Forsaken World (Book 3): Rite of Passage

by Watson, Thomas A.

  “They aren’t in the group, so they’ll be viewed as hostile,” Johnathan stated and Bill gave him a questioning look. “Bill, if I even think they have bad thoughts, get a bad vibe, or read the tea leaves wrong, I’m dropping them. I’ll ask for forgiveness later.”

  “That’s what we’ve done since this started. I thought you were changing the rules,” Bill said.

  “No, but if you see someone shadowing us, take ’em. I’ll do the same,” Johnathan said, stepping back.

  “Ready,” Sandy said, climbing on her horse.

  Watching Mary climb on her horse, “Ann,” Bill said, checking his tool belt gear. Johnathan glanced down at Dan looking up at him and panting.

  Adjusting his backpack, Johnathan climbed up and checked the bow tucked in the saddle. Low rumbling thunder sounded outside as Johnathan steered his horse to the backdoor. Striking east and cutting across the fields, Johnathan scanned the area.

  Around them, the wind was picking up to a breeze and Johnathan pulled his ball cap down on his head. Giving his horse a small nudge with his heel, the horse picked up to a fast walk as Johnathan kept looking around.

  Tilting his head back and looking around at the dark clouds, Johnathan was very happy he wasn’t to the south. The storm clouds to the south were almost black. “Just stay down south,” Johnathan told the storm, dropping his eyes back to the land.

  Riding for two hours and with the light fading fast, Johnathan stopped as Sandy rode up pointing north. “A barn,” she shouted over the wind.

  Not even responding, Johnathan kicked the horse and headed across the fields. Ahead, he could see the barn a mile away, sitting in a stand of trees. “You’re not fooling me. You saw the trees, Sandy,” Johnathan chuckled, even though they hadn’t passed but one house and two mobile homes.

  The house had sat alone and looked too much like the house on the Wizard of Oz and Johnathan was convinced, mobile homes attracted tornadoes.

  Nearing the barn, Johnathan slowed down and saw the barn sat by itself with some farm equipment around, but no house that he could see. The trees were on the north and south sides and for some reason, gave Johnathan a sense of peace.

  Stopping out front and climbing off his horse, Johnathan moved to the door with his AR up to his shoulder. Looking inside, it was pitch black. Taking a breath, “Dan,” Johnathan shouted over the wind and moved inside. He stopped just inside the door and waited until his eyes became accustomed.

  Almost hyperventilating through his nose, slowly his eyes adjusted and he looked around the barn. “Damn, it’s dark,” Bill said coming in and Johnathan saw rain starting to fall.

  “Just hold and let your eyes adjust,” Johnathan said, moving into the barn. He found a small office and didn’t see or smell anything. Reaching the back bay door, Johnathan looked out at the trees a hundred yards away, swaying in the stiff wind.

  Grabbing the door, Johnathan pulled to roll the door closed. Moving to the stairs, he saw Bill already heading up. “Damn barn is big,” he heard Bill say softly from the loft.

  Joining Bill up in the loft, Johnathan saw the loft only ran down the middle of the barn with openings to the floor below on the sides. The middle floor was thirty feet wide and about that from the edges to the walls. Moving to the bales of hay stacked in the middle of the floor, “Food for the horses,” Johnathan said and saw Bill standing in the front loft opening. Bill waved down and Johnathan heard the horses being ridden inside.

  “You good?” Johnathan asked Bill.

  “Hell, yeah. I saw this and was wondering why you weren’t heading for it.” Bill said, walking back.

  Johnathan laughed, dropping his backpack and moving to the stairs. “I thought Sandy saw it because she was looking at the trees,” Johnathan said when Bill reached him.

  “I heard that,” Sandy called up and someone was shutting the front bay door.

  Coming down the steps, Johnathan looked at Bill and then the wives. “The main part of the storm looks south, but I didn’t see breaks to the north. I say we unsaddle the horses and let them eat,” Johnathan suggested.

  “They have water!” Mary said and everyone turned to her. “It’s a hand pump like you see in the old movies.”

  “We’ve been moving without a break for over two weeks, the horses can use it,” Bill said, looking around the dark room. Even with his eyes accustomed to the light level, it was still dark. The only light was coming from skylights on the roof where the floor for the loft ended above.

  “Let’s unsaddle the horses and stay up in the loft?” Bill offered and when he saw everyone moving to the horses he shrugged. “I was just asking,” he mumbled.

  With the horses taken care of, everyone moved up to the loft and the wives got Bill and Johnathan to carry up one of the five-gallon water jugs. Finding several metal buckets, everyone started pulling out clothes to wash and formed an assembly line as the rain picked up outside and lightning flashed.

  “Bill, Johnathan, we can do this. Why don’t you keep watch,” Mary said with authority.

  “Guess we can take a hint,” Bill said, grabbing his rifle and bow.

  Picking up his gear, Johnathan saw both dogs looking out the front loft door at the storm outside. Following Bill, they both stopped but back from the opening. Lightening was striking far to the south in a breathtaking scene. “Glad we didn’t go into Oklahoma,” Bill gasped in awe, as Johnathan pulled over a bale of hay.

  They both sat down, watching the storm with the dogs. “Sorry for cutting into your sleep,” Johnathan said.

  “Sleep?” Bill huffed. “Knowing you two were shooting stinkers I may have gotten an hour or two, how about you?”

  “About an hour,” Johnathan grinned. “Hard to sleep when you know others are fighting.”

  “If this is a prelude of what’s across the Mississippi, we only have two choices. Move constantly with short breaks or move short distances, finding secure positions to hole up in and take breaks. If we do the latter, we will be spending a lot of time looking for places to hole up in each day,” Bill said.

  “Yeah, but moving constantly will wear us and the horses out,” Johnathan countered. “I really don’t like the idea of walking.”

  “You think we can keep moving like we have been?” Bill asked.

  Thinking as he looked outside, “Yeah, sometimes we will be able to and others, we will just have to move,” Johnathan replied.

  When the lightning flashed Bill squinted his eyes, thinking he had seen something outside near the road. “So, play it by ear?” he asked, staring at the spot. When the lightning lit up the area again, Bill relaxed, seeing a bush a hundred yards from the barn.

  “You see something?” Johnathan asked, looking harder.

  “Thought I did, but it was only a bush,” Bill replied, moving his gaze.

  Nodding, “About playing it by ear, yeah,” Johnathan said. “Let’s face it, we have a planned route but I’m certain stinkers will push us off it. When we do stop, we need to be ready to run.”

  To the south in Oklahoma which was only a few miles away, lightning was almost constant as thunder rumbled across, shaking the barn. “I just have a bad feeling about the Mississippi River,” Bill said, raising his voice over the thunder. “There aren’t that many bridges and they just make good ambush spots.”

  Waiting until the thunder died down, “People won’t be on the bridges, Bill. Too easy to get trapped. We have to worry about people close to the bridges,” Johnathan told him. “I know horses can swim, but we aren’t even going to entertain the idea. My fear is the bridge will be packed with stinkers.”

  At first Bill didn’t follow, then he nodded. “Yeah, they follow roads and any car that used the bridge, they would follow.”

  “If the bridge is packed, we head north to the next one and if it’s packed we have a choice, leave the horses and cross by boat and head out on foot, or continue north and then swing east before turning south. But that adds several more large rivers to cross,” Johnathan tol
d him as a loud thunderclap sounded and both dogs jumped back.

  They patted the dogs and Bill just sighed. “If we go by foot, I don’t see us making it,” he added in a soft voice. “We would have to hit houses for food and in the east, we would have to contend with stinkers inside and out. Not to mention, I bet many of those houses have been hit by people already.”

  “We will do what we can,” Johnathan said as Dan sat down beside him.

  Standing up and stretching, “If we have to get on a boat, I say we use it to follow the Cumberland up into Kentucky,” Bill said, grunting.

  “You realize how many times we would have to stop for fuel?” Johnathan gasped. “And we would have to go through Nashville and anyone on the bank could take a shot at us.”

  Dropping his arms, “You already worked on the numbers, huh?” Bill asked.

  Giving a half shrug, “Yeah and stopped, after working on the fuel alone,” Johnathan admitted.

  Mary came over wearing a long t-shirt and shorts and carrying two plates. “Hungry?” she asked, holding out the bowls.

  “You could’ve just stood outside and took a shower,” Bill chuckled, taking the bowl.

  Flipping her hand at Bill, “Right, with all the lightning?” Mary chuckled. “After you eat strip, so we can wash what you have on.”

  “We need to keep something ready to go,” Johnathan said in-between bites.

  Pointing out the loft door, “It’s raining, your clothes are going to be wet anyway,” Mary reminded him and they both nodded.

  “Well, I’m going to wash up some,” Johnathan said, pulling food out of his beard.

  “I can’t wait to shave this damn thing off,” Bill snarled, tugging on his beard. “I found a Cheeto yesterday and it’s been like a week since we ate that.”

  “Bill, my legs are hairier than yours, so don’t go there,” Mary almost growled. “I need an electric trimmer, just so I can use a razor.”

  Smiling at Mary, “We get home, I’ll do it for ya,” Bill winked.

  “I’m going to wash up, I’ll be back in a second,” Johnathan said, walking to the back.

  Taking Johnathan’s spot on the hay bale, “You two are really worried about the Mississippi River,” Mary stated, putting her hand on Bill’s leg.

  Pausing with the next bite, Bill glanced back at the other end of the loft, sixty feet away. “You two heard that?” he asked with a mouthful of food.

  Squeezing his leg and nodding, “Yeah, that’s why we like to let you two move off and talk,” Mary admitted, turning to look outside. “You two tone it down when you talk around us. That’s why Sandy and I get you two off, so we can listen.”

  “Wow,” Bill said, turning back to his full spoon. Dumping it in his mouth, “Just don’t want you two to worry needlessly. We are so proud of how you two have risen up to meet any challenge,” Bill told her.

  “Thank you,” Mary smiled, looking outside. “We will make it across the river,” Mary said with a determination that made goosebumps rise up on Bill’s arms.

  Putting his hand over hers, Bill squeezed it. “Yes, we will,” he said with a gentle smile.

  “Because you’re shaving my legs when we get home,” Mary said flatly. “I don’t even like lifting my arms. I think I would’ve died if we hadn’t got scissors with the horses.”

  Turning to look outside, “I gave up on trimming this shit from my mouth,” Bill grunted.

  “Bill, if we have to take a boat, let’s take a boat,” Mary said flatly.

  Squeezing her hand again, “If we have to, we will. We will do whatever is necessary to get home,” Bill told her as Sandy and Johnathan came back. Stroking his damp beard, Johnathan was wearing shorts and boots with his tool belt hanging off his shoulders. With his now long hair wet and pulled back, a shaggy beard, and a very lean body, Johnathan didn’t look anything like his life before the pandemic, nor did the others.

  “Wash up, Bill,” Johnathan said. When Bill and Mary walked off, they sat down on the hay bale. Putting a bowl of dog food down for Dan, “Ready to go over the route?”

  Giving a long groan, “We have maps,” Sandy huffed.

  “That we will only use if we deviate off the path. I don’t want anyone tracing their finger on the map, in case we lose it,” Johnathan said, giving Sandy a startle.

  Taking a deep breath as she watched the storm outside, Sandy started reciting the trip they would take when they reached Kentucky.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  June 4

  Coming out before sunrise and leaving the ladybugs at the cabin, they hauled all the equipment a mile outside of the patrol area in two vehicles. Since the Battle Bot was so big, Lance had to walk behind it, using the R/C control all the way to the ridge behind the cabin and parking at the abandoned house. Then, they loaded it up on the trailer and took off.

  It was late in the morning as Jennifer stood with her mouth hanging open, looking out in the field below. The Battle Bot turned around as another stinker came into the kill box. With its arms out, the stinker trotted at the Battle Bot and the Battle Bot just rolled slowly toward it.

  When the bar six inches off the ground hit the stinker in the shins, the stinker tripped over almost diving into the shredder. Even from a hundred yards away, Jennifer heard the teeth chewing through bone. On each side, the grisly remains were ejected out and in seconds, the Battle Bot pivoted as another stinker approached.

  Staking out a five-thousand-foot square in the field with the flat metal panels, they had put in a recharging spot in the corner that had a heavy gauge metal box. Then, they’d set up the large solar mirror with the Sterling engine. Using rope, they’d tied one end to a tree and the other around the eight-hundred-pound battery on the trailer. Then they had pulled the trailer off, dropping the battery on the ground.

  Jennifer was rather surprised they had everything done in two hours. She and Lilly had covered the boys and would help when asked. When Lance turned the Battle Bot on for real, everyone got ready to shoot it.

  “How long will it operate?” Lilly asked in awe as the Bot headed to another stinker.

  “Don’t know,” Lance shrugged. “Too many variables with it eating stinkers. It should continue for twelve hours but no matter what, when the power drops to forty percent, it pulls over for a recharge.”

  “How long for a recharge?” Jennifer asked.

  “About six hours,” Ian said, grinning as the Battle Bot spun around just as three stinkers charged. Like lemmings, the three fell into the vertical V and one actually pushed back on the body it had landed on. But the body was soon eaten and the Battle Bot had its arm, yanking him in.

  Grinning, “I can’t believe you’re playing audio recordings of Family Guy,” Jennifer chuckled, seeing more stinkers coming.

  “They like voices,” Ian said. “The pole over the charging station has LED lights to attract stinkers at night.”

  Turning to the side of the field, Lilly smiled at a large painted sign drilled to a tree.

  If you can read:

  Do not approach or you will get eaten by Battle Bot.

  Do not touch any equipment or we will eat you.

  Yes, we can see you. Male, female, young or old, touch it, you die.

  This is our toy to rid the area of stinkers, build your own.

  Yours Truly: The Wild Ones

  “Love the sign,” Lilly chuckled as the Bot moved to the center of the now bloody zone it operated in.

  “Don’t want anyone getting hurt, but don’t touch our shit,” Lance said, turning away and heading for the side by side. “Lilly, you want to drive or ride?”

  “I’ll ride, if you don’t mind. I want to practice shooting,” she said, moving to the side by side. Pointing at the backseat, Dino jumped in.

  Ian and Jennifer gave the Battle Bot a last glance before heading for the buggy. “You can drive,” Jennifer said, climbing in the passenger side. “I like the fact we are killing stinkers all the time now.”

  “Just have to fin
d more metal and parts to make some more bots,” Ian said, following Lance up the slope to the ridge. “After the next two are done, we don’t have enough to start more.”

  When they reached the diversion fence, they put up the rest of the barbed wire on the west side and then headed back to the cabin. Pulling to the front gate, Lilly jumped out as Carrie opened the outer gate with George and Judy next to her. “I’ll close, you cover,” Lilly said and Carrie pulled her rifle off her back.

  Pulling in, the others waited until the gates were closed and Carrie ran over, climbing in Lance’s lap. “I want to drive,” she said, grabbing the steering wheel. “Push the go pedal.”

  Lance laughed, pressing the accelerator. Carrie drove around the cabin, pulling over to the ATV shed. “That was fun,” she said, climbing out.

  Moving to the back of the side by side, Lilly helped Lance unhook the trailer. “I take it, you and Ian are going to set up deeds?” Lilly asked, turning to Lance.

  “Yes, I’m sure the Nazis are feeling left out,” Lance grinned.

  “Don’t you want more time to set up your deeds?” Lilly asked as Ian and Jennifer walked over.

  Scoffing, Lance chuckled. “Please, these deeds are crude by our standards.”

  Lilly turned to Jennifer and held out her left-gloved hand and balled her right into a fist, resting it on her palm. Smiling, Jennifer did the same and they counted off. On three, Jennifer cheered, “Paper rules!”

  Giving a groan, Lilly turned away as Jennifer looked at the boys. “I get to pull cover for you,” she beamed. Seeing shock on the boys faces, “We are ready,” Jennifer said as the joy slipped off her face.

  Spinning on his heel, Ian turned to Lance to object about Jennifer coming, but Lance held up his hands. “Dude, they are ready to take the next step and having an extra set of hands just to guard our back will make setting them up go fast,” Lance explained. “This isn’t a scouting trip, otherwise I would object.”

  Turning to Jennifer, Ian walked over and stopped in front of her. As Ian towered over her, Jennifer looked up at his face in defiance. “You never admit to a deed. We never did it and were never there,” Ian said.