Heckel Casey

by James Hoch

  "You look like shit," he said.

  "Nice to see you as well," she replied with a sarcastic tone.

  He began his pacing routine. Oh, shit there he goes again, she thought. But in the small RV bedroom, his little shtick wasn't as intimidating.

  "Maybe you just aren't up to the task after all, Ms. Blackwell," he said.

  Madeline glowered at him, determination flooding her. "No," she replied calmly. "I am more resolved than ever to-"

  "Yeah, blah, blah, blah," Barker said. "I've heard it before."

  Madeline remained silent, fuming with hatred. One of her eyes suddenly developed an annoying tick.

  "Good. I see you detest me. That's more like it," he said as he continued his little pacing drill, which was really adding to Madeline's pissed-off, defensive attitude.

  "I'm afraid your feelings for this Quincy has clouded your…ability to lead. We need to remove that obstacle."

  Something on the monitor next to the nightstand caught her attention. Four large men were dragging Quincy over to a large stump. They pushed his head down onto the log. Quickly, a man with a large axe brought it high into the air. From the small speaker next to the monitor, she could hear the whap of the axe as it went through Quincy's neck.

  Madeline screamed and covered her mouth.

  Mr. Barker just stared at her with a look that penetrated her very soul as if she had a new rebar impaled into her chest. She so wanted to cry, but knew that any sign of weakness would be her end as well.

  After a moment, Madeline inhaled deeply, regained her composure and said with an icy, indifferent tone, "Thank you. That was on my to-do list for today anyway. He was such a bore and besides, he disobeyed my command. Now that he is out of the way, there won't be any further distractions. I give you my word."

  "Yes, I know. The body can be weak. Too many…temptations," Barker said coming alongside the bed to sit down. He put his hand on her cheek. The coldness was not comforting. Her insides ached from seeing Quincy beheaded.

  Suddenly, Barker placed his hand over her wound, and a searing wave of pain made her body go ridged. She could hardly breathe. Just as quickly as the pain shot through her body, it was replaced with a tingling, pleasant sensation.

  "Now, I want you to go outside, dressed with your most intimidating look, and pump up your soldiers," he said standing up. "Give them your best cheerleading efforts. Get them ready to fight. No more thoughts of love. Lead them into battle like you were destined to do. Finish the fight and be ready to start a new world."

  Madeline pulled back the covers, peeled off the dressing and looked at the wound. It was completely healed. When she looked up, Barker was gone. She slid her legs off to the side of the bed and cried for a moment for Quincy. Then she went to the closet and pulled out her favorite black leather pants. As she got dressed, the anger inside her seethed.

  Chapter 33

  At Weed, CA, we left I-5 and started our way on US 97, The Dalles-California Highway. A cold drizzle greeted us as we crossed the border into Oregon. It further indicated that summer was on its way out and fall was in the air. I kept thinking it must be getting close to October. Jack was doing much better and was able to ride again. His sense of humor had returned, along with his eagerness to go into battle. We often rode together, sharing memories of the events leading up to the collapse and Madeline's rise to power.

  "Hey, Heck, do you remember all those…oh, what do you call them?" Jack said banging the side of his head with his fist as if to dislodge his forgotten memory.

  "Hell if I know what you're talking about. Give me a little clue," I said.

  "They rob people on the high seas," he said still knocking his head.

  "Oh, you mean pirates?"

  "Yeah, that's it. The pirates."

  "Arrrgh…" I said while squinting an eye. I looked down at Jerky sleeping on my neck and thought that there probably weren't many pirates with a cat perched on their shoulders.

  "I remember that whole business escalating somewhere in the early part of the century. There were whole luxury ships taken over with all the passengers raped, tortured and murdered. Do you think it was Madeline's handiwork?"

  "No doubt. I'm sure just about every murderous situation was her architecture."

  "Well, it got so bad that no one ventured out to sea much. Cruise lines went belly up."

  "Yeah, and when Madeline came to power there were open battles at sea," I remembered.

  "Those pirates were able to get on board some of our best warships and blow them up."

  "More casualties on Madeline's list to annihilate mankind I'm sure."

  After more stories, we just rode in silence for a long time. For some reason, recounting all the tragedies and losses from Madeline's waves of destruction gave us strength and determination.

  The sun peeked out later in the afternoon and boosted everyone's spirits. After a few miles, we decided to stop early and camp for the night. Later that evening, we had a rousing game of soccer and it really lifted the mood.

  Sela was in the last month or so of her pregnancy. Her guardian angel never left her sight. Vonnie was especially helpful, giving her advice and just being there for her. She already said that she would help with the delivery when the time came. I told her how much I valued her friendship. That night, she, Jack and Missy brought dinner over for us.

  "Wow, thanks. You didn't have to do that," I said, greeting them as they walked into our camp.

  "I hope you haven't eaten yet," Missy said.

  "No, we haven't," Sela replied. "Heckel came back empty-handed from fishing. We were just going to eat some old Pop-Tarts that we found back in Weed."

  "How about a little rabbit stew? Missy shot the critter; it's a nice big juicy one. Jack found some wild asparagus and I had some other dried veggies. I think it came out pretty good."

  Vonnie spooned up bowls of the stew. My mouth started watering before I even took the bowl from her.

  "Oh, my…normally I'm not a big stew fan, but this is absolutely heavenly. I can't believe how tender the meat is. What's your secret?" Sela asked, shoveling another large spoonful into her mouth.

  "Old family secret that I can not reveal," Vonnie said.

  "Riiiiight," Missy giggled. "You made it up with the spices we had. Don't let her kid you."

  "I've been caught," Vonnie said, sitting down with her bowl. "Dumb luck. I had limited resources."

  "Well, you have to give me the recipe as best you can. It is delicious," Sela said with a mouthful.

  Everyone sat mostly in silence for the longest time. However, there was an occasional "mmm" or "wow" issued. By the time we were all done, the big stew pot was empty. Jerky was perched nearby, ready for the green light to lick it clean.

  "Thank you so much. That's the best stew ever," I said, followed by a lengthy belch. "Oops…excuse me."

  "I'll take that as a compliment," Vonnie said. Jack added a thunderous and resonant burp. She swatted his arm. "Stop…now you're grossing me out."

  I got up, pulled a blanket out of our tent and covered Sela's shoulders. Jack put a few more logs on the fire. We sat around reminiscing about fun things. Any time someone started to talk about a bad event, we interrupted and insisted on a more pleasant topic.

  "Is the word around about the whole guardian angel support group?" I queried with a very straightforward tone.

  "Yup," Missy offered. "Seems like everyone is cool with it and pretty much in awe."

  "Yes, most went along with it as if it were common knowledge. There were a few skeptics, that is, until their guardian angel made its presence known. Wow, then you should have seen the looks on their faces-priceless," Vonnie added.

  "Well, good. I had no idea how that one would fly with people," I said.

  "It got kind of funny for a while," Jack said.

  "How?" Sela asked.

  "Well, some who had a tiger or large intimidating animal for a guardian angel boasted about how strong and protective it was, while someone else mig
ht have only a little Chihuahua," Jack explained. "Yeah, then you should have seen what that little dog turned into-a gigantic wolf, who went on to play with the tiger. After that one pissing contest, everyone understood that when needed, the guardian angel could be anything it deemed necessary to protect."

  "Interesting," I said.

  "Yeah, these guardian angels are mean mother-"

  Vonnie put a hand over Jack's mouth. We talked further about the whole guardian angel business, feeling very comforted by their presence. Sela recounted the story again of how she discovered her angel and found out the angels were going to help us.

  Later, I looked down to see that Sela had fallen asleep in my lap. After a while, our company got up and said good night. I eased Sela awake just enough to help her into the tent. After she got nestled into our bed, I went back out to sit a while longer at the fire. Jerky crawled up into my lap.

  As the embers were dying down, Tempest came walking slowly into our camp. He stood there as if waiting for something. Jerky dashed off my lap and jumped up onto his saddle.

  "Okay, what's this all about?"

  Tempest came up to me and nudged my shoulder. "Okay, I get the hint." As soon as I mounted him, Jerky settled onto my shoulder. "Great. Where we goin'?" The horse turned and sauntered away from the campsite. Once in the clearing, he took off running fast. I held on tight. This horse was strong and powerful and knew his destination.

  After about two hours of a grueling pace, Tempest slowed down. We had topped a hill and there off in the distance were Madeline's warriors. Jerky jumped off my shoulders and I dismounted.

  "Holy shit," I said, looking out at the massive army sprawled across the landscape. "How in the hell-" I started to say when I was interrupted by a strange female voice.

  "Want some?"

  I spun around and saw an attractive woman standing next to Tempest, holding a bottle of wine. Immediately, I braced myself, thinking that Madeline somehow had tricked me.

  "Relax, I'm not Madeline. I'm your guardian angel."

  "I thought Jerky was," I said, still braced for a confrontation.

  "Meow," the woman said, licking the back of her hand and brushing her hair.

  "You really are? Prove it," I said, still having my guard up.

  The woman, carrying the bottle, walked away from Tempest. She elongated one of her fingernails, pierced the bottle top and pulled out a cork. She sniffed the bottle and said, "Nice bouquet. Do you like a good Zinfandel? I do. This one definitely has hints of oak. I found it a while back and had it hidden in one of the bags."

  I stared at her, still not convinced she was the cat that had been following me for most of last year. She took a sip from the bottle and held it out to me. I remained silent and uncertain.

  "All right. Let's see, you need more proof. How's this?" the woman said, suddenly morphing back into the form of Jerky.

  "I bet Madeline could do that," I said sarcastically. The cat morphed back into the form of the woman.

  "You are a tough doubting Thomas. Remember him? Let's see…what is something Madeline wouldn't know?" the woman asked, walking around and sipping from the bottle. I have to admit the smell of that wine was tweaking my taste buds.

  The woman or Jerky, if she really is, stopped and said, "You have a birthmark in the shape of a bird on your…"

  "Well, that's good enough for me. Hand me that bottle," I said, walking up to her. I took a small gulp. "Outstanding! It's been ages since I've tasted a good bottle of wine. Most of the liquor stores or wine shops were the first to get scavenged."

  Jerky sat down on the ground and stared out at Madeline's forces. I sat down next to her and passed the bottle back to her. "Why is my guardian angel a woman?" I asked, staring at her.

  "Would you rather I were a man?" she said, taking another hit from the bottle. "Yum. I've really been missing the taste of wine."

  "Yeah, I bet a steady diet of mice and rats would dull one's palate," I said laughing.

  "Still…they're good protein and I don't think about it much."

  "It's nice to get to actually talk to you, Jerky. You have been awesome. I can't count the number of times you've saved or warned me."

  "Careful, you'll make me blush," Jerky said. "Just doin' my job."

  "Well, you're very good at it. Say, do you think we have a chance?" I asked hesitatingly, pointing the bottle toward the ominous-looking camps below. Jerky took the bottle and paused for a moment. "Depends," she said, taking another chug from the bottle. "Too bad we don't have some cheese. I haven't had any cheese in a very long time."

  Jerky passed the bottle back to me. I squinted and tried to read the label. "I picked it up somewhere in Stockton. I think it's from the Ravenswood winery. It was way under a shelf in some dingy old liquor store."

  "Depends on what?" I finally asked, interrupting Jerky's explanation of her quest for undiscovered bottles of wine.

  "You see all those men and women out there prepared for fighting?"

  "Yeah, there are an awful lot of them," I said with a hint of frustration.

  Jerky took my hand and said, "Well, they are in for a bit of a surprise."

  I explained to her that I was confident my people would do well and I was appreciative of her encouraging comment, but the reality of the matter was that they had us clearly outnumbered three to one.

  "No, I mean something different. Those poor unknowing, misdirected individuals will all be changed."

  "Can you be a bit less cryptic?" I said. "Get to the point."

  "Madeline will turn them all into demons. Demons with more strength and single-mindedness."

  I took a huge swallow of wine and then another mouthful to ponder Jerky's last comment. I passed the bottle over to Jerky. As I swallowed slowly, major doubts and fears flooded my whole body and overtook any warm buzz I had gotten from the wine.

  Jerky sensed I was upset. "Heckel, our force is strong…maybe we don't have the magnitude of warriors, but we are smarter, more agile, and-"

  "And what…we'll have our butts handed to us on a platter?"

  Jerky punched me in the arm.

  "Ouch! What did you do that for?"

  "To get you thinking straight. You haven't had that much wine to make you goofy and stupid. Look, you are Heckel. You-"

  Stopping her from going on a lengthy monologue, I initiated a barrage of questions. "Why has God let things get so messed up? Why is this happening? Why me? What happens if we lose? What-?

  "Whew, stop," Jerky said, holding up her hand. "I don't have another bottle of wine to answer all these questions. However, I can't really explain everything, but I do know that you all screwed up down here."

  "Excuse me," I said glowering at her.

  "Well, not all of you. I mean in general mankind, or I should be more politically correct and say humans…though I will add, women probably did less to mess things up so much. You probably should have let them run things. They can do a better job."

  I told her she was digressing.

  "Sorry, anyway what I mean is God, the Supreme Being, the head honcho, the main dude…well, He let you all go to see how far you would let evil take over. Not intentionally, mind you. Remember, from day one He gave everyone free will. Humans have made some really crappy choices that have really mucked things up."

  I was about to object and try to list all the wonderful things that have transpired, but she put up her hand and said, "You and everyone who has followed you are good people. Oh, and there are others overseas who will follow you once this battle is over."

  "Can I get a word in edgewise?" I asked, peeling the label slowly off the bottle. "You mean all those people who died over the last couple of years were bad? I mean, come on…Madeline messed with them. She planted some crap in them and at a certain time, she pulled the switch to trigger a wave of destruction. I remember. I saw it."

  "She just planted the suggestion. It was their choice to choose the dark path or not. Unfortunately, most did make a horrible decision. She
had no effect on you and many others because you had strength inside you, or a barrier against the evil. You made the choice for good."

  As we continued to discuss the whole situation, I got a lot of back-story so to speak. She answered many of my questions. Then she asked the big one. "Will we win?"

  Jerky stretched and put her arm around my back, "Heckel, that-"

  Before she could finish, a soft voice from behind us said, "Excuse me."

  Jerky jumped up and spun around. As she turned, she had morphed into a seven-foot silverback grizzly. Her roar was deafening. Several critters in the bushes nearby scattered.

  "I'm so sorry. I do apologize for startling you," the voice from the shadows said.

  "Who are you?" I asked standing to one side of Jerky. I looked over at her and was impressed by her defensive seven-foot posturing.

  "My name is Mr. Barker. I'm here with a proposition."

  I knew it…another deception from Madeline. "Okay, Madeline, so now you're trying the old English gentleman approach. I'll give you credit for creativity. I whupped your ass once and the next time I'll finish it. Come on let's do it," I said with my fists clenched in my best fighter stance.

  "Please, Mr. Casey, I assure you, I am not Madeline. I am her…hmm…counsel, I guess you could say."

  Jerky jumped down on all fours and waited.

  "Well, you should counsel her into surrendering and ending this nonsense. Tell her to go back to hell," I stated with determination.

  He started pacing in front of us. Every few steps he would look up and smile at us.

  "I'm afraid that's not going to happen. I can tell you that you will lose. You are clearly outnumbered and after tomorrow, her force will be bigger, stronger and will not show any mercy."

  As if her buttons had been pushed, Jerky swiftly transformed back to human form. She stood in front of me, protective and defiant.

  "Please stop doing that, young lady. It is alarming," Barker said with a repugnant smile.

  "You should leave now," Jerky said. "You are not to be trusted."

  Barker resumed his pacing and I could tell Jerky made him nervous. Tempest came up behind me. I turned and saw that the horse was also ready to protect me.