“That’s all good, but what about the pack?” Mary asked.
Letting out a long sigh, “What do you think, Bill, how should we deal with dogs?” Johnathan asked.
“I think you should keep your AR ready and the rest of us will keep a 10/22 ready. If any dogs take interest, we pop them. We have over two thousand rounds for the .22s. I know we have more 5.56, but I would prefer to keep those to use on big targets.”
Stepping out from under Bill’s arm, Mary turned around and looked at him. “So, a pack that size isn’t a big target?” she asked.
“I’m talking about large groups of stinkers and people who shoot at us,” Bill clarified, looking down at her. “We can scare off a pack of dogs with the 10/22s by only hitting one or two. You poke holes in animals, no matter the size, they run off. Stinkers don’t care and won’t scare off and people will just shoot back.”
Giving an irritated groan, Mary walked past Bill, heading back to the camp. “Mankind is going extinct and still people act like asses,” she snapped.
Curling her upper lip in disgust, Sandy spun around and followed Mary as Johnathan nodded. “Yeah, you would think we would stop that shit, facing something like this,” Johnathan mumbled.
Glancing back to the west and seeing the sun had dipped halfway below the mountains, “Let’s mount up and head out,” Bill said, patting Johnathan on the shoulder.
Not responding, Johnathan turned and followed Bill. After checking the area to make sure they hadn’t left anything and washing the pot and bowls, everyone climbed on their horse. “Sandy, did you put the beans in to soak?” Mary asked.
“Have them in a Ziploc back in my saddle bag,” Sandy answered over her shoulder, following Johnathan.
Steering her horse to follow Sandy, Mary adjusted the 10/22 across her saddle. “Damn, do I miss a crock pot,” she sighed, hanging her bow off her saddle horn.
Darkness fell before they reached the valley floor and Johnathan crossed a road, cutting across a field to head toward a large barn. Spotting a row of round hay bales near the barn, Johnathan steered his horse to them. When he stopped Johnathan climbed off, as his horse needed no invitation to start eating.
All the horses moved up beside his horse, eating the hay as Johnathan looked around. “I’m going to check the barn,” Johnathan said, patting Dan as Sandy climbed off her horse.
“I’m coming,” she said, grabbing her 10/22. “You shoot stinkers with the bow and I’ll take care of dogs.”
Nodding, Johnathan looked up at Bill and saw him scanning around. Nocking an arrow, Johnathan moved to the barn with Dan beside him and Sandy just behind him. Getting closer, Johnathan moved to a corral next to the barn and stopped. Across the corral were several calf carcasses. “Notice anything different?” he asked in a hushed voice.
Moving up to the fence, Sandy looked at the carcasses under the moon and starlight. “They don’t look like the ones we’ve seen,” she noted.
“Dogs killed ‘em,” Johnathan told her and turned, heading for the barn.
Fighting a shiver, Sandy followed as Johnathan held his bow up before entering the barn. Glancing down, Johnathan saw Dan was relaxed and panting. Relaxing a little, Johnathan eased inside. Clearing the barn, Sandy pointed at a stack of feed. “They have some feed,” she said.
“Bill said the horses need more roughage and we need to lay off the grain,” Johnathan said.
“Not saying they don’t, but we need to take some in case we travel across another barren spot or don’t have time to let them graze,” Sandy offered, as Johnathan lifted a machete off a work table. “We have two machetes and a hatchet.”
Putting the machete down, “Just making sure this one isn’t better than the ones we have,” Johnathan told her. “Let’s check the house.”
“Okay,” Sandy said, following Johnathan out.
Ten minutes later, Sandy walked back over to Bill and Mary, carrying a full pillow case and Johnathan had a bag of dog food. “Not much food,” Mary noticed as Sandy tied the pillowcase to her pack horse.
“Rice, beans, and four boxes of mac and cheese,” Sandy said.
Putting the bag of dog food on his pack horse, “And dog food,” Johnathan added.
After grabbing a few sacks of feed, Johnathan led the group away from the farm and headed up the rise behind it. Reaching the ridge, Johnathan followed it east as dogs barked off to the north. Walking beside Johnathan’s horse Dan turned to the north, letting out a low growl.
“Easy, boy. They are a long way off,” Johnathan said, adjusting the AR across his chest with his right hand that was holding the reins. In his left hand, Johnathan carried his bow. Scanning around, Johnathan glanced back and saw the group following in a staggered line.
After traveling for a few hours, Johnathan stopped at a small grassy glade that had a small stream running through it. Letting his horse graze and drink, Johnathan glanced around as the others did the same. “How far away do you think those dogs were?” Sandy asked in a low voice.
“Several miles,” Johnathan answered, climbing off his horse and handing Sandy his reins. “Got to go,” he announced, moving over beside a tree.
Narrowing her eyes as Johnathan answered nature’s call, “That’s so unfair, a girl has to drop her pants,” Sandy almost snarled.
Moving her horse closer to Sandy’s, “Don’t forget about finding a tissue,” Mary added.
When Johnathan came back, Sandy climbed off and moved behind the tree he had used. With only one going at a time, the horses had a rest and a grazing break and the others were able to keep a lookout.
Making sure the others were ready, Johnathan guided his horse along the small stream down into a valley as Sandy moved up beside him. “This is the part I don’t like,” she said, looking around at the towering peaks around them.
“Babe, those peaks are over thirteen thousand feet, it’s faster to go around them,” Johnathan told her, glancing around. “Thought you would like it, since we have trees again.”
Shaking her head with her hand resting on the 10/22, “I don’t like any spot that leaves us with only two escape routes, up or down the valley,” she said.
“Now you understand why I hate bridges,” Johnathan chuckled. “Babe, we are in the middle of nowhere. We won’t see another house for twenty miles. We saw more than that in the desert.”
Reaching the valley floor the small stream ran into a larger stream, Johnathan led his horse beside the stream heading south. With the towering peaks to the east and west, the valley was much darker and they had to slow down to navigate around obstacles.
Keeping a nice pace for three hours, they followed the stream and Mary slowed her horse until Bill was beside her. “It’s pretty, but I still don’t like it,” she said and Bill nodded as Ann looked behind them.
“You won’t find me arguing that I like moving through here,” Bill agreed, glancing back and didn’t see anything, but he couldn’t see more than forty yards in the open and half that through the trees.
When Bill turned back around, Mary looked down and saw Ann glance behind them again. “Ann doesn’t like something back there,” Mary said in a very low voice.
“Yeah, she’s been looking behind us for the last hour, but I haven’t seen anything,” Bill said.
“What do you think it is, a stinker?” Mary asked and Bill scoffed.
“I wish,” Bill said, glancing back again. “My money is on mountain lion or bear.”
Dropping her eyes to the 10/22 in Bill’s right hand, “You put the little toy gun up then,” Mary snapped.
Nodding, Bill shoved the 10/22 through loops of leather on his saddle and pulled out the 12ga shotgun. “That seems like a good idea,” Bill admitted, releasing the slide lock and racking the slide back half an inch to see a round in the chamber.
Looking at the large oil filter Bill and Johnathan had mounted on the end of the shotgun, “You can aim with that thing on the end of the barrel?” Mary asked as Bill racked the chamber closed.
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“If something is close enough for me to use this shotgun, I can hit it,” Bill answered confidently.
Half an hour later, the trees fell away and the canyon walls on each side started dropping rapidly and everyone started feeling better. When the slope to the east dropped to a gentle rise, Johnathan left the valley floor heading east.
Cresting the ridge, Johnathan led them to a valley that headed east. Unlike the last valley that had been more a canyon, this one was much wider and they could see much better. Leading his horse through the trees Johnathan smiled, seeing a logging road ahead that followed the valley floor.
Following the road until he found a grassy spot beside a stream, Johnathan stopped as the others pulled around him. Seeing Bill with the shotgun in his hands, “You saw something and didn’t let us know?” Johnathan asked.
Shaking his head looking back, “Never saw it, but Ann didn’t like something back there in that last valley,” Bill answered, turning around. “She hasn’t looked back since we reached this valley.”
“As long as it’s back there and not here, I don’t care,” Mary said and Sandy nodded.
“Are you going to pee or what?” Sandy asked, looking over at Johnathan.
“Oh, sorry, I don’t have to go,” Johnathan said and Sandy jumped out of her saddle and ran next to a tree.
With bathroom breaks done, Johnathan steered his horse down the logging road.
Chapter Sixteen
May 28
Guiding his horse along a ridge, Johnathan glanced north and pulled his reins back. “Whoa, boy,” he said softly and patted the horse’s neck.
“Holy shit, lights?” Sandy gasped beside him. Two miles away, clear lights shined like diamonds against the dark landscape.
“That’s where the town of Lake City is right?” Bill asked.
“Yeah,” Johnathan answered. “Let’s go,” he said, kicking his horse.
“We aren’t going to check it out?” Sandy asked, following.
Glancing over his shoulder, “Sweetheart, if we make it home without talking to a single person, I’ll be happy,” Johnathan confessed, then faced forward.
Moving up beside Johnathan, “I wasn’t suggesting we pay a visit,” Sandy said.
“Careful,” Johnathan told her, steering his horse around a fallen tree that was laid across the ridge. Sandy moved behind him and then back up beside Johnathan as they headed down into a valley. “Sandy, why would they have lights on?” Johnathan asked.
“To see in the dark,” Sandy answered.
“Think about that, that is just advertising. Advertising when everything should be laying low not attracting attention,” Johnathan explained, glancing around and noticed Dan was glancing north toward the town.
As the realization of Johnathan’s words struck her, Sandy gasped. “I’m not cut out for this,” she mumbled. “So, you think they were up to no good?” Sandy asked.
“That’s more of a possibility than them being any help,” Johnathan replied as Bill and Mary moved closer behind them.
“Well, they picked a nice spot,” Mary said.
“They can have it,” Bill chuckled and Mary looked over at him. “Mary, that town is sitting over eight thousand feet up. I’ll bet the snow hasn’t even been gone that long. Come winter, they are screwed.”
“People lived up in the mountains before electricity,” Mary told him.
Nodding, Bill glanced over at her. “True, but they knew how to survive back then,” he said. “Snow up here would be measured in feet. Without dogs for a sled, snow shoes or fuel for a snowmobile, you aren’t moving until spring.”
Thinking about that, Mary looked up at Bill. “That is a very good point,” Mary admitted.
Moving up out of the valley up to the ridge, Sandy saw shadows off to the south. “What are those?” she asked tensely.
“Take a deep breath through your nose,” Johnathan said and Sandy did. “Smell that?” he asked and she nodded. “That’s sheep.”
“Mountain sheep?” Sandy asked, leaning in her saddle toward the shapes a hundred yards away.
“Nope, domestic,” Johnathan said. “Probably a flock that got out.”
Reaching the ridge and with no trees around, they looked off in the distance and didn’t see any lights. “We can’t trust anything, can we?” Sandy asked softly.
“No one outside this group,” Johnathan told her with a sigh. Looking down, he saw Dan moving further away toward the sheep. “Dan, heel,” Johnathan snapped and Dan dropped his head and moved back beside the horse.
“I love those dogs,” Sandy chuckled.
Entering trees that sprang up along the ridge, Sandy moved back behind Johnathan and Mary moved up beside her. “This new world sucks,” Mary said softly.
“Yeah, we need to get to the kids,” Sandy stated with a sigh.
“Sandy,” Mary said a little louder. “Our sons will be fine and keep the others safe. I think they are better equipped to deal with this than their fathers.”
Glancing back over his shoulder, “I’m not going to deny that,” Johnathan smirked.
“To be honest, I feel a little sorry for anyone that pisses them off,” Bill said behind them.
“Honey, what is in Doug’s storage that he has buried?” Sandy asked.
Pulling his horse to a stop, Johnathan turned in his saddle, “Explosives, lots of explosives,” he said grimly.
“You don’t think the boys will try to use them, do you?” Sandy asked with wide eyes and Mary almost fell off her horse.
“Lance has never done something I forbade him to do that I know of and I know he’s never broken his word to me, so I don’t think they will,” Johnathan told her, letting his horse graze.
Looking at Johnathan’s face, Sandy saw he looked worried. “So, what’s bothering you?” she asked.
“They have a huge chemistry set there and might try to make some explosives. Let’s face it, we know they can,” Johnathan admitted in a tone that expressed his concern. Turning in his saddle and looking around, Johnathan sighed. “I wish I would’ve told them they could just get Doug’s stuff.”
Climbing off her horse, “If they do make explosives, then they think they need them,” Sandy said, handing her reins to Johnathan. “Neither of them do anything without planning.”
Letting the horses graze and stretching their legs for twenty minutes, Johnathan led them along the ridge when everyone had remounted. To the east, the sky was starting to get brighter as Johnathan led them down into another valley two hours later.
A small reservoir rested in the small valley and there were no trees on the valley floor. Moving to a tree-covered spur that ran to the edge of the reservoir Johnathan stopped, looking at the south end of the reservoir. Half a mile away he could see tents and vehicles. “Need to check those before we set up,” Johnathan said.
“How high are we?” Mary asked, feeling like it was hard to breathe.
“Almost ten thousand feet,” Bill answered, glancing at the altimeter on his watch.
When Bill stopped beside him, Johnathan motioned with his chin to the south. “I’m thinking we ease up on horseback,” Johnathan said.
“I really don’t want to get our rides shot,” Bill argued. “If shooting starts, you and I can crawl back, but that’s hard to do for a horse.”
“Either one of you getting shot is much worse,” Mary barked.
Bill looked back at Mary. “We know, sweetie, but hitting a person at distance is much harder than hitting a horse,” he reasoned and Mary just cut her eyes at him.
“Okay, you and I move up on foot. I’ll leave Dan here with the girls and if it’s okay, they can bring the horses up,” Johnathan said and Bill nodded, climbing off his horse.
Not giving the wives time to argue, Bill and Johnathan moved off the spur. Slinging their bows across their backs, they both lifted their ARs up but kept the barrels aimed low. By the time they neared the camping area, the sun was peeking over the horizon and both had to put on su
nglasses. With their sunglasses on, both turned their ball caps around. At night, they wore them backwards and during the day, they wore them correctly. When they slept, the caps covered their face.
“Feel like a vampire exposed to light,” Bill confessed as they stopped a hundred yards away from the camp and Johnathan lifted his binoculars.
Letting the binoculars hang from his neck, Johnathan kept his eyes on the camp. “I don’t see anyone and some of those tents are torn up,” he said softly.
Glancing down at Ann, “Ann doesn’t like something down there,” Bill said and Johnathan looked down to see Ann baring her teeth, looking toward the camp.
“Let’s move up slowly,” Johnathan whispered, crouching and heading toward the camp. When they were fifty yards away, Johnathan jerked his head as a sharp smell entered his nose. “Haven’t smelled one that bad in a long time.”
“Not since California,” Bill said, lifting his shirt up to cover his nose.
When they were ten yards out, Ann started growling softly and Bill reached down and patted her. Reaching the camp, they both stopped to stare at a partial body. Both legs and one arm were eaten down to the bone and they could see most of the ribs, but they both jumped back when the other arm lifted up toward them.
“Now that’s nasty shit,” Johnathan gasped, pulling the sheetrock hammer off his belt and moving over as the jaw opened and closed. Burying the blade of the hammer in the skull, Johnathan watched the arm drop. Putting his foot on the skull, he yanked the hammer out. Since the body didn’t have clothes, he looked around and saw a shirt wadded up on a tailgate. Moving over, Johnathan wiped the blade off and put the hammer back on his belt.
“Smell that?” Bill said and Johnathan turned around. “That’s the smell of rot.”
“Bill, all I can smell is the damn stinker,” Johnathan admitted, pulling out a soaked cotton ball and lighting it. Tossing it at the body, he jumped back as blue flame leapt up at the cotton ball.
Turning around, Johnathan saw Bill standing on the other side of the trucks near the reservoir. Walking over Johnathan stopped, looking at five partially decomposed bodies. “They were shot in the head,” Bill pointed out, seeing two of the bodies were kids.
Forsaken World (Book 3): Rite of Passage Page 20