by James Hoch
"Why?"
"Those men. What if she sent them?"
I stared out across the front yard, noticing how ominous those spears and crosses looked. Suddenly, Jerky sat up, looked out toward the road, sniffed and hissed.
"We need to pack and go," Sela demanded.
"So, now I've got two warning systems, you and Jerky."
Sela grabbed my arm and led me into the front room. She rushed into her bedroom, appearing a few minutes later with a large pack as well as the two Glock pistols and large hunting knife.
"Here," she said, handing me another handgun. Quickly, she opened a front closet door and pulled out two rifles and three shotguns. "Take your pick."
"Did your Dad do a lot of hunting?"
"Yes, he did, but he was also very protective of his family," Sela said proudly as she went into the kitchen.
By now, the sun was beginning to shut itself off for another day. Shadows lengthened and the temperature was falling. Great, I thought, tonight we'll have our first freeze and we'll be running in the dark.
Jerky stood by the front door and gave a blood-curdling meow. I looked out, gasped and terror slid up my spine as if it were running a marathon.
"What's wrong?" Sela asked as she came out of the kitchen.
"Madeline," I said catching my breath. A bead of sweat formed on my brow.
Standing in front of the crosses were three small girls dressed in dirty white nightgowns. Their feet were clearly a good foot off the ground. A pack of wolves or maybe dogs milled around behind them. A sardonic grin slowly stole across each creepy little girl. They shouted something that made my flesh instantly transform into chicken skin.
"Heckel, come out and play with us," the three demons beckoned simultaneously.
"All three of them are Madeline?" Sela asked. "I don't understand."
"It's the same Madeline that I saw with Leonard. Only now, there are three of them."
An earsplitting shot rang out. A bullet hole appeared dead center in the forehead of the middle Madeline. All three laughed. Two more shots echoed across the yard.
Jerky sank her claws into my worn jean pant leg and yanked on them repeatedly.
"I have a little defensive trick left that should slow them down." Sela went to the side of the front porch. She pulled open a small wood door on the ground and pushed a button on a black box. From the sound, I could tell it was a piezo lighter. About a foot away after a whoosh of sound, a flame burst forward and raced down a small ditch that extended out past the spears and crosses. It made its way to the front, where Madeline and the dogs patrolled.
"Let's go now," Sela said, pulling my arm. "Out the back door."
We ran through the front room, out the kitchen and toward a barn. "In here," Sela yelled.
Once in the barn, I heard the sound of two horses. "Have you ridden before?" Sela asked as she threw one of the saddles on the back of a large black stallion.
"Once, when I was in college," I muttered. "It was fun."
Sela grunted, finished saddling the first horse and quickly prepared a beautiful pinto. "Here, you take Hope. She's really gentle, but very fast. She can keep up with her mate, Tempest." Sela finished securing our packs and rifles to the horses, making sure the straps were tight. The sounds of barking and loud calls from the demons intensified. We looked at each other and practically jumped onto the horses.
Sela led the way out the back of the barn. Thank God, there was a large harvest moon stealing its way over the treetops. The barking grew even louder. I was sure the dogs had discovered that we went out the back of the house.
A horrific roar broke the tranquil autumn night.
Sela rode faster and I followed. We didn't let up the pace for a good hour. I looked back and saw the orange glow of the fire fading in the distance.
"Let's ease it back for a bit to give the horses a chance to catch their breath," Sela said quietly. We had crossed several farm fields. She told me that she knew the area well and that by the next afternoon we'd be crossing into the eastern corner of Nebraska. "We should be coming up to one of the main roads. From there, I'll get my bearings."
The night sounds returned to just your normal crickets singing, frogs croaking and occasional owl hooting. Sela picked up the pace slightly. At least, we weren't sprinting. However, my insides still felt like they had been shaken, not stirred, and violently rearranged.
At one point, we crossed a stream and Sela stopped so the horses could get a drink. "I can't believe you had horses. I'm surprised that they didn't end up on someone's table for dinner."
"Oh, I could never do that. They have been family for a while. Besides, for the longest time, I've had this strange feeling that I'd be taking this trip."
Leaning down to pet Hope, I said, "I am certainly grateful you had them."
"Care for something to drink?" Sela said handing me a bottle of water.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
"Huh, that just reminded me of something," I said, passing the bottle back to her.
"What?"
"Do you remember the Today show? I think it was on NBC."
"Yeah, I used to watch it every morning when I was getting ready for work. Why?" Sela answered.
"I remember a segment that they did for several mornings on the loss of civility. All these experts were brought on to comment about the various problems that our society was manifesting."
"Oh, sure. I do remember that one. It really made an impression on me. If you look back to that decade, there were definite signs, events, ideals, and people trying to wake us up to our downfall. It was just awful the way people treated each other. Rudeness and callousness escalated to the point where you trusted no one."
"Madeline's little handiwork, I'm sure. She planted those seeds of mistrust, rudeness and anger. We both know that now."
Sela gently kicked Tempest and started to walk. "The big question is how do we stop her evil harvest?"
I whispered, "We destroy her crops and plant new seeds. Ones that show the good in our world."
Chapter 9
The first rays of the morning sun slid across the pavement and turned it orange. Jerky had been riding on my saddle in front of me for the last couple of hours. It was pretty funny the way she got up there. Sela gave Hope a command and the horse knelt down, allowing Jerky to have a short jump up into my arms. I caught her and she settled down immediately, nestled between the horn and me. There was no fear on either animal's part. I was amazed. Sela grinned. Tempest snorted.
"Are you hungry?" Sela asked.
I started to give her my usual reply. "I've been-"
"I know, you've been hungry for a year," she said interrupting me. After a few minutes, she stopped, dismounted and tied the horse to a tree. It looked like we were on the outskirts of a small town. "At this point, I think it's best to stay out of small towns. You never know what's lurking around."
"Agreed. For that matter, it's probably best to stay away from cities, towns, villages and…"
Sela started to cry.
"What's wrong?" I said, dismounting from Hope and walking over to Sela.
"What you just said. It's horrible that we can't trust anyone. I just hate it. How did we get like this?"
"I know," I said putting my arm around her. "When we lose trust, civility, common courtesies and…basic love for each other, I guess we've lost everything."
Sela leaned her head on my shoulder and hugged me. My pulse quickened as I hugged her back. Slowly, she lifted her head, met my eyes and kissed me. It was a gentle kiss, a warm kiss that made me feel comforted. The kiss lasted for what felt like a week. When Sela broke the embrace, she continued to hug me and placed her head next to mine. She whispered, "I trust you and I'm so glad you came into my life."
My heart pounded in my chest. With a cracking voice that seemed to skip up an octave making me feel like I was in junior high, I replied, "Me too."
She giggled and hugged me harder. "I have some jerky. Would yo
u like some?"
"Yes, please."
Sela pulled out a large bag of hard jerky. "It's made out of chickens. I had a couple of old birds that gave their lives for this jerky."
"May they rest in peace, or should I say pieces."
Sela's laugh resounded off the trees. "I didn't know you did stand-up comedy."
We found an old log to sit on. Conversation drifted from the weather to favorite fall foods and old movies we enjoyed. When we stopped talking, Jerky jumped down from Hope and took off. However, it wasn't too long before she came sauntering back, begging.
"She's going to bug you until she gets a piece of that Jerky," I said, biting off a chunk of the meat.
"Well, she deserves it. It's obvious that she is a fine connoisseur of prepared meats," Sela said, giving Jerky a piece. The cat hunkered down, chomped on the dried morsel and purred.
"Ya know what makes all this difficult?" Sela asked.
"What?"
"Not knowing what's happening in the rest of the world. I mean…I just wonder what's going on. Is everyone dead? How many people are in hiding? Can we fix this mess?"
I sat in silence as she asked question after question. It seemed suffocating. Finally, I assured her that something or someone would turn things around, bring humanity back.
"Like a savior?" she asked.
"I suppose so. I mean…um…we know, at least you and me figured it out, that evil by the name of Madeline instigated this collapse, so there must be someone who can destroy her. There's got to be a leader out there who can bring her down and send her back to hell."
Sela nodded her head and replied, "Well, I for one want to find that person and join up."
"You make it sound like we have a coming battle."
"Yup. It's got to get to that."
Her last comment got me to thinking about Madeline with an army of evil soldiers, ready to eradicate the rest of humanity. If that were so, how in the world did we stand a chance? Just look at the state of our present condition. "How do we fight a demon army?" I asked timidly.
"With all our might. I mean maybe that's why you are drawn to the West Coast. Maybe that's why we found each other. Maybe there are more people migrating to some preordained spot."
"And maybe that's why you and I weren't poisoned by Madeline years ago when she was planting those diabolical seeds in kids. We must have been immune."
"Maybe so."
We each finished our jerky, mounted our horses and rode off. Jerky decided to run ahead of us. I thought for the longest time about what Sela had said. Maybe there was someone who could bring us out of these dark times. Is that why I felt compelled to make it to the West Coast? All I knew was that Sela made me feel safe.
Later that afternoon, the skies got preternaturally dark. A slight tinge of green edged its way into the color of the nearly jet-black clouds. We decided that we needed to find shelter. The weather was looking more and more like it was posed to throw down some serious tornadoes. We rode faster. The weird thing was that there was no wind or rain. Usually, when weather looked like this, there was at least some wind starting to stir things up.
"Something's not right," I said shouting over to Sela.
"I know what you mean. The sky is so threatening, but there's no pre-storm wind or any signs of an approaching-" Before she could finish, a bolt of lightning hit the ground in front of Tempest, causing the horse to rear backward. Sela remained on the horse and quieted him down. There was no thunder, another sign that something didn't add up.
We rode faster. Unfortunately, the direction we raced was smack dab in the middle of the dark. The pitch-black, menacing sky felt like it was swallowing us.
Fear was pushed aside in favor of survival. The horses knew something wasn't right and galloped for all their might.
"There," I shouted, pointing to a large cinder-block-looking rest stop. My horse didn't even wait for me to move her in that direction. She just knew where to go. Tempest followed. Lightning hit on both sides of the horses. They didn't flinch. As soon as we got to the building, we dismounted. Jerky came running up alongside me. I found a door to the women's room hanging by one hinge.
"In here," Sela shouted, leading Tempest into the men's room. Just as we entered the building, the wind slammed into the front with a force that was overwhelming. The assault nearly made Hope fall on top of me. Sela took the reins from me and got the horse inside. I pushed the door closed and turned the dead bolt. Now the rain started, lightning flashed and the storm attacked us mercilessly and violently. At least that's what it felt like-as if it were waiting for us. We comforted the horses. Jerky perched herself on one of the sinks. Her hair was all bushy as though charged from all the lightning. The enveloping darkness from the storm made it feel like night. I could barely see Sela and Tempest in front of me. I talked softly to Hope. By now, I figured fear would have made a return engagement, but for some odd reason, I wasn't afraid. Sela, the horses and Jerky gave me strength.
A warm hand slowly grabbed mine and squeezed gently. Sela stood next to me. "We'll make it," she whispered.
An earsplitting crash interrupted the fierce wind as a hailstone the size of a large softball smashed through one of the windows over the sink area. It missed Jerky by an inch. The cat jumped into my arms. I set her on top of Hope and she immediately calmed down. I put my arm around Sela. More hailstones found their way into the windows, shattering the glass. The sound reverberated around the small room. We moved the horses farther away from the windows. I looked up to see large dents appearing on the metal roof.
"I hope this roof holds up," Sela yelled over the roar of the storm and the pelting ice balls.
I nodded my head and held her hand tighter. The storm intensified. Large dents, one after the other, formed in the metal roof. I could see a portion of the roof begin to pull away from the concrete walls. Bolts holding down the metal roof vibrated as though they were doing a maniacal dance; they started to pull out.
My temper rose to the point that it pushed aside the fear. An inner force compelled me to walk to the door. As if in a trance, I calmly handed Sela Hope's reins.
"Heckel, what are you doing?" Sela screamed.
I put my head down and kicked the door open. Stepping outside, I was immediately pelted with hailstones and small branches. The rest-stop area was littered with tree limbs, debris and puddles of water. The wind attacked me further, trying to push me over.
My insides seethed with a power that went beyond anger or fear. It was an emotion or something I had never encountered before. Sela, standing at the doorway, continued to yell for me to return. I reached my arms up to the pitch-black sinister tempest and yelled, "Cease and desist. In the name of all that is holy and good, stop this violence!"
A hailstone the size of a basketball landed at my feet. Two more landed on both sides of me. They formed three large holes in the ground. Just as suddenly as the storm started, it stopped. The clouds thinned and the darkness lifted. An eerie silence spread across the rest stop. Sela led both horses out of the restroom. Jerky ran toward me and curled around my leg.
"Heckel?" Sela asked, timidly. "Are you…?" Before she could finish, I turned my head and crumpled to the ground.
Waves. Wave after wave crested on a shore. I found myself standing on some large boulders looking out at the ocean. A slight tinge of pink slowly filtered into one of the waves.
I let out a soft groan but couldn't open my eyes.
"Heckel?" Sela's voice tried to bring me out of my dream, but it faded away quickly.
I was back at the ocean, staring at the pink waves. Gradually, the waves turned red and then a deep blood red. Far out on the horizon, I could see Madeline standing on the water. She floated slowly toward me with a warm inviting smile and her hands outstretched. The crimson waves crested higher and crashed more violently onto the boulders that I was standing on. I jumped off the large rock onto the pebbles lining the beach. Madeline inched closer. Behind her an army of hideous creatures emerged from
the depths of the ocean. Each one that rose out of the water was more frightening than the previous one. Large mouths flashed yellow crooked teeth. Tentacles flailed in the air. Long dirty claws slashed the air as if they were practicing fiendish karate moves from hell's dojo. Fear crept up my spine, waiting to paralyze me. I felt a hand on my shoulder, but when I looked around, no one was there.
My dream shifted, as they often do. The ocean morphed into an expansive, blistering desert. Vultures circled above my head. The heat was intense, nearly pulling my breath out of my lungs. I moved slowly. Looking down, I could see chains on my ankles-leg irons. The skin around them was raw and bloody. Far off toward the east, a dust devil played with the sand. I envied its freedom. More dust devils appeared. They spun their way toward me. Dust spewed up into the sky. I covered my eyes. Up ahead, I could see Sela waving her arms. At first I thought she was welcoming me, then it was clear-she was warning me to look up. A giant vulture with its maw open dive-bombed straight toward me.
"Heckel? You're having a nightmare," Sela said softly as she shook my arm.
My eyes felt like they were superglued shut. My arm reached above me, swatting the air. Sela took my hand. The warmth of her touch affirmed my safety and helped bring me out of the nightmare.
"It's only a dream. You're safe."
The soft glow of a campfire and its warmth helped to wake me up further. "Whew, what happened? How long have I been sleeping? Where are we?"
"Whoa, slow done. Your brain's going to go into overdrive."
I started to sit up, and a wave of dazzling little bright dots started racing across my eyes. I felt like I just entered a laser light show with all the beams directed at my eyes. Sela could see that I wasn't ready for prime-time sitting up. She eased me back down.
"Maybe you need to stay down a little while longer to get things back to normal. You experienced…um…well, I don't know what the heck you'd call it, Heck. Ha ha…get it?"
"Oh yeah, that's funny. Like I've never heard that one before," I replied with a tinge of sarcasm.
"Would you like something to eat? And, yes, I know you've been hungry for a year. I shot a rabbit."