Lying cheek to cheek, Lilly couldn’t help but smile. “They weren’t playing about their promise,” she mumbled.
“Huh?” Lance said, squeezing her.
“Nothing,” Lilly said, squeezing him back.
Near the end of the movie, Lilly felt Carrie pushing her head and felt her turning Lance’s head. “Carrie, what are you doing?” Lance asked, rolling his eyes up to look at Carrie’s face.
“Ponytail is about to kiss the girl,” Carrie said, staring at the screen hard.
“So, why are you trying to break my neck?” Lance laughed.
“You have to kiss Lilly like that before the next movie,” Carrie sighed, rolling her eyes.
Both Lance and Lilly tensed up at that and felt Carrie pushing their heads, trying to get them face to face. “Lance, come on,” Allie said, reaching down and pushing Lilly’s face hard, turning it toward Lance’s. “You act scared, but our Lance isn’t scared of anything,” Allie claimed and Carrie cheered out.
With his heart fluttering, Lance closed his eyes and said a prayer, reaching up with his right hand to hold the side of Lilly’s face. When their lips met, Lance felt his body temperature spike and his ears turned warm.
When they broke the kiss, Lilly lifted her head and looked down at Lance’s face. “Wow,” she grinned. “That was awesome.”
“Damn it! Kiss again before the next movie!” Allie shouted, pushing Lilly’s head back down rather hard.
As she kissed Lance, Lilly said a silent prayer that if she ever had children, that she only had boys. In her heart Lilly knew, the female versions of Ian and Lance were much more devious and far more cunning.
Chapter Nineteen
May 30
Two miles north of the town of Fort Garland, Colorado, Johnathan scanned the town from the ridge he was set up on. The others were camped in a draw below him. Moving his waist, Johnathan scanned the valley below him and then up the valley. He only spotted three stinkers stumbling down the road and heading south toward Fort Garland.
Leaning back against the tree he was under, Johnathan lowered the binoculars. “Wish I had a spotting scope,” he mumbled, reaching down and patting Dan.
Unable to help it, Johnathan lifted his binoculars back up to look at the town again. Over a thousand feet higher than the town, Johnathan could see most of the town but what amazed him, was there were people. Just looking at the size of the town, Johnathan didn’t think it would hold five hundred people. Sitting at the base of a huge spur on a clear plain, the town was active.
A deep ditch ran around the town with a wall of dirt between the town and ditch. Only three roads led into town and those were blocked off by heavy equipment. On the far side, he could see kids playing as adults walked the wall of dirt.
Since he had taken over for Bill, Johnathan had watched stinkers fall into the ditch. When one fell in, someone came out with a very long pole and jabbed it down into the ditch. Since he couldn’t see the bottom of the ditch and using the makeshift spear as a guide, Johnathan guessed the ditch was over fifteen feet deep.
“They pulled together,” he grinned, lowering the binoculars. “Refreshing,” he sighed.
“What, honey?” Sandy asked, climbing out of the draw and moving over to sit down beside him leaning back against the tree. Hearing the drone of motors far off, at first Sandy felt panic, remembering the convoy of death. Looking to the south and then tracing the noise while turning west, she saw dots slowly moving along a road leading to the town from a plowed field.
“Seeing people working together,” Johnathan answered, handing the binoculars to Sandy. With the digital camera hanging from her wrist, Sandy moved it back down her arm. Taking the binoculars, Sandy studied the town. “Just over twenty miles away that town of Alamosa was nearly burnt down and destroyed, and this one wasn’t.”
“From all the activity they saw this morning, Mary was guessing there were over two hundred people down there,” Sandy said, watching the line of tractors and trucks coming in from the west. They stopped at the heavy equipment until it was moved, then pulled in. “Yes, it is refreshing,” Sandy said, lowering the binoculars.
“Wonder if they have a radio station? I have that crank radio,” Johnathan said, glancing up the valley and still saw the stinkers moving south. Hearing the soft zoom of the digital camera, Johnathan looked over at Sandy taking pictures of the town and mountains around them. Letting the camera hang off her wrist, Sandy sat back.
Smiling and patting Johnathan’s hand, “I know you’re proud of the radio you found in your new backpack, but Bill tried this morning and with the short-wave. Mary said he didn’t find anything, but the radio squealed loudly several times almost giving her a heart attack,” Sandy told him and Johnathan turned to look at the town again.
“Well, it was a thought,” Johnathan said, still smiling and filled with joy at the sense of normalcy the town provided.
“Johnathan, we aren’t going down there,” Sandy grumbled sternly.
Laughing, Johnathan shook his head, “No, sweetheart. No matter how normal they appear, we won’t go near anyone.”
Sighing and getting comfortable beside Johnathan, “Can’t believe I lost another arrow,” Sandy sighed out of the blue.
“Sandy, everyone said to forget it. Mary counted them last night and we have one hundred and forty-three,” Johnathan said, pulling her close to his side. “You shot the stinkers, that’s all that matters.”
“I should’ve gotten off my horse because my arm was getting tired,” Sandy moaned with a sigh.
“Sandy,” Johnathan barked. “It’s okay. Now, don’t dwell on it or you will make a mistake. Worse comes to worse, we can make arrows. We killed over fifty stinkers when we moved last night without night vision goggles or flashlights.”
Resting her head on Johnathan’s chest, Sandy saw one of the stinkers in the valley below, stumbling along a dirt road and heading toward the town. “You think they have a chance there?” Sandy asked.
Turning back to look at the town, “They are still at eight thousand feet and I don’t know what kind of snowfall they’ll have but if it’s a lot, it would be tough,” Johnathan answered. “They’re isolated high in the mountains so if they can deal with the snow, they should be fine.”
Watching the stinker a half a mile away and four hundred feet below them, Sandy sighed. “I hope we find groups like that near us.”
“We will,” Johnathan assured Sandy, pulling her to him. “Tell me the route one more time,” Johnathan said and Sandy groaned.
Taking a deep breath, “Crossing I75 north of Williamsburg…” Sandy continued on with Johnathan nodding as she recited the route home. Every day, he and Bill had the wives recite the route, adding another ten miles farther away.
“…paralleling Mill Branch Road down the valley and staying in the trees. Passing around Dewitt, staying on the west side of the valley, we follow the road from the trees. Turn off Briece Creek Road heading west, following our road and passing Donald’s till we come to the field below the cabin, and wait for the kids to lead us up,” Sandy finished twenty minutes later.
“Now, if we aren’t there, try not to arrive at the field at dark,” Johnathan said and Sandy looked up at him. “I know the kids have traps up and I don’t want them running down to the field in the dark. Lance and Ian are tough, but you know how they are about the dark.”
Laughing, “Yes, but they hide it well,” Sandy smirked.
“If you say so,” Johnathan chuckled. “How long will the coffee last?”
“We have enough coffee for thirty pots after today,” Sandy answered. “I wish I had grabbed the coffee at the other houses we searched.”
“Sweetheart, we didn’t have a coffee pot and it would’ve just been wasted weight. Don’t second guess,” Johnathan told her and Sandy lifted her head and kissed him.
“Speaking of coffee, I’m going to start some. Be time to wake Bill and Mary soon,” Sandy said, getting up. “Johnathan, why do you always have
to lead?”
“You can if you want,” Johnathan offered and Sandy just looked at him. “Because I don’t doze off and need just a few hours of sleep, as you know.”
Rolling her eyes, “The one thing our son had to inherit from you was insomnia,” Sandy moaned, then looked back at Johnathan with a serious expression. “If you want, I can lead so you can doze in the saddle.”
“Nah, that’s why I lead,” Johnathan chuckled. “I’ve read all the horse books you got from that house and filled up my notebook with notes and halfway through the next one.”
Blowing Johnathan a kiss, Sandy walked back down the draw to the camp. Very proud of Sandy with how well she had adapted, Johnathan turned back to the town and saw the first of the three stinkers was moving in a trot. Lifting his binoculars up, the speck of the stinker took form and the stinker was indeed trotting toward the town, holding its arms out.
Figuring the stinker only had half a mile, Johnathan just watched. Several on the wall of dirt had stopped and watched the stinker. Never slowing, the stinker disappeared into the ditch and out came the long-ass pole.
Two people aimed the pole into the ditch and jabbed it down. Shaking it, they pulled it out as another person came along holding something on fire and tossed it in. “Haven’t seen that yet,” Johnathan said, seeing the heat waves coming from the ditch but no flames. “Seems you guys have been busy.”
Letting the binoculars go, Johnathan leaned back against the tree and looked north up the valley and saw the other two still coming. Glancing back on the spur he was sitting on, Johnathan saw several deer. “Thanks, but got one this morning,” Johnathan said, looking around.
Just relaxing against the tree, Johnathan enjoyed the quiet and then heard movement and glanced down the draw to see Bill walking up, carrying two coffee cups. “Damn, that’s service. I didn’t bring you coffee,” Johnathan said, taking one of the cups as Bill sat down beside him.
“We’ll take second watch and you can,” Bill said, holding the cup under his nose just smelling the coffee. “Something, ain’t it?” Bill asked, motioning toward the town with his chin.
“Yeah, gives me hope,” Johnathan answered, taking a sip. Looking down the draw, Johnathan saw the wives putting the pack saddles on the horses. “They in a hurry?”
“No, they told me to get, so they could put the pack saddles on and pack up the camp,” Bill said smiling. “They want to know how to do it, and that they can.”
Very impressed, Johnathan smiled. “Hell, I’m still happy both have skinned the game that we’ve killed.”
“Mary still isn’t fond of cleaning fish,” Bill acknowledged in a serious tone, but had a grin.
Taking a sip and nodding, “I’m going to side with Mary on that one,” Johnathan said.
They both sat drinking coffee and looking around at the wild animals and the two stinkers still moving down the valley to the town. Occasionally, they would lift their binoculars but just relaxed.
Furrowing his brow, Johnathan cocked his head to the side. “You hear that?” he asked, turning his head to try and locate the sound.
Concentrating on his hearing, Bill turned his head around slowly. “It’s a buzzing,” he said, lifting his binoculars up and looking toward the town. “They hear it,” he said and Johnathan set his coffee down.
Raising his binoculars, Johnathan saw several on the wall looking up and others inside the wall pointing up. Tilting his head back, Johnathan scanned the sky as the buzzing grew louder, but was still very faint.
“Look southwest about three thousand feet up, but it’s dropping,” Bill said and Johnathan zoomed out, moving his head.
Catching the spot, Johnathan zoomed in and felt his blood turn cold. “Oh, shit,” he mumbled, seeing the ultra-light airplane.
“Yeah, thought I recognized it,” Bill said, dropping his view back to the town and saw people waving at the small plane as it dropped lower, circling the town. The small plane dropped to just a few hundred feet over the town, flying lazy circles as the people flooded the streets waving at the plane.
“Shoot at the plane, people,” Johnathan begged softly.
Bill searched the town and was surprised at the number of people filling the roads and waving at the plane. Then the plane started climbing, still circling the town but making bigger loops. Guessing the ultra-light was a thousand feet up, Bill watched it turn south heading the way it’d come from.
Watching the plane fly off, “Bill, did you hear the buzzing get louder?” Johnathan asked, lowering his binoculars.
Nodding, “Yeah, it sped up,” Bill said, letting his binoculars hang.
“Was that a plane?” Mary asked, coming out of the draw with Sandy and Ann behind her.
“An ultra-light,” Johnathan said and both women stopped suddenly, staring at them in shock. “Yeah, it was one we saw on those trucks.”
“You’re sure?” Sandy asked.
“Black and red with a lightning bolt on the side. Yeah, we’re sure,” Johnathan said regretfully.
“We have to change our route, we can’t head south,” Sandy said, looking at the mountains to the east. “We can take that logging road over those mountains.”
Bending down and picking up his coffee, Johnathan moved over to put his arm around Sandy. “Very good. See? You and Mary can do this shit,” he grinned, but Sandy saw the grin didn’t reach his eyes.
“We aren’t going to try and warn them,” Sandy snapped as Bill and Mary turned to them. “We don’t know how we would be received.”
“Sa-,” Johnathan started.
“Johnathan, no,” Sandy barked, cutting him off. “We have a job; getting home. If we try now to warn them, someone could get killed or all of us. Those people down there should have guards out and we know they have weapons.”
Taking a deep breath, Johnathan turned to the town and looked at it as the sun touched the horizon. “Just feels wrong,” he mumbled.
“It is, but that’s what you’ve been telling me since this started. In Hawaii, who was it that pulled me to the boat when a young couple ran past?” Sandy asked, reaching over and wrapping her arms around Johnathan as she stood at his side. “As our son says when he doesn’t think I can hear, ‘This Sucks’.”
Knowing Sandy was right, Johnathan turned to Bill who was holding Mary, and both were nodding. “Yes, it does,” Johnathan agreed.
“Baby, you and Bill were in the Army. Can you tell me honestly, that if you warned them, and ‘if’ the group showed up, would your warning make a difference?” Sandy asked with her head resting on Johnathan’s chest.
Knowing that Sandy already knew, since he and Bill had talked a lot about that convoy of death, Johnathan shook his head. “Unless they have heavy weapons and explosives, that group could take them. Their only chance would be to run and hide,” Johnathan admitted.
“They won’t leave, that I can guarantee,” Bill said.
Turning away from the town, Johnathan looked at the mountains to the east and then drained his coffee in one gulp. “We need to move,” he said. “This spur would give the group a good spot to coordinate their attack.”
“Horses are packed and food’s ready,” Mary said.
“We can eat riding,” Johnathan said, letting Sandy go and grabbing her hand to lead her down the draw. “Dan, heel,” Johnathan commanded and Dan ran over.
Checking his weapons as Mary filled the thermos and Sandy folded the stove up, Johnathan patted his body to check the gear on his tool belt. Putting on his backpack and grabbing his bow, Johnathan climbed up on his horse. “Here,” Sandy said, handing him two bowls. “Hold mine until I get on my horse.”
“Smart girl, not putting it on the ground,” Johnathan said as Dan looked up at the bowls, licking his lips.
“I fed those dogs half a deer, they shouldn’t be hungry,” Sandy told him, climbing on her horse. Like always, she had her backpack on and that just increased the challenge. Getting settled and letting her AR hang off under her right side, Sandy hu
ng her bow off her saddle horn. Kicking her horse, Sandy steered over to Johnathan, taking her bowl.
Seeing everyone ready, Johnathan led them down the draw into the valley, emptying his bowl before he’d reached the bottom. Tucking the bowl into his saddle bag, Johnathan pulled the 22/45 from under his arm. “I’m shooting the one ahead,” Johnathan called over his shoulder.
Looking ahead, Sandy saw the last of the three stinkers wandering down the road. It was fifty yards away but the horses were walking fast, closing the distance. “Dan, back,” Johnathan said as Dan moved in front of his horse, growling.
“Dan, heel,” Sandy called out and Dan stopped, letting Johnathan pass and then fell in beside Sandy’s horse.
As Johnathan lifted the pistol up, everyone held their reins tight. So far, the horses had done well around the suppressed gunfire. Around stinkers that were moving, not so well. When the stinker was ten yards away, Johnathan’s horse started angling to the right. Jerking the reins, Johnathan held the pistol steady and squeezed the trigger.
‘Pfftao’ the muffled shot sounded off, breaking the quietness as the stinker’s head jerked and it dropped on the road. Holstering his pistol as he rode past, Johnathan turned in his saddle to Sandy behind him.
“Ask back to Bill how well he heard that,” Johnathan said, looking at Bill twenty yards back and bringing up the rear. Sandy relayed to Mary, then to Bill.
When Sandy turned back around, “Bill said he only heard the bullet pop and said nothing outside of fifty yards would hear it,” Sandy relayed back.
Nodding as he turned back in his saddle, Johnathan steered his horse up the mountain, following a small dirt road. Johnathan would’ve been scared to drive a side by side up, much less a car.
As the sun dropped lower in the west, Johnathan took off his sunglasses before they reached the ridge above. When he reached the first ridgeline, Johnathan turned his cap around and looked out over the valley below.
Like yesterday, fires burned around the small town of Fort Garland. That’s how they’d spotted it, but it had been too early in the morning to change their route, so they’d just made camp in the draw. Hearing the zoom of the digital camera, Johnathan grinned. “Hope you have the flash off,” he chuckled over his shoulder.
Forsaken World (Book 3): Rite of Passage Page 26