by James Hoch
"What the fu-" There, off in the distance, as if they were in a Special Forces squad, were snakes with two heads. Now you don't see that every day!
"Here, you might need this," a man said, running up to me and handing me a large broad axe.
I must have looked like I was in shock or something. He practically pushed the axe into my chest. "We have no time to waste," he said. "The snakes are getting closer. We've gotten some of them, but our ammunition is almost gone. It's hand-to-snake combat now. Come on let's go."
I ran alongside of him. I looked to my left and then right. There must have been a good hundred men lined up in a row, each one carrying a weapon. As I ran, I thought of all the movies I had seen where the two opposing armies had lined up on a side of a field and then on a command charged at each other. Sometimes the armies had swords or spears and would clash, hacking away. It was always the same. As time progressed, the armies evolved from swords to guns that fired one shot, like in our Civil War. Over the years, the weapons progressed, but in the end it was a clash of armies on the field…still hacking away at each other.
As I ran faster and felt my adrenaline rising, there was also that power expanding throughout my body. My hands felt warm and tingly. I looked down at them and could see a tinge of blue.
The sound of the snakes was deafening. The hissing made my skin crawl. Oh, great…now what? Suddenly, I remembered how much I hate snakes. Usually, they petrify me. I mean literally petrify me. I've been known to freeze up when I've encountered snakes in the past when hiking or visiting the zoo. Funny, I'm not afraid now, I thought.
The first men in front of me attacked the snakes viciously, hacking with all their might. Then the screaming started. Our men were getting slaughtered. A few of the men in the front ranks became entangled with snakes covering their bodies. Besides just biting the men, the snakes, with their long incisors, were actually taking out large chunks of flesh from the men. This was not your normal snake behavior. I don't care what species of snake we're talking about. Without thinking or doing anything for that matter, the blue flame welled up into a ball in my hands. I stared in fascination at the swirling conflagration on my palms. A snake slithered up to my feet. A man standing next to me slammed his huge machete knife onto the snake's head, spewing blood up my pant leg.
"Throw it," he yelled.
"Oh, yeah," I said, flinging the searing balls at the snakes. "Duh." No one said I was the brightest bulb on the planet. Then again, one doesn't have blue flames sprouting at their hands ready to command.
The first wave of snakes in front of me erupted into flames. The men around stopped and stared at me. All the snakes turned and slithered directly toward me. The ground appeared black with the squirming snakes. Large balls of blue fire kept appearing on my palms. I flung them at the attacking serpents. None of the snakes attacked the men around me. They had a singular purpose-to get to me. The men inched closer and stood in a protective stance on both sides of me, attacking any snakes that got close.
A large black plume of smoke was curling skyward as more and more of the snakes burned. The power from deep inside me never felt like it was showing signs of quitting. I, on the other hand, was getting exhausted.
"Are you all right?" someone near me asked.
"Fine…just enjoying the barbecue here," I replied, throwing two large orbs of fire at a group of snakes. Immediately, two balls flared up again in my hands.
The men around me cheered as the fireballs smashed into the snakes.
After what seemed a good hour, the snakes stopped coming up from the three large holes in the ground. The men around me cheered and then knelt down facing me.
"No, no, no…no kneeling. Please, stand up," I said, embarrassed.
The men said nothing. They just stared at me.
"Really, please stand up. You guys were awesome," I said.
"You saved us, Heckel," said one older man holding a baseball bat.
In unison, the men cheered again and waved whatever weapon they had in their hands high in the air. I walked over toward the three dark, ominous holes. The power inside me grew as if it knew what needed to be done. Two large blue balls appeared once again on my palms. I pitched them both at the center hole. The ground exploded. After the dust settled, the hole was totally sealed up as if a wound had been cauterized. The other two holes received the same treatment.
"Take that, Madeline," I yelled, wondering if she heard me.
Several men were already picking up our fallen soldiers. "How many did we lose?" I asked.
"Looks like around twenty-five or so."
"We need to have a funeral service immediately," I said.
"Absolutely. We'll have the graves dug within the next few hours."
Just as we were finishing up talking about the funeral arrangements and other unpleasant matters, like who would be the bearer of bad news to relatives, I looked around and saw the rest of the entire town walking out to our battlefield. I couldn't find Sela and my insides got that nervous butterfly feeling.
I ran toward our house. As I approached, I saw Sela sitting on the front porch in tears. She jumped up and ran to me.
"Heckel, I'm so sorry," she said hugging my neck to the point where I almost choked.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't find Jerky. When I got here, there were already snakes around the house. I yelled for Jerky, but nothing. I managed to find a path around the snakes, get in the house and find my guns. I killed most of the snakes around the house and luckily no others came. But I still haven't found Jerky."
Before I could even open my mouth to yell for the cat, I spotted her up on the porch roof. She meowed loudly, jumped and ran toward me. A few feet away from me, she lunged into the air as if her tail had been a spring. I grabbed her as she landed on my chest. Her sandpaper-like tongue licked my cheek feverishly until I thought she had ground a hole in it.
Sela started crying harder as she petted Jerky. "Where the hell were you? You scared the shit out of me."
Jerky turned her head and started to lick Sela's nose, making her laugh.
"Thanks for saving her life," I said, caressing Sela's cheek.
"I was beside myself."
"Regardless, you saved her."
Sela hugged me and asked how the battle went.
"Can we go in and sit down? I feel exhausted and a bit queasy." I felt wobbly and Sela put her arm around my waist, helping me inside. The minute I sat down on the couch I fell asleep.
A few hours later, there was a soft knock on the front door. I heard Sela telling whomever it was that I was asleep. I got up and walked to the door. "I'm awake. Anything wrong?" I asked.
Jack was at the door and said that the funeral for the men was starting in about fifteen minutes.
"We'll be there," I said.
"Would you mind saying a few words?" Jack asked.
"Umm…I'm not very good with words," I said haltingly.
Before I could say another thing, Sela said that I most definitely would. I gave her a wide-eyed look, complete with pursed lips.
After Jack left, we hurried cleaning ourselves up, changing into fresh shirts and pants that weren't covered in snake blood. "I don't know what to say to these people who lost their loved ones. I'll stumble all over myself," I said, fidgeting with buttoning my shirt.
"Look Heckel, these men sacrificed themselves for you," Sela said.
"Me? I don't think so," I said defensively, flashing her a sarcastic look.
"Think what you want, but these men paid a great price. I know you will do great. You just need more confidence in yourself."
She hit a nerve, actually several nerves, and I stopped bellyaching and began thinking of what I would say. The graveyard was packed and people were elbow to elbow next to the deep holes waiting for their new residents. Jack motioned for Sela and me to join him near a few of the open graves. Fortunately, the bodies were already wrapped and placed in the graves.
An elderly woman started singing a hymn.
I didn't recognize it, but there were a lot of people who joined in. After a few minutes, I was at least able to join in on the chorus.
Jack led the service. He read from different scriptures, said a prayer and then asked people to come forward to speak. After about a half hour, he motioned for me to come forward. "Heckel will now say a few words."
My mouth suddenly felt like Death Valley. Okay, not the best choice of words to float into my head. As I walked over to the edge of a grave, I could feel that unexplainable power well up inside of me. Nervously, I looked around expecting to see some evil manifestation on the edge of the gathering. Nothing. No blue flames erupted from the center of my hands. Instead, I felt an inner strength and confidence.
The speech I gave came from the heart. It was laced with humor and hope. When I was done, the smile from Sela's face looked like it was going to split her head wide open. Discreetly, she flashed a thumbs-up. As I went back to stand beside her, she put her arm around me and hugged tightly.
As soon as Jack finished the service, someone yelled, "Heckel, what next?"
Some two hundred plus pairs of eyes stared at me. The silence was overwhelming. Mother Nature even quieted the birds, crickets and the wind as if waiting to hear what I had to say. Now I was really nervous and started to almost hyperventilate. Sela even gave me a questioning look, but it quickly transformed into something more encouraging.
"Well, um…I…ah…um…I'm not sure what…"
"We're going to Oregon," Sela yelled. Now all two hundred pairs of eyes flashed at her.
"What's in Oregon?" someone yelled.
Before I could open my mouth and utter something ridiculous, someone yelled, "We're going with you." The crowd began murmuring. I grinned because it reminded me of watching movies and hearing the murmur from a crowd. I often wondered what they were actually murmuring. A college theater friend told me once what she was told to murmur and I think it had to do with rutabagas and some other vegetable.
Jack took a few steps in front of me. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Heckel, it's obvious you have the power, the…ah…ability to end Madeline's reign of anarchy and destruction."
I cocked my head and gave him a disbelieving look.
"Hellooo," Sela said sarcastically. "Do you see any other people with balls of searing blue heat erupting from their hands and barbecuing snakes for dinner?"
"No," I said, drawing out the word. Several people around us sniggered.
"What's in Oregon?" someone yelled again.
Before Sela could interject, I yelled, "I'm not sure, but I think it's where we engage Madeline."
"And take the fucking bitch down!" someone way in the back yelled. Now that fueled the crowd.
After Jack got the crowd to quiet down and silenced returned, I took a moment to collect my thoughts before speaking. And bam, everything that had happened to me-Leonard, Jerky, Sela and now the town of McKinney-flashed before my mind's eye. It was like watching a movie in 3D and everything came into clear focus. Whether it was the power inside me or Sela's optimism or the spirit of the people standing in front of me, I knew I could lead us to conquer the evil that spread across our planet.
Chapter 15
After much discussion at the graveyard and given the recent assault from Madeline, it was determined that we would pack up and leave as soon as possible. The crowd broke up and almost everyone wanted to come pat me on the back and offer words of encouragement. My cheeks hurt from smiling.
I stood there watching everyone leave. People were engaged in animated conversations. I thought everyone would be depressed and sad with their heads hanging down. Instead, they were pumped and ready for a fight.
Sela slid her arm around my waist and said, "You were fantastic. You took charge so easily. I'm so proud of you!" She leaned down, tilted my chin back and kissed me.
After the long, deep kiss, I came up for air and said, "Wow, thanks. I'll have to engage in public speaking more often."
We walked back to the house, arm in arm, discussing the day's events. As we approached the quaint farmhouse that more and more felt like our own home, I spotted Jerky, curled up on the front porch swing.
She lifted her head and yawned wide.
"I agree," I said, stretching my arms.
"How about a nice hot bath?" Sela asked, walking through the front door.
"Only if you join me," I said with a devilish glint in my eye.
Sela winked at me and said, "You light the candles. I'll bring the hot water."
McKinney, Texas, was a virtual beehive of activity. Everywhere you looked, people were either putting the last-minute repairs to wagons or packing them with their belongings.
"Now I see why we were making wagons months ago. I didn't even think anything of it at the time," I said to Sela as she packed a small wagon that we found in the barn.
"You see…there has been some divine intervention helping us. Did you see the wagon Jack made?" she asked.
"No. What's it look like?"
"Very cool. He took the back of an old Ford pickup and rigged it to hitch up to his horses."
"Hey, good old American ingenuity," I said. "Do you know we are traveling down the old Route 66?"
"What's that?" Sela asked as she finished tying down our cart with an old tarp she found in the barn.
"A piece of Americana. Route 66 is the old highway that people used to go from Chicago to Los Angeles. There also was an old TV show with two guys in a Corvette that were traveling it, meeting interesting people who usually had some sort of conflict. A friend of mine had some of the episodes on the old Blu-ray DVD format. It was one of my grandfather's favorite shows when he was a kid. Anyway, it's a good route to get to California."
"Wonder if we'll meet any more people?" Sela asked.
"Fine with me. Just so long as they don't have horns sprouting out of their heads or flaming-red eyes."
"Well, we lucked out with the McKinney folks. I'm sure there are more along the way that will join the ranks," she said confidently.
We left the barn with the wagon ready to roll. I asked Sela which horse would pull the wagon. She thought that Tempest would be best suited for the job.
As the afternoon wore on, everyone finished packing. Spirits continued to be high. Jack called a meeting for the evening at the local high school gym. He wanted to make sure everyone was ready and understood how to proceed as well as give a good pep talk, kind of like a spirit rally that one had in high school. First, I pictured him in a cheerleading outfit with pom-poms and then the visualization morphed to him as Ward Bond on the old TV show Wagon Train, talking to the pioneers setting up to go West. Maybe I was his Rowdy Yates?Wait a minute; Yates was on Rawhide, I think. Okay, that's all right. I'd rather think of myself as a young Clint Eastwood anyway. Besides it's my visualization and I can have it be what I want.
Sela and I got to the gym a little late. It was packed. When we walked in, the entire room got silent. I smiled and waved. The crowd resumed their conversations. "Nothing like a little stress," I muttered to Sela. She winked at me.
Jack had found an old bullhorn with some functioning batteries. He asked the crowd to settle down.
"I think it fitting that Reverend Marshall lead us in a short prayer. Reverend?"
The prayer was a good one, optimistic, not too preachy. It was heartfelt and just right.
"Well folks, tomorrow we head out to Oregon," Jack bellowed. A cheer erupted from everyone as if their home team just made a big score. I half expected the scoreboard to flash numbers.
For the next twenty minutes, Jack explained how people were to join the wagon train beginning at 7:00 a.m. He went on to talk about the procedure for rest stops whenever there was a water source, when they would make camp for the night and other important points. He asked people to hold any questions until he was finished.
The meeting lasted for almost two hours. Right after Jack answered his last question, he turned to me and asked, "Would you like to say a few words, Heckel
?"
A large lump in my throat suddenly emerged and my tongue quickly felt like it had turned into…well, felt. You know the type of thick felt that one finds on the hammer of a piano.
Inspiration struck and I took the bullhorn. I beamed and said, "Recently, I've been thinking of a few old-time TV shows. One was Route 66."
The room buzzed with excitement as many of the older folks remembered the show and shared their memories. Some of those people remembered watching the show on the oldies TV program called TV Land.
"The other show that comes to mind is Wagon Train." More buzz and enthusiastic murmuring.
"So, with that in mind, I have one thing to say."
The room suddenly got silent. People were sitting on the edge of their seats for what I was to say next.
With my best Ward Bond imitation, I lifted the bullhorn and said, "Wagons ho!"
The crowd stood on their feet, cheered and laughed.
Sela leaned into me and said, "What a great way to end the night with humor." She patted me on the back.
When we woke the next morning at around five thirty, I sensed something didn't feel right. I opened the front door and immediately knew. Clouds were building in the east. I could smell rain coming. So much for a pleasant warm spring morning to start our journey.
"Damn, not the best way to start a trip," I mumbled as Sela came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. She kissed my neck tenderly, making me shiver.
"Probably Madeline's doing…just her way of annoying us, I suppose," she said.
I nodded my head. "Well…a little rain won't dampen our spirits," I said confidently. "We are pumped and ready to go."
A little before seven, Jack stopped in front of our house to have us join the head of the line. Sela had just finished strapping our little wagon to Tempest and rode her to the front yard. Jerky was already perched on my shoulder, settled in to continue her morning sleep regimen.