jasmine saw three of the four-wheelers were broken down. “What are the shiny pieces of metal for?” Jasmine asked as Nathan walked closer to the porch.

“Just sheet metal to enclose the engine in a shroud,” Nathan answered, picking up Emma. “The white board they put on first is insulation board. When we get finished, these won’t be much louder than the Warthogs.”

Giving an impressed nod, “That’s all good, but we, and I mean the kids and I, aren’t going out on ATVs till we learn how to drive them,” Jasmine told him again.

Crossing his eyes and putting on a goofy face, “DUuuuh,” Nathan sang out.

“You already have bandages on both forearms and right hand. You want one on your head after I thump a knot on it?” Jasmine asked, crossing her arms.

“Found ‘em,” Sherry said, coming out holding two shoe boxes. When she spotted Jasmine at the side of the porch, Sherry’s step faltered, feeling the frigid air between them. “What’s the problem?”

Turning to Sherry with a smile, “Nothing,” Jasmine answered.

Giving a soft chuckle, Sherry moved to the side of the porch as Nathan came over, shifting Emma to his right arm as his left dug in his front pocket. “Here,” Nathan sighed, passing over the rattle. “I really thought you’d forgotten those.”

“Like we would,” Sherry huffed, opening the top shoe box and Jasmine’s eyes got huge to see it was filled with rattlesnake rattles of different sizes. “Sorry, full one,” Sherry mumbled, putting the other one on top and opening it.

Seeing the other box was halfway full, “Ares is only two and a half. How the hell can he kill that many rattlesnakes? There aren’t that many around here!” Jasmine cried.

“Please,” Nathan scoffed, stepping over and tossing the newest one in. “He’s only killed maybe ten or fifteen in Idaho. Ares has been to Texas four times, and I’ll kiss your ass if he didn’t kill thirty the last time.” When Jasmine whipped her head to look at him in shock, “Shit, in Arizona, he killed twenty-three in one day. Felt like I was dodging gunfire.”

Turning back to the shoebox before Sherry closed it, “Nathan, I’m not kidding, Ares throws a rattlesnake on me, I’m going ‘Amanda’ on his ass cranking the gat,” Jasmine assured him.

Setting the shoeboxes down, Sherry nodded. “Told Nathan the same damn thing.”

“Has Ares ever tossed one at anyone else?” Jasmine asked timidly.

“Shit, yeah. Why do you think Bill didn’t stop running till he was halfway up that mountain?” Nathan told her, turning around. “Hey, Bill!” he called out.

Bent over one of the ATVs helping John and Robin, so nobody else would, Bill turned to Nathan wearing a huge grin. “Yeah?”

“Does Ares throw rattlesnakes on you?!” Nathan shouted, and Jasmine watched the grin fall off and Bill’s hand dropped to the pistol on his hip. Bill turned around scanning for Ares and spotted him beside a tree with Apollo and Athena, just watching the group.

“Yeah, and if he does it again, I’m running his ass over!” Bill shouted, staring hard at Ares.

“Bill,” Janice laughed, coming over. “Remember the last time, you jumped in a car? You climbed into the truck in Oklahoma and Ares brought the snake in the cab?”

A shiver ran up and down Bill’s spine making him dance in a circle, and Jasmine couldn’t help but chuckle. “You left the door open!” he screamed at his wife.

“No shit,” Janice snapped. “I see Ares with a six-foot rattlesnake in his mouth coming right at me, and I knew I didn’t have enough time to close the door.”

“You didn’t have to let him in! You could’ve shut the door when you took off! But no, you shut the fucking door after he jumps in with my ass!”

“He wasn’t outside with me, and you’re a big boy,” Janice nodded.

“You’re a vet!”

Shaking her head, “That snake was past my help and was really pissed,” Janice countered. “I’m just glad you didn’t jump in a vehicle again the next time.”

“Tim had the keys and the door wouldn’t open!” Bill spat at her, then turned to Nathan. “You think it’s funny?!”

“Bitch, you don’t see me fuckin’ smiling!” Nathan shot back with a grim face. “If I hadn’t been training the dogs for so long, I would’ve outrun your ass over that ridge. I told you the first time not to scream so loud.”

Utter shock filled Bill’s face. “Nathan, we were on a hike. I just took my backpack off to take a dump and a four-foot rattlesnake lands on my shoulder, almost wrapping around my neck. What the fuck does any sane person do when that happens?”

Shivering, “Scream like a bitch and run like hell,” Jasmine stated.

Waving his hand out to Jasmine, “See? She understands,” Bill said.

Having a thought, “What did Ares do with the snake after he jumped in the truck with you?” Jasmine asked.

“BEAT THE SPAWN OF HELL OFF THE RATTLE!” Bill screamed, and Jasmine noticed Robin fall to the ground behind her dad, laughing so hard she was holding her stomach.

“I did pay to have your truck cleaned professionally. You didn’t have to trade it in,” Nathan chimed in.

“I still had to drive us home with piss and shit all over my driver’s side and floorboard! And I never wanted to be on the inside of that truck again!”

Trying not to laugh, “Bill, we were all trying to open the door to get you out, but you locked them,” Rusty said, climbing out from under another four-wheeler.

Spinning around and almost stepping on his daughter, “Oh, motherfucker, let’s see how well you can think when a fucking dog’s beating a rattlesnake to death inside the cab of your truck!” Bill bellowed. Looking down at Robin rolling on the ground laughing, “What the hell are you laughing so hard for? We had to look around for you for half an hour!”

Not answering, Robin just laughed harder rolling on the ground, and Bill just gave her a sneer as Rusty stepped over her. “You had your gun, Bill. You could’ve shot Ares, the snake, or yourself,” Rusty offered.

Lifting his gaze up to Rusty’s face, “What part of ‘you can’t think when a rattlesnake is being beat to death in your cab’ don’t you understand?” Bill almost growled.

Janice held onto Jasmine to keep from falling down while she laughed. “Nathan,” Jasmine said calmly. “Ares does that to me, I’m shooting you in the leg after I kill him.”

Turning to Jasmine, “Hey, bitch there has only had three snakes dropped on his ass!” Nathan spat, waving his arm toward Bill. “That fucker’s hit me with over a hundred last year alone.”

“He’s your fucking dog!” Bill screamed, and all those working on the four-wheelers hit the ground laughing. In disgust, Bill turned, looking around him at everyone rolling around laughing. “I’m putting a rattlesnake in each one of your beds before the end of summer,” Bill growled, and the laughter stopped almost instantly.

“Oh, Bill,” Jasmine sang out and he turned to her. “I wasn’t laughing about it, so you do that to me, I’m giving Ares a special attack command,” she warned, and Bill’s hands covered his manhood. “I’ll bandage Nathan after he pulls Ares off.”

Seeing Jasmine really wasn’t laughing, “My apologies,” Bill nodded.

“It was funny,” Janice said, wiping her eyes.

“Not saying it wasn’t,” Jasmine shivered. “But, Janice, I’ve seen Nathan fight and kill against impossible odds and never lose his cool. Just the thought of him panicking, I know I would die on the spot if the same happened to me.”

“Then don’t ever scream,” Janice warned. “I swear, Ares thinks it’s funny as hell. I’ve never seen a dog that smart. Ares got bit three times when he jumped in the truck with that snake, so he knows better. I’m telling you, he thinks it’s funny hearing people scream.”

Nodding, “Oh, on that I have no doubt. Especially after watching Nathan fight to get Ares off after the attack Amanda ordered,” Jasmine confessed. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen Ares not obey Nathan.”

Wiping her eyes, Penny moved over beside Jasmine, waving the others to the porch. “Come eat, guys.”

Amanda ran over, wrapping her arm around Nathan’s waist. “Has Ares ever thrown a snake on someone and they didn’t scream?” she asked as they grabbed sandwiches.

“Yeah,” Nathan scoffed, and Amanda looked up at him in awe. “Aiden and Tim,” Nathan answered, nodding at the two.

With blatant admiration, Amanda turned to Aiden and he gave a shrug. “Yeah, it startled me, but I grew up in Texas and ran up on rattlesnakes all the time,” he answered, and Amanda turned to Tim.

“I was sitting down and fucking fainted like an old lady who’d just won the lottery,” Tim stated, and held his chin high.

“Bill,” Aiden said, grabbing a sandwich. “I’ve woke up with a rattler in my bed when I was ten. You put one in my house, and I’ll hide a hundred in yours.”

With wide eyes, Bill just nodded. “You didn’t, like, die?!” Natalie cried out.

“Nope,” Aiden said. “Daddy always said, don’t scream and holler because that’ll excite the snake, so I just crawled out of the bed and got him. He came in, grabbed the snake, carried it outside, and killed it.”

“I would’ve died,” Natalie mumbled.

“Not saying I almost didn’t, but waking up with a four-foot rattler between your legs and you’re in underwear and can feel his head resting on your pecker…” Aiden paused to shiver, “A young boy is going to do a lot to save his tally whacker.”

The entire porch became quiet as visions filled their minds. Bill turned to Janice and grabbed her shoulder. “A rattler bites my manhood, get a gun and just fucking shoot me in the back of the head on the spot,” he told her. “If you want, I’ll put it in my living will and we can have the others witness it.”

Letting Emma get a bite of his sandwich, Nathan shivered and turned away to look out from the porch across the valley. “Great,” he sighed, seeing Heath and Floyd walking around his fence that held the horses.

Floyd rounded the five-acre lot of the horses and looked at the end of Nathan’s buildings to see the garage dug into the hillside. Each bay could hold two vehicles, one in front of the other. Both doors were open, and he could see the fancy Warthogs pulled into one side. The other only held Nathan’s birthday truck from his parents. Beside the truck, Floyd saw Nathan’s snowmobiles along the wall. He didn’t need to see the other wall to know there were five four-wheelers. Four were eight hundred cc’s and the other was a small three hundred cc Nathan had bought, so his ‘little posse’ could learn to ride.

Almost stomping as he stormed toward the cabin, Floyd saw Nathan’s two side by sides and two electric buggies parked in front of the chicken coop. The fact Nathan had let others in his ‘posse’ keep his other electric buggies and side by sides that weren’t even there, was what pissed off his wife Anita. Just seeing how much Nathan had and wasn’t sharing with the rest of the group enraged Floyd as he turned to the left side of Nathan’s house and saw the vehicles he had taken from Jeremey’s.

Speeding up and passing Heath, “You’ll let some of us have those!” Floyd shouted at Nathan.

The entire group spun to the voice, spotting Floyd storming over. Watching Nathan hand Emma to Jasmine, Bill sighed. “We’re letting Nathan kill him today,” Bill informed everyone in a low voice.

“Excuse me!” Nathan said, walking down the steps and stopping.

With his face a splotchy red, “You can’t just keep everything!” Floyd shouted, stopping five feet from Nathan. “You must share equally and look!” he pointed at the disassembled four-wheelers, “you’re breaking them and haven’t even gotten permission from the covenant!”

Seeing Nathan squaring his shoulders and both Floyd and Heath were armed, Jasmine turned to shove Emma into Casey’s arms. “Get Emma and Chip inside now,” she commanded, and Casey took off.

“Listen, bitch!” Nathan shouted as Heath stopped beside Floyd. “Nobody tells me what the fuck to do with my toys! If I want to break them all it’s my business, not some no-dick cocksucker!”

Breathing through clenched teeth, “You have to turn over claimed property,” Floyd snarled. “It’s in the covenant laws.”

“Did you get this shit? Fuck no! And has anyone else brought shit in? Fuck no!” Nathan bellowed. “If any motherfucker here wants some of the shit my posse got, they better bring over some leprechauns for me to fuck!”

Everyone on the porch turned to Jasmine. “What? He fucks leprechauns, I’m watching and taking pictures,” she told them.

When Nathan stepped closer, Floyd and Heath stepped back. “That’s my brand-new, thirty horsepower John Deere tractor out there in the valley, and not one ass-wipe ever asked me if the covenant could use it!” Nathan shouted.

Hearing the rumble of a diesel, everyone but Nathan turned to see one of the compound’s five-ton military trucks coming down the road, slowly pulling the broken-down covenant’s tractor from Ephraim’s. Sitting in the cab while Lanny drove, Vince saw Floyd and Heath standing in front of Nathan. Even from fifty yards away, he could see all were angry. Glancing at the porch, Vince saw the others just watching and didn’t know if that was good or bad, but with Nathan, one could never tell.

Letting out a long sigh, “I just want to go two days without Floyd and Anita pissing someone off,” Vince moaned.

“Why in the hell do you think I didn’t want to be reelected president,” Lanny chuckled.

Seeing Floyd turn back to Nathan, “What I don’t understand is, why Heath and Joan are friends with them and back them up?” Vince asked as Lanny downshifted to slow down.

“Oh, it’s all Joan,” Lanny answered. “Vince, you’ve seen how many animals that woman finds in the woods and nurses back to health. Joan sees Anita and Floyd as misunderstood, injured, and rejected souls.”

When the vehicle stopped, Lanny turned to Vince. “I’m ashamed to admit this, but you don’t know how happy I am that Anita and Floyd are proud atheists.”

Turning to Lanny, Vince saw a wide grin splitting his black face. “I wish they were homeopathic because Anita thinks she has every ailment under the sun,” Vince grumbled as he opened the door to climb out.

As Lanny and Vince headed to Nathan’s, they heard Floyd scream. “That truck belongs to the covenant and can’t be taken off the property unless cleared through the members!”

Looking up at the sky, “Thank you, Lord, for convincing me not to run for president again,” Lanny sighed.

“Yeah, thanks,” Vince replied dryly.

Moving fast, Nathan got nose-to-nose with Floyd, pointing at the five-ton truck. “That truck belongs to me, you spineless bitch! I bought it nine months ago because the group asked me to, but I haven’t received one red cent to pay me back! Nobody tells me what to do with my fucking shit!” Nathan screamed so loud, his face changed colors.

When Floyd took a breath to speak, Nathan’s hands shot up, shoving Floyd in the chest. When Floyd hit the ground, Heath stepped up, “You need to calm down because Floyd has valid points!” Heath shouted, and Nathan squared off with him.

“Oh, now it’s getting good,” Bill giggled as he trotted down the steps. “It’s my turn to be Nathan’s backup,” Bill said over his shoulder, and moved behind Nathan.

When Rusty, Aiden, and Tim moved to join they stopped, seeing Jasmine pulling her pistol out. “Damn, Jasmine is breaking out the gat,” Amanda laughed.

“Gentlemen!” Vince shouted, holding up his hands. Watching Floyd get to his feet, Vince noticed Heath and Floyd were turned to him, but Nathan was still glaring at the two. For a brief second, Vince thought about telling Nathan to just spin off and let the chips fall where they may. Feeling bad for even considering that, Vince lowered his hands and stopped some ten yards away. President or not, he wasn’t getting any closer to Nathan, seeing none in the posse were even remotely interested in stopping his rage. There was no doubt the posse were the real fighters in the group, or who they would back. But nobody in the covenant ever feared the posse. When asked to help and if they could, anyone would gladly lend a hand.

“May I ask what is going on?” Vince asked in a calm voice.

“He’s not following covenant law about sharing what’s brought in,” Floyd told Vince, trying to ignore Nathan glaring at him. Glad Nathan was mad in front of Vince and Lanny, Floyd calmed down telling his side of the argument.

After listening for ten minutes, Vince threw up his hands. “Whoa, hold up!” he barked. “First, there is no section in the bylaws that say you have to share what you bring in once the covenant becomes active. Next, everyone here has seen Jeremey’s contract, and it clearly states Nathan Owens as caretaker of Jeremey’s plot and primary beneficiary/successor of Jeremey’s property here, if neither he nor Vicki are here. If you go down this road, be careful, Floyd, because that’s the only reason you and Anita are here. Next, that truck is Nathan’s because the covenant never paid him back. That’s why we took it because we didn’t feel like gathering up all the members to ask to take one of the covenant’s trucks. I suggest if you want to secure stuff like they do, go out and kill some of those meth monkeys or government troops. This covenant is based on a democracy, but the group can only intervene if someone is endangering the compound with what they have in their plot.”

“Everyone here is only allowed ten acres, but Nathan has another five acres for his horses in front of Rusty’s,” Floyd said in a quivering voice, and Heath nodded behind him.

Lowering his hands, “Well, that’s really none of your business, but I’ll tell you,” Vince said. “Rusty signed over that five acres to Nathan. But to be honest, the posse,” Vince smiled, tilting his head toward the porch, “they all share and help each other. Everyone here can learn lessons from them. I was there when Anita’s dad was the president and Rusty signed it over. To date, it’s the only time I’ve ever seen someone not give in to a Nathan tantrum.”

“Nathan has another working truck!” Heath shouted, pointing at the Ford they’d acquired.

Turning to look at the truck he had already seen. “Nice truck, Nathan,” Vince said.

For the first time, Nathan turned from Heath and Floyd. “Have you gone stupid?!” Nathan barked at Vince, making Vince blink rapidly in shock. “I drive Chevy, Bill drives…” Nathan stopped as he looked at Vince.

Nodding his head, “Bill drives Fords,” Vince finished.

“Aiden drives?” Nathan asked.

“Dodge, and Rusty drives Toyotas,” Vince offered.

From the porch, Rusty scoffed. “Rusty drives whatever the fuck he can afford and get a good deal on. My loyalty is to my wallet, not a brand.”

“Right. That’s Bill’s truck,” Nathan nodded, turning back to Heath and Floyd.

“Nathan could let others have some of the stuff from Jeremey’s!” Floyd snapped, letting his anger show because this wasn’t going the way he and Anita had practiced.

“He has,” Vince smiled. “Nathan offered up one of the electric buggies to transport those on guard duty out to their posts. I know for a fact, he’s let Isaac and Ruth have one, since theirs was parked at home. Also, I think Nathan gave some of his ATVs or buggies to some in the posse.”

“Even you admit they’re a separate gang here!” Heath shouted, and Nathan gave a low growl.

Nodding, “Yeah, and one day, I hope I’m good enough they let me join,” Vince admitted.

With a wide shit-eating grin, Lanny stepped up beside Vince. Knowing what he was going to ask was wrong, but not able to fight the id, “Hey, Nathan?” Lanny called out.

Turning away from Heath and Floyd, “Yeah, Preacher Man?” Nathan said, even giving a small smile.

“Can Regina and I use one of the electric buggies? With her sister’s and brother’s family living with us, we’re using ours so much, we can’t keep it charged,” Lanny asked.

Jerking a thumb over his shoulder, “Sure, that gray one is from Jeremey’s. The recharging pack is sitting in front of it. Just take that one,” Nathan nodded.

Slowly, Vince turned to Lanny with a scowl. “You’re not helping.”

“I just proved Nathan’s more than willing to offer assistance to the group, and not just the posse,” Lanny grinned.

“Lanny,” Nathan said, and Lanny turned away from Vince. “I do have a favor to ask.”

Somewhat shocked, Lanny nodded with his smile falling off. Nathan rarely asked anyone outside the posse for anything. “Name it. Honored you’re asking,” Lanny said.

“I don’t know who the redhead teen is in your group. I’ve only seen her at one gathering,” Nathan said.

“Yeah. Carrie, she’s sixteen and Regina’s sister’s kid,” Lanny told him.

Nodding, “Well, she’s a very pretty girl, but could you for me, ask her to stop wearing tank tops to the gun range when I’m teaching?” Nathan smiled, and a smirk filled Lanny’s face. “Tyler has a real problem keeping his mind on task when Carrie is on the range, dressed like-,” Nathan paused to think of an appropriate word. “Let’s say, provocatively. Now in her defense, if I’d looked like that as a teen, I’d be flaunting it, but when Tyler sees her, he struts around like he’s a member of Delta Force. Just get her to wear a t-shirt that covers her chest a little better,” Nathan offered.

Fighting not to laugh, Lanny saw everyone on the porch giggling at Tyler, whose face was bright red. “It won’t happen again,” Lanny smirked.

“Hey, don’t come down on her because one time, I’m going to ask you to make her wear a bikini. Just to prove to Tyler, you think with the ‘big head’ when you’re throwing hate downrange.”

“Might have a problem with her mom on that, but I’ll try,” Lanny winked.

“I want one of those four-wheelers!” Floyd shouted, and Nathan spun his head around.

With the smile and all friendliness gone, “You can’t even drive the fucking one you have!” Nathan shouted. “Even if you could, I would want sex with leprechauns first!”

“I want one,” Heath said in a gruff voice.

Slowly, Nathan shifted his gaze to Heath. “Before this, I would’ve let you use and have one, but now, you can lick the sweaty, slimy shit from my ass before it stains my underwear,” Nathan growled. “Tim!” Nathan bellowed, making everyone jump. Lifting his arm, Nathan pointed out in the field. “Go get the tractor and park it here!” Grabbing Tyler, since he was still blushing, Tim ran to one of the electric buggies and they took off out into the valley.

With his eyes getting wide, “You can’t do that! I’m using it for the compound and my livestock!” Heath shouted.

“It’s mine, and I can do what I want with it,” Nathan said with a sly grin. “I’d talked the posse about trying to fix the compound tractor. I’m ninety percent sure we could’ve. We would’ve had to hardwire a lot, but I’m certain it would’ve worked. But now, you and your little fuck buddy can take a crack at it.”

Narrowing his eyes, Heath glared at Nathan. “The compound needs your tractor, so I can pull down logs for firewood.”

“Then I’ll tell the compound you’re the reason they’ll have to haul their own firewood down,” Nathan replied coldly, and saw Heath’s right hand twitch.

“Heath?” Jasmine called out, and everyone except Nathan turned toward the voice. Those on the porch let out gasps, seeing Jasmine had moved off the side of the porch to get a better angle. She was holding her pistol in two hands, but was still aiming at the ground. When Heath’s eyes found her, he felt queasy.

“Your hand moves any closer to that pistol, and I’ll be using the tractor to dig your grave,” Jasmine warned. Unlike the others, there was no mocking tone in her voice. Anyone with half a brain would understand the grave nature of her words.

“You can’t do that!” Floyd shouted, turning to Vince. “She’s threatening a member!”

Shaking his head, “No, I’m certain Jasmine’s stating a fact,” Vince replied.

“Heath,” Nathan grinned, balling his fists up. “That big, bushy beard makes your mouth look like a horizontal pussy. I think I want to fuck it.”

“Damn, that was good,” Bill snickered, crouching down and getting ready to take the one Nathan didn’t attack.

Leaping off the porch with a joyful grin, Amanda ran past Nathan, holding out her arms straight. Her palms hit Floyd in the chest. Never seeing her, Floyd gave a grunt as he stumbled back and toppled down, landing hard on his back.

“I’m going to kick your ass!” Amanda cheered, dropping down into a fighting stance. “Athena, time to work!” she cried out.

Springing to her feet, Athena took off and nearly skidded to a stop beside Amanda, growling at Floyd. Taking his eyes off Heath, Nathan was staring at the back of Amanda’s head, giving an impressed nod. Amanda had put on some weight since they’d arrived, but still was barely a hundred pounds. But she had managed to shove Floyd’s fat ass down. “Amanda, get your ass back on the porch,” Nathan told her in a calm voice, paying Heath no attention whatsoever.

“Bullshit! You told me I couldn’t fight with my hands unless it was life or death, or for the family,” she snapped, staring at Floyd with a grin. “You’re about to fight Heath, so I can fight Floyd. I’m not learning all that shit for nothing.”

“Get your ass up!” Amanda screamed at Floyd. “I’m going to break your arm!”

Back on the porch, John reached in his pocket, pulling out the roll of cash Nathan made them carry. “I have a hundred on Amanda. I’ll give two to one odds,” he called out for takers. Hearing the tractor crank up, John looked out in the valley to see the tractor heading toward them. When he turned, John gave a startle looking down the road toward the dining hall to see the other members of the compound watching the spectacle. Turning toward Jeremey’s, John saw all the new people watching also.

“Ares!” Nathan shouted, and John’s heart froze, jerking his eyes to Nathan. Just behind Heath, Ares was slinking up on Heath like a predatory cat. “Get your ass back beside Apollo!” Nathan shouted, and Ares stood up but held his head low as he sulked back to the tree Apollo was sitting beside.

“If your ass had listened to me yesterday, I would’ve let you eat both of them!” Nathan shouted at Ares as he dropped on his belly.

“Your dog ever comes near my sheep again, and I’ll kill ‘em,” Heath snarled.

Behind Nathan, Bill gasped at hearing that and never saw Nathan move. One second, Nathan was in front of Heath, the next, Heath was on the ground. Holding Heath’s right arm in an arm bar, Nathan rained down punches on his face like a jackhammer. “You fuck with my dogs and I’ll cook your ass!” Nathan shouted as he unleashed his fury.

“Shit!” Everyone heard screaming and turned to see Floyd holding his left knee and Amanda bouncing back. When she landed on her left foot, she sprang forward and her right foot shot out, catching Floyd in the face. As Floyd’s face snapped back, Amanda darted back and bounced to Floyd’s other side, kicking his right knee.

Taking his hands off his face, Floyd lunged for Amanda, but she bounced back snapping her leg out, kicking him in the face again. Watching Amanda dance around, Athena was unleashing a torrent of barks, wanting to be tagged in.

“John?” Jasmine called out, and he peeled his eyes off the mayhem. “Go get Amanda.”

Turning back to see Amanda spring back dodging Floyd’s grasp and Floyd getting kicked in the head again, “Fuck that,” John snapped, shocking many. “Amanda has a fucking pistol on her hip.”

Giving a sigh, Jasmine holstered her pistol. “John, if either Floyd or Heath pull a gun, kill them,” she said calmly, heading toward the fight.

When she passed Bill, who was still standing crouched down, wondering just what he should do, “Bill, when I grab Amanda, you’d better make sure Floyd doesn’t come after her or I’ll kill him,” Jasmine said.

Glad he could finally play, “Okay,” Bill grinned.

Glancing at Athena barking, Jasmine sighed. “Ares!” she yelled, and he was beside her in the blink of an eye, happy to be a part of the game. When Jasmine headed for Amanda, Athena turned to her growling and baring her teeth. “Ares, guard,” Jasmine said, tapping her chest and Ares charged Athena.

Tucking her tail, Athena dropped down when Ares stood over her. When Amanda lunged in, kicked Floyd in the side of the head and lunged back, Jasmine caught her. Picking her up, Jasmine carried Amanda to the side. Giving a last lunge to catch Amanda, to appear somewhat manly, Floyd gave a thankful sigh of reprieve she was too far away, just as Bill dove on top of him.

Out of all the posse, Bill was the largest, but was still thirty pounds lighter than Floyd. But Bill was muscle. After the first punch, Floyd wanted to holler that he wanted Amanda back to beat on him, but Bill kept driving his fist down.

“I notice Amanda isn’t trying to fight Jasmine,” Penny noted, seeing Amanda was only jerking her body to try and break Jasmine’s hold.

“Yeah, because Jasmine can kick her ass and if Amanda hits Jasmine, Nathan will tan her ass,” Tom said.

“Amanda!” Jasmine snapped.

“Damn it, let me go! I almost had him turned over, so I could try and break his arm!” Amanda yelled.

Squeezing Amanda tight, “Amanda, stop it!” Jasmine shouted, and Amanda did stop that time. “You need to stop because this could start a war among the compound. We don’t need this problem now.”

“They started it,” Amanda huffed.

Trying to remain calm as she glanced over and saw Nathan standing over an unconscious Heath, “Amanda, Nathan wanted them to throw the first punch or go for a weapon. You interrupted that, so stop it,” Jasmine said in a low voice. “Yes, I wanted to help just like you but, Amanda, this is the group. Fuck Anita and Floyd, but Heath and Joan are founding members and others look up to them. Let Nathan and the posse handle this.”

Relaxing, “Nobody’ll back them over Nathan,” Amanda stated with confidence.

“Amanda, we really don’t want it to even come to that. What we want, is for everyone to see Anita and Floyd for what they are, pieces of shit that barely pull their own weight,” Jasmine said as she slowly released Amanda. “We don’t want this to become an internal war because you know if it comes to that, the posse, along with us, will kill any that tells us to leave.”

“Okay,” Amanda sighed, looking down. “I’m sorry, just a little.”

Spinning Amanda around, Jasmine hugged her tight. “Oh, I’m proud of you but, Amanda, you need to realize you aren’t as big as Nathan or John. So from now on, fight people your own size.”

As Heath came to, Nathan leaned over his swollen face. “You ever threaten to hurt my dogs again, I’ll kill you so slow you’ll swear time is at a standstill,” Nathan growled. “They’ve done more to protect the people here than you’ve ever done,” he added, aware of the group now within earshot.

Holding his hands up as he rolled on his back, “Okay,” Heath mumbled through swollen and busted lips.

Turning to Bill, Nathan saw him standing over Floyd. “Will you stop crying?!” Bill shouted. “I never hit you as hard as I could!”

Stepping back, Bill turned to Nathan and gave a shrug. “Sorry, I can’t hit on him if he’s crying like that,” Bill admitted.

“I’m not going to hit on him with him crying like that,” Nathan scoffed, and turned to Vince. “They started it, so don’t start.”

“Nathan, I was standing right here. I know they started it,” Vince snapped.

Pulling his gloves off, Nathan saw the bite on his right hand was bleeding through the bandage. “Ephraim like the weapons and ammo you and Lanny took them?” Nathan asked, inspecting the movement of his hand.

Amazed Nathan was acting like nothing happened, Vince nodded. “He was beyond thankful. Are all of you still going out tonight?”

Giving a half shrug as he took the bandage on his hand off, “Yeah, since Bill got the guy to tell him where they got the ATVs, we need to get the others and snowmobiles in those containers,” Nathan answered, and called Ares to his side so Athena could get up.

“Nathan, everyone’s snowmobiles works. They were in containers,” Vince said as the others came off the porch and watched Heath stumble over, trying to pick up Floyd.

“Depending on how many we get, some are going to those staying at my house,” Nathan said. “We need to have spare snowmobiles to patrol during the winter. Plus, if we have them, the bad guys don’t.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Vince gave a startle at the throng of people watching, then turned to the broken tractor. “Nathan, if I help, will the posse try to fix the tractor?” Vince asked, turning back around.

“All you can do is hold tools,” Nathan laughed. “We’ll take a look at it.”

“Thank you,” Vince smiled. “Need me to look at your hand?”

Shaking his head, “Nah,” Nathan said, then glanced at his watch. “Let’s get back to work,” he told his group. Seeing the rest of the compound’s people on the road, Nathan gave a wave. “Don’t worry. Everyone here except those two can use the tractor to haul down firewood,” Nathan told the group, and they all smiled. “But nobody tells me what to do with my toys.”

The posse ate supper in the reception hall before leaving and for some reason, neither Heath, Joan, Anita, nor Floyd were there.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Walking in with the group the next morning, Nathan glanced around the dining hall and saw only a few people there this early. Putting Emma down, Nathan headed for the coffee pots. They’d left yesterday, taking Bill, Tim, and Nathan’s farm trucks, all with trailers, and with Nathan and John driving the Warthogs.

Driving fifty miles to the store, they had found two more five hundred cc four-wheelers, three snowmobiles, and two electric buggies still in shipping containers. They had loaded them up before emptying the store of spare parts, tires, riding gear, and aftermarket packages. On the way back, they’d stopped at the house where they had ambushed the tweakers, and found a black bear munching on one, but no other changes. After taking the twenty solar panels and battery bank from the house, they’d headed home and had gotten back just before midnight.

“You are staying in, right? You don’t even have a week,” Sherry asked Jasmine as they headed to the coffee pot.

Filling her mug, “Yeah, I told Nathan I want those bites on his arms healed up before the wedding,” Jasmine answered with a sigh.

While Jasmine doctored her mug, Sherry filled hers. “Hey, you caught him, so relax,” Sherry chuckled.

“He won’t marry me till after my birthday on the twentieth,” Jasmine moaned. “Nathan says marrying a twenty-year-old won’t make him so much of a cradle robber.”

Having already heard this several times, “The day after isn’t that long to wait,” Sherry said, pouring creamer into her coffee. “Surprised you couldn’t get him to do it on your birthday.”

“Tried,” Jasmine moaned. “He said since I can’t name the time I was born, to make sure I’m twenty, he wants to wait till the next day.”

Testing her coffee, “Jasmine, you’re the first girl who Nathan’s ever remembered even having a birthday,” Sherry grimaced, putting her mug down and adding more creamer. “Ruth needs to lighten up on the coffee.”

“I shouldn’t have told him when my birthday was on the way here till I got him to commit to a date to get married,” Jasmine huffed.

Patting Jasmine on the back, “We’ll work on your dress when the others start back on the ATVs,” Sherry said and then headed to the table, hearing Nolan crying in Tim’s arms.

Just standing at the front of the hall, Jasmine looked at the whole group. Now, all the posse and their families came over in the mornings to Nathan’s to workout, which packed the eight-hundred-square-foot gym. The others had workout equipment, but Nathan had a gym. The grown-ups worked out first while the kids hit the punching bags, then they swapped.

Watching Nathan talk to the posse and the ‘little posse’, Jasmine could see how much they meant to him. Her only regret, was Nathan had gone so long without more in his life. When she saw Rusty’s face get grumpy, Jasmine knew Nathan had just told him that all the solar panels and batteries they’d gotten were going in at his house. Out of all the posse, Rusty and Libby had the least overall.

Penny had told her, twelve years ago when Rusty had started on his cabin, it’d only been eight hundred square feet. That’s what he and Libby had agreed on and could manage to afford. But, they’d forgotten one thing. Rusty was Nathan’s first buddy, and Nathan was having none of that shit. Rusty had only beaten Bill and Aiden by a few weeks as his buddy, but Rusty was the first. Nathan had come out the day before the cement trucks and dug out another eight hundred square feet into the mountainside. He’d prepped the new foundation site with Lanny’s and Greg’s help.

When Rusty and the others got there the next day, they’d found a cement truck already pouring the slab. Needless to say, Rusty wasn’t happy. Rusty had never taken anything from anyone that he felt he hadn’t earned, and was very proud of that fact. Then, when supply trucks had come that afternoon to drop off pallets of cinder blocks Nathan had ordered for the eight hundred extra feet he had added, the mood went quickly downhill.

The group had only been together for a couple of years then, and that was one of the first of Nathan’s tantrums they’d gotten to witness. After two days, Rusty hadn’t cared what Nathan did, as long as he shut the fuck up. Penny had told Jasmine, Rusty informed Libby if Nathan hadn’t shut up, they would’ve given Shane, who was still a toddler, to Nathan right then. That’s why Rusty’s house was now sixteen hundred square feet, and not eight hundred with only the four of them.

Because Janice was a veterinarian, she and Bill were actually well-off compared to the others. As Sherry had stated, Bill’s check was chump change compared to what Janice made.  For Aiden and Penny, they had a similar situation, with Penny’s take-home as an accountant dwarfing Aiden’s check. Only Libby, as an elementary school teacher, made around the same as her husband.

“What’re you thinking about so hard?” Sherry asked, walking back over with Nolan.

Looking at the table with a smile, “We have a big-ass family,” Jasmine told her.

“Hell yeah, and with you and the kids, we’re finally complete,” Sherry laughed.

“Sherry, why are Nathan and Jeremey’s sites so far from the dining hall?” Jasmine asked.

Turning to Jasmine in shock, “Jasmine, those are the best spots. They’re both facing directly south,” Sherry told her. “I had Janice explain it to me. Everyone had to turn in their cabin plans to decide which lots they received. Look at the size of the greenhouses and you’ll understand. Jeremey’s house was here first, of course, and is bigger than Nathan’s, so Nathan got first pick. The compound’s greenhouses got the best site, and that’s why they sit between those two plots.”

Nodding, Jasmine couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the five long greenhouses belonging to the compound dug into the slope. They were set one above the other, like giant steps up the mountain. Remembering what they had pulled from Jeremey’s, Jasmine had to admit, Jeremey and Vicki were filthy rich. “Wonder what the crash cost Jeremey and Vicki, other than their lives,” Jasmine mumbled.

“A lot, but I want you to find out what Nathan lost,” Sherry scoffed. “You’ll be his wife, and can find out without him getting bitchy.”

“How much do you think?”

Scoffing, “All I know is, Nathan had lots of stocks,” Sherry answered, shaking her head. “Jasmine, he worked because he wanted to. Nathan always says: A man who doesn’t work is just a waste of space, using up the air someone worthwhile needs.”

“Heard that one too many times on the way here,” Jasmine admitted. “It may have been a lot, but it’s not even in the ballpark of Jeremey and Vicki.”

Nodding, “Oh, on that, you’re right. Jeremey was like an idol to Nathan. He could buy when he wanted, and that’s how Nathan judges wealth. But don’t let Nathan fool you, he could spend money like he was mad at it. Nathan was exactly where he wanted to be with money. Don’t let him fool you. He could’ve been just as rich as Jeremey, but Nathan liked working his time and then playing. The only bills he’s ever had since we’ve known him were utilities and insurance. He just bought his cars, guns, ATVs, and anything else. He never borrowed. After Nolan was born, I kept track of how much he spent.”

Hearing Jasmine give a gasp, Sherry just smiled. “Jasmine, you know Nolan already has two of those battery-powered cars? When Emma is a little bigger we’re giving her one, probably the truck, and I told Tim we’re digging out that battery-powered Jeep for Chip. I was keeping track because I didn’t want Nathan overspending on Nolan. But Nathan only spends what he earned the year before. So, he never really touched his savings.”

“Yeah, but the only reason he got that was because of what happened to his parents,” Jasmine sighed.

“I know,” Sherry said softly.

Not liking the depressing direction the conversation was taking, Jasmine turned and smiled at Sherry. “Boy, am I glad you know how to sew.”

“Jasmine, I learned last year,” Sherry scoffed. “Nathan had two brand-new sewing machines never even taken out of the boxes. I talked to Ruth and she said she would teach me. When she came over and saw the computer monstrosities called sewing machines Nathan had bought, because he was going to learn one day, Ruth didn’t have the faintest idea how to work them. I took Ruth to show me a machine I could learn on, and bought it.”

“I can pay you back,” Jasmine offered, and Sherry rolled her eyes.

“Nathan already has by letting us live in the guest house, but he put new tires on Tim’s truck because I bought a hundred-dollar sewing machine.”

“Oh,” Jasmine smiled. “Well, you can teach me.”

“I’m still working on learning the machines Nathan bought,” Sherry admitted.

When Ruth called out that the line was open, they grabbed trays and got ready to start the day.

When the sun set, Nathan followed John and Robin to the dining hall for supper. When Robin reached over and grabbed John’s hand to hold it, Nathan thought the boy was going to pass out. Feeling a tap on his leg, he looked down to see Emma nearly running to keep pace with him. “I thought you were with Jasmine, doodlebug,” Nathan said, scooping her up.

Riding on Nathan’s hip, Emma babbled away, and Nathan nodded. “What’s she saying?” Jasmine asked, putting her arm around his waist.

“You didn’t let her help with the sewing, and she got a spanking when she climbed on the counter,” Nathan answered, watching John’s blush turn from pink to deep red when Robin moved closer. She let John’s hand go and draped it across her shoulders, putting her arm around his waist.

“Nathan, she was trying to get the cookies off the top of the refrigerator,” Jasmine told him.

Shaking his head, “What?” Nathan said, looking down at Jasmine. When she repeated what she’d said, “You should’ve spanked her butt,” Nathan said.

Giving a sigh, “Nathan, she just told you I did,” Jasmine said.

“She was just babbling,” Nathan replied, turning back to John and Robin.

Letting out a long sigh, “Nathan, you don’t have to be ashamed that you understand Emma,” Jasmine told him in a low voice.

Not acknowledging he’d heard Jasmine, Nathan glared at Emma in his arms while she jabbered rather harshly, looking at Jasmine. “Doodlebug, you watch your mouth with her,” Nathan snapped, startling Emma. Shifting her gaze to Nathan, Emma gave him the curled lip smile, trying to look innocent. Turning from Emma’s face, “I’m taking time off, we’re working on the smile,” Nathan vowed.

When they walked in Emma fought to get down, seeing Ruth holding out her arms. Putting Emma down, Nathan just headed to the table and dropped in his chair. “Glad you didn’t say anything about cake,” Jasmine smirked, sitting down beside him. Chip and Leeann climbed up in chairs beside her and Jasmine smiled, watching the two playing with matchbox cars on the table.

“It doesn’t do any good,” Nathan sighed, and glanced up to see Lanny walking up with Heath and Joan just behind them. Seeing Heath’s bruised and swollen face Nathan felt guilty, but only for a second.

“Nathan,” Lanny said, and Nathan nodded. “Heath and Joan want to talk to you like adults, and I assured them you would listen.”

“I always listen,” Nathan popped off.

Shaking his head, “Sorry, but when you’re pissed-off, you don’t listen,” Lanny said with conviction. “You look like you’re listening, but you’re thinking of ways to piss off whoever you’re mad at.”

Leaning to Nathan’s ear, “He’s right on that one, hun,” Jasmine whispered with a grin.

Giving a shrug, “It’s in the past and I’ll leave it there,” Nathan told Lanny, and he finally turned to Heath and Joan.

Heath stepped up beside Lanny while the rest of the group walked in, and many gave regretful sighs that another tantrum was on the horizon. “Nathan,” Heath said, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry for my actions.”

Not expecting that, Nathan sat up straight staring at Heath in shock. Heath gave a wince from his swollen lips as he continued. “You’ve always helped anyone who asked and gave what you could, within reason of course,” Heath said, trying to smile, but his lips hurt too much. “The posse has always pitched in and never once complained. I was wrong to listen to Floyd and Anita. I hope you can forgive me because I was in the wrong.”

Joan stepped up beside her husband. “We,” she stressed, “were in the wrong. Nathan, it was more me than Heath, so if you have to be mad, be mad at me. I was the one who agreed with Anita.”

Looking from one to the other, Nathan really tried to suppress the guilt. Granted, it was small, but he felt a little bad. “Guys, I’ve always liked you, and so has the rest in the posse. What they didn’t like, was the way you two allowed Anita and Floyd to manipulate both of you. I’m willing to let bygones be bygones,” Nathan said, and glanced over his shoulder at the others standing behind him. “Guys?”

“I’m good with that,” Bill nodded with his arm around Janice.

“So am I,” Aiden said.

“I’m just glad you two have finally seen you were being used,” Rusty scoffed. “But I’m good with that.”

Leaning over the table, Heath held out his hand and Nathan shook it, then Joan’s. Heath and Joan moved around the table to shake the others’ hands. With the handshakes and vows, Anita and Floyd lost their last allies in the compound. Others, not members talked to them, but none of the nineteen founding member families.

“Bill, Rusty, before you boys wander off, I have something I want to discuss with the two of you.”

Nathan’s innocent sounding request, on the heels of the tense scene a few moments before, made both men anxious.

“What you got in mind?” Rusty asked, exchanging a worried glance with Bill.

“Nothing like that,” Nathan protested, holding up a hand.  “Just thinking we need to visit with some of the neighbors, once things settle a bit.”

“Nathan, we just saw Ephraim,” Bill protested, “and Sheriff Hargrove is keeping in contact now. Who’re you thinking about?”

“Well, since I’ve got your baby just sitting in the garage, I was thinking you might want to take her out for a spin one of these days. You know, get the feel of the wind in your face again.”

Uh-oh, thought Bill, and he began to shake his head. He saw the grin grow on Nathan’s face, and began to worry a little more.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Hearing a tap at the door, Nathan sat up in bed blinking his eyes. “Yeah?” he croaked out, seeing it was just after four a.m.

The door cracked open and Tim stuck his head in. “Nathan, the outpost just called in two contacts,” Tim whispered, and Nathan vaulted out of the bed waking Jasmine.

“What?!” Nathan barked, grabbing clothes and throwing them on.

“Two contacts moving really slow along the ridge where the state line runs.” Watching Nathan pull on his gear, “Nathan, when I say slow, I mean slow,” Tim added.

“Who’s in the outpost?” Nathan asked as Jasmine got up, stumbling and looking for clothes.

“Janice and Tyler,” Tim answered.

Glancing at Tim and seeing he was dressed, “You dressed before telling me?!” Nathan cried out.

“No, I just got off gate duty at three,” Tim snapped, and looked at his watch. “When I walked in, the land line was ringing. They called contact just over nine minutes ago.”

Running around the bed, Nathan grabbed his rifle off the wall. “Jasmine, get the kids up,” he said, moving out to the living room grabbing the crank phone. He flipped a toggle to let him talk to the outpost, then cranked the handle.

“Outpost,” Janice answered.

“Contacts still moving?” Nathan asked as he patted the gear over his body.

It was several seconds before Janice answered. “Yes, but Nathan, they must be crawling. The two little dots are barely moving. I marked the screen with a grease pencil and they’ve moved maybe twenty yards since we first picked them up. If I hadn’t marked the screen, I would swear they hadn’t moved.”

“Are they on the ridge?”

“No, just on the east side of it, or Montana side,” she answered as Jasmine ran through the living room.

“Okay, keep an eye on them,” Nathan said, flipping the toggle off before he flipped the toggle for the monitor room in the dining hall and cranked the handle.

“Hall,” Vince answered.

“You wake everyone up?” Nathan asked.

“Yeah, but Nathan, she says they’re barely moving. You think they’re just wounded or starving?”

“Not a chance in hell,” Nathan spat. “My money is on a sniper team.”

When Vince didn’t answer, “I’m on my way,” Nathan said, hanging up. “Apollo! Ares!” he called out, and they moved over beside him. Nathan grabbed his small backpack off the wall. “Tim, make sure you have your ghillie suit.”

Stepping past Sherry, Tim moved into his room as the kids came running out half-dressed and carrying what gear they didn’t have on. “Amanda, Tom, get the stingers and move up on the slope above the cabin. Take one person each to guard you. Jasmine, get your M240 and set up between them.”

“Sherry, will you watch the kids?” Jasmine asked, moving to the bedroom.

“No!” Nathan barked. “Everyone is leaving this house. Take the kids.”

Everyone froze, looking at him like he was insane. “Guys, teams like this are what call in airstrikes!” he shouted. “Jasmine, get them lined up along the slope!”

“Oh, God,” Sherry mumbled and headed into her bedroom.

“John, you’re with me. Grab your pack and make sure you have your ghillie suit,” Nathan told him, pulling on his pack. “Under no circumstance is anyone to use a radio.”

Dropping on the floor and pulling her boots on, “Just go and kill the assholes before they can call in where we are,” Amanda popped off. “We know what to do here.”

Watching Jasmine pull on her gear, Nathan gave her a smile before he patted his leg and spun for the door. John and Tim followed him outside behind the dogs. Nathan jumped in one of the electric buggies and when they sat down, he took off for the dining hall.

Locking the brakes and skidding to a stop in front of the dining hall, they saw Bill, Aiden, and Rusty already there. There were others, but that’s all Nathan was looking for as he jumped out. Bill started to ask a question, but Nathan just pushed past him and ran inside.

Nathan ran to the back of the hall where the guard monitor room was. “Any radio broadcast in the last twelve hours to our south?” he asked Vince, walking in and looking at the huge map of the area.

“Nothing new. The meth monkeys called out from Prichard yesterday and of course, the military units at Mullan on the interstate, but that’s it,” Vince answered as the posse stopped behind Nathan.

“Get everyone out of their houses and just under the ridge. Tell them to bring guns, big guns, and lots of bullets,” Nathan said, looking at the map. Clear glass was over the map and radio transmissions were marked in dry erase marker with time and date.

“Why?” Vince asked, getting very nervous.

“These are the guys that call in air, trust me. You don’t want to be in a house when a rocket hits it. We have Patriot Air Force units in Montana and Wyoming, so I don’t think they’ll send in jets, but they can damn sure send in choppers. We do not want to play with the choppers. Trust me,” Nathan said, still staring at the map.

“Damn, didn’t think about that,” Rusty mumbled from the door, and looked up at Vince. “Start calling people now and get them out on the slope.”

Turning away from the map, “And for God’s sake, don’t anyone use a radio!” Nathan cried out, then turned to the posse. “We’re moving up and laying in ambush,” he told them, then pointed at the map. “They should reach here before dawn,” he said, sliding his finger along the map. “If they move up to the ridge here, they’ll see the valley, but that’ll be almost eight if they keep moving at the same pace.”

“Let’s get some,” Bill nodded.

“Everyone have your ghillie?” Nathan asked, and they all nodded. “And did everyone put the heat blanket in like I asked?”

“Shit, yeah, let’s go,” Aiden huffed. “I was getting ready to get the freak on when Vince called. I’m pissed because Penny was in the mood after guard duty to get freak nasty, but now that’s gone.”

Looking at Aiden’s wiry frame, Nathan couldn’t help but grin. “Well, guys, I say let’s capture the party poopers, so Aiden can take out his frustration.”

The others grinned as Nathan walked out of the room. “Don’t get between a Texas boy and some lovin’,” Rusty chuckled.

“Shit, after we catch these two, I’m shaving their legs and dressing them up, so I can get some lovin’,” Aiden grumbled.

“Vince!” Nathan shouted over his shoulder. “I have my group moving up with stingers, so tell everyone to guard them! The only reason I want you to radio out, is if that group turns back! If they turn back, we’ll have to chase them down!”

“Gotcha, and I’m on it!” Vince shouted back as he talked in the phone.

“Bill, ride with me and John. Tim, you drive Aiden and Rusty,” Nathan said, walking out.

“Nathan, Rusty and Aiden can drive,” Bill laughed.

Getting behind the steering wheel, “Not good enough to follow me cross-country. Tim can,” Nathan smiled, pulling on his night vision while Tim got in the other electric buggy.

When they were in, Nathan took off and pulled out into the valley. “John, can you hear me?” Nathan asked in a loud voice as they shot across the valley.

“Yeah!” John shouted back, but moved his head closer as he held on for dear life, seeing the stream ahead.

“John, I’m putting you in front of us to spot,” Nathan told him, then paused as he barely slowed before barreling through the stream. Bill sucked in a breath when the cold water washed over him, soaking him to his chest. When the buggy pulled out, Nathan angled up the slope and stomped the pedal to the floor. Somewhat envious, Bill watched Apollo and Ares leap the stream and barely get their legs wet as they ran alongside.

Ignoring the cold clothes, Bill held on tight, expecting to feel the buggy tip over and roll down the slope at any time as Nathan sped up the slope. “I’m setting up at a hundred yards,” John said, ignoring the fact he had to lean into the hill, so he wouldn’t slide out.

“You’ll be on the ridge and I’ll set you up, and under no circumstances are you to move,” Nathan told him as he drove around a tree.

When the rear end spun sideways, threatening to topple them down the slope, Bill closed his eyes as Nathan tapped the brakes and spun the steering wheel. “Don’t move, gotcha,” John panted.

“You’ll use hand signals to talk to me, but if either of them moves up to the ridge, I want you to shoot them in the face. I really want them alive, but we can’t risk them seeing the compound,” Nathan said, angling sharper up the slope. “One of us will take the other.”

Nodding even though Nathan wasn’t taking his eyes off his driving, “Kill them if they get on the ridge,” John recited.

“When or if they pass you, you’ll stay put. Do not move, understood?”

Seeing the crest of the ridge ahead, John gave a thankful sigh. “Yes, sir,” he gasped in relief and Nathan just grinned, not even addressing the ‘sir’.

When they hit the ridge, Nathan turned and rode along it heading south. Just before they lost sight of the compound, Nathan pulled off the ridge and parked near a large outcropping of rock. He jumped out while Bill pried his own hands off the roll bars. When Bill stepped out, he saw Tim was behind them also climbing out. In his night vision, Bill saw Aiden and Rusty staring wide-eyed in horror, still holding on for dear life. “Don’t even want to know how you taught Tim to drive like that,” Bill grumbled, pulling his ghillie suit from his pack.

“Me. Tim taught me to drive like that,” Nathan corrected. “Loggers can drive off-road. Shit, in places I never would’ve attempted.”

“I don’t want to learn,” John mumbled, pulling on his ghillie suit.

Climbing out, Rusty looked down at the valley floor two thousand feet below them. “It would’ve taken me well over an hour and a half to get up here.”

“Any sane person, it would’ve taken that long and that’s still hauling ass on the trails,” Aiden chimed in. “But with the crazy-ass logger and Nathan, we get here in fifteen minutes just going up the mountain.”

Pulling his pack on, Nathan patted his leg and the dogs moved over beside him. When the others were ready, Nathan moved through the trees along the ridge. Holding up his hand for the others to stop, Nathan turned and waved Bill up to him. He pointed along the slope where a two-foot-tall rocky ledge ran for fifty yards on the east side of the ridge.

When Bill nodded, Nathan pointed at John and continued along the ridge with John and the dogs. Just a hundred yards away from the others, Nathan stopped near a large boulder that overlooked a small clearing and knelt down. “Lay here,” he breathed, and John laid down beside the boulder while Nathan pulled John’s ghillie blanket from his pack.

Leaning next to John’s ear, “If they take the west side, they’ll have to go way down the slope because it’s too steep to walk on. They can take the ridge, but as you can see, it’s narrow and very rocky. If they cross that clearing and move through the saddle to the ridge and use binoculars, they can spot the compound. From here, they’ll be able to see under the trees and spot the front of the cabins in the slope. I will be covering you, but no movement from now on,” Nathan said, and John nodded.

Covering up John with the ghillie blanket, Nathan checked the outline and pulled up a bush by the roots, setting it next to John’s legs. Easing back to the others, Nathan pulled out his thermal binoculars and then glanced at his watch. “You sure about leaving John out there?” Bill whispered very softly.

Nodding, Nathan scanned south and couldn’t see John in the thermal, nor anything else. “Yeah, we really need one alive and the ridge to the south is lower than we are. I just want to make sure they don’t peek at our shit,” Nathan told him. “If they stay on the ridge, jump out when I shout.”

“How long you figure?” Bill asked.

“Twenty to thirty minutes,” Nathan answered, pulling out his own ghillie blanket. Seeing Nathan getting down on the ridge, Bill moved off doing the same. With Apollo and Ares on either side of him, Nathan covered up with the blanket and peered through the thermals.

Forty minutes later, he thought he saw movement at the edge of the clearing two hundred yards away. Keeping his focus on the spot, for a brief second Nathan saw a flash of white indicating heat, then it was gone. “What the fuck?” he mumbled, and could see movement that was a different temperature than the surroundings, but not people.

The movement stopped halfway through the clearing and two white blobs appeared over the ground. Motherfucker, he thought, realizing the two had just pulled hoods off their heads. Nathan gave a soft bird call, letting the others know he’d spotted the bad guys.

When one of the figures lifted something to his face, Nathan ducked his head and let the blanket touch the ground. “Please, John, know what they’re doing,” Nathan prayed.

Very slowly, Nathan lifted the blanket up to look through the thermal and saw the two figures side-by-side. After watching their movements, it looked like the two were eating while they stared east down the slope toward Montana. Taking his eye off the thermal, Nathan noticed it was getting lighter.

Setting the thermal aside after ten minutes, Nathan moved his head to his scope, since there was now enough light. Zooming in, Nathan sucked in a breath. It looked like two heads just hovering over the ground and eating. He’d seen some good ghillie suits in his day, but what he was looking at took his breath away.

When the two pulled on hoods, Nathan glanced at his watch and saw the two had taken a fifteen-minute break. Putting his eye back on the scope, Nathan couldn’t find them. Holding on the spot, panic gripped him when he thought the other side had some kind of invisibility cloak.

Calming down, it took Nathan five minutes to locate the two. One was ten feet in front of the other, moving just inside the tree line of the small clearing. They were moving so slow, they seemed to slide like an amoeba across the ground. In awe, Nathan watched the two moving and when he blinked, Nathan actually had to search for them through the scope, in broad daylight.

Watching the two, Nathan knew he was looking at professionals on a level he never knew existed. It took the two nearly twenty minutes to clear the hundred yards, moving below John. When they were past John, Nathan gave a sigh of relief on the inside. He was too terrified to actually move. The two men moved like shadows and if he took his eyes from them, he had to search to find them again.

As the two moved closer, Nathan really started thinking about just shooting them. He didn’t want to risk one having the chance to escape. Studying the two, Nathan realized they were actually moving at a set pace. Granted, a very slow one, but a set pace nonetheless. In what felt like years, Nathan watched the two ease below him along the two-foot-tall rocky ledge. When he lost sight of the last man, Nathan counted slowly.

When he reached thirty, Nathan sprang up with the dogs. “Freeze! You are prisoners of the Idaho National Guard!” he screamed, and the others jumped up. The man in back was knocked down when Tim dove off the ledge. The other froze in shock, seeing guns pointed at him while Nathan continued screaming over the loud growls of the dogs.

“You are in military gear, and will be treated accordingly with the rules of war set forth by the Geneva Convention! My name is First Lieutenant Morris and you are my prisoners! If you move, the dogs will attack, and we will kill you according to the rules of war!”

Everyone saw the two visibly relax as Nathan screamed at them, but were wondering what the hell Nathan was talking about. “Now, both remove your hands from your weapons slowly,” Nathan told them.

The one laying on the ground with Tim hovering over him raised his hands out in front of him, and the other one put his over his head. “Apollo, guard,” Nathan pointed at the man standing, and then pointed at the one on the ground. “Ares, guard.”

As the dogs jumped off the small ledge, Nathan never took his eyes from them, expecting them to vanish. “If either of you move, the dogs will attack, but they attack the groin, and we will not make them break the attack until we have you secured. Speak if you don’t understand,” Nathan told them, and saw both bushes nodding while the dogs growled at them.

“Secure them!” Nathan barked.

Tim stepped up to the one on the ground. “Keep your hands high and let me pull you up. If Ares feels you tense up, he attacks, and you don’t want to know what getting your dick chewed off by a dog feels like,” Tim warned.

As the others stripped off weapons, John returned and stopped beside Nathan. “Holy shit, are they good,” John gasped. “They’re blocked like we are to thermal.”

“Yeah, saw that and you did great,” Nathan said, still not taking his eyes off the two. When Bill pulled over two large rucksacks, Nathan fought the urge to tear through them. Only when the two had the ghillie suits off, did Nathan finally look down at the gear stacked along the ledge. “John, I don’t think we would’ve spotted those two if they’d gone through the fucking valley floor.”

Nodding, “I’ll agree with that,” John said as Nathan jumped down. Opening the first pack, Nathan sucked in a breath.

“Holy mother,” he mumbled, and John leaned over and saw the control box to a Mew 2 in the rucksack.

“Shit,” John grumbled, and looked up to see the two were standing naked with their hands tied behind their backs. “Damn, they’re as fast as Nathan.”

“Johnson, 44571568,” the first one spouted out.

Then the second spouted, “Wachinski, 36457891.”

Wondering why the two spoke, the rest of the posse turned to see Nathan pulling the MU out of the pack. “You were in military gear, so our orders to treat you as prisoners of war stand,” Nathan said, and assembled the MU.

Rusty saw and heard both prisoners sigh with relief. Not wanting to mess up Nathan’s lie, everyone just aimed weapons at the two and kept quiet. When Nathan connected the display screen to the cable, he looked up at the two.

“Under the rules of war, I refuse to give up the code,” Johnson spouted.

Giving a shrug, Nathan turned on the unit and John tried to remain calm. When the unit turned on, Nathan tapped the screen to change the user. John saw Nathan type in the screen name of the Homeland director they’d caught in Wyoming. An hourglass popped up, rotating for a second and then a password screen with the keypad displayed on the screen. Nathan tapped in the numbers and the screen went to search mode as John let out a long breath of relief.

“Don’t need it. I can hack a Mew two,” Nathan shrugged, and turned the display around to prove it. Both nearly fell down, but the growls of dogs held them on their feet. Turning the screen back around, Nathan saw all the cabins light up, along with all the bodies on the ridge of the members preparing to defend the compound.

Shutting the unit down, “Sergeant,” Nathan said, looking at Bill. “Take the corporal and get our rides, so we can turn our prisoners in.”

Tapping Rusty to follow, Bill left to get the buggies while Nathan kept going through the packs. “This is some of the best gear I’ve ever seen,” Nathan mumbled, then turned to look at the prisoners. “You will be blindfolded so you can’t reveal where our camp is, but any attempt to escape and the dogs will take you down.”

Both nodded vigorously as the dogs continued to snarl at them. Not finding a satellite link radio, Nathan gave a sigh of relief and tossed the stuff back into the packs while Tim and Aiden put hoods over the prisoners. “Apollo, Ares, sit,” Nathan said, and the two stopped growling and sat down.

When Bill returned, they loaded the two in separate buggies and headed home, taking the long, roundabout way, much to the relief of everyone in the group. Reaching the valley, Nathan radioed to stand down and they were coming home.

Stopping at his cabin, Nathan pointed for Tim to pull back past the garage to keep the prisoners far apart. Glancing up the slope, he didn’t see his group, but knew where they were coming from. Heading inside and noticing it wasn’t even eight yet, Nathan grabbed the laptop he had taken from his Homeland boy and turned it on. It took a bit, but he found what he needed, connected to the printer, and printed out the stack of paper.

Stepping outside, he saw Jasmine and the others staring at Johnson, still in the buggy. Putting a finger to his lips as he gave them a wink, Nathan moved to the buggy. “Christopher Johnson, DOB 10-14 from Rapid City, Iowa,” Nathan said, taking the hood off and found Johnson in a state of panic at hearing Nathan. Holding the papers up, Nathan read off what training Christopher had, time in service, but when Nathan read off the address of his wife and daughter, Christopher’s face turned white.

“Now, you answer questions and I won’t put out on the radio for others to visit your wife and little girl,” Nathan offered.

“Under the rul-,” Christopher stopped when Nathan held up a hand.

“Oh, we don’t follow those, but we do turn you over to people who do,” Nathan smiled. “But Mac-J teams are very valuable, and we’ve never had one not talk. So, you answer, and you can sit out the rest of the war in a cell, assured that we won’t send people to rape your wife and daughter for months on end, and torture you just for the fun of it. We already know most of the answers to the questions we’ll ask. We did get your director, so you’re low on the food chain.”

Closing his eyes, Christopher gave a reluctant nod. “Excellent. Now, let me talk to your buddy,” Nathan said, putting the hood back on and motioned for Jasmine to follow.

When they were away from Christopher, “You and Amanda get notepads and write the questions Bill and I ask, so we can swap out,” Nathan told her in a low voice.

“They are a Mac-J team?” Jasmine hissed, and Nathan nodded. “Did they have a Mew?”

“Oh yeah, and I never expected to have one delivered,” Nathan chuckled. Giving Jasmine a hug, he headed over to Wachinski. Nathan read off his bio and since he didn’t have wife or kid, Wachinski screamed at Nathan to go fuck himself.

“Tim, move him to the garage and pull out the engine hoist,” Nathan said, then headed back to the porch. As he walked past Christopher, “Your buddy wants to do this the hard way and I don’t understand why. You don’t get a prize from your team for holding out, and the losses you receive from us are appendages.”

“Let me talk to him, sir,” Christopher panted under the hood.

Taking his gear off, “Nah, need to show him our team is better,” Nathan replied as Bill walked over.

“Want me to take Wachinski?” he asked.

“No, I got him,” Nathan answered. “You’re the best interrogator I’ve ever seen. You pull Christopher down to your porch, so he can’t hear the questions I’m asking, but can still hear the screams.”

Seeing Jasmine walk up with a video camera and notepad, “It really feels wrong recording evil shit,” Bill mumbled, but headed for the buggy.

After hoisting Wachinski up, it only took a blow torch, two toes, a little electricity, and twenty minutes for Wachinski to see things Nathan’s way.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

It was after four p.m. when members, and members only, gathered in the dining hall. To no one’s surprise, Anita and Floyd didn’t come. Nathan had all the gear from the two spread out on two tables with a sign on each, ‘Mine, do not touch’. The others were watching Nathan mark on the wall map across from the doors.

“So, what did the posse find out?” Vince asked.

“It was a Mac-J team looking for a Special Forces unit. That’s what they think has been hitting the tweakers,” Nathan said, using a red dry erase marker on the map. “The UN government has been supplying the tweakers.”

“Shit,” Greg gasped.

“Oh, it gets better,” Bill cut in. “The government has been actively handing over prisoners and civilians to the tweakers to turn into meth monkeys. The one hundred we heard about being turned every week was just here. Big D has other camps that get at least that many recruits.”

Stepping back from the map, “Yep. They put the count close to three thousand meth monkeys Doyle Bailey has under his control,” Nathan said, then turned to the group. “Good news is Big D won’t cooperate with the government supplying any gang but his, so the Iron Lords are being hunted.”

“Um, Nathan?” Lanny said. “That’s a lot of meth monkeys.”

“Yes, and remember, that’s only their best guess,” Nathan said, stepping back to the map. “Big D has camps south of I-90 all the way to Avery. But the good news is the UN government is terrified of the meth monkeys. After our attacks, the tweakers shoot at anything, including blue helmets on patrol. Only the tweakers are moving in North Idaho. And since there are only six hundred and change of UN troops, they stay put and just let the tweakers roam the countryside.”

“How is that good?” Vince asked.

“Meth monkeys don’t have good shit,” Rusty chuckled. “The blue helmets have given them arms, ammo, and food, but that’s it. Nothing to take out air or armor.”

“No, you forgot about chemicals to make crystal,” Aiden added.

Getting to his feet, “They’re giving them prisoners and the stuff to make more poison to convert them?!” Heath shouted.

“Yep,” Bill nodded.

Visibly shaken, even with his swollen face, “How do we stop it?” Heath asked.

“Huh,” Nathan grunted. “It’d be easier to stop the turning of the Earth. The only answer is to win the war because I can assure you, Big D isn’t the only king pin doing this for the blue helmets. We found out from those two, the meth monkeys are very good at causing the population trouble. That’s why they’re backing the tweakers, they’re better than the UN. The people they catch, they convert with meth. Before you ask, yes, some do fight it off and not cooperate, and end up getting shot, but the vast majority are converted. You can’t understand till you’ve seen a tweaker spinning. They’ll do whatever they can to get more. Now, all they have to do is to stay high, do what Big D says, and they get a daily allowance.”

Seeing the others thinking, Jasmine cut in. “What were you marking on the map?” she asked, pointing at the wall.

“Oh, those two set out from I-90 almost following the state line, but as you can see, they stayed on the ridges. Two men alone were able to mark all the locations of people in two hundred square miles in three days,” Nathan told them in awe. “Never before in the history of man could that’ve happened.”

“Are you sure?!” Vince cried out.

Walking over, Nathan spread out the map he’d taken from the prisoners. Circles were drawn along the same route Nathan had marked on the wall. In the circles were marked locations with numbers. “They would set up the MU, take readings and mark locations, then move on. If you look at the map, they stopped just south of us. Their perimeter actually overlapped our Mew, but we have nothing there. Well, at night. If they’d done that during the day, they might’ve caught a few in the fields. Their next stop was the peak that forms the ridge wrapping around the base of the valley.”

Giving a shiver as he looked at the map, “So, when do they report in?” Vince asked.

“When they reach Clark Fork, and they were supposed to be there in five days,” Nathan answered. “I’m thinking, we take one of their radios and charge it alone, and drop it off at the tweaker camp in Burke.”

“I like that,” Lanny nodded.

“So, they haven’t been calling in their position?” Vince asked in disbelief.

“No, and you just confirmed it because we would’ve picked it up. They have no satellite relay, but they do have …” Nathan paused, stepping over to one of the tables with the gear. “Satellite phones, but neither one’s made a call in six days.”

“How easy are those to track?” Heath asked, pointing to the phone.

“Just like a radio,” Nathan shrugged. “But, any of our patrols that go out will take one. They’ll turn it on at the top of every hour and if the compound is attacked, someone here can call. Yes, they can track it, but it’s a moot point if the compound’s under attack.”

“What about those Warthog dune buggies? I thought those Mac-J teams used those,” Lanny asked.

“They do, but this group left theirs in Mullan.” Rusty answered. “But the really good part, the government is paying Big D to be on their side. One thousand ounces of gold and two thousand ounces of silver every three months.”

“Dear Lord,” Lanny gasped. “They’re paying the devil’s disciples to spread their evil.”

Cocking his head to the side and nodding, “Damn,” Bill grunted. “That’s the best explanation I’ve ever heard.”

“Rusty,” Nathan called out, and Rusty turned to see Nathan pointing at one of the tables with gear laid out. “Johnson was your size, so you get the gear, but the sat phone will stay here in the guard room.”

Jerking his eyes to the helmet and quad tube NVG, “Whoa,” Rusty gasped. Then he turned to the thermals, M110, and Lapua sniper rifle. “All of it?”

“Dude, he even wore the same size boots you do,” Nathan snorted, then turned to Aiden. “The other set is yours, but the boots won’t fit.”

“Cool,” Aiden grinned, moving to the table and gathering the gear to shove it in the rucksack.

“Sorry, Bill, none of the shit they had would fit you,” Nathan said, and Bill shrugged.

“I’m good, but the next quad tube NVG we run up on is mine,” Bill said. “Not my fault I’m six-foot-five.”

Turning to Vince, “You going to bring the others in here, or just have the members go tell those under them?” Nathan asked.

“Here,” Vince nodded.

“Guys, I need you at the house in a few minutes,” Nathan told them, holding his hand out to Jasmine.

“All of us?” Janice asked.

“Yes,” Jasmine smiled, letting Nathan pull her up. “The kids can watch TV or play games.”

While Nathan and Jasmine left, Rusty and Aiden stuffed the gear in the packs and the rest of the people in the compound came in. “Wonder what’s up?” Rusty asked in a low voice, and Aiden just gave a shrug.

Half an hour later, Nathan and Jasmine led the posse and wives down to the basement. Walking to the end of the basement, Nathan opened the door to his gun room. The only place Jasmine had ever seen more guns was the group they’d rescued Tom, Natalie, Casey, and Emma from.

In the middle of the floor were five stacks of ammo cans, and Nathan motioned for the group to form a circle. “Guys, I want each of you to make a false bottom in a cabinet, or a false wall in your cabin,” Nathan told them, and bent down to open one of the ammo cans in front of him. The others sucked in breaths, seeing the stacks of gold coins.

“This was at the house?!” Rusty cried out, looking at the four cans in front of Libby and himself.

“Yes, and when we find more, we’ll bring it here and divide it up, after each of you have a place to hide it in your own home. You’ll bring over small packs in the mornings when you work out, and slowly take it back to your house,” Nathan told them.

“Do we always have to bring it here?” Jasmine asked. She knew how much they had hauled across the country, and how much Nathan had already. It made her nervous to keep stashing gold in the cabin.

“Yes, I’m the only one with a basement. We really don’t want to be sitting in a living room and dividing up spoils when someone just busts their ass through the door,” Nathan told her.

“We’re rich,” Rusty breathed.

“Shit, you wish,” Nathan snapped, and all of them looked up at him. “Guys, this isn’t worth much now. Hell, you look at it. The metal cans are worth more now than the gold inside. You can store supplies in them.”

Seeing them stare at him confused, “Bill, each one of those cans weighs fifty pounds. Before the crash, that would’ve equaled over a million dollars. If someone came up and wanted to buy the truck you just got, what would you do?” Nathan asked.

They all nodded in understanding when Bill answered. “Tell them to fuck off,” Bill answered.

“Guys, this is for after. This will end, and we’ll do what we can for our families. They won’t get a childhood, so we’ll do what we can,” Nathan told them, and they all nodded. Pointing to another stack behind him, “That came from Jeremey’s and we are dividing it up, but I want everyone to keep it separate, just in case he comes back,” Nathan said.

Turning and looking at the stack, “He had that much here?” Rusty asked in awe.

“Yes,” Jasmine cut in, and pointed to a stack of paintings leaning against the wall. “We need each of you to take those as well. Sorry, but I claimed the Pollock.”

“Those are real?!” Janice cried out.

“I told you they were,” Nathan huffed.

“Nathan, you know shit about art, and you like to blow smoke up peoples’ asses,” Janice said, staring at the paintings with wide eyes.

Leaning close to Nathan, “The Pollock?” Rusty whispered.

“The one that looks like Emma’s finger-painting,” Nathan offered, and Rusty nodded. Glancing at Jasmine, he saw she was scowling at Nathan. “No, the picture of the dogs playing cards stays in the living room.”

“It’s a rug with a picture on it,” Jasmine grunted.

“Guys, like the rest of Jeremey’s stuff, if they show up, we’ll give those back,” Nathan told them, and they all nodded.

Stepping away from the ammo cans, Janice knelt down to look at the paintings. “Damn, I’m glad you got these from Jeremey’s, since they’re real,” she blurted out.

“Thank Jasmine. They’re just paintings to me,” Nathan shrugged.

Looking up with a sigh, “Thank you so much for sending Jasmine,” Janice said. “You answered many prayers.”

Pointing at Janice, “Bill, control your wife,” Nathan snapped.

“Screw that. I said more than one prayer with her,” Bill scoffed.

Pointing at a line of gun safes along the right wall, “Guys, I want you to stack your stuff between the gun safes. Each of you have a space till you have a spot to put it at your house,” Nathan told them. Looking at the group, Jasmine couldn’t help but smile. None were greedy and were happy with the arrangement. Granted, that’s what she’d expected, but still just enjoyed seeing it.

Bending to start moving his stack, Rusty stopped and stood back up before turning to Nathan. “What else?” he asked. “Don’t. I know that look,” he told him when Nathan rolled his eyes.

“Guys, when we hit places, I want us to concentrate on gear, ordnance, and gold. But I want to build another bunker to store ordnance beside Rusty’s. We all have cinder blocks and some concrete, and my bunker’s full,” Nathan told them.

“We can use mine,” Bill offered quickly.

“No!” everyone barked just as quickly.

“We’re using your bunker to store weapons and gear,” Nathan said, and everyone nodded.

Turning away from the paintings, “Who let my husband raid a Forestry shed for explosives?” Janice asked.

“I did it,” Bill snapped at her.

Giving a long sigh, “Janice, we didn’t think he would take so much, and we never dreamed he would try to use all of it at once,” Tim admitted.

“Bill, I told you, you aren’t to touch explosives,” Janice said with a snarl. “I’m truly amazed you’re still alive, but you aren’t blowing yourself up and leaving me to deal with this alone.”

Dropping his head and looking at his boots, “They took everything,” he mumbled like a little boy.

“Anyone else know about this?” Aiden asked, waving his hand at the cans.

“Yeah, I put a note on the board in the dining hall,” Nathan scoffed. “Hell, no. This is ours. I’ve been keeping count. We each do six patrols for every one of any other person in the compound. If you take out Lanny and Greg, who’re next in the most on patrol, it goes to ten for every one we go on. If we’re going out, we’re the ones who say where the shit we gather goes.”

“And that’s the way it’ll stay. The posse decides who gets what we bring back,” Janice informed everyone.

Sherry moved over to Jasmine. “We need to work on dresses,” Sherry told her. “You’re still sure you want to get married the day after your birthday?”

Jerking her thumb at Nathan, “I told you. He decided the day, not me. I would get married on my birthday tomorrow.”

Everyone turned to Nathan. “I’m waiting till she’s twenty and that’s final. I offered to wait further from her birthday, but… Let’s just say, Jasmine was somewhat hostile,” Nathan told them.

Tim gave a snort. “She made everyone wrestle Nathan to the floor and grabbed his right foot, telling him she was going to bite his big toe off if he changed the date.”

The women moved over to Jasmine. “I know where Aiden keeps his stun gun,” Penny whispered.

“Let’s get to work,” Libby chuckled, walking out with the others.

When they were gone, Aiden looked at the stack at his feet. “She could’ve helped move this,” he moaned.

Wrapping an arm around Nathan’s neck, “I never would’ve believed we’d be throwing you a bachelor party,” Rusty laughed.

“Yeah, on my fiancé’s birthday,” Nathan grunted.

Grabbing two ammo cans, Rusty gave a grunt when picking them up. “What’re we doing after this? Because I’m not helping with dresses,” Rusty informed them.

“Oh, you’re going out to the Warthogs and giving us all a class on that mini gun mounted on them,” Nathan answered.

“I still can’t believe you haven’t even loaded the damn thing,” Rusty said, stacking the cans. “You’ve read about them. You didn’t mind reading a pamphlet to use a Javelin or a claymore.”

“Hey, I’m not Bill. I have a fear of weapon systems I haven’t seen others use. A gun I’m holding that can shoot six thousand rounds a minute gives me pause. I didn’t want to use the claymore, but I was pressed for time. And the Javelin launches away from me,” Nathan countered.

“It’s not that hard,” Rusty laughed. “You tell Jasmine?”

“Nope,” Nathan replied. “When she found out why I never even loaded them, Jasmine almost took them off and left them in Wyoming.”

“Have to say, they make a great equalizer,” Aiden grinned when they were finished. “But we need to remember, we don’t have mountains of ammo to feed those beasts.”

Giving a grunt as he headed for the stairs, “Let me show you Jeremey’s storage container of ammo, then we’ll see if you still feel the same way,” Nathan told him.

Going outside to the garage, Nathan climbed up on the first Warthog. The mini gun was stored in an airtight box on the roof just behind the gunner’s seat. The box was flush with the roof and it wasn’t until Nathan had started studying the Warthog when Amanda and Casey were recuperating that he’d even found it. Since he didn’t know how to use it, and they already had belt-fed machine guns, he’d left them alone.

Opening the container, he pulled out the mounting pole and bolted it on while Rusty climbed up to help. If Nathan would’ve gotten out of the way, Rusty could’ve done it much faster, but they had it mounted in twenty minutes.

Jumping off, Nathan turned and looked at the transformation. “Okay, now it looks like a Halo Warthog,” he nodded.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

At Rusty’s, Nathan looked at his reflection in the mirror. “I’ll never forgive Tim for bringing my tuxes and suits,” he sighed.

“Tim didn’t bring them, bitch!” Tim snapped behind him. “Sherry brought them, and said she would leave me if I didn’t help load them, so you take it up with her!”

“Children, play nice,” Bill said, walking in dressed in a suit. He walked over to Tim and straightened his tie. “I don’t want to separate you two.”

Pointing at Nathan, “He always blames me for what Sherry does!” Tim whined.

“Duh,” Bill moaned, stepping back. “He’s not going to blame her, dummy.”

Dressed in a suit of Bill’s that’d been altered, John waddled in while holding his arms and legs rigid, and appeared very uncomfortable. “Why do I have to wear a suit?” he whined.

“Don’t start,” Nathan warned. “Bill gave that suit up to be altered, so be thankful.”

Turning to Bill with a scornful snarl, “Thank you,” John said.

Scoffing as he walked in also dressed in a suit, “Bill didn’t give shit,” Rusty chuckled, walking over to Nathan and pinning a rose to his tux. “Robin got that suit, and asked Bill when she carried it out if John could have it. I was there, and Bill never answered her.”

“I think he looks great,” Bill grinned, walking over to John and adjusting the jacket and tie.

“Um, Mr. Bill?” John stuttered. “Can I ask you if Robin, um… Could be my girlfriend? She always wants to hold my hand, but it doesn’t feel right unless I ask you if she could be my girlfriend first.”

Throwing his arms around John, Bill smothered him in a hug. “My God, do I love you, boy!” Bill cried out.

With his face buried in Bill’s chest, “Mr. Bill, I’m asking if Robin could be my girlfriend, not you!” John’s muffled voice rang out.

The others gave snorting coughs as Bill let John go. “Oh, yeah. I’m just glad Robin is with such a fine young man,” Bill nodded, straightening out John’s suit.

Glancing around and then looking up at Bill, John whispered, “Would you tell her, I’m not ready to kiss yet?”

When Bill hugged him this time, John saw different colors as his vision started to fade from the tight embrace. “Mr. Bill!” he gasped.

Bill let John go and he staggered back to the wall, gasping for air and blinking the stars from his vision. Spinning to Nathan, “He’s Robin’s! Do you hear me?!” Bill snapped. “You let any tramp near him and they’ll disappear!”

With his mouth hanging open, Nathan nodded dumbly. “You’re weird, and Jasmine has to approve of the girls the boys date.”

“You need to talk to her, then,” Bill told him with a smile and then spun on his heel, strutting out of the room.

“I remember Bill being much cooler before this,” Aiden said, staring at the door.

***

At Nathan’s, Jasmine was sitting in a chair in the living room while Janice and Libby worked on her. “I don’t want to wear a dress,” Amanda whined, coming down the hall.

“Amanda!” Jasmine shouted, and Janice and Libby stepped back. “Nathan wanted you to wear a dress, so drop it!”

Cocking her head to the side, “He does?” she asked in shock.

Letting out a sigh, “Yes,” Jasmine answered.

“Oh, well, that’s different,” Amanda beamed, and bounced down the hall.

Moving back to Jasmine, “I’m wondering how Nathan fathered Amanda,” Libby mumbled.

Working on Jasmine’s hair, “I’m telling you, Nathan fathered them all,” Janice said. “I just can’t figure out how.”

“I’m still trying to figure out how to cut the umbilical to Emma,” Jasmine said, closing her eyes when Libby worked on her lashes.

“You can give that up,” Janice laughed.

***

When Jasmine opened her eyes, she turned to the wedding dress. It was Nathan’s mom’s and he’d wanted her to wear it. Well, Nathan’s mom had been six inches taller, broader at the shoulders, and wasn’t as gifted in the ta-ta’s. Looking at all the pictures, Jasmine could see Nathan was built like his mom because his dad had been the size of a tank. When Ruth had said she could alter the dress with Sherry, Jasmine told Nathan she wanted him to wear his gray tux. She was surprised when Nathan had scoffed because she was wearing a dress, the wedding dress he’d wanted her to wear.

When Nathan had seen her reaction, he’d immediately said he would wear the tuxedo. Robin walked in wearing a nice summer dress and her hair fixed. “How do I look, Mom?” she asked, spinning around.

Glancing back and nodding, “Thank you for not putting on the makeup,” Janice told her. “I’ll do it in a minute.”

“I can do it, Mom,” Robin moaned, rolling her eyes.

“Baby, the last time you put your makeup on, you looked like a circus clown. I don’t think John would find that too funny.”

Letting out a gasp, “I did not,” Robin said.

“Robin, go help the other girls,” Janice sighed.

Spinning around and heading toward the hall, “I’m only helping Gina, because Amanda, Casey, and Natalie scare the crap out of me,” Robin informed her mother.

“Your daughter is very smart,” Libby chuckled.

Stopping her work, Janice looked into Jasmine’s eyes. “Your daughters scare the shit out of me,” Janice admitted.

Shrugging, “Don’t know why. They’re sweethearts,” Jasmine told them.

Nodding, “Yes, that’s why I’m scared of you as well,” Janice said, going back to work.

***

Walking out of Rusty’s, Nathan put the strap to the shoulder bag over his shoulder and held his AR in his right hand. He really didn’t want to sling it and get grease on his tux. Hearing whining, he turned to see Ares and Apollo sitting side-by-side. “Hey! I had to get dressed up too, so drop it!” Nathan snapped at the two. Both were wearing dog t-shirts printed to look like a tux.

Tilting his head back, “AWwwaahe,” Ares groaned.

“Keep on, and I’ll find you a dress!”

“Don’t put a dress on them, please,” Tom moaned, walking out and carrying his rifle. Nathan noticed Tom was moving like he’d worn suits before. “Athena chewed off the tutu Amanda made for her, and I was so glad. A dog shouldn’t have to wear a dress of any type.”

Chip ran out the door and Nathan reached out, gently grabbing his arm. “Don’t even think about playing in the dirt,” Nathan warned. Chip wasn’t wearing a suit, but was wearing dress pants and shirt with a tie.

Tilting his head back to look up at Nathan, “Play,” Chip said, pointing at the pile of dirt in the yard.

“Later,” Nathan promised as the others filed out.

Grabbing Nathan by the shoulder, Bill led him down to the road. “We need to get to the hall before Jasmine comes out.”

“Fine,” Nathan moaned.

When they reached the hall, everyone hung up weapons as Lanny came over. “Nathan, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you dressed without gloves on.”

Stepping back, Nathan reached inside his tux and pulled out white, soft leather gloves and put them on. “Always protect your hands. Besides, I’m not a barbarian,” Nathan scoffed, taking them off and putting them back in his jacket.

Turning to the hall, Nathan was shocked to see it was full. “Everyone came?”

“Except those on duty, and we put Anita and Floyd on gate guard duty, so others could come,” Lanny grinned.

The door opened, and Amanda bounced in on her toes. “I wore the dress, Nathan!” she cheered out.

Turning to Amanda, Nathan smiled at seeing the blue summer dress and noticed Amanda’s hair was fixed rather nicely. “You look stunning,” he smiled and pulled her to him, hugging her tight. He saw Casey and Natalie come in wearing dresses as well. “My girls,” Nathan said, letting Amanda go and hugging Casey and Natalie.

After Nathan let them go, they ran off with Amanda as the posse stood beside Nathan. “Nathan, why are you so bothered by Jasmine’s age? Hell, Patrice was like twenty-eight,” Bill asked.

“She was twenty-nine and, Bill, you really have to ask?” Nathan grunted.

Looking to the others, then turning back to Nathan, “Um, yeah, I do,” Bill told him.

“I’ve known all of your kids and had them over at the house at least once a month…” Nathan stopped.

“Yeah, right,” Rusty chuckled. “After each one was five, it seemed like they always stayed there. The only time they came over ‘once a month’ was when you were out of town for the rest of the month.”

“Exactly,” Nathan nodded, turning back to Bill. “Jasmine isn’t much older than Tyler and Robin, and I changed their diapers. But I never once remember wiping their butts when they assumed the position.”

Shrugging, “So? Jasmine is older,” Bill pointed out.

Giving a long sigh, “Bill, what would you say if Robin were marrying me?” Nathan asked. “She’s only four years younger.”

Instantly, Bill’s face flushed red as he stepped nose-to-nose with Nathan. “You can marry Tyler, but Robin is going to marry John. Are we clear?” Bill growled.

Spinning on his heel, Bill stormed off.

“Guys, one of you have to get a handle on him about John,” Nathan moaned.

“Nope,” Aiden sang out, shaking his head. “Rant, whine, and stomp your feet all you want, but I’m not even going to touch that. I know how you act like a bitch. I have no desire to find out how Bill will act like a bitch.”

Thinking about that, Tim nodded. “I’m taking Aiden’s side on that one.”

The door opened, and Robin and Gina walked in with Penny holding Emma. Nathan grinned when Emma reached out to him. “Hey, doodlebug,” Nathan grinned, taking her. He looked down at the white summer dress and pigtails on top of her head, and admitted she looked cute. The only thing he didn’t agree with was the color of the dress. Emma couldn’t walk across the floor without getting dirty.

When Nathan handed her back, Emma gave him a look of hurt betrayal, followed immediately by a coo of interest when she discovered the beadwork on the top of Penny’s dress. The sparkling beads refused to let go of the fabric, but Emma found she could get them in her mouth if she pulled. Penny noticed, but decided it was a small price to pay. Gina had been the same way.

After a moment, Bill’s wife cocked her head and turned, beaming at Nathan.

“Jasmine’s coming,” Penny told him.

Lanny and Regina came around and gathered everyone up, moving them to their places. Rusty took his place as best man. Aiden, Tim, John, and Tom were the groomsmen. Holding a silk pillow, Chip stood beside Lanny with the rings on the pillow. At the door, Bill waited to escort Jasmine, since he was the oldest of the posse.

Hearing the wedding music and pulling the veil over Jasmine’s head, “I can’t believe you wore cowboy boots,” Sherry whispered, then grabbed the door.

“Nobody can see my feet,” Jasmine told her. “I didn’t wear my combat boots, hiking boots, or tennis shoes, so be happy.”

Carrying a basket, Emma led the way with Amanda, Casey, Natalie, Robin, and Gina. Well, Amanda steered Emma while she tried to eat the flowers in the basket she was carrying. Then Janice, Libby, and Penny joined them as bridesmaids. Sherry followed as maid of honor while Vince moved around, snapping pictures like mad.

Putting his arm in Jasmine’s, “This is the only door that’s not locked, so Nathan can’t escape,” Bill whispered to her, and Jasmine busted out laughing. “Aiden has his stun gun and Rusty has pepper spray, so we can pull him back to the alter if he tries.”

Laughing so hard she had to lean on Bill, “Oh, man,” Jasmine gasped, then noticed everyone had turned around when they’d heard her laughing. “Thank you, Bill,” she said, reaching up and dabbing her tears away, trying not to smear the makeup.

When Lanny nodded, Bill strolled in escorting Jasmine. “Emma, don’t eat the rings!” Nathan shouted, and Jasmine looked ahead to see Nathan digging in Emma’s mouth before pulling out the wedding rings. Chip just stood there smiling, offering the pillow like a tiny waiter serving hors d’oeuvres.

“Oh, Emma is so going to learn to share,” Jasmine mumbled, watching Nathan wipe the rings off. As he put them on the pillow, Ruth eased up and picked up Emma when she moved back to grab the shiny things on the pretty pillow.

When Nathan turned and saw Jasmine, he smiled and gave her a wink. “He’s not nervous,” Jasmine whispered to Bill.

“Girl, he’s still drunk from last night,” Bill informed her. “You could light his ass on fire, and he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash right now.”

“Oh,” Jasmine giggled.

When he handed Jasmine off, Bill took his place with the groomsmen and Lanny smiled at the two. As Lanny started talking, Nathan leaned over to Jasmine. “You look good,” he whispered.

“So do you,” she smiled.

After they exchanged vows, Nathan didn’t wait for Lanny and picked Jasmine up while he lifted her veil and kissed her. Everyone cheered, watching the two kiss. Setting her down, Nathan heard a ‘ching’ and gave Jasmine a confused look. Bending down, he lifted the hem of her dress to see she was wearing cowboy boots with spurs.

Standing up, “You are so bad,” he laughed.

“Hey, Aiden, Penny, and Gina are staying at our place to give us a place alone for a night, and I didn’t want to forget them,” Jasmine grinned.

They moved to the center of the hall and danced together, then danced with everyone else. After cutting the cake, the girls gathered when Jasmine prepared to throw the bouquet. Turning her back to the women and girls, everyone watched the flowers sail to the group when a lone figure took off running and leapt in the air, diving over the group of outstretched hands and snatching the flowers out of the air. Hitting the ground in a roll, Robin sprang to her feet holding up the flowers in triumph.

“YOU GO, GIRL!” Bill bellowed from the back of the reception hall.

Hiding her face with one hand, Janice stomped to the back of the hall and grabbed Bill by the ear, pulling him outside. “I swear, he’s trying to pawn Robin off to John,” Nathan told Jasmine as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Ya think?!” Jasmine cried out.

CHAPTER THIRTY

The dusty, two-lane stretch of road barely qualified as a highway, but the quartet of heavy motorcycles moved in a diamond pattern, taking up the asphalt from shoulder to shoulder. The bass roar of the engines made communications impossible, but the lead rider directed the trailing trio with subtle hand gestures that conveyed his desires with no hesitation.

When the small contingent of riders approached a curve in the road, the lead rider slowed from his breakneck pace, and the other three followed in a synchronized pattern that even Rusty admitted, if only to himself, was impressive.

After powering through the turn, the leader spied a bike parked up on the shoulder, and an upturned visor-less helmet resting four feet to the rear of the back wheel, perfectly centered. The Harley parked on the side of the road was a nice ride, a 1969 Harley Davidson Electra Glide, fully restored and highlighted in electric blue trim. Of the operator, the four riders could make out no sign.

The lead rider didn’t hesitate, rolling to a stop while keeping the engine at an idle.

“Where you at, Officer Bill?”

“Right here, Rhett,” Bill replied, his voice barely carrying above the engines’ purr. Unlike the times before, these hogs had been heavily-modified to dampen the roar, rather than accentuate it. They weren’t quiet by any stretch, though.

Deputy Bill Engvist emerged from the ground like a rising corpse, a zombie sitting up from the grave. All four men started at the sight, but Rhett Kester held up a gloved fist to his three companions while Bill slowly reached up and removed his face mask.

“Shit, Officer, you sure know how to make an entrance. Just lucky I recognized your hog,” Rhett called out, his voice steady.

“Yeah, I figured,” Bill replied, taking a moment to dust himself off as he rose to one knee and then stood to his full height. He wore loose tan coveralls, meant to blend into the color of the sand here at the pull-off, and conceal his body armor underneath. “That’s why Nathan asked me to hold this little pow-wow.”

“So, the Madman’s still running around these parts?” Rhett replied, half to himself. “I figured he’d have already made an appearance by now. And how about you, Officer? I take it, you’re standing with your friend, rather than the old sheriff?”

The posse had staked out this route for nearly a week, getting a feel for the rhythm of the tiny settlement before initiating contact. Nathan had raged at his friends’ refusal to allow him to join in the mission until Rusty, as head of security, had to put his foot down.

“I stand with all my friends, Mr. Kester. That includes Sheriff Hargrove,” Bill replied evenly. Then he decided to ask his own question. “So, what made you boys pick Blaisedell? Way out here in the middle of nowhere, with only that one little store and a cluster of houses? Isolated, so nobody can complain about what you did to the homeowners? And it’s Deputy Bill, if you please.”

Bill and the rest of the posse knew the truth, but he wanted to see what Rhett would say. They’d gotten lucky, Bill thought, that it was Rhett he’d managed to contact. Though he was the youngest of the Kester brothers, he was also the smartest, and the one acknowledged as the leader of the bunch of outlaw bikers.

“Not like that at all, Deputy,” Rhett said, the denial hot in his words. “This here’s my wife’s homeplace and her people. We’re just trying to keep our heads down here, ride out this storm.”

“You mean, try to evade Doyle after he double-crossed you, right? What the hell happened there, Rhett? D-Bag was a pain in the ass before, but now he’s turned into some kind of monster.”

Rhett sniffed, then spit before speaking again. “He’s working for the fucking Chinese, that’s what he’s doing. And he’s hunting us, and probably you too. Gets a reward for however many folks he can round up and get hooked on the meth. Them Chinese is smart, Deputy. They got us working against each other, and that keeps the rest of us out of the fight.”

Bill digested what the biker said. He’d known this already, but it was interesting to find out what others knew too.

“I’ve got something for you,” Bill said, gesturing slowly to his bike. Specifically, the pannier on the near side. “Downloaded video, on a digital device.”

“What is it?”

“We had a two-man recon team watching an intersection,” Bill replied evenly. “They didn’t know what was going down.”

From any other cop, Rhett might have expected a double-cross, because too many of them were as crooked as the county roads around here. However, he knew from his informants on the street that Bill Engvist was a righteous lawman. He didn’t take, wouldn’t accept bribes, and lived according to a code of conduct that Rhett Kester might not follow, but he could respect.

Snapping his fingers to one of the prospects seated on a hog, Rhett pointed to the rear of the sweet Harley. Only seconds later, the gang leader had the small digital player in the palm of his hand, watching the last sixty seconds of his brother’s life on Earth.

“Sorry for your loss,” Bill said as Rhett folded up the little digital player and returned it with a hand that only shook for a second. Bill absently slipped the tiny notebook in a pocket, never taking his eyes off Rhett Kester.

“That was Hugh. He is…was two years older than me. Like I said, they got us all fighting against each other, and the Chinese and their buddies are just laughing it up.”

“Rhett, we agree. This fight going on now,” Bill waved, gesturing broadly to encompass the mountains in the near distance and their little valley, “is way more than our little game of cops and robbers from before. You thought the pigs were bad under the old regime? Just wait until these fuckers get their re-education camps filled up.”

“So what’re you proposing, Bill? You want us to work together? Let bygones be bygones? Fuck that. We’re strong here, in this valley. The Iron Lords have come together here, and we got over a hundred fighters to hold what we’ve claimed,” Rhett boasted, and Bill knew some of it was directed to the three other men still straddling their bikes. The words rang hollow to Bill. From their surveillance of the few farmhouses and the surrounding countryside, Bill and Rusty estimated the Iron Lords now numbered less than thirty combat effectives. A dozen or so more, if you counted the local menfolk, but other than standing guard or tending the fields, they didn’t seem to do much else.

“We gotta stand together. Or at least, not prey on each other.”

“I won’t fight your battles, law dog. We got a good thing going here. Finally.” Rhett’s voice rose, and emotion finally found its way into his words. “Shit, you saw I’ve already lost one brother to Doyle’s assholes in this mess, and Eddie’s wife was killed just last week.”

“Not asking you to do anything other than being a good neighbor. You stay in your area, and we’ll stay in ours. Don’t hassle the sheriff, and he won’t come looking for you.”

“You keep saying ‘we’,” Rhett observed, getting his emotions under control, “and then talking about the sheriff like he’s some other country or something, Deputy Bill. What, you and Nathan and a few of your buddies get mad at Frank and break off?”

“You know, when I was in Afghanistan, the locals had a saying: ‘Me and my brother against my cousin. Me and my cousin against the world.’ Get what I’m saying?”

Rhett twisted in his seat, looking around at the grassland surrounding their little parley field.

“You got me under a gun right now, don’t you?” he said softly, so only Bill could hear his words.

“Hell, Rhett, we ain’t dumb, and I know you aren’t either,” Bill replied, his lips turned up in what might be considered a smile. He was nearly done delivering his message, and he waved his left hand carefully, reaching into the breast pocket of his coveralls. “Here’s a little something for you boys. We’ve taken the liberty of outlining some boundaries on this map. The shaded areas there, that’s us. If things settle down, and we can get a grip on Doyle’s crew, then maybe we can do some trading later on. But for right now, be a good neighbor and don’t trespass.”

Rhett took a moment to glance at the trifold paper, noting the boundaries as outlined, and looked back at Bill.

“What do you call yourselves? Your group?”

“Well, you gotta remember back to the old days, when this part of the country was first settled. When the outlaws got too numerous and the bad men got rowdy, then the sheriff had to call on his posse. We are the Posse, and will answer the call.” Bill paused, his pale blue eyes boring into Rhett Kester. “Don’t make us come for you and yours, Mr. Kester. Be a good neighbor. We’ll be watching.”

The End

Click on the Links Below to Check Out Other Works by

Thomas A Watson and William Allen

Thank You for Reading, Please Remember to Leave a Review.

Join Us on A-Poc Press Page
www.facebook.com/groups/apocpress

Check out My Website

www.apocpress.com

Follow Watson on Amazon

Follow William Allen on Facebook

Malleus Publishing Website

Follow Allen on Amazon

Table of Contents

- CHAPTER ONE
- CHAPTER TWO
- CHAPTER THREE
- CHAPTER FOUR
- CHAPTER FIVE
- CHAPTER SIX
- CHAPTER SEVEN
- CHAPTER EIGHT
- CHAPTER NINE
- CHAPTER TEN
- CHAPTER ELEVEN
- CHAPTER TWELVE
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN
- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
- CHAPTER NINETEEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY
- CHAPTER TWENTY - ONE
- CHAPTER TWENTY - TWO
- CHAPTER TWENTY - THREE
- CHAPTER TWENTY - FOUR
- CHAPTER TWENTY - FIVE
- CHAPTER TWENTY - SIX
- CHAPTER TWENTY - SEVEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY - EIGHT
- CHAPTER TWENTY - NINE
- CHAPTER THIRTY