Forsaken World (Book 3): Rite of Passage

by Watson, Thomas A.

“I’ll take first watch,” Johnathan offered. “Let me get my pack.”

  With the dogs following, Johnathan went outside and grabbed his pack, then headed upstairs. Moving to the back room he knew was an office from his earlier exploration, Johnathan set his pack on a desk and then pulled back the curtains on the windows of both walls. Able to see down the road and most of the yard, Johnathan sat down at the desk.

  Beside him, the dogs flopped down on the floor as Johnathan looked at a laptop on the desk. Glancing around, he saw a printer and a stack of paper in the discharge. Grabbing the stack, Johnathan flipped through the pages seeing most were printouts of the news stories from the beginning.

  Looking at the date on the first page, he saw March 16. “The day the boys reached the cabin,” Johnathan said, then scooted the chair to the desk and glanced out the windows as the sun beat down on the world outside. Hearing a noise that sounded like heaven, Johnathan gave a sigh as the A/C kicked on.

  Leaning over the desk, he saw several stacks of papers of printed news reports. “Wonder why they printed them?” he mumbled, then looked down and saw the satellite modem. “Oh yeah, as long as it takes to load a page, if you wanted to see several that would be the fastest.”

  Seeing a page with highlighted areas Johnathan picked it up, seeing it was a list of FEMA camps. At the top in bold letters, it stated that the military were protecting the camps. Knowing where they were, Johnathan shook his head at the highlighted camp. “Elko. Shit, that’s over a hundred miles away easy,” he said.

  Arranging the printouts on the desk in stacks, Johnathan saw a notebook open. Picking it up, he saw a handwritten note on the open page.

  Brock

  We are at Elko at the camp. If the Navy lets you come home that is where you will find us. Talked to Colby and he said he had some infected show up at his ranch yesterday. Since the government will put you in jail for shooting the sick people we are leaving and will let the military shoot them. (Don’t tell anyone but your Uncle Colby shot all nine that showed up. He said the only way to put them down is shooting them in the head like your brother’s video games.)

  Mom just went shopping for food so eat then come and let us know you’re okay. From what I’ve been reading and what Colby said I don’t feel safe with just me, your mom, Abe, Samuel, and Claudia. I’m only taking my Colt since the military won’t let you take one in the camp. So if you need a gun or ammo, you should know the combination to the new safe I just bought. You can’t forget it.

  Son, I’m proud you joined but if you come home, come get us, and it’s time for you to stay. With you here I would feel better. Uncle Colby went to the camp near Reno and wouldn’t even think of coming here after those sick people showed up.

  Most around here are heading to Elko so there will be a bunch we know and trust.

  If you walked your dirt bike is still in the barn and all the horses in the barn field have been broken. Sorry but had to put your horse down after she broke her leg last week. We love you son and will be waiting on you.

  Dad

  P.S. Feed the dogs before you get us. Yes your brothers got those fancy dogs you talked about. Old Mose don’t care for them but Sissy likes them.

  Setting the notebook down, Johnathan sighed. “Sorry, friend,” Johnathan mumbled, leaning back in the chair. Staring at the note, Johnathan raised his eyebrows and then looked around the room. Seeing a filing cabinet in the corner, Johnathan got up as Bill came in grinning.

  “This place is a gold mine,” Bill cried out. “Found some nice packs down in the basement to replace the ones the girls have.”

  Opening the top drawer, Johnathan looked out the windows then thumbed through the folders. “How about food?” Johnathan asked.

  “That’s what the girls are stacking up now,” Bill answered, then the grin fell off. “They have a gun safe in the basement, but it’s locked.”

  Closing the top drawer, Johnathan nodded. “Yeah, read a note and I’m looking,” he said.

  “Dude, nobody would keep the combination in a filing cabinet,” Bill said as Johnathan pulled out a folder.

  Moving to the desk, Johnathan set the folder down and Bill saw ‘Birth Certificates’ on the tab of the folder. “Here’s Brock’s,” Johnathan said, holding up a sheet of paper. “Can you watch while I check?”

  “Sure,” Bill said and Johnathan headed downstairs. He stopped and saw the dining room table stacked with cans and bags of food on the kitchen counter. Both Mary and Sandy were pulling stuff out and arranging it in the piles.

  “Don’t think we can take that much,” Johnathan mumbled, heading for the doorway under the stairs. Finding it open and a light on, Johnathan headed down. Shelves ran around the room and one end held jars of food. “I wouldn’t have left.”

  Seeing the gun safe Johnathan smiled, seeing it was almost as big as the one in his office. Walking over, Johnathan leaned to the side and looked at the keypad. Seeing which numbers had the most wear, Johnathan looked at the birth certificate and smiled, seeing all the worn numbers in the date of birth.

  Punching in the numbers, he sighed at hearing the lock beep. Turning the handle, Johnathan opened the door. “I damn sure would’ve taken more than one gun,” he gasped, looking at the rows of guns. Seeing an AR, Johnathan grabbed it and slung it on his shoulder. Seeing two Ruger 10/22s, he grabbed them as well.

  Looking at the door, he saw nine pistols. He grabbed a 1911 and a Beretta 92. Turning back to the top shelf, Johnathan grabbed some magazines, stuffing them in his pockets. Not seeing ammo in the safe, Johnathan stepped back and looked around. On the wall beside the safe, he saw metal ammo cans with a piece of tape on each one, with a caliber written in black marker on the tape. “Efficient,” he mumbled and grabbed several cans.

  Heading back upstairs, Johnathan found Bill kneeling beside the sleeping dogs, petting them as he looked out the windows. When Bill turned to Johnathan, his eyes grew big. “All right! You got it open!” Bill cried out, getting up.

  “You want the Beretta or 1911?” Johnathan asked.

  “If you don’t mind, the Beretta,” Bill said and Johnathan handed it over.

  “I didn’t look over them hard but this was the only AR I found, so you can go through the safe,” Johnathan said, moving around the desk and laying the weapons out.

  Ejecting the magazine from the pistol and checking the chamber Bill sighed, seeing it was empty. Grabbing the can of 9mm, Bill opened it up and loaded the magazine. “If we can have today and tonight to get ready, we stand a good chance,” Bill admitted, slapping the magazine in and racking the slide. “This place is a gift.”

  “I’ll keep watch,” Johnathan said, sitting back down and Bill waved as he shoved the pistol in the small of his back.

  Taking a deep breath, Johnathan started going through the stacks, but wasn’t finding out anything he didn’t already know. Pulling out his notebook, Johnathan opened it up and pulled out a stack of bits of paper held together with paper clips. Looking at the notebook with Brock’s note, Johnathan shook his head. “No, I’ll find another one,” he said and started digging through the drawers.

  Not finding one, Johnathan darted across the hall to a bedroom that could only belong to a teen boy. He stopped, staring at the chaos of the room. “This is what a boy’s room should look like, mine did,” Johnathan empathized, then cocked his head to one side. “Except Lance and Ian, where they came from, I’m not sure.”

  Digging through a desk that held a computer, Johnathan soon found a stack of five subject notebooks still in plastic. Darting back to the office, Johnathan looked out the windows and saw the heat waves on the dirt road.

  Sitting down, Johnathan pulled out a notebook and grabbed a pen. Making notes about what he had observed and conclusions he felt safe to make, Johnathan only paused every ten minutes to look outside.

  Hearing something outside Johnathan jumped up, reaching for the AR and then realized he’d never loaded any magazines. Cursing under his breath, Johnathan moved t
o the window and realized the noise was coming from the barn. Looking over he saw Bill tapping a bucket, leading a group of horses to the corral near the barn.

  When the horses were in, Bill closed the gate as the horses headed to a trough and Johnathan realized Bill had filled it with grain. Thinking that wasn’t right because Bill should still be checking the safe, Johnathan glanced at his watch. “Crap,” he said, seeing it was four in the afternoon.

  Looking out the window, he saw Bill walking among the horses and petting them. “We haven’t been on horses since last year when we rode them around the Grand Canyon,” Johnathan mumbled.

  Hearing whining, Johnathan looked down to see Dan and Ann sitting up and looking at him with sad eyes. “Come on,” he said with a grin. About to leave, Johnathan stopped and pulled the magazine from the AR and loaded it. Slapping the magazine back in Johnathan racked a round, making the dogs jump.

  “Dan,” Johnathan called, slinging the AR and Dan walked over. “Ann,” Johnathan said and she walked over. “Wonder what else you know?” he said, patting the dogs and then heading downstairs.

  Stopping at the front door, he grinned at the neat stacks of food. “Good going on the safe,” Sandy said behind him and Johnathan turned around.

  With a towel wrapped around her body, Sandy was drying her hair. “Yeah, I’m taking a shower,” Johnathan said and both dogs whined. Looking down, “Sorry,” Johnathan said, opening the door.

  “Go with them and see if Bill needs help, I’ll go keep watch,” Sandy said and then headed upstairs.

  Stepping out, Johnathan saw both dogs taking care of business. “I know there were at least two more,” he said to himself. Grabbing his bike, Johnathan jerked his hands off the hot handles. “Yeah, we will move at night,” he mumbled, grabbing his bike again and quickly pushing it under the carport with the others.

  Looking around, Johnathan saw four doggie beds in the back corner with a metal bowl beside two beds. Seeing a door on the back wall, Johnathan headed over with the dogs following and walked out into the backyard. Not seeing anything close and then looking up the hillside behind the house, Johnathan wandered around the backyard.

  Spotting a small playhouse in the back corner under the only tree near the house, he walked over and noticed a dead animal. Getting closer, he realized it was the remains of a coyote. Kneeling down, Johnathan looked at the remains and then over at Dan and Ann. “You two didn’t kill it,” Johnathan said, looking back at the remains.

  He could see something had been eating the coyote and had an idea that they were sitting beside him panting. Leaning over and looking at the neck of the coyote, “I’m betting one of the other dogs killed it and they took off, running away the rest of the pack,” Johnathan reasoned, talking to himself but Dan and Ann thought he was talking to them.

  Both dogs moved over, nuzzling into him. “Yeah, you miss them,” Johnathan said, petting them before getting up. Walking toward the barn, Johnathan saw Bill leading a horse into the barn with a lead rope. Looking down at his side, Johnathan noticed Dan and Ann paid the horses no mind. Moving past the corral, the horses only looked at him, ignoring the dogs.

  “Someone has worked with the dogs,” Johnathan noted as one of the horses came over, sticking its head over the fence. Leaning down and looking under the horse, Johnathan held out his hand and the horse moved over to rub its nose against Johnathan’s hand. “Good boy,” Johnathan said, moving up and patting the horse.

  Seeing that, the other six horses came over vying for attention. “My word, have you guys been abused,” Johnathan teased, reaching out and moving from one to another.

  “These horses have been trained or are the most docile horses on the planet,” Bill declared, coming out while still holding the lead rope.

  Rubbing two horses, Johnathan looked over as Bill walked up. “Found some paperwork in the office, they used some horses during hunting season, running a guide service,” Johnathan explained as Bill put the lead rope on a large tan horse.

  “I can believe it with the riding gear inside,” Bill said, clicking his tongue and the horse turned and followed Bill.

  Leaving the horses, Johnathan headed inside the barn and saw Bill leading the horse into a stall. Saddles and equipment were laid out along the stalls. “What are you doing?” Johnathan asked.

  “Just brushing them down,” Bill answered, leading the horse in.

  Realizing he felt much cooler, Johnathan looked out of the barn at the sunlight beating down on the earth. “Summer here would be brutal or as Lance would say, suck nasty, hairy ass,” Johnathan chuckled.

  Grabbing a brush, Johnathan saw Bill had six horses in stalls, but was heading back out to the corral. “How many are you planning on taking?” Johnathan asked, taking his AR off and leaning it against the stall.

  “I’m thinking eight. That way, each of us has a pack horse and we can swap out if we need to,” Bill answered, walking out into the corral.

  Easing into the stall, Johnathan talked softly to the horse while petting it. He may know dogs and had read about them, but the only experience he’d had with horses had been helping Lance get a merit badge and several camping trips.

  Running the brush along the horse, Johnathan felt the horse relax. The horse looked big to him with its back almost to his chin and Johnathan looked the brown horse over and saw it was female. “Good girl,” he cooed softly, brushing the horse.

  Bill put another two in stalls, then grabbed a brush and started brushing a spotted horse. “Yeah, I talked to that guide we used for those two weeks at the Grand Canyon and read several books,” Bill said, walking around the horse.

  “Allie has been begging for a horse and I knew it was only a matter of time before Mary told me to go buy one,” Bill chuckled. “All I wanted was a dog.”

  “Me, too,” Johnathan nodded, looking out of the stall to see Dan and Ann sitting and watching him. “Hate to tell the wives, but Dan and Ann are coming with us.”

  “Yes,” Bill said quietly.

  “They can’t complain because they heard with their own ears and saw with their own eyes how much Dino was helping the kids,” Johnathan said.

  Glancing over his shoulder, “You know how much money Doug paid to have Dino trained?” Bill chuckled.

  “I’m not telling them about that,” Johnathan admitted, walking out of the stall to the next one and started brushing the horse. “Please tell me we don’t have to shoe them because I will hop on my bike.”

  “Fuck those bikes,” Bill muttered, then glanced back at Johnathan. “No, their hooves are good. I’ll clean and file if I have to.”

  Looking over the tan horse at Bill, “You will have to teach me that,” Johnathan said.

  Giving a nod, Bill continued brushing the horse down. When they were done, Bill grabbed all the saddle bags, passing Johnathan some. Then Bill grabbed some large canvas bags and headed to the house. “What’s with the canvas bags?” Johnathan asked.

  “For the pack saddles,” Bill answered, opening the door.

  Turning back, Johnathan saw Dan and Ann sit down, looking at the open door. “Go in,” Johnathan grinned, waving at the dogs and they took off inside.

  As Johnathan walked past, Bill chuckled. “I can tell that the momma of the house didn’t allow that.”

  “Yep,” Johnathan said with a nod.

  Chapter Nine

  Working through the night, they packed bags and cleaned gear. In the month they had been moving, each one had only bathed twice in cold mountain streams, so the showers got hit hard. With both Johnathan and Bill now sporting full beards, Sandy and Mary trimmed them up.

  “I hope you will shave it off when we get to the cabin,” Sandy said, kissing Johnathan and then started trimming his long hair.

  Reaching up to scratch his face, “The only reason I’m not now is it really itches growing in,” Johnathan stated.

  “You think we will get home sooner on horses?” Sandy asked and Johnathan sighed.

  “Bill think
s we might shave a week or so off, but we won’t be worn out each day from pedaling,” Johnathan said. “I’m thinking we’ll shave three weeks off.”

  Sandy stepped back, inspecting her work. “I don’t ever want to ride another bike.”

  Looking back at her, Johnathan grinned. “You realize without those bikes, we would still be in California?” he pointed out. “We couldn’t carry what we had and would’ve had to stop every other day to scavenge for food. That’s where Bill said we will get the extra time from, the pack horses will be carrying more supplies so we won’t have to stop very often.”

  “My butt may hurt from the saddle, but not like it does from that damn bike seat,” Sandy snorted as Johnathan stood up.

  Looking across the table at the holsters Bill had found, Johnathan smiled. “Hey, I hated the bike too, but knew it would get us home faster than walking.”

  Across the table, Bill stood up and kissed Mary. “Let’s saddle the horses, in case we have to boogie,” he said, looking at his watch and seeing it was getting close to dawn.

  “Sounds good and I’ll go check the chicken coop for eggs,” Mary said, putting her scissors down.

  Looking over at Mary, Sandy furrowed her brow. “The chickens were running around the yard,” she said.

  “They go back inside to roost at dark,” Mary said confidently. “I learned that from Ian, when he was working on one of his merit badges.”

  Grabbing rifles, everyone headed to the barn and Bill showed them how to put the saddles on. Everyone had done it before, but Bill seemed very comfortable with it. When all the saddles were on, they headed back inside and Johnathan stopped, looking in the carport at a large tool cabinet.

  “Who’s taking first watch?” Johnathan asked.

  Glancing at Mary, “Since you two took the last one first, we can take first shift,” Bill answered.

  “Okay,” Johnathan said, grabbing Sandy’s hand. “Dan, Ann,” he called over his shoulder and the dogs bounced after them.

  “What were you looking at in the carport?” Bill asked, following and holding Mary’s hand.