Forsaken World (Book 5): Homecoming

by Watson, Thomas A.

  Closing the topo book and getting up, Sandy grabbed her chair and collapsed it down. “Let’s eat and pack up.”

  Not about to object, Mary got up while gathering her chair and both dogs bounced over to the saddles. Walking over, Mary glanced over at the ground around the horses. The grass had been knee high when they’d tied up the horses, but was now mowed down to her ankles around the horses. “Even at twenty to thirty miles a day, we should be home in two weeks,” Mary declared with a shiver of excitement.

  “Three hundred miles by map doesn’t mean three hundred miles of travel,” Sandy sang out, turning on the stove. “Oatmeal?” she asked, and Mary nodded.

  “I know, but we’ll finally be in Kentucky. The same state our babies are in,” Mary sighed.

  Filling the pot with water, Sandy gave a shiver at the excitement from the statement. “Yeah, but we have to stay sharp,” Sandy mumbled.

  Chapter Fourteen

  As they ate, Mary and Sandy repacked the horses and checked their gear. Keeping their ARs across their backs, they put their tactical vests in waterproof bags. One thing they’d learned crossing the lake was bows and bow strings don’t like water. They could still shoot them, but their accuracy went down. Fortunately, the compound bows weren’t affected like the recurve bows were.

  Making sure everything was strapped down tight, Mary nodded her chin toward the bridge. “I think that captain took their advice because I haven’t heard an engine crank up since we turned the radio off.”

  “Just glad we’re upstream, in case they tried to swim for it,” Sandy admitted, satisfied everything was tied down tight. Stringing her three packhorses to her horse, Sandy bent over to pet Dan. “You stay with me.” Sitting down, Dan just looked up at her while cocking his head to the side.

  “If we see people, are we shooting?” Mary asked, press checking her AR.

  Almost answering ‘Hell, yeah’, Sandy paused for a second. “If they follow, try to head us off, or act funny in any way, we kill ‘em,” she finally answered. The fact that Sandy could say that and mean it, she believed it should bother her but it didn’t, and for some reason that nagged at her.

  Letting her AR hang under her arm, Mary looked up. “Don’t get mad if I see someone in front of us and just shoot their ass.”

  Wanting to smile but couldn’t, Sandy nodded. “I got your back.”

  “You take lead first,” Mary said, grabbing her horse’s reins. She followed Sandy through the trees, glancing back to see her three packhorses strung out behind her horse. “Don’t worry, guys. If we can stay on the route, this will be the last swim,” Mary told the horses.

  Stopping on the north bank of the island, Sandy stared across the river at a muddy bank that fed into a draw. “Mary, we aim for there, so the horses won’t have to climb a steep hill getting out,” Sandy told her in a low voice.

  Moving up beside Sandy, Mary looked across the river at the draw that was over a hundred yards downstream. “You think the current is that bad on this side?”

  “No, but I don’t want the horses to have to swim upstream if I can help it.”

  Preparing her mind for the crossing, Mary just nodded and waited on Sandy to climb up on her horse. They sat just inside the trees as darkness slowly descended. Holding up the thermal binoculars, Sandy scanned the far bank slowly. She did spot a deer, but no people or stinkers.

  Satisfied, Sandy packed the thermal binoculars up in the waterproof case. “If we would’ve had those, neither Bill nor Johnathan would’ve died,” Sandy speculated.

  Climbing up on her horse, Sandy glanced back and waited for Mary to nod that she was ready. When Mary gave the nod, Sandy kicked her horse and steered for the water. It seemed the horses weren’t impressed with the distance either because they all just waded right in.

  Before Sandy’s horse started swimming, she saw Dan swim past her. “Dan, heel,” she whispered, and Dan slowed his swim until the horse caught up. Halfway across, Sandy was glad she had moved further up the island because the current was carrying them faster on this side of the island.

  When the horse reached the bank it stumbled, struggling to move forward and Sandy held on tight as the horse struggled to pull his legs from the mud. Watching Dan just swim up to the bank and climb out, Sandy was a little envious. All of a sudden, her horse got his footing and walked up the muddy bank as Dan shook the water off.

  Glancing back, Sandy saw Mary’s horse stumble and regain its footing in the mud, but when the water reached the horse’s belly, she didn’t seem to have a problem with the mud.

  Giving her horse a small kick, Sandy guided it up into the draw. Entering the trees, Sandy gave a sigh before moving up a small draw. Stopping on a small flat area, Sandy pulled back on the reins to stop her horse and climbed off. Grabbing the waterproof bag that she was sitting on, Sandy pulled out her vest.

  Tying her reins to a tree, Sandy heard Mary stop behind her as they put vests on and used towels to dry bow strings. With Mary covering, Sandy broke her AR down and cleaned it off, then covered Mary while she did the same. This close to the military, they didn’t dry off the horses, only weapons. Horses could wait until they were further away.

  When Mary was done, Sandy climbed up on her horse and adjusted the monocular over her left eye. Making sure Mary was ready, Sandy gave her horse a kick and guided it through the trees out of the draw heading north. Knowing stinkers didn’t like slopes, Sandy guided her horse along the ridge, staying out of the valleys and draws as much as she could.

  Seeing a break in the trees ahead, Sandy slowed and stopped when she reached the tree line. A small road ran through the valley and there were a few stinkers heading west. “Let’s just cross,” Mary said in a low voice. “We are going up that slope on the other side, and they’ll never keep up.”

  Nodding, Sandy kicked her horse to steer into the valley and was immediately spotted by four stinkers on the road. The stinkers stumbled off the road and the first tripped upon entering a shallow ditch, and the three behind him tripped over him. Before the three stood back up, Sandy and Mary were already in the trees across the valley and moving up the slope.

  “Wish they would all do that,” Sandy mumbled, reaching the ridge.

  They came to a small clearing that had a house set back in the trees, but stayed on the other side of the clearing. When a deer jumped up in front of her, Sandy almost cut loose with her AR but stopped, realizing what it was. “That scared the shit out of me,” Mary whispered in a quivering voice.

  “Me too,” Sandy admitted.

  When they reached Highway 76, Sandy stopped in the trees while overlooking a large yard with the remains of a burnt down house and motioned Mary closer. As Mary stopped beside her, a gunshot sounded to the northwest. The dozens of stinkers they could see on the road all paused, glancing northwest, but soon all continued following the highway to Dover. “Never seen them do that,” Mary mumbled. “They’ve always headed off toward loud noise.”

  Keeping her AR across her body, Sandy watched the stinkers continue on. “I really don’t like that.” About to turn and ask Johnathan why he thought the stinkers would do that, Sandy caught a sob in her throat and pushed the loss from her mind.

  Kicking her horse into a trot, Sandy crossed the yard and stinkers only noticed them when they were halfway across. Watching the stinkers move off the road toward them, Sandy noticed a gap and steered her horse toward it as more gunshots sounded to the northwest.

  Reaching the highway, Sandy realized none of the stinkers would get close even as the horses hooves clattered on the roadway. Stinkers further up the road turned and started moving back, but Sandy guided her horse across the shoulder of the road and into a field.

  Guiding her horse to the row of trees along the fence line, Sandy risked a glance back and watched stinkers moving off the road. Turning ahead Sandy saw trees, but the land here was flatter with only small hills. “It’s got trees,” Sandy mumbled, pulling the reins back until the horse was settled back in a
walk.

  “One of your horses stumble?” Mary asked as they entered the trees and then turned northwest as the gunfire stopped.

  “No, but we don’t need to run them now. If I have to push the horses and take another day off, it’s going to be for a good reason. Plus, we didn’t put dry blankets under the saddles or dry off their hooves, I don’t want them developing sores.”

  Glancing behind them, “That gunfire isn’t moving,” Mary noted and Sandy lifted the thermal binoculars up, scanning through the trees ahead. “It sounds different.”

  Lowering the binoculars, “Like those gunshots we heard on the lake,” Sandy suggested.

  “Yeah,” Mary gasped.

  “No way of knowing, but I’m willing to bet the captain got some men downstream, and they are making noise to try to pull some stinkers away.”

  “Sucks to be him because it ain’t working,” Mary said, seeing they were approaching a clearing. Even before getting closer, Mary saw a few forms stumbling and saw Sandy flip her monocular up and raise her bow with a smooth motion.

  Sandy never slowed, just letting her horse step out in the field and three stinkers froze, turning to the movement and Sandy released her arrow. “Shit,” she snapped, watching the arrow sail right past the stinker’s head. Yanking another arrow out, Sandy pulled the bow back and heard Mary release and watched one stinker drop.

  Resting her sighting pin on the shadow of the stinker’s head, Sandy released and watched the form collapse. Reaching for another arrow, Sandy watched number three drop. “Can’t believe I missed,” Sandy sighed, steering her horse to the closest stinker. Leaning out of the saddle like Mary did to retrieve arrows Sandy prayed she wouldn’t face plant in the field.

  Grabbing the shaft, Sandy yanked back and felt the arrow pull from the skull with a slurping sound. Seeing the next stinker’s head was turned to the side with the arrow shaft on the ground, Sandy pulled back in her saddle just leaving that one.

  “See? It’s not that bad,” Mary said beside her, putting the arrow she pulled out back in her quiver.

  “Beg to differ,” Sandy chuckled, lowering the monocular.

  An hour later, she glanced at the map as she moved and led them along a field, “We’re in Kentucky,” she sighed with relief.

  “At long last,” Mary said rather cheerfully behind her.

  Just after midnight they stopped in a pasture, staying near the trees and then tended the horses. With the horses taken care of, they let them graze as each ate an MRE. “You go ahead and take a pee break, I’ll keep watch,” Sandy offered, folding the MRE package up to save what she didn’t eat.

  Climbing down, Mary passed over her reins and just stepped away from the horses. When she was done, gunfire sounded to the northwest again. For the last three hours, a dozen or so shots would sound off every half hour. Buttoning her pants, “It might help if they moved around some,” Mary offered, climbing up on her horse and taking Sandy’s reins.

  Like Mary, Sandy just took a few steps away from the horses. “Maybe, but I hope the stinkers take out that captain,” Sandy declared, standing back up. “I don’t think there would be this many stinkers if they would’ve let people keep guns.”

  When Sandy climbed back on her horse, Mary passed the reins back. “Yeah, even if only sixty million gun owners shot two stinkers each, that would’ve cut the stinker population by a hundred million,” Mary grumbled, then turned south to Dover. “Hope the stinkers get them.”

  Half an hour later, gunfire to the northwest erupted again but this time, it was many different guns and it wasn’t timed shots, Sandy noticed while glancing at her watch. The tempo picked up and Sandy figured that was thirty or forty guns blasting away. What amazed Sandy was the tempo stayed steady for almost ten minutes and then slowly waned to only a few, then stopped.

  Riding on, they came to the patchwork of fields and pastures. Curling her upper lip as she snarled, “Barbed wire.” Sandy slowed her horse, pulling the bolt cutters out. Mary’s horses never had to stop because Sandy was down, cut the strands, and back in the saddle before Mary had to slow down.

  “You’re getting faster,” Mary said, very impressed.

  “What?” Sandy asked, keeping her horse near the row of trees on the fence line.

  “You were down and back up before I even had to slow down,” Mary said, seeing a stinker in the field next to them. “Quiet, Ann,” Mary said when Ann started to growl.

  “I didn’t notice,” Sandy shrugged.

  “Want me to lead?”

  Shaking her head, “No. Not unless you want to,” Sandy answered.

  “I’ll make a deal. You lead and cut fences, and I’ll retrieve arrows that can be retrieved,” Mary offered.

  Turning in the saddle and looking at Mary in awe, “Deal,” Sandy replied.

  “You have the knack of moving without looking at the map. I’ve timed us. With you leading, we cover almost five miles an hour. When I lead, we don’t make three because I have to keep looking at the map.”

  Smiling, Sandy nodded. “Yeah, Johnathan was persistent in teaching me how to memorize the lay of the land out west.”

  Coming to the end of the field, Sandy didn’t mind climbing off and cutting the fence, but was thankful they were entering what seemed like a forest and not a stand of trees. Steering around the trees, Sandy tried to keep to the most level and easiest path, but didn’t always choose correctly.

  When they came out of the trees two miles later, Sandy was ready for barbed wire and almost grinned, yanking the bolt cutters out when they neared the next fence. Off to the right, Sandy saw the small road that led to Herndon and then I24.

  Climbing back up on the saddle, Sandy gave a startle as Mary rode past with her bow raised. Sandy jerked her head forward as Mary rode through the pasture and then heard Dan give a small growl. Mary released the arrow, aiming down in the tall grass of the pasture. “Oh, fucking bullshit,” Sandy said in a normal voice, and cringed when Dan looked up at her in shock. “Yeah, that was stupid. I’m sorry,” she told Dan, who started panting.

  Riding over as Mary leaned out of the saddle and grabbed the arrow, Sandy pulled to a stop and saw the naked form of a man. “Oh, thank goodness,” Sandy sighed with relief, seeing the stinker was missing his left leg from just below the knee down.

  “Yeah, I saw him stand up on his knees when you cut the first wire and drop back down,” Mary said, putting the arrow back in her quiver. “I was freaking because I thought he was hiding in the tall grass but, Sandy, he was crawling on all fours faster than any stinker I’ve seen walking. It was pretty close to the speed of a jog.”

  Nodding as Mary spoke, Sandy kicked her horse when Mary finished. “We kill any we see crawling, and if they start hiding in tall grass like they do trees, we start fires and burn the land,” Sandy declared.

  “I won’t argue,” Mary said, falling in just behind Sandy.

  “It’s been over an hour since we’ve heard more gunshots from the northwest,” Sandy pointed out. “I think one of those groups went over there and took matters in their own hands.”

  “We have somewhere to be. Otherwise, I would’ve asked to help them,” Mary confessed. “With just a little bit of help from the military, we could’ve made it with Bill and Johnathan. They only had to let us pass and leave us alone.”

  Having another reason to add on the list of why she would kill any member of the government, Sandy flipped her monocular up and raised her bow as a stinker stumbled out of the trees ahead. It really didn’t help when she saw the tattered uniform and helmet. Releasing the arrow Sandy grinned, watching the stinker drop and then saw several other forms in the small stand of trees ahead stumbling toward them.

  “Hold up,” Sandy called out, pulling back on the reins and stopping her horse.

  “I see them,” Mary said, releasing an arrow as another stepped out. Like the first, it was wearing military gear, but was missing the left arm. “I count eleven now, in case one tries to hide or play dead.”
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  Releasing an arrow as a stinker kid stepped out, Sandy thought that was a good idea Mary had counted the figures before engaging. The kid’s head jerked as Sandy’s arrow struck. Sandy already had another arrow out when the kid’s body hit the ground. Pulling back with a grin as a stinker soldier stepped out, Sandy released and then grabbed another arrow as she glanced behind them.

  Finding nothing coming from behind, Sandy turned around and pulled back. When the next one stepped out Sandy groaned, seeing it was a naked woman missing most of her abdomen. Releasing the arrow and pulling another from the quiver, Sandy nocked it while counting the shadows. “How many have you shot?” Sandy asked, releasing an arrow into another soldier.

  “Six,” Mary answered, pulling back as the last stepped out and she released.

  Watching the last one fall, “Damn, you’re getting fast,” Sandy said, nocking a new arrow. Flipping her monocular down, she eased up and stopped a few yards from the tight pack of stinker bodies. “It was nice of them to all come out, so we could kill them in one little area.”

  “Cover me,” Mary said, climbing down and passing Sandy the reins.

  “I was going to say leave them,” Sandy admitted, noticing most of the arrows weren’t pointing up since most of the stinkers had fallen face first. Turning to Mary, Sandy saw her taking an M4 off one of the soldiers. “What are you doing? We have guns.”

  “Johnathan and Bill always checked soldiers and cops,” Mary answered. “This M4 has stuff on the fore grip, looks like a light and laser.”

  Scanning around, Sandy looked down and saw Dan ease over sniffing the bodies. “Shit, fucker broke the arrow,” Mary growled, emptying the vest.

  “We still have arrows to get rid of,” Sandy reminded her.

  “Grenade,” Mary called out, holding up a hand grenade.

  “We don’t know how to use it.”

  Mary looked over at her. “Gonna die? Pull the pin and hold close.”