Roads Less Traveled | Book 5 | End of the Road

by Dulaney, C.

  “And this is why we’re on horseback,” Kasey said.

  They fell in single file, Michael in the lead and Caleb in the rear. They rode back and forth around the maze of cars.

  “Try not to get too close,” Jake said from behind Kasey. “Have to assume now that there could be deadheads under the cars.”

  “Right…” Kasey pulled her horse to a stop and slid off. She snapped her fingers once, then waited. A few seconds later, Gus darted out from between two cars. “C’mon,” she said, then picked him up and got back on her horse.

  “That woulda sucked,” Jake whispered.

  Kasey snorted and nodded.

  A few hundred feet down the road they came up on a semi-truck sitting across both lanes. The trailer part was upright, but the truck was on its side. Michael stopped them and called back to Jonah.

  After Jonah made it to the front of the group, Michael said, “Stay up here with me, help me look for sign.”

  “Should be catchin’ up to ‘em soon, even with the time we lost gettin’ here,” Jonah said.

  “That’s what I was thinking.” Michael turned just enough so he could glance over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “We’ll keep them moving. Caleb won’t be a problem, but if we don’t come across something soon, I think the other three will cause trouble.”

  “Yep,” Jonah agreed.

  Michael nodded toward the median strip. “We’ll cut across that.”

  He gave his horse a little kick and Jonah fell in behind. The others stirred and followed.

  ✽✽✽

  An hour before dark, Michael stopped them on a bridge to make camp for the night. The creek that ran underneath hadn’t completely dried up yet, so Jonah and Caleb led the horses down the embankment to water them. Mia and Jake went off into the woods to gather up sticks and brush to get a fire started. Michael spread his map out on the hood of a car.

  He bent over the paper and studied their route. “We’ll catch up to them tomorrow,” he said.

  “Hope you’re right,” Kasey said. She stood guard next to Michael with her rifle slung on her shoulder, tossing yet another stick for Gus. “Haven’t seen any sign of them yet, though we know damn well they came this way.”

  Michael agreed. “I expected at least an old campfire. Even if they kept cold camps, there’d be horseshit or something on the road.”

  “Do you think they stuck to the trees?”

  Michael looked back over his shoulder at the woods. “They could have. But why? They don’t know there’s deadheads out here like we do. Far as they know, it’s perfectly safe to travel the road.”

  “Which means we’ll probably find them dead.”

  Michael blew out a breath. “I hope not.”

  “Me, too.” Kasey straightened up when she saw Mia and Jake coming out of the woods. “I’ll send Jake out, do a little hunting. I’ll take Jonah and look for some sign in the woods along the highway.”

  “Good idea. Me, your dad, and Mia will hold down the camp.”

  Kasey looked around and spotted a box truck fifty feet or so behind them. “Put someone up there where they can keep a better watch.”

  Michael nodded.

  Mia and Jake made it back to the bridge and dumped their armfuls of twigs and branches onto the pavement, then they knelt and broke up the smaller sticks. Mia arranged them in a pile and Jake dug around in his pocket for a lighter. Within minutes they had a small fire going.

  Kasey waited for Gus to bring the stick back to her again, then rubbed his head and motioned for him to follow her to the fire. As soon as Gus stopped paying attention, she chucked his stick into the growing flames and stepped over next to Jake.

  “Why don’t you go out and see if you can bag us some supper,” she said.

  “Sure. You want fries with that?”

  Kasey pointed toward the trees.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Jake borrowed Caleb’s shotgun and headed off. “If I’m not back by dark, you better come lookin’ for me.”

  “One less mouth to feed,” Mia called after him. He flipped her the bird over his shoulder before disappearing into the woods. Gus trotted over and sat next to her where she knelt by the fire, poking it with a stick and adding wood as it grew.

  “Not too big,” Michael said, glancing around as he headed toward the campfire. He felt exposed on the road and wished for a moment they’d made camp in the woods, but out in the open they had better visibility. A short time later, Jonah and Caleb returned from watering the horses.

  “Tied the horses up over there,” Jonah said and motioned toward a fallen tree not far from the ditch, just across the grassy strip between the highway and the woods. “Still close enough if we need ‘em.”

  “Good,” Michael said. “Caleb, take watch on that truck back there. I’ll get the sleeping bags.”

  After those two split off, Kasey moved closer to Jonah. “Before it gets too dark, let’s have a look around.”

  He peered over his shoulder at the trees, then back at her and dipped his head.

  “Keep an eye on the dog,” she said to Mia. “We’ll be back.”

  Mia smiled and patted Gus’ head. “Will do. Watch your ass.”

  “Will do.” Kasey checked her handgun and headed off toward the woods. “Check this side first,” she said after Jonah moved up beside her.

  “Think we’re being watched?” Jonah pulled back a branch and held it. Kasey bent and walked underneath. The light diminished considerably the moment they entered the trees. She walked ahead of him a few yards and stopped.

  “I just think the scouts would’ve shadowed the highway.”

  Jonah crept up behind her and looked at the ground. “I agree.”

  “Kinda surprised Michael wanted to camp there.”

  “He thinks it’s safe enough.”

  Kasey snorted.

  She took one step, then another, her eyes focused on the dirt and leaves. The pair spread out and moved forward, surveying the ground. Every few steps, Jonah would glance over his shoulder, then up ahead. They heard faint sounds from the camp, but those faded pretty quickly. It wasn’t long before Kasey had to pull her flashlight and turn it on.

  “I’m not seeing anything. You?”

  Jonah walked this way and that, brushing leaves aside with his boot. He didn’t see any of the impressions and yellow glow he normally saw when on a trail. “Not yet.”

  Kasey stopped and turned. They’d walked about a hundred yards from camp. She sighed and looked around, then threw a hand up toward the road. “Let’s check the other side, work our way back.”

  Jonah grunted and followed, but didn’t take his eyes off the ground.

  They climbed up the embankment and hit the pavement. The campfire was a glowing dot in the distance and the sun was sinking fast. They heard half a dozen gunshots, one right after the other, and froze.

  Jonah stepped up close to Kasey and whispered, “Jake huntin’ that side?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t wanna get accidentally shot.”

  “Me, neither.”

  Jonah took a deep breath and touched her elbow. “Come on.”

  He turned and walked back into the trees. Kasey followed. After he’d gone a dozen or so steps, and could no longer see the road or the campfire, he pulled her close and took her flashlight.

  “We’re not gonna need this for a little while.”

  A raised eyebrow was the only reply he got from her.

  Jonah turned it off and hid them in darkness.

  ✽✽✽

  By the time they got back, Jake was napping and Michael and Mia skewered pieces of squirrel meat to cook over the fire. Gus ran to her and jumped up against her legs.

  Michael looked up and asked, “Anything?”

  Jonah shook his head and sat down on his sleeping bag.

  Mia handed Kasey a couple of sticks and they knelt next to the fire, holding the squirrel out over it and roasting it until it was black and crunchy on the outside. Michael sat not fa
r from them and watched the woods. The only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the meat as it cooked. Once it was finished, they passed it out to everyone. Kasey took one and headed to the box truck. She climbed up the tire and onto the hood, then reached as far as she could and held out a squirrel-kabob to her dad.

  “Thanks. Make sure you eat, too,” he said.

  She tried to smile, but it faltered, so she slid off the hood and rejoined the others.

  They ate in silence. Kasey shared her supper with her dog, blowing on his pieces before letting him have them. After Jonah finished eating, he switched places with Caleb and watched over the group as they slept. Or tried to sleep. The only other pair of eyes that stayed open besides his own were Kasey’s. She hardly ever slept these days, so he wasn’t entirely surprised. He’d catch her with her eyes closed every so often, but it was never long before she jerked awake again. Then she’d lay there for a long time and pet her dog’s head. He stayed very close to her, lying between her arm and her side, his head resting on her shoulder. Any closer and he’d have been on top of her.

  Halfway through the night, Jake relieved Jonah. Kasey heard the cowboy’s boot steps and closed her eyes. She heard scuffing when he dropped to his knees next to her, then his sleeping bag unzipped. She waited until everything got quiet again and opened her eyes. Jonah’s face was right next to hers and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from yelling out.

  “Goddamnit,” she whispered. “You know not to do that.”

  The corner of his mouth quirked upward and he whispered back, “Jake’s on watch now. Best keep your eyes shut, or he’ll tell Michael in the mornin’.” Jonah waited until she nodded her understanding, then he slid into his sleeping bag, scooted up against her as close as he could, and laid a hand on her abdomen.

  She drew a long breath, let it out slow, then closed her eyes and forced them to stay that way.

  ✽✽✽

  They broke camp early the next morning. Jonah and Kasey scouted out the woods they’d skipped over the night before and found no tracks. Satisfied the scouts had stuck to the highway, at least this far, the group moved out. They didn’t make it far before they found the first body.

  “Well, at least it’s not one of the scouts,” Michael said. He and Kasey knelt next to the terminator and examined it.

  “Single gunshot to the head,” Kasey said. She grabbed an arm and rolled it over. The back of its head was a gaping mess. But then again, so was the rest of its body. “This thing has seen better days.” She stood and wiped her hands on her pant legs.

  Michael grunted and raised his head. Down the road was another body. Mia and Jake checked that one while Jonah and Caleb kept watch.

  “Scouts must’ve done this,” Michael said. He rose and started toward the other body.

  Kasey stayed back with her dad and Jonah. “They must have attacked,” she mumbled.

  “Maybe,” Caleb said. He kept his back to her, the butt of his rifle pulled tight against his shoulder but the barrel pointed at the ground.

  “Maybe not,” Jonah said.

  Kasey glanced over to find Jonah faced her, except he looked over her shoulder, his eyes fixed on some point in the trees beyond.

  “I don’t know.” She tilted her head. “I don’t think they’d kill these things for no reason.”

  “People,” her dad corrected.

  Kasey rolled her eyes. “Okay, I don’t think the scouts would kill these people for no reason.”

  Jonah pulled his gaze away from whatever he’d been staring at and turned it on her. “Why not? You have.”

  The color drained from her face. Caleb even turned to glare at Jonah for that.

  “And I wasn’t talkin’ about that,” Jonah said.

  “Then what the hell are you talking about?” Caleb growled.

  Jonah held Kasey’s wet-eyed stare for another beat, then said, “Don’t think the scouts did this.”

  Caleb stiffened. “What?”

  Jonah cocked an eyebrow toward the woods and said, “Under that bush.”

  Kasey and her dad spun around. Whatever they expected to see wasn’t there, only Gus’ ass sticking out of the bush he was busy digging into. Kasey stepped around her dad and squinted, bending over a little at the waist.

  “What the hell is that?” She walked closer and shoved through the thick weeds along the road. She was almost on top of it before she finally understood what she was looking at. “Shit,” she said. “Gus, get out of there.”

  The beagle popped out of the bush and snapped his head around, making his ears flap.

  Caleb appeared at her side. “Is that−”

  “Yep. One of Bill’s men.” Kasey knelt and checked for a pulse. The scout’s body had been shoved underneath the bush so far it was hardly visible from the road. His skin was cold. “He’s been dead awhile. Dad, help me.”

  Together they pulled the body out and dragged it up to the road. The three of them stood around it. There were no visible signs of a struggle or fight. No blood on his clothes, no rips or cuts. Just a hole between his eyes, same as the terminator lying a few feet away.

  Kasey’s breathing quickened. “This is bad.”

  “Yeah,” Caleb agreed.

  “Do you see the other one?” she asked Jonah. He pursed his lips and shook his head. Kasey knelt and patted the scout down. His knife was in its sheath, and his handgun was still in its holster. There was a map in his back pocket. Kasey sat back on her heels and stared at the body for a second, then said, “Where’s his pack?”

  Caleb went back to the bush and got down on his hands and knees. He dug around underneath it, then stood up and pushed through the growth, checking the ground behind. When he came back into view, he shrugged his shoulders and held out his hands. Jonah stood and Kasey looked up. Michael, Mia, and Jake jogged in their direction, Gus running to meet them.

  “What now,” Kasey said.

  “There’s a dead scout down−” Michael came up short and stared down at the corpse. “Goddamnit.”

  “Well, least we found the other one,” Jake said. He and Mia traded a look, then turned it on Kasey.

  Jonah caught what passed between the three and spoke up. “Not a good idea.”

  “Probably not.” Kasey stood and walked toward her horse. Mia, Jake, and the dog followed.

  “Where are you going?” Caleb called out. He ran back to the road and Michael caught his arm. Caleb jerked away and turned back to his daughter. “Kasey, where do you think you’re going?”

  She stuck a foot in the stirrup and pulled herself up into the saddle. “Home.”

  Caleb stomped toward her. She tapped her horse with her heel and met him halfway. He grabbed one rein and jerked the horse to a stop. “No you’re not.” He jabbed a finger at the other two. “And neither are you.”

  Mia and Jake kept quiet on their horses behind Kasey. She snapped her fingers and Gus trotted over. She pointed to the ground a few feet from her horse and he sat down.

  “Yes, Dad. We are. Let go.”

  Caleb shook his head. “No. You’re staying with me.”

  Kasey’s palms began to sweat. She pulled on the reins. “I said, let go.”

  Caleb pulled a little harder and the horse took a step backwards. “No.”

  Michael and Jonah slipped up behind Caleb, but kept enough distance from the man in case he decided to turn around swinging. Caleb often complained about Kasey’s unpredictable nature, ignorant of the fact that he was usually just as bad.

  “Listen,” Jonah said. He kept his voice low and even. “This is a bad idea. We don’t know who did this. Clearly it wasn’t the scouts. It’s too dangerous for you to ride off.”

  Michael stepped forward just a bit, and lowered his hand onto the forehead of Kasey’s horse. “Back up, Caleb.”

  Caleb’s fist shook, his grip on the rein tight. When he spoke again, it was only to his daughter. “I won’t let you leave.”

  Kasey’s jaw clenched and she rocked forwar
d, then back, in her saddle. The leather creaked. She looked back at Mia and Jake, then leaned forward onto the saddle horn.

  “Alright,” she said to Caleb, the discreetness of her voice matching his own. “What do you want to do then?”

  “Stay together.”

  “Then what?”

  His hand loosened around the rein. “I... don’t know.”

  Kasey chewed over his words the same as she chewed on her bottom lip. The others kept their mouths shut, even Jake. Though his fidgeting was a sign to all just how painful it was for him. Finally, she looked to Michael.

  “You got a plan?” she asked.

  “Do you?”

  She leaned back in the saddle again. “I’ve got a few. One we just scratched off the list.” She shot a look at her dad. He, in turn, sighed relief and let go of her rein.

  Michael and Jonah unclenched.

  “Alright,” Michael said. “What are our options?”

  “Well,” Kasey said, “we stay on the road, or we move into the trees.” She jerked her chin toward the woods. “I vote trees. Better cover.”

  Michael nodded along. “I agree.”

  “Wait,” Jake said. He nudged his horse forward alongside Kasey. “What are we talkin’ about here?”

  “Nothin’s changed.” Jonah, having run out of cigarettes, stood off a little behind Caleb with a small, square piece of paper in one hand, and a sack of tobacco in the other. He tapped some out onto the paper and elaborated, “We found out what happened to the scouts. Now we need to find out where the terminators are goin’.”

  “We didn’t find out what happened to the scouts. Fuck knows who’s out here, man.” Jake’s eyes darted around, emphasizing his nervousness. “Someone killed them, and that’s why we oughta be gettin’ our asses back home.”

  “They’re dead,” Kasey barked. “That’s what happened.” She waited for Jake to back down. Several beats later, he averted his eyes, so she went on. “Now, we’re wasting time. Let’s keep moving.”