Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home Read online

  “Two hours,” Amanda said.

  “Damn, he’s not that worried,” Nathan mumbled.

  “What else did he say?” John asked.

  Nathan held out his hand and Amanda passed over the notebook. “China invaded Southeast Asia, and South Korea has fallen,” Nathan said.

  “What part of Southeast Asia?” Jasmine asked.

  “All of it, from Vietnam to Burma,” Amanda said.

  “They won’t take it. No country can, it’s been tried,” Jasmine said confidently.

  Nathan looked up at her. “Yes they can. They are killing anything that fights them. They wiped out the capitol of Burma to the last person. The Chinese almost have the entire area. Reports were over seven million troops invaded.”

  “I thought China and Russia were fighting?” John asked.

  “No General Mans, Denis told me they just had a skirmish over Mongolia,” Nathan said.

  “Anything else?” Jasmine asked pointing at the notebook.

  “Oh yeah, India and Pakistan are at war and the Russians invaded the Middle East,” Nathan said, but Jasmine held up her hand stopping him.

  “Here at home. That’s on the other side of the globe,” Jasmine said.

  “The entire eastern seaboard is under government control, all the way to Florida. Resistance starts at Alabama. Almost all major cities east of the Mississippi River are government-controlled. The government has secured the Mississippi delta for food production, along with areas in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. That’s what they were doing here in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas, trying to secure the farmlands. According to this guy, it’s not going well for them here. They didn’t send enough troops, or the ones they sent turned on them,” Nathan said.

  “How can a soldier follow those kinds of orders?” John asked.

  “John, the government had been slowly removing generals and admirals who followed the Constitution and not them,” Nathan said, still reading. He looked up after reading the last page.

  Amanda nodded. “Yeah, death projections so far in the US are at forty-two million, and by the end of this month, a hundred million.” Everyone just froze hearing that.

  “What about the rest of the world?” Casey asked.

  Amanda cleared her throat. “Most of Mexico City burned down and half the population is believed to be dead. It’s the same for Central and South America. Africa’s not much better. Europe is reporting a quarter of its population dead. China and Russia are reporting less than that; they are invading other countries and taking food and supplies. Europe wasn’t hit as badly as we were with EMPs but they still lost power from the flare.”

  “We are really going to lose three quarters of our population, aren’t we?” Jasmine asked.

  Nathan nodded. “Yeah, some supplies are getting in but they are staying in the cities only. That’s the justification of moving people to the camps, but it won’t be enough.”

  “If they left the people in the country, do you think it wouldn’t be so bad?” John asked.

  Nathan thought about it for a minute before answering. “If they had left the farmers and ranchers alone and brought them the fuel the military and Homeland are using, they could curb a lot of starving.”

  “They are purposely killing Americans by starvation,” John declared.

  “Yes they are, but they know this. Those are the people that are independent and pose a threat,” Nathan replied.

  The group just sat around digesting what they heard, except Emma and Chip, who ate. Soon the others slowly began to eat until Nathan stood up when the sun touched the horizon. He started packing up camp and saddled his horse. He dug in his pack for Ares’s brush and called him over.

  With all the running around, Ares had gotten several mats in his coat, which Nathan brushed out. Amanda moved over to get it and brush Athena. “No, listen and write,” Nathan said calling Athena over and brushing her out.

  When Nathan was done the sun was down and with clouds in the sky it got dark quickly. Everyone turned on their NVGs and climbed on their horses. “Casey, stay near Amanda. Amanda, I want you to listen to what’s going on. You know our route and the nearby towns, so if you hear something let me know,” Nathan said.

  “Nathan,” Tom called out. “We aren’t going to go fast tonight, are we? The donkeys don’t do so hot going at a gallop for that long.”

  “No, we are going at our regular pace unless we need to move it,” Nathan said, adjusting Emma. He moved the SAW he had hung off his saddle horn so it didn’t hit Smoke on the leg. Kicking Smoke in the sides, Nathan led them out of the trees, crossing the creek they had camped by. As he moved across the field he lifted his thermal and scanned the area. Not seeing anything to worry about, he pulled onto the dirt road, heading north.

  Riding along everyone was watching their areas lost in thought. After two hours Nathan held up his arm, motioning the others up to him as he led Smoke into the ditch. Nathan pulled out his map and turned the UV light on his NVGs on. “Damn it! Will you warn us before you do that?” Jasmine snapped.

  “Sorry,” Nathan said, looking at the map.

  “Nathan, those last few houses’ doors were closed,” John said.

  Putting his map away and turning off the UV light, he said, “Yeah, that last one had a person on watch sitting on the porch. Look at that house over there.” He pointed to the west. They noticed a house over a mile away. “There is light coming from the upstairs windows.”

  “So they didn’t make it here, taking people?” Casey asked.

  Nathan unclipped his NVGs and put them in a pouch on his vest. “Seems that way,” he said. Unclipping the thermal from his M-4, Nathan clipped it to his head harness then adjusted his boonie hat.

  “What are you doing?” Jasmine asked.

  “Putting my thermal on,” Nathan replied, getting used to the new vision. Instead of one eye seeing a green world it now saw a black and white world in varying shades.

  “No shit. Why now?” Jasmine asked.

  “One reason I don’t wear them all night is the damn thing eats batteries like potato chips. I’m putting them on now because I want to see anything that’s alive far away,” he said. He looked at Jasmine and, unlike the NVG, monocular which showed things fairly normally, the thermal just showed a white hot skull outline with darker white eyes. “Spooky,” Nathan mumbled, fighting a shiver down.

  “What’s got you worried?” John asked. Nathan pointed to the field across the road. The others turned and saw two mounds lying in a field. “Dead cows?” John asked, puzzled.

  “Can you really see them?” Nathan asked.

  “Yes and they look torn apart. We’ve seen it before. In Arkansas you pointed out one that had been killed by people, and in Mississippi one that had been killed by dogs. That looks like what happened to those,” John said.

  “That’s the ninth one in a mile,” Nathan said, adjusting his rifle against a sleeping Emma.

  “What’s that have to do with you getting ready for battle?” Jasmine asked.

  Nudging his chin at the three cows, “That took a big ass pack to do that.”

  “You said it only took five or six dogs to run down a cow,” Casey piped up.

  “That’s right, ‘run them down.’ Those three were wrestled down right there at the same time. They are within yards of each other. Don’t you think that’s kind of strange?” Nathan asked.

  “Someone could’ve shot them and then the dogs ate them,” Casey offered.

  Nathan smiled. “That is a very good possibility, but I don’t think so.”

  Amanda quit writing in her notebook but didn’t look up. “There are reports on the radio of large packs. Several kids were attacked and killed in Tescott, to our northeast about nine miles.” She started writing again. Nathan grinned at her. Writing with NVGs was difficult but writing with a monocular was tough as hell. Looking over to see what she was writing Nathan realized he wouldn’t see anything with the thermal, and his right eye could bar
ely see shapes and the outline of the road. It was pretty dark.

  “Come on,” Nathan said, leading Smoke back up to the dirt road. It only took fifteen minutes for Nathan to get a headache from wearing the thermal monocular. His brain had grown used to the green world. When a sippy cup tapped his chest Nathan reached down. “Sorry, doodle bug,” he said, taking it. After filling it, Nathan handed it back and dug some crackers out of his pocket for Emma.

  As she babbled quietly Emma reached up taking them. She stopped babbling and, reflexively, Nathan patted her. “Taks yoo,” Emma said and started babbling again.

  Nathan smiled. “Thank you, Emma, and you’re welcome.”

  “Bitch,” Emma giggled and started babbling.

  Knowing where she heard that, once again Nathan chose to ignore it, hoping she would forget that word. It was one of the few words she could say very clearly. Contemplating how to deal with Emma’s newfound vocabulary, Jasmine trotted up beside him. “Did Emma just say ‘bitch’?” Jasmine asked.

  “Bitch,” Emma squealed.

  Nathan sighed. “Emma not loud, monsters are close.” Emma’s babbling got softer.

  “You taught her to cuss and are telling her monsters are real?!” Jasmine nearly shouted.

  Slowly turning his head till he looked at her. “She picked it up. It’s not like I can call them enemies,” he grumbled, feeling his headache start to pound. He couldn’t see her expression with thermal, but Jasmine could damn well see his with NVGs.

  A scowl was on Nathan’s face and she knew he was pissed off, big time. “Nathan, I’m sorry I was loud. But monsters?” Jasmine tried to justify she was letting the cussing pass till a later date. She saw his jaw clench and snapped her head forward.

  “Technically, the enemy can be described as monsters, just humanoid ones. Since they have no humanity they aren’t human. Next, some humans are preforming cannibalism, so to be precise, monsters will eat you. Furthermore, Homo sapiens have teeth that can be mistaken for fangs, and many haven’t cut their fingernails, so theoretically they have claws. Additionally, monsters hide and attack their victims, and guess what, so does the enemy. I’m not sure about under the bed or in the closet but I’m not ruling it out. So in conclusion, I don’t have any problem telling a toddler monsters exist because they do, I just proved it. She’s seen me eradicate them and recognizes that if she’s quiet, they leave us alone. With them leaving us alone, doodle bug can telepathically enlighten me of what the hell she desires.” Nathan elucidated the facts and his reasoning with an egotistical tone.

  Jasmine’s jaw hit her chest, literally. She looked behind her and saw the same reaction on the others. They had never heard Nathan talk like that, much less use words like that. Jasmine stuttered, “. “N-Nathan, I’m-I’m sorry,” as she pulled back on her reins and pulled in front of John at the very back.

  “Bitch,” Emma giggled again.

  “Emma, that’s enough,” Nathan snapped, and Emma actually jumped in her sling. “Just babble, I can’t understand that and I’m sure some of it is worse than that word,” he added patting her in the sling. Emma giggled and complied, babbling.

  John moved up beside Jasmine after he looked behind them with his thermal scope. “Why did you even say anything?” he asked.

  Looking down at Chip, who was asleep, Jasmine pulled him tighter to her chest. “Little kids aren’t supposed to cuss, and you don’t tell them monsters are real,” Jasmine mumbled. “Granted, now I know monsters are real, having heard his dissertation.”

  Shaking his head, “Amanda and Casey cuss and you haven’t said anything,” John pointed out.

  Jasmine smiled at John. “John, when I first met y’all, I could see in Nathan’s eyes that he saw you as his family. Now he sees these kids as his, I just thought I could get him to control it with Emma. I don’t say anything about those two because they have him in the palms of their hands. All of you do,” she admitted. “I don’t want to make any of you mad at me, because he will take your side, and I don’t want him to make me leave.”

  Guiding his horse closer, John did what Jasmine never thought he would do willingly: He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. He gave her his customary smile. “Jasmine, he would never ask you to leave, and if you did it on your own, he would follow to talk you out of it. If it was your choice he would let you go, but it would hurt him,” John told her then looked around then back at her. Jasmine smiled, seeing John take his responsibilities so serious.

  “I’m not so sure,” Jasmine confessed.

  “I am,” John said, letting her hand go and guiding his horse a little farther away so they wouldn’t be bunched up. “You’re right about how he looks at us. My mom kind of looked at me the same way and when I noticed that, I can’t tell you how happy I was. When I first came upon Nathan and Amanda, I thought she was his daughter. He doted on her something fierce, but still treated her like a friend. It was the middle of the second day when Nathan did that to me,” John said.

  “You see what I mean then,” Jasmine said.

  “No, because he looked at you that way when we camped out by that lake. He saw you as family,” John said. Jasmine gave John a small smile. John shook his head at her his smile still the same. “But when we took time off in Arkansas, I noticed a difference in how he looks at you and talks about you,” John informed her.

  Giving a snort, Jasmine almost asked about the telepathy but stopped. She still wasn’t sure if Nathan wasn’t on to something. “What do you mean?” she asked timidly.

  “I think he likes you like a girlfriend,” John said in a low voice. He pulled up on the reins of his horse and fell behind Jasmine. Jasmine looked over her shoulder to see John looking around with his thermal scope. Turning around Jasmine thought about what John said and studying how Nathan had treated her recently.

  Noticing someone holding up ahead of her, Jasmine glanced up as they pull in next to her. Seeing it was Amanda, Jasmine actually got scared, wondering if younger girls could read minds, along with putting thoughts in them. Amanda noticed the shocked look on Jasmine’s face and, since neither Natalie nor Jasmine told the others what they heard, Amanda mistook the shocked look for fear. Amanda had heard what Jasmine and John were talking about, after Casey pointed it out to her. Amanda had been concentrating on listening to the radio.

  “Don’t be scared of me,” Amanda told her. Jasmine’s eyes grew wide. Holy shit, Jasmine thought. “John’s right, Nathan sees you as a girlfriend,” Amanda admitted looking off. “I know what you meant now back in Alabama. Nathan doesn’t see me like that. He sees me as his daughter but calls me his firecracker, and I like that,” Amanda said, smiling. Reaching down pulling out a bottle of water she took a long drink. As she put the bottle up, “If you break his heart, I’ll shoot you sis,” Amanda warned, kicking her horse trotting back up to Casey.

  Riding in shock because Jasmine didn’t connect the hunter’s ear to Amanda hearing her, Jasmine was really starting to give credence to Nathan’s theory on little girls. In Jasmine’s defense, the hunter’s ear was now part of them, like their weapons. It was always on them.

  In the lead, Nathan’s head was now pounding, two hours after he popped off at Jasmine. Thankfully, Emma had fallen asleep, and Nathan was convinced a little man was inside his skull with a hammer. Nathan just looked at the world in shades of gray in his left eye, trying to ignore his headache. Deer and cattle were everywhere around them. Nathan had never realized how many cows Kansas had. He had spotted a few horses and hogs running in the fields, and a coyote.

  Ares and Athena alerted him to most animals before he saw them. Truth be told, Ares alerted him, Athena just copied Ares. Nathan smiled for a second and had to admit Athena was a good dog and Amanda was doing excellent with her. Then the scowl filled his face as his head reminded him that it was hurting by pounding harder. Seeing a creek up ahead, Nathan pulled into the ditch, guiding Smoke to the creek.

  Before reaching the creek, Nathan climbed off and handed the reins to Na
talie, who was riding behind him. “Water them,” Nathan said, and Natalie led the horses to the creek. Casey and Amanda passed by him. They smiled and Nathan attempted to smile back but didn’t pull it off. Next was Tom leading the three pack animals. The pack horse was just following along but the two donkeys were holding their heads high looking around as they followed.

  Nathan saw Jasmine and John, but didn’t wait for them as he turned to the last donkey and started rummaging in one of the bags on the pack saddle. Nathan didn’t stop the donkey, but walked beside it as Tom led it to the creek. Before they reached the creek, Nathan pulled out something and tied the bag up. Seeing Nathan with the scowl on his face, Jasmine led her horse to the other end of the line from Tom. John just led his horse past Nathan, pulling up beside Tom and letting his horse drink.

  Careful not to wake Emma, Nathan took off his pack putting it on the ground then took off his messenger bag. Nathan looked at the backpack and messenger bag, his vest packed with shit, the ‘Emma sling’ holding the doodle bug and his M-4. “I’m just a jackass packing shit as well,” Nathan said in a regular voice.

  The others heard him very clearly and turned around as Nathan started digging in his pack. Seeing Nathan holding Emma and his rifle out of the way as he dug in his pack, they wanted to laugh at the sight, but wisely didn’t. Suddenly Nathan let out a loud sigh holding up a bottle. He threw some pills down his throat, pulled out a bottle of water, swigged deeply, and put the bottle away.

  Next he threw down his boonie hat and harness holding the thermal monocular. Then he found another head harness for a monocular and took off the mounting arm, putting the harness in his messenger bag. He picked up his harness and mounted the arm on the right side, then pulled out the NV monocular and mounted it. Putting it back on, he lost half his field of vision.

  Each eye gives a sixty-degree field of view but monoculars cut one eye down to thirty and Nathan had just put two on. Nathan actually stumbled back as his brain processed what it was seeing. The right eye was seeing the world in green from the NVG while the left eye was seeing in the thermal spectrum. What was weird, his brain superimposed the images over each other. Since his head was already hurting, Nathan didn’t realize the little man with the hammer inside his skull started swinging harder with a bigger hammer.