“Slut,” Sandy sang out. “She saw my beautiful, innocent, and smart little boy and that tramp wanted to sink her claws into him. She was a sophomore for crying out loud, just like that little skank, Beth. And both were almost five years older than Lance!”
Giving a groan, Johnathan shook his head. “I still can’t believe you hired a private detective to investigate Sabrina and her family,” Johnathan moaned. “We aren’t even going to talk about Beth again.”
“Ha,” Sandy huffed. “Her mother was a drughead and her daddy was a child molester. Not to mention, Sabrina was a social deviant.”
“Sandy,” Johnathan groaned. “Her mom was fined for smoking a joint at a concert back when she was in college. The ‘woman’,” he stressed, “was a twenty-year-old secretary that Sabrina’s father had an affair with. Sabrina was only fined for having a pack of cigarettes last summer because she is still a minor.”
“Sabrina’s dad was old enough to be that secretary’s father. He was forty-five years old, tempting a young girl,” Sandy popped off.
Hearing Sandy take a breath to continue, Johnathan turned around and put a hand on her back. “Honey, Lance had a good time. That’s all that mattered. I don’t think he even talked to Sabrina again after the dance. I know they talked on the phone a few times before the dance, but that’s it.”
“I had the bitch’s number blocked,” Sandy growled. “When she called, all she got was a busy signal.”
Standing up, Johnathan looked at Sandy and laughed. “Honey, Lance has a cellphone,” Johnathan said.
Turning her head around slowly, Sandy looked up at Johnathan with a menacing gaze. “I had the bitch’s number blocked from every phone Mary and I own,” she snarled.
Stumbling back, Johnathan blinked his eyes at Sandy. “Whoa,” he mumbled. “I thought Mary liked Sabrina.”
“No, Mary liked Ian’s date, Tabitha. Tabitha was a sweet girl. Even Mary knew Sabrina was a skank but Mary didn’t want Lance going alone, so we staked out the dance to make sure that slut didn’t corrupt our babies,” Sandy snarled.
Shaking his head, a wide grin parted Johnathan’s beard. “Surprised you didn’t try to find him another date,” he laughed and stopped, after seeing that the look on Sandy’s face didn’t change. “You didn’t,” he gasped.
“Yes,” Sandy snapped. “But Jennifer already had accepted an invitation by that nice boy, Steve.”
“Lance wouldn’t have gone with Jennifer, that’s Ian’s girl, as you should know. Lance sees her as a friend. Hell, she’s the only girl Lance has ever talked to on the phone every week,” Johnathan said. “Bill says the only reason that started was so Jennifer could keep tabs on Ian.”
“I only needed to borrow Jennifer for one night. Mary said she was going to take care of Ian,” Sandy popped off, turning back to look up the draw. “I still can’t believe you didn’t take my side about Beth. She was at our house!”
Shaking his head, Johnathan looked down the draw to see the fire burning blue now and didn’t see any stinkers. “Babe, you have got to give Lance more leeway. About Beth, you can’t take the words of little girls who have a crush on Lance,” Johnathan said softly, watching the bodies turn to ash quickly.
“I will give Lance leeway, if it’s not a whore,” Sandy said with a perky tone. “And Allie and Carrie always tell me the truth about Lance.”
Sitting back down, Johnathan knew that when Sandy looked at Lance, she still saw a toddler running around the house in diapers. Lance would run around with his arms open and latch onto them until they would pick him up and Lance would cover their faces with kisses, then want back down. Lance would take off squealing around the house and then run back to them with his arms open and latch on their legs to start it all over again. “Son, dad will help as much as he can, but that is one battle you will face your momma on alone,” Johnathan mumbled and thankfully, Sandy didn’t hear.
Hearing Dan growl, Johnathan didn’t even look down to see where the dog was looking. Getting to his feet, Johnathan lifted his binoculars up. After a few minutes, Johnathan saw movement between the trees. “Shit, I got three coming,” he whispered, lowering the binoculars and seeing the fire was barely burning over a pile of ashes.
“You don’t think the fire drew them, do you?” Sandy asked.
Shaking his head, “No, the fires don’t put off much smoke because they burn so hot, that’s why there isn’t much smell. Hydrogen sulfide burns super-hot, not leaving much to drift away on the wind. Since we only burn during the day when we camp, the stinkers can’t trace the light,” Johnathan hypothesized.
Moving beside Johnathan, Sandy looked down the draw until she spotted them. “I hate shooting the kid stinkers,” she groaned, watching two large forms and one little one moving through the trees.
“Let them get to the fire area,” Johnathan said watching the group. By the way the three were moving, Johnathan knew they weren’t after them. When stinkers were after prey they would trot until the prey was out of sight, then they would walk fast until something else caught their attention. These three were just shambling along. “Want me to take them?” Johnathan asked, seeing that the large stinkers were women.
“No, I’ve shot kid stinkers before. I just don’t like it,” Sandy said, holding her bow out to her front. When the stinkers were thirty yards away, Sandy pulled her bow back as the group spotted them. True to form the three held out their arms, letting out low moans and breaking into a fast trot.
Releasing the arrow, Sandy watched it hit the first woman stinker in the throat. “Shit,” Sandy said, yanking another arrow out of her quiver as the woman froze and just fell back like a statue. With the stinker down, Sandy wasn’t going to complain and lined up on the next woman, releasing as the woman opened her mouth to moan only to have the arrow drive into her mouth. The woman’s head snapped back with only the vanes sticking out of her mouth and the rest of the arrow sticking out the back of her head.
Pulling another arrow up, Sandy pulled the bow back as the kid suddenly stopped and lowered its arms. As Sandy took aim, the kid looked around as Sandy released the arrow, hitting the kid in the side of the head and dropping the kid in his tracks.
“Freaky,” Johnathan shivered, staring at the kid crumpled in a heap. “Never saw one do that.”
“I’m not complaining,” Sandy said, pulling another arrow out and resting it on her bow. “I like it when they stop.”
“You’ve seen one do that? Stopped after it has seen us?” Johnathan asked, bringing his rifle to his shoulder.
“No, that one in Nevada stopped after hearing those gunshots,” Sandy replied, moving up to the bodies with Johnathan.
Not wanting to read into the situation, Johnathan moved up and saw the one hit in the neck was still moving its mouth. “I got it,” Johnathan said, moving over to the stinker. “Hey, you took out its spinal cord. If you miss the head, that’s the way to miss.”
Pulling her arrow out of the kid, Sandy turned around and saw Johnathan looking the one she’d shot in the neck over. “Doctor, kill the patient,” Sandy said.
“Wait,” Johnathan said, looking the stinker over. “Don’t touch the one you shot in the mouth yet.”
Giving a sigh, Sandy looked up the draw and didn’t see anything other than Ann standing up beside Bill and Mary as they slept. Wiping her arrow off, Sandy put it in her quiver and looked down the draw. Glancing at Johnathan she pursed her lips, seeing him making notes in a small notepad. “Sweetheart, now isn’t the time,” Sandy said, hearing Dan growl.
Grabbing a knife from his pocket, Johnathan flicked his wrist to pop open the spring assisted blade. Shoving the tip in, Johnathan twisted the blade and yanked it out. Wiping the blade off, Johnathan pulled the arrow out and wiped it off. Walking over, he handed the arrow to Sandy and looked at the stinker Sandy had shot through the mouth. Sandy watched Johnathan touch the stinker’s open eyes, then shove the blade in the skull. Rolling the head to the side, Johnathan pushed the arrow out of the mouth.
> “Dan,” Johnathan whispered sharply as Dan’s growls grew louder. Dan’s growl quietened, but didn’t stop as Johnathan pulled the arrow out. Wiping the arrow off, Johnathan handed it over. “Move back to where we were, but hide behind the tree until they reach here,” Johnathan instructed, looking down the draw.
As they ran the thirty yards back, Sandy looked over at Johnathan. “I hit that one in the head. Why did you stab it?” she asked, then ducked behind a tree.
Not hearing an answer, she glanced over and saw Johnathan behind a tree, peeking around with the binoculars. Biting her tongue, Sandy eased her head around the tree to look down the draw. “Oh, that would be a good reason to not answer,” Sandy gasped, seeing a lot of movement between the trees.
Glancing over at Johnathan, Sandy whispered. “I can only shoot seven in thirty yards.”
Dropping the binoculars and letting them hang around his neck, Johnathan lifted his AR up to his shoulder. “I have these. When I start, go get Bill and Mary up,” Johnathan whispered back.
“How many?” Sandy asked, feeling her heart speed up.
“Quit counting at twenty,” Johnathan said, stepping out while lifting his rifle. When his rifle was up, Johnathan squeezed the trigger with the muffled pop, startling Sandy. Looking down the draw, she saw the beginning of a group moving through the trees about fifty yards away.
Another pop sounded and she watched one drop as its head evaporated and the group stopped, looking around as Johnathan squeezed the trigger again. Watching the head explode, Sandy turned and ran back to camp, not watching the body fall.
Jumping over a rock, Sandy saw Mary and Bill getting up and grabbing weapons as Johnathan kept squeezing the trigger rapidly. “How many?” Bill asked, shoving his feet into his boots.
“Johnathan quit counting at twenty,” Sandy answered, stopping beside them and turning around. The group was moving again, but Johnathan was knocking them down with a steady rain of lead.
“Help me get the pack horses loaded,” Bill said, moving over to the horses. With Sandy and Mary on one end, they helped Bill lift the pack saddles up onto the four horses. Hearing Johnathan stop shooting, everyone turned and saw him putting another magazine in, then gazed down the draw.
Nine stinkers were trotting over the fire area with their arms out, moaning as they charged Johnathan. He released the bolt and aimed his rifle at the closest stinker. Snapping off nine rapid shots, the group fell in a line with none getting closer than twenty yards to Johnathan. “Let’s saddle the horses,” Bill said, moving to Mary and Sandy’s horses. Grabbing their saddles, Bill waited as Mary spread out the blanket on the horse’s back and then grabbed Sandy’s saddle.
With the blanket already on, Bill set the saddle on and then moved to his and Johnathan’s horses, grabbing the blankets. “That gun wasn’t that loud,” Mary said, buckling the saddle on.
“It was in this new world. Granted, the jerry-rigged suppressors are almost as good as the ones Doug has, but anything within a quarter of a mile knows where we are,” Bill declared, spreading the blanket out on Johnathan’s horse and then grabbing the saddle.
“There can’t be that many around here,” Sandy said, putting the bit in her horse’s mouth and tossing the reins back onto the saddle. “We are close to Maryvale, but the population couldn’t have been more than a few hundred.”
Putting the bit in Johnathan’s horse’s mouth, Bill moved over to his horse. “Sandy, we saw a group of a thousand in the middle of a desert in Utah. Stinkers don’t stay near their home,” Bill told her as he grabbed his saddle.
Moving over to Johnathan’s horse, Sandy buckled the saddle down and then checked that Johnathan’s equipment was tied over the saddle. “Well, you two only had to get up an hour early,” she said, looking down the draw to see Johnathan pulling back his bow.
Just past the burn pile, Sandy saw three stinkers moving toward Johnathan when one’s head snapped back and its body crashed down. Watching one stinker in the lead trip over a body, Sandy watched as the other slowed down, moving around a body on the ground when its head snapped back.
“Oh, that’s bullshit,” Sandy snapped and Bill and Mary spun around, looking down the draw as Johnathan moved up on the one that had tripped and pulled his bow back. From ten yards away, Johnathan released as the stinker got to its knees, only to drop back down again.
They watched Johnathan pull an arrow from his quiver to aim down the draw. “What the hell is he doing?” Sandy cried out, moving across the camp while watching Johnathan step over dead bodies still aiming down the draw.
“Sandy,” Bill said, grabbing her arm, but they both stopped when a stinker lifted his head up from the ground and Johnathan released the arrow. Striking the stinker in the forehead, the stinker’s head jerked back making the body fall back too. Feeling numb, Bill’s hand slid off Sandy’s arm. “What the fuck?” Bill gasped.
Johnathan pulled another arrow back, aiming the bow low as he eased among the mass of bodies. Suddenly Johnathan released, making the three jump and they saw the arrow strike a stinker on the ground.
Moving quickly, Johnathan grabbed his arrows from the bodies and everyone saw Dan move over to a body. Johnathan ran over, driving the arrow in his hand through the stinker’s head. Just as Johnathan’s arm was swinging down, the stinker had reached up. “Sandy, Mary, load up the rest,” Bill sang out, looking down the draw and grabbing his bow. “Mary, get Ann to heel beside you,” Bill said, moving toward Johnathan.
Tapping her thigh, “Ann, heel,” Mary commanded and Ann ran over to her side. “Sandy, what did you just see?”
Running over and rolling up the sleeping bags, “Stinkers playing dead,” Sandy answered in a trembling voice.
Dropping down to help Sandy, “Yeah, that’s what I saw too, but didn’t want to admit it,” Mary cringed as Bill reached Johnathan.
“Move up to where we set up guard and get behind a tree,” Johnathan said, shoving arrows back in his quiver.
Stepping behind the tree, Bill pulled his AR off his shoulder to make sure it was ready, then put it back on his shoulder. Pulling out an arrow and nocking it, Bill leaned over to peek out from behind the tree. “Shit,” he sighed, seeing eleven stinkers trotting through the trees up the draw.
“Now, watch how they act when they get near the bodies,” Johnathan whispered over.
When the first one reached the beginning of the dead bodies, it tripped and fell and the ones behind it slowed. Bill’s mouth fell open as the group moved around the bodies on the ground with purpose. “I always knew ET wouldn’t be a nice little guy with a light in his chest,” Bill mumbled.
“Let them reach the fire area,” Johnathan said. “I’ll start from the left, you take the right, and we’ll meet in the middle.”
Both stepped out when the first one reached the ashes, releasing arrows. The two leaders dropped down and the others all looked up and raised their arms, but didn’t break into a trot. Instead, they moved slowly around the bodies on the ground. With the group moving slowly, Bill and Johnathan had no trouble taking them out with none making it past the mound of ashes.
Lifting his binoculars, Johnathan looked down the draw for several minutes. “We need to pile them up,” Johnathan said, lowering the binoculars.
“Johnathan, let’s just haul ass,” Bill offered, looking down the draw.
“I still want to see if we can check a few houses in the valley,” Johnathan said nocking an arrow. “You make sure you see head trauma before you get close.”
“So, they were playing dead?” Bill asked, holding his bow out and moving up beside Johnathan.
“Yep, saw one fall down on the other side of the group when I shot one. I thought my bullet might have ricocheted, but didn’t see any wound. When I got close, it moved. Dan found two more,” Johnathan answered.
“How many did you shoot?”
“Forty-eight,” Johnathan replied, stopping and looking at a mass. “There you are,” Johnathan sighed.
&nb
sp; Aiming at the pile, “What?” Bill hissed.
“Stinker soldier,” Johnathan said, looking at the pile carefully. “Make sure these bodies close to the pile are really down.”
Nodding as he moved in a circle, Bill saw Johnathan pulling bodies off and dragging them to the ash pile. “Johnathan, we burn that many bodies in this small clearing, these trees will go up,” Bill said and Johnathan froze, looking at Bill. “What?”
“That’s it!” Johnathan cried out. “That’s why they are moving up this draw when there is a road thirty yards away going up the draw. Trees! They would have shade to move under!”
Lowering his bow, Bill looked at the bodies and then out of the trees at the dirt road going up the draw. “Damn, should’ve thought of that,” Bill grunted, lifting his bow up. “I was starting to worry that stinkers were looking for any people hiding.”
Grabbing a body, Johnathan pulled it over to the pile. “So was I,” Johnathan said as Bill moved around, checking the bodies. Not seeing any without head trauma, Bill started helping Johnathan. When half were at the ash pile, they started moving the rest out of the trees until Johnathan moved over to a soldier dressed in full battle gear.
“Lieutenant with the Big Red One,” Bill said, looking at the collar and then the patch on the shoulder as Johnathan rolled the body over and Bill smiled, stepping over. Watching Johnathan lift up an M4, “I was wondering why you were after a stinker soldier. We’ve killed like a dozen,” Bill said as Johnathan looked the rifle over.
“The rifle needs cleaning, but I wanted this,” Johnathan said, pointing at the scope and Bill’s smile dropped.
“Is that infrared or thermal?” Bill asked.
“Thermal attachment,” Johnathan answered, setting the rifle on the ground. “Help me get his vest and pack off.”
“This is a full battle vest, we could clean it and use it,” Bill said, undoing the straps on the side.
“Bill, there’s not enough firewood on the planet to sterilize this vest for me to wear. If we were at home and had time, maybe,” Johnathan cried out. “You can, but I’m not. Lord only knows what’s growing on it.”
Forsaken World (Book 3): Rite of Passage Page 15