War Zone: Homefront

by Thomas A. Watson

  “God damn it, Nathan! I took the class and got my demolition license!” Bill snapped.

  “Bill, you took a twenty-hour government course!” Nathan cried out. “All they do is make sure you can tie your shoes and bubble your name in on a scantron with a pencil!”

  “He wore boots, and used an ink pen to bubble his name in,” Rusty chuckled.

  “Bill, the last time, you blew up a fucking mountain,” Nathan moaned, then looked at the others. “Why the fuck did you let him have some explosives? If Janice finds out, after she’s finished with ‘God of Thunder’, she’s coming for you.”

  “I’m a big boy,” Bill snapped.

  “Who uses too much explosives,” Tim nodded behind Nathan. “And Bill still doesn’t understand why Nathan won’t let him have a hand grenade.”

  “Duh,” Nathan sang out, throwing up his hands. “The last time Bill played with explosives, I see his naked body hazed out on the evening news.”

  “Hey, my clothes didn’t get blown off! A tree nearly hit me, and the limbs ripped my clothes off,” Bill snapped. “I made a mistake. I admitted it. Can we let it go?”

  “What about the horses?” Nathan asked, dropping his arms down.

  “Oh, I figure they’ll return to the valley when they get tired of running south, after they saw the world to their north blow up,” Aiden answered.

  Shaking his head, “I’m really disappointed in you guys for letting Bill around explosives again,” Nathan told them, looking at each one. “Just how much did you find?”

  When he turned to Tim behind him, Tim held up his hand. “Don’t, because I was voted off the island. Rusty said I was acting like a pussy, and Bill wanted to stop and find me some tampons. All I suggested was I set the explosives. Second, it seems the Forestry had just received a shipment, and the God of Thunder took over two hundred pounds.”

  Somewhat startled at the amount, but pleased with Tim, “So, we had one adult,” Nathan stated proudly.

  “Nathan, Bill said he stole it, so he was going to use it,” Rusty huffed. “You know how he gets with his toys, he doesn’t share.”

  Giving a big nod, “That’s true,” Nathan agreed.

  “Get the fuck off my back,” Bill growled. “We got rid of the convoy.”

  “Yeah, there’s two craters in the road now with huge piles of scrap metal, not to mention twenty trees and half the mountainside piled in the road,” Aiden laughed.

  Flipping his goggles up, Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh, Billy?” he called out, making Bill grit is teeth. “Just how much did you use?”

  “Hundred pounds for each bomb,” Rusty chimed in. “I told him twenty would be more than enough.”

  “You used two hundred-pound bombs in a narrow valley and you were only what, a few hundred or so yards away, not to mention above the site?” Nathan asked for clarification.

  Stepping up beside Nathan, “That seems to sum it up nicely,” Tim smiled.

  “Billy,” Nathan sighed, dropping his hand off his nose. “If you touch anything bigger than a firecracker, I’m telling Janice the truth. That’s your motorcycle in my garage, not mine.”

  Bills mouth fell open as he moaned. “That’s just mean.”

  “Oh, not as mean as Janice is going to be on your ass,” Aiden offered. “I’ll go along with that.”

  Feeling dizzy, Bill turned to Aiden in shock as Rusty walked over to him. “I’ll show Janice the pictures of when you rode it to Dallas for that conference,” Rusty grinned.

  “All right,” Bill panted in fear. “I have another three hundred pounds of C-4 and two spools of det cord back in the valley. My packhorse has another hundred and eighty pounds. I’ll turn it all over to Tim.”

  The posse just stared at Bill, not moving. “So, you stole over five hundred pounds?” Natalie asked.

  “It was all they had,” Bill answered quickly.

  “Why did you bring two hundred pounds with you?” John asked, wondering how big the explosion would be.

  “I wanted to make sure I had enough,” Bill actually whined.

  Spinning away from Bill, “John, Tom, get the stuff off the packhorse and let’s do this,” Nathan said, walking away. “No, Billy! You aren’t watching!” Nathan called over his shoulder when Bill started to follow.

  “But I’m not even touching them!” Bill gasped, watching Tom and John follow Nathan as each carried a Javelin.

  “You’re being punished by the eternal teen. That’s bad,” Rusty giggled, walking past Bill. “That’s almost like Emma grounding Vince.”

  “Jasmine,” Bill whined almost stomping his feet, and Jasmine shook her head.

  “Fuck if I’m taking your side,” she huffed. “You’ll be lucky if your packhorse shows up without getting blown up.”

  Walking over to Bill, “Mr. Bill, you can ride with me,” Natalie offered. “But I get to sit up front so I can see, because you can see over me.”

  Giving a genuine smile, Bill patted Natalie’s shoulder. “Thank you, because that packhorse was killing my butt.”

  “Let’s get the horses ready, so we can ride hard,” Jasmine said. Aiden and Tim helped her take down the hitch line. They all mounted up, holding the reins of the others’ horses.

  Following Nathan to a clearing, John felt his pulse quicken. “Let’s see how they like this,” he grinned.

  At the back of the group, Rusty suddenly had a revelation watching Tom and John behind Nathan. Not only could Nathan take his family out to fight, he felt safe doing it. It was like a new post-apocalyptic family activity. Instead of going to Disneyland, let’s go blow up some shit and spend some quality family time together as we drop the hammer on some of the scum of the earth.

  “Don’t know if I’ll get there,” Rusty admitted to himself.

  Stopping in the clearing, Nathan looked down into the valley at Prichard over a mile away while the boys took the end caps off the Javelins. Stopping beside Nathan, Rusty looked at the faint lights from Prichard. “Nathan, we need to hit the lab and the collection of vehicles near that roadblock,” Rusty said. “That house where you saw Doyle isn’t a priority. Granted, if we knew his ass was there, it’d be different, but we don’t. And you’ll only let us use two Javelins.”

  “We only have ten, feel lucky,” Nathan huffed.

  “Then let’s just hit the lab and save the other,” Rusty offered.

  Shaking his head, “No,” Nathan replied instantly. “We have to limit their movement, and that’ll cut down on the number they can force into service.”

  “Then let’s do it, before I change my mind and just tell Janice about Bill’s motorcycle,” Rusty said.

  Turning to the boys, “John, take the lab. Tom, you take the collection of cars. Aim for one in the center. Both of you tell me when you have a lock. Make sure you select top attack,” Nathan told them, then turned back.

  “I got a lock,” John answered and waited.

  “Okay, I got a lock on a big truck in the center of the car lot,” Tom said.

  “Fire,” Nathan said.

  Two pops sounded when the missiles were shot out, clearing the tubes before the rockets kicked in with a whoosh. “Fuck you, Doyle,” Nathan said, following the streaks. John’s hit first, filling the valley with a flash, and a larger secondary explosion flashed just as Tom’s rocket hit.

  ‘Boom’ finally reached them from John’s hit and then a much bigger ‘KABOOOM’ rolled up the mountain, drowning out Tom’s impact. The lab was a raging conflagration and they could see the bluish tint to the fire. Glancing over to where the vehicles were parked, Nathan could see several vehicles burning and many blown over onto their sides.

  “Let’s go home,” Nathan smiled, hanging a sign on a tree.

  “Oh, that’s cold,” John laughed.

  No Place is Safe and You Cannot Hide

  Death to all tweakers

  THE POSSE

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Three days after getting back, and asleep in his bed, Nathan dr
eamed he was in the desert as the sun beat down on him. Looking over the sands, Nathan tried to move and find shade, but his body wasn’t listening. The desert faded away as Nathan’s brain rebooted, telling the body it was time to wake up.

  “So hot,” Nathan groaned, struggling to open his eyes. Trying to push the covers off, Nathan couldn’t move his arms. The only extremity that tried to obey his commands was his left leg. Extending it out, Nathan didn’t feel any covers.

  Worry entered his consciousness, and that gave his eyes the motivation to open. Lifting his head until his chin touched his chest, Nathan saw Jasmine laying on the right side of his chest with his arm trapped under her body. Seeing a very small head on his chest, Nathan lifted his head higher and saw Nolan asleep. “What?” Nathan mumbled, very confused. Turning to his left, he saw Emma and Chip burrowed into his left side.

  The last thing he could remember from last night was being a cheap bicycle, and there damn sure weren’t any kids in the room then.

  Putting his head back on the pillows, Nathan started wiggling his extremities to see how much movement he had. He could feel Jasmine’s legs wrapped around his right. Realizing he could only move his left leg, he decided to just lay there. Nathan’s bladder sent out a pain, letting him know that was not feasible.

  Wiggling his torso and trying to slide out from under Jasmine and over Emma and Chip, Nathan heard Jasmine give a soft moan. “Hey, love,” she mumbled.

  “When did the kids come in, and why is Nolan on my chest?”

  Feeling Nathan moving, Jasmine turned to roll off, but Nathan helped. Jasmine flipped off Nathan’s chest with her face falling into the bed. Feeling the bed shaking, she lifted her head up and saw Nathan running off the end of the bed, still holding Nolan to his chest. Watching him leap off the bed, Jasmine chuckled as Nathan sprinted to the bathroom. Rolling back over, Jasmine let out a groan as she stretched.

  With his bladder informing him relief measures were about to be taken without his consent, Nathan pawed at his boxers while he held Nolan to his chest. “Damn it,” he grunted, then looked down and saw his boxers were on backwards. Just shoving them down, Nathan gave a sigh that he’d beat the clock.

  Feeling Nolan stirring, “Shh,” Nathan soothed, bouncing him lightly on his chest. When he was finished, Nathan felt deflated.

  Moving to the sink, Nathan looked down at Nolan asleep and drooling on his chest. Turning on the sink, Nathan started to wash his right hand, but found it was hard to wash it without the left. Satisfied, Nathan headed back to bed and saw Jasmine propped on the pillows. “Kids?” Nathan just blurted out, motioning to Nolan and then to Emma and Chip.

  “Emma and Chip wanted to come in an hour or so after you went to sleep,” Jasmine giggled.

  “I’ve never put my boxers on backwards,” Nathan admitted, looking down.

  “Oh, I did that,” Jasmine told him, and Nathan looked up. “Hun, they couldn’t get in the bed with you naked. I had your boxers almost on when I realized they were backwards, and I wasn’t taking them off again because Emma had her entire arm under the door.”

  Shoving his boxers down and stepping out, Nathan put them on correctly. “So, Nolan crawled to the door?”

  “No, he wouldn’t stop crying after Emma and Chip left Tim and Sherry’s room. He wanted to be with them, so I told Sherry he could sleep with us. I think they needed some cheap bicycle time of their own,” Jasmine grinned.

  Sitting down on the bed and giving a nod, “Yeah, quickies can tide you over, but nothing beats a cheap bicycle romp.”

  Feeling the bed move, they both turned and saw Emma just sit up with her hair going everywhere. “Pee Naphn,” she announced, holding out her hands.

  “Jasmine is right here,” Nathan whined as Emma stood up, grabbing her crotch. “We will find a potty chair,” Nathan vowed, handing Nolan off.

  The one and only time Nathan had made Emma go potty by herself, she’d fallen in the toilet, butt first. Nathan had come in and only saw Emma’s feet and hands sticking out of the bowl. She was small enough, her whole body could fit inside. Promptly pulling her out and giving her two baths, Nathan had told her he was sorry.

  Nathan picked Emma up and held her at arm’s length when Emma grabbed herself to signal she couldn’t hold it any longer. Nathan and the others had learned to do this after getting soaked. Setting Emma on the pot, Nathan positioned her hands to hold herself up, and supported her back to keep her from falling in. “Your butt is the size of a half-dollar,” Nathan told her with relief, since he’d made it in time. Bathing Emma was a job unto itself. Sherry and Jasmine kept telling him to just wash her with a rag during the day, if Emma peed on herself. That just seemed wrong and nasty to Nathan, so Emma got a bath, but only when she lost control, peeing on herself in front of Nathan. Everyone else just wiped her off and let her go.

  Holding Emma’s legs, so she wouldn’t fall in, Nathan yawned as Emma babbled at him. “No, we aren’t riding horses today,” Nathan said with his yawn.

  “Lwa tic reed ahwe,” Emma babbled, and Nathan gave a startle.

  “No, you can’t ride Ares,” Nathan snapped.

  On the bed cradling Nolan in her arms, Jasmine shook her head as Emma babbled at Nathan with attitude. “Oh, I so pity the first boy Emma likes. I need to find out if Nathan was ever a sperm donor because that one is his.”

  “I don’t care how big Ares is, you aren’t riding him!” Nathan shouted in the bathroom, and Emma just babbled louder.

  Hearing scratching at the door, “Ares, sit!” Jasmine called out, and the scratching stopped.

  “I told you, you aren’t allowed around Apollo! I know he’s bigger, but they’re dogs!” Nathan shouted, and Emma never stopped babbling.

  The door opened, and Amanda came in with her hair puffed out. “What’s Nathan shouting about?” she yawned.

  “Emma,” was all Jasmine said, and Amanda rolled her eyes and crawled up on the bed to lay beside Jasmine. When Ares and Athena jumped on the bed and laid at the foot, Jasmine almost told them to get off, but stopped because she didn’t know if Nathan allowed it.

  Reaching out with her foot, Amanda rubbed Ares and then Athena. “Emma is a pain,” Amanda huffed. “She always gets her way.”

  Jasmine bit her tongue to stop the remark on her lips and looked down at Amanda’s hair. “Amanda, I asked you to brush your hair before going to bed.”

  Rolling on her back, Amanda rubbed Ares with her right foot and Athena with her left. “I forgot,” Amanda said. “We were playing John and Tom on Call of Duty.”

  “Emma, you wipe, not pat!” Nathan moaned loudly.

  Rolling over and propping up on her elbows, “When are you goin’ to get pregnant?” Amanda almost snarled. “If Nathan gets another baby, Emma won’t get so much attention.”

  “Pfft,” Jasmine huffed, turning from Amanda to the bathroom door. “I’ll bet your ass anything, you’re wrong about that.”

  “Can’t you just try?” Amanda whined.

  Fighting to keep the blush off her cheeks, “Amanda, if it happens, it happens, but I’m not going to try. We’re being careful,” Jasmine replied.

  “Will you be still for five seconds?! That’s all I need from you! I can’t brush your hair with your head spinning around on your shoulders! Are you possessed?!” Nathan cried out.

  A few minutes later, a visibly annoyed Nathan came out holding Emma, who had a ponytail at the top of her head. “Why are the dogs on my bed?”

  “They sleep on mine,” Amanda sassed, rolling over on her back and resting her feet on the dogs.

  “Not on mine,” Nathan snapped. “Ares! Athena!” he barked, and both dogs jumped off the bed. Putting Emma down, she charged Ares to wrap her arms around his neck. “Who needs coffee when you have kids?” Nathan mumbled, heading for the dresser.

  When Nathan started opening dresser drawers, Amanda sat up looking at his back. “Why do you have scratches on your back?” she asked. Jasmine turned to look, and her face turned pink.<
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  Twisting at the waist, Nathan looked in the mirror at his back and grinned. “Cheap bicycle,” Nathan chuckled, and Jasmine’s face went from pink to red.

  “Nathan, you don’t have a cheap bicycle. All your bicycles cost over a thousand dollars,” Amanda stated.

  Shaking his head as he pulled on a tank top, “For someone who’s so smart, you can be really dense sometimes,” Nathan mumbled.

  When Amanda turned to ask Jasmine and saw her red face, she stopped. “Oh, you were bumping uglies,” Amanda clarified. All strength left his legs and Nathan collapsed in a fit of laughter. “Sometimes he’s so weird,” Amanda sighed. “I like it much better when he’s not acting like an adult.”

  Jasmine wasn’t surprised Amanda saw it. The kids loved Nathan because most of the time, he acted like them. More than once, she had heard one of the posse’s kids, or ‘little posse’ was what Nathan called them. They were called ‘Little Rascals’ by the others in the group, but this name included Nathan. “What’s wrong with Nathan, he’s acting like a grown-up?” She’d heard more than one kid ask that. It did amaze Jasmine, how Nathan literally changed overnight. And one thing she was certain of, the one responsible for the change was the same one Nathan was laughing at.

  Getting up, Nathan walked over to the bed and picked Amanda up. Setting her on his hip, Nathan carried her to the bathroom. “Let’s get that hair done and start the workout.” Amanda grinned, wrapping her skinny legs around his waist as she held on like a bigger version of Emma.

  “Oh, I do feel for the boys around here, and I pray they know how to run when they break the hearts of his little girls,” Jasmine grinned.

  “Jazz,” she heard, and turned to see Chip sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

  “Hey, sleepyhead,” she smiled. “You’re not going to give me my morning hug?” Jasmine asked, poking out her bottom lip.

  Letting out a squeal, Chip crawled over the bed fast. Hugging Jasmine from the side, so he wouldn’t squish Nolan, Chip kissed her on the cheek. Hearing a squeal at the foot of the bed, Jasmine sat up and her eyes got wide seeing Emma, astride Ares’ back. “He really fucking does understand her,” Jasmine gasped.