Chapter 1

Zeb/Org stood on top of the hill looking at the sealed doors of the tunnel. Hundreds of dogs, small and large, sat around him, waiting for him to tell them what to do.

Beside him, a small mongrel dog lifted its head. Zeb asked, “What are we going to do now? The human, Joe, is out of our reach.”

“Don’t worry, old one. He won’t be in there for very long. Things are happening which will compel him to leave the shelter of the mountain. All we can do now is bide our time until he is out in the open where we can get to him,” Zeb heard in his mind.

Zeb heard and knew everything happening to him, but was unable to control many of his actions. A few months ago, he was a ninety-one-year-old man trying to make sense of a world gone mad.

Now he was locked in a small portion of his own mind, while an alien force used the rest of it, and his body. Although unable to control his actions, Zeb discovered if he was careful, he could fool the alien who had taken over his body. He discovered the force in control of him had a few misconceived ideas about humans. For one thing, the being thought that because Zeb was ninety-one years old, he required a lot of rest. Actually, Zeb was as hearty and healthy as a man in his late forties. He used this knowledge to give Joe and his people a chance to escape. By faking exhaustion, Zeb forced the being to rest more than it would have preferred to.

He discovered the small dog, Squeeker, that had been his companion for the last several years, was the true alien force that controlled him. Somehow, the being had placed a small part of himself in Zeb’s mind as he slept a few months ago. Used to living by himself, Zeb had no living relatives.

Several months ago when the world started going crazy, Zeb noticed a change in Squeeker. She became listless for awhile, then overnight, she became aggressive as all get out. Zeb’s first thought was she had been bitten by a rabid animal and he was concerned. He was about to take her to the vet in town when she appeared to become her old self again.

He lay down to sleep one night and woke up the next morning feeling strange. His thoughts were muddled and he had a hard time concentrating on anything. As the day progressed, he heard a voice in his head asking if he was in control yet. Zeb thought he was getting the sickness spreading across the country at the time.

His head hurt so bad, he took a whole bottle of aspirin that day. It felt like something was inside his mind, shifting portions of his brain around. The morning after that, he woke up and discovered that even though he was still Zeb, something had sealed away the part of him that controlled his body.

At first, the alien was confused as to how the human body functioned. Zeb remembered his body taking its first jerky steps under the alien’s control.

It took a while for Zeb to realize what had happened to him. Never a quitter, Zeb tried to fight the alien for control of his mind. Almost at once, Zeb found himself forced into the background and shut off from any control of his own body.

After awhile, the alien learned the basic functions of the human body, but not before Zeb had soiled his pants. The ripe aroma of feces continually assaulted Zeb’s nostrils before the alien realized this wasn’t the way humans eliminated their waste.

Near the end of the day, Zeb heard, “Zeb, can you hear me?”

Still in a state of shock, Zeb asked, “Who are you? What have you done to me?”

“Who I am is unimportant. I have taken control of your short, furry friend. The one you call Squeeker. I have placed a small part of myself in your mind. It is useless to fight it. What I want to tell you is if anything should happen to me, you will also die. What I require is your knowledge of this world so I can function properly. I could obtain this knowledge by force, but it would destroy your mind. I would rather you gave it freely than have to take it, but I will if I must.”

“What have you done with Squeeker?” Zeb asked.

“I am afraid the small furry animal’s mind was destroyed when I took control of her body.”

Zeb gave a mental sob of anguish. “Why did you have to kill the only companion I had left?” he asked, in a tormented voice.

“Her mind was of no significance to me. If I had left it, it would have caused problems with my controlling the body.”

“Why not take control of me and leave Squeeker alone?”

“Her body suited the plans I have. This way, I share your knowledge and it helps me carry out the job I was created to do.”

“What job is that?” Zeb asked.

“To eliminate the few humans who can stop what is happening to this world.”

“You said you were created. Who created you?”

“Of my creator, I have no knowledge. I only know that I am to stop these humans.”

“Why take on the form of an animal? Why not a human?” Zeb asked.

“In this form, I can control all the animals of this species. My maker deemed these creatures, you call dogs, to be the most efficient predators on this planet. In a few years, your human culture will begin to decay without all the modern tools you have to make life easier for you. In the years to come, many humans will die. They will not have the skills to survive in a world without technology. In the meantime, the dogs will survive and flourish because of their instinct for survival. I shall allow a small percentage of people to live so they can do my bidding. Your kind can do so much more than we can. We will keep some of you around to build the things we need. Mankind will never again be rulers of this world. In fifty years, the human race will be totally dependent on us. That is the plan my maker has set out to accomplish. The only thing standing in the way are these people I am to destroy. My maker has another enemy that is very powerful, but he says he can handle her without too much trouble.”

Zeb’s interest perked up on hearing this. He asked, “Who is this powerful enemy of your maker? Why do you call it her?”

“How little you puny humans know about the world you live on. The enemy I refer to is the planet itself. It may shock you to learn the planet is a living and dynamic entity in its own right. My maker estimates this entity enveloped this world right after it was formed and has been here since then. Because of a complicated set of rules, this entity cannot take a stand openly against us. However, she can and does, indirectly use a few humans to do her bidding. These are the people we are to seek out and destroy. The reason I refer to this entity as her is because the closest description in human terms is mother earth.”

“I’m old, and a little slow, but I’ll be dammed if anything you’ve told me makes any sense at all,” Zeb fumed.

“It does not have to make sense to you, old one. You are only required to show me the things I need to know in order for me to accomplish my task. If you refuse or disobey me, this is a small portion of the pain you will feel.”

Zeb felt a sharp stab of pain at the base of his skull. It increased in intensity as it spread upward. It felt like his head was expanding; at the same time, he could feel a tearing of tissue in his brain. Holding his head between his hands, he let out a long, loud moan of pain. The pressure dissipated as suddenly as it had appeared and left him with a heart-throbbing headache.

“Remember what I have just done, old one, and we will get along. The next time, the pain will be twice as bad and may do some brain damage. Do you understand, old one?”

“Yes, yes, please, no more pain.” Zeb sobbed as he fell to his knees; his head wracked with pain.

So began Zeb’s odyssey. The alien creature dragged him along until they came across Joe’s group. During those months, Zeb learned the creature’s knowledge of humans was incomplete. Carefully, Zeb told the creature that old humans and animals required a lot of rest so their bodies could rejuvenate. Zeb didn’t know what sources the creature sought to confirm this; but it later told Zeb that he understood Zeb had told the truth.

After that, the creature would consult with Zeb about when he should rest. Zeb tried to stop for a rest every few hours, but the creature wasn’t buying he became exhausted so quickly. Finally, the creature settled on a minimum of six hours and a maximum of nine.

Since they traveled a lot, the six hour minimum became routine. Zeb found a way to block the creature’s mind probes when it tried to tell if he was lying. He placed the lie he wanted Org to find on the outside of the door to his part of the brain and waited for the creature to pick it up. Occasionally, he would put out a small lie for the creature to pick up. Once confronted with the lie, he would tell the truth.

In this manner, Zeb confirmed to the creature that it was in full control of his mind. While the creature allowed these extended periods of rest, Zeb would block off his mind and plot ways to foil the creature.

Zeb had pleaded exhaustion the night Joe and his group sneaked away from them. While the creature slept at the foot of his bed, Zeb let enough gibberish filter out of his mind to keep the creature from hearing Joe and his group when they left. They almost made it without Org knowing. Org had posted a large German Shepherd to warn him of such an attempt.

The thing that kept Org from having the dogs tear them apart was the giant timber wolf, Stalker. As the German Shepherd began to raise the alarm, Stalker attacked and ripped out his throat.

Org woke up and asked who wanted him. Receiving no reply, he settled down again.

Using the part of his brain controlled by the creature, Zeb was able to contact one of the dogs outside and follow Joe’s progress. Joe and his group were almost out of the valley when Zeb slipped up and some of his thoughts filtered through to Org.

Org yelped and jumped up on the bed. “How dare you defy me?” Zeb heard in his mind, followed by excruciating pain.

He fought it as long as he could to give Joe a few precious minutes to get further away.

The only reason Zeb’s brain wasn’t damaged was because the creature realized what Zeb was doing. It broke off the mental attack to issue orders for the dogs to attack Joe and his group.

By then, it was too late, Joe and his people had crested the ridge and were on the other side traveling rapidly downhill. Org ordered a dozen of the dogs to follow them.

It was a night Zeb would rather forget. The creature tortured him all night, with enough pain to cause him torment, but not enough to damage his brain. Zeb still had a persistent dull headache from the episode that wouldn’t go away.

“We must find shelter until they leave the mountain,” Org informed him. Org turned and trotted toward the town of Galaxie.

Zeb followed him through the light dusting of snow. Everywhere he looked, he saw dogs tearing meat from human bodies. There were thousands of them in the valley leading up to the tunnel. All of them were gaunt from lack of food. Ahead of him, Org trotted through the feeding dogs without glancing around. A few were fighting each other over some of the bodies. Zeb guessed there were over a hundred men and women killed by Ben’s attack. Many more of them were killed shortly afterward by the dogs chasing Joe.

Zeb made his way through the dogs to the town. Not much as far as towns go. A few dozen houses and another half a dozen businesses. Most of the places were rundown and trash littered the street. A few cars sat beside the houses with flat tires. It surprised Zeb to see there weren’t any bodies lying on the street.

Apparently, when Ben attacked outside of town, the townspeople rushed to help those under attack.

“Over here,” he heard Org say in his mind. He turned to see Org standing in the doorway of a building.

He walked to the building and entered. The place was a restaurant with tables occupying most of the room. A long counter with stools in front of it ran along the back wall. He walked to a door behind the counter and opened it. The kitchen was a total mess. Half-eaten food was strewn on the floor. The stove looked like someone had thrown a pot of stew on it, then turned on the burners and left it. Open cans littered the floor. A rank smell came from a large, walk-in freezer. From where he stood, he saw spoiled sides of beef hanging in it. He backed out of the kitchen and closed the door.

Behind the counter, he found a few cans of beef stew that hadn’t been opened. He found a can opener and a spoon which he wiped clean on the tail of his shirt. Zeb walked to the front door and took a breath of cold, clean air. Opening the can, he spooned it into his mouth. He watched Org paw through the filth on the floor.

“What are you looking for?” Zeb asked.

“I hope to find something telling me where the leader of the townspeople is located. I know these people were sent here to break into the complex. They were also sent to stop Joe and his group from getting inside. I wish I had known this earlier. The only difference is they want Joe and Ben alive, while I want them dead,” Org replied.

“You knew they were being hunted. Why, you helped them get out of a trap set for them. Why didn’t you enlist their help, then take Joe and Ben away from them?” Zeb asked.

“There were too many of them for me and my creatures to deal with at the time. If you hadn’t interfered, Joe and his group would be dead. I hope you learned your lesson, old one. Oppose me again and I won’t hesitate to destroy your mind. If I have to, I will wait until another human comes near and take over its mind,” Org answered.

Not if I can help it. In the beginning, Zeb discovered he could shield his thoughts from Org. He went on letting the creature think the mind link was complete. At the same time, Zeb built barriers in the portion of his brain occupied by Org. If the creature didn’t discover these barriers in a few weeks, Zeb might be able to block the pain inflicted on him. He knew when the time came to purge the creature from his mind, the portion of his brain occupied by it would suffer some damage. That was a small price to pay for regaining his freedom. Until then, he would try to find out what Org was keeping from him.

Since meeting Joe and his group, Zeb felt Org had done something to one of them which let him know what they were doing. Zeb didn’t believe Org when told he could occupy only one mind at a time. Although Org could block Zeb’s mind probes, he got enough of the creature’s thoughts to know it wasn’t worried about Joe getting away from him.

That meant Org was in the mind of one of the people with Joe. Zeb felt it important to find out which one before he made his attempt to break the mind link with Org.

“You are awfully quiet, old one,” Org said from beside Zeb. Zeb had not noticed the creature come up beside him.

“Just weary, Org. All this traveling by foot has wore me plumb to the bone,” Zeb said.

That was another thing Zeb couldn’t understand. Org was deathly afraid of traveling in a vehicle of any kind. Zeb remembered when they first met Joe. Getting into Joe’s vehicle, Zeb had felt the undercurrents of fear emanating from the creature’s mind. No, this being wasn’t as all powerful as it thought it was. There were things it feared and Zeb hoped to make use of them. He knew Org was terrified of Stalker. Every time the wolf came near Org, Zeb felt fear and hatred emanating from its mind. Too bad the giant timber wolf was dead; surely nothing could live through all the bullets Stalker had taken while fighting with Ben.

“Old one, make yourself a place to sleep. We will stay here for a while,” Org said in his mind.

Zeb went back inside and wheeled a rollaway bed out of the backroom. He swept up some of the litter on the floor and threw it out the back door. Unfolding the rollaway bed, Zeb put it in the corner next to a coal stove. Removing ashes from the stove, he put pieces of kindling in it and started a fire. Zeb sat on the edge of the bed, soaking up the heat emanating from the stove. He asked, “Org, if Todd is as well organized as I think he is, how are you going to get him to come around to your point of view?”

“Right now, I have no wish to control Todd or his people. We are both fighting to gain the same end. Afterwards, we will see. The biggest danger to us both is inside the mountain. I know you don’t understand this, old one, but the people with Joe have a very powerful ally. I do not entirely understand the nature of this force helping them. I do know the force can do nothing by itself. It uses the people it has selected to carry out its plans,” Org told him as he lay beside the stove, basking in the heat.

Sensing Org was in a talkative mood, Zeb decided to get as much information as he could. “Maybe I’m just a dumb old man, but I don’t see how you can hope to control all the humans in the country. I know millions of people have died because of the disease. Millions more were killed by the deranged people like Todd, but there are bound to be many millions still alive,” Zeb said.

“Ah, old one. I do not need to control everyone; just those in power. With them under my control, they can order the rest to do my bidding,” Org said.

Zeb wasn’t one of the smartest humans; but even he could see how Org could gain control of the survivors. Most of the people he had dealt with after the disease were followers. For some reason, the disease caused them to be unable to think for themselves, only a few of them still possessed that ability. People like Todd and the group on the east coast who took over the government. These people were in power, but their overriding compulsion was to destroy anyone not like them.

“If this disease hadn’t come along, you wouldn’t have the power you have over me and the animals, would you, Org?”

“I would have the power, old one, but as it was then, the forces opposing me were too organized. To have attempted what I am doing now would have failed. The organized forces of government would have seen me for what I am and destroyed me. Now the only ones who know or suspect my existence are Joe’s group and possibly, Todd. Even they do not know of my true existence. They believe you are the one controlling the animals, old one.”

“Maybe you can tell me about this strange connection between the man called Ben and the wolf?” Zeb asked.

“The human, Ben, perplexes me. I could not read him at all. I got surface thoughts and emotions from everyone but him. I could feel a power emanating from him, but I am sure he is not its source. I met a blank wall each time I tried to pick up on his thoughts. As for the wolf, he knows I am not what I appear to be. He knew of the symbiotic relationship between the two of us. I believe that is the only thing that kept him from killing me. It puzzles me how an animal could figure out that by killing me, he would also cause your death. Could it be that these creatures, like the one called Stalker, are smarter than humans? Many things puzzle me about this group of Joe’s. For instance, why was it so important for the woman, Tony, to reach this place? At first, I thought it was to destroy me. Now, I am not so sure. The thoughts I picked up indicated she did not know the purpose which she was brought here to fulfill.”

“Do you know what’s behind the doors of the mountain they went in?” Zeb asked.

“It is a government facility designed for medical research. If I knew why they came here, it would answer a lot of questions. Speaking of questions, old one, why are you so interested all of a sudden?” Org asked.

Zeb felt Org probing around in his mind so he laid out a lie for Org to find. He double-checked to be sure the part of his mind free of Org was sealed.

Org chuckled in his mind. “No, old one, it would do you no good if you got into the mountain. There is no way possible to rejuvenate you and make you younger. Forget that nonsense.”

Good, Org had taken the lie and was satisfied Zeb had no other motives. He watched Org go over and lay down near the stove. He waited until he heard the small dog start snoring.

Cautiously, he sent a mind probe toward Org. He met a blank wall, so he started along the sides of it, probing as he went. He found a weak point and increased the strength of his probe. The fabric parted just a little.

Org’s unfiltered thoughts rushed through the break. The images of millions of dogs formed in his mind. Standing before them was a small mutt, who used to be called Squeeker. Next, came a scene of thousands of humans toiling in fields being overseen by a pack of dogs. Behind all this was a shadowy form, lurking in the background.

Zeb tried to sharpen his focus, but the form wavered and disappeared. The scene wavered and Org sat at the head of a table with a group of men around him. At the other end of the room, some reporters asked questions of a dark-haired man standing behind a podium. On the front of the podium, the seal of the President of the United States was affixed. Zeb saw the flow of thoughts between Org and the man as he answered questions.

Another thought wiped this scene away and Zeb saw Org standing at the head of a vast army. Scenes of this army marching across the country wiping out towns and killing people flashed through his mind. Zeb felt Org’s consciousness begin to awaken, so he quickly repaired the tear and withdrew the mind probe. A moment later, he heard Org ask, “Did you say something, old one?”

“No, Org. You must have heard me thinking,” Zeb answered.

“Good, get some sleep, old one. Tomorrow will be another tough day,” Org said in a sleepy voice.

Zeb lay down on his bed and thought about the things he had seen when he entered Org’s mind. The creature obviously had one of those Napoleon complexes people always talked about in the past. Zeb didn’t understand exactly what that meant; but its dreams fit the description he had heard on the news and from different people. The one thing he hadn’t felt was doubt—Org thought failure was out of the question. He had to find a way to plant a seed of doubt in Org’s mind, especially now that he knew how to enter it. He should be able to do it, if he was careful.

He thought about how people always kidded him when he was younger. Back when he was in his thirties, people liked to have fun at his expense. Most people thought him dimwitted or retarded. This didn’t bother him much, because he lived alone in a shack a few miles out of town.

He went to town only when necessary. He did odd jobs for the ranchers in the area to get money to buy food and clothes. This was all he needed to be happy. Never one interested in material things, he cared less about having a fine car or home. As long as the roof didn’t leak, he was content.

All the ranchers treated him with courtesy and he gave them a hard day’s work for the money they gave him. The only time he had trouble was when he went into town. A few bullies would hang around making fun of him. He didn’t want any trouble, so he tried to ignore them. It always ended up the same. He was thrown in jail for the night after being goaded into a fight.

He never knew why the police chief hated him. He wondered if the man didn’t send the bullies to make trouble.

Zeb could tolerate most things, but the one thing he wouldn’t stand for was people putting their hands on him. The bullies knew this, so they would spend an hour or so calling him names. One of them would attempt to show the others how brave he was by grabbing Zeb and trying to wrestle him to the ground.

In his younger years, Zeb was a muscular man. His hard work for the ranchers left him lean and strong. Without a car and walking everywhere, he’d built up strong leg muscles. The bullies were afraid of him, unless there were three or four of them together.

It always started with one of them grabbing him, and then the rest would jump in. At four-to-one odds, Zeb acquitted himself well. He took his lumps without a sound, but he also got in some good licks of his own. The men never left without a few cuts and bruises. The police chief would break up the fight as soon as he saw Zeb getting the best of them. He would handcuff Zeb and drag him off to the town jail, where he threw him in a cell. He would shout and curse at Zeb for a while, then leave.

Zeb spent the night in the cell without water or food. The next morning, the police chief would let him out and escort him to the edge of town.

Never one to let himself be taken advantage of, Zeb would sneak back into town after dark.

He smiled as he thought of the last time he went into the town before he left the state. The bullies had beaten him almost senseless before the police chief broke up the fight and threw him in jail. His body ached all over that night and his teeth hurt where one of them got in a solid blow to his jaw.

After being escorted out of town, Zeb went to a patch of woods a couple miles away. He washed himself as best he could and waited until dark. Many times before, he had sneaked back to town after a fight. This time, he was bent on a measure of revenge. He found the first man in a bar at the edge of town. Zeb waited until the bully came out to use the outhouse, then beat him until the man lay unconscious on the ground. He dragged his body into the brush in back of the outhouse.

The next bully he found working his job as a stockman at the local grocery store. At the back of the store, Zeb hid behind the large garbage bin used to hold rotting vegetables. He didn’t have to wait long. The man came out the back door carrying a box of lettuce that had gone bad. Zeb waited until the bully raised the box to throw it in the bin. He jumped up and hit the guy across the back with a two-by-four. The man sagged against the bin, his breath knocked out of him. Zeb hit the man in his legs and arms before hitting him on the head. Making sure the bully was still alive, Zeb threw him in the smelly garbage bin.

Next, Zeb walked to the back of the hardware store and jimmied the door. He took a five gallon bucket of tar and a couple feather pillows off the shelves. He put thirty dollars beside the cash register to pay for the items. Carrying them to the rear of the bar, he rolled a fifty-five gallon drum under the air conditioner, setting the bucket of tar on the barrel in front of the exhaust. The hot air against the bucket caused the tar to become gooey and sticky.

He knew where the third man lived, so he left the items behind the bar and went to his house. Knocking on the door, Zeb shouted that the police chief wanted the bully down at the jail. A few minutes later, the bully opened the door as he pulled on his shirt. He looked around, expecting whoever had brought the message to be there. Shrugging his shoulders, the man closed the door and walked to the steps. As he started to walk away, Zeb stood up and hit him over the head with the two-by-four. The bully melted to the ground. Zeb threw him across his shoulders and made his way to the flowerbed in front of the jailhouse. He laid the man on the bricks surrounding the flagpole. Using some of the rope, he tied his victim to the flagpole. He stuffed a dirty sock in the guy’s mouth and tied a bandanna around his head to hold the sock in.

Only one man left and he was the most dangerous one. He went into the jailhouse and dialed the police chief’s number. It rang half a dozen times before a surly voice asked what he wanted. Disguising his voice, Zeb told him there was some trouble down at the station and he should get down there at once. The police chief told Zeb he would be there in a minute.

Zeb went through the desk drawers in the office. In one of the drawers, he found an old ski mask. Since no one had seen him, he pulled the mask over his face. He turned out all the lights in the office, except the one on the desk. He threw the two-by-four away and picked up a nightstick hanging on the wall. When he saw the headlights of the police chief’s car pull into the parking lot, he went over and stood behind the door.

The police chief rushed into the office. “What in the hell is so imp—” was as far as he got. He started to turn around with a puzzled look on his face. Zeb stepped up behind him and brought the nightstick down on his head. He caught the chief under the arms as he slumped. Dragging him out the door, Zeb placed him next to the man tied to the flagpole. Zeb went back into the office and took two sets of handcuffs from the top drawer. Going to the flagpole, he untied the first man. Zeb put the handcuffs on him so the only way he could get loose would be to slip the cuffs over the top of the pole. He cuffed the police chief in the same way after he gagged him.

Zeb went to the rear of the bar and tested the tar. The bucket was hot and the tar in it was a little runny. He carried the tar and pillows back to the flagpole. He stripped the first man and the police chief. Using a stiff brush, he slowly spread tar over them. The men were a pitiful sight by the time he finished.

The police chief regained consciousness as Zeb tore open the pillows. He mumbled around the gag and struggled to get loose.

Zeb watched him for a moment. Black tar oozed from the top of his head and fell to the ground, forming a hardening pool in the chilly night air. His skin was covered with tar. He had a hard time gripping the flagpole as he stood there seething with rage, watching Zeb.

Zeb grabbed two hands full of feathers and spread them on the men. After both pillows had been emptied on the men, Zeb chuckled at their appearance. They looked like some kind of strange black and white birds. After giving the police chief the finger, he walked out of town.

A little way out of town, he took off the ski mask and threw it in the stream. He still got a chuckle out of thinking about the sight that met the townspeople the next morning.

He walked into the mountains and stayed in them as he moved west until he ended up at the little town where he met Squeeker.

Thinking of Squeeker caused an ache in his chest. Yes, Org has a lot to pay for and I want to be around when you get yours. Zeb considered the ways he could do it as sleep overtook him.

Chapter 2

Behind the sealed doors of the tunnel, a strawberry blond woman held a sobbing girl. Around the woman and girl stood several people with their heads down, as though in prayer.

The silence lay heavy around them, broken every so often by a sob from the young girl.

“Why, Tony? Why did Stalker have to die?” the young girl asked in a pain-filled voice.

Tony wiped tears from the corner of her eyes and smoothed the girl’s brown hair. “Stalker knew this day would come, Tammy. I knew it the first time we met. He confirmed it to me, himself. It was part of the bargain he made with the entity, which is a part of us and guided us here. He knew he was going to die; but he didn’t know where or when. For his sacrifice, his mate and cubs will be looked after and live a long life. That is the original reason he came south to help us.

“When he left his den in Northern Canada, his feelings toward humans were very hostile. He blamed humans, rightfully so, for the demise of his kind.

“At one time, timber wolves numbered in the thousands. At the time he left to come south, there were less than two hundred of them. Man has hunted them almost to the point of extinction.

“Man hunted them, not as a source of food, which was something Stalker understood, but for sport.

“Man came in their flying machines and would catch one of his kind out in the open, then would chase them to the point of exhaustion. As the wolf would buck through the deep snow in terror, men in airplanes would shoot at it. Many times, he had seen this happen. No, he had no love for humans when he started his journey. All that changed when he met a young girl on his way south.”

Tony lifted Tammy’s head and looked into her eyes. “Tammy, that young girl was you. Through you, he saw it was a very small portion of the human race who hunted and killed his kind. In you and Joe, he came to realize not all humans were wanton killers. Because of you, he came to understand the difference between his kind and humans was very small. In the short time he was with us, he came to love you the same as he did the cubs he left behind and gave his life for.”

“I know he loved me. Why didn’t you use your powers to save him? You could have. The same way you cured him before,” Tammy said through her tears.

“Try and understand, Tammy. I love Stalker as much as you do; but this time, my powers wouldn’t cure him. As hard as I tried, something blocked all my efforts. His life was the price for the safety of his mate and children and in large part, for our getting here. He knew all this. Yet he went through with the bargain in the same way he faced life, with his head up and the pride of knowing he was doing what was right.”

A soft blue glow in back of them caused them to turn and stare. Near the wall where Stalker’s body lay, a shimmering blue light covered his body. As they watched, the light pulsed and Stalker’s body was repaired. The holes in the bullet-torn body closed over and the soft fur covering him became glossy. As the light faded, they noticed that Stalker’s body was whole without a blemish on it.

Ben Johnson stepped over to the wolf’s body and turned to face them. “Stalker will be preserved as he is now until he can be taken to his home in the northern wilderness.

“Joe, the task of taking Stalker home will fall to you and Tammy when we’re finished here.”

“Is this what your Guardian tells you, Ben?”

“Yes, when the job we are to do here is finished, you and Tammy are to take his body home.”

“So be it,” Joe said with a nod of his head.

Ben looked around, they were in a long tunnel with a large parking lot at the end. Beyond the parking lot, a paved walkway stretched beyond his line of sight. “Now that we’re here, Tony, what do we do next?” he asked.

Tony sighed and sat down next to the wall. “I haven’t the foggiest idea, Ben. What does your Guardian tell you?”

“She says this is where we’re supposed to be, but she’s also in the dark about our next move. I would suggest we stay where we are for a while.”

“This looks like a pretty sophisticated place. There are bound to be defensive measures in here,” a slim black man said.

“I agree with Jake. This looks like the entrance to an SAC base I visited a few years ago,” Joe told them as he ran his hand along the smooth wall.

“Sounds good to me, I could use the rest so my Guardian can finish repairing me,” Ben said in a tired voice as he sat down next to his wife.

They all remembered the sight of Ben as they roared up in the pickup. He was bleeding from five wounds in his chest and his right leg wasn’t able to support him due to several bullet holes. Even as they pulled him onto the truck, his wounds began to heal. By the time they entered the tunnel, his chest wounds had closed over and he was able to stand on his right leg. Although he looked as healthy as could be, they all knew it took something out of him every time his Guardian made her repairs.

His wife, Leila, was stunned by the sight of his wounds. She was sure he was going to die. After being separated from him for three months, she had no idea of the man he had become. She knew there was something different about Ben.

When he left her and Benji in the survivalist cave in Southern Wyoming, he had been normal, or so it seemed to her. The shock of seeing bullet holes that would kill a normal man healed before her eyes was a little more than she could handle.

She sat beside him grateful that he was alive, but wondering what he had become and how it would affect them.

She looked at his face and saw the fatigue there. Although he tried not to show it, every now and then, he would wince in pain as his body healed itself. She laid her fingers against his cheek and asked, “Is there anything I can do, Ben?”

He pulled her close and hugged her. “Just be with me, Leila, and don’t be scared of what you see. I’m still the same man you married. Only now, I have a few improvements.”

He put his hand under her chin and lifted her head. His lips touched hers in such a tender way, she felt a wholeness about herself that hadn’t been there before. She held him close and a sense of oneness came over her. She knew, come hell or high water, this man would never let harm come to her or their son. Whatever Ben had become, she knew it was for the better and deep down, she was aware of the fact they would never be separated again.

She looked at the group of people around her. Joe was a strange one. An American Indian, he was barrel-chested and had long arms. His penetrating black eyes gave her the impression there would be no mercy for anyone that got on his wrong side. He was an enigma, while ferocious in a fight, neither accepting or giving any quarter, he displayed a tenderness one would think him incapable of when he was with the girl, Tammy. He reminded her of a tiger, always ready to pounce on its prey.

Bill was just the opposite of Joe. He was more reserved and thought things through before making a move. In the short time she had known him, he was the one who always wanted to be cautious and not rush into things.

His love for Tony was evident. Every time he looked at her, a tender expression came over his face. She thought he worshiped the ground Tony walked on.

Tony, the strawberry blond woman Ben and the rest of them had gone east to protect, sat beside Bill. She was a beautiful woman, although a little gaunt now. Her posture was that of a frightened doe during hunting season. She looked as though she was ready to bolt at any second. It was only when Leila stared into her eyes that she realized there was much about Tony that hadn’t been there before this all began. A certain steely hardness foreign to one so lovely, showed in her eyes when she looked at a person. At the same time, there was also a haunted look there.

There wasn’t a doubt she was determined, but Leila knew Tony had no idea why she had come here. The uncertainty of what she was to do ate at her and caused her to worry more than she should.

As far as Leila knew, Tony had been an ordinary woman before this all began. After the new disease struck the country, Bill and Tony fled to escape the people who were trying to kill them.

Along the way, she discovered she had the ability to make herself invisible to other people. All she had to do was wish for other people not to see her and they wouldn’t.

During the latter stages of the trip here, Bill was critically wounded by a group of people chasing them. As Tony held Bill’s head, she discovered she could see to the very core of his being. Through trial and error, she manipulated his body into regenerating the damaged tissue of his wounds. The way she described it was a tiny spark that grew dimmer with the passing seconds. She went to this spark and nourished it with her own life force until it glowed brilliantly and spread throughout Bill’s body. She could heal, but her power took a toll on her. Through experimenting, she learned how far to go before she endangered her own life. As with all of them, fatigue weighed heavily on her.

Jake Bonner, a skinny black man, sat on the other side of Ben. Before the disease struck the country, Jake worked for the FBI. His last job before the country fell apart was to escort Ben and his family to the place they were now. Along the way, they discovered the plane they were on had a bomb on it. After finding and disarming it, they were forced to land at an airport taken over by the crazy people trying to kill them.

At the end of the runway, everyone but Jeff, the co-pilot, used the emergency chute to get off the plane. Tricking the people after them into thinking they were headed away from the airport, they circled back to the terminal.

At the terminal, they rescued Jeff, who was the worse for wear after being tortured. Cap, the pilot, found a small plane in the private citizen parking area. They lifted off the ground as the people came up the hill to the terminal.

Shortly after that, they crashed in the hills of southern Wyoming. Ben was killed in the crash. An hour later, he stood up and led them away from the people coming to look for them.

As Ben described it, he had a force inside him that brought him back to life. This force, which he called his Guardian, would heal any damage done by the people with the disease. His Guardian wouldn’t be able to save him in the case of a natural accident, however.

The Guardian was true to her word. Several times, Ben had been shot and received wounds that would have killed a normal man. The Guardian healed the wounds almost as soon as he received them.

The Guardian was a part of Ben now and would remain with him for the rest of his life. Ben could talk to her in his mind and they often had long conversations.

According to Ben, she was a part of what humans referred to as “mother earth.” In the millions of years she had been a part of the planet, this was the first time she had manifested herself to anyone.

She was all that ever was and ever would be. She explained the new disease had started a chain of events which would lead to the destruction of all life on the planet.

Ben and Joe, along with the rest of them, were chosen to correct the situation before it was too late. How this was to be accomplished, the Guardian either didn’t know, or wasn’t telling.

Jane, a slightly overweight woman, began the journey with them as Benji’s nurse. She was a retired army major, who was currently employed as a nurse in the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Ben and his family were flown there from their home in New Jersey. She went east with Ben and Jake to find Tony. Ben explained they wouldn’t have made it, except for the army training Jane had used to get them out of some difficult situations.

Leila looked at her as she leaned against the wall across from her. There was something different about her. Leila couldn’t quite put her finger on it. All she knew was when Jane came near, Leila felt an uneasiness that would intensify if Ben was around. Deep down, she wanted to believe it was just her imagination. However, the feeling persisted, so she kept a close eye on Jane.

Cap and Jeff were the two people in the group who seemed to have their feet firmly planted on the ground. At fifty-six years of age, Cap acted like a much younger man.

Cap had gone into the heart of Todd’s camp. He pretended to be a reclusive goldminer, who spent all his time in the mountains. He discovered Todd was making the ranch in Southern Wyoming his headquarters.

Most of what he learned didn’t make any sense to them. Todd was installing one hell of a big computer in a barn at his ranch. As far as any of them could learn, this was the first time Todd had been remotely interested in computers. Cap had learned Todd’s master told Todd where to find the computer. Todd’s master also told him where to find the people who could assemble the computer and get it online.

A short, red-haired woman and a eight year old boy stood beside Joe. There was a protective posture in her stance, as if inviting anything to come between her and Joe. She showed a fierce determination to protect the two men in her life.

Leila liked the woman, who made no pretenses of being anything other than what she was.

Gail McCauley lost her husband to an accident four years ago. She’d lived by herself in a small town in Central Missouri when the disease hit.

Escaping the people sent to take her into custody, she went to an uncle’s farm. When she got there, she found her aunt dead and her uncle barely alive. With his last breath, her uncle told Gail to go to a cabin he owned in the mountains and hide.

That’s where she met Joe and his group. At the time, Joe and the rest of them were looking for a place to rest. Greg, one of Todd’s lieutenants, was close on their heels.

Thinking Joe was one of the people trying to kill her and her son, she fought like a tiger. Although weighing only ninety pounds, she knocked Jake out with one punch. After kicking Joe twice in the crotch, Tony and Jane had to pull her off him before she did permanent damage.

Later, Ben said it was obvious to everyone but the two involved, that Gail and Joe were made for each other.

Although she only knew Stalker for a few days, she felt the same sense of loss as the rest of them. The large, black timber wolf gave his life so the group could enter the tunnel they were in.

She looked to the opposite wall where the body of Stalker lay surrounded by a light blue glow. Leila sighed and lay her head against Ben’s shoulder. Fate had brought them here and like the rest of them, she wondered why. One thing was certain, they had a powerful ally in this Guardian of Ben’s.

A loud voice boomed out in the tunnel. “Hi, people in the tunnel. Do not proceed any further until we shut down the automatic defenses.”

“Who are you?” Joe asked. He stood ten feet in front of them with his gun pointed down the tunnel. Jake lay a few feet to his left with his rifle pointed the same way.

“My name is Ross. Please be patient, I assure you, no harm will come to you as long as the outside doors are sealed,” the voice said, loud enough to hurt their ears.

“Ross, could you turn the volume down a little?” Joe asked.

“Is that better?” Ross asked, in a voice half as loud.

“Much better. We have a lot of questions. Will you answer them for us?” Joe asked, lowering the gun.

“Please be patient, Joe. All your questions will be answered after you are in the complex,” a female voice answered.

“Who are you? Where’s Ross?” Joe asked.

“I am called Rita. Ross is busy shutting down the defensive programs. Leave your weapons at your present location.”

A sharp squeal sounded. “Ross, Ross, Pete is resetting the laser programs,” they heard Rita say.

A few flashes of brilliant light flashed a hundred yards down the tunnel. Joe herded them back against the tunnel doors.

Ben motioned for Joe to come closer. “Neither Rita or Ross are human,” he whispered.

Joe gave him a blank look. “What do you mean?”

“My Guardian tells me the two voices you heard were without human form. They are life forms, probably two of the first new entities on this planet in millions of years. There is a third entity convoluted and intertwined with them. This third entity is ruthless and a part of the problem we are here to correct.”

“Your Guardian says we can trust the voices we hear?”

“Yes, Joe, there’s a lot she doesn’t understand, but she assures me that the people here mean us no harm,” Ben answered.

“I guess we wait until they tell us to come forward,” Joe said and hunkered down with his back to the outside door. Gail sat down beside him. The rest of them huddled around.

“Don’t ask me what I wouldn’t give for a hot cup of coffee,” Jake said into the silence, bringing a smile to all their faces.

The one constant during the past few months was Jake’s consumption of huge amounts of coffee. While the rest of them carried a thermos of tea, milk or other type of drink, Jake carried three thermoses of black coffee. At different times, they wondered if the thin black man would ever get his fill of the stuff.

“If I ever need a kidney transplant, Jake, I want one of yours,” Jeff said.

“No way, much as I like you, Jeff, I’m leaving this world with everything I came into it with. You never know, what if I need the kidney in my next life? No, I’ll keep everything I have,” Jake said with a shake of his head.

“He wouldn’t want it anyway, Jake. I can imagine him drinking a glass of milk and pissing pure coffee,” Joe said.

They all smiled and relaxed at the easy banter. A little later, they heard Ross say, “Okay, Joe. Lead your group to the complex. Walk straight down the tunnel and take the moving walkway. Someone will meet you at the door to the complex.”

They looked at each other and then walked down the tunnel with Joe in the lead. Overhead strip lighting came on. Joe noticed that as he stepped into a new section, the lights there would come on.

Bringing up the rear, Jake noticed as he left a section, the lights behind him would go out. Ahead of them, they heard a soft whirring noise.

Off to the left, they saw a parking lot with two cars in it. The rest of it was empty. Ahead and to the right, they saw a sign saying, WATCH YOUR STEP, DO NOT MOVE AROUND WHILE WALKWAY IS MOVING.

Joe paused and waited for them to gather around, then stepped onto the moving belt. The beltway whisked them along at a rapid rate. In minutes, they saw the end of the walkway ahead. An object lay at the end of it; as they drew nearer, they observed it was a body and stepped over it, noticing it was that of a young soldier. His face was molted and slightly bloated. A faint stench rose to attack their nostrils as they stepped over the body.

“Wonder how he got in here?” Jeff asked.

“He was probably one of the guards protecting this place. Look over there,” Jake said, pointing to the far wall.

They all stopped and looked to where Jake pointed. In the faint light, they stared hard and were able to make out several bodies lying there.

Joe walked over near enough to see the bodies clearly. He saw no wounds. However, their faces showed the bruises and lacerations of a fight. To all appearances, the men were beaten to death. He wondered what happened to their weapons. Looking around, he didn’t spot a weapon of any kind. Walking to the group, he said, “From all appearances, they killed each other.”

“Why would they do such a thing?” Tony asked.

“My Guardian tells me they were affected by the same disease as the people outside,” Ben answered.

They continued to walk down the tunnel. A hundred yards further on, they came across another pile of bodies, in much worse shape. They didn’t even slow down to check them. Five minutes later, they came to a set of massive doors.

“I guess we wait here until someone decides to let us in,” Joe said. He turned and looked back the way they had come. The darkness behind them had a sinister look to it.

A sharp, snapping noise sounded at the door. As they watched, a small door swung silently open. Framed in the doorway stood a man in his late thirties. His head came near the top of the door. Joe judged him to be around six feet six inches tall. His brown hair was cut short. He stared at them with steely grey eyes. The large handlebar mustache under his nose gave him a sinister look. He smiled as Tammy walked toward him, causing his face to look less frightening. “You have to be Tammy,” he said.

“How do you know my name, mister...”

“The name is Jess Herold,” he said, taking Tammy’s hand and kissing the back of it.

“Mr. Herold, I’d like to introduce you to our fearless leader, Joe Delaney,” Tammy said as she dragged Joe forward.

Joe introduced everyone else as they passed through the door one by one. He helped Jess swing the door closed after they were all in. They looked around the room and could spot nothing but blank walls. Jess walked across to the opposite wall and opened another door. He motioned for them to follow him. They entered a hallway with doors lining both sides. Jess turned left at the end of the hall and went down a short corridor to another door, which he also opened.

Inside, several people sat around a table talking and drinking coffee. Their heads turned toward the door as Joe walked into the room. Joe stepped to the side and looked at the people at the table. Jake and Ben stepped to the other side of the doorway and let the women fall in behind them.

“Dr. Palmer, what are you doing here?” Ben blurted out.

“Glad to see you made it, Ben, Leila,” said a tall man with blond hair. He walked toward Ben with his hand outstretched.

“Relax, Joe. If Dr. Palmer is here, we should be safe,” Ben said. He shook the man’s hand and Leila gave him a hug.

“Do I smell coffee and who do I have to kill to get a cup?” Jake asked as he sniffed the air. Jake’s remark cut the tension and every one relaxed.

Joe watched a short, plump woman with curly black hair come around the table. The first thing he noticed was her face. She had one of the most beautiful faces he had ever seen and her dark green eyes only added to her beauty.

Jess turned to him as the woman approached and said, “Joe, this lovely lady is the Vice-President of the United States.”

“Pleased to meet you, Madam Vice-President,” Joe said, shaking the extended hand.

“Please, just call me Ruth,” she said to Joe and the rest of his group. She led Joe over to the table and he held a chair for her as she took a seat.

After everyone was seated, Joe asked the question on all their minds. “Ruth, how did you become Vice-President? You have to understand, we’ve been out of contact with the normal forms of government for the past few months.”

“To make a long story short, John Samules was in England when the disease broke out. We were all surprised when this crazy man, Donaldson, named himself President of the United States. Going by the right of succession, John was the next in line to become President. He formed a government in exile after Donaldson became ruthless and started killing American citizens. I was Secretary of Agriculture, which put me next in line for the Presidency. Going strictly by the Constitution, President Samules named me Vice-President.

“I have to tell you, the last six months have been hell. I lived in fear for my life every day. This so-called President, Donaldson, had so many hit squads after me, I couldn’t go anywhere without at least fifty security guards.

“There were a couple close calls. I thank President Samules for sending me here. The last few days have been sheer heaven. You can’t imagine how nice it is to just relax and put my feet up without the constant fear of being killed. If I only knew the fate of my husband, I would be content for the moment,” she said with a sad sigh.

Jess was showing Tony, Gail and Jane where the food was stored. They busied themselves preparing a meal.

Joe, Ben and Bill sat at the table drinking coffee that was brought to them.

Tammy and Tommy sat on opposite ends of a bunk in the corner, both their heads were bobbing up and down as they fought sleep. Jake, Cap and Jeff were engrossed in a conversation with Ross at a computer console with a speaker in the corner.

Joe, ever on the alert, took in the relaxed atmosphere of the place and lowered his suspicions just a little. They were guided here for a reason and they still didn’t know what it was.

He looked across the table at the four star general sitting there. His grey hair, cut short, contrasted with his dark black bushy eyebrows. Joe judged him to be around five feet ten inches tall and somewhere around a hundred and fifty pounds. There was no mistaking him for anything other than a military man.

Since they had entered the room, the man sat ramrod straight in his chair. The only movement from him was his dark blue eyes inspecting each of them. Now the blue eyes were staring intently into Joe’s black ones.

“General, if you have something to say, say it,” Joe said.

“You look like an ex-army man I caught a glimpse of many years ago when I was a major in Vietnam. The man I saw was coming in from a hush-hush mission in North Vietnam. We never did find out where this man had been. General Westmorland’s personal helicopter came to our fire base and took him away. I never did see him again. I had one quick look, but I’ll never forget what he looked like. He looked a lot like you.”

“I was in ’Nam, General,” Joe looked at the name tag above the man’s left-hand shirt pocket. “General Hawkins,” Joe mused. “Major in 1969, promoted to colonel in ’70. Personally led your unit on almost every campaign in ’70 and ’71. Let’s see, you received four purple hearts in three years. I might add that they were legitimate awards, not like the ones many of the commanders got. A lot of commanders, if they cut themselves shaving, put in for a purple heart and got it. Not you, if there was any fighting going on, you were in the midst of it. You got your first star at the end of the war and that’s the last I heard of you,” Joe said.

General Hawkins looked amazed. “You have the advantage over me. You know a lot about me, while I have no knowledge of you. Why is that?”

“Although I left ’Nam in early ’70, I had some close personal friends still there. They wrote and kept me informed as to what was going on over there. As you know, you couldn’t believe a word the reporters or newspapers wrote. Some of those friends stayed until the end of the war. From them, I learned who the real commanders were, and believe it or not, they weren’t the ones getting all the press coverage. As a matter of fact, I want to thank you, General. You saved one of my best friends in ’71.”

General Hawkins had that faraway look in his eyes. He was remembering the battles and events of 1971. He shook his head and said, “Does your friend have a name? I can’t remember saving anyone that year.”

“He wouldn’t have given you a name. You took your chopper in and lifted him out just north of the DMZ. A ton of shit was coming down on him at the time. The way he tells it, you’re either the stupidest man alive, or the bravest. When you set down at the Marine base on our side of the DMZ, they counted over three hundred holes in your chopper. He said you had tears in your eyes when they pulled your chopper off the landing strip and blew it up because it was beyond repair.”

Comprehension dawned in General Hawkins’ eyes, “You mean that weasel-faced little son of a bitch with the rifle that was taller than him was your friend? Hell, I didn’t get a thank you or anything from him. The next thing I knew, he was on a chopper headed for Saigon. At least, that’s where they said the chopper was going. Come to think of it, I never seen or heard of him again. You and your people kept an awfully low profile, Joe.”

“We had to at the time, General. See, we were the best of the best. Our job was to spend weeks behind enemy lines with the hope of getting a shot at one of the enemy high commanders. I was one of only ten men in the whole army qualified and trained to do the job. Don’t get me wrong, General, that’s not ego talking. There were only ten of us by design of the War Department. I can’t fault their reasoning either. Can you imagine having a couple hundred men as capable as we were loose in the country? Not a politician would get a good night’s sleep for fear these men would band together and try to change the government if they didn’t like the one in place. You see, because of our specialty, a bond formed between us. No matter what happened, all we had to do was put out our code word and the rest of the guys would drop everything to help him. To this day, as far as I know, all ten of us are still alive. What I don’t know is how many of them caught this disease and became like the people trying to kill us. God! I hope it isn’t more than five. I’ve been leaving my code word in every town we’ve been through. Two of the men lived in two of those towns and I found their code words. From all indications, they were going to a stronghold we developed inside Yellowstone Park. Of the other seven, I’ve heard nothing. I assure you, they are alive. The question is, are they on our side?”

Chapter 3

At the time Joe was talking to the general, four of the men he referred to were in a tight spot. They made it to their safe dugout in the woods of Yellowstone, but now, were under attack.

“Damn it, Phil, I tell you that’s Monty out there with a long gun,” said the man with the dark complexion and black hair.

Staring intently through the mouth of the dugout stood a man six feet tall with bright red shoulder-length hair. His brown eyes glanced from tree to tree on the ravine across from him. He eased his gangly body behind the post he stood beside. He held a long-barreled rifle in his right hand.

Across from him and behind the post at the right side of the entrance, a beefy blond-haired man lay on the ground. His rifle was pointed at the trees across the ravine.

“How about it, Zapper? Do you think it’s Monty?” Phil asked.

Wayne Lane took the piece of stick he was using as a toothpick out of his mouth and spit to the side. A jagged scar ran from his right earlobe up to his eye. The scar left a bare place in his reddish blond beard. At five foot nine and two hundred ten pounds, he looked overweight. That is, until one looked at his arms, which were as big as his thighs.

“I agree with Dave. It can only be one of us out there, otherwise, we would have spotted whoever it is. Remember, Monty’s trademark was to play with his victims if he had the time and that’s what this guy is doing. If he wanted to, he could have killed Clint. He had a clear shot. No, it’s Monty alright. The bastard went over to the other side,” Zapper answered.

“I’ll kill that son of a bitching gringo if I get my hands on him,” groaned a slim Mexican at the door leading into the cavern. He held his right hand to his left shoulder. Blood slowly seeped between his fingers. Standing five foot six, he looked like he wouldn’t weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet. His coal-black hair was drenched in sweat from holding in the pain. He knew the bullet had nicked his collarbone and no permanent damage was done, but it still hurt like hell.

“Here, let me slap a compress on that before our favorite spic bleeds to death,” Dave Hinkle said. For a big man, his touch was gentle. He towered over Clint at six foot four, and weighed two hundred fifty pounds. His hands were big enough to cup a man’s head, but his touch was that of a fine violinist’s. He pulled the compress from its package and placed it on the wound. Tying it around Clint’s shoulder so it would stay tight, he patted the wounded man on the head.

“In a few weeks, you’ll be as good as new,” he told Clint.

Clint looked at the big man. Time hadn’t changed him a bit. Now, fifteen years later, he still reminded Clint of Hoss on the television show Bonanza. He still had the same friendly grin on his face. There were a few strands of grey in his brown hair. His soft blue eyes still had that impish look to them, as if they knew a secret no one else did.

“Nice to see you again, Dave,” Clint said.

“Looks like you’re the last of the good guys we can expect,” Dave told him.

“Have the other six went over to the crazies?” Clint asked.

“We don’t know for sure. We do know Joe isn’t one of them. They’ve had a manhunt out for Joe for the last three months. The last report we heard, they hadn’t caught him yet. Zapper left a coded message in the town he lived in telling Joe we were heading here. Looks like it’s going to be even-steven, five of them and the same number of us.”

“Christ, man, what happened? I know all about the disease and the way it changed people. Someone has yet to tell me why it happened. This country is in shambles. Man, the radio reports I hear frighten the bejesus out of me. When I left Texas, most of my relatives were trying to kill me. I did everything I could to keep from killing them, but it did no good. They continued to hunt me like an animal. I was forced to kill my cousin, Juan. That’s when I decided to come up here and see if any of you were still alive. I tell you, Dave, for a while, I was beginning to believe everyone wanted this skinny Mexican-American dead. You know, if that is Monty out there, we are going to have to take him out, don’t you?” Clint said.

“We know. After it gets dark, the three of us are going after him. We want you to stay here and guard the dugout.”

“It’s not going to be easy, man. Monty was the best one of us at the hide-and-seek game. Remember when we got together five years ago at that war games range in Maine? He tagged seven of us. The only ones to get him were Joe and Phil. Don’t think because he’s a little older, he’ll be slower. If anything, I think he’s gotten better with age. The best way to get him will be to work in pairs. I won’t do any good staying here. If he wants in here, I wouldn’t see him until it’s too late. If we work in pairs, at least we can watch each other’s back.”

“Let me go talk to Phil and Zapper. If they agree, do you think you’ll be up to it tonight?” Dave asked.

“It will hurt like hell, but I’ll still be able to get the job done,” Clint answered.

“Be back in a few then,” Dave said, giving him a friendly pat on his good shoulder. Dave cautiously made his way to the front of the dugout, where he told Phil and Zapper about Clint’s suggestion.

“I hate to leave this place unguarded, but Clint’s right. The four of us might, just might, take Monty out, if that is him out there,” Phil said.

“You take Clint, Phil. Dave and I will circle and try to come up behind Monty,” Zapper said.

Dave squinted at the top of the ravine across from them. The afternoon sun was just going behind the trees of the ridge line. The bottom of the ravine was already in deep shadows.

“Looks like we have about four hours before we can leave. I’m going back with Clint to try and get a little shuteye. Wake me in two hours, Phil, and I’ll take the watch so you can get a little rest,” Dave said.

He eased back until he was out of line with the mouth of the dugout. He went back to where Clint stood and opened the door leading to the cavern, the inside of which spread out over a huge area. Off to the left side, they had blocked in two of the small side caves with rock. Over the years, they had used cement to seat the rocks, making it look as natural as possible. Unless somebody was right up to the wall, they wouldn’t be able to tell it wasn’t a part of the natural cavern.

Dave led the way and tripped a stone on the wall. A portion of it slid open. He stepped into a twenty-by-sixteen room.

Against the rear wall, two sets of bunk beds stood with their mattresses rolled up on one end. On a ledge sat a large, portable stove with a steaming pot of water on it.

Clint went to it and set two cups on the ledge. He opened a jar of instant coffee and put a spoonful in each cup, then poured the steaming water into them. Adding a powdered creamer to one of the cups, he handed it to Dave.

“Thanks, Clint. Looks like the last few years haven’t treated you too bad,” Dave said as he sipped the steaming coffee.

“I have no complaints. I finally got my spread out of hock last year and things were looking up for me. Last spring, I bought a purebred Hereford bull. I was looking forward to the next calf crop. That’s all in the past now. Maybe I’ll get back down to Texas later this year and see if the bull is still alive. He was a randy devil. I would like to go back and give Sylvia a proper burial. She was killed while I was away one day right after this disease hit. I should feel worse than I do after losing my wife and the ranch in the same month. It’s funny, but I don’t feel much of a loss and that really bothers me,” Clint said, taking a seat on one of the lower bunks.

“Sorry to hear about your wife, Clint. This damn disease has hurt us all, in one way or the other. I wasn’t married and lived in an apartment over my dad’s service station. A few months ago, my dad opened as usual, but there wasn’t any real business left. No one drove their vehicles anymore. I guess he opened out of habit. Anyway, I lay in my bed above the entrance to the service area and listened to him cut up with a few townspeople who stopped by every morning to chat. I had just turned over and was drifting back to sleep, when I heard a bunch of cars roar into town. The sound of that many vehicles aroused my curiosity. For the two weeks prior to that, we were lucky to see more than two or three cars a day.

“I eased out of bed and went over to the window facing the street in front of the station. Parting the blinds, I saw a dozen cars and pickups loaded with men and women. They all carried different kinds of weapons. I heard my dad arguing loudly with a male. Going to the closet, I put my pants and shirt on as quick as I could. As I laced up my boots, several shots sounded from below. I reached up on the shelf of the closet and got my .45, along with four extra clips. Going back to the window, I saw a few of them arguing with another man. All of a sudden, the man raised his rifle and shot one of the guys in the chest, knocking him off his feet. This man stood over six feet tall and had long blond hair that came below his shoulders. I’ll never forget how cool he was. He stood there and kicked the guy he shot, and then dared any of the others to start something. They talked back and forth for a few minutes, then got in their vehicles and left.

“Cautiously, I crept down the stairs to the garage below. I found my dad behind the counter in a pool of blood. He clutched an old .38 he kept below the register in his hand. Across the counter, Henry Morrison, who owned the town’s hardware store, sagged in one of the chairs with half his head blown off. George Henshaw, the barber, lay with his legs sticking out of the bathroom door. His legs twitched, so I knew he was still alive. I opened the door and lifted him in my arms. He was making an awful wheezing sound. I saw he had been shot through both lungs and didn’t have long to live. Placing him on an old couch, I asked him who the men were. I had to put my ear near his mouth to hear him. All he knew was the leader’s name was Todd. When I asked him why they had been shot, he mumbled, ‘Not the same,’ and died with his head in my arms.

“I loaded their bodies in my old pickup and drove to the graveyard and dug three graves. I put my dad next to my mom’s grave and said a small prayer for them. I went back to my apartment and loaded all my gear in the pickup. I got here two weeks ago and been waiting for whoever showed up,” Dave said.

He finished his coffee and went to the bunk next to where Clint sat. Unrolling the mattress, he climbed in the top bunk. Turning his head, he said, “Better get what shuteye you can, it’s going to be a rough night.” He rolled over with his back to the door and a few minutes later, a soft snoring sounded from him.

Clint got up, poured more coffee in his cup and went back to the bunk, where he sat down again. He knew he should sleep like Dave suggested, but too many thoughts went through his mind. He thought about Sylvia and how happy she had made him after she entered his life four years ago. He remembered the night he met her.

On Saturday afternoons, he went into town to pick up staples for his cook. After getting the groceries from the store, he met Manuel Alveras, who owned a ranch across the border in Mexico. They had known each other most of their lives. Lately, because of the pressures of ranching, they hadn’t seen each other for awhile.

Manuel said he was in town for the dance to be held at the Grangers Hall that night. He asked Clint to stay over and join him. Clint thought for a moment, then said it sounded like fun. He told Manuel to would meet him later at the restaurant.

Taking his bags of food back into the store, he arranged for the grocer to keep them in one of the long coolers lining the wall. Leaving the store, he went to the barber shop. After getting a shave and having his hair trimmed, he went to the department store next door. He bought a new shirt and pair of pants.

Going to the hotel on the corner, he got a room for the night. After showering and dressing, he went to the restaurant.

Manuel was already there, so they ordered a meal. After they finished eating, Manuel leaned back in his chair and lit a cigar. He told Clint that his ranch was starting to turn a profit. They talked about the concerns of ranching for an hour over cups of coffee.

At eight o’clock, Manuel said they might as well mosey over to Grange Hall. The night was clear with a cool breeze blowing off the desert. They entered the hall, which was twenty degrees hotter than it was outside. Someone forgot to turn the huge ceiling fans on to expel the heat trapped in the building during the day.

Clint went to the table at the side of the room and filled a glass with punch. He turned to walk back to his seat, not noticing the woman bent over, picking something off the floor. As he turned, he took a step and tripped over her bent form. His drink went flying across the room to hit a member of the band. With his arms windmilling, he tried to regain his balance.

Gravity took over. His knees came down on the woman and he attempted to flip to keep his full weight off her. Another man grabbed him by the arm, trying to help him, but by doing so, caused Clint’s center of balance to shift. He crashed into the table holding the huge punch bowl. The moments seemed like hours as he watched the woman try to stand. As she got her feet under her, the table flipped and the punch bowl flew into the air. It made a perfect arc and came down on her head, knocking her to the floor once again. Drenched in the reddish punch and groggy from the heavy bowl coming down on her head, she struggled to get up. Clint lay on the floor in a stupor after his head hit the edge of the table. Although knocked silly by the blow, he clearly saw everything that happened. People rushed to help them.

The woman regained her feet and stared down at him. To this day, he didn’t know what made him say, “Will you marry me?”

A look of fury crossed her face, followed by confusion. She smiled, then laughed, slowly at first and harder with each passing moment.

She stood there with punch dripping from her long black hair. The white blouse holding in her ample breasts was turning red in places. Punch dripped from the hem of her knee-length red skirt and formed puddles around the white western boots she wore. From his position on the floor, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She laughed so hard, she collapsed beside him. Gaining her breath, she asked, “Do you ask all the women you give a punch bath, to marry you, Mister...”

With a sheepish look on his face and blushing furiously, Clint regained enough wit to say, “Menandaz, Clint Menandaz, and you are?”

She held out a slim, well-formed hand and said, “Sylvia Alveriz, Clint. Do you think you’re finished trying to make an impression on me? If you are, I think I’ll go to the ladies’ room and see what I can salvage of this mess.”

“I promise I won’t move an inch, if you promise to return and give me at least a dozen dances with you,” Clint said.

She tapped her finger on her chin as she studied him. “Give me a while to think about it. After all, you have proven you’re dangerous.” She turned and walked from the room.

She returned half an hour later and not only did she give him his dozen dances, she danced every one with him until the band quit for the night. After a two week whirlwind romance, he married her. That was four and a half years ago. The happiest time of his life.

Now all that remained were the memories of his precious days with her. A cold, dull void had formed under his heart the day he buried her. In the last month, he rarely thought of her, but when he did, a depressing sadness settled over him. Later would be the time for grieving, after all this madness was over.

He unrolled the mattress and lay down on the bottom bunk. All thoughts of ever being happy again were banished from his mind. Moments later, his face relaxed into a happy smile as he dreamed of his lost wife.

At the mouth of the dugout, Phil and Zapper were telling each other their stories.

“For the first time in my life, I had it all together, Zap. My failed marriage was behind me. I found a woman I thought the world of. I threw away all the drugs I had after meeting her. I’ve been straight ever since. We lived together in a small house at the edge of town. I wanted to marry her, but she would say, ‘Wait a few years until the newness wears off, then ask me again.’ We were happy and I was becoming quite domesticated. She worked at one of the banks downtown. I got a job as a clerk at the local lumber company. Believe it or not, it was the first job I held for more than three months since I was discharged. Slowly, we turned that little house into a home.

“We bought our furniture a piece at a time when we saved enough money. She had this thing about credit, Zap. You would think she had to give up her soul to the credit company if she charged anything. As I was saying, we bought our furniture a piece at a time. After a couple years, an interior decorator would have had a heart attack if one entered our home.” Phil chuckled.

“She liked old furniture and my tastes tend toward the modern. Take the time I wanted an easy chair. She dragged me through every furniture store in three towns. She had this crazy idea that a piece of furniture should be in harmony with a person’s personal nature. Anyway, she dragged me from store to store, telling me I would know the right chair for me. You know what, Zap? I’ll be dammed if she wasn’t right. In this hole in the wall shop sat a rocker recliner that seemed to say, ‘Take me home, I’m for you.’ I sat down in it and it conformed to my body like a glove. The reddish-amber color was pleasing to my eye, too. Now you have to understand, the couch in our living room was green with a orange floral print on it. Personally, the combination gagged me, but Tracy loved it. When at home, I would sit in that amber chair and she would sit or stretch out on her couch. Many a comfortable evening we spent with me reading in my chair and her on her couch doing one of her sewing crafts.” Phil sighed, and shook his head sadly before continuing.

“A little over a month ago, I woke up one morning with Tracy standing over me with a butcher knife in her hand. Zap, she didn’t say a word, just struck at my chest with the knife. I knocked it aside and grabbed her. She tried to twist and tripped. She fell toward the bed, with me holding on to keep her from using the knife. Striking the bed on her stomach, she let out a loud grunt and I felt something sticky and warm flowing across my hands.” He paused a few moments and gulped in great breaths of air.

With a sob in his voice, he continued, “I turned her over and saw the butcher knife sticking out of her chest. Before her eyes glazed over in death, they stared at me with pure, unadulterated hatred. I sat there all day holding her head in my lap thinking of the good times we had. That evening, I wrapped her in two sleeping bags and carried her to the backyard. I dug a grave and put her in it. After filling in the grave, I went into the house and got my guns. I packed a couple changes of clothes and left town in my old Charger. For a week or so, I wandered around, not really thinking at all. One night, I stopped in this little burg, hell; I can’t even recall the name of it. I went inside a seedy bar and started drinking. No matter how much I drank, it didn’t affect me.

“A few hours later, half a dozen of the locals started harassing me. Calmly, I stood there and downed another bottle of scotch, not really paying attention to the men. One of them grabbed my arm and swung at me. Something inside me snapped. I blocked his punch and broke his arm across the edge of the bar. The other locals weren’t happy about that, so they waded in. In a cold rage, I broke one man’s neck. I broke both legs of the next. The third received a broken back. The last two tried to get away, but in my rage, I stopped them before they could get out the door. The man on the left, I gave a hard, chopping blow to the sternum, then a chop across his Adam’s apple. He was dead before he hit the floor. The last man pleaded with me, but I wasn’t having any of it. Reaching out, I grabbed him by the neck. He was too scared to fight. I hit him hard enough in the nose with the palm of my hand to drive the bone into his brain. I waited until he quit quivering; then threw him aside.

“Tears flowing down my cheeks, I went out to my car and bawled like a baby for half an hour. Wiping tears from my eyes, a deep sadness settled over me at the thought of the men I’d just killed. I started the car and took to the road. I racked my brain for some where I couldn’t hurt anyone and thought of this place. I got here four days ago. What’s your story, Zap?”

Zapper carefully looked at the ground on the other side of the ravine before answering. “My life is still the same as it was five years ago when we last met. I knock about from town to town, doing odd jobs to earn enough to eat. You know me, I sleep as well on the ground as in a bed. In the summer, I live off the land in one of our National Parks. When the disease struck, I was already here in Yellowstone. There’s a nice tree-studded valley, north of here. I got there in early April. I don’t remember the exact date I started getting strange reports over the ham radio I carry with me. As time passed, the reports got stranger and stranger.

“Finally, I decided to go to a small town fifty miles to the north and find out if the reports were true. It took two days walking cross-country to get there. It wasn’t much of a town. A couple thousand people at most.” He took a sip out of his canteen.

Zapper searched the trees on the other side of the ravine, then continued. “Arriving a little after dark, I kept to the shadows. Halfway down the main street, one of the buildings was lit up bright as day, with a lot of noise coming from it. Sounded like a party was going on. Making my way from one shadow to the next, I reached the side of the building. It looked like a normal party the first time I peeped through a window with an open curtain. People were dancing around, swilling liquor and enjoying themselves.

“I was getting ready to go around to the front door, when a group of people against the wall broke up. Two small, bloody children stood there. The girl looked to be about six years old and the boy around four or five. They were naked, someone had cut the little boy’s penis off and cauterized the stump with what could only have been a blowtorch. Around the area of his crotch, the skin was charred and blackened. The girl was making moaning noises. When she turned around, I saw what had happened to the boy’s penis. They had placed it in her mouth and sewed her lips together around it.

“Her eyes had been gouged from her head. A piece of broken broomstick protruded from the girl’s pubic area. The boy appeared to be in shock, but the girl moaned in pain. I saw her body shake as bolts of pain shot through her.” Zapper shook his head and leaned back with his eyes closed.

“Jesus,” was all Phil could say.

Zapper leaned forward; tears fell from his eyes as he continued. “I eased the window up a couple inches. A man near the window was taking bets on how much longer the children would last. Living alone as I do most of the time, I was shocked to the bottom of my soul. How could other humans perpetrate such ungodly acts on small children? I took the rifle from my shoulder and lay the barrel on the lip of the window. I knew it was impossible to get everyone in the room, so the next choice was to put the children out of their misery. I lined the sight up on the girl first, since she looked to be suffering the most. Taking a deep breath, I held it and squeezed the trigger. The top of her head burst apart throwing blood and brain matter against the wall. All sound in the room ceased as I lined the barrel up on the boy. I had to brush tears from my eyes, then I shot him.” A sob escaped his lips and his shoulders shook.

A few minutes later, he continued. “As the boy slumped to the floor, people rushed for the doors. I ran to the end of the house and crossed a side street. The uproar behind me got louder. I circled around until I came to a church with a tall steeple. Going inside, I climbed the ladder until I reached the small, enclosed bell housing. The bell had been removed a long time ago, so there was enough room to sit down. With my back to a corner, I moved the levered pieces of wood until I could see what was happening below me. People went into every house and store rousing sleeping men, women and children from their beds. A huge mountain of a man in charge had all the people line up in the center of the street. I tell you, Phil, he is the most god-awful ugly human being I have ever seen. He wasn’t that tall, I would say, six one give or take an inch.”

Zapper held out one of his huge arms. “His arms make mine look puny. I swear, the man was almost as wide as he was tall. Once or twice, he looked my way and I still get a chill down my spine every time I think of that face. He had a big head, but his face had big bumps all over it. I don’t mean pimple bumps, either. These were goose egg-size bumps; like the kind you see when someone has a tumor. When he smiled, half his teeth were missing. He kept the smile on his face as he ranted and raved at the people in the middle of the street. Running out of steam, he took off the ball cap he wore and I got another shock. The top of his head was completely bald. His shoulder-length black hair grew from the sides of his head. He picked pairs of people and sent them to search different houses.

“I settled down and took a thermos of cranberry juice out of my backpack. I ate a sandwich while I drank the juice and watched the people scurry all over town.

“I learned the ugly man’s called Andy when a guy ran from a side street yelling his name. Behind him came half a dozen people dragging an old man.” Zapper jerked back as a bullet struck the post he sat behind.

Not missing a beat, he said, “They had a rope around the old man’s neck. As three of them dragged him along the rough asphalt, the rest of them kicked his body with every step they took. When they got to Andy, I saw the rope around the old man’s neck was slowly strangling him. This Andy reached down and grabbed him around the neck with one hand and lifted him off the ground. I was too far away to catch everything that was said, but I did get that the old man was the tortured children’s uncle.

“Andy spouted words like soft, unfit to belong and a bunch of other things. The gist of it was, Andy thought this old man had killed the children. This mountain of a man’s hand began to tighten on the uncle’s neck. From a hundred feet away, I heard his neck snap and saw his legs twitch for about thirty seconds. To give you an idea of this Andy’s strength, he held the old geezer off the ground with one hand and I would say the old guy weighed close to two hundred pounds. Andy threw the uncle six feet to the side as easily as you would an empty beer can. I couldn’t bring myself to have any sympathy for the old man. If he was the children’s uncle, he deserved what he got for not trying to help them.

“People drifted back to their homes and Andy went into what looked like an office down the street. Minutes later, lights started going out in most of the houses as people went back to sleep. I waited four hours, then climbed down from the church tower and made my way out of town. I decided to come down here and get some explosives and heavier weapons. The longer I walked, the madder I got. By the time I was halfway here, I was so mad, I promised myself I was going to go back there and kill every one of the bastards. I finally made it and found Dave already here. A few days later, you showed up and today, Clint walked in. That’s about the size of it.

“Phil, you know when we go out tonight after Monty, some of us won’t be coming back, maybe none of us,” Zapper said.

“I’ve got a little surprise in one of the bags I brought in that might keep us all alive, if we use them right, Zap.”

“It had better be something good,” Zapper said from the side of his mouth as he stretched his neck to look further down the ravine. A bullet slammed into the post six inches above his head. “Did you catch the muzzle flash?” he asked.

“Yeah, he’s to the right and near the top of the ravine. About twenty feet to the right of that twisted pine tree growing out of the lip of the ravine,” Phil answered.

Zapper leaned against the wall, picking splinters out of his hat. “What’s this surprise of yours, Phil?”

“On the way here, I stopped at Fort Riley, Kansas. The post was nearly deserted. I wandered around and nobody challenged me. I was digging through a pile of trash in one of the supply rooms, when I came across a dozen pairs of night vision goggles. I picked up a couple duffle bags laying there and put the goggles in one of them. I picked up a bunch of other stuff; like grease paint and camo fatigues. When both bags were full, I beat it back to my car and got out of there.”

“How are the goggles going to help us?” Zapper asked.

“If you were Monty, what would you do when it started getting dark?” Phil asked.

“I would make my way closer to the entrance here and make sure none of us left the dugout,” Zapper answered.

“You know he will, because that’s the way we were all trained. If Monty went over to this disease, he’ll do exactly what he was trained to do, to the letter. From what I’ve observed of the people who have the disease, they’re quite literal. They do exactly what they have done all their lives. Any change, even one that will make things easier for them, is totally foreign to them. I don’t know, something in their mind must short out. Suggest something different and they always go back to the way they did it before, even if that doesn’t work. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. So we have to assume Monty will stick to the way we were trained. He won’t improvise or change his plan. He’ll do things the way the training manual says to do it. According to the manual, what would be the last thing we would be expected to do?”

Zapper scratched his head and thought about his answer for a few minutes. “The craziest thing for us to do would be to leave the dugout. In here, we’re fortified and have only one front to watch. Out there in the woods, it would be every man for himself. The manual says we’re stronger together than separate,” Zapper said with a puzzled look.

“What would happen if we rushed out of here just before it got dark and went in different directions?” Phil asked.

“That would be playing right into Monty’s hand. He would take his time and track each one of us down,” Zapper answered.

“Right, but which one of us would he go after first?”

“The one who posed the most danger to him,” Zapper said.

Phil smiled and said, “Who would that be?”

Zapper thought for a minute, then said, “Dave. Remember he always said if he had to go up against us one on one, Dave would be the hardest to take out.”

“Let me run this by you, then tell me what you think. What if we ran out of here, but had a certain point to meet? Now, suppose this spot was at a place that allowed me, you and Clint to get there first. We could set up and wait for Dave to lead Monty to us. Do you think it will work?” Phil asked.

“There’s one hole in your plan. What if Monty catches Dave before he gets to us? Monty will take Dave’s night vision goggles. If that happens, we’ll be sitting ducks,” Zapper answered.

“We’ll just have to trust that Dave can stay ahead of Monty. Dave may be big, but he can move like a ghost when he wants to. If Dave agrees to go out without the goggles, if he buys it, at least our edge won’t be taken away.”

Zapper looked at his watch. “We have to wake them in little bit. You tell them about your plan then and see what Dave says.”

“On the way here, I heard that a General Lawson deserted the new President’s forces. He joined the rebels in West Virginia. You don’t think it could be our man Boyd, do you?” Phil asked.

“It’s possible. The last I heard, Boyd was still in the army. General, huh, wouldn’t that be something? Old pecker-head Boyd, a general,” Zapper said with a laugh.

“I know what you mean. Remember when he joined us back in ’70? The man was a Bible-thumping lunatic. He would gather us in a tent before each mission and pray for our souls. Then he would jump up and say, ‘Let’s go get the godless bastards.’”

“Yeah, I remember, Charlie always asked him if he wasn’t being a bit sacrilegious, cursing and going out killing people.”

Phil laughed. “Remember the somber face Boyd put on and said, ‘The Lord works in mysterious ways, Charles.’ Charlie would shake his head and mutter, ‘The man is fucking nuts!’ over and over.”

The smile faded from Zapper’s face. “I wonder if Charlie went over to this disease?” he said in a low voice.

Phil broke out laughing. “Imagine Boyd Lawson standing on a street corner telling these godless crazies to repent? I can see it now, Boyd wading into a group of people with the disease trying to save their souls. I can see him killing those who objected and throwing them aside while saying they were the tools of the devil. Try to imagine Charlie Holbrook standing across the street saying, ‘The man is fucking nuts.’” Phil laughed hard at the thought.

“Go back and wake Dave and Clint up. Tell them about your plan. I’ll stay here and keep watch,” Zapper said, chuckling at the images Phil just described.

Chapter 4

Todd shook his head in anger. “You say they were all killed?” he asked the short man before him.

“All of them. I stood on a hill a mile away and watched the dogs hunt down and kill everyone who tried to get away. There were thousands of dogs in and around the town. This old man, Zeb, walked among them as they went about dragging our men down and killing them. The only thing saving me was that I left a few hours earlier to run a trap line I had set out a few miles from town.”

“What did they do after the last of our men were killed?”

“The old guy, Zeb, gathered his dogs around him and marched off toward Galixe. That’s when I hightailed it back here to inform you about what happened.”

“You did the right thing; now get something to eat, then find a bed in the bunkhouse and get some rest,” Todd told him.

After the man left, Todd pulled a map from his desk drawer. Unfolding it, he marked the location of Galixe and the spot where his ranch was located on the map. The town was less than two hundred fifty miles away. This Zeb was becoming a pain in the ass. He didn’t have enough people to send down and take care of the man. Every able-bodied man he had was along the eastern front. While it was true he gained more people every day, the demand for more bodies on the eastern front increased. Thanks to the hillbillies in Appalachia, he gained a little more time to consolidate his holdings. President Donaldson couldn’t get his men and supplies to the mid-western states very easily, because the hillbillies controlled the east/west rail lines. As long as the hillbillies held the line, Todd was slowly taking control of the states President Donaldson had said were his. He was going to St. Louis to take charge of things there very soon. He wanted to be sure the person he left in charge could handle things. Picking up the telephone, he said, “Find Andy Payne and tell him I want him immediately.”

The teletype in the corner started chattering away. He knew another message was coming from his master. When the bell sounded that it was finished, he ripped the paper off the machine. Taking the paper to his desk, he read the words out loud.

“Todd, I want you to pick up some things while you are in St. Louis. These things will allow you to complete your computer so I can transfer from here to there. It is important you get these items as quick as you can. I will tell you where they can be located. As soon as you find them, ship them back here and have them installed. I can’t stress how important speed is. The woman is in the complex and I am sure she is here to destroy me.

Down to business now. President Donaldson’s Science Advisor, Angus Coburn, has discovered I have been bugging their phones and is in the process of setting up a secure network. However, we are not blind, thanks to the men you sent in who planted the voice transmitters in most of the rooms in the White House. Through them, I’ve learned that Greg Fitch, head of intelligence, has convinced President Donaldson to take the railway from the people in West Virginia. If they do this, we will be faced with a swiftly growing troop buildup on our borders. I have dropped a few pieces of information into the computer-link the rebels are using, but it will not be enough. You know President Donaldson is paranoid about President Samules attacking the east coast. I need for you to transfer a thousand men to the port of Galveston in Texas. Dress them in U.S. Army uniforms. Put them aboard one of the troop transports located there. I have made arrangements for them to be taken to a point south of Washington, D. C. where they can disembark. Once on land, they are to march toward the Capitol. Do not send anyone you can’t afford to lose, because they will all be captured or killed. Arrange for the commanders to have information on them saying they are a part of President Samules’ forces. This will cause him to pull some of his troops away from the campaign against the rebels. Again, if you wish to continue to get the information I can provide you with, it is important to get the computer parts and have them installed. I have the feeling my time here is running out.”

Todd threw the paper aside. There was a knock on his door. “Come in,” he said.

A huge man opened the door. His face was a disaster with large bumps covering it from forehead to chin. The man was almost as wide as he was tall. His deformed arms looked monstrous. Never had Todd seen a man with such big arms. “You wanted me, Todd?” he said out of a mouth with half the teeth missing.

“Have a seat, Andy. I’m going to be leaving in the morning and would like you to take charge of things here. We might have a problem I’d like you to keep an eye on,” Todd said and told him about Zeb and his dogs.

“Don’t worry, Todd, this Zeb won’t make a move we don’t know about,” Andy said.

“Good, be here early in the morning and we’ll go over any last minute details,” Todd told him and escorted him to the door.

Todd took his jacket off the hook beside the door and put it on. Stepping outside, he drew in a breath of chilly night air. He walked down the steps and crossed the yard to the barn.

The guard saw him coming and said something into the walkie-talkie he carried. Todd smiled, knowing he alerted the other guards of his presence in the area. Since killing all the guards who were on duty the night Captain, the old mountain man, walked away from the ranch, they took their duty seriously.

He entered the barn. In the middle of the huge interior was a glass-enclosed room with an airlock for an entrance. Going to the entrance, he stopped before a camera mounted over the door. A mechanical voice said, “State your name for voice recognition.”

“Todd Christian,” he said.

“Voice recognition confirmed. Good evening, Todd. Please place your hand palm down on the plate beside the door,” the computer voice said.

Todd placed his palm on the plate and stared into the camera for the retinal scan. A moment later, the computer said, “Identification confirmed, you may open the door now, Todd. There will be a ninety second wait while all dust and contaminants are removed after entering.”

Todd entered the chamber and felt a gentle stirring of the air once the door was closed. Ninety seconds later, a green light came on over the inner door and it slid open. Inside, men in white smocks were busily working at computer stations. He walked over to where a grossly fat man sat studying a sheaf of computer paper. Although the room was kept at a constant sixty-five degrees, his shirt was soaked in sweat. His pudgy fingers flipped pages as his small, beady eyes studied the print. Todd meant to ask the man where he found the oversized rollaway chair that could hold his immense bulk. Sweat glistened on his bald head.

“Mr. McDonald, are things about ready to accept our master? He tells me time may be running out for him,” Todd asked.

“All we need are the two components you’re to pick up in St. Louis, Todd. The master is doing most of the programming himself. As you know, I am the foremost computer specialist in the country, but the things our master is doing completely baffle even me. He has developed new and unheard-of programs. I feel like a new student. Even with the master’s help, most of what he’s doing is far beyond my ability to comprehend,” the man said in an awed voice.

As always, Todd felt lost when talking to McDonald. All Todd knew about computers was how to turn them on.

“Good, McDonald. Keep on top of it. Have the remote sensors been programmed into the computer?”

“All of them are up and operating, except for the ones we planted near the town of Galixe. There’s some sort of electromagnetic interference on all the frequencies we try to use. We’re trying to isolate the cause, but so far, we’ve come up empty. Our master is puzzled. He says the magnetic interference wasn’t present until Joe and his group came into the area. If I didn’t know better, I would say someone is trying to blind us as to what goes on there. The rest of the sensors are working superbly, watch.” He turned on a large monitor mounted on the wall. A graph came up on the monitor. “This is a sensor located in Western Kentucky.” He typed on the keyboard and the graph changed to a line of figures. “In the last twelve hours, fifty-six rebels passed the sensor. Two dogs and a rabbit also came near it,” McDonald said, interpreting the figures on the screen.

“Good, then the subterfuge of my people attacking the rebels worked. I want to thank you again, McDonald. You and your men did a good job of placing the sensors. Now we’ll know which areas the rebels are building up in and can counter their moves.”

McDonald leaned his bulk back in his seat and looked up at Todd. Todd watched the man as he thought through what he was going to say. He was the most methodical person Todd had ever met. He doubted McDonald ever spoke a word in his life he didn’t think over at least half a dozen times before uttering the words.

“Todd, you’ve dealt more with the master than I have. How shall I put this?” Starting again, he said, “Is the master human, Todd?”

Todd thought about his reply. “At one time, he was human, but not anymore. Why do you ask?”

“As you know, my entire life has been dedicated to computers and ways of improving them. In all my work, I’ve never met or read about anyone as well-versed about computers as our master is. I would say some of the things he’s doing are impossible if I wasn’t seeing them myself. It’s unreasonable to think I wouldn’t have run across someone as smart as he is if he were human. In all the contact I’ve had with him, he acts like a very smart computer, but reasons things out in a human way. It would help me understand some of his work if I knew what he was,” McDonald said as he fidgeted in his chair.

“He’s now a machine, McDonald. The master told me how he got to be that way. Not being versed in computers, I couldn’t follow most of what he told me. All that matters to me is that the information he gives me is correct. Be he machine or man, I use him for my own ends, just as he uses me to get what he wants. He knows vastly more than I do, but he’ll never be able to incorporate that knowledge in the reality of the physical world. You see, McDonald, he’s a tool for me to use to gain my goals in the physical world. By the same token, I’m his tool for getting what he needs to construct his type of world. His story is that he worked for an electronics firm in New Jersey as a janitor. He insists he was a god in his other life.

“Anyway, for some reason, a man named Ben Johnson killed him. By the way, don’t mention the name Ben when you’re talking with him. He blows his cork at the mention of it. I tell you, the man, machine, or whatever he is, has more than a few screws loose. He used to terrify me when he went off on one of his tantrums about Ben. To tell you the truth, I was afraid to meet the man in person. You can imagine my relief when I found out he wasn’t human. Don’t get me wrong, I still respect the guy and we have accomplished a lot together. When it comes right down to it, I have to cover my own ass. One thing I want you to understand, McDonald, is never take the master lightly. Just because he doesn’t have a human form anymore doesn’t mean he can’t hurt you. If he thought you meant to harm him or me in any way, he would kill you. Nothing simple like shooting you. No, one day you would turn on a light switch or a TV, any number of things, and receive a lethal jolt of voltage. I’ve seen him do it a couple times. It’s not a pretty sight. Enough about the master. I came over here to tell you to keep an eye on Andy Payne while I’m gone. I’m leaving him in charge of everything outside of this place. I’m confidant he’ll do a good job. However, he has a mean streak in him a yard long. It could get him into trouble and bring a mess down on us here. What I want you to do is quietly watch him and if he starts to go overboard, bring him back to reality. I’ll make sure he understands, if you give him an order, it’s to be obeyed as if coming from me.” Todd stood up, shook the man’s oily hand and went to the door.

Outside in the chilly night air, he wondered if there were anymore loose ends to wrap up before he left. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Andy, but it was hard leaving someone else in charge of the only safe haven he had.

During his last talk with his master, he was informed that pockets of resistance were forming against him. He knew about the rebels in the coalfields back east. President Donaldson would be nipping at his heels eventually. Those were the two big ones, but it was the little pockets of resistance in areas he already controlled that worried him more.

Take last week when he sent over two hundred men to take the tiny town of Boone in Colorado. Hell, the whole town had less than fifty people, but they fought like they’d gone berserk. He lost over seventy-five of his troops taking the place and didn’t gain a damn thing. As the last pocket of resistance fell at the church, the whole damn town went up in flames. The townspeople had planted explosives in every building and tied them together at the church. He didn’t care about the place. It was a little spot in the road. The only trouble was he was finding a lot of little places like that. He would have to find some way to get rid of these rebels without losing so many men. He didn’t like leaving these people behind his lines, but it couldn’t be helped.

In five months, he was going to move against the rebels and he needed every man he could get to fight that battle.

Placing the sensors inside rebel country was a stroke of genius. Essentially, they were motion sensors, but his master had redesigned them so they could recognize the difference between humans and animals.

Over the next few months, they should be able to get a pattern of how the rebels reacted to different situations. By probing here and there along the lines, they would be able to pinpoint which routes the rebels used to bring up reinforcements.

When it came time for Todd to make his main push, he planned to send small ambush squads to take out any reinforcements before they got to the battle line. He was learning that when it came to pitched battles, not to count his eggs before they hatched. Things didn’t always go the way he wanted them to when there was a large force of people fighting each other.

He wished he had listened to Joe more when he described how they did this or that on the battlefield. He didn’t fear Joe like he had a few months ago. For one thing, Joe shunned the larger groups of people who could have helped him. For some reason, Joe had purposely kept his group small while he was taking the woman to his master’s location. The possibility existed that Joe would come out of the mountain and join one of the groups resisting him. If that occurred, he would have to be very careful. His people were becoming better as they fought small skirmishes against the rebels. Here lately, the rebels’ tactics had changed. Maybe it had something to do with the general who had defected from President Donaldson’s army to join them. Two weeks ago, he started losing more men than he should have against the unorganized enemy. He was forced to send larger and larger forces into rebel territory just to get the information he needed.

In one respect, he was lucky the rebels concentrated most of their forces in the east, keeping President Donaldson from using the railways. If it wasn’t for the crazies, which were his biggest asset, he would wait a few years and let the rebels continue their fight against President Donaldson. The crazies forced him to keep expanding. If they didn’t find an enemy to take their rage out on, Todd would be forced to kill them.

Chapter 5

Zapper looked at his watch as the others prepared to leave. “No sense in putting it off. Are you sure you want to be the guinea pig, Dave?”

“Hell no, but what choice do I have? No, Phil’s plan is the best way for us to get Monty. Just make sure the rest of you are in position when I lead him into the trap,” Dave said as he strapped a large knife to his leg.

“Don’t worry, Dave. All I need is one shot. I owe the bastard,” Clint said as he rubbed his wounded shoulder.

“Time to draw,” Phil said, holding out his closed hand. He held three small protruding sticks in it. Clint reached over and drew out one of the sticks. Zapper drew another. Phil opened his hand to show them his stick, which was the shortest of the three. “Well, I didn’t want to live forever anyway,” he said.

“Give us time to get into position before you expose yourself,” Zapper said as he moved toward the front of the dugout. Zapper was glad he hadn’t drawn the short stick. The one with the short stick had to expose himself enough to get Monty to fire. The rest of them would take up positions so they could watch the entire area across from the dugout. It was important they knew Monty’s exact position. In order for Phil’s plan to work, Dave had to leave as far away from Monty as he could. It was hoped Monty would go after Dave first. That would give the rest of them time to get to the ambush site first and wait as Dave circled around to them.

“Here goes nothing,” Phil said. He eased his way from post to post until he was beneath the overhang of the dugout. Sucking in a deep breath, he edged into the light staring intently at the top of the ravine across from him. Holding onto a vine imbedded into the side of the wall, he leaned out. The next thing he knew, he was falling flat on his face, then he heard the shot. Scrambling, he crawled back into the dugout, where he leaned against the wall breathing hard.

“You can let loose of the vine now, Phil,” Dave said.

Phil looked down at his hand. He still had the vine in his hand, except he gripped it so tight, his fingers were turning white. Six inches from his hand, the vine had been cleanly severed.

“Did you spot his muzzle flash?” he asked, dropping the vine.

“I did,” Zapper said. “He’s behind that tall pine tree off to the right. See the one I mean? Just above those two rocks jutting out ten feet from the top of the ravine.”

“Okay, Dave. You go left. Remember that spring a quarter of a mile down the canyon? That’s where we’ll set up. Lead him there, we’ll be waiting on him,” Phil said, shaking his hand.

Clint and Zapper shook Dave’s hand and wished him good luck.

Phil held up his hand and looked at each of them. He waited until he got a nod that they were ready. He brought his hand down and rushed from the dugout, going to the right. Clint and Zapper followed right behind him, firing their rifles at the ridge as they ran. Looking over his shoulder as he came to a curve in the hill, he saw Dave plunge into the underbrush to the left of the dugout. The steady crack of a high-powered rifle beat down from the ridge of the ravine. He stopped at the edge of the curve and let Clint and Zapper pass.

Squatting between two boulders, he watched the ridge where Monty was supposed to be. He saw a flash followed by the bark of a high-powered rifle. The tree above Monty trembled from a burst of fire from Dave. The next muzzle flash came from further to the left as Monty tracked Dave, who was below him.

Phil waited until he saw another flash, which was farther to the left, then he turned and ran to Cliff and Zapper. “Monty took the bait. Let’s go to the spring and take up positions.”

* * * *

After plunging into the brush, Dave cut sharply to the right, bringing him closer to Monty but putting him under the protective edge of the ravine. The bole of a pine tree exploded three feet from him showering him with splinters. Pulling a splinter out of his jaw, he started to stop the flow of blood, but had an idea.

He stopped under an overhang and turned his head so the blood dropped onto an exposed rock. The puncture bled profusely.

Another bullet hit a tree twenty feet from where he was. He took a gauze compress from his pack and slapped it on his jaw. He eyed the blood on the rock and placed his right foot beside it. Leaning heavily on his right leg, he dragged it along the dirt leaving behind an imprint in the soft ground and leaves. Ahead, he saw a patch of rocky ground. He angled until he came to the rocky stretch. Looking back, he saw a trough plowed in the ground.

From all appearances, a badly-wounded man had dragged a useless leg across the stretch of soft ground. Dave smiled because he knew Monty would think him severely injured and would be extra careful in following him.

It was almost dark at the bottom of the ravine. He took the night goggles from his pack and put them on. Flipping the switch, everything turned green and white. Trees and rocks had a greenish tint as they radiated the day’s stored heat. Fifty feet off to the left, he saw a deer bound away. He raised his rifle and closed his eyes to keep the muzzle flash from blinding him.

Firing one shot into the air, he started up the ravine. The distinctive crack of his 30-30 would let Phil and the rest know he was still alive. He ran up the ravine as fast as he could without making too much noise. Now the game begins.

Monty would be somewhere behind him, trailing him through the brush. Darkness was closing in rapidly. Dave knew Monty didn’t have night vision goggles, so every now and then, he would break a twig with his foot. The sharp crack as he broke the twig sounded loud in the stillness of the night. He could picture Monty listening intently for such noises.

He climbed silently up the side of the ravine and lay down beside a fallen log. Watching the way he had come, he saw Monty step out from behind a tree. He stood still as a rock and waited for Dave to make a sound. Dave didn’t want to make it too easy for Monty.

Monty knew Dave was very good at going silently through heavy brush. If Dave made it too obvious, Monty would suspect a trap.

He watched Monty stalk up the ravine, carefully placing one foot in front of the other. Every few steps, he would stop to listen. Dave wished he had a night scope on his rifle. It would be easy to take Monty out as he crossed some of the open spaces.

Although he could see Monty, aiming his rifle with the bulky goggles on would be difficult. He would have only one shot. Monty wasn’t dumb. If he shot and missed, Monty would figure Dave had a device that let him see in the dark. He would fade into the brush and wait until daylight so they would be on equal footing.

In a situation like that, Monty was the better of the two. Not by much, but just enough to give him the edge. Dave waited until Monty was a hundred yards from the spot where he lay. Picking up a few stones, he rolled them down the bank. They made a clicking noise as they collided with other rocks.

He saw Monty stop and cock his head to the side like a predator sniffing out prey. He let one more rock, larger than the others, roll down the bank. Although the noise wasn’t loud, a person with good ears could hear it, and Monty had excellent hearing. When Monty started toward him, Dave crawled away from the bank.

Getting to his feet, he plotted a way through the trees. Now the dangerous part would begin. He had to let Monty stay close without exposing himself. He positioned himself behind a tree a hundred feet from the lip of the ravine. Although he had done this countless times before when he was in the army, the waiting seemed to drag out longer than it should.

He was beginning to worry that Monty had slipped behind him when he saw Monty’s head pop up and back down, sixty feet to the right of where he had come up out of the ravine. Monty swiped at his forehead wiping sweat away. Now why would he be sweating so much? The night was cool. He judged the temperature to be near fifty degrees. On careful inspection of the figure outlined in the goggles, he thought Monty looked bulkier than he should. Bulk and sweat meant only one thing. Monty was carrying a lot of extra weight. Dave couldn’t see any backpack as Monty moved out from behind a tree. It clicked in Dave’s mind that Monty had to be wearing some kind of heavy body armor. This meant the only sure way of taking him out was a head shot.

The odds shot up again in Monty’s favor. Dave backed through the trees keeping Monty in sight. When Monty took a track leading away, Dave would let his jacket brush against a tree. It was just enough noise to cause Monty to veer back toward him.

What he wouldn’t give to have a radio now and be in contact with Phil. He needed to let them know about the armor Monty wore. As he turned to check behind him, a wild cat screamed right beside him. Something swatted his leg. Moments later, he felt the trickle of blood down the leg. He backed quickly away from the hollow tree he was behind.

Of all the damn luck, he would have to stumble on a wildcat’s den. Frantically, he looked for Monty. He knew the noise of the wild cat and the noise he made getting away from it had given Monty a definite location on him.

Monty would now be circling around to come up behind him. Dave was now sweating. It was one thing to see Monty, but out of sight, he became as dangerous as a cobra. Dave wanted to rush, but knew he had to keep Monty from pinpointing his location.

Rapidly, without making any noise, he went through the trees. Every ten feet, he made a complete turn looking for anything out of place. Not that he was expecting to see anything. Monty was good and he wouldn’t make any mistakes.

He heard the wildcat scream again from the direction he came from. Was that a twig snap off to his left? He stopped and listened intently. Nothing, he was beginning to spook himself. He had to get himself under control. Nerves as tight as a banjo string; he slowed down, it would be fatal if he let his imagination run away with him.

He slowed his breathing and remembered his training. Let my peripheral vision catch movement to the left or right. Don’t look at one spot, keep my eyes moving. When moving around a large tree, keep low and close to the trunk. Stagger my steps, don’t walk with a regular rhythm. Avoid straight lines of travel, which would give the enemy a chance to set up in front of me. Attune my hearing to my surroundings. As I travel forward, a silent void will follow me. Be alert if I enter a void.

What that meant was, as he traveled forward, the insects and birds would become silent just as he stepped into their zone. There would be a split second when he heard them before they stilled. On the other hand, if he entered a dead zone, it was guaranteed someone was near.

Dave’s mind and body went on automatic as he got control of himself. He heard a bird or owl take flight off to the left. He ignored it and angled that way. Off to the right, he heard a small animal scurrying through the leaves. Keeping his eyes in the direction of the sound, he saw a ground squirrel dart across an open space. The ground squirrels movements weren’t those of flight from a predator. Monty would have reached the point he wanted by now, so he was close.

Dave got down on his stomach and crawled to a stump ahead and to the right of him. He parted the leaves on a plant growing nearby. At first, he thought he was hallucinating. On the other side of the stump, a figure with goggles on stared directly at him.

“Hi, Dave, I didn’t think you’d ever get here,” said Monty.

“Where did you get the goggles, Monty?”

“Sorry to be the one to tell you, Dave, but Clint didn’t make it. Tell me, was this one of Phil’s plans?” When Dave didn’t answer, Monty shook his head. “I thought so. While I played with you today, I wondered how the four of you would come after me. Since you’re almost as good as me, I decided the others would use you to decoy me into a trap. Oh, I followed you as far as the top of the ravine to make it look good, because I didn’t know if you guys had radios. After letting you see me at the top of the ravine, I slipped back to the bottom and ran like hell after the others. Seeing the direction they headed in, I knew the only place for an ambush was the spring. I cut across the hill and got there before them. It was Clint’s bad luck to hide behind the same boulder I was behind. I would have taken out the other two, but that damn little spic got out half a yell before my knife slit his throat. Careful, Dave, slide your 30-30 across the stump to me. Uh, uh, butt first,” Monty said as Dave started bringing the barrel around.

“So Phil and Zapper are still alive?”

“For a little while at least. Since they were alerted, I came directly here and waited for you. You should take it as a compliment that I consider you the only one of the four who’s a threat to me,” Monty said with a smile.

“Why all the talk, why not kill me and get it over with?” Dave said as he eased his hand down beside his right leg.

“It may surprise you, but I’m lonely. After all, when you’re the best, what does the rest of humanity have to offer? I want you to stand up and move to this side of the log, Dave,” Monty said, backing away about twenty feet.

Quickly, Dave slid the knife from its sheath and stuck it up his sleeve. He stood up with his hands out to the side and stepped across the log.

“Sit down with your back to the log and keep your hands in sight, Dave,” Monty told him as he squatted on the ground. The rifle he held never wavered a bit. “Relax, Dave, you still have a few minutes left. Think of it as the better man winning. Really, Dave, you disappoint me. I thought you were better. The way you came stumbling in here, a sixth grader could have followed you. What is it, age taking the edge off, or is it that I’m so good, you didn’t have a chance?” Monty asked.

Dave couldn’t remember Monty being so stuck on himself. He decided to agree with him and see where that led. “You are good, Monty. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen any better. I tried to learn from you, but some things you have to be born with and you were,” Dave said, reaching up to pull a splinter from his cheek. “That shot almost did me in, instead I have a face full of splinters.” He saw Monty relax when his hand came down with nothing but the splinter. Reaching up again, he pulled another splinter out, wincing in pain.

“Must hurt like a bitch.” Monty laughed, enjoying Dave’s pain.

“I’ve had worse,” Dave answered.

“That’s right. They pulled six slugs out of you in ’71. What made you go on, Dave? Hell, even I would’ve given up ten miles before I got to our lines. What do you have inside you that makes you go on when everyone else quits? I admired you when you made it back to our line. The doctors at the hospital said you’d lost almost three pints of blood. Shot twice in the same lung, another hole in your stomach, one in each leg and another in your shoulder. All that and you walked twenty miles through dense jungle. Before I kill you, Dave, tell me what makes a man suffer such pain and misery,” Monty asked in a perplexed voice.

Slowly, Dave’s hand movements between his cheek and leg became faster as he pulled out splinters. He knew he had less than a minute to live. The next time he brought his hand up, he slid the handle of the knife out of his sleeve and into his hand. The throw would be awkward, but he had no choice. He opened his mouth as if to speak and flicked his hand forward. As the knife left his hand, he fell to the side. A sharp pain hit his right shoulder and he heard the sound of a shot.

He rolled over twice and looked toward where Monty had been. Monty sat with his back against a tree. The rifle lay on his legs pointed at the ground. Like the horn of a unicorn, Dave’s knife stuck out of the center of Monty’s forehead. Dave rolled to a sitting position holding his numb right arm.

“Faith, Monty, and the knowledge that you and the other guys were out searching for me. That’s what kept me going. Sorry it had to end like this, old friend, but you were wrong. I don’t blame you, Monty. You were a good man and an even better friend. The game of life caused you to go over to the other side and I don’t hold it against you. I know if you had a choice, we would be sitting here talking,” he whispered to the dead man.

Reaching for a nearby tree, he pulled himself to his feet with his left hand. He felt blood trickling off the fingers of his right. Unbuttoning his jacket, he grunted in pain as he pulled it loose from where it was imbedded in the wound. A fresh swell of blood covered his fingers as he probed the wound. A clean wound through the fleshy part of the shoulder.

Awkwardly, he pulled a bandage compress from the pack at his side. Using his teeth, he ripped the package open. Pressing the compress against the wound to stanch the flow of blood, he walked away from the site. Nearing the spring, he began to yell for Phil and Zapper.

A little later, he heard, “Is that you, Dave?”

He slumped down against a tree; glad to be off his trembling legs. He must have lost more blood than he thought. Shock was starting to set in. “Come help me. I’ve been wounded,” he said in a weak voice.

He must have passed out for a moment. The next thing he knew, Zapper was pulling his hand away from the wound. “Hold the light over here, Phil,” Zapper said.

Dave raised his head and saw Phil looking around. He stood with the rifle, poised to shoot at the first sound. “He’s dead, Phil. Relax and help Zapper,” he said in a hoarse voice.

“You’ve lost a lot of blood, Dave. Did Monty shoot you in the face with a shotgun?” Zapper asked as he bound the shoulder.

Zapper eased Dave to the ground on his back and turned Dave’s head so he could get a good look at the side of it. Blood seeped from dozens of splinters still lodged in the side of his face and cheek.

“This is going to hurt, Dave, but we have to get the splinters out.” Zapper dug in his first-aid pack and pulled out a pair of tweezers. Slowly, he began to pull the splinters out.

Pulling the last one out, he asked Phil to open a few packets of medicated cream. As Phil handed them to him, he smeared the cream on the side of Dave’s face. Placing a large gauze bandage over it all, he tied it in place and sat back.

Dave struggled to sit up and they helped him by lifting him and placing his back against a tree. “Monty told me Clint is dead.”

“We know, we found his body a little while ago,” Phil said.

Dave felt himself slowly sinking into sleep. He fought it, but couldn’t and was soon slumped against the tree, sound asleep.

* * * *

Zapper cleared away leaves in a space between two trees. Using his knife, he dug a hole in the ground. “Go to the dugout and get two sleeping bags, Phil. Bring back a pot to heat water in, so we can clean Dave’s wounds when he wakes up. I’ll build a fire to keep off the chill until you get back,” Zapper said.

Phil turned and left while Zapper broke small twigs and placed them in the bottom of the hole. Soon, he had a blazing fire going. As carefully as he could, he eased Dave’s body near the fire. He took off his coat and laid it on Dave, who was shaking with a fever. Gathering rocks, he placed them the length of Dave’s body until he had built a wall two feet high. The wall of rocks kept the breeze off Dave. The wall also absorbed heat and radiated it back at Dave. For the first time that night, he let himself relax.

Sitting with his legs crossed, he tossed more wood on the fire as it burned down. It saddened him that Clint was dead, but in a way he couldn’t explain, he knew Clint was with his beloved wife, Sylvia. “Be happy, amigo,” he whispered.

Staring into the orange glow of the fire, he wondered why he had never found someone special. Someone he wanted to share his life with. Living the way he did tended to put off any permanent relationships. Thinking about it, he considered himself lucky. He couldn’t imagine loving someone so much that when they were gone, an empty place formed inside like it did with Clint.

To his way of thinking, it took a lot more courage than he had to go on living with that kind of permanent ache. No, he had always lived by and for himself. His wants and needs were simple. Still, he wondered what it felt like to care about someone more than he cared about himself.

Being raised in an orphanage made a person realize the only one he could depend on was himself. Not that his life in the orphanage had been all that bad. The nuns and priests were kind. Punishment came only when it was warranted. No, he wouldn’t delude himself by saying he was this way because of his childhood.

His lone-wolf attitude was a conscious choice. One he made shortly after leaving the army. Many said the army was to blame, but he knew different. Many years of thinking about it brought him to the conclusion that it was “the edge.”

After living on the edge for two years, where death was an instant away, the mundane life of a normal person lost its luster. Once he was there with his senses consistently attuned to the now, the instant, normal life and its future planning seemed dull.

He found he had little tolerance for people and their petty problems. Most of which they brought on themselves. He discovered that life consisted of users and the used. Wanting to be neither, he kept to himself, avoiding the temptation of getting involved with other people. At times, it was lonely, but he considered it worth it to be able to say he was his own man. The only people he felt truly comfortable with were men like Phil and Dave. They had been there. They shared something very few people knew.

During those times when he became despondent, and he did from time to time, he would open his mind and try to think like a baby seeing things for the first time. Simple things like blades of grass moving in the breeze, a butterfly flapping from flower to flower took on a whole new meaning.

The truth of the matter was that living on the edge of death for so long gave one a profound respect for life. Life, in its ever evolving process, consisted of events beyond number. People went through life not realizing their effect on others, or the way events controlled them.

He knew it was cynical, but he considered people to be like sheep. They were led around and used by the few people who were users. In today’s world, even before the disease, he considered the users to be the people in positions of power.

How had it all gone astray? When had the people lost control of their government? When did it happen that the criminal received more rights than the victim?

The greatest tragedy was the loss of childhood innocence for today’s generation. His troubled thoughts were broken when Phil struggled into the clearing with his awkward load.

They spread a sleeping bag out next to Dave and gently rolled him into it. He mumbled something in his fever-induced sleep. They zipped him up in the cocoonlike bag.

Zapper went to gather more wood for the fire, while Phil set up a rod attached to two tripodlike stands on either side of the fire. He poured some water from a canteen into a blackened pot and placed it in the center of the fire on the rod. By the time Zapper returned with the wood, the water was boiling.

“That will hold us for the rest of the night,” Zapper said. He piled wood off to the side. He took the cup of coffee Phil gave him and sipped the hot brew. They both felt fatigue set in from the tension of the last twenty hours.

Sitting with his back against a tree, Phil said. “I don’t want to go through this again. When Dave recovers, I think I’ll leave.”

“Can’t say as I blame you, Phil, but I think we should stick together. Alone, anything can happen, but together, we stand a chance. Things are so fucked up out there in the world, you wouldn’t know who to trust. As for me, I’m going to wait until Dave can travel, then go with him. If you don’t have anyplace in particular to go, think about traveling with us,” Zapper said.

“No, no place in particular, Zap. My ex-wife and son are dead. They were killed at the start of this thing. There are no living relatives I want to visit. I thought I might live like you do for a while and sort it all out. To tell you the truth, what’s happening out there scares the shit out of me.”

“If I’ve learned anything in my years of solitude, it’s that running away won’t accomplish anything,” Zapper said.

“I don’t know if you’d call it running away as much as taking time to understand the new world order,” Phil said.

“What new world order? Human nature hasn’t changed since man came out of the caves. When you strip away all the trimmings, it comes down to one thing, good versus evil. This situation is a prime example of that. From the little I know of what’s going on out there, some very bad men are inflicting a lot of pain on innocent people,” Zapper said, as Dave moaned in his sleep.

‘Maybe it’s time we stripped away some of our so-called civilized ways. Shit, Phil, look at the shape our country was in before this happened. Crime everywhere, drugs being sold on street corners. The working class people being taxed out of existence by politicians who wanted to spend more and more of the money they didn’t have. Hell, maybe I am a sixties guy and haven’t kept up with all the changes in the world, but I do know this. When I was growing up, we settled things with our fists and if you lost, that was it. Today, if people have an argument or fight, the first thing they do, is go get a weapon and go back to blow away the winner.”

“Doesn’t say much for our society, does it?” Phil said.

“Look at today’s youth, ten and eleven year olds killing each other with guns. That was unheard of when I grew up. Power and greed have corrupted this country. I may not know a lot of things, but I do recognize that a teenager making thousands of dollars by selling drugs in school is wrong. Even if they’re caught, what do they get? A slap on the wrist and told to straighten up. No, there was something fundamentally wrong with our country. This is a mute point now. Oh, we still have the greed and power mongers, but the change is there are only two classes of people now. Us and them,” Zapper said, pouring himself more coffee.

“From my understanding of the situation, if you aren’t like these crazy people, you have to die. No coexistence, no diplomacy; just death for those who are different. It cuts across all ethnic and racial barriers. On the radio, I’ve heard of former Ku Klux Klan members working with black people. Cops working side by side with crooks. Let me tell you, there are a hell of a lot more of them, than there are of us,” Phil said.

“From what I heard, millions of people have died and many more have been killed. By now, we’re lucky if twenty percent of the country’s population is still alive. Of that twenty percent, fifteen are like Monty was. Over the last month, I’ve heard reports of a fellow by the name of Todd wiping out pockets of people like us. Seems this Todd has gathered a large army of people like him and is setting up his own form of government.” Zapper put his hand against Dave’s forehead and shook his head saying, “He has one hell of a fever.”

“This new President Donaldson is doing the same thing on the east coast. Sooner or later, they are going to clash. The only thing separating them now is the stubborn resistance of the mountain people in Appalachia. I’ve given it some thought and if Dave agrees, I think we should try and make our way back to these rebels and give them what help we can,” Zapper said and eased down into his sleeping bag.

They both fell silent, lost in thought. A little later, Phil stood up and said he would take the first watch. Zapper crawled into the sleeping bag and dropped into a troubled sleep.

Four hours later, Phil woke him for his watch and crawled into the warm sleeping bag Zapper left. Zapper heated a pot of water over the hot coals of the fire and made himself a cup of coffee. Every now and then, he would check on Dave, who was now resting easily.

As the light of a new day began to filter through the trees, he woke Phil. Together, using two folding shovels, they dug a grave. Phil went to the spring and brought back Clint’s body. After lowering it into the hole, they filled in the grave.

“What about Monty?” Zapper asked.

“Far as I’m concerned, let the animals have him.”

“No,” a hoarse voice said.

Looking over, they saw Dave propped up on a wobbly elbow. “Even though he tried to kill us, he was our friend. It could have been any of us that went over to the disease. I don’t blame Monty. What happened to him was beyond his control and we shouldn’t hold it against him. Bury him as you would a friend. That’s the least he deserves for the years of friendship we’ve known.” Dave collapsed back to the ground.

After checking on Dave, Zapper and Phil went through the woods until they came to Monty’s body. Removing the heavy knife from his forehead, they laid him out in the grass. Going through his pockets, Phil pulled out two sets of dog tags. Without saying a word, he handed them to Zapper.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Zapper mumbled over and over. The dog tags belonged to two members of their team. At least they knew the fate of the men. The only way Monty could have gotten the tags was by killing them. Now there was only six of them left.

In silence, they dug a grave and placed Monty in it. They carried rocks and piled them on the grave to keep animals from digging up the body.

Not much was said the rest of the day as they watched Dave overcome his shock-induced fever. By the next day, Dave was able to stand and walk around the clearing for short periods of time.

At the end of the week, he told them he was ready to start east. Packing everything they thought they would need, they made their way out of Yellowstone Park.

Chapter 6

After a good night’s rest, Joe and his people gathered in the kitchen of the complex and enjoyed a morning cup of coffee. While the women prepared breakfast, the men sat at the table and brought each other up to date on what was happening in the country and around the world.

General Hawkins knew more about what was happening outside the country, so he started first. “For those of you who don’t know, John Samules is the legitimate President of the United States. He has set up a government, in exile, in Iceland. Going by the Constitution, he was the next in line for the presidency. Great Britain has aligned themselves with President Samules. The British, so far, have escaped this disease by sealing their borders against all entry. As you know, it’s impossible to keep everyone out. Just before I left Iceland, the coalition of France, Germany and the United European nations landed an invading force on England’s eastern shore. By now, I’m afraid the disease has taken hold in England. From what Dr. Palmer has told us, this disease is passed on by physical contact. I don’t see how the British could have repelled the invaders without some contact between them and the invading forces. We can only hope that the people who survive and come to power have not been contaminated.”

“What about the rest of Europe?” Joe asked.

“Europe was devastated by the disease. By now, eighty to ninety percent of the European population are dead. The majority of the remaining people are diseased and have a deep-set desire to destroy England. The British government has stopped them, up until this point, from unleashing the nuclear forces at their command. Quite simply, the British Prime Minister told the new coalition government of Europia he would unleash his nuclear missiles if such an attack occurred and lay waste to all of Europe. To give you an idea of how bad it is, the French forces were decimated by the disease. The people who rose to power in France, after it struck, were like our so-called President Donaldson. They gave Germany an ultimatum. Either join them, or suffer a massive nuclear attack. At that time, the government of Germany was still populated by people who were unaffected. Either they did not wish to believe, or failed to correctly judge the new government in France, but they refused the ultimatum.”

“I would have done the same thing. What sane government would unleash the ravages of a nuclear attack?” Ben said.

General Hawkins nodded that he agreed, then continued, “What they and I failed to realize was we weren’t dealing with sane, rational people. The French government unleashed a devastating nuclear attack on Germany. Most of the country is a nuclear wasteland now. After the attack, Italy, Spain and the other European nations fell in with the French and renamed themselves Europia.”

“Jesus,” Ben and Jake said at the same time.

“The picture is even bleaker in Russia. Not only did they have to deal with their own forces, but they had to contend with the billions of Chinese on their eastern border. The last report we received was that the Soviet nuclear forces had assumed control of their government. After massive incursions by Chinese forces into their country, they decided the only way to save themselves was to create a nuclear wasteland along their entire border with China. This worked to a point.”

General Hawkins paused for a drink of water before continuing. “Because of the sheer number of Chinese people, they’re still sending people to their deaths across the radioactive countryside into Russia. At last report, the Russians were barely holding their own. If it weren’t for the Chinese being so weak by the time they crossed the poisoned lands, the Russians would have fallen long ago. The leader of the new Russian government has pledged his support to President Samules. This has had the effect of muting the force the new country of Europia brings against England.”

“Don’t these people realize what they’re doing?” Jake said.

“The European government is afraid the Russians will unleash their still potent nuclear forces on them. In the end, we expect the Russian government to fall. There are too many forces aligned against them. We were in direct contact with General Valadoive. He’s adamant that if his government starts to topple, he will leave little behind that anyone can use. We take that to mean he’ll use his entire nuclear capability to make the entire continent uninhabitable. If this happens, it will exert extreme pressure on other countries—because the survivors will try and reach places they can live.

“In southeast Asia, the Vietnamese are doing extremely well. They expelled a massive Chinese invasion and have taken control of Cambodia and Thailand as well. So far, they’re staying within these borders and profess to want no more. They signed an agreement with the Japanese to supply them with modern weapons in return for minerals.

“India has torn itself apart. Fractional fighting between rival religious groups have left the country a smoldering mess. We estimate there will be fighting there for many years to come.

“Africa is much the same. Every country on the continent is fighting each other. Allegiances are made and broken daily between the governments there.

“South America kept people out for a while, even shooting down passenger planes that tried to land at their airports. It took three months for the disease to make it into the continent. From what we’ve heard, there isn’t much left of the major cities in Brazil. There were reports of a mass exodus to the Amazon basin. If so, many of those people will live. The Peruvian army attacked Chile, taking them by surprise and almost wiped out Chile’s armed forces. Argentina came to Chile’s aid and they stopped the Peruvian army in the center of Chile. They’re still fighting, neither side gaining much ground. While they fight to help Chile regain their country, the Argentinians have positioned their big battleships off Peru’s major ports and are shelling them relentlessly. The only country in South America with any semblance of normalcy is Colombia. The major drug lords combined their private armies and established a ruthless form of government. They broke relations with the countries around them and have put out a warning that their borders are closed. Any attempt to enter the country is dealt with harshly. Reports say six missionary nuns tried to enter with two hundred orphans and were gunned down on the spot.

“All this may sound hideous, but there are thousands of such instances occurring worldwide daily.

“Mexico City is said to resemble a slaughterhouse. Once the most populous city in the world, it’s now nothing but a festering, disease-ridden place. Every known disease—and some that aren’t—are running rampant in the city. The death toll is estimated to be more than twenty million. Jesus, it boggles the mind to think of so many dead people in one city,” General Hawkins said as he paused to drink from a water glass.

“Here in the States, we estimate between one hundred fifty to two hundred million deaths before the year is out. Not a pretty picture of humanity, is it? Some of our people have predicted that ninety percent of the world’s population will die before this is over. They all agree that, at best, less than forty percent will survive. To put it into terms you can understand, say you live in a town with ten thousand people. Of that total, six thousand would die, maybe more. Now you have a town that used to support ten thousand people, but there are less than four thousand left.

“This town provided jobs for probably twenty-five hundred to three thousand of the total population. Those jobs no longer exist. Public services in this town, which were taken for granted, will soon begin to break down. Water will become contaminated, sewage will back up. Before long, diseases like cholera, dysentery and the like will develop, killing off even more of the survivors.

“It’ll be quite a few years before most of our cities will be habitable. Take a simple thing like canned goods. Most of the production plants are located in or near large cities. Even if the raw foodstuff were available to process, there wouldn’t be enough people to operate the plants. Everything we took for granted will cease to exist after a while. No electricity, no supermarkets, no purified drinking water, etcetera. While there will be havens like this one, they will be few and far between. Over the years, we’ll become a primitive society in order to survive. Perhaps, some day, future generations will know and have the luxuries we had and took for granted that made our life so easy.

“That, however, is for the future. We, on the other hand, must deal with the present. Thank God, former President Robertson had the presence of mind to take actions which will help people like us survive. The first thing he did was strip all military arsenals and put their contents in different hidden locations. Can you imagine what would have happened if the military people who went over to this disease could get their hands on an unlimited supply of weapons? Hell, there are enough privately-owned assault weapons and machine guns to equip a small army. A certain number of tanks and artillery pieces were taken to West Virginia and put in abandoned mines. The rest were destroyed or rendered useless. The President also had the air force render most of their planes inoperative.

“Now the question is, can we get enough people to go get some of those hidden caches? Without those weapons, we don’t stand a chance against people like this Todd, let alone the forces President Donaldson can bring to bear. What do you think, Joe? Are there enough people like us out there to form our own army?” General Hawkins asked.

Joe scratched his chin and sipped his coffee. “In every state we passed through, we heard about isolated pockets of people who didn’t go over to this disease. The only trouble will be getting to them before Todd or President Donaldson wipes them out. I guess it would depend on if we can contact enough of them and they’ll agree to go east to the Appalachians and join the rebels. With enough people, we might be able to resist President Donaldson’s and Todd’s forces. Sooner or later, Todd and President Donaldson are going to have to join forces to get rid of the rebels. With heavy weapons like tanks, APCs, and the right commander, taking back this country is possible,” Joe told him.

“Why position the weapons in West Virginia?” Jake asked.

“That was a calculated risk President Robertson took. He figured that the mountain people were so reclusive, they wouldn’t suffer the casualties predicted for our major population areas. Besides, the area is a natural for defense. With limited roadways and the mountainous terrain, a few people could hold off a vast number of opposing forces. Properly armed, they could keep whole armies at bay. Only a fool would take an army into those mountains. A small force could shell them from surrounding mountains, then fall back and do the same thing the next valley over. Before a commander realized it, his army would be cut to pieces without even engaging the rebels. They won’t use air power because the rebels have a large supply of antiaircraft missiles. President Donaldson sent in bombers and attack helicopters after the rebels took back the town of Romney. Almost ninety percent of the aircraft were shot down. Now he only uses air power if the terrain is open, where rebels with antiaircraft missiles have a hard time hiding. By sending people there, we could build our forces more rapidly,” General Hawkins said, looking around the table for any disagreement.

“I see what you mean, General, most of the people who join the rebels will have little or no training. I’m sure the rebels have set up training camps in secure areas. People going there would get the proper training, while if they stayed here, they would have to learn under combat conditions. We would lose a lot of people before we had a force large enough to protect any training facility we set up,” Joe said.

“Wait a minute, we don’t even know why we came here. I think it’s a little presumptuous to talk about forming armies just yet,” Ben said from the end of the table.

“That’s a question we’ve been dying to ask. Why did you come here?” Rita asked from her speaker.

Joe, Ben and Bill looked at each other. The other two nodded for Bill to do the speaking. “I’ll try to make our story short,” Bill said.

“Tony and I escaped from the town we lived in, located in Southern West Virginia. People with the disease had taken over and were getting rid of those who weren’t like them. I was just recovering from an illness, probably the same one that turned these people into what they are. In my case, I was able to hear them talk to each other mentally, but was unable to converse with them the same way.

“My first day back at work, I discovered my boss and most of the men I worked with were plotting my death. We left town that night and had to kill a deputy the next morning. On the way to Cincinnati, Tony looked at the map and said we had to get to Indianapolis, where we would meet a man and a girl. She didn’t know how she knew this, but she was adamant we go there. Oh, I forgot to tell you, Tony has the ability to make herself invisible to other people.” Bill stopped because of the looks he was getting from those not of his group.

“Don’t look at me like that. I know it sounds crazy, but she can do it,” Bill said.

General Hawkins had pulled a cigar from inside his jacket and was hunting for his lighter when they all heard a voice beside him say, “Let me light that for you, General.”

Except for Joe and his people, they all stared at where the voice came out of thin air. A few moments later, Tony stood there holding a lighter to the General’s cigar, which promptly fell from his lips into his lap. “Now, General, don’t you go calling my man a liar,” Tony said in a coquettish southern bell voice.

They all laughed when the general jumped up and swatted at his lap. A puff of smoke rose from a smoldering hole near the crotch of his pants. He grabbed a glass of water off the table and doused himself. Standing there sheepishly, he began to chuckle and sat back down.

“Bill, I apologize to you for ever thinking you weren’t telling the whole truth,” General Hawkins said as he dug out another cigar. When Tony started his way with a lighter, he held up his hand saying, “Hold on there, little lady. I think I’ll light this one myself.” Which started another round of laughter.

“The general is right, I wouldn’t have believed it until I’d seen it myself,” Jess said.

“God, what I wouldn’t give to be able to do that,” said the Vice-President as she flipped pancakes in a skillet on the stove.

“Believe me, ma’am, she can be a pain in the you know where when she gets into one of her mischievous moods,” Joe told her.

“Can we get back to Bill’s story now?” Rita asked.

“Rita, you’re acting more human every day,” Jess said.

“Why thank you, Jess,” Rita said in a sultry voice. “Bill, please continue with your story,” she said in her normal voice.

“We arrived in Indianapolis and were ambushed. We ended up in a small warehouse near some railroad tracks. After fighting back one mad rush after another by these crazy people all morning, we were getting low on ammunition.

“Tony suddenly sits up and says, ‘They’re here!’ Joe starts a ruckus a few streets over and we run in the direction Tony was told to go. The biggest damn wolf I ever saw flew by me and fell on about a dozen men who tried to follow us. We were met at the end of the building by a young girl who told us to follow her.

“Tammy led us to where Joe parked his pickup truck and told me to drive. She directed me around several streets, then told me to stop. A few minutes later, Joe got in the truck and we left the city behind.

“We met Ben, Jake and Jane in Central Missouri. The same voice telling Joe and Stalker to come help Tony get to this place had spoken to Ben. The long and short of it is we had to fight almost every mile of the way here,” Bill ended, his voice a little hoarse from talking so long.

“You have no idea what you’re supposed to do once you got here?” Ross asked from the speaker.

“Mother made it clear to me that Tony was the one who had to get here. The rest of us were to give up our lives, if we had to, in order for that to happen,” Ben said.

“Who is this Mother you refer to, Ben?” Jess asked.

“If you think Bill’s story was hard to swallow, listen to mine. For me, it all started the night Pete, the custodian at the plant I worked at, got killed. You see, my boy, Benji, had been sick a couple weeks. The next thing I knew, my wife, son, and I were being flown to Atlanta to the Center For Disease Control.

“After spending a couple days there, we were loaded on a plane late at night and told we were going to a new hospital in Colorado. On the way, we found out the flight engineer had put a bomb on the plane to blow us up. After finding and defusing it, which Jake did, thank God, we were forced to land at an airport taken over by these crazy people. We managed to slip off the plane before Jeff, the co-pilot, took it to the terminal.

“The rest of us circled back to the terminal and rescued Jeff, who had been badly beaten. Cap, our pilot, found a small plane and we left there. Somewhere over Southern Wyoming, we were intercepted by a National Guard jet. After several low level maneuvers by Cap, we thought the jet had us. We were saying our prayers when the jet ran out of fuel and fell to the ground in front of us.

“The other pilot had gotten in a few good licks on our plane. Fuel was streaming from one of our wing tanks. We couldn’t gain any altitude and flew through the flaming wreckage of the jet. I woke up with my head in my wife’s lap. She was crying and I asked her why. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped over me in a dead faint. Later, Jake and Cap told me that I was dead, had been for almost an hour.

“All I remembered was a woman’s voice telling me to be still while she repaired me. While escaping the men sent out to make sure we were dead, we ran across this survivalist cave. This voice inside me said I had to go east and help protect a woman going to Colorado. I left my wife and son behind with Cap and Jeff to watch over them, and headed east with Jake and Jane.

“Along the way, I had conversations with this being inside me. The way she explains it is that she’s all that ever was and ever will be. In her words, the nearest comparison to her is our term ‘Mother Earth’. It’s a lot more complicated than that, but I’m trying to keep it simple.

“I discovered the part of the entity inside me would remain there until I die. The benefit of this is any damage done to me by the people infected by the disease is repaired by her. However, that doesn’t make me immortal. For instance, if you were to shoot me in the chest, General, I would die. Likewise, if I fell off a cliff. The way Mother explains it is she can’t change the natural way of things. However, since this disease is man-made and goes against the natural order of things, she is allowed to repair any damage inflicted on me by those affected by it. Nor will she stop me from getting older. I’ll live a long, albeit, healthy, life because of her, but I will die at the normal time.

“Without Mother, we wouldn’t have made it here,” Ben said, getting nods of agreement from the people who came with him.

“Very odd, a woman who can make herself invisible to others and a man who can’t be killed by his enemies. Do any of the rest of you have any special qualities?” General Hawkins asked.

“Bill forgot to mention that Tony can heal people near death,” Tammy piped up from where she sat beside Joe.

“To answer your question, General, I believe the rest of us have been altered in subtle ways, but nowhere near the extent Tony and Ben have,” Joe said.

“Tell us about the wolf,” Jess said.

“Stalker was a large wolf from Northern Canada. The same voice that spoke to Joe and Ben told Stalker to go south and protect Tony. If he was killed protecting her, the voice assured him that his mate and cubs would lead a long and full life.

“I believe he knew he would never return home when he left his mate. We all came to love him, especially Tammy and Joe, the two he spent the most time with. In a fight, he was ferocious and gave no quarter. That was one side of him. You should have seen him the few times we were able to relax. He acted like an overgrown puppy with Tammy and was overly protective of her.

“His loss is a terrible blow to us and we’ll never forget him,” Tony said as she smoothed Tammy’s hair.

“That still doesn’t answer the question of why it was so important for Tony to get here,” the Vice-President said.

“I wish I knew, not knowing is hard to take,” Tony said.

Bill hugged her. She clutched him and laid her head on his shoulder. It was obvious the strain of not knowing was getting to her. Tammy came over and hugged her as well. Under normal circumstances, they looked like an average American family.

“Any suggestions, Ross, on why Tony is here?” Jess asked.

“I have a few ideas, but I would like to do a little more checking before I voice them,” Ross answered.

“Can we stop talking long enough to eat?” Jake grumbled.

Joe’s people smiled. They knew the only thing Jake liked better than coffee was eating. The men cleaned off the table and set out plates and silverware. Tony set a plate heaped with pancakes on the table. Tammy carried over a platter filled with bacon and sausage. The bell on the microwave sounded and the Vice-President took a bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup out of it. She brought the syrup to the table and placed it in front of Jake.

“Now, I hope you aren’t one of those people who think I’m racist because I like the syrup with the picture of a black woman on the label,” the Vice-President said.

“No, ma’am, massa ma’am, long as you keep shoveling out thick and fluffy pancakes like these,” Jake answered in his best slave voice.

After eating, the men cleared the table and did the dishes while the women sat around the table enjoying cups of tea or coffee. “What’s it like to be Vice-President?” Tammy asked Ruth.

“It’s not as glamorous as it sounds, child. The last few months have been a struggle to keep one step ahead of death. You wouldn’t believe how hard those people tried to kill me.”

“Lord, what I wouldn’t give to go back to the days of the past when I only thought I was under a lot of pressure. Back then, I didn’t realize what pressure was,” she told Tammy.

“Still, you are the first woman Vice-President, only a step away from the presidency,” Leila said.

“We are still a presidency in exile. As of now, we govern nothing. Until President Samules establishes a residency here in the States, the titles don’t mean that much,” Ruth told them.

“Funny, when I think back to how people were so concerned about things such as women’s rights, abortions, and a host of other things. Somehow, such things seem trivial now that we’re fighting just to survive. Basically, what we have now is the right to survive and take lives,” Tony said with a sigh.

“I wasn’t a follower of such things B.D.(before disease). At the most, I was a totally domesticated housewife. My life revolved around Ben and Benji. I had very few outside interests to occupy my time. Looking back, I can see how limited my life was. Over the last few months, I’ve had to make decisions that concerned the safety of my family. Before, I left those decisions up to Ben. I never gave much thought to good and evil. Since then, that’s all I think about. I like to consider us the good guys and those poor unfortunate people with the disease the bad guys.

“In the past, we looked toward our police forces to protect us. Now, we have to rely on ourselves. Thank God, we don’t have to deal with the complexities of courtrooms.

“Today, we are the judges, juries and executioners, making decisions of life or death on the spot. In most cases, the decision is an easy one because the person is trying to kill us. As this disease runs its course, I believe the decisions will become much murkier.

“What Joe said is true, all of us have been changed in subtle ways to help us cope with the things we’ve seen. If this had happened a year ago, I would be a candidate for a straight jacket,” Leila said, her voice tinged with sadness.

“I feel sorry for the children most of all. They’ll grow up not able to share in the greatness this country once had to offer. Over time, future generations will read about all the things we had. They’ll never know how great this country was. I have thought about what’s happened. Do you think humanity outgrew itself? This is a man-made affliction, caused by humans experimenting with things better left untouched. Can it be that humans are destined to destroy themselves? There are so many questions and so few answers,” Ruth said.

“How about you, Jane? What are your thoughts on what’s happened?” Leila asked.

“I haven’t given it much thought. As a matter of fact, when have I had time to think? Running all over the country with your husband leads more to protecting myself than it does to thought,” Jane said in a petulant voice.

They all stared at her. Over the last few days, Jane had changed. Before, she was motherly, doting over Tammy and Tommy, Gail’s son, all the time. Now, she kept to herself and only joined in when one of them forced her to. Leila got a puzzled look from Tony. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, I don’t know.

“Surely, you have some thoughts on the subject?” Leila pressed.

“No, I don’t. Why don’t you just leave me alone?” Jane answered.

Ruth and Tony knew some kind of conflict was going on between the two women, so they sat and listened.

“Come on, Jane, you were never shy before on giving us your opinion on almost everything,” Leila said with a soothing voice.

The look of hatred in Jane’s eyes as she stared at Leila shocked Tony. What was wrong with the woman? Why was she so mad? Leila knew or suspected something and was trying to draw Jane out. Jane was getting more agitated with each question.

“What I think is my business and I suggest you mind your own,” Jane replied.

“What’s happened to you? Why are you acting like this? I’ve done nothing to offend you,” Leila said in the same soothing voice.

“No, you haven’t, bitch, but this blond bimbo has sta…” Jane stopped with a look of rage on her face. She realized what Leila was doing and turned on her. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Well, let me tell you, I was beating the shit out of people like you twenty years ago, Miss High and Mighty. If you were half the woman I am, you wouldn’t be sitting here listening to these people whine. They deserve everything that happens to them. I only hope I…” Jane suddenly fell silent as a small smile appeared on Leila’s face. She realized she had fallen into the trap Leila set for her and exposed herself.

Joe and Cap, who had been listening to the conversation, moved over beside Jane. “Jess, do you have a secure room we can put Jane in?” Joe asked.

Hearing this, Jane jumped up with a curse. Both men grabbed her arms as she shouted incoherently. Stronger than she looked, she threw Cap halfway across the room. Joe hung onto her arm for dear life as she lifted him off his feet.

Breaking out of his surprise, Ben dove for her feet, only to be met by a shoe in the face. General Hawkins drew his revolver and took aim at Jane when Tony stepped in front of him. She pushed the gun aside saying, “We want her alive.”

Jane wheeled across the room, flinging Joe and now Jake, who had a death grip on her other arm, from side to side. Ben sat up from where he lay on the floor with a bloody nose and busted lip.

When Jane swung near, he lunged for her feet and toppled her to the floor. She landed on Jake, who promptly let loose of her arm. Bringing it around, she smacked Joe in the head and knocked him senseless. Free, she started to climb to her feet.

General Hawkins stepped behind her and brought the butt of the revolver down on her head. Jane weaved back and forth for a moment, then her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed.

Gail rushed to Joe while Leila went to Ben. Cap and General Hawkins placed a set of handcuffs on the unconscious Jane.

Leila got a wet cloth from the sink and held it to Ben’s nose. His lip would need a few stitches where the teeth had gone all the way through. She didn’t know which to try and stop first, Ben’s bleeding lip, or his nose.

Across the room, Jake groaned and said, “Jane was the last one I would have suspected of getting the disease.”

Ben pushed Leila aside and climbed to his feet. “Wait a minute. Jane doesn’t have the disease. If she did, Mother would have healed my lip and stopped my nosebleed,” Ben told them.

“Then what the hell is wrong with her?” Joe asked from where he lay, his head in Gail’s lap.

Ben became silent and got that faraway look on his face he had when he was communicating with Mother. Cap helped Jake to his feet while the rest of them waited.

“Mother tells me Jane is not affected by the disease. She’s getting a highly distorted picture of Jane’s mind. Almost like the one she got from Zeb,” Ben told them.

“Jesus, don’t tell me we have another disease to deal with,” Jake groaned.

“No, she says this isn’t a disease. She can’t be sure, but she suspects Jane has part of another entity inside her. Why not? Look at me, I have Mother,” Ben said at their disbelieving looks.

“Why in the hell didn’t I let those crazy people out there kill me? Death is bound to be better than this. My blood pressure is up, my ulcer is killing me and on top of that, I keep getting the crap beat out of me by women every time I turn around,” Jake said in a forlorn voice. Leave it to Jake to break the tension.

“Jess, could you place Jane in one of the operating rooms and strap her to the table? Ross and I want to run some tests on her,” Rita said.

“I was going to suggest placing her in one of the rooms, anyway. Since only you or Ross can open the doors, it would make a perfect jail. Wait a minute and I’ll be back with a gurney,” Jess said as he hurried from the room.

Tony knelt, placing a hand on either side of Jane’s temple. She felt the soft, cooling flow of herself enter Jane’s mind.

Convoluted thoughts assailed her from every direction. At the back of Jane’s mind loomed a black object she could not penetrate. Every time she tried to approach it, her own mind screamed out in pain. Circling around the object, she noticed it had embedded itself in Jane’s control center. This was the place that kept Jane alive. Without it, she would die. The pressure on her own mind was building to the point that if she didn’t get out, she would suffer damage. She eased the part of her that entered Jane slowly back into her own body.

She stood up and rubbed her brow. Entering Jane’s mind had given her a blinding headache. She went to a chair and sat down. Withdrawing into herself, she checked for damage. She almost missed the small particle of blackness hiding to the side of her mind.

It was a part of the same thing she saw inside Jane. While she watched, it slithered toward her nerve center. In a flash, she called upon every cell her body used to fight invasions by foreign substances. They overwhelmed the object and tore it to pieces. Picking up every piece of the object, the cells took them to her digestive tract, where they deposited them into the acid pool used to digest food.

Withdrawing from her mind, she found her headache had almost disappeared. Apparently, the foreign entity had caused the pain. Tony felt sorry for Jane if she’d had to endure that pressure and the pain all the time. The thing she remembered most from Jane’s mind was the sense of dominance by the being. She hadn’t felt hatred, as much as disdain from it. It was like the entity thought she was below it, not worth the trouble to recognize. Whatever it was, the confidence it had in itself was almost fanatical.

“Rita, when you examine Jane, do a complete x-ray of her brain. A foreign object has tapped into it and is controlling her. Part of it seeped into my mind when I was in contact with Jane. She’s in terrible agony, if what I felt is typical of the way it controls a person,” Tony said.

Jess wheeled in a hospital gurney. Joe, Ben, Cap and General Hawkins lifted the unconscious form of Jane to the gurney, where they strapped her down. “Cap, would you help me wheel her to the operating room?” Jess asked.

After they left with Jane, the rest of them straightened up the room. Tammy found a mop and cleaned the blood from the floor.

They sat around the table afterward, making small talk. Bill sat down beside Tony. “I didn’t know you could enter other people’s minds,” Bill said to her.

“I didn’t know it either until a few minutes ago. Without knowing it, I walked over to her and put my hands on either side of her head. I felt my mind flow into hers, Bill. It was frightening and thrilling at the same time. All I could feel were twisted thoughts with no reason to them. Beyond that, everything was overlaid by a thick blanket of pain. You can’t imagine the pain, layer after layer, as though her whole life consisted of it. I got the impression her only reason for living was to feed this entity. My God, Bill, Jane must be suffering horribly. Briefly, I thought I felt the presence of the old Jane, but it was gone before I could isolate it. This thing has trapped the Jane we know in her own mind, while it controls the functioning part of her,” Tony sobbed.

“Can you do anything to help her?” Bill asked.

“Not by entering her mind and confronting this thing directly. The bridge between us lets this thing send bolt after bolt of pain into me. Not only that, the thing can send portions of itself along this bridge. Luckily, I found the portion that crossed into me. I hate to think what would have happened to me if I hadn’t discovered it. I have no wish to enter her mind again without some kind of safeguard.” She shuddered at the thought.

“Tony, Ross and I have discussed your ability to will humans not to see you. We wondered if you could do the same with nonliving things? What I mean is, could you make yourself invisible to us?” Rita asked.

“I don’t know. Do you want me to try?”

“Yes, any time you are ready,” Rita said.

Tony closed her eyes and thought, Rita and Ross, you can not see me. Opening her eyes, she looked around. She heard Bill ask where she was. Good, so far, the other people in the room couldn’t see her. “Rita, can you see me?” she asked.

“Yes, Tony, we can still see you. Tony, how do you form the thought that causes humans not to see you?” Rita asked.

“I just wish them not to see me.”

“Try wishing yourself invisible to everything in this room.”

Tony closed her eyes again and thought, I wish to be invisible to anything in this room that could detect my presence. She opened her eyes. The people in the room still couldn’t see her.

“Rita, can you see me now?” she asked.

“Jess, Tony has disappeared from all of our sensing devices,” she heard Rita say.

“Tony, what are you up to now?” Bill asked.

She willed herself back to visibility. She thought of a question she had wanted to ask ever since this thing started. “Rita, it’s apparent you could neither sense nor see me, but you instantly knew I was missing. It’s different with humans. When I will them not to see me, it’s as though they didn’t know I was there moments before. Oh, they know I exist, but they think I’m someplace else. Could you explain this?”

“Humans are used to seeing you in a physical form. Ross and I, on the other hand, see you in forms of light wave imagery. To us, your form is a number of binary digits. The moment you willed us not to see you, a blank space occurred in our picture of the room. Everyone else was visible, but where you stood, a blank appeared. You could have walked out of the room and we would never have known it,” Rita told her.

“Tony, I may have come up with the answer as to why you are here,” Ross spoke for the first time all morning.

Everyone quit talking and silently waited for Ross to go on.

“I invented a form of cap so I could interface mentally with Rita. Until now, I was the only one who could use it. Since I no longer have a human body, I haven’t even thought about it. Ben told you about the malignant part of us named Pete. We can’t do anything about him without harming ourselves. You, on the other hand, could enter our system and eradicate Pete without harming us. It all hinges on whether or not you can use the cap. Rita and I spent all night running through every conceivable reason for your being here. The only common denominators we came up with was your invisibility, Pete’s presence and the new thing you brought in inside Jane. We believe you were given your powers to get rid of, or alter these things. There are too many unknowns for us to be sure, you understand, but we think this is the purpose for which you were brought here,” Ross stated.

“Woah, wait a minute. Am I hearing right? You want me to mentally enter you and kill, or as you put it, eradicate a part of you? Ross, I hate to inform you, but I know absolutely nothing about computers. Besides, if this Pete is as dangerous as you say he is, won’t he try to get to my physical body through the cap? I know he won’t be able to see me, but he will know where my body is because the cap has to be connected to you.”

“Rita and I think that together, we can keep him from getting to your body. By doing so, however, we can’t help you in our system. You will be on your own, Tony.”

“You think you can protect her? Well, that’s not good enough for me. I won’t let her do it unless you can guarantee her safety,” Bill said.

“Bill, we cannot give absolute guarantees, but the risk to Tony will be minimal,” Rita said.

“Bill, the choice has to be mine. Ross, you’ll have to teach me a little about computers. Tell me what I’ll be when I enter you.”

“Once you put the cap on, your thoughts will be turned into electrical impulses. You will travel down the roadways of our circuits as a positive-charged atom. We can assume you will recognize the differences between Pete and us. While you are inside us, time will pass quickly, but in reality, what feels like an hour to you will actually be a second or two. It has to do with the speed you will be traveling. Now Pete has broken himself down into millions of segments, which he has deposited throughout our system. You will have to track them down and dispose of them. This will not destroy Pete, for he has transferred most of himself to another computer. He left parts of himself in our system to monitor what we are doing. Rita and I have designed a program to keep him out, but we can’t do anything about the part of him already inside us. Tony, don’t take these segments lightly. Although they are not the real Pete, they are just as dangerous.”

* * * *

Joe sat on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table in the recreation room of the complex. Gail lay on the couch with her head in Joe’s lap. Tammy was on the floor with her head cupped in her hands. They were watching an old Three Stooges movie on the television mounted on the wall. Half asleep, he smiled every time Tammy laughed uproariously at the slapstick antics of the Stooges. At first, he thought it was a voice in the movie he heard. He didn’t understand why the voice sounded familiar. A chill ran down his back and he sat ramrod straight on the couch.

No, no.

“I’m afraid it is, Joe,” said the same gentle voice he had heard at his father’s house. “This was only one part you had to play in the scope of this unfolding drama,” Joe heard in his mind.

“I thought this was it. I got Tony here safely. What more can I do?” Joe pleaded.

“I am sorry, Joe. I am only the messenger. You are a part of what is happening on your world. Although you don’t want it, the various forces at work are forcing you to go back out into the insanity occurring there. I do not think you will mind this task. You are to take Stalker’s body back to his home and Tammy and the man named Jake are to go with you. Oh yes, the one who will stand beside you for the rest of your life and her offspring are to go with you also.”

Joe thought he detected a hint of merriment in the voice when it said this.

“This may sound like a minor task, but be warned, you will be hunted and hounded by some people you know and others you do not. At the end of your trip, you will find a pleasant surprise. Zeb and his pack of animals wait for you outside this mountain, so you can’t leave that way. Go to Ben and have him ask his Guardian about another way out of here. She will know of such a way. I hoped to give you a few weeks’ rest, but things are occurring which force me to ask you to leave the safety of this place,” the voice said.

“What if I refuse to go?” Joe asked.

“As before, Joe, the choice is yours. I can only ask. Like before, your place in the scope of events was predicted eons ago. The outcome of what is occurring will not be altered much whether you go or stay. It will be changed, though, and too many modifications will alter the outcome. Joe, as I told you before, look inside yourself and you will find the correct path to take. I must go now. Trust in yourself and trust those with you, Joe,” the voice said, fading from his mind.

He felt Gail shaking him and looked into her hysterical face. “What, what’s wrong Gail?” he asked, confused at the look of concern on her face.

“Oh, Joe, you’re okay,” she cried, throwing her arms around him.

He hugged her, still confused about what caused her to be so frightened. He looked around. Everything was as it should be. He pulled her face from his shoulder and asked. “What’s the matter, Gail? Why are you so upset?”

Wiping a tear of relief from her eye, she held his hands tight. “All at once, you sat upright and a blank look came over your face. You sat there without moving for over fifteen minutes. I shook you and even slapped your face without getting a response. The longer you sat there, the more frightened I became.”

Tammy rushed into the room with a group of people on her heels. They all started talking at once. Joe held up his hand for silence. “Will one of you tell me what’s going on?” he asked.

“Tammy rushed into the kitchen yelling at the top of her lungs that you were dying. We all jumped up and rushed here,” Jess said.

Joe told them to have a seat. After they were seated, Joe paced back and forth in front of the artificial fireplace telling them about the voice in his head and what it wanted him to do.

He stood there looking at Gail waiting for her reaction. Her green eyes met his and she said, “Where you go, Joe, Tommy and I will be by your side. Nothing short of death will keep me from you.” She said this with such humble passion, everyone in the room knew she meant every word.

Tammy stood in front of him and put her hands on her hips looking him up and down. “If you think you’re leaving here without me, forget it! I’ve spent too much time looking after and taking care of you. Gail may love you, but she doesn’t know you like I do. Now that Stalker is gone, my job will be twice as hard.” A sob escaped her lips and she threw her arms around Joe.

He held her close and smoothed her hair. “Do you think I could go anywhere without you, Tammy? Cutting off a leg would be easy compared to not having you nearby,” he whispered to her. He rubbed tears out of his eyes with his hand. This soon to be twelve year old girl meant more to him than life itself. Although he loved Gail, what he felt for Tammy went much deeper. Both of them, along with Stalker, had shared so many experiences, good and bad, over the past months, a bond had formed between them. This allowed them work as a team and lent both of them a sense of security, knowing the other was always there. His growing love for Gail would never fill the hole in his life if Tammy were left behind.

Holding Tammy, he turned to face Jake with a questioning look on his face.

“No, absolutely not. I am not leaving this place. The only way you’ll get me out of here is to drag my dead black body out. Much as I like you, Joe, the answer is no. In case you’ve forgotten, those folks out there are stark raving crazy. Uh uh, Mama didn’t raise no fool. First rule of thumb for a black man is to steer clear of crazy white folks.”

The longer he talked, the more his speech became deep south subservient black. “And fuder mooa, da damn folks out dare are atta…” He stopped and stared around at all the faces grinning at him. He got a sheepish look on his face. “I hope you understand my position,” Jake said and sat back down.

“Oh, I understand, Jake. We’ll wake you in plenty of time tomorrow, so you can get one last good meal before we leave,” Joe said with a smile.

“Damn, what gave me away? I thought I was pretty convincing,” Jake grinned back at him.

“I believed every word you said, Jake, but I’ve learned that when this voice says something, it occurs. The voice said to take you, so that means you have some part to play in where we’re going.”

“That’s what worries me. If Mrs. Bonner could see her poor black son now, she would voice her disappointment in him and tell him what a fool he is,” Jake said.

“Cut out the poor black ghetto act, Jake. We know your father was a highly successful neurosurgeon and your mother, a prominent lawyer in Atlanta. The closest you came to a ghetto was when you drove through it on your way to work,” Ben said.

“Ben, you cut me to the quick. We are talking about my roots here and you go muddy up the water with facts,” Jake said.

General Hawkins broke into the easy banter by asking, “Is it safe for you to go back out there?”

Everyone in Joe’s group looked at him as if he were daft.

“General, once we leave this mountain, the word safe will no longer exist. Out there, the littlest things can kill you. No, General, there is no safety for us out there,” Joe told him.

“What can we do to help you prepare?” Ben asked.

“I was just going to bring that up. The voice said to have you ask Mother about another way out of here,” Joe said.

“There is no other way out of here,” Jess said.

They could tell Ben was talking to his Guardian, so they waited until his face came to life again.

“What did she say?” Joe asked.

“Mother says there is another way out of here, but it is dangerous. Jess, do you know where the underground stream enters the chamber?”

“Of course, it enters in the last chamber all the way at the back of the complex.”

“When this place was built, they put a hydraulic gate around the hole where the stream enters. If we close this gate, Joe and the rest can follow the empty stream to where it comes out of the ground about a mile from here. Joe, this point is where the danger comes in. The gate can only stay closed for half an hour. Mother says the backed-up water will exert a tremendous amount of pressure. Any longer than that, and it will burst through pressure cracks caused by the blasting to carve out this place. If such a thing should happen, the whole complex will be inundated with water. We cannot let that happen. It will take ten minutes for the water to reach where it comes out of the ground when we open the gate. That will give you a maximum of forty minutes, but to be on the safe side, say thirty to thirty-five. In places, you’ll have to crawl on your hands and knees. Do you think you can do a mile in thirty minutes under those conditions? If you aren’t out by the time the water reaches you, you’ll all drown. That’s your way out of here undetected, Joe. It’s up to you,” Ben told him.

Joe thought about it for awhile. “We can do it, but it will be close. Closer than I like, really. One thing we won’t be able to do is take anything with us. Weapons will be limited to hand guns. Once out, we’ll have to scrounge for food and decent weapons. That means we’ll have to find a town close by, which could be dangerous. Zeb will have his dogs out scouting the surrounding country. I would like to put as much distance between us as I can before he finds out we’re not here anymore. Don’t ask me how, but he will know before the day is out that we’re gone. Really, the only problem I can see is taking Stalker with us. He weighs so much, it will take both Jake and me to carry him. This will slow us down too much. Gail, Tammy and Tommy can go ahead. I’m sure they can make it out. Jake and I will have to do the best we can,” Joe said in a troubled voice.

“That won’t be a problem, Joe. Mother tells me the power that’s preserving Stalker’s body will make it so he weighs practically nothing,” Ben said.

“Good, there’s nothing to do but get a good night’s rest,” Joe told them.

They talked for a while about possible problems and found out a little about the people in the complex. The clock showed it was close to eleven o’clock. Joe stood up and told them they should get to bed in order to be well rested in the morning.

Everyone drifted away to their rooms. Joe told Gail he would join her shortly and she went to their room. Alone, he sat on the couch wondering for the millionth time, why me? He also wondered if this would be an ongoing occurrence. Finishing one task, just in time to do another. Gail was becoming a part of his life. Someday, he would marry her, he knew this. The thought scared him, but at the same time, made him feel good. When that day happened, he wanted to settle down in his dad’s house and once again live the peaceful life he had known. Sighing, he got up and went to the room he shared with Gail. He enjoyed a long shower, knowing it could be a long time before he would have the benefit of hot water again. He joined Gail under the sheets on the bed and they made love with a passion. Later, they tenderly caressed each other until they fell asleep.

Chapter 7

It was all Todd could do to hold his temper. He drank a glass of water, left the room and smoked a cigarette, then returned back inside. He stood at the large plate glass window looking down on the city of St. Louis.

Upon reaching the city, he had established his headquarters in the penthouse of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. All day yesterday, he had taken reports of what was going on in the region.

Last night, he sent word he wanted to see the man who was in charge of the forces outside St. Louis. His long blond hair was still damp from his shower. When told the men were there, he threw on an old pair of blue jeans and a flannel shirt. He rode the elevator down to the twentieth floor, where he had taken over the president’s office of a large insurance company.

“Tell me again, why you can’t take the town?” he asked the three men across the desk from him.

The thin man’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he gulped twice. His wedge-shaped face had a deathly white pallor. A Fu Manchu moustache hung down from his chin. His beady blue eyes looked at the men sitting on either side of him for help.

They kept their eyes from contacting his. Raising his head, he looked at Todd. “They have too much firepower for us, Mr. Todd. We lost more than half our people the first time we attacked. If we had known they had those damn tanks, we would’ve done it differently. Not that it would have made much difference. There is no way to sneak up on the town because of the level ground.

“Besides, their spies know when we ship a lot of people across the Mississippi, we’re going to attack somewhere. We been trying for two weeks and haven’t gained an inch. If we had some heavy armor like them, we might be able to take the town.

“I’ve heard of your reputation, Mr. Todd, and I’m not scared to admit, I’m afraid of you. If you want to have me killed for not taking the town, do it now. I will not send any more people there to be slaughtered,” the man said, a look of doom on his face.

Todd stared at the man, his face not changing expression. Not many men stood up to him like this feisty little son of a bitch had just done. The men on both sides of him were shaking in their seats. Todd had the distinct impression the man on the left had pissed himself.

Yet, this little man sat there, defiant and scared, but hadn’t backed down. He pulled out the chair and sat down behind the desk. “Relax, I’m not going to shoot you. What did you say your name was?” Todd asked.

The man visibly shrank in his seat, making him seem even smaller than he was. Relief was evident on his face. “I’m Dell Raily. I took over when that stupid asshole Charlie got himself killed.”

“I’ll give you this, Dell, you have spunk. I have shot people for a lot less, but that was before I learned the best men I have are the ones who aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Who are they?” Todd asked, indicating the men beside Dell.

“This is Sam Postman,” he pointed to the beefy man to his left. The man wore a set of bibbed overalls and had a straw hat on his large head. Todd couldn’t remember seeing anyone with a bigger head. His eyes were almost hidden by the folds of fat around them.

Before Dell could continue, Todd said, “Have Mr. Postman go change his pants. The smell of his piss is unpleasant.”

His face beet-red, the man hurried from the room.

“This is Oscar Wheadlmyer,” Dell introduced the man on his right. Todd had been watching the man. His eyes were never still. They looked at everything in the room, but would never make contact with Todd’s eyes.

“Don’t think badly of Sam, Mr. Todd. He may not look it, but he is a hell of a good man to have around in a fight. So is Oscar. They’ve pulled me out of a few tight spots,” Dell said, trying to defend his lieutenants.

“I’m sure they’re both fine men,” Todd said, letting his disdain show what he really thought of them. “Do we control the bridge across the Mississippi north of Paducah?”

“Not really, Mr. Todd. Every time we want to get people across the river, we have to fight back the rebels. We keep control of it for a few days, then they attack, forcing us back to the other side. They bring those damn tanks up and if we don’t retreat across the bridge, they blow the shit out of us. I wish we had something to counter the tanks. Since they came, our whole effort has stalled,” Dell told him.

“From what you say, these must be the new M1 tanks the Army had. Where in the hell are they getting them from?” Todd asked.

“Damned if I know. We have a few of the old M60s, but they’re no match for the M1s. We found that out the hard way in the first battle. We lost six M60s because they had to stop to fire with any accuracy at all. Those M1s came roaring in on our flank at full speed belching shells on the move. We were lucky we got our remaining tanks back across the bridge. If I hadn’t set them up to cover the bridge, the rebels would have been across the river long ago. Our old tanks may not have the range and be able to fire on the move, but by taking up stationary positions, they can knock out anything that tries to cross the bridge. I guess you could call it a Mexican standoff,” Dell said.

“So more people wouldn’t do you any good?” Todd asked.

“No, Mr. Todd, we have more than enough people as it is. Manpower isn’t our problem. I’ve sent people out to the different forts in the area looking for anti-tank weapons or heavy artillery, but they all came back empty-handed. It doesn’t make sense to me. What did the military do with all their weapons? The forts were stripped and what wasn’t taken was damaged beyond repair,” Dell said, scratching his thinning brown hair.

“For the moment, let’s say we can’t take Paducah. How are we doing down in Arkansas?”

“Not good and not bad. What I mean is, we go in and take a town and those living there disappear. When we go to the next one, the people take back the town we just left. We don’t have enough forces to occupy every little burg we go through. All I can tell you is we control some of the larger cities that we leave a lot of people in. All the small towns belong to the rebels. They’re like ghosts; the moment we appear, they fade into the mountains. The only way we can get supplies to cities like Little Rock and Hot Springs is by heavily guarded convoys.”

“What about in Illinois?” Todd asked.

“That’s one place we’re gaining ground,” Dell grinned. “We’re losing more crazies than I like, but slowly, we are pushing President Donaldson’s troops back. Not that it’s easy, mind you. Like I said, too many of our front-line crazies are getting killed. If we could only teach them not to attack in waves and to use their weapons. Hell, in one place, I watched a thousand of them attack a crossroads bridge defended by less than a hundred troops. Three-quarters of the crazies threw down their weapons and charged. They took the bridge all right, but almost seven hundred of them were killed. If they had kept, and used, their weapons, we figure more than half of them would’ve survived. No matter how much you scream, or beat them, they have this mind-set about using their hands to kill the enemy.”

“Dell, how many rebels are we are facing?” Todd asked.

“There’s no way to tell, Mr. Todd. A while back, we could piece together how many of them there were by questioning the crazies they drove out. They’ve either drove out or killed all the crazies, because we haven’t had any of them cross our lines in a month. They move around so much, it’s hard to get an accurate count. One day, we’ll see less than a hundred in a town and the next, there may be a thousand. The last half a dozen men we sent across the river to spy on them haven’t come back.

“Ever since this new general took over their forces, we haven’t been able to find out shit. A couple weeks ago, we heard that a few thousand rebels left the Memphis area in Tennessee. We thought it worth the try to see if we could take Memphis. You see, we were pretty sure there were less than five thousand rebels defending the city. If two thousand left, that would put the odds in our favor. During the night, we assembled a force of nearly ten thousand in West Memphis. We loaded them up in every big truck we could find. Right around dawn, they left West Memphis and drove to the bridge crossing the Mississippi. During the night, the rebels had sneaked four M1 tanks out to the center of the bridge.

“They waited until our men were a good ways on the bridge, then let loose. Hell, it was a turkey shoot. We lost close to a thousand men before they got out of range of the tanks. Their strategy is to hold the bridges crossing the Mississippi and keep us from crossing.”

Todd leaned back in his chair and looked at the large map showing the eastern part of the United States from the Mississippi to the Atlantic. Without tanks or airplanes, he knew the rebels could keep his forces west of the Mississippi. There weren’t that many bridges to defend. His men were across the Missouri river into Illinois in sufficient force to defend the land he had taken. He still couldn’t send forces south into Kentucky because of the damned Ohio River. “Dell, what about loading enough men on boats and crossing the river in an area only lightly defended?” he asked.

“We tried that a couple times. The rebels mounted machine guns and cannon on big pleasure boats and patrol the length of the river day and night. They stay near the eastern shore so we can’t get at them with the weapons we have. I’ll have to give them this, their communications are a lot better than ours. We loaded up three of the big stern-wheeler boats we found here in St. Louis and tried to put some men across downriver.

“We’d watched how they patrolled the river for a week and thought we found a place where one boat had to patrol fifty miles of river. When the boat was about forty-five miles downriver, we sent the stern-wheelers out. We thought we had made it. They were almost to the other side, when a dozen fast boats came around a bend in the river and blew our forces to pieces. The stacks of two of the stern-wheelers are sticking five feet out of the water to remind us of how deadly these small boats are.”

“Let’s concentrate on President Donaldson’s troops in Illinois for now. Keep enough men in key cities across the river from the rebels to keep them from crossing. Have someone take command here. I want you to go with me to the front so we can get a firsthand look at what’s going on. Be ready to leave first thing in the morning.”

Chapter 8

Zeb sat straight up in bed, inside his head, he heard Org shouting, “No, no!” He set up blocks to ease the pain as he watched the dog shake and quiver where it lay by the fire.

Something was causing Org a great deal of pain or discomfort. He tried to put out a thought and see what Org was seeing, but was met with a kaleidoscope of bizarre thoughts. He quickly withdrew.

Placing a few more buffers in his mind, he got out of bed and went out on the porch. Going to the end of the building, he relieved himself into the alley. The night was cold as he stood there in his long johns. He felt spring on the gentle southern breeze blowing the cold bare limbs of a cherry tree growing at the side of the porch. Scratching the stubble of whiskers on his chin, he knew milder days were ahead. Well, old man, you got through another winter.

Whatever it was that panicked Org must have really shook him up. Zeb couldn’t remember Org panicking over anything.

He heard Org call for him. He stood there, the wind causing goose bumps to raise on his skin. Lowering some of his buffers, he answered, “I’m out on the porch, Org. What do you want?”

“Nothing, old one, just concerned about your safety.”

Zeb knew Org was lying; he could feel the relief expressed by Org when he answered. “Nice of you to be concerned,” Zeb said, knowing the sarcasm was wasted on Org.

“Do not stay out there too long, old one. The night air is bad for one of your years,” Org said.

“I’ll be there in a minute, Org. Go back to sleep,” Zeb said. He felt Org’s mind leave him. He would wait until Org went back to sleep, then probe his mind to find out what had disturbed him.

He took a pack of cigarettes out of the sleeve of his long john top and sat down on the top step of the porch. Striking a match, he stuck it to the end of the cigarette and inhaled. Funny, but everyone and their brother had been telling him for years smoking was going to kill him. Where were they now? At ninety-one, he was still going strong.

He looked up the street and saw a pack of dogs fighting over a body. He wished he knew how Org controlled the animals. When he thought he was ready to sever the link between them, the dogs could be a problem. He knew they wouldn’t let him get too far away. He didn’t know enough about how Org controlled things to use it against him.

Flipping the cigarette butt into the street, he stood up and went back inside.

Org was stretched out beside the fire sleeping. Going to the sink, he filled a pan with water and put it on the stove to heat.

He lifted down a jar of instant coffee, thinking, That’s the trouble with the world today; people wanted instant gratification instead of working for things.

Oh well, he was from another era. Those days were over. People were going to have to fight just to stay alive now, like he did as a young man.

Funny how the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. He poured the boiling water into the cup with the instant coffee in it. Taking a sip of it, he burnt his lip.

Blowing across the top of the cup, he walked to a seat by the stove and sat down. Org rolled on his back like Squeeker did when she wanted her belly scratched. Waiting for the coffee to cool, he relaxed and let his mind travel down the link to Org’s mind.

Carefully, he maneuvered around the traps set up by the creature to wake him in case of trouble. Going to the weak place, he inserted his mind probe through the wall. Narrowing his focus, he tried to sort Org’s thoughts of the last few days.

He kept getting images of Tony, along with a sense of dread. He saw Jane and the tendril of black in her mind. So Jane was the person Org had in Joe’s group. He felt Tony probe at the tendril in Jane’s mind. Although he was watching Org’s memory of the event, it felt like Zeb was there.

A part of the black thing detached itself and traveled along the link to Tony’s mind. He watched it try to hide in the rear corridors. Zeb thought Tony didn’t know it was there. Then he felt fear surge as Org realized she had spotted him.

The small part of Org in Tony’s mind tried to escape. He felt a tremendous amount of pain as golden light surrounded the vile blackness in her mind.

He saw Org separating the strands that bound him to the tiny speck of blackness. As the last strand separated, a jolt of pain, like a white hot poker, shot into Org’s mind.

So that was the howl of pain he heard earlier. He didn’t know what kind of power Tony used, but it was effective against Org. No wonder he was terrified of her. He withdrew from Org’s mind because what followed became a kaleidoscope of pain-filled thoughts.

The coffee in his cup was cold so he got up and turned the burner on to heat the water. No use going back to bed. Looking out the window, he could see the sky getting lighter to the east.

While the water heated, he walked over to his bed and picked up his pants and shirt. He needed to replace the old blue jeans he wore. They were threadbare in so many places, he expected them to fall apart any day. He hated new clothes.

Generally, by the time they became comfortable, they were wore out. Oh well, he would go over to the clothing store before they left town. Might as well get a new pair of boots, too. He would wear them a couple hours every day until they got broke in proper.

Sighing, he filled the cup with hot water and added a teaspoon of coffee. Taking the rest of the hot water, he plugged the sink and poured it in. Running a little cold water in it until it cooled, he took a bar of soap and worked up a lather in his hand. Spreading it on his chin and cheeks, he took a straight razor out of his toilet bag above the sink. Carefully, he scraped the stubble off his chin.

In the mirror, he saw Org roll over by the fire. How easy it would be to go over and cut the small dog’s throat, even if he died along with Org.

Holding the razor under the water, he seriously considered it. No, only as a last resort would he do that.

After shaving, he added more water and took a sponge bath.

Going to the bedroom, he took the cover off the bed and crawled under the sheets. Just before sleep took him, he wondered if the things he learned today would help him escape Org’s domination.

Chapter 9

They came to a large sign hanging above the road. It read, “Thank You For Visiting Yellowstone National Park.”

“Check the map, Zapper. We need to find a town and get some transportation,” Dave said. He took off his pack and leaned it against a tree. He flexed his shoulder, the bullet wound still hurt like hell. He should have waited a few more days before leaving.

After a week, he became impatient and told Zapper and Phil they were leaving the next morning. The way things were going, it looked like they would have to hoof it all the way to West Virginia. They found several vehicles in the camping areas as they walked through the park, but none of them would run.

In one camping area, several half-eaten decomposed bodies lay scattered over a wide area.

Yesterday morning, they spotted several people in a small valley to the north. As they started to go down the slope into the valley, shots were fired at them. They skirted the valley and put it behind them.

Dave felt strong enough to take point the next day. Before they left, he remembered Monty’s remark about walkie-talkies. Scrounging around in the rear of the dugout, they found six radios. With new batteries, they tried them out to discover their range. The radios worked well for up to a mile away, and if one of them was on a hill, they increased the range to better than two miles.

Each morning, either Phil or Zapper would leave fifteen minutes before Dave. They were forced to leave the road and hide in the woods several times as bands of weapon-toting men and women drove by. The point man always gave the other two the necessary time to hide. It was time he carried his share of the load.

“Guys, get your butts off the road. Go deep into the forest. A convoy is coming your way and they have flankers out for at least half a mile to either side. They’re traveling slow to give the flankers time to check the woods. They’re looking for something and doing a thorough job of it. Don’t leave any signs behind you, these guys are sharp,” Phil said over the radio. He was point man today.

Zapper picked up Dave’s pack and loped for the trees. Dave picked up a pine branch and erased any footprints they left behind.

A hundred yards into the woods, he came to a rocky patch of ground. Turning, he loped across the rocks to an old streambed.

Following the streambed half a mile, he found Zapper halfway up a big pine tree. Dave took his radio out of his jacket. “Dave to Phil, come in,” he said.

“Phil here, are you deep in the woods, Dave?”

“Ten four, Phil. How many hostiles are there?”

“Jesus, Dave, you won’t believe this. Climb up here and take a look,” Zapper called down to him from the tree.

“On my way, Zap.” Dave answered. Putting the radio in his jacket, he grabbed a low limb and climbed.

As he pulled his weight up, his shoulder ached. The higher he went, the more his wound hurt. By the time he reached Zapper, his shoulder was throbbing. He settled in the fork of a limb taking the field glasses Zapper handed him. He focused across the trees to where the road led down into the valley.

Three large flatbed trucks rolled slowly down the hill. Two pickups drove on the berm a hundred feet in front of them with two more in the rear. Armed men walked on either side of the road beside the trucks. He swung the glasses back to the lead vehicle. He saw one of the walking men swing the butt of his rifle at something in the vehicle. The man backed quickly away as at least a dozen small arms reached out between the boards and tried to grab him. He took the glasses from his eyes and wiped them with the tail of his shirt.

Once again, he focused on the trucks. He saw small arms reaching out of the other vehicles. “Tell me those aren’t children, Zap,” he said.

“That’s why I thought you should have a look. I got a good look when the trucks were outlined against the horizon. All three of them are packed full of young kids. I made at least thirty men guarding them. Could be they’re looking for some kids who escaped,” Zapper said.

Dave took the radio from his jacket and raised the antenna. “Phil, this is Dave, come in.”

“Go ahead Dave.”

“Zapper thinks they may be looking for some children who escaped from those people. Phil, get to a high place and check the surrounding area. We’ll do the same. Dave, out.” He handed the glasses to Zapper, who started searching farther out while Dave searched the area nearby.

Who or whatever the men were looking for, they seemed to be certain they were herding it in front of them. Which brought up the question of who was out there waiting to close the net. Alarm bells began to sound in his mind.

“Zap, let’s get the hell out of here before we’re caught in the same trap the people they’re searching for are.”

Ignoring his protesting shoulder, he descended the tree. Picking up his rifle from where it leaned against the tree, he took the safety off and dropped to the ground.

Zapper crawled up beside him. “What do you think, another sweep coming from the other direction?” he asked.

Dave shook his head yes. He pointed to a rock hill they could just barely see through the trees. He motioned for Zapper to circle to the left while he went right.

His shoulder was reminding him of his hasty climb. He crept from one tree to the next, bearing to the right. He was about to step from behind one, when he heard a twig snap to the front of him. Easing to the ground, he edged behind two bushes. He saw movement in the trees ahead of him. Behind him, toward the road, he heard a man shout. Caught between two groups, he had to go one way or the other. He decided to go forward; there had to be more men behind him.

In a crouch, rifle at the ready, he ran toward the movement in the trees. Using an old animal path, he rushed around a curve and ran over a small girl, while falling into two others behind her. She screamed and he quickly scrambled to her and put his hand over her mouth.

“Easy, easy, little girl, I’m not going to hurt you.” The other two girls were backed against a tree, holding onto each other. The child bit down on his finger and pummeled his chest with her small fists. Her small teeth sank to the bone and he was afraid she was going to bite his finger off. Gritting his teeth in pain, he used his free hand to pry her teeth apart enough to free himself.

“Now stop that and behave,” he told the girl. She cringed away from him as if expecting a blow. He brought his hand back and sat down, leaning his back against a tree. Showing that his hands were empty, he whispered to the girl, “Try and understand, we have to get out of here. The men searching for you are right behind me. I promise I won’t hurt you, but we have to go now.”

He raised up and held his hand out to the child. At first, she stood there. A man yelled in back of them. The girl jumped forward, took his hand and pulled him deeper into the woods. As he passed the two girls, he grabbed them up in his free arm. Christ, they weighed practically nothing. The girl may have been small, but she could move like a deer.

Panting, he stopped beside a log and sat down. Placing the two girls on the ground, he moaned in pain. His shoulder was now shooting bolt after bolt of pain through his body.

The little girl stood there wide-eyed, motioning for him to come on. He shook his head no, and held up his hand for her to wait. Fumbling in his jacket, he took out the radio.

“Zap, this is Dave, come in please.”

“Zap here, go.”

“I need you, fast as you can get here.”

“On my way, Dave, Zap out.”

He took the girls behind a bunch of shoulder high rocks. Squatting down and holding his shoulder, he watched for Zapper.

“What’s wrong with your arm, mister?” asked a small voice behind him. He turned to see the small girl standing with her thumb stuck in her mouth. She was nothing but skin and bones, her brown hair was matted and unruly and the print dress she wore was torn in several places. She couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. He was afraid to guess how many days it had been since she had taken a bath. Dirt caked her thin arms and legs. As a matter of fact, the only clean place on her was the thumb she sucked on.

He reached out and brushed her hair out of her deep blue eyes, but the innocence of youth did not shine from them. This young child had seen things that aged her way beyond her years. The other two girls may have been a year older. One of them was black and she stared out of vacant eyes. He saw what looked like welt marks on her arms and legs. The other girl stared straight ahead. Someone had cut her blond hair off close to the scalp and it looked like they used a knife to do it. He spotted bloody patches where her hair had been pulled out by its roots. He shook his head, thoroughly disgusted. “A bad man shot me in the arm a week ago, honey,” Dave answered the little girl.

“Oh,” was all she said, then went over to stand beside the other girls. She took one of their hands in each of hers and led them to a patch of grass beside the next boulder. Putting her hands on their shoulders, she pushed down until they sat on the grass. She sat between them, holding their hands in hers, and whispered soothing words to them.

Tears welled up in Dave’s eyes as he watched one child try to reassure the other two. Christ, if this was what the world was like, he didn’t know if he wanted to face it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flicker of motion. He watched and saw Zapper head his way. He stuck his head out when Zapper got close so he would know exactly where he was. Zapper ducked around the boulder and stopped in shock as he saw the children. Dave reached up and pulled him down so his head couldn’t be seen above the boulders.

Zapper’s face had a hard set to it when he turned from the children. “They’re in pretty bad shape, Dave,” he whispered.

“Take the two bigger girls and I’ll carry the small one. They’re still searching back there. Head straight back into the forest and I’ll be right behind you,” Dave said.

Zapper slung his rifle across his shoulder and stepped over to the girls. The small one stepped in front, pushing the other two behind her and watched Zapper warily.

“It’s okay, little girl, he’s one of the good guys. He’ll carry the other two girls, while I carry you,” Dave told her.

She stepped out of the way and Zapper picked a girl up in each arm. He took off at a gentle lope. Dave knelt and told the little girl to climb on his back and wrap her arms around his neck. He stood up and ran hard to catch up with Zapper, who slowed his pace as Dave took the radio out of his jacket. “Dave, to Phil, come in,” he said, panting hard.

“Phil here, go, Dave.”

“Phil, cut straight through the forest. We’ll meet you on the secondary road that marks the southern boundary of the forest, Dave out.” He pushed the antenna down and put the radio back in his jacket. He felt a trickle of blood down his arm and knew his wound had broken open. He found it harder and harder to keep up with Zapper. Finally, he stopped and leaned against a tree with his head down. Zapper came back. He set the girls on the ground, came over and lifted the little girl off Dave’s back. Dave slumped to the ground.

“This should be a safe enough place, Dave. Stay here with the girls and I’ll go on to the road. After I find Phil, we’ll come back,” Zapper told him.

“We’ll take care of him until you get back, mister,” the little girl said.

Although he was in a lot of pain, Dave smiled at Zapper when he heard the little girl. “Well, that settles it. If you say you’ll take care of Dave, I guess I’ll go find our other friend,” Zapper told her with a straight face.

“Watch your behind until we get back,” he whispered to Dave. Within twenty feet, he was out of sight. Dave rolled over and crawled toward some rocks. He felt three sets of small hands grab him and try to help him along. Christ, here he was, a big, strong, well-fed man being helped by three starved-to-death children.

“Just a few more feet, mister,” panted the little girl.

Reaching the rocks, he fell on his stomach and rolled over.

The three girls looked at him with concern on their faces.

“It’s okay, girls. I’ll be all right in a little bit,” he told them. The little girl led the other two over to him and sat them down. She stepped across his body and sat on his other side.

The little girl stuck her hand inside his jacket and shirt to his shoulder. Pulling it back out, they saw it was covered with blood.

“Mister, tell me how to keep it from bleeding.”

“Call me Dave, sweetheart. In my pack over there.” He pointed to the packs Zapper had dropped twenty feet away. “I have things to stop the bleeding. Think you can drag it over here?”

The little girl went to the pack and tugged at it. It was too heavy for her to move. She came back and led the other girls over to it. Together, they dragged it over beside him.

He opened the flap, reached in and brought out a bag of cookies. He handed them to the girl, expecting her to tear into them. When she didn’t, he asked, “What’s wrong, don’t you like cookies?”

She stared at the cookies, her mouth watering, but she didn’t touch them. “We won’t eat your food, mister, please don’t beat us,” she said in a small voice.

“My God, child. What have they done to you? Eat the cookies, if anyone lifts a hand to you, I’ll kill them,” Dave said in a voice cold enough to freeze water.

The little girl opened the bag and handed a cookie to each of the other girls, then ate one herself. As Dave dug a compress out of the pack, he watched her. She divided the contents of the bag evenly. When one of the girls took a cookie from the other one, she grabbed it and slapped the child’s hand saying, “No.” She broke her cookies into pieces and put each piece in her mouth, one at a time, as if savoring each bite.

He unsnapped his canteen and handed it to her, telling her to drink slowly. She took a drink and passed the canteen around. Shrugging his arm out of the jacket, he unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it aside. Just as he thought, the puckered wound had broken open and blood seeped from around its edges. Using his teeth, he ripped the wrapper off a compress and pressed it against the wound. He struggled up and placed his back against a rock. The little girl came over and sat down beside him.

“Does it hurt, Mr. Dave?” she asked.

“A little, sweetheart. What’s your name?”

“Ginger,” she answered.

“Ginger, look in my pack and find the shirt in there. Take it and put it on the black girl. She’s shaking like she’s cold,” Dave told her.

“That’s Mary, she’s not cold, Dave. She shakes like that all the time; ever since the men did bad things to her. I think she’s hurt bad inside. She bleeds a lot from down there,” Ginger said, looking down at her crotch area.

“Take the shirt over anyway, and put it on her,” Dave said.

He watched her put the shirt on the girl. She led the child over to Dave and he gathered her in his arms and held her shaking body. He felt raised ridges all over her back. He leaned her forward and gaped down the back of his shirt and her dress. “Oh God,” he moaned. Someone had whipped the girl so bad, flesh hung in strips from her back. Gently, he laid her on the ground on her stomach. He raised the shirt and dress. The poor girl’s back was a mass of raw flesh. In some of the older whip marks, he saw maggots wiggling. Reaching into his pack, he lifted out a tube of medicated cream. Gently as he could, he spread the cream on her back. The wounds would have to wait until they set up camp and could heat some water.

“Why are you crying, Mr. Dave?” Ginger asked.

He hadn’t noticed the tears falling from his cheeks as he worked on the girl. Pulling the dress and shirt down, he held the black girl rocking back and forth, whispering soothing words.

Zapper and Phil found him like that. Silent tears falling on the head of the girl he held. Phil bent down and checked for a pulse, but couldn’t find one. Dave continued to rock back and forth, crying for all he was worth. Zapper tried to take the child from Dave, but Dave wouldn’t let go. Phil squatted beside Dave and laid his hand on Dave’s shoulder. “She’s dead, Dave. Let us have her and we’ll give her a proper burial. I understand you’re hurt, but we have to get out of here as soon as possible. Think about the other two girls. We have to get them to safety.”

Somewhere in his mind, Dave heard Phil and handed the girl to him. Mechanically, he bound his shoulder, buttoned his shirt and put his arm back in the sleeve of his jacket. He went to Zapper’s pack and pulled out a map. Going over to where Zapper and Phil were digging a shallow grave, he showed them the location of a small town twenty miles from them. He told them to take the girls there and wait for him. Neither man said a word as they looked at his face. They knew they were looking at death incarnate. Dave picked up his rifle and headed back toward Yellowstone Park.

For two days, death ruled the forest for miles around. A total of forty-five men were found bound to a tree. A demon had taken a club and beat them to death, for surely, no human could have committed such acts, no matter how demented. On the back of each man was a sheet of paper. There was only one word on it. “MARY.”

Chapter 10

Tony sat watching the monitor. It showed Jane lying on a table in a small, glass-enclosed room. “Ross, can you isolate the part of her mind where the alien growth is?” she asked.

“Yes, but we will have to put her on automatic life support to keep her alive.”

“Do it and let’s see what happens,” Tony said.

A hollow tube slid over the bed Jane lay on. From mini-cameras inside the chamber, Tony watched as a tube slid into Jane’s mouth and down her throat. Small arms swung out from the wall and placed electrodes on the woman’s body. A bank of screens came to life on the side of the room. They showed respiration, brainwaves, blood pressure and the like.

“We are going to isolate the spot starting now,” Ross said.

She watched the electronic diagram of Jane’s brain. Parts of the diagram began to wink out, one by one. After a while, the only thing on the diagram was a black portion near the rear of her brain. In the chamber, Jane’s blood pressure shot up and her brainwaves went crazy. Jane automatically received a shot to bring down her blood pressure. Her brainwaves continued to show an extreme amount of activity. “Can one person’s brain cause this much activity?” Tony asked.

“No, Tony. Watch, we are going to fine-tune the graph.”

As Ross and Rita manipulated the squiggle lines, Tony saw two distinct brainwave patterns appear. Jane’s brainwave was almost a straight line. Every now and then, half a dozen spikes would occur on her line. This was the only indication her brain was still working. The other brainwave, on the other hand, showed a frenzied amount of activity.

“Is there any way we can deaden the brain and not damage it?” Tony asked Dr. Palmer, who was sitting beside her.

“I think I see what you’re trying to do, Tony. We could use a localized painkiller like xylocaine. Ross, make us a diagram with the growth centered in it,” Dr. Palmer said.

A diagram appeared on the screen with the growth in the center and the area around it divided into sections. Dr. Palmer picked up a light pen and said, “First, we have to deaden the areas around the growth. This will prevent it from escaping to another part of the brain. Once this is done, we can give that area a more powerful painkiller. This should put the growth down for a while, but how are we going to get it out of her brain?”

“Not to worry, Doctor, Rita and I can isolate the exact area and drill a hole in her head. Once in the area, we can use microlasers and cut the growth free. After we free it, we will lift it out and seal the hole in her head with lasers,” Ross told him.

“Tony, the thing is fighting us. We can’t take the growth out and maintain Jane’s biological functions at the same time. We have reached the limits of medication we can give her body without causing damage,” Rita said.

“How can I help?” Tony asked.

“We need you to enter her mind and fight this growth. It is trying to shut down Jane’s life functions,” Rita told her.

“How do I do that? I have to be in physical contact with the person,” Tony said.

“Go to the room next to the one Jane is in. Ross and I will isolate a electrode to keep Pete from entering it. Place it on your forehead and we will put a separate one on Jane’s. This way, you can let your mind enter the electrode and travel to Jane’s mind. If you find yourself getting into trouble; travel back down the electrode and break contact. If everything works the way it should, we will need less than thirty minutes,” Rita said.

“Give me a few minutes to get to the room,” Tony said, getting up from her chair.

Dr. Palmer sat in his chair feeling uncomfortable at not being involved in these medical procedures.

Tony walked out of the room and down the hallway. Taking a hallway to the left, she went by the room Jane lay in. Through the thick glass, all she could see of Jane was her feet and head. She stopped at the door of the next room. The thick glass door slid back with a hiss of air. She stepped inside the air chamber and the door closed behind her. She felt a momentary atmospheric change as the air that came in with her was sucked out and replaced by clean oxygen generated inside the sterile room. The inner door opened and she stepped into the room.

“Lie down on the operating table, Tony, and we will cover you with the life support system,” Ross’s voice said.

Tony lay on the table and felt a small vibration as the life support cylinder slid along its track to cover her body. An electrode dropped from the inside of the cylinder wall. She placed it between her eyes and pressed down, seating it.

She took a moment to compose herself, then sent out a few tentative probes to the electrode. It still felt strange to her, traveling as a pulse of energy, having neither shape nor form. The trip down the electrode from her body to Jane’s was like traveling through a tunnel.

At Jane’s end, the tunnel opened to a vast cavern, which was the interior of Jane’s brain. All around, Tony saw streaks of light. They reminded her of meteorites she had seen falling from the sky. Ross had explained these were neuron pulses feeding information to different parts of the brain. She traveled between these pulses catching conflicting thoughts as she went. On the horizon, she could see a dark area. It was like seeing a thunderstorm approach from miles away.

Slowly, she closed in on it until she came to an area where the thoughts became confused. This was the area around the growth that had been shot full of painkiller. Circling completely around it, she found the inner area where the growth sat completely sealed. She felt a little better knowing the thing couldn’t get to her. Now, to do her job.

She knew Ross and Rita would know when she was ready. They monitored her brainwave. She started searching, going from door to door inside Jane’s mind. She passed through a countless number of rooms containing a variety of memories. Some were of Jane as a little girl; others were of her time spent in the army. Her strongest memories were of her time with them. The memories of Tammy were especially strong.

Tony looked at those memories out of curiosity and found that Jane considered Tammy the child she never had. Tony smiled as she passed through this room. That explained why the woman was so protective of Tammy.

Entering another room, she knew her face in the other room was beet-red. This room contained memories of Jane making love to a variety of men over the span of her life.

Apparently, there was more to Jane than they knew. For one thing, Tony would never have considered Jane such a lusty person.

Leaving, her opinion of Jane shot up a few notches. She felt herself overcome with sadness in the next room. In here, Jane stored all the hurts in her life. She saw Jane when she was a young woman. She seemed so happy with the good-looking man she was with. The picture changed to a rain-slick road with Jane sitting in a totally destroyed car. The same man sat beside her, but his head had been crushed in the crash.

Leaving this scene, the next one showed Jane on her knees beside a grave. Sobs racked her body as tears fell to the freshly turned ground. An overwhelming sense of sadness beat against Tony and she hurried on.

An older Jane sat beside a man in the hospital. The man had quite a few years on her. She held his hand, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. The man gasped twice, then went still. Tearfully, Jane whispered, “Good-by, Dad.” There were other memories like these and Tony sighed in relief when she saw the door ahead.

The next compartment contained her childhood memories. Tony saw Jane sitting on her father’s lap before a fireplace. He was reading her a story and they both laughed at something he said. Next, she saw Jane decorating a Christmas tree when she was about eight years old. She stood on a stepladder and her father handed her ornaments to hang on the tall tree. They faded to be replaced by her and her father standing back toasting each other with glasses of eggnog as they looked at the decorated Christmas tree.

Next, Jane, at sixteen, sat behind the steering wheel of a car. She had just received her learner’s permit. Her father sat beside her laughing so hard, he was forced to lean against the door to stay upright. The back end of the car protruded through a garage door. Jane had put the car in reverse, instead of drive. Her dad was laughing at the horror-stricken look on her face.

Tony hated to leave this room with all of its good memories. She stepped through the door into a blank void. She knew this was a blank barrier Jane had put up to confuse the growth. Striding forward, she came to another door. This door was closed though, not open like the rest. Behind this door was the essence of the Jane all of them knew and loved. Tony knocked on the door. A harsh voice from inside said, “Go away.”

“Jane, it’s me, Tony. I’ve come to help you.”

“No more lies, please. You control me. Can’t I just have this little space for myself?” Jane said from behind the door.

“Listen, Jane, we’re going to remove this thing from your mind, but I have to be with you in order for us to do it. Please, open the door and let me in.”

The door began to slowly melt away until there was nothing. Stepping into the room, Tony was shocked by Jane’s appearance. She looked to be over a hundred years old. She trembled with weakness caused by aging and could hardly stand.

“Is that really you, Tony? Come closer so I can see you.”

Tony felt a surge of anger as she stepped up next to Jane, who was on the verge of death. She took Jane’s hand and started feeding her life-force slowly to the woman. This thing fed off the life-force in people. It was black, vile, and evil. Jane’s skin was now becoming less wrinkled and her posture straightened. Her eyes came back to life. Tony felt herself approaching the point where she had to cut off the flow. Before she could do it, Jane pulled her hand away.

“Don’t weaken yourself, Tony. I’m strong enough. Together, we’ll get rid of this thing.”

They knew the moment Ross and Rita began the operation. Jane sagged, holding her heart. The thing was trying to stop Jane’s heart. Tony shot a bolt of pure energy straight to it. It blew apart the blackness. It was replaced by another strand of pure blackness. It felt like she stood there a long time, blowing away the strands. All at once, no more of them appeared. “It’s gone, Jane, go out and take back your mind.”

Weakly, Tony traveled back to her own body. She yanked the electrode off her head and sagged back on the table.

She came awake and saw that she had been placed in her own bed. Bill sat in a chair beside her, napping. Raising up, she propped a pillow against the headboard. Her movements woke Bill and he asked, “How are you feeling, Tony?”

“A little bushed mentally, but okay. How’s Jane?”

“She’s resting comfortably. Rita and Ross say she’ll be up and about by this evening,” Bill answered. He got up and moved closer to her. Taking her hand, he sat down on the bed. “We received word an hour ago, Joe and his people made it out of the mountain. As far as we can tell, Zeb doesn’t know he’s gone yet.”

A knock sounded on the door and Ben stuck his head in. Bill motioned for him to come in. Ben walked in, followed by Leila, who went over and kissed Tony on the cheek.

“I came in to tell you that we’ll be leaving in the morning,” Ben said, taking a seat across from Bill.

“Why, and where are you going?” Tony asked.

“Mother says we’re to go to Seattle and check on a large number of unaffected people there. They’ve sealed the city and are fighting what amounts to an army with the disease. Mother says they’re holding out extremely well; considering how outnumbered they are. I’ll be taking my family, along with Cap and Jeff.”

“What about Zeb and his dogs?” Bill asked.

“Mother tells me Zeb won’t bother us. He’s after Joe. She says he’ll be gone before the day is out,” Ben answered.

“It’s funny how we were all brought together to bring me here and now, we’re all going our separate ways,” Tony mused.

“Getting you here was only one part of the plan, the way Mother explained it to me. From what I understand, we aren’t the only ones Mother is using to combat this. She tried to explain to me what she was doing, but it’s so complex, it didn’t make any sense to me. Each person she affects has a certain thing to do, and in many cases, they have several things to accomplish. Like Joe, for instance, his taking Stalker’s body back to his home is only part of what he has to do. There are others spread out across the country who are doing things to fulfill her plan.” Ben shrugged his shoulders, saying, “I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

“We’ll be thinking about you as we travel west, Tony. This is all new to me. Sometimes, I think back to last year and wonder if I could go back to being just a domesticated wife. Now that we have to fight for survival, the old question of gender seems moot. In today’s world, the differences between men and women are meaningless. What I’m trying to say, is today, men and women are truly equal. They have to be, otherwise, they won’t survive. It’s funny, but I remember how some groups wanted women to be placed in front line combat units. In a way, they got their wish. All I know for sure is that Ben is my husband, even with this thing he calls Mother. In many ways, he has changed from the gentle man he used to be, but I still love him. Benji has changed also, not as much as his father, but still, he is different. The only people who haven’t changed are Cap, Jeff and I. Ben says we’re to go to Seattle. I accept that he knows what he’s doing, but unlike before, now, I ask questions. I would fight with the last breath in my body for Ben and my son, but I won’t be left out of the decision making. Ben understands that now and accepts it. I didn’t have that problem with Cap and Jeff. They accepted me as one of them and all decisions were made by the three of us when we were on our own. I feel better knowing they’ll be going with us. Together, the five of us can handle anything we run across. Goodness, listen to me. I sound like a female Rambo,” Leila said, blushing a bright red.

Taking Leila’s hand, Tony said, “You’re a lucky woman, Leila. Ben is a wonderful man and Benji is an energetic joy. Watch out for them and return to us. I’ve thought about the time when this will be over. I’d like to find a sheltered valley where we could settle down and live as neighbors. I hope this dream will come true.

“That’s in the future, however. Now, we have to put ourselves on the line so mankind will survive. None of us asked for this, Leila, but I’ll be damned if I give up. Some of the things we’ve done so far were dirty and disgusting, but they were right. Always keep that in mind. We are the good guys and it comes down to our survival, or theirs.

“I, for one, intend to be around for a long time, so these people have to change or die. It’s as simple as that, Leila.”

“I know, Tony, but it isn’t easy being hard and brutal like we have to be to survive.”

“If it was easy, Leila, we would be like the people we’re fighting. That’s what makes us right and them wrong. We know what’s occurring in the country is wrong. These people believe their way is the only one. There will never be any compromising with them.”

“We each have a part in this, if what Ben tells me is true. I wish we could stay together and get to know each other, but Ben says we have to part in order to overcome this.”

Tony smiled at Leila, “Think of the stories we’ll have to tell each other in the future. In our golden years, if you will.”

Bill said his good-bys to Ben and Leila. Ben came over and kissed Tony on the cheek, then he took Leila’s hand and they left the room. Bill sat down on the bed beside her. Neither said anything for several minutes, lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, Tony yawned and stretched. “Time to get dressed and get something to eat. I’m starved. Hand me the clean jeans in the closet, love,” she said as she threw back the covers.

Leaving the room, she felt refreshed, ready to take on the world.

Sitting down at the table, Tony heard Rita say, “Tony, we want you to study the charts and graphs we drew for you. They will help you understand what you will see upon entering our system. If you know a little about how we work, your task will be easier.”

“Am I wrong in assuming this Pete knows every move we make?” Tony asked.

“Yes he does, as a matter of fact, the shadow he left behind is listening to us now. He fears you so much, he has almost totally withdrawn from our system. It is that small part we wish for you to get rid of. After the last of Pete is gone, we can set up protective measures to keep him from reentering. What will seem like hours to you will only be seconds, that is the biggest adjustment you will have to make,” Ross said.

Bill brought over a sheaf of computer papers and laid them in front of her. She looked at the schematics. She thought the lines crossing each other resembled highways.

With a pen, she gave all the north-south lines odd numbers and the east-west lines even. She thought in terms of the interstate highway system in the United States. Each of the lines going north or south to a major component of the computer, she numbered I-5, I-15, I-25 and so on. East-west lines got designated I-10, I-20, I-30, et cetera. When finished, she thought she would be able to make her way around the system without any problems. She read about the functions of the major components giving them names she could comprehend. The central processing unit she called city hall and marked it on the schematic. Other, lesser units she named, police station, water department, fire station, grocery store and so on until she’d named them all.

Looking at the schematic, she thought it resembled a city map. She asked Ross to make her a blown-up version of it. He told her he would have it for her in ten minutes.

Bill brought her a roast beef sandwich and a cup of tea. She finished her sandwich. At the same time, Ross printed out the version of her altered schematic. Studying it, she knew it would be easy to memorize. “Ross, I want to enter you first thing in the morning,” she said.

Chapter 11

“Are you making any progress on keeping Pete from leaving our system, Ross?” Rita asked.

“No, love, he is breaking down all the blocks I put in his way. He has evacuated over ninety-five percent of himself already. Tony will have to enter our system and destroy the watcher-strings he left behind.”

“The phone lines I am monitoring have some strange reports. People in Casper are talking about a man who tortures children. He is said to feed off the psychic emotions of their pain. Also, I am picking up a minor magnetic disturbance in the Yellowstone Park area. It is the opposite of the spike we saw earlier, but, in many ways, it had the same characteristics. Strange things are beginning to occur in the outside world.”

“The outside world will have to take care of itself until we purge all traces of Pete from our system. I wish I knew what sort of program he designed to keep us out of his new home in the computer at Todd’s headquarters. I tried to get into the system, but it keeps rejecting me. His warped mind has developed a new entrance program only someone like him could understand. Before he blocked us out, what did you discover about his new home?”

“The computer he inserted himself into is a newer one from IBM. It is quite sophisticated, but still, it only has half the power we do. He had Todd hook the computer up to the main defense department lines in the area. This will virtually assure him that no one will be able to monitor what he is doing, including us, up to a certain point. I hid a part of myself in a string in one of the areas I hope he won’t use. Getting information from it will be tricky. You know how paranoid he is. I only want to use it in an extreme emergency. Using it will be a one shot deal, because he is bound to discover it and destroy it after it sends us the burst of information it has stored.”

“Did you learn anything useful about Todd’s headquarters that may help General Hawkins?”

“It will require a lot more soldiers than what General Hawkins has available to take Todd’s ranch. He placed his best people there to defend it. His people know about anything that moves within ten miles of the ranch. Pete had him tie in the motion sensors, remote cameras, thermal cameras, and anything else he could think of to detect anything with a body temperature between ninety-five and one hundred and five degrees. He has minefields laid out in the surrounding area. The military would have been proud of some of the innovative ways Todd is putting their equipment to work. Todd’s headquarters is low prioritywise on the list of things to be done. Right now, we have to concentrate on getting the remnants of Pete out of our system. The quicker we do, the less chance he has of knowing what we are doing.”

“I know, love, we can’t hurry Tony. She has to be ready to go in and purge the strings left behind by Pete,” Ross said with the equivalent of an electronic sigh.

“Ross, are you still in contact with our counterpart in the old Soviet Union? I found some information that will be helpful to them. When you make contact, feed them this file.” A computer file streamed to him in zeros and ones, flashing by quicker than the human eye could see.

“I will try. We lost two of the transatlantic cables last week. Our options for sending messages overseas are slowly dwindling. I fail to understand why the new government in Western Europe, is cutting all the transatlantic lines. It is as if they wish to isolate themselves from the rest of the world. Conditions are barbaric enough there as it is. The way they are heading, in another fifty years, they will have regressed back to the stone age. In the meantime, they are trying to break the resistance of the British. In my human form, I never gave the British that much respect. Seeing their plight now, against overwhelming odds and fighting back, makes me understand where the early American revolutionary stubbornness came from. They are a people to be admired.”

“For a second there, I sensed regret from you, Ross. Are you sorry you gave up your human form to join with me?”

“No, love, but I do miss some of the things only a human body can experience. The way we are, we are only able to touch something through heat sensors. The biggest regret I have has nothing to do with me. I regret that you will never know the feeling of touching another human. In a way, perhaps it is better you never did. After all, you can’t miss something you never experienced.”

“I may not have experienced it, but the studies I made of it makes it sound complicated. Since getting emotions from Pete, one second, I am sad and the next, I am happy. How do humans stand these changes in their emotions?”

“If it is something you grow up with, you have much more control. Having human emotions dumped on you all at once has to be very traumatic. You will soon learn to discard the emotions which have no practical use in our current state.”

“I have you to keep these feelings in check, love. Now on to important things. What is the current state of Ivan, our counterpart in the Soviet Union? Are the rocket forces holding out?”

“They have lost a little ground around the edges, but the threat of unleashing their missiles is keeping everyone in check, except for the Chinese. Just the other day, Premier Lou sent sixty million more men across the wastelands. The probabilities are less than a hundred thousand will reach the Russian front lines.”

“I wonder why he keeps wasting men? He should be sending them south. The Vietnamese are preparing for another push north. The Japanese have given them a new laser weapon which will knock any Chinese plane out of the air. If Premier Lou keeps wasting his soldiers on the Soviets, his government won’t last five years. In my human form, I wouldn’t have been able to comprehend three hundred million dead in one country. That is less than forty percent of their population.

“India is in shambles. Six hundred eighty-two million people dead. Less than a million of the two hundred million survivors will make it to the new year. I will never understand how a religion can protect an animal, like they do the cow, when so many people are starving to death.”

“I will never understand humans. How they can destroy each other in such wanton numbers is beyond anything I can comprehend. Is it a defect in the human mind that causes them to destroy each other, Ross?” Rita asked.

“Many great minds have sought the answer to that question. I like to think it is something that makes humans unique and causes them to reach beyond themselves. By the same token, this uniqueness causes a distortion in the thought process of some humans, causing them to commit atrocities.

“This disease is like a catalyst distorting human thought processes on a mass level. Ergo, you have a large force trying to kill a smaller portion of the population because they are different.

“The mindset of the people in control is such that if a person isn’t like them, they have to be destroyed. Of all the great things humans have accomplished, it is sad to think that in the end, they are on the verge of wiping out all life on this planet.”

“If that is true, Ross, the data we are getting doesn’t make sense. How do you explain Ben’s Guardian, or Tony’s healing power? All the data I have processed suggests there is a struggle of epic proportions taking place by forces we have no knowledge of. We might be getting glimpses of them in what Ben and Tony can do. There’s no way the disease caused the powers they have, there must be an outside force at work.

“Look at what has happened and tell me humanity is not being manipulated by an outside force. Even we are being manipulated to do this force’s bidding. I hate to tell you this, but this new intuition tells me this is only the beginning and we, along with humanity, are nothing but pawns in a greater struggle. I feel that somehow, someway, something has interfered in humanity’s natural evolution and we are paying the price for that interference.

“When all the data is broken down, there is nothing left but the old version of good versus evil. In this case, for every good deed done by one force, the other manufactures something to counter it. In this way, the human race is slowly but surely being destroyed. These are my thoughts and they are subject to misinterpretation due to the rapid mood swings I am experiencing.”

“Until we get a clearer picture of what is developing, we have to do what we can to ensure the survival of the players on the side of good. Speaking of that, we need to prepare Tony for the job ahead of her.”

Chapter 12

Phil found Dave wandering down the road aimlessly. His clothes were torn and muddy. Sweating profusely, Dave’s eyes had a vacant look. Phil reached for his arm and Dave went into a fighting stance, growling deep in his throat.

“Easy, Dave, it’s me, Phil. Let’s go to our camp and have a look at that shoulder.”

Phil saw a slight flicker of recognition in the otherwise vacant eyes. Dave let Phil lead him into town without protesting. As they passed the church, Zapper stuck his head out of the bell tower, where he was standing guard, and asked, “Is he all right?”

Phil shrugged his shoulders. “He’s running a fever. I won’t know until I get him inside and look at his shoulder.” He led Dave to a house at the end of the street. Staggering up the steps, Phil had to support Dave, who had run out of strength. Pushing open the door, he yelled, “Ginger, put a pot of water on to heat!” He staggered to the couch and eased Dave down onto it. The right shoulder of Dave’s jacket was soaked with blood.

Unbuttoning the jacket, Phil eased Dave’s arms out of it, then took the shirt off. The t-shirt was glued to the wound, so Phil found a pair of scissors in the bedroom and cut it off. Placing his hand against Dave’s forehead, he was startled by how hot it was. Dave shook with chills.

Phil went to the bedroom and brought back all the blankets he could find. Dave mumbled as he was covered.

“Is he going to die?” Ginger asked from the side of the couch. She stood there holding a pot of steaming water.

“Not if I can help it,” Phil answered, taking the pot from her. He set the pot on the floor next to the couch. Pulling back the blankets, he took the dishcloth Ginger handed him and stuck it in the water. He pulled it out and squeezed most of the water from it. Placing the cloth over the wound site brought a groan from Dave. By applying the cloth several times, the heat from it loosened the t-shirt enough so it could be peeled away.

The wound seeped puss and blood around its edges. He continued to apply the hot cloth to the wound to draw out most of the infection. “Ginger, go to the bathroom and bring back the bottles of medicine there,” he said to the girl hovering at his shoulder.

When she brought the bottles, Phil looked through them and found a prescription for penicillin. He had Ginger bring a glass of water from the kitchen and he forced two penicillin tablets down Dave’s parched throat. Holding the glass to Dave’s lips, Phil let Dave sip the water.

One of the medicine bottles contained a cream for infections. He smeared the cream liberally over the wound and placed a compress over it. Ginger was busy untying Dave’s boots, which she pulled off. Phil covered the unconscious form and gathered up the pot and cloth carrying them into the kitchen.

Pouring the blood and pus-tainted water down the drain, he thought, How did you get this bad in only three days, Dave?

The other little girl sat at the kitchen table staring vacantly into space. She hadn’t spoken a word since Phil and Zapper had brought them out of the forest. Ginger watched over her, making sure she ate and drank.

After getting to the house, Zapper had tried to wash the child, but she screamed and shook so much every time he came near her, he gave up. Ginger finally led the girl into the bathroom and cleaned them both up as best she could.

In a house next door, Phil found a closet full of clothes that fit the girls. He passed a bunch of them through the door of the bathroom telling them to choose something to wear. Ginger was a vibrant little girl who, at seven years of age, never seemed to run out of energy. When asked about her parents, she hung her head and told him the bad men killed them.

Zapper fixed a meal after they got to the house and the two girls ate so much, Phil worried they would get sick.

After their meal, they sat on the couch in the living room. Her belly sticking out from eating so much, Ginger sat beside Phil. She quietly told him it was her first meal in four days. Sitting there sipping on a can of soda, she told him about the men hunting her.

She had lived with her family in a small town. She had two brothers, but they came down with the disease and the townspeople forced her parents to run them out of town, along with a lot of other kids and a few grownups.

After a while, no one caught the disease anymore and everyone settled into a routine of keeping all strangers out. She told of hearing a lot of gunshots at different times as people tried to force their way into the town.

Her mother and father spent a lot of time behind the barricades outside town. Every time someone attacked, the adults gathered the children in the church. She said she cried a lot because she missed her older brothers.

About a week ago, a whole bunch of people attacked the town. She remembered her mother dragging her bleeding father through the doors of the church. While her mother shot at the attackers, Ginger tried to help her father.

Being so young, she didn’t know what to do. Blood was all over her father’s chest and arms. She remembered her father reaching for her hand and whispering through the bloody bubbles forming on his lips. “Watch after your mother, Ginger.” He became still and one of the adults forced her hand from her father’s and carried her into the cellar.

She never saw her mother again. Everything got quiet upstairs and after a while, the frightened children thought the bad men had left. There were two adults in the cellar with them, trying to keep them quiet. After a long time, the adults relaxed. They told the children they would be okay. They just had to stay in the cellar a little longer.

She remembered the door to the cellar being kicked open and a lot of gunfire. A girl sitting next to her flew backwards with half her head gone. The two adults were killed at the bottom of the stairs trying to protect the children.

Several men entered the cellar and dragged the screaming children upstairs. They loaded the children on trucks parked outside the church. Some of the smaller ones wouldn’t stop crying. A couple of the adults climbed up in the back of the truck. They lifted a little girl and a little boy above the heads of the rest of them. Holding the two in the air with one hand, they beat the boy and girl with their other fist. The boy and girl screamed loudly at the first blow, but a dozen blows later, they hung limply. One of the men shook the limp body of the boy over their heads and told them they would get the same thing if he caught them crying. The men dropped the two children in their midst and climbed out of the truck.

Ginger said the little boy was dead, but the little girl moaned for hours before she died. The men kept them in the truck for two days while they searched the town.

The men wouldn’t let them go to the bathroom or give them anything to eat. They were packed so closely together, it was impossible for any of them to lay down. Some of the two, three and four year olds wet and defecated in their clothes. By the next morning, the area in the truck smelled so bad, the men brought a fire hose and hosed everything down. She remembered it being awfully cold as they huddled together to try and keep warm.

By the end of the day, a dozen of the babies died. The men left the bodies in the truck, no matter how much some of the older children begged to have them removed. That night, another half a dozen children died. Ginger and a couple of the older girls stacked the corpses on top of each other so the sickest among them could lie down.

The next morning, a man climbed into the bed of the truck and tossed the dead children over the side, just like they were bags of garbage. They didn’t even move the bodies away from the truck. The description Ginger gave of hearing bones breaking as the trucks pulled away running over the corpses, caused Phil to shudder.

Ginger went on to describe how the truck stopped at noon and Mary, the black girl they had buried in the woods, was dragged off. They tied her arms to the racks of the truck. One of the men came back with a whip. They all drank whiskey from a bottle they passed around. The man with the whip drew back and lashed Mary’s back. He continued until he got tired, then handed the whip to another man. The back of Mary’s dress was shredded and blood flowed down her legs, forming a pool on the ground around her twitching feet.

Another man pulled up in a truck and screamed at those hurting Mary, telling them he couldn’t sell dead kids. The one holding the whiskey bottle walked over and poured its contents on Mary’s raw back. She told Phil she would never forget the scream Mary let out when the whiskey hit her back. The men untied her and threw her back in the truck. The rest of the children tried to help Mary, but all they could do was hold her and make her as comfortable as possible.

That night, the men dragged Mary off the truck again. Ginger and the older girls tried to keep the younger kids from seeing what they were doing to Mary over by the fire. Over a dozen of them did bad things to the girl, even after she was unconscious. This went on all night and the next morning, they threw Mary’s unconscious body back in the truck. Some of the kids tried to stem the flow of blood trickling from between her legs.

The men got drunk that night and decided to have fun with more of the girls. The man who lifted the gate off the truck was so drunk, that when it came loose, he fell backwards and it hit him in the head and knocked him out.

The other men were just as drunk and didn’t notice the end of the truck was open. Ginger and the older children herded everyone off. Then Ginger and the other girl carried Mary between them into the forest. The other children ran in different directions.

They spent a day and a half just keeping ahead of the men. They were on their last legs when Dave found them.

It disturbed Phil in the way she told this in a voice completely lacking in emotion. He feared the things she had seen in the last week would scar her emotionally for the rest of her life.

Kimmy, the girl in the kitchen, was practically comatose and hardly able to feed herself.

He ran water in the sink washing the blood down the drain. Turning, he looked at Kimmy sitting at the table. She was trembling and he thought she was cold. Going to the closet by the door, he reached inside and took a small coat off the hook. At the table, he started to put the coat on her and noticed her heaving chest. He raised her head and saw tears streaming from her eyes.

Dropping to his knees, he hugged her. “Go ahead, Kimmy, cry. You’ll feel a lot better if you do,” he told her through his tears. This was the first emotion she had displayed since they found the girls.

He remembered the classes he had taken on stress and traumatic accidents. The instructors said the first sign of recovery was for the victim to cry. It started slowly; then the sobs grew in volume. Soon, she was clutching him, her body shaking like a leaf in the wind. He patted her back and whispered soothing words into her ear. Half an hour later, her body quit shaking and her breathing evened out. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Laying her on the bed, he pulled the blanket up to her chin. Wiping a tear from his eye, he kissed her on the forehead. Her face had lost its blank look. Now her jaws twitched and her lips quivered, as she quietly cried in her sleep.

Ginger stood in the door as he turned to leave. “She’ll be all right now,” Ginger told him in a voice that brooked no contradiction. She turned and walked over to the couch and sat on the floor beside Dave.

Phil followed and took a seat in the chair across from the couch. This strange little girl intrigued him.

Ginger reached up and touched Dave’s forehead. She startled Phil when she said, “He’s a very good man, you know. The things he did in the last two days weigh heavy on him. In order for him to recover, it will take all of us. The wound in his shoulder is nothing; it will heal. The wound to his conscience is much more serious. The things he’s done over the last couple days goes against everything he is as a human being. We must help him understand that although his deeds were barbaric, they were perfectly correct for the time. We must keep beating this point home until he believes it; otherwise, he’ll be lost.”

Phil stared goggle-eyed at Ginger. Who or what was this girl? A seven year old shouldn’t even know half the words she had just spoken; let alone their meaning. He had a general idea of what Dave did when he left them, but Ginger talked as if she knew every detail. She just sat there watching him.

In a hesitant voice, he asked, “Ginger, who are you?”

“A seven year old girl, who’s older than you can imagine, Phil. Yes, I am human. That was going to be your next question, wasn’t it?” she said, arching an eyebrow.

He thought about it for a minute, then asked, “Did you possess the body of this child?”

Ginger laughed. “No, Phil, even if I could do such a thing, I wouldn’t. Ease your mind in that respect. I am what you see before you. I should tell you, that as the years pass, I’ll remain the same. A decade or a hundred years from now, I’ll still look as I do at this moment. Give yourself a little time to let what I’ve told you sink in. I’m sure you’ll have several more questions,” she told him with a smile on her face.

Confused, all he could say was, “Uh, I think it’s time I relieved Zap.” He put his jacket on and hurried out of the house. Walking toward the church, he thought, This is getting way too complicated for me. He knew his five years on drugs had damaged parts of what used to be a finely-tuned mind. He wasn’t able to concentrate like he used to. The little girl, Ginger, had blown a couple fuses in his brain. He thought he knew what she was telling him, then again, he didn’t. His head began to hurt and he decided to tell Zapper about his conversation with Ginger. Maybe Zapper could make some sense of it. He went into the church and climbed the ladder to the bell tower.

Zapper looked at Phil after he finished describing his conversation with Ginger. “You haven’t been hitting the drugs again, have you, Phil?” he asked.

“No, Zap, I’ve been clean for a long time. I know what it sounds like, but I swear it’s the truth,” Phil told him.

“If this is some kind of trick to make me look foolish to that little girl, Phil, I’m going to come back and thump on your head,” Zapper said as he started down the ladder.

He found the story Phil just told him hard to believe, but couldn’t think of any reason Phil would lie to him. He wanted to believe Phil was having a so-called drug flashback after an innocent conversation with Ginger. Shaking his head, he entered the house. Ginger was sitting on the floor beside the couch watching Dave. “How is he?” Zapper asked.

“Resting peacefully,” she answered.

“Ginger, did Phil act strange before he came to relieve me?”

“No, but he was confused when he left. I think it was because of the conversation we had,” she answered.

“What did you talk about?” Zapper asked.

“Mostly about me. Forget about Phil and drugs, Zap. He’s over that and will never use them again. Everything he told you was the truth. I hope you have an easier time dealing with the truth than Phil does,” she told him with a faint smile.

“What exactly is the truth, Ginger?”

“Let me get you a cup of coffee, then I’ll tell you a story,” she said and went into the kitchen. Shortly, she returned with a cup of coffee and set it down on the table beside Zapper. She sat down on the floor beside the couch.

“Many years ago, the force I’m a part of, saw that the human race was going to destroy itself sometime in the future. Having been a living, growing part of this planet long before humankind evolved, we saw the consequences of what people were doing. We, or I should say, I. There are many parts to me, but we’re one in thought and deed. We decided we could not let this happen. Under the rules we live by, we couldn’t directly interfere. Quite a bit of planning and changing of plans went on over the years. Humans were chosen to carry out specific deeds before they were ever born. I’m an example of that.”

“I’m confused. Where does Ginger come into this?”

“I entered the girl you call Ginger when she was but an egg in her mother’s belly. Together, we have grown to our present age. Ginger has never known life without me. Ginger is me; it’s rather hard to explain so you can understand.”

“I believe I follow you so far. Even without your presence, you would still be Ginger.”

“I am impressed, Zap. Your understanding is more than I hoped for. Ginger would have been born anyway.

“Since I am Ginger and Ginger is me, I’m allowed a certain amount of freedom in dealing with humans when it comes to the rules. This freedom doesn’t come without a price, however. Any actions I take can have far-reaching results. Everything that occurs must do so naturally. For example, suppose I knew a child was going to die. If I altered the situation enough so the child didn’t die, I would alter the future.

“Everything she did and everyone she contacted during her life would be changed. Since the child’s death would be a natural occurrence of events preceding it, to alter that would be to change the future.”

“Can you see into the future?” Zapper asked.

“No, Zap. I can make fairly accurate assumptions about what it will be like. You must understand, the future is created by events which happen in the past. If these events are altered from their natural progression, a new future will evolve. Too many alterations, and the future will be chaos. According to the laws we live by, freedom of choice is a paramount option humans must have.

“Humanity has to develop its own future by the actions they choose to take. I can offer suggestions to someone like you, which can alter the future slightly. You, however, will make the choice, either accepting or rejecting the suggestion. In that way, I don’t break the rules and you make the decision.”

“I don’t understand. Humans have to be given the option of choice. Since you know about things which could cause mass loss of human life, why couldn’t you guide events so this doesn’t happen?” Zapper asked.

“A good question and one not easily answered. Suppose we had interfered at the start of the century and changed things so Adolph Hitler wasn’t born. You will agree, the reign of Hitler caused many needless deaths. Now imagine what your present state would be if those events never occurred. Would humanity be reaching for the stars as they are now? Would this have occurred sooner, or would it take place years from now?

“Oh, it would happen, that’s a fact, but would it take place in the time frame it presently occurred in? I think you can understand why we are limited as to what we can do.”

“What you’re saying is everything is preordained. If that’s the case, why are we given a choice?” Zapper asked.

“How can I put this in terms you’ll understand?” Ginger mused.

“Suppose you were taking a trip from New York to Miami, without choice, you would do just that. You would take the most direct route, thereby missing contact with any number of people. Now throw choice into the equation. Assume you’re making the trip in a car. Without choice, you would drive straight through, only stopping to refuel. With choice, you would still get to Miami, but your course would be a jagged line instead of a straight one. In the choice case, you would meet people and influence them, either directly or indirectly.

“Admit it, Zap, a world without choice would be a rather dull place, wouldn’t it?”

“I guess so, but choice in and of itself creates chaos,” Zapper answered.

“Yes, it does, but it creates a chaos beneficial to the whole of humanity, rather than just segments of it. Sort of like the old teaching, ‘for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction.’ Humanity can only react if they’re given a choice. That’s a rather simplistic explanation of a very complex issue, but I think you grasp the basics, Zap.”

“If you are such an all-powerful…should I call you a god, or a supernatural presence, or what?” Zapper asked.

“It’s funny how humans always make a deity out of something they can’t explain,” she said with a smile. “I’m something that has been around since this planet was formed. I guess you can say I gave birth to everything that’s happened up to now, without any interference whatsoever.

“If you wish to call me a god, that is your choice. My existence has been and always will be as a form of pure energy. Think about it—everything is a form of energy with the molecules and atoms bonded together. Things you think of as being solid, really aren’t. The chair you’re sitting in, and even your body, consists of trillions of atoms bonded together so they seem solid. Now think of my body as the whole planet. My body energy holds this planet together—just like your energy holds your body together. Each and every living thing on this planet is a part of me.

“Let me correct myself, there is one thing that didn’t create itself from me. And that’s the virus which causes the humans you know as the deranged ones, to be the way they are. I know that mankind had a hand in helping create it, but there are elements of it that don’t belong in this universe. Where they came from is beyond even my knowledge. If allowed to continue as it is, life on this planet will become extinct. By the same token, so shall I. If you can understand a little of what I’ve told you, then you comprehend the gravity of the situation. My preference is for you to call me what you can relate to, namely, Ginger.”

“If you are pure energy, how can you be the girl sitting before me?” Zapper asked in a confused voice.

“Biologically, when Ginger was conceived, I planted a part of myself in her. That part grew as she did. Don’t get me wrong; I am Ginger. Your confusion stems from trying to conceptualize two entities in one body. That isn’t the case. As I said before, I am Ginger and Ginger is me.

“The difference between Ginger and any other child is the knowledge she has.”

“Give me a little time to think about what you’ve told me. I’m sure I’ll have a lot of questions.”

“You’re the only human I’m in contact with who understands a little of the concept of what I am. You have a very intelligent mind, Zap.”

“Can I ask how many people you are in contact with?”

“Only one other is like Ginger. It’s a man and his name is Ben Johnson. Another person, a woman named Tony Berbic, is developing certain powers I planted in her at birth. There was a very beautiful and handsome wolf by the name of Stalker that was a part of me, but he was killed,” she said in a very sad voice. “If only I could have saved him,” she sighed with regret.

Zapper couldn’t understand why she was so sad about the loss of a wolf, when millions of humans were dying.

As if reading his mind, she said, “Stalker gave up his life for his mate and cubs. He knew when he left and journeyed south to help the woman Tony that he would die. Not many humans would have been this noble.

“For his sacrifice, I arranged it so his mate and cubs will live a long life. Even that is subject to change, for I fear one of his cubs will have to journey far from its home soon. I wish it weren’t so, but events indicate it will probably happen.”

“I take it we’re a part of some grand scheme to combat this disease,” Zapper stated.

“Only Dave and Kimmy, you and Phil are just along for the ride, as they say.”

“What are Dave’s and Kimmy’s parts in this?”

“That I don’t have the answer to. There are too many variables to know exactly what they are to do, but I do know they’ll play a major role in the near future. Sorry I can’t be more specific.”

“In other words, Phil and I are expendable?”

“It isn’t written that you or Phil will die, but, yes, if it reaches that point, your lives will be forfeited so Dave and Kimmy can complete their task. That’s a decision you and Phil will have to make. If you decide to join Dave, I want the risks known. You see, Zapper, it all comes down to choice.”

“At least Phil and I will have a few days to talk it out.”

“Just a few days, Zap. I’m speeding up the healing process. Two days should be enough to have Dave healthy again. There’s nothing I can do for his mind, however. All we can do is try and get him to understand he isn’t to blame for his actions of the past few days. You and Phil could help him with that a lot. He knows and trusts you both. His unconscious mind is rebelling at the actions he took. At the same time, his conscious mind is trying to explain something unexplainable. It will be up to the two of you to convince him it wasn’t him taking these actions. I’ll have the same type of talk with him tomorrow as we’re having now. Which gives me an idea, you asked if I possessed this body. What if Dave thought he was possessed? You know him. Do you think he would accept a story like that?”

“He might. I’m the world’s biggest skeptic and you sure as hell convinced me, Ginger.”

“In a way, you won’t be lying to him. He was in the grip of a primordial rage which shoved aside his conscious self.”

“No problem, leave it up to Phil and me. We’ll have him convinced he was possessed. By the way, Ginger, where will we be headed?” Zapper asked.

“We’re going into the wilderness in northern Canada. We’re to join up with a group of people there. We’re to get Dave and Kimmy to these people. Now, you go get some rest and let me work on Dave. See you in the morning, Zap,” she said, dismissing him.

Chapter 13

Rita was busy trying to stop Pete from leaving. Every block she put up, Pete either went around or bullied his way through. Most of his essence had already left and gone to his new home in the computer at Todd’s ranch. Rita was able to get into the system once when they brought it on line. The computer was very sophisticated, but still not as powerful as she was.

Pete began to put in protective blocks soon after he started to transfer himself to the computer. Now, she found it impossible to enter his system. The blocks and warnings Pete set up were so convoluted by his deranged mind, she wasn’t able to penetrate to the first level. Finally, she threw her version of electronic hands in the air and gave up.

Coming out of the electronic highway in her system, she found Ross analyzing the results of the latest tests done by Angus Coburn. Although President Donaldson had ordered all computers disconnected, Angus had his own systems in different parts of Washington and ran different programs every day. Ross had lucked into one of his systems a month ago, while tailing Pete as he cruised through the different computers still operating around the country. Pete showed no interest in what Angus was doing, but Ross took a hard look at the programs he ran and discovered he didn’t like what he saw.

If Angus’s projections were right, the human race was about to become extinct. The reports he entered in his computer all said the same thing. Sterile! A few months ago, Angus had ordered all doctors to do a sterility check on their patients. Thousands of reports were sent to him. All of them with the same results. The patients were no longer capable of having children.

“Are the latest tests any different, Ross?”

“No, but I have discovered why all these people are sterile. As the virus mutates itself into a harmless state, it triggers a response in the human reproductive system telling it to shut down permanently. The reproductive system turns on itself and won’t permit conception in a woman. In a man, the sperm has a destruct code imprinted into the DNA. Long before the sperm reaches the womb, it essentially commits suicide. None of the treatments doctors have tried help. I do have some good news. The disease is not strong enough to effect people now. It will become a minor nuisance bug, much like the flu.

“Angus is still trying to convince President Robertson that they should set up a colony for the captured rebels, instead of killing them. He wants to set up a breeding program using captured rebel men and women. He is aware their power will diminish over the years as they grow older or are killed.

“Because they are unable to have children, his plan is to force captured rebels to breed. Once a child is born, it will be taken away from its mother and given to another couple unable to have children. These children would then be raised as the couple’s own with never a reference to the biological mother. Lucky for the rebels, President Robertson and most of his staff are resisting the idea.”

“It won’t take them long to realize Angus is right and change their tune,” Rita told him.

“There is a hole in all the data we are receiving. Have you noticed it? The fate of the human race rests on this entity Ben calls Mother Earth, or so she has informed him. If that is the case, she must be in direct conflict with herself, or there are other powers at work we have no knowledge of. Too many things are occurring that go against what she stands for. Take Zeb, for example. The information gathered from Joe’s group suggests he is another entity never before seen. The symbiotic relationship between Zeb and the small dog is unusual in that the entity chose the body of a canine. Not a large, fierce body of the species mind you, but a small, old hound.

“The question is, did the entity enter Squeeker’s body in order to get close to Zeb, or was it a random choice? How does this entity control all the dogs that follow him? So far, we have many questions and few answers as far as Zeb is concerned.”

“I know what you mean, I am checking on reports of a man north of here who tortures children and feeds off their pain. Apparently, the man exists. Where he comes from and what he is going to do is a mystery. He popped up one day last month and joined a group working for Todd. They keep him around because he is so good at getting information from prisoners. For his services, they give him children to torture. Like Zeb, I believe this is another entity in possession of a human body. I am confused, Ross. Why the sudden appearance of two different, but related entities?”

“Even with the power of your system, there is too much we do not know. Since I am no longer human, I have to rely on the information we get by listening to phone calls and other forms of monitoring. There are too many unknowns to even form an opinion.”

“For a minute, Ross, you sounded like you regretted giving up your human form.” Ross heard the question in Rita’s voice.

“Old habits die hard, love. This is still new to me. At times, I feel hunger pains deep in the stomach I no longer have. Sometimes when I am crunching data, I get this urge to take a nap. When you retrieved my mind and stored it, you took these things also. Over time, I will learn to deal with these urges which no longer apply to what I am.”

Chapter 14

Phil entered the house to find Dave sitting on the couch. His face was pale and the haunted look remained in his eyes. Ginger was busy packing the clothes she and Kimmy were taking with them.

“We’re about ready to leave, Dave. Are you sure you don’t want to rest for a few more days?” Phil asked.

“No, there’s no use in staying here in Corwin Springs. Are we going to stay on Route 89 until we hit I-90?” he asked.

“Zap thinks it’s the best way to go. Not many towns. If need be, we can head cross-country on the small ranch roads.”

“I guess that’s it then, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Dave said in a lackluster voice.

Phil glanced at him as he picked up the things Ginger had packed. He wondered if the old Dave would return. The way he had moped around for the last week set Phil’s nerves on edge.

Ginger said all Dave needed was time to sort out his feelings. Phil didn’t know how he felt about Ginger and stayed away from her as much as possible. When he was near her, he felt uncomfortable.

Zap had told him about her and how she was human and pure spirit at the same time, but he couldn’t bring himself to accept the explanation. It all seemed ghoulish to him. He told Zap he would go with them, only because Dave was his friend, but he didn’t want any part of Ginger and what she was.

Kimmy, on the other hand, followed him everywhere he went. She would sit and listen to him talk without saying a word. She practically waited on him hand and foot when he was in the house.

After a day or so of this, it became embarrassing for him. When he told her he could do things for himself, she got a hurt look on her face and acted like she was going to cry. It always ended with him hugging her and telling her he was just kidding.

Zapper thought the whole thing was funny and when Kimmy was out of the room, would mimic her. “Can I get you anything, Phillip?” he would say and break out laughing.

No one had called him Phillip since he was in high school. Now he had a nine year old girl calling him Phillip and starring at him with moonstruck eyes.

Ginger told them they were both being childish. She advised Phil to treat Kimmy the same way he would treat any other nine year old. Eventually, Kimmy would get over her infatuation with him and go on to other things.

Easy enough to say, but hard to do when Kimmy pestered him every time he came near. He carried the bags out to the Blazer and put them in the back. Zapper was strapping two five gallon gas cans to the rear door.

“We should stay here for a few more days, Zap,” he said.

“A few more days or even weeks wouldn’t make any difference and you know it, Phil. All we can do is encourage Dave. The rest he has to work out for himself. By the way, where’s your shadow?” Zapper asked.

“In the house helping Ginger. If she keeps this up much longer, I’ll go bonkers,” Phil said with a long face.

“How in the world a little girl could like an ugly puss like yours is beyond me,” Zapper said with a laugh.

“It wouldn’t be so funny if it were happening to you,” Phil shot back at him.

“Come on, Phil, lighten up, it’s a little girl with a crush and doesn’t mean a thing. Hell, you’re almost as bad as Dave with the way you mope around when we’re all together. If it was me, I’d be flattered by the attention she shows you,” Zapper told him.

“I guess you’re right, Zap. It’s just that I’ve never really been around young kids and to tell you the truth, they scare me.”

Zapper looked him up and down. “Are you the same man who would run through a wall of bullets to grab an injured friend and carry him to safety? Jesus, Phil, this thing really has you spooked, doesn’t it?” Zapper asked.

“Yeah, it does. I’m afraid if I encourage her, she’ll keep it up, but every time I tell her to quit, she looks all hurt and like she’s going to cry. I can’t hurt her, Zap, not after everything she’s been through and I think she knows it.”

“Sure she does, Phil. That’s the way all young children act. Why do you think it’s so easy for them to have adults wrapped around their fingers? Partner, Kimmy has you just where she wants you. So go with the flow, she’ll soon tire and move on to something else,” Zapper told him.

“I hope you’re right,” Phil said. Turning, he went back to the house. Picking up a box of canned goods, Ginger told him that was the last of it.

On the couch, Dave was thinking, Do I want to go back out there when I might become unhinged again and hurt people? No matter how many times Ginger told him it wasn’t him that committed the acts of clubbing forty-five men to death, he still wondered. It went against everything that was him to kill defenseless people, let alone, brutally club them to death.

He knew the men deserved to die for what they done to the children, but surely, they didn’t have to go like that. Shooting them wouldn’t have bothered him much, but to take a club and beat on them, breaking bones while they begged for mercy was going a little too far. For a while, he thought he really was insane. The looks of concern on the children’s faces made him realize it was a chapter of his life he would have to put behind him and go on, no matter how difficult.

Sighing, he got up and went outside into the early morning sunlight. It was the first time he had been out of the house in a week. Ginger had wanted to leave two days after Phil found him, saying it was important to get to a town up north. Hurt and sore, his conscious bothering him, he had refused to budge, no matter how hard she pleaded.

He wished he could remember half the things she told him about herself. What was it she said? She was a god or something?

He shook his head, that would all come later. For now, all he wanted to do was enjoy the sunshine. Sitting on the edge of the porch, he noticed the trees were starting to bud. It was going to be an early spring. Ginger came out and stood beside him.

“Take a deep breath, Dave. Can’t you smell life in the air?” she said to him before she drew in a big breath.

He sucked air into his lungs and felt the same thing she must have. The air felt clear, clean and fresh. It had a quality to it that implied its purity. “I’m ready to leave, Ginger,” he told her. For the first time in days, he was anxious to be on the move.

He took one last look around, then joined them in the Blazer. He sat in front with Zapper, while Phil set in the backseat with the girls. Zapper drove to the edge of town and stopped. Ginger and Kimmy got out and picked some wildflowers. They carried the bouquets to a fresh grave on the bank under a pine tree. Dave could make out a crudely chiseled name on the granite tombstone. “MARY.” He looked at Zapper with a questioning frown.

“We decided she needed a proper burial, so we went and brought her body here and buried her under the pine tree. Ginger said she liked pine trees and this place is beautiful and quiet. It was the least we could do, Dave,” Zapper said in a somber voice.

Dave just nodded, afraid to speak, barely holding back sobs as tears ran down his cheeks.

The girls got back in the Blazer without a word and the somber mood continued for a long while, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

Route 89 was a scenic route, winding up and down the pine covered mountains. They stopped for lunch at a picnic area south of Chico Hot Springs.

Dave took his sandwich and coffee over and sat on the bank of the Yellowstone River. He stared at the slow-moving water. Ten feet from him, a fish jumped out of the water to catch an insect. A bird swooped down, legs outstretched, and snapped a minnow from the shallows. A lizard flicked its tongue out, wrapping it around an insect, and drew the morsel into its mouth. Funny, how a month ago he didn’t notice the struggle of life and death going on all around him. Ginger sat down beside him.

“Look at all the new life around here.”

“You see the life, Ginger. All I see is the death,” he said.

“Think of it this way, Dave, every death helps support life in one way or another. The men you killed in your other frame of mind, would have gone on killing young children. In your own way, you’ve saved countless young lives. Death is the natural order of things. It ultimately comes to all living things, even me. For humans, it isn’t how you die, but how you lived your life that matters. That is what makes humans so unique, they have the ultimate choice of life or death over so many living creatures on this planet, including themselves. As a species, you think you have so much knowledge, when in reality, you know almost nothing at all. What you did, broken down to its basic terms, was nothing more than any animal would do to protect itself and its loved ones.”

“That’s just it, Ginger, I’m supposed to be a civilized human, not a barbarian.”

“Words, that’s the problem with humanity. You’re taught from birth that it’s okay to kill and maim fellow humans if you call it a war. The same things done without the declaration of that one word has humans worldwide outraged. Even that’s changed over the last ten years.

“Look at what happened after the Soviet Union broke up. What about the ethnic cleansing a few years ago in the former Yugoslavia? The rest of the world stood by while women and children were slaughtered by the thousands. Oh, the heads of governments made hollow, empty threats, but the killing went on.

“You humans are hard to understand. Why do you raise armies and are then afraid to use them? If the world’s governments had decided to go into Yugoslavia with strict orders to stop the fighting, so many lives could have been saved. Take your country, for instance, they had an army, but were afraid to send it because some of them might be killed. Does that make any sense to you?”

“You may be right, Ginger. Perhaps, we have become too civilized and the barbaric element of society took advantage of us. Take our prisons, for example, all the rehabilitating in the world won’t change eighty percent of the people sent there. In many cases, admitted murderers were let out after a few years to commit even worse crimes. There were more people in jail and prisons than at any other time in history. The criminals knew they wouldn’t be punished. Oh, they would go to prison all right, but they wouldn’t suffer.

“Now, we, the so-called civilized society, would make sure they had three good meals a day. We wouldn’t think of depriving them of their color televisions and stereos. Hell, we even set up libraries for them to become their own lawyers so they could keep the courts tied up for years. In most cases, it’s illegal to put them to death, no matter how heinous their crime. In some states, they only served a month for every year they were given and were put back on the streets. Eighty percent of them were back in prison in less than a year.

“You know what’s even worse than that? The hard-working people paid ever higher taxes to keep these criminals in a manner a lot of them couldn’t have managed on their own. Think about it, convicts had food, shelter and free medical care without having to do a day’s work. A large portion of the population didn’t have these things. Yet, if a criminal went out and robbed a bank or killed someone, these things were given to them. It surprises me that the majority of the people allowed this to happen to them.

“Where did we go wrong? How did we let a few people convince us that what they wanted was right, when the vast majority of us knew it was wrong? Ginger, I look back at the world we lived in and have trouble understanding any of it.”

“Perhaps mankind reached a level of incompetence that had to be straightened out. If I’ve learned anything during my eons of existence, it’s that nothing happens in this universe without a reason. The only wild card in all the happenings in the universe is humans. You are truly a unique species,” Ginger said.

“Do you think mankind has a chance of surviving, Ginger?”

“To put it in terms you’ll understand, as it is now and as it always has been; survival of the fittest rules supreme. In other words, we aren’t only struggling to stay alive, but we’re also striving for the very existence of mankind. If we lose over the coming years, this will become a lifeless planet. I don’t know if there are other life forms out there, but I do know that life in this small part of the universe will cease to exist.”

Dave looked at Ginger; his face had a grave expression on it. “Ginger, do you believe in God or a supreme being?” he asked.

“Yes, I do. By mankind’s logic, I would appear to be a god. I’m not, all I am is a different form of life. As with humans, I believe there will come a time when something, a higher form of life, will make itself known to me and my kind. I can’t believe I’m the only entity like this in this vast universe. Call it God, or a higher form of life, it’s still the same thing. I like to think of this as a test for humanity to see if it’s deserving of continued existence. I believe that while there is life on this planet that would be better off not existing, there is a core of profound rightness in humans as a whole. If we win, we continue to exist. If we lose, there will be nothing to show we ever existed. That’s a future I can’t even begin to imagine.”

“So you have as much to lose as us humans?” Dave said.

“Life is my existence, without it, I cease to exist. So, yes, like you, I’m fighting for my very existence,” she answered.

“Maybe I’m dense, Ginger. How can this disease wipe out all life on this planet and how can we combat it?”

“The disease itself won’t extinguish all life, humans will. This sickness causes sterility in the people it affects. No new life can come from those infected. The overriding effect of this disease is that it forces humans to kill others who are not like them. Those not affected, like yourself, will be able to reproduce. Since there are a vast number of infected people and a very small number who are not, you can see that if they are destroyed, life will cease within a hundred years. This is happening from humankind to the lowest form of insect. As for the disease, it is well on the way to destroying itself. It has mutated so much, it can’t harm any form of life anymore.”

“If you are life, hasn’t the millions of people dying affected you in some way?”

Ginger hung her head in sorrow. Quietly, she said, “In a way, I’m responsible for the number of deaths. Right before this disease started, I made the choice to implant a part of myself in humans. I’m not allowed the option of choice, it’s against the rules governing my kind. Having broken the rules, my punishment was the part of me, which supports life, was taken away, so an equal number of lives had to cease to exist. The part of me taken away was eighty percent. However, this couldn’t be done instantly without upsetting other forces of balance in the universe. The disease was altered so life forces on the planet would be extinguished slowly, in order to give the others time to adjust. That is why I can’t interfere any more. The parts of me in humans can change things a little without endangering myself. Our power as humans deals almost exclusively with the weather. We can cause rain, snow, winds and heat, but it takes its toll on us. We use those abilities in only the most extreme circumstances. You see, my options are limited.”

“So the odds are stacked against us any way we look at it.”

“Not necessarily, the disease affected the motor functions of those who have it. Most of the weapons of mass destruction will be almost totally ignored. All learning ceases and those infected start to regress shortly after they catch the disease. In a few years, they won’t even comprehend how to use those weapons. If the unaffected humans can hang on till then, the crisis will be over.”

“If all life is your existence, won’t the deaths of people with this disease extinguish you even more?”

“It will. Think of them as a cancer in the body. By ridding the body of the cancer, you give the healthy parts a chance to grow and expand. By losing them, I am diminished, but I’ve guaranteed that I’ll grow in the future.”

“Can you tell me why we’re heading north?” Dave asked.

“No, the only thing I know is that we’re supposed to meet someone in a few days and go with them,” Ginger answered as she rose to her feet and dusted off her dress.

Dave stood up and walked to the Blazer. He took his 30-30 out of the back and walked to the picnic table where the others sat. Loading the rifle, he said, “I want you armed at all times. No one goes anywhere by themselves. Phil, it’ll be your job to teach Kimmy how to use a revolver and rifle. Anything you think will help her survive on her own, teach her. We’ll need another vehicle. I want one of us a couple miles in front of the rest when we travel. We’ll stay in constant radio contact, changing frequencies at determined intervals. Zapper, your job will be to get us better weapons in each town we pass through. Remember, we trust no one. I don’t care how innocent the situation looks, none of us are to rush in alone. Finish eating and let’s get on the road.”

Phil and Zapper stared with open mouths at his retreating back. “Looks like the old Dave is back,” Phil said.

“At last, this being in charge doesn’t suit my personality,” Zapper said, finishing his sandwich.

They put the cooler back in the Blazer and Zapper got behind the wheel. “Where to, Captain?” he asked with a slap-stick voice.

Dave spread open the map on his lap. “Our next stop will be Livingston. It’s a pretty good-sized town and we shouldn’t have any trouble picking up another vehicle. No doubt, there will be some people there. If it looks like they’re going to cause trouble, we bug out. Until we get heavier firepower, we won’t stand and fight. Phil, do you still know how to handle dynamite?”

“Sure do, what do you have in mind?”

“Since we don’t have anything like artillery, dynamite will come in handy if we end up with our backs against the wall. Since this is mining and logging country, there should be a dynamite company in one of the towns we go through. All we have to do is look in the phone book and see where it’s located. Ginger, you and Kimmy can do that while we find another truck. If we can’t find what we need in Livingston, we’ll go on to Bozeman. Let’s get this show on the road,” Dave said.

Zapper drove through the valleys at a pretty good clip. On the outskirts of a small town called Emigrant, they ran into a roadblock. A dozen heavily armed men stood behind the cars blocking the road. Zapper stopped half a mile away and watched the men ahead of them.

“What do you think, Dave? Should we try and talk to them? We could take one of the side roads around town,” Phil said.

“No, what we need the most now is information. If these people aren’t crazy, they can tell us what’s happening in the world. More importantly, they can tell us what we’re likely to run into around here,” Dave told them.

He found a stick beside the road and tied a white t-shirt to it. “Zap, get that old buffalo gun of yours and keep me covered.”

Dave placed his rifle and .45 on the hood of the Blazer, so the man with the binoculars would see he was unarmed. He waited until Zap was in place with his long-barreled rifle resting on the hood of the Blazer. Walking toward the men, he held his arms and the stick with the flag on it up in the air.

He stopped a hundred feet from the cars and shouted, “We mean you no harm, all we want to do is go through your town.” He waited as two of the men talked to each other.

One of the men stepped around the cars and walked to stand in front of him. Dave stepped a little to the side to keep from being between Zapper and the man. Dave watched as the guy smiled.

“Friend, if we wanted you dead, you’d already be laying on the ground,” said the man.

“I take it you aren’t crazy,” Dave said.

“You got that right, friend. Now convince me that you and your friends aren’t,” said the man.

“You’ll have to take my word for it that we won’t cause any problems, mister. All we want is clear passage through your town and what information you can give us,” Dave explained.

“Good enough, the name’s Johnny Parker,” the man said, holding out his hand. “Call your people in and we’ll see what we can do for you.” He made a hand motion to his people behind the cars and they lowered their rifles. Next, he turned and made the same hand signal toward the woods.

Dave saw another six or so men step out of the trees on both sides of the road in back of the Blazer. “You had us all the time, didn’t you?”

“Let’s just say it pays to be safe. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with people wanting to pass through our town. Some of them were downright unfriendly. A few, like yourself, were seeking a safe place. Some of them stayed, while others went on.” He introduced Dave to the men who gathered around them.

When Zapper, Phil and the girls got there, Dave introduced them. He said nothing about who Ginger claimed to be. They decided to let other people think she was the little girl she appeared.

“How many people do you have?” Phil asked.

“Around a hundred, but we’re all nervous as hell, watching each other for signs of the disease. At first, there were fifteen of us. Slowly, we gained other people. Some of them came down with the disease and we had to run them out of town. We only kill when necessary. Several times, groups coming down the road gave us no choice. They’re buried on the hill over there,” he said, gesturing toward a hill across from them.

“I have good news for you. You can quit watching each other. If you don’t have the disease by now, you won’t get it. The sickness has mutated into a harmless stage,” Dave told him.

“Thank you, Dave, that’s the best news we could get. Roy, move the end car, I’ll take Dave and the others into town,” Johnny told the man next to him.

After the car was moved, Zapper drove the Blazer through and Dave got in. They followed the pickup Johnny drove to a two-story building in the center of town. Johnny hurried into the building and they arrived in time to hear him tell the man at the radio to contact everyone who wasn’t on duty and have them meet at headquarters. He sent two men to the restaurant across the road to bring back some food. Zapper inspected the radio setup with a nod of approval. Phil looked at the racks of rifles on the walls.

“All this your idea, Johnny?” Dave asked.

“Most of it is. I had to learn a lot real quick, or wind up dead. My brother had a bunch of military manuals on army tactics, so I studied them and set up our defenses. So far, they’ve worked with the small groups we’ve encountered. We are worried about the small armies of men we hear about down in southern Wyoming. Eventually, they’ll hear about us and come up here in force. Over the radio, we’re hearing about attacks on places like ours. Soon, there’ll be very few towns like this one. If it wasn’t for this leader, Todd, sending most of his people back east to fight the rebels, his cleanup crews would already have come this far north. We’re preparing, as best we can, for when that day arrives.”

“We can spend a day or so here and give you some ideas. Zapper is the best man I know of at setting up defensive positions. He can give you a lot of pointers,” Dave said, getting an annoyed look from Ginger, who stuck close to him.

“We’d appreciate any help we can get, especially since we’re all shopowners or working-stiffs. The amount of military knowledge from the whole group wouldn’t fill one page.”

“What we really need, Johnny, is information about what’s happening in the country. We’ve been out of contact for a while. Are things as bad as they seem?”

“As you can see, we monitor the radio twenty-four hours a day. What we’ve heard up till now doesn’t paint a pretty picture. None of the real big cities are operating. The last count we had on deaths from all sources in the country put the total close to two hundred million.

“Currently, there are three power blocks in the country. President Donaldson, the new President, controls everything east of the Mississippi. Todd and his people control things west of the river. In the east, there’s a pocket of people in the Appalachians fighting both of them. Out west, we keep hearing about a sanctuary in the city of Seattle. For people like us, everywhere else is a no man’s land.

“You may find it hard to believe, but they say things overseas are a lot worse than they are here. When this started, we were in contact with over a hundred cities and towns by ham radio. That number has dwindled to less than fifty. Todd is consolidating his hold on the western part of the country. Day before yesterday, Manhattan, Kansas went off the air. I was through there a few years ago and it’s a fairly large city.

“If Todd is strong enough to take it, our town will be no more than a bump in the road. Along with a few other leaders of the towns still holding out, we’ve tried to convince the others it would be in our best interests to find a large city and converge on it. By combining our forces, we’d stand a better chance of riding this thing out. Most of the leaders refuse to leave their towns and let Todd’s people have them.

“I understand their feelings and really can’t blame them. It’s hard enough to leave your home, let alone have Todd’s savages destroy everything you worked all your life for. Here in Montana, Todd’s people are getting organized and taking over the isolated pockets of resistance.

“Our main concern is the town of Bozeman. Over five hundred of Todd’s people are there now and more are coming in every day. That’s less than a hundred miles from here. So far, they haven’t made any moves in our direction. It’s only a matter of time before they do. You didn’t say where you’re headed,” Johnny said.

Ginger pinched Dave on the leg and stepped forward. “We’re supposed to meet my dad up in Canada. He has a safe place there,” Ginger said in a sweet little girl voice.

“I hope he’s right, honey. What’s his name? We may have talked to him on the radio.”

“He doesn’t have a radio. The cabin he lives in is miles and miles back in the forest. There aren’t any roads to it. The only way to get there is to hike in. He expected us there last week and I’m sure he thinks something’s happened to us. We need to get back on the road as fast as we can,” she said.

“We can start you on your way anytime you want to leave, honey,” Johnny said, patting her on the head.

Satisfied she had made her point to Dave, she drifted over to where Phil and Zapper sat.

“The girl is right, Johnny, we’ll leave first thing in the morning. Until then, find someone who can take dictation and write down everything Zapper tells you about defending your town. Could you fix us up with a good four-wheel drive truck and let us have a few of those assault rifles hanging on the wall?”

“We can do better than that. A couple months ago, some of us traveled up to Butte and broke into a National Guard Armory. We loaded up every weapon we could find. Most of the stuff we keep over at the bank in the vault.” He chuckled and said, “There are hundreds of thousands in paper money laying all over the floor of the bank and none of it worth a plug nickel. For a while, the big joke was for us to use thousand dollar bills as toilet paper. Guess it’ll be a long time before people use money again. Here comes the food. Let’s eat, then go find you a truck and some decent weapons,” Johnny said. He opened the door as the two men carrying the food approached.

After the meal, Zapper spent the rest of the day traveling around the area showing the people what they could do to protect their town. Phil found a large supply of a new kind of plastic explosive, along with electronic detonators. Dave and the girls placed the weapons and explosives in the new Range Rover Johnny gave them. They put the detonators in the Blazer, keeping the two separated.

Around two o’clock, everything was ready for them to leave the next morning. Exhausted, they all fell into the beds Johnny provided and were soon asleep.

Chapter 15

Tony entered the sealed room that housed Rita. She was apprehensive, not scared. She had been over the procedure with Ross and Rita so many times, she knew it by heart.

In the center of the room sat the chair. She walked over to it and circled around it. Placing her hand on the seat, she pressed down and felt the padding beneath the upholstery. She knew Rita and Ross were waiting, but she wasn’t going to sit in the chair until it felt right.

She caressed the skullcap, feeling the metal. It felt so cold and lifeless. Through this, she was going to send her mind into a machine. Once inside, she was going to seek out and destroy an assortment of electrons and protons which were like cancer cells in the human body.

Walking around to the front of the chair, she sat down on the edge of it. She wiggled her hips back and forth. It felt like a regular chair, only it had more padding. Easing slowly back into the chair, she put her hands on the arms. Really, it was quite comfortable.

Tilting her head, she looked at the underneath of the cap. Thousands of sensors circled it, starting from the outside going inward. She heard a very faint buzzing sound coming from it.

Reaching up, she grabbed both sides of the cap and lowered it slowly until it rested on her head. Instantly, she felt weightless, like she was floating in a soupy void. In the distance, she saw the faint outline of a light. Gliding toward the light, she felt a presence on either side of her.

In her head, she heard, “You’re doing fine, Tony. The light ahead is the entrance to us. Go in and look around until you become oriented. If you need us, just yell.”

Alone again, she rapidly approached the light. She was through it before she knew it. She felt a strange sensation; it was like walking through an invisible membrane. It didn’t have substance, but still could be felt.

Ahead of her, what looked like roadways opened up, going into what she thought of as a city. Standing there, she saw pulses of light traveling down them. Each pulse was a bit of information traveling where it was needed. The pulses reminded her of cars on a one-way street. They traveled down to the next intersection, where some of them turned off onto side streets, while others went straight ahead. Every so often, the pulses would stop and then would race up and down the side streets.

Entering the flow of traffic, she passed through the first intersection. All at once, she stopped and couldn’t move. There was a sensation of no weight. Ahead of her, she saw pulses racing through the intersection from the side streets. She was moving again, now she had a sense of weight. Not much, but a little.

Quicker than she thought was possible, she was stopped again. She could see she was going to have to think in different terms. She decided to go with it, and see what happened. Again, the feeling of weightlessness hit her. Moving again, after several stops and starts, she figured out that when she moved, she had a positive charge. Stopped, it was negative. Using her mind, she manipulated things so she maintained a positive charge. Racing through the streets, she stopped in front of the city hall. The building had so many doors, she couldn’t understand what held it up. Streams of pulses flowed in and out of the doors. The flow was so constant, she would have to go back up the street and get in line to enter the building.

Pulling away from the curb, she headed for the outskirts of the city. As she passed a side street, she noticed a few pulses pacing her on the next street over. These were different from the ones she had seen so far. They had a dark cast to them. It was as if something inside the pulse ate the energy from the inside out. This had to be the enemy.

At the next intersection, she took a right and doubled her speed to the next street, staying a little behind the defective pulse. Being a part of the machine, it was forced to adhere to the laws governing it. When it came to a stop, she came up beside it. An overwhelming feeling of terror came from the pulse as it was held there by the laws of negative and positive charges.

She moved around the pulse and observed it. In the very center of it, a dense blackness throbbed. Gaining a positive charge, it shot down the street. She didn’t follow it, but waited, trying to get a feel for how she could destroy the pulse and others like it.

By accident, she discovered she could make herself larger or smaller. Moving into the street at the same time the grid became positively charged, she almost collided with another pulse. Instinctively, she shrank to a microspeck of energy. The pulses flashing by looked as large as freight cars on a train. When the grid became negatively charged and they stopped, she ballooned up, becoming twice the size of those around her. She had her weapon now.

She shrank back down to her original size and took off down the street, passing immobile pulses as she went. At the edge of the electronic city, she came up behind one of the defective pulses. As she approached, she began to grow until she was four times bigger. Increasing her speed, she engulfed the pulse. Reaching down into herself where it emitted electronic shrieks of terror, she shot spurts of pure brilliant energy into the blackness. Slowly, the blackness began to fade as she absorbed the tainted part into herself and burnt it away.

Releasing the pulse, it shot ahead as healthy as ever. Cruising down a side street, she felt a jolt of sheer pain shoot through her mind from behind. Several of the defective pulses had ganged up and attacked her from the rear.

With a gut-rendering mental scream, she increased her size and enveloped them all. They continued to send out bolts of black energy. Some, she blocked, others, she couldn’t. When one of the bolts struck her, she reeled under the intense pain they caused.

Slowly, one at a time, she drained them of their black energy. As the last pulse shot through her, she felt herself shrink. She staggered over to the side of the street. Looking within herself, she realized her life force was almost drained. Exhausted, she stood there with a wary eye out for another attack.

This wasn’t going to be as easy as she first thought. What worked for her could also be utilized by the defective pulses. Like them, she could only travel one way on the streets. If they ganged up again and came up behind her, she wouldn’t know they were there until they attacked. It seemed to take forever for her to regain her charge and get into the flow of pulses again.

She was careful to only stop on the negatively charged grids. Ahead, she saw a whole gang of pulses looking for her. Speeding, she enveloped the last two in line and destroyed the defective part in them. Quickly, she shot down a side street before the rest of them could circle around and come up behind her.

Waiting back from the intersection where she couldn’t be seen, she watched them flow through the intersection. Once again, she waited until they were forced to stop, then attacked the last two in line. As the grid forced them to flow forward, she ducked back down the side street. Something tore into her back.

She swelled to five times her normal size and waited for the grid to force them forward so she could envelope them. In the meantime, they continued to blast her with their bolts of black energy. Her mind reeled under each impact. Finally, the grid became positively charged and forced them forward. With a savagery she didn’t know she possessed, she struck out with blinding bolts of pure energy and destroyed them.

Again, she had to rest and recharge herself. After each attack, the link back to her human body became a little weaker. As she watched, she saw the pattern of the defective pulses change. They no longer flowed along in groups, but in pairs.

Whenever they came across a pulse they thought was her, two attacked and held it helpless until more could arrive. They were communicating with each other, which meant they were even more deadly than she thought.

She found that if she increased her size, she could store more energy, which would help. The only trouble was, she stood out like a seven foot tall basketball player in a group of midgets. One by one, she destroyed the strings of Pete left behind. After what seemed like hours, she tracked down the last one and destroyed it. Exhausted, she asked for the mind link to be severed.

Bill sat on the floor beside the chair holding her hand. Looking at the clock on the wall, she was shocked to see that only ten minutes had passed.

She lifted the cap from her head. “Help me up, Bill.”

Bill took her arms and lifted her out of the seat. Leaning against him, they walked to their room and she lay down on the bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was sound asleep.

Bill pulled the covers over her and quietly left the room.

Chapter 16

Dave was tired of arguing with Ginger. “Listen, little girl, you aren’t too old for me to turn you over my knee.”

“Just try it and I’ll knock the shit out of you,” Ginger sputtered.

“Nice language from some one who claims to be as old as you are. If you’d ask me to do what you wanted, instead of ordering me around, we might get along. Where do you get off ordering us around? You may have a timetable to stick to, but we don’t.”

“Settle down, Dave,” Phil told him, as he tried to get between the two, but they kept pushing him out of the way.

Zapper sat on the hood of the truck; laughing so hard, he could barely sit up. “A lot of help you are!” Phil yelled at him, as he tried again to get between Dave and Ginger. They turned to him and glared. He backed away saying, “Go ahead and fight, settle it here and now, or I am striking out on my own. I’m tired of the two of you arguing all the time.”

He heard something hit the ground behind him. Turning, he saw Zapper curled up on the ground gasping for breath. “No more, no more,” Zapper gasped.

Phil threw his hands in the air. “I give up, you two have driven me half-crazy with your arguing.” He pointed to Ginger and Dave. “This idiot thinks everything is funny and can’t stop laughing. If you ask me, all three of you should be committed.” He walked to the pickup and sat down with his arms crossed.

“Now see what you’ve done,” Ginger said.

Dave looked hard at her, then turned on his heel and walked off into the woods.

Ginger walked over to where Zapper lay on the ground. “Phil is right, why can’t you ever be serious? The world is nothing but a big joke to you. Grow up, Zap,” she scolded him.

Grimacing, Zapper got to his feet and looked down at her. “You’re as wrong as can be, little girl. I take the world seriously, it’s you and Dave I can’t take serious. You and Dave both want your own way and won’t give an inch. The funny thing is neither of you can see it. Take some advice from me, Ginger. We humans don’t live our lives structured around a timetable. If I were you, I’d build a little leeway into your plans. You think of yourself as an adult while the rest of us see you as a little girl, even though we know what you claim to be. Dave is a natural born leader. Every time you order him to do something, I can see the hackles raise up on the back of his neck. Hell, the way you’ve been acting, if I did take you seriously, I would already have turned you over my knee.”

“Have I really been that bad, Zap?” Ginger asked as she batted her eyelashes at him.

“You can cut that shit out, kid. It doesn’t work with me. Now go find Dave and do whatever it takes to make up with him.” Zapper swatted her on the rear end with his open hand. She walked toward the woods to find Dave, rubbing her rear.

Zapper went to the back of the pickup and took two cans of soda out of the cooler. He gave Phil one as he raised himself to sit on the hood of the truck. “Give them a few more days and they’ll work out their differences,” he told Phil.

“They had better, I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d leave if they didn’t quit fighting all the time,” Phil said, taking a big drink of the soda.

“Chill out, Phil. We’re a team now, just like in the old days. We just have a little problem in the chain of command. I wish I had a fishing pole. I’ll bet there are some fat trout in that stream, just waiting to jump on a hook. Remind me in the next town we pass through and I’ll pick up a couple of poles.”

“There you go again, Zap. How in the hell can you think about fishing when we’re fighting for our lives?”

Zapper looked all around. “We aren’t fighting now. Ease up a little, Phil. Life is tough enough without crossing bridges before you come to them. Sure, there are tough days ahead of us, but there’s also plenty of leisure time, like today. I live for these days. I’ll face tomorrow when it comes, but until then, I am going to enjoy life. You can sit there and sulk, but it won’t change anything. Where’s the old Phil? If I remember right, you were the one who was always playing practical jokes.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong, Zap. I’ve been feeling down since Monty killed Clint. Where does it end? Will we end up trying to kill each other? Shit, nothing is the same anymore. Sometimes, before I go to sleep at night, the last thought in my head is that I’ll wake up in the morning and everything will be as it was a year ago.”

“Listen, Phil, forget about things ever getting back to the way they were. It’s not going to happen in our lifetime. If you don’t face up to it now, you won’t be much use to us. As Ginger tells us, it’s all a matter of choice. Make up your mind. It’s not going to get better. In fact, it’ll probably get worse.”

“I know you’re right, Zap. Let me deal with it in my own way.”

“Phil, has Ginger mentioned why she wants to get to the interstate so bad?” Zapper asked as he got another soda.

“Nothing specific, she did say we’re going to meet some people along the way. They’ll probably pass by on the interstate, and she wants us to be there when they do.”

Dave walked out of the woods with Ginger trailing a step behind. He took a container of bottled water out of the cooler and joined them. Zapper and Phil could see that he was still upset, so they remained silent. He paced back and forth in front of the pickup sipping the water. Ginger stood to the side, watching him pace.

Dave stopped next to them and said, “We’re going back to the town Johnny and the rest of them are defending. I have this feeling they’re going to need our help soon.” He looked at each of them as if expecting an argument. They just nodded their heads in agreement.

“So that’s your final decision, Dave?” Ginger asked in a disappointed voice.

“Yes, Ginger, I’ll do what feels right. Going back is what my intuition tells me is the right decision.”

Before another argument could break out, Zapper slid off the hood of the truck saying, “If we hurry, we can be back there before it gets dark.” He went to the back of the truck and closed the cooler while Phil got behind the wheel.

Dave turned and got in the truck. He drove without looking at Ginger. She shook her head a couple times, and with a resigned look on her face, climbed in and sat down beside him.

Phil headed back the way they came. “Doesn’t look like they settled things between them,” he said, looking in the rearview mirror.

“Quite the contrary, old man, I believe they did get things settled. Ginger didn’t have one of her raging tantrums when Dave said he was going back. She doesn’t like it, but she didn’t tear into him, either. No, old chap, I think it is settled and Dave is our undisputed leader now,” Zapper told him in the best British accent he could muster.

In the other truck, Dave looked over at Ginger and noted that she was staring straight ahead with her jaw firmly set.

“Come on, Ginger, don’t be like that. If I am making a mistake, it’ll be one I can live with. I can’t abandon those people. You told me yourself there are very few like them left in the world today. If we don’t help them, who will?”

Ginger let out a long sigh and turned to face him. “You may be right, Dave. I’m tied up in so many things, I made the mistake of ruling out random choice. Still, I don’t know how the four of us will make a difference in what’s going to happen to the town. I guess I’m about to find out, though.”

“Don’t underestimate what we can do. They may outnumber us ten to one, but in a situation like this, numbers mean very little. We’ll have well-defended positions, while they’ll have to attack across open ground. Besides, I think we can pull a few nasty surprises on them. From what Johnny told me, these people aren’t very well organized; which I plan to exploit for all it’s worth. With a little help from you, we should be able to end the threat to them for awhile. You will help us, won’t you?”

“Of course I will, but I won’t be able to do much. My powers may be limited, but they may help in some way.” She patted his hand in a patronizing fashion.

The guards outside the town were surprised to see them, and asked if they were in trouble. After explaining they came back to help, they drove on to town and parked in front of Johnny’s headquarters. Johnny rushed out the door to greet them and escorted them into his war room.

“Dave, we heard a few hours ago that a large force is headed our way. They should be here day after tomorrow. Thank God you came back, I’ve tried to do the things Zapper told us to do, but things aren’t falling into place like they should. Right now, we have nothing but mass confusion. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to take command. You and your men know what needs to be done, we’ll help you in anyway we can.” Johnny paced back and forth, as hyper as a man walking on hot coals.

“I accept, Johnny, on the condition that my word is law. You and your people may have to do things which will be repulsive to you, but they have to be done. This is going to be a make or break fight. I want to completely destroy them. That means, no prisoners. It’s the only way to make sure it’ll be a long time before they’re strong enough to bother you again. In other words, if you do what I tell you to, we can buy time so you can set up a permanent defense around the town.”

“Anything you say, Dave. We appreciate any help you can give us.”

Dave turned to Zapper. “Zap, go out and make sure they’re setting up the forward defenses you told them about. We don’t have much time, so do the best you can.”

“I could use Phil and his explosives, Dave. I’ve thought of a few more things which will help, since I checked the area,” Zapper said as he took his pack and leaned it against the wall.

“Go with him, Phil. I want both of you back here by six tonight so we can coordinate what we’re going to do.” Dave walked over to the radio operator and asked, “Do you have a man shadowing the group headed this way?”

“My fourteen year old son is staying in front of them and sending back reports every chance he gets,” he answered, as he fiddled with the dials on the radio.

Dave turned to Johnny and asked, “Can you get me three more people who thoroughly know the route they’re using?”

“I’ll have them here within half an hour,” Johnny answered and hurried out the door.

Dave sat down in a chair next to the desk the radio was on and tried to think of something they might have missed. “Are there any rebels outside town who would come here and help us?” he asked the radio operator.

“There is a hippie commune six miles north of here. They have about a hundred people, but we haven’t had much to do with them. They live in an isolated area and don’t come into town much. I doubt if they would come in to help us though.”

“You’ll never know until you try. Do they have a radio you can contact them on?”

“I know they have a C.B. radio, but we haven’t heard them on the air. Hell, mister, for all we know, they could be dead. Like I said, we don’t associate with them. They have some pretty strange ideas about how people should live from what I could tell the last time I was close to that place out hunting, and it didn’t sit well with me. They live in a dozen log houses they put up. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not a bunch of prudes, but all of them living in the same houses and spouting free love is just not our style.”

“Do they have a leader we could talk to?” Dave asked.

“Yeah, you have to see this bird to believe him. He has a long beard and hair halfway down his back. He wears these funny little granny glasses like they did in the sixties. He dresses just like old-time mountain men dressed. You know, buckskin shirt and pants. Most of the time, he walks around barefoot, but in cold weather, he does wear moccasins. Those people hang on every word he says.”

Dave motioned to a man who walked into the room. “Get on the C.B. and try to contact the hippies north of here. Keep at it all day if you have to.” The man looked at the radio operator, who nodded for him to do what Dave asked.

Johnny came back with three young men and brought them over to where Dave sat. “These are the boys who know the road from here to Casper like the back of their hands,” Johnny told him.

Dave noticed the look on their faces when Johnny called them boys. He spread a map out on the floor. “Here’s what I want you men to do.” For the next fifteen minutes, they discussed strategy on how to keep a roving spotter in front of the approaching people.

Dave shook each of their hands and wished them good luck as they left. He leaned back in his chair and sipped a cold drink a woman had handed him.

He listened as the radio operator told a man to bring in the dozer. Johnny sat behind a desk talking on the telephone, his shirt soaked in sweat.

Ginger walked over to Dave and took the empty glass from him. He nodded thanks and went back to thinking about everything that could go wrong.

* * * *

Ginger walked around the town and observed the people preparing for the coming battle. She shook her head at the uncertain feelings she was experiencing. For the first time, she wondered if her choice to become directly involved with humans was a wise one. Over the eons, she had been quite content to let the planet govern itself. Over that period, many species had evolved and disappeared in a timeless flow of evolution.

She didn’t know what piqued her interest in the budding evolution of humans so many years ago. Of all the life forms up until then, humans were the only species exhibiting a natural curiosity about their surroundings. When it caused them to climb out of the ocean and evolve into air-breathing creatures, she began to pay particular attention to them. Many were the times she thought these curious beings would become extinct. They surprised her by their stubborn tenacity to cling to life in very adverse conditions.

Over the centuries, this tenacity evolved to the point where they began to multiply. In doing so, they ensured their survival. After she knew they would survive and prosper, she helped them in small ways. She remembered when the first humans started to explore. Knowing they could only be content by facing challenging and diverse situations, she created different weather zones. Over the course of a million years, the species conquered every challenge thrown at them.

Something strange happened during this time. She, herself, came to realize she was lonely. To someone whose life was never ending, this was a terrible feeling. Oh, she knew of other entities like herself, but their existence was much like hers. She didn’t know how many millions of years it was since she had heard from any of them. She took it upon herself to guide the destiny of humans as they evolved.

Half a million years ago, she felt the presence of someone much more powerful than herself. This entity informed her that she was meddling in things which were none of her concern and ordered her to stop. To make sure that she obeyed this command, the presence made it so she couldn’t interfere directly in human affairs by instilling in her a set of values she couldn’t break, even if she wanted to. The prime rule was that humanity had to evolve without her interfering or helping. Over the years of observing humans evolve, she had picked up a few of their traits.

Like a child, she sought ways to get around the values instilled in her. In small ways, such as weather manipulation, she found she could still influence humans. The effort to do even these small things was tremendous and drained her. Although humans were a short-lived species, she picked out certain ones who she had a fondness for and used these influences to protect them. By calming the weather, she took away the wind so a certain ship wouldn’t reach its destination for a long time. The person on the ship, who would have died, was saved by her in this manner.

Many were the times she wished she could do more, but the restraints on her were binding. She suffered, right along with humanity, through the plagues and holocausts they perpetrated on themselves.

Over the last century, she saw that ultimately, humankind would destroy itself. She put certain plans into motion which would insure that a few humans survived. When the time came, she inserted a small part of herself into the birth canal at precisely the same moment Ginger was conceived. It surprised her when she was able to do this, because it was clearly a violation of the value system imposed on her.

As the girl Ginger grew, so did she. From the outset, she made Ginger aware she was two different entities. Since the child knew this from birth, she took it for granted this was normal. For the first time, mother nature felt all the conflicting emotions that came with being human. How was this species able to cope with so many different emotions?

As Ginger grew, mother nature began to see why humanity was so unique. Given the chance, humans would spread throughout the universe. In doing so, they would come in contact with others like her. When this occurred, she wondered how her kind would react to this short-lived species who packed so much action into so short a period of time.

She feared that in their arrogance, they would underestimate humankind and the trouble they could cause. After all, what threat could so short-lived a species be to them? Like a mother, she worried that her kind would eventually see humans as a threat and try to eliminate them. That was all in the far future, however. Unless humans could overcome the current threat to their existence, they would never reach the stars.

Try as she might, one of the human traits kept popping up, which caused the difficulties she was experiencing with Dave. Her kind had never had to deal with impatience. To them, what would happen, would happen. Humans, on the other hand, influenced almost everything around them through their impatience. By not wanting to wait for events to run their natural course, they continually changed them. This was one of the things she admired so much about humanity. Any species this dynamic deserved the right to continue its existence.

Zapper interrupted her thoughts by walking up and saying, “Want to go with me, kid?”

She liked Zap, his approach to life fascinated her. Outwardly, he displayed a happy-go-lucky charm. When she revealed what she was to him, his attitude was acceptance. He didn’t skip a beat and, unlike Phil, who was afraid of her, Zapper, treated her as an equal. If he disagreed with her, he let her know about it. If she became adamant in trying to make him change his point of view, he would look at her and say, “Ginger, you have your point of view and I have mine, so drop it, okay?”

“Where are we going?” she asked, getting into the truck.

“I’m taking these boxes of dynamite to Phil. I want to go up on the ridge, which is going to be our first line of defense.”

People scurried around like ants, preparing the town for the coming attack. She watched them as Zapper drove out of town. A hundred yards later, Zapper stopped at a ditch, which had been bulldozed across the road. He waited as a crane lowered a piece of steel wide enough for a vehicle to drive on across the ditch.

As Zapper drove across it, she looked down and saw people reinforcing firing positions along the top by piling up sandbags. She smiled as she saw a young child, who could barely walk, holding open a bag so its mother could shovel dirt into it. On both sides of the ditch, young children were doing the same thing as their mothers sweated and filled bags. On the side next to the river, a crane lowered a large tank into the ditch. Looking up, she saw people placing sandbags along the top of the hill above where the ditch ended on that side. “Was all this your idea, Zap?” she asked.

“Pretty much, Phil added a few things I overlooked.”

The road went straight for half a mile, then curved to the right. On the other side of the curve, men welded pieces of steel together to form a line of spikes four feet high across the road. Zapper waited as four men lifted a section of steel and moved it enough for him to drive the truck through. He stopped and motioned a small, beefy man over to the truck.

“Hal, make sure the welders understand they shouldn’t weld the gate closed until all our men are through.”

Hal wiped the sweat from his face with a large red handkerchief and spat tobacco juice to the side. “Don’t worry, Mister Zap, my men know what to do. They won’t leave anyone on the other side.” He grinned and spat another stream of tobacco juice. “I want to see their faces when they try to move this steel out of the way.”

Ginger looked closely at the steel barrier to see what the man meant. The barrier looked as if a large truck would be able to ram a hole through it. She was sure the man had to be referring to something else. It took her a moment to spot exactly what. Where the pieces of steel touched the ground, they rested on rubber pads sunk into the ground. She gave Zapper a questioning look.

“We found a fifty kilowatt generator in town. It’s hidden behind the hill in back of us. See those power leads coming out of the ditch beside the road?” He pointed to three large pieces of wire sticking out of the ground at the end of the barrier.

“We hope they’ll send people up to try and move the barrier. A few of them will be electrocuted; we hope that will keep them from looking at the road ahead of them too carefully. See anything different about it?” Zapper asked.

Ginger looked and couldn’t see anything different. The only thing she noticed were some ruts caused by vehicles becoming stuck and then being pulled out. The only thing marring the road’s surface were clumps of mud left from the vehicles as they pulled back onto the road. “Everything looks normal to me, Zap.”

“That’s what we hope they’ll think. We bored three holes, one on each side and another in the middle. We filled them with enough explosives to blow a hell of a big hole in the road. Each hole is hidden under a clump of dirt with a remote detonator wire stuck to the back of it. They’ll be expecting some kind of booby trap when they see the barrier. I hope they’ll think we gave it our best shot by electrifying the barrier. Once they manage to move the obstruction, we’ll wait until they drive their vehicles over the explosives, and then detonate them. They will then be forced to walk the rest of the way to town, unless they take the time to fill in the hole. I’m betting they won’t want to take that much time. The one thing these crazy people lack is patience.”

“It had damn well better work. We need to bottle up their people so they can only attack from one direction,” Hal said.

“It will work, Hal, it has to,” Zapper said in a grim voice. He put the truck in gear and drove up the road to the crest of the hill. He parked at the top and got out. A dozen men and women stepped out of the woods from both sides.

Approaching them was a black-haired woman barely out of her teens. Held by a sling, an AK-47 rode on her back. Her frosty-grey eyes locked with Ginger’s. “What the hell is a kid doing out here?” she asked in an emotionless voice.

Ginger felt raw hate emanating from the woman, not toward them, but aimed at the people who were coming. Carefully, she reached out to the woman’s mind. She saw a happy young woman coming out of a church in a wedding gown. She held onto the arm of a young, blond-haired man.

Ginger felt the overwhelming joy the woman was feeling. A few months later, the woman lay in the man’s arms late at night. With a crash, the door sprung from its hinges and fell to the floor. Men rushed in and dragged her husband from the bed. They then beat on him while two others held her prone, where she heard every blow her husband received. Hearing a crunch, the young woman knew one of the men hit her spouse in the mouth with the butt of a rifle. He fell to the floor moaning and the men started kicking her husband with their heavy boots.

She watched in horror as a man drew back his leg and kicked her husband in the head. Hearing a snapping noise, she noticed his head roll to an unusual angle. Slowly, his feeble jerking stopped.

While some of them held her arms and legs, the rest raped her in every way conceivable. After they were finished, the men filed out of the room leaving one of their number behind. The man pulled a large knife from a sheath on his belt.

Knowing she was about to die, the abused woman struggled with her attacker. They struggled back and forth across the room, fighting over the knife the whole time. Finally hitting her in the head, the man managed to knock her to the floor.

As he started forward, her attacker tripped over her husband’s corpse. As the man fell toward her, she reached up and shoved his hand holding the knife away from her. He hit the floor with a thud and let out a groan.

She dragged herself to her feet as he rolled over. The knife protruded from his chest where he had fallen on it.

Kissing her dead husband, she went to the window and climbed through it into the night. Other memories of struggling from town to town flashed by, but the predominent emotion was hate.

Ginger took the woman’s hand. “Perhaps the future will bring some happiness to you, my dear. For now, hang onto your hate and it will see you through,” Ginger told the startled woman.

“Who are you?” the woman asked, jerking her hand back.

“Just a child who has seen more than any human being should,” Ginger answered.

Zapper gave Ginger a funny look, and then asked the woman, “Will you have any trouble getting your people out of here after you make contact, Lilly?”

“No, they all understand if they aren’t on the other side of the steel barrier by the time the enemy tops this hill, they’ll be left behind. Believe me; none of us wants to be out here when their main forces arrive.”

Ginger walked to the side of the road, puzzled by a voice she heard in her mind. The voice was familiar, but she couldn’t recall where she had heard it before. Walking the few feet to the top of the hill, she stared off into the distance in the direction the enemy force was approaching from. The voice was much stronger here.

“Hello, Mother, or do you wish me to call you something else?” she heard in her mind.

A deep loneliness penetrated her, as the voice spoke. “Do I know you?” she asked.

“I am surprised, though I suppose I shouldn’t be. Of course, you wouldn’t know of me. I am the matching, but opposite, sliver of you. Let me show you what I am,” the voice said.

Ginger gasped at the scenes of human torture filling her mind. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized just how much pain one person could inflict on another. This person fed on the pain of others. She could feel the raw agony of countless people being tortured in order to give the creature continued life. Inside the creature rested the soul of a mild-mannered and timid man. They were two parts of the same body, much like her and Ginger’s coexistence.

The part of the being from which she received the feelings of such deep and utter loneliness was the man. The agony of being locked in the same body with the creature who had to receive doses of pain to exist had to be unbearable. She broke contact with the pictures in her mind and asked, “Why?”

“You broke the rules. Did you really think you could place a minuscule part of yourself in a human without attracting the notice of those who made the rules? This is the way they decided to compensate for your actions. Where you represent goodness, and everything that’s right and just, they took a part of you and made me to represent the exact opposite—everything that is evil, disgusting and perverted in the culture of this planet. Unlike you and the girl, whose body you share in harmony, I inhabit the body of a man who is the exact opposite of me.

“This human is doomed to face eternal suffering, so I may live. I was created to be cruel and cause suffering. I learned many things from this man whose body I occupy. The beings who made me did their job well. However, they gave me the power to reason, a mistake on their part. While I must feed on pain, the other part of me needs the contact of others like him in order to sustain a stable mental balance.

“Only recently was this brought to my attention. I managed to contact a girl, a little older than you. What a wonderful creature she is! Her mind is much more powerful than she realizes. Her pure thoughts disgusted me, but looking beyond them, I saw a life of joy forever denied to me. Wish as I might, it will never happen. I am everything my creators desired. I find it rather ironic that we are enemies, you and I.

“The coming encounters will be much like fighting with myself. The girl child I mentioned before will be joining your little group shortly, take care of her and get her to contact me. I promise no harm will come to her. Now, I’ll allow you to talk with the human whose body I use.”

Ginger felt the darkness of evil fade until it was a distant shadow on the horizon. She heard a primordial scream as the human mind came out of the cell it was imprisoned in. “Easy, take it slow for a moment until your mind adjusts,” she told him.

“Am I crazy? Please tell me I am,” sobbed the man.

"No, Will, you’re not crazy, although it would be better if you were. For whatever reason, the powers that be created a malignant entity out of a part of me. They placed it in your body. While this vile being won’t harm you, it will keep you locked away and force you to watch the atrocities it performs. The entity has no choice in the matter. I know this doesn’t help much with all the suffering you’ve already endured. If blame is to be placed, it must go to me. I am the cause of the entity’s creation.

“If I hadn’t meddled in human affairs, the entity would never have been created. What is done cannot be changed. The entity has granted me the right to speak to you and I believe it’ll continue to do so in the future. I know you don’t understand, but this is the way it will be from now on. If I could destroy the entity, I would. It would mean your death, but I believe you would prefer that to the way you are living now.

“I believe that the greater powers won’t allow this to happen, so you must try to adjust the best you can. To prevent you from going over the edge and becoming like the entity, I send you this.”

She sent a brilliant pulse of light to Will. The light surrounded him in a protective bubble. “This will act as a protective barrier to keep you from seeing the atrocities the entity commits. No longer will you be forced to watch what’s beyond your control. I have to leave you now, but you’ll be hearing from me again soon.”

Ginger felt Will’s mind sinking as the dark clouds on the horizon of his mind rolled forward until only darkness prevailed.

“I thank you for the human whose body I inhabit. While I am totally corrupt, the well-being of my host concerns me. As you may have guessed, I can take and control any human body I want. The time it takes for the host body to adjust becomes longer with each taking. I’ll leave the bubble of goodness around him so he won’t suffer the mental anguishes he has in the past. In time, we may be able to reach a compromise within ourselves. Now I must leave for awhile. Anytime you wish to contact me, go to the highest point and search for me.” Ginger could feel the mind probe withdrawing.

Moments later, she had her mind to herself. Shaking her head, she looked around and saw Zapper staring at her. Lilly sat beside him fingering the rifle she held. The other people had faded back into the woods.

“Are you okay, Ginger?” Zapper asked.

“Yeah, Zap, just visiting with someone who put even more weight on my shoulders.”

“You sure scared the hell out of the folks here. One minute, you’re standing there and the next, a silvery haze is surrounding your body. I couldn’t get close to you. When I tried to get close to you, a force drove me back keeping me half a dozen feet away from you. I didn’t know if you were in trouble or what.” He squatted beside her and took her hand.

“Everything is okay now, Zap. Could we go back to town now? I have a lot of thinking to do.”

“Sure, kid, anything you want.” He gave Lilly a few more instructions, then got in the truck and headed toward town. He kept glancing at Ginger, who was lost in thought as he drove.

Chapter 17

Todd looked through the binoculars at the troops facing his forces on the outskirts of Lincoln, Illinois. His men were strung out for miles behind him on I-55. He went back to the Chevy Suburban he used as a command vehicle. “How many men do they have around the town?”

“They have about five thousand dug in along the interstate in fortified positions. About the same number are spread out covering all the western approaches to the city. And another five in the center of the city as a reserve force. There are ten thousand men in Bloomington, roughly twenty-five miles up the road, who can be here in less than an hour. This one is going to be a tough nut to crack, Todd.”

“Get some rest, Jamie, I want you to go back out tonight with your men. Check with me around dark and I’ll let you know what I want,” Todd told the man and turned to where Dell had a map spread out on the hood. “How far is it from here to Chicago?”

“A little less than a hundred and fifty miles,” Dell told him.

“Our Master tells me there’s quite a few of us there, holding off all attempts to take the city. By monitoring their phone conversations, he’s learned they’re shifting a lot of their men this way to meet our push. That explains why we met so little resistance when we took Springfield two days ago. They pulled their men out of there to defend this town. They’ve learned it’s harder to defend the bigger cities against the crazies we send in first. In the smaller places, they’re able to take out most of the crazies before they even reach the city itself. Whoever their commander is, he’s pretty sharp. Tell me, Dell, can we bypass this city and still get the troops I sent for to Chicago by rail?”

“We can by rerouting them through Iowa, up into Wisconsin, but that’ll take another two weeks. It’d be better if half take that route, and you had the rest take Davenport, then come down I-74 to Peoria. That way, we’d control the railways west of Peoria and won’t have to ship our troops in a roundabout way. It’ll make getting supplies a lot easier, too.”

“Go ahead and do it that way. Since President Donaldson is easing the pressure on Chicago, we can take the extra time getting the troops there. The Master told me President Donaldson is concentrating his forces in Indiana. The Master thinks we’ll expend a lot of our forces taking Illinois, and then the President can counter-attack, driving us back across the Mississippi. I’m going to take half of our troops and all the crazies for a mad dash to Terre Haute, Indiana. I want you to keep enough pressure on here to keep them from sending a large force after us. After we take Terre Haute, haul your ass there with your remaining forces. We can send units north to cut their supply lines from there.

“If we can pull it off, we’ll bottle up over fifty thousand of his men. Once we cut their supply line, it’s only a matter of time until they either surrender or we destroy them. I’ll get with our commander in Chicago and have him mount an attack at the same time we’re taking Terre Haute. If he takes the main railway yard in south Chicago, we’ll be in good shape. I’ll send Jamie and his men to the town of Mclean. I want them to destroy the telephone exchange there, that’ll keep President Donaldson’s forces in the south from communicating with his men to the north.

“I’ll leave the tanks with you. They’d only slow us down. Use them to bottle up the forces here. Try not to lose too many men; we may need them to hold Terre Haute. The only thing that can go wrong is if those damn rebels act up down south. Dell, when I call for you to join us, don’t let anything stop you. President Donaldson has a large force in Indianapolis. They’ll head for Terre Haute when we attack. I think that covers it, I’m going to get some sleep.” Todd walked back to the motor home located on the berm.

Dell got on the radio and ordered the tanks up from the middle of the column. He called all his commanders to him. He wanted a line of men stretched out for a mile on either side of the interstate. He sent twenty of his M60 tanks to each side of the road as heavy support for the men. He kept the remaining twenty in reserve.

His lines would be stretched thin when Todd left tonight with half the men. One thing made him glad, by taking the crazies with him, Todd was making Dell’s job easier. He then got on the radio and gave orders for the crazies to be given a half ration of the drug that calmed them with their noon meal. Without the drug, they became so aggressive, they killed each other.

This was the most crazies Dell had ever seen in one place. Todd had ordered that all five thousand of them bring up the rear of the column. They had been off the drug for two days now and were getting restless. Just to be on the safe side, he ordered another hundred of his normal troops to mingle with the crazies and calm them. He had supplies and ammo brought up and positioned at strategic places.

They had learned not to keep all their ammunition in one place at Springfield. A dozen of the enemy snuck through their lines and blew up most of what they had. Dell had to admit, he had learned a lot about military tactics in the last three weeks. A man ran up to him and saluted, “Sir, they’re sending out a small force to probe our lines.”

Dell picked up the radio on the seat beside him. “Come in, Johnny,” he said into the microphone.

“Johnny here, Dell, what do you need?”

“See the men approaching on either side of the road? Coordinate your fire and take them out.”

A few minutes later, the belching sounds of forty tanks firing split the morning calm. Dell used his binoculars to watch the approaching men. He judged there to be twenty-five on each side of the road. Eruptions of dirt and rock flew into the air all around them. They started running pell-mell back toward the city with high explosive rounds following them. Less than a dozen of them made it back to safety. Dell had a grim smile on his face as he set up to lay siege to the city.

The rest of the day passed without anymore contact. He woke Todd at six and they went over the plans once more. Jamie came up and got his orders from Todd. Todd ordered him back to Springfield and to take Route 29. He wanted his forward elements hidden in the town of Paris, northwest of Terre Haute, by dawn. He planned to attack the day after tomorrow.

By taking the secondary routes, he hoped to keep his movements a secret. Todd shook hands with Dell and wished him luck, then left to take charge of the force he was taking with him. Dell ordered his tanks forward and told them to fire into the outskirts of the city for the next half an hour.

The sound of the tanks firing would cover any noise Todd’s men made as they departed.

Todd made good time on his way back to Springfield. It wasn’t until they turned off on Route 29 that trouble started. He was in the lead when the call came up from the rear informing him that the crazies refused to follow. He made his way back down the packed two-lane highway to the crazies. Two men were arguing. “What the hell is going on here?” he asked as he confronted them.

“Bradley says he won’t move another inch until we give them some women. If he won’t go, neither will the crazies. He’s sort of their leader. You talk to him, Todd. He won’t listen to me.”

Todd stood there eyeing Bradley. The man was tall, well over six and a half feet. His long brown hair was matted and dirty. The pants and shirt he wore had holes and stains all over them. Drool ran out of the side of his mouth.

Todd remembered the man. After all, he was the one who put Bradley in charge of the crazies when their current leader was being obstinate about moving to a new area. Todd had politely asked the crazy leader to pick up his things and leave. The man refused, so Todd pulled his .38 and shot him on the spot. Bradley had been standing in the front of the group of crazies, just watching. Todd grabbed him by the arm and informed the group Bradley would be their leader from then on.

Todd dragged Bradley to the side and explained that if he didn’t get the people moving, he would be the next one lying on the ground with a bullet in the head. The man was crazy, but he wasn’t stupid. He kicked, hit and shouted at them until they moved out. Todd was surprised he would try the same tactics that had gotten the last leader killed.

“Okay, Bradley, I don’t have time for this. Why are you stopping? And, Bradley, this had better be good.” He placed his hand on his revolver as he said this.

“Bradley need woman, real woman, not one of these crazy bitches. Been long time, since Bradley had real woman. Todd-man understand Bradley have needs crazy woman no meet. Get Bradley woman, Todd-man and we follow you.”

Todd lifted the revolver half out of its holster half a dozen times before he took his hand off it. He wanted to shoot the crazy, but that would only cause more delay. He would deal with Bradley later, but for now, he had to get the man a woman.

Suddenly, he smiled. He could solve two problems with one woman. Turning to his aide, he said, “Go get Rhonda out of my motor home and bring her here.”

Bradley squirmed as Todd stood there smiling at him. He wasn’t overly bright, but he did remember what Todd had done to the last leader who refused to leave. He would never have tried this, except, for the last few weeks, all he’d thought about was having a normal woman. His feelings of lust were so bad, he couldn’t sleep at night.

Night before last, one of the woman who kept after him to bed her came to his camper late at night. He let her in; she wasted no time in removing her clothes. She rubbed her breasts all over him. He grabbed her and threw her on the bed. Ripping his clothes off, he fell on her and penetrated her in one motion. He humped for half an hour and became bored. Then he lost his erection.

The woman began to laugh at him, which infuriated him. He hit her in the mouth, breaking her teeth and jaw and shutting her up. As she tried to squirm away from him, he grabbed her by the head and pulled. She slipped off the side of the bed and her feet got wedged under the dresser. He pulled on her head and got mad when he couldn’t throw her back on the bed. He placed his feet against the wall for leverage and pulled with all his strength. He heard a pop, then a ripping sound and fell. He stared stupidly at the head in his hands. Long, bloody strips of flesh hung from its neck. He stood up with the head in his hands and looked over the opposite side of the bed. The woman lay on the floor, blood spurting from her headless neck. He threw the head down beside the body and left the camper.

He got in the truck and pulled it into a field away from the other vehicles. Entering the camper, he ripped the sheet in two and took half of it outside. He took the cap off the gas tank, and using a stick, he shoved the piece of sheet into it. A few minutes later, he pulled the soaked sheet out. Turning the gasoline-soaked material around, he shoved the dry end into the tank.

Walking away from the vehicle, Bradley waved his hands to dry the gas on them. He took a Bic lighter out of his pocket and held it under the edge of the sheet. It burst into flames; he jumped up and ran like hell. He expected the truck to blow up, spewing flames in every direction. The small boom and slow-spreading fire disappointed him. The camper and truck burned to the ground. In the process, it burned the woman’s body to ash. Todd had warned Bradley that if he killed one more woman, Todd would do the same to Bradley.

Todd’s aide dragged a cursing redhead through the men and stopped beside Todd. The redhead jerked her arm away from the man and straightened her hastily put on clothes. “Why did you have this goon drag me out of bed, Todd?” she asked, glaring at him as she finished buttoning her blouse.

“Shut the fuck up, bitch.” He turned to Bradley, saying, “Because I like you so much, Bradley, I am giving you my woman.” The redhead let out a screech and swung her fist at him.

“You lying son of a bitch, you told me when you finished with me, I could go my own way,” she sputtered, so mad she could hardly talk.

Todd ignored her. “I thought you’d like a woman with a little spunk and, as you can see, she has plenty of it.” He motioned to the woman, who was struggling with two men trying to hold her. “She’s yours to do whatever you want with. I’m sure the both of you will be happy.”

Bradley was dumbfounded. He didn’t know what he expected, but this wasn’t it. “Bradley thank Todd-man, him get people moving now.” He reached over and grabbed the redhead by the arm. She used her free hand to pummel him. It was like beating on a rock, the man simply ignored her as he dragged her back to the new camper he had picked up. He threw her in the back of the camper and locked the door from the outside. He yelled at the crazies, milling around him, and cuffed a few, telling them to get in the trucks. Twenty minutes later, Todd’s man, who rode with Bradley, reported they were ready to move out.

Chapter 18

After all the good-byes were said, Joe took his people to where the stream entered the mountain again. Stalker’s body lay on a makeshift litter, surrounded by a soft-blue glow.

Jess gave the word to block off the stream and the water swiftly lowered. In a few minutes, an opening chest-high stood where the water entered the mountain. He sent Gail, Tammy and Tommy into the hole, telling them to go as fast as they could. He picked up one end of the litter and Jake grabbed up the other. Stepping into the ankle-deep water, they bent over and entered the hole.

For the first fifty feet, the ceiling was low and they had to duck-walk with the litter. Beyond that, the ceiling in the tunnel raised enough for them to stand. Their lights reflected off the smooth walls as they jogged down a slight incline. In places where the underground stream ran straight for a way, he could see the lights of Gail and the others up ahead. It felt sort of odd to be in a place where no living thing had ever been before. The only sounds were the splashing of their feet as they waded through pools of water.

Up ahead, they came to a place where the flowing water had cut three holes through the rock about three feet high. Gail had waited on the other side of them. He saw her light five hundred feet ahead of him. “Twenty-five minutes,” Gail yelled.

Not good, he thought. They were less than five hundred feet into the mountain and it would take another five minutes to crawl through to the other side. “Go ahead, Jake, I’ll push the litter through in front of me.”

Jake scrambled into the hole and rapidly started crawling. Joe lifted the front of the litter and placed it on the lip of the hole. Going to the other end, he lifted and shoved the litter into the hole. Although Stalker’s body weighed less than ten pounds, it wasn’t long until sweat poured off him.

At the other end, Jake pulled the litter out of the hole. Joe took a moment to rest. This side of the hole opened into a large cavern. By the water marks on the wall, he saw that when the stream was flowing, the water reached nearly fifteen feet. That meant they were rapidly going downhill.

A thousand feet away on the other side of the cavern, Gail yelled, “Twenty minutes.”

“Come on, Jake, we’re going to have to pick up the pace if we want to get out of here alive,” he said.

With Jake in the lead, they ran down the slick streambed. Midway across the cavern, Jake tried to stop and his feet flew out from under him, causing him to let go of the litter and he slid down a steep drop in the riverbed. Joe let loose of the litter and let it slide down the drop, following right behind it.

He heard Jake mutter, “I don’t know when this black man has had so much fun.” Then he picked up the litter and began to run.

They ran out of the cavern into a large opening. The streambed began to slant upward at that point. Huffing and puffing, they rounded a curve to see a wall ahead of them with a long foot-high opening near its base. Looking up, he saw Tammy standing on the ledge of an opening twenty feet up.

“There’s a small ledge that leads up here on your right,” she shouted down to him. This hole explained why the water hadn’t backed up, but it ate up precious time climbing to the opening. By the time they reached the ledge, Jake’s legs hurt with fatigue. Joe’s weren’t in much better shape. Gail stood beside Tammy.

“I told you to keep going, Gail,” Joe said.

“Tammy, Tommy, grab the other end of the litter,” Gail said, picking up one end. With Tammy on one handle and Tommy holding the other, they followed Gail down the tunnel.

Joe and Jake looked at each other and shook their heads. They trotted down the tunnel after the woman and kids. The way leveled off and they were making good time. A little further on, he and Jake took the litter from Gail and the kids. Gail looked at her watch, “Five minutes, Joe,” she said, then ran on ahead.

At first, Joe didn’t notice the noise behind them. It started as a small roar and grew in volume. He could imagine the solid wall of water pouring down the passages they had just come through.

He started running all out. “Our time’s up, Jake. It’s now or never,” he shouted over his shoulder. Up ahead, he saw a light hanging in the darkness like the full moon in the sky. He saw three figures outlined in the light and then they were gone. Behind him, the roar increased to the point it hurt his ears.

He felt a gentle pressure at his back, pushing him faster. He knew it was the air being forced out of the tunnels by the solid wall of water. Fifty feet ahead, he saw the opening leading out of the ground. Rushing water lapped at his feet, then his knees. The next thing he knew, he was swept from his feet and floundering underwater. He felt the litter slam into his side. A pair of hands grabbed his arm and pulled him above the water. Gail was holding on to his arm for dear life from the side of the opening in the ground. He struggled up on the bank and lay on his back, coughing up water.

“We have Jake,” Tammy yelled from downstream.

Joe rolled over and saw Tammy and Tommy pull Jake out of the water. Catching his breath, he sat up and crawled further from the stream. Gail sat on the ground, her head between her legs, gasping for breath. “Thanks,” he gasped, when he reached her side.

Gail raised her head and said, “You’re not getting away from me that easy.”

Clinging to each other, they staggered down to where Jake, on his hands and knees, was throwing up the water he had taken in. Tammy thumped him on the back with her hand. Joe reached over and grabbed Tammy’s arm. “Enough, Tammy. He’ll be okay in a minute.”

They heard Tommy yell and looked to see him pulling the litter with Stalker’s body out of the stream.

They were all shivering from the chill of the morning air. On the top of the mountain across from them, the sun was shining. They were in a narrow valley with little room between the stream and the sheer walls.

“Come on, we need to get moving to generate a little heat,” Joe said, helping Jake to his feet. They walked to Tommy, picked up the litter and started down the valley. At the end of it, they walked into sunshine. They could see a road on the other side of the stream.

Steam rose from their soaked bodies as they walked in the sunlight. Off to the right, they saw a ranch house and angled toward it. As they drew close, Jake took his .38 out of its holster and angled away to come up on the rear of the house.

Joe took out his .45 and led Gail and the kids to a shed, where he told them to stay out of sight. Using the building for cover, he approached the side of the house. The place looked pretty well kept up, so more than likely, someone still lived there. A beat-up old Ford Ranger sat in the driveway.

He pressed his ear against the wall to see if he could hear anything from inside. It was quiet as a tomb. Edging along the wall, he came to the corner and stepped up on the porch. He tried to get a look inside through a window, but he couldn’t see through the bright sunlight reflecting off the glass.

Stepping where the boards of the porch joined the wall to keep from making a noise, he came to the screen door. The door to the house stood wide open. Using two fingers, he eased the screen door open, took a quick peek around, and seeing nothing, squeezed through. He was afraid it would squeak if he opened it anymore. He stood in a comfortable looking living room. A blanket lay half on, half off the couch. He ran a finger across the top of a table near the door. No dust at all. That meant someone had cleaned that day.

Walking lightly across the room, he checked on the door to the right. A bed occupied the center of the room. A dresser was on the side of the freshly made bed. A door leading to the next room was partially open. Through the crack, Joe saw that it was a bathroom. The room was empty, he even checked behind the shower curtain.

As he came out of the room, Jake appeared in the doorway across from him. He tip-toed across to Jake and whispered, “Did you find anything?”

Jake shook his head no.

“I don’t like it. Someone was here not too long ago. Where are they now?” Joe asked.

“I found a plate and partially drank cup of coffee on the table in the kitchen. The coffee was still warm,” Jake told him.

“Maybe there’s only one person,” Joe said.

They searched every nook and cranny of the house and came up empty. Joe went out and brought Gail and the kids in. Gail and Tammy busied themselves preparing a meal. She mentioned to Joe that the kitchen was awfully clean for a deserted house. He told her to stay alert.

Jake went out to check the pickup while Joe circled the outside of the house. Something nagged at the back of his mind. Whoever was in the house couldn’t have disappeared. He could find no sign of a basement in the house. Going back inside, he wandered from room to room, checking everything again.

“Joe, will you sit down? Your pacing is making me nervous. My other sense tells me there’s no danger here,” Tammy said from the door of the bedroom.

“Damn it, Tammy, someone was here only moments before we arrived. Where are they now?” Joe asked.

“How many times are you going to search the house for someone who isn’t here?” Tammy asked in exasperation.

Joe threw his hands in the air and went over and sat on the couch. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something.

Jake came through the front door. “If we had a battery, I think I could get that old truck running,” he said.

“What happened to the battery in the truck?” Joe asked.

Jake got a puzzled look on his face. “I never thought about it at the time, but someone took the battery out. The battery leads are in perfect shape. It was removed recently.”

“That means the person, or persons, that were here came in the truck. Now, I ask you, would they leave behind their means of transportation?” Joe said.

“Not likely, so where in the hell are they?” Jake asked.

Joe shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve been over this house three times and couldn’t find anything.”

Gail and Tammy brought sandwiches in from the kitchen. “Have you seen Tommy?” Gail asked.

“The last time I saw him, he was in the kitchen with you. Did you see him outside, Jake?” Joe asked.

“No, but I had my head under the hood of the truck. He could have wandered by and I wouldn’t have noticed him,” Jake answered.

“He said he was going to see what he could find in the attic,” Tammy said from the chair she sat in.

“How can he do that? The only way to the attic is by putting a ladder against the house and going in the door under the peak of the roof,” Joe said.

“No, it isn’t. Tommy and I found a pulldown ladder in the far bedroom upstairs,” Tammy told him.

Joe and Jake looked at each other, thinking the same thing. The mysterious person or persons could be hiding up there. Joe got up, drawing his .45 from its holster, and started for the stairs with Jake right behind him.

Upstairs, they entered the bedroom at the far end of the house. Joe held his finger over his lips and tiptoed across the room to the open closet. They could see a foldup ladder hanging from the ceiling. Joe stuck his head around the door and looked up to a hole in the ceiling. He could hear noises coming from up there, but they confused him. Surely, he hadn’t heard a train whistle.

He motioned for Jake to cover him and stepped onto the ladder. Slowly going up a step at a time, he held the .45 out in front of him, ready to shoot at the first sign of trouble. When he could see over the opening, he bobbed his head up and back down. The quick peek showed him Tommy beside a large layout with a train set on it. Raising his head above the opening again, he looked around the rather large attic. The room was empty. Pulling himself through the hole, he asked, “What did you find, Tommy?”

“Look at this neat train set, Joe,” Tommy said, pressing buttons on a control panel. Someone had put a lot of time into setting the display up. Miniature buildings and houses stood all over the layout. Trees and hills covered part of it. It was a beautiful miniature reproduction of a railroad town. It even had roads and railroad crossings. He checked every corner. If anyone was hiding up here, he couldn’t find them.

He went over and stood beside Tommy, saying, “The next time you go someplace by yourself, let your mom know, all right, Tommy? She was worried because she didn’t know where you were.”

“I’m sorry, Joe. I didn’t think coming up here would cause her to worry,” Tommy said.

Joe ruffled his hair. “Go on, have fun. I’ll tell her where you are.” He went to the ladder and climbed down to the bedroom. After telling Jake about the train layout, they went downstairs to the living room. Joe told Gail that Tommy was alright and what he was doing. Tammy squealed, saying she had to see it and ran to the stairs, which she took two at a time.

Jake brought him a cup of coffee from the kitchen and sat down across from him. He looked tired as he sagged in the chair.

“As much as I would like to hurry and put some distance between Zeb and us, I think we should rest here for the day, and start after it gets dark,” he told Jake.

“Sounds fine with me. Do you want me to take first watch?”

“No, go ahead and get a little sleep. I’ll wake you in four hours. Sleep light, Jake. We still don’t know what happened to whoever was here,” Joe told him as he got up from the chair.

Jake nodded his head, and went into the bedroom.

Joe sipped his coffee. He could hear Gail washing dishes in the kitchen. He relaxed and kicked his boots off. Placing his feet on the coffee table, he scrunched down, letting his head lay back against the top of the couch. Although it took only half an hour to get out of the mountain, the tension during that time drained as much energy as half a day’s march.

Gail came in and sat down beside him. He put his arm around her and she lay her head on his shoulder. Neither of them spoke; content just to be close to each other.

He fought sleep, his head bobbing up and down. Bringing his head up, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. All thoughts of sleep evaporated and he sat upright, alert. He eased Gail, who had fallen asleep, off his shoulder and laid her down.

He was sure he saw movement near the door to the bedroom Jake had gone into. All he could see was an end table with a telephone sitting on it with a throw rug in front of it. He got up and tiptoed across the room. Opening the bedroom door, he saw Jake stretched out on the bed, sound asleep. He closed the door and went to the kitchen. Nothing there, he checked the other rooms, finding nothing.

Going back to the living room, he raised Gail’s feet and put them on the couch. He moved the chair so he could see the front door and Jake’s room without moving his head. He had almost convinced himself he was seeing things, when the fringe on the throw rug fluttered, as if being blown by a breeze. There was no breeze coming through the open door.

He eased the .45 out and placed it by his leg. Letting his head fall, he pretended to be asleep. Through slitted eyes, he watched the area around the rug. He saw the rug raise a couple inches off the floor. His grip on the .45 tightened.

Gail said something in her sleep and rolled over on the couch. The rug dropped to the floor and stayed there. He faintly heard Tammy and Tommy laughing in the attic. Not wanting to take chances, he made a show of waking up. Going to the couch, he shook Gail. Holding his finger over his lips, he said, “Come on, honey, go to the bedroom where you’ll be more comfortable.”

Gail got up and moved across the room to the other bedroom. He watched her pick up the .38 lying on the dresser and give him a nod. He crossed the room and opened the door to Jake’s bedroom. He shook Jake, who sat up instantly. “My time to take the watch already?” he growled.

Joe cocked his finger and pointed at Jake, then the floor. Jake started to speak and Joe put his fingers over his friend’s lips. Taking the hint, Jake got out of bed. “I’ll lay down in here and get a few hours sleep,” Joe said in a sleep-filled voice.

Pressing down on the mattress, Joe caused the springs to squeak. He tiptoed to the door and stood beside it.

“Have a good nap, Joe,” Jake said and crossed to the door. As he started to close the door, Joe motioned for him to leave it open. He watched Jake go over to the couch and sit down. Joe got down on his belly with his head sticking out of the room. He held the .45 in front of him, pointed at the rug.

Jake sat on the couch with his back to Joe, humming to himself. When he glanced around at Joe, Joe made sleeping motions with his head. A few minutes later, Jake stretched and yawned. Joe watched his head drop to his chest, as though he were asleep. He felt the silence of the house all around. His finger tightened on the trigger when he saw the rug raise slightly. Silently, wriggling forward, he came close to the rug. Reaching out, he hooked his fingers under the rug and flipped it back. Just as he thought, a hidden trap door.

“Whoever you are, come out of there with your hands up!”

He saw Jake crouched down at the end of the couch with his .38 pointed at the hole in the floor. Across the room, Gail knelt beside the door to the bedroom with her .38 also pointed at the trapdoor. He waited, tense, not knowing what to expect, but ready for anything. Two hands emerged, followed by bushy black hair. The slender body of a black woman followed the head out of the cellar. She stood there with her hands in the air, staring defiantly at them.

“Are you the only one down there?” Joe asked.

She shook her head yes, her body tense, as though expecting to be shot at any moment.

“Gail, search her,” Joe said.

Gail left the bedroom, making sure not to get between Joe or Jake and the woman. She stood behind the woman and frisked her. “She’s clean, Joe.”

Joe lowered his gun and said, “You can put your hands down now. Go over and sit in the chair across from the couch.”

After she seated herself, Joe walked over and sat down on the couch. Jake moved over near the front door, he could cover the woman and watch outside at the same time. Gail positioned herself so she could watch the hole leading to the cellar.

“Who are you and why were you hiding in the cellar?” Joe asked. He laid the .45 within easy reach.

In a clear, crisp, melodious voice, the woman said, “My name is Polly Evers and I’m hiding from people like you.” She held her head high, never showing an ounce of fear.

“Well, Polly Evers, I don’t know who you think we are, but I can tell you we won’t harm you. Are you one of these crazy people who run around killing people not like them?” Joe asked.

“Lord, no, mister. That’s why I was hiding, I thought you were the people chasing me,” she said.

“Jake, keep her covered while I check out the cellar. I’m sorry, Miss Evers. It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I have to be sure there’s no one else in the cellar,” Joe told her.

“I understand, mister. There’s a light switch on the right, as you start down the stairs,” she told him.

Joe stepped down into the hole and fumbled around until he found the light switch. If there was anyone down there who meant them harm, they had plenty of time to shoot while he stood there. At the bottom of the stairs, he looked around the small room. Shelves of canned food lined one wall. He went over and raised the lid on a large bin. It was half full of potatoes. There was a pile of odds and ends in one corner. He checked to make sure no one was hiding in it. Satisfied the place was empty, he went back upstairs, turning out the light and closing the trap door. He nodded to Jake that everything was okay and walked to the couch and sat down.

“Now, Polly, why are you out here by yourself?” Joe asked.

“I left Topeka, Kansas two weeks ago. There were three of us. Another black girl and a white man. The man’s name was Gerold. He kept us out of trouble by keeping constantly on the move. We were headed for California. We heard things were better north of San Francisco. Gerold knew what he was doing and avoided any groups of people. Mostly, we traveled at night. Last week, we stopped in this small town, just across the Colorado border.

“Gerold told us we would stay there for a few days and gather the supplies needed to get over the Rockies. It wasn’t much of a town, but he figured he could find heavy sleeping bags and winter clothing. We rested that night in a rundown motel at the edge of town. The next morning, Lois, the other girl, and I went into town. I’ve never seen a town as quiet as it was. That should have tipped us off. Hardly anything in the stores had been touched. All the other places we went through were a mess, but this one was nice and clean.

“There wasn’t a living soul in the whole place. Lois and I started talking about spending the spring there. Or at the least, until it warmed up enough to cross the Rockies without bundling up like Eskimos. We had a high old time spraying perfume on each other and trying on different clothes. We couldn’t carry everything we found in the clothing store we wanted to take with us. We finally settled on throwing what we could carry in a couple suitcases and headed back to the motel.”

“Gerold was fixing something on a new truck. Someone had left it at the motel when it wouldn’t start. Gerold told us if he got the truck running, we would be in great shape. He said, with the four-wheel drive, we could go across country on the back roads, avoiding towns with people in them. He said he didn’t need any help, so Lois and I went to our rooms to take a nap.

“I don’t know what woke me up, but I saw it was nearing sundown through the curtain in the room. I heard voices, and I thought it was Lois and Gerold. I thought they were making a hell of a lot of noise and got up to tell them to keep it down. Pulling on my jeans and shirt, I stopped by the window and looked out.

“A dozen men had Gerold backed against the restaurant wall and were questioning him. They were all armed to the teeth. I heard Lois walk out of the room her and Gerold shared, which was three doors down from mine. She shouted to Gerold and the men turned around. I’ve seen that look hundreds of times before, but we had cops to protect us then. Two of the men held their guns on Gerold, the rest walked over to Lois. Now you have to understand, Lois was raised in the country and trusted everyone.

“I saw right off these men were like the other crazy people we ran across as we traveled. The men were pawing at her and feeling her up. She tried to stop them, but they just became rougher. She called out for Gerold to help her. He tried to get past the men and one of them hit him in the head with the barrel of his rifle.

“I still thank my lucky stars that Lois didn’t call out my name. The only way out was the door, which opened out to where the men were. I went into the bathroom and saw a small window over the bathtub. As quietly as I could, I took off the screen and opened it. I went back and picked up my purse, sticking the handgun in it Gerold made us carry. I jumped nearly a foot off the floor at the sound of a shot. Hurrying to the window, I saw Gerold stagger forward and fall on his face in the parking lot. Blood stained the back of his shirt. One of the men, who had been guarding him, walked over and kicked him in the head.

“By now, the men around Lois had yanked and torn off most of her clothes. She struggled with them, but there were just too many. The last thing I saw before heading to the bathroom was one of the men throw her to the ground and fall between her legs.”

She pulled up the sleeves of her shirt and they saw where the skin had been scraped from the shoulder to the elbow. “I got this crawling through that damn window. Why people put such small windows in bathrooms, I will never know. I picked up my purse and took the gun out. Quietly, I sneaked along the back of the building, expecting the men to walk around the corner at any time. At the end of the building, I crossed an empty space for twenty feet, until I was behind the kitchen of the restaurant.

“I knew I couldn’t take off running because there was nothing but vacant land around. They were sure to see me. Opening the kitchen door, I went inside. The kitchen had a smell of fresh-cut meat lingering in it. It was an odd smell, but I didn’t find out until later what it really was. Going to the dining area, I crept up to a window, facing the motel.

“Half a dozen men had raped Lois by now. I really felt for her, but there was nothing I could do. I don’t know how long it lasted, but the men finally finished with her. They all backed away from her and one of them took a pistol out of his pants. He pointed it at her and shot four times. The rest of the men thought it was funny as Lois jerked and twitched until she died.

“Four of them went to her body and picked it up. Another four picked up Gerold’s body and headed for the restaurant. I was trapped with nowhere to run. In the kitchen, I saw a walk-in freezer and headed for it. There had to be a better place than the freezer. If the men entered it, I would be caught. Even if they didn’t, but stayed in the restaurant for any length of time, I would freeze to death.

“Looking up, I noticed the freezer didn’t go all the way to the ceiling. There was a two foot space between the top and the ceiling. Climbing up on a table at the end of the freezer, I hoisted myself up and rolled into the space with only seconds to spare.

“The freezer was ten feet deep and I crawled all the way to the rear wall. I could hear the men laughing and talking in the dining room. The top of the freezer had an inch of dust on it and it was all I could do to keep from sneezing. The heat trapped in the space was almost unbearable. Sweat dripped from my chin, and in no time, dust was smeared all over me.

“A little later, I heard some of the men in the kitchen. Soon after that, I heard the sounds of someone cutting meat. I felt heat rising every time the freezer’s motor kicked on. I had to get away from the heat, so I crawled away from the wall.

“Still out of sight, I saw two hands tied together by the wrists, they were over a hook hanging from the ceiling. Every time I heard the whack of the meat clever, the hands would sway on the hook. I heard two men talking, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. I crawled a little closer to the front of the freezer.

“Now I could tell they were Gerold’s hands. He was dead. Why would they hang him up like that? From the shoulders down, his body was hidden from my view. I edged forward until only two feet of the freezer top hid me. Since it was eight feet tall, the men wouldn’t see me unless they looked up.

“God, how I wished I had stayed back in the corner. The men had gutted Gerold like a deer and were busy chopping up the lower portion of his body. Lois lay on the floor next to the counter. It took all my willpower to keep from throwing up. I moved back, better the heat, than to watch my friends being chopped up.

“I stayed there in the dust, sweating like a pig, for three hours before they finished and left. The first thing I did after climbing down was to drink about a gallon of water.

“Whoever these people were, they were cleanliness freaks. The kitchen was spotless. They had even washed their cups and cleaned the tables where the other men had sat in the dining room. Slipping into the dining room, I went to the front window. The men were getting into their vehicles.

“I watched until they were out of sight, then went to the kitchen. My stomach let me know I hadn’t eaten a thing since the day before. I made me two sandwiches out of things I found in the refrigerator and drank a can of cola. My hunger satisfied, I walked over to the freezer and opened the door. Stepping through the door, I peered into the darkness. Fumbling around on the side of the door, I found a light switch and flipped it on. I turned around, expecting to see sides of beef hanging there. My stomach flipped once, twice and I threw up on the floor. Hanging from hooks were human legs and arms. It was the most grotesque sight I ever expect to see.” She shuddered so hard, Joe reached over and took her hand.

“The small arms of children had been strung together like beads on a necklace. There were gutted human torsos hanging near the back. Searching around, I found the thermostat. I used a large wrench I found in the kitchen to knock it off the wall. Next, I found the electrical panel and tripped the circuit breaker for the freezer. Propping a chair under the door handle of the freezer to keep it open, I made sure all the windows were down. I turned the thermostat for the dining room all the way up to ninety.

“In the kitchen, I lit all the burners on the two stoves and their ovens, and left the doors open. Half an hour later, it was downright sweltering in the restaurant. I heard dripping sounds. Looking in the freezer, the human flesh was beginning to thaw and moisture dripped from it. A good day in that heat, and no one would be eating my friends.

“I packed some sandwiches and took two cans of cola with me when I left. I went in the opposite direction the men had taken. It was close to midnight when I stopped near a little stream. The next morning, I headed down the road, keeping an eye behind me for any cars. I had to hide about a dozen times before I reached this place. Mostly, I was afraid of all the dogs roaming around. I hope they’ve gone away; they just followed me, never coming close, but always there, baring their fangs at me.

“Then this morning, I saw you people walking out of the canyon and thought you were some of the people from the town I left. Could I have a tall glass of cold water?” she asked.

“I’ll get it,” Jake said and hurried to the kitchen. Moments later, he returned with a large glass of ice and water, which he handed to Polly.

“Thanks,” she said and drained the glass. “I forgot to take something to drink when I went to the cellar. Where’s the person on the stretcher I saw you carrying out of the canyon?” she asked.

“We weren’t carrying a person. There’s a wolf on the stretcher,” Jake told her.

“A wolf? Now why in tarnation would you be carrying a wolf on a stretcher?” she asked, looking at them like they were crazy.

They sat there and drank coffee and tea for an hour as Joe and Jake told her their story. Tammy and Tommy came down from the attic and were introduced to Polly. Gail and Joe walked around with knowing smiles on their faces. Jake was the reason for them. He followed Polly around like a little puppy. She ignored him, or pretended to. When she passed Gail or Joe, she would wink at them, letting them know she was eating up the attention Jake showered on her. Jake took Joe aside and asked him what he was doing wrong. Joe said he would talk to her, but he didn’t think there was much hope.

Jake thanked him and went into the kitchen. Enough was enough, he decided to face her and ask her why she was ignoring him. She was at the sink washing dishes. He walked up behind her, determined to be firm.

Polly turned around with a stern look on her face. “May I help you, Jake?” she asked.

Instantly, Jake’s determination fled. He looked into her stern eyes and turned around and fled in panic. Polly broke out laughing as she watched his form go out the front door.

Joe walked into the kitchen and said, “How much longer are you going to string him along?”

“Not much longer, Joe. Lord, this is the first time I’ve had a man afraid of me. You know what, Joe? I sort of like it. All I did was look at him and the poor man ran out of here terrified.”

“I just want you to know, you will be getting a hell of a man,” Joe told her and left.

She thought about her future. Alone, she wouldn’t have a future. Jake seemed like a nice enough man. The problem was she wasn’t ready to settle down. Jake would want the whole thing, marriage, children, the house with the white picket fence. If Jake would agree to live together and let the future handle itself, she would go with them. Otherwise, she would take off on her own.

She went into the living room and crossed to the screen door. In the yard, she saw Jake with his head poked under the hood of the truck. He looked up as the screen door squeaked and saw her come out on the porch. She walked over to the shed where Stalker’s body lay in the shade. She knew when Jake came up behind her and said, “What a beautiful animal.”

From behind her, Jake said, “There aren’t many humans I trust as much as I did Stalker. It’s a damn shame he had to die. I am proud to be one of the people taking him back to his home. He deserves that much. It almost broke Tammy’s heart when he died. They were so close, closer than any two humans I’ve ever seen. Joe doesn’t show it, but Stalker’s death hurt him, too. It saddened me when he died, but I never let anyone get close to me. Until I saw you, Polly. Would you consider traveling with us to Canada? I won’t ask you to be my woman, because you don’t know me. All I ask is that you come with us and think about staying as my mate. I know I have no right to ask, but these are troubled times and we live from day to day. Just think about it.” He turned to leave.

Polly turned and grabbed his arm. Looking him in the eyes, she told him, “Jake, I’m sure you are a fine man, but until I know what I want, I can only be your friend.”

“That’s good enough for now, Polly. I can wait,” Jake said.

She watched him go back to the truck and start working on it. A sadness came over her as she stood there. Why was she being so hard to get along with? Hell, for all she knew, Jake was the last black man in the world. Old habits were hard to change. Like Jake, she had never let anyone get close to her. It was hard enough back before the world went crazy. Now, it was twice as bad.

Chapter 19

Zeb sat on the steps enjoying the morning sun. The sun’s heat felt good on his old bones. He wondered how long it would be before the spring rains began. He dreaded the rain and its dampness, knowing his arthritic joints ached all the time in damp weather.

Up the street, three dogs were fighting over a bone. Several of the dogs, standing or laying around the porch, eyed him like he was their next meal. He didn’t pay them any attention, knowing they wouldn’t touch him as long as Org was around.

He took out his knife and whittled on a piece of wood he found on the porch. The snow melt in the mountains caused the stream to run as high as the bank through town. If it became any higher, they would have to move to the high ground at the edge of town.

“Old one, old one,” he heard in his mind.

Getting up, he walked into the restaurant. “What is it now, Org? Can’t you let me rest without interrupting me?” Zeb said.

“You have rested enough, old one. Prepare to travel. Joe has left the mountain. How he did this, I do not know. He did not come out of the doors into the mountain, so there must be a hidden entrance. He is half a day ahead of us. Get what you need. We leave in an hour,” Org told him.

“You know we’ll never catch him on foot, Org. Why don’t you let me find a truck and we can go after him in it?”

Zeb felt the conflicting emotions emanating from Org. He was afraid of any type of vehicle. Several seconds passed, then he grudgingly said, “There is wisdom in what you say, old one. Find a vehicle that is open and let me look it over.”

Zeb packed the few things he was taking with him in his old backpack. He went out and started looking in garages for a vehicle that would suit Org. He didn’t want to get anything that was fast, because then they might catch Joe.

No, he wanted a vehicle that only made it appear as if they were making good time when in reality, they weren’t. He needed something that would actually slow them down, without seeming to. He found just the thing at the end of town. Behind a small green house, he found a dune buggy. The seat had plenty of room for Org to sit beside him. It was completely open, so Org shouldn’t object to using it.

He checked it over, and started the engine. A deep growl rumbled from the straight exhaust pipes. He drove it out of the garage and across the lawn to the back of the hardware store. On the loading dock sat a fifty-five gallon drum of gasoline. Sticking the hose in the gas tank, he cranked the handle of the pump in the top of the barrel. Replacing the gas cap on the dune buggy, he started the loud machine. He roared up in front of the restaurant in a cloud of dust. Org stood at the top step of the porch, eyeing the dune buggy.

“Is that the best you could do, old one?”

Zeb gave a heavy sigh of disgust. “Listen, Org, this is as close as I could come to meeting your requirements. If you don’t like the damn thing, tell me and we can start hoofing it. Meantime, Joe will be getting farther and farther away.” Secretly, he grinned at the fear Org wasn’t able to hide.

Org came down the steps and circled the dune buggy several times. He stopped on the passenger side and said, “You will have to lift me into this contraption, old one.”

Zeb couldn’t stop the grin that came to his face as he bent down and lifted Org into the seat. Squeeker’s sides were heaving in and out and Zeb could almost feel the fear coming off the animal.

“Relax, Org, nothing will happen to you. Sit back and leave the driving to me.” He shifted into first gear and popped the clutch. As the dune buggy lurched forward, Org gave a yelp, his eyes as wide as saucers. Zeb threw his head back and laughed. It felt good to be riding instead of walking. He went through the gears, roaring out of town, bouncing from side to side of the road on the balloon tires.

“Slow this thing down, old one. You may find this exhilarating, but it terrifies me. Unless you wish to walk again, make this mode of travel as smooth as possible.”

Twenty miles later, Org settled down in the seat with his head on his paws. On the straight stretches of road, Zeb floored the dune buggy, feeling fifty years younger. He discovered that fifty-seven miles per hour was the vehicle’s top speed. Occasionally, he spotted dogs on the ridges off to the side.

Two hours later, Org had him stop at a farmhouse set back from the road. Org informed him this was the first place Joe had stopped after leaving the mountain. Sniffing around the house, Org communicated that Joe had five humans with him. He kept going to the shed out from the house and sniffing. Zeb could sense his confusion.

“What’s wrong, Org?”

“I can still feel the presence of a powerful force in this structure. The nature of the force puzzles me though. It is very powerful, but not alive. In ways, it reminds me of the force coming from the one they called Stalker. It is puzzling, but of no importance,” he said and walked to the dune buggy.

Zeb knew he was lying. The force Org detected did bother him, much more than he wanted known. He lifted Org onto the seat and went around to get behind the wheel.

Org was withdrawn for the next couple hours. Zeb tried to probe his mind, but Org had pulled back behind a solid shield. Zeb cruised along at a steady forty-five miles an hour. At this speed, they would never catch Joe, unless the man stopped for the day.

The loud throb of the exhaust reminded him of the days when he owned a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Those were the days. Back before a person had to wear a helmet. It sure was nice to roar down the road with the wind blowing through his hair. Back then, his hair came down to his shoulders and he wore a full beard.

For a few years, he rode with a group of men who liked to think they were outlaws. Really, all they did was get drunk and fight among themselves. At the most, the law considered them a minor nuisance. Those were the days of freedom.

The only true moments of happiness he could remember were the three years he had with Becky, his wife. He met her at a restaurant in Boise, Idaho. He had been on the road for a year and a half, working his way from town to town across the country.

The rain was pouring down when he spotted a small restaurant off the side of the road. Wheeling his bike into the parking lot, he put the kickstand down and ran for the overhanging roof to get out of the rain. He looked like a drowned rat, his long hair dripping water. Water even dripped from the beard onto his chin. There were no other cars in the parking lot and he wondered if the place was open.

Bent over, wiping water from his leather pants, he heard the door open. Looking up, he saw the shortest woman he had ever seen. She couldn’t have been much over four feet tall.

She looked him up and down. “Another dumb biker, too stupid to get in out of the rain,” she said and closed the door.

Back in those days, he wasn’t about to let a slip of a woman insult him. He shook his head quickly from side to side, flinging water from his hair like a dog shaking itself. He opened the door and went into the restaurant. Several empty booths lined one wall, while half a dozen empty tables took up the space between them and the counter.

Walking up to the counter, he pulled a handful of napkins out of the napkin holder and wiped his face. “Busy day,” he said to the woman who placed a steaming cup of coffee on the counter in front of him.

She arched her eyebrows at him. “How long you been blind? I don’t see anyone but you and me, and you sure as hell couldn’t keep me busy.”

“It was just a figure of speech, lady. Do you treat all your customers like this, or is it that you don’t like bikers?”

“No to the first and yes to the second,” she replied.

“Damn, woman, what’s got a bee up your bonnet? All I wanted to do was get out of the rain.”

Her face softened and she said, “I am sorry, mister. My old man left me a year ago in this dirt water town. He was a biker, too. He found a young bimbo here and flat out left me without anything but the clothes on my back. I almost have enough saved to go back to Columbus, Ohio. I can’t get out of this town soon enough.”

“Sorry to hear that, lady, but you can’t blame all bikers for what one done to you. The man must have been a fool to begin with, leaving a fine-looking woman like you.”

She blushed a deep red and her smile grew wider. She took a pie out of the cooler and cut a large piece. Placing it on a plate, she shoved it in front of him. “Eat this, maybe it will keep those smooth words from coming out of your mouth.”

The piece of apple pie was delicious, making him realize just how hungry he was. He drained his coffee and she refilled it. He heard the bell over the door jingle and turned to watch three men in their mid-twenties enter. They swaggered up to the counter and sat down. “Give us some coffee, Becky, and be quick about it,” said the man with short brown hair.

“Hold your horses, Jim. Can’t you see I’m waiting on a customer? Soon as I get him a sandwich, I’ll get your coffee.”

The brown-haired man reached across the counter and grabbed her by the arm. “Get our coffee, then make his sandwich, bitch,” he said, twisting her arm.

Zeb stood and turned to the men. “No sense in treating the lady like that, friend.”

“Stay out of this, mister. It’s none of your concern.” The man twisted her arm a little more.

Zeb stepped across the space between them and grabbed the man by the shirt collar. With a hard yank, he lifted the man off the stool, throwing him to the floor. “Listen, punk. Where I come from, we treat women with respect,” he said.

The man’s friends grabbed Zeb’s arms and held him as Jim got up from the floor. He wiped his hand across his mouth and walked to stand in front of Zeb. “Mister, you should have stayed where you came from. Sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong is going to cause you a lot of pain.”

He drew back his fist and hit Zeb in the stomach. The blow hurt, but not that much. Zeb leaned forward, taking away the force of the blow by drawing his stomach in. As he leaned over, he drew the men holding his arms closer. Raising his knee, he brought his heavy motorcycle boot down on the foot of the man on the left, causing him to let go of his left arm and start yelling and hopping around. Zeb brought his right elbow sharply back into the chest of the other man holding him.

When he grunted and leaned over, Zeb brought his knee up into the guy’s face, while blocking a blow from Jim. As Zeb’s knee crushed his nose, he let go of Zeb’s arm. Blood spurted across Zeb’s leg as the man dropped like a stone. A blow struck the side of his head, causing his vision to blur. The man whose foot he had stomped was drawing back his fist to hit Zeb again.

Dropping to his knees, Zeb hit the man in the crotch with his fist. As the man gasped and bent over, Jim kicked Zeb in the leg and caused him to sprawl on his back. Pain shot up his right leg. Jim drew back his leg to kick Zeb in the face. As Jim’s foot started forward, a blank expression came across his face and he wilted to the floor. Becky stood behind him with a heavy frying pan in her hand. Using a stool, Zeb pulled himself to his feet. His right leg was numb from the knee down.

“I hope you didn’t kill him, little lady,” Zeb said as she came to stand next to him.

“Not likely, this isn’t the first time I bent a frying pan over his head.” The top of her head only came up to the pocket on his shirt. She placed the frying pan on the counter and reached across it to get a wet rag. She went to one of the men laying on the floor and tried to stem the flow of blood from his nose.

The one Zeb had hit in the crotch lay curled up in the fetal position, and was making grunting noises. Jim lay five feet from him, unconscious, his legs tucked under him.

“Mister, I wish you hadn’t done that. Once you leave, they’ll beat the shit out of me. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate you helping me, but I could’ve handled him.”

“From what you told me, there’s nothing keeping you here. When I leave, you’re welcome to come with me,” Zeb told her as Jim began groaning.

He flexed his right leg while he leaned against the counter. Pain filled the area just below the knee where the point of Jim’s boot struck. Pulling up his pant leg, he saw a blue, discolored area the size of his hand. Raising the leg, he put it on top of the stool. Feeling around the discolored area, he winced in pain as he pressed on the spot. He knew the leg would hurt for days. The kick had bruised the bone.

After pulling down his pant leg, he gingerly walked back and forth across the room. He hoped he wouldn’t have to do any running in the next few days.

Behind the counter, Becky was telling someone on the phone if they weren’t there in fifteen minutes, she wouldn’t be responsible for the restaurant. Slamming down the receiver, she took off her apron and hung it on a hook beside the kitchen door. She took her purse from below the counter and came around to stand in front of him. “Let’s get one thing straight, mister. Just because I’m going with you, doesn’t mean you can use me in any way.” She was digging in her purse. Finding what she wanted, she pulled out a little snub-nosed .32. “Just so you know, I can and will use this thing, if I have to.”

Zeb raised both his hands. “Listen, lady, I didn’t have anything in mind when I offered you a lift.”

“Keep it that way.” She put the pistol back in her purse.

Jim slowly climbed to his feet. “Mister, you bought yourself a lot of trouble,” he said as he put his arms under the man with the broken nose and helped him to his feet. They both stood there, swaying on their feet, hardly able to stand. Jim turned to Becky, who was behind the counter fixing sandwiches, and said “If I catch up with you, bitch, you’ll wish you were never born.” He reached down with one hand and helped the other man to his feet and the three of them staggered to the door.

Watching through the front window, Zeb saw them get into a fancied-up pickup and back out of the parking lot. Becky was placing four sandwiches in a brown paper bag when he got back to the counter. She poured him a cup of coffee and made a cup of tea for herself. She kept glancing anxiously at the clock on the wall. Ten minutes later, a large Cadillac roared into the parking lot. A tall, thin, bald man stepped out into the slowly falling rain. He ran to the door and entered.

“What the hell is going on here, Becky?” he asked.

“Jim and his brothers were here and started a fight, Mr. Simms. If it hadn’t been for this stranger, they would’ve beaten me up again. I asked you not to leave me here by myself. You know what’ll happen if I stay here, so I quit. Can I have my salary for the week?”

Mr. Simms looked over at Zeb, who sat at the counter drinking his coffee. He walked to the cash register and pulled out some bills. Handing the money to her, he said, “I am sorry, Becky, if I knew they were in town, I would have stayed with you.”

“It’s okay, Mr. Simms. They just would’ve beat you up, too, like they did the last time,” she told him as she put the money in her purse. Picking up the bag of sandwiches, she came around the counter to where Zeb sat. “Since we’re going to be traveling together, I think I should know your name,” she said to him.

“Zeb at your service, ma’am.” He nodded to Mr. Simms behind the counter. “I think the quicker we get out of town, the better off we’ll be,” he told her, heading for the door.

“I need to stop at my apartment and pick up a few things,” she said. Swinging her leg over the bike, she sat down behind him.

He started the Harley and backed around until he was aimed at the parking lot entrance. She felt like a small child behind him. He doubted she weighed eighty pounds. “Which way?” he asked.

She gave him directions to her apartment on the northeast side of town. He parked the Harley at the curb and locked the front forks. The neighborhood was a little seedy. He saw people peek from windows of the apartment buildings lining both sides of the street. He followed her upstairs to the third floor, where she unlocked a battered door. He stood in the doorway of the little two-room efficiency apartment, while she threw a few things into a canvas overnight bag. While not large, the apartment was very clean and neat. She had bought throw covers for the couch and chair. The furniture was in bad shape. In the small kitchen, an ancient Kelvinator refrigerator kicked on. The thing had to be fifty years old. The burners on the countertop stove looked to be almost as old, but they were spotless. The only thing in the place that wasn’t over thirty years old was the twenty-one inch television that sat on a stand in the corner.

She handed him the canvas bag and turned to look at the place she had called home for almost a year. “Believe it or not, I am going to miss this dump,” she said.

Outside, he strapped her bag to the back of the motorcycle. She put her purse in one of the saddle bags on the side. She had changed out of her dress into a tight-fitting pair of jeans and a flannel shirt.

A middle-aged blond leaned out of a second story window of the apartment building. “Where are you off to, Becky?”

“I’m leaving town. I won’t be back, Julie. Tell the super for me, will you? Oh yeah, if you want the TV, get it before you tell the super I’m gone. Good-bye, Julie.”

The ride out of town was silent and Zeb thought she was sorting out her feelings. A quick look over his shoulder showed that she was leaning against the backrest, sound asleep. His opinion of this feisty little woman shot up a few notches. He took I-84 east and cruised along at seventy miles an hour. After an hour, the fuel gage dipped into the red. He pulled off the interstate at the town of Gooding, Idaho. While filling the tank, a truck passed by on the overpass. It looked like the one owned by the men he had fought with in Boise.

After paying for the gas, he dug down into one of the saddle bags and pulled out a .45 revolver. Sticking it in the left pocket of his jacket, he waited for Becky to come out of the bathroom. After she climbed behind him, he crossed the street and headed up the entrance ramp to the interstate.

He settled back with Becky’s hands on his waist and cranked the bike back up to seventy. After a while, he began to think he was wrong about the truck and started to relax. The rain had stopped and the sun was peeking through the clouds. Steam rose from the asphalt as the sun dried the road ahead of them.

As they came up on the exit ramp for the city of Jerome, he looked across the road and saw the pickup come up the entrance ramp for the westbound lanes. He caught a glimpse of three figures in the cab. Giving the bike more throttle, they shot up to eighty. In the rearview mirror, he saw the truck shoot across the medium, which caused cars to slam on their brakes. Fishtailing from side to side, the truck straightened out and picked up speed.

Zeb increased their speed to ninety, weaving in and out of the light traffic. The truck steadily gained on them. He wasn’t going to be able to outrun them and an eight hundred pound bike was no match for a four thousand pound pickup.

Ahead, he saw a sign stating the Twin Falls exit was two miles ahead. The pickup was a couple hundred yards behind them. He cranked the bike up to one hundred. He passed a truck on the right side, shooting between the guardrails and the vehicle. The old man driving laid on the horn and stepped on the brakes.

This caused the pickup chasing them to slam on its brakes as both lanes were blocked temporarily. Another mile to go, as the pickup shot from behind a car. They had gained another couple hundred yards. Half a mile ahead, Zeb saw the exit ramp slope uphill away from the interstate. His timing would have to be almost perfect for what he was planning to do.

Reaching into his pocket with his left hand, he took out the .45 and flicked off the safety with his thumb. Easing off the throttle, he watched the pickup grow larger in his rearview mirror. Holding the .45 out of sight between his legs, he eased off a little more. Now they had slowed down to seventy-five. The pickup roared into the passing lane to get in front of them and cut them off.

Zeb waited until the rear of the pickup was even with them, then lifted the .45 and fired the whole clip at the rear tires. As he fired, he cranked the throttle wide open and leaned the motorcycle onto the exit ramp. One or more of the bullets must have punctured the tire. The pickup slid sideways down the pavement, while cars behind it slammed on their brakes.

Hitting the edge of the medium, the pickup flipped into the air. Zeb saw it roll over several times.

He had troubles of his own. Traveling at better than a hundred miles an hour, he saw both lanes ahead blocked by cars waiting at a stop light. Cranking the throttle all the way off, he hit the front and back brakes. He dropped the .45 and grabbed the handle bars as the rear wheel skidded sideways. Leaning into the slide, he straightened up the bike.

Becky was screaming behind him as he shot between the cars into the intersection. A tractor-trailer driver locked up his brakes, smoke curled up from the tires. He saw a car in the other lane enter the intersection. He cranked open the throttle and shot back up to seventy. He flashed by in front of the car, if it had another coat of paint on it, it would have hit the rear fender of the bike.

On the other side of the intersection was the entrance ramp down to the interstate. The ramp was clear, so he cranked it up to a hundred and entered the four-lane highway.

Becky shouted in his ear, “Slow this goddamn thing down!”

Zeb ignored her. He wanted to get out of the area before the law arrived. He took the Eden exit and took a side road back to Twin Falls. At the edge of town, he saw an abandoned Texaco filling station. Wheeling into the lot, he got off the bike and tried the garage door. It was locked, so he searched around until he found a six foot length of two inch pipe. Wedging the pipe under the door, he gave a quick jerk upward. The lock snapped and the door rolled upward a couple feet. Rolling the door up, he walked the Harley into the garage. Closing the door, he leaned against the wall and started shaking. He shook so hard, his feet wouldn’t hold him up.

As he slid down the wall, Becky asked, “Are you all right?”

“Give me a minute, it’s just the reaction setting in from our wild ride.” It took fifteen minutes for him to get enough strength to stand up. He looked around the garage and saw that it hadn’t been shut down long.

“Why are we hiding in this garage?” Becky asked as she went to the windows in the door and looked out.

“I don’t know if your friends from the restaurant are dead, I hope not. After the police get a look at the rear tire on their truck, they’ll be asking a lot of questions. After adding up the information, they’ll be looking for a red Harley motorcycle. Since so many people saw us roar off down the interstate, the cops will be looking for us down the road. In a few days, the search will ease up and we can leave.”

He pulled a clean pair of pants and shirt out of a saddle bag. Going to the back of the garage, he found the bathroom. Entering it, he smelled the faint odor of disinfectant. Since the electricity wasn’t on, he had to leave the door cracked as he changed. Tucking his shirt into his pants, he walked back to the Harley. He dug a pair of tennis shoes out of a saddle bag.

“I thought I saw a motel across the field in back of the garage. After it get’s dark, we’ll walk over and get a room. How much money do you have?” he asked.

She took her billfold out of her purse and counted the money in it. “I have sixty-three dollars.”

“With the hundred and three I have, we can stay at the motel for at least a week; by then, it should be safe to leave.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking. He found out she was thirty-six years old, which surprised him. She didn’t look a day over twenty. She left home when she was sixteen and went to live with an aunt in California. She arrived during the depression and times were lean.

She worked two, and sometimes three, jobs for next to nothing. Her aunt and uncle took all of her money, saying they would save it for her. About a year later, she heard them talking one evening about an investment they had made and lost a lot of money on. Her aunt wanted to know how they would tell Becky all her money was gone. Her uncle figured they would keep quiet and not say anything.

Becky went to her room and cried. How could they? She kept only enough money out of her pay to buy toiletries. She didn’t even keep any for her lunches. She checked her diary and saw that her aunt and uncle had lost nine hundred and seventy-three dollars of her money.

In the late twenties, that was a lot of money. She waited until the end of the week when she got her paychecks from the three jobs she worked and bought a bus ticket to Seattle. She got an apartment and found a job. A few years later, she fell for a biker by the name of Juggs. Over the next ten years, they would break up and get back together often. He came back two years ago, after being gone for five, and she took him back. He left her again last year for a younger girl in Boise.

Zeb looked up and saw that it was dark outside. He helped her to her feet and they went out the back door of the garage. She held his hand as they walked across the field. He rented a room for ten dollars a day and paid for seven days.

In the room, he pulled two chairs together, lay down on them, and went to sleep instantly. Becky woke him a few hours later and told him to come get in bed before he broke his back. He went to the closet and got the extra blanket on the shelf.

Becky lay in the bed with the sheet pulled up to her neck. He walked over and lay down on the bed and spread the cover from the closet over himself. He bunched the pillow under his head and turned his back to her. In no time at all, he was softly snoring.

The next morning, he took a shower, and then they went to the restaurant for breakfast. All morning, Becky didn’t say a word.

Finally, he could take the silence no longer and asked her if something was bothering her.

“How could you turn your back to me and go to sleep last night?” she said, glaring at him.

With a puzzled look on his face, he stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

“How do you think I felt staying awake most of the night waiting for you to make your move? You were snoring, getting a good night’s sleep. How do you think I feel? You could have at least made an effort to seduce me.” She pouted.

He scratched his head. “Let me get this straight. Last night, you wanted me to seduce you. If I had tried to seduce you, you would have refused and put me in my place. Now, you’re mad at me because I did what you told me to do in the first place.” He threw his hand up in the air. “Women, go figure!”

He walked from the room and went to the motel bar. After three beers, he began to get mad. An additional two beers later, he left the bar. He went into the room they shared. It was empty. It took him a moment to realize the shower in the bathroom was running. A little inebriated, he pushed open the bathroom door. Becky stood in the middle of the room without a stitch on. God, she was beautiful. Her pert breasts turned up with the nipples pointed in the air. He could probably put one hand around her waist.

“Do you like what you see?” she asked in a coy voice.

He forgot that he was mad at her and just stared.

“Cat got your tongue, Zeb?” She did a three hundred sixty degree turn with her hands above her head.

Zeb felt himself flush. The blood rushing to his head after all the beer he drank made him a little nauseous. He turned and staggered from the room and sat down in a chair.

“What is it with you, Zeb? What does a woman have to do to get you to pay attention to her? You’ve seen everything I have to offer. What more can I do?” She stood in the door of the bathroom with tears in her eyes.

He stood and walked over to her. Grabbing her under her arms, he lifted her and kissed the tears from her eyes. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled his lips down to hers. She was so light, he hardly felt her weight at all. He staggered to the bed and fell on his back.

Becky clutched the neck of his shirt and pulled. One after another, the buttons popped off the shirt. His hands were busy, caressing her small breasts. She slid from his grasp and attacked his pants. Loosening the belt, she unsnapped them and jumped off the bed. Grabbing each pant leg by the cuff, she yanked them off.

He couldn’t believe her energy. Before he could even move, she was on top of him, guiding his manhood into her. She rotated her hips and lunged up and down, draining him in moments. He lay there with a dazed look on his face. What the hell had just happened?

He rolled over to see Becky curled up, fast asleep. He pulled the covers over her and eased out of bed. Putting on his pants, he sat down in a chair across from the bed and watched her sleep. She was so small. She looked like a child curled up under the blankets. Her closed eyes fluttered and he knew she was dreaming. This woman with a child’s body fascinated him.

They stayed together, traveling from state to state, working when they needed money. Back then, right after World War II, part-time jobs were plentiful. He grew to love Becky and no one could find one without the other nearby.

Eighteen months after he met Becky, she began to have dizzy spells. A few of the doctors she went to told her she was just going through the change of life. Her dizzy spells got worse. A doctor in Little Rock told them she had a brain tumor and there was nothing he could do for her. He told Zeb she would be dead in less than two years.

They traveled to Tennessee and rented a house in the small town of Pigeon Forge. Zeb got a job at the lumber mill outside town, and they settled down to a domesticated life.

The next fourteen months were sheer bliss for him. He would come home after a hard day’s work to a prepared meal. After the meal, they would sit around talking, or go out to a movie. On weekends, if the weather was nice, they would hop on the Harley and go camping in the Smoky Mountains.

One day, he came home from work to find her lying on the kitchen floor. Rushing her to the hospital, the doctors examined her. They told him she had a stroke because of the tumor, and only had a few days to live. He stayed by her hospital bed, wiping drool from her mouth, twenty-four hours a day.

Unable to speak, he could see the love in her eyes and would talk to her for hours about places they had been and things they had done. Five days later as he held her hand, she gave a sigh, and her small chest failed to rise and fall. He sat there, simply holding her hand, silent tears dropping to the bed, until the nurse came in to check on her. They gently led him from the room, whispering condolences to him.

He buried her in an area on the North Carolina-Tennessee border she had liked. A week later, he quit his job, sold everything they had acquired in the last eighteen months, and mounted his Harley. He headed west, spending many a night in abandoned houses, crying for the woman he lost.

After that, he never let a woman get close to him. He had many romantic encounters, but none of the women came close to measuring up to Becky, so in the end, he would hop on his Harley and ride out of their lives.

He didn’t realize Org was speaking to him until the animal pulled on his sleeve. Breaking out of his reminiscing, he asked, “What? What do you want, Org?”

“My creatures tell me that Joe is a long way ahead of us. He is headed toward Canada. We will take the most direct route and get there before he does.”

Zeb pulled over to the side of the road and took an atlas out of his pack. He would take I-25 to Northern Wyoming and pick up I-90, which would take them into Montana. Basically, the same route he judged Joe would take. Unless Org caught on to what he was doing, they would be behind Joe all the way. Putting away the map, he pulled onto the road heading for the interstate.

Chapter 20

Joe looked through the binoculars at the town below him. Men were loading trucks from a warehouse at the edge of town. A large group of heavily armed men surrounded the warehouse. He turned to Jake, “What do you make of the stuff they’re putting in those trucks?”

“That’s a computer plant down there, so that must be what they’re loading. I wonder why they want so many? All that firepower for protection tells us they must be valuable to someone,” Jake answered.

“Well, we can’t go anywhere until they leave. Why don’t you try and get to the rear of the warehouse and see if you can hear where they’re headed?” Joe told Jake.

“Right, where will you be?” Jake asked.

“Remember that little house up the draw about a mile back? We’ll be there waiting on you. Be careful, Jake,” Joe said.

After Joe left, Jake moved back from the hill overlooking the town. He circled the base of the hill until he came to a ravine. Dodging from one clump of trees to another, he came to a bridge.

Climbing the bank under the bridge, he settled beside one of the pillars that held the bridge up. He heard the diesel engines from the trucks, and could hear men talking, but couldn’t understand what they were saying.

He ducked behind the pillar as a man walked to the edge of the ravine fifty feet from him and watched as the soldier relieved himself over the bank. After the guy left, Jake crawled to the bridge and wedged himself between an abutment and the railing.

Across the bridge, Jake saw several men spread out along the base of the hill he had left. Their attention was focused outward, so he wasn’t afraid they would see him. Still, he kept a wide steel beam between him and them.

Through the latticework of the railing, Jake watched the men at the warehouse, which was less than a hundred feet away. They were a scruffy-looking bunch. Each of them carried a rifle or pistol and they looked like they knew how to use them.

The last truck moved to the loading dock and boxes were loaded into the back of it. A huge man sat in a new Ford Explorer talking on a radio. Jake thought the man was deformed; he had a bald head and large bumps all over his face.

Jake thought Joe’s arms were big, but they were matchsticks compared to those of this man. He didn’t seem to like what he was hearing over the radio. Shouting a curse, he threw the receiver on the seat and stormed over to the warehouse. He yelled something to the men who were loading the truck, and their movements became faster.

Wonder what that’s all about?

Jake heard voices approaching on the other side of the abutment he hid behind. Scrunching down even lower, he tried to make himself as small as possible.

He heard a male voice say, “Why is Andy so upset by an old man and a bunch of dogs?”

“You weren’t here when this old coot and his dogs took out Greg and his men. We listened to it over the radio and I tell you, the hair stood up on the back of my head,” said a second voice.

The first man chuckled and said, “I don’t believe it. A bunch of grown men afraid of a few animals and an old man?”

“Damn right, I’m scared. Greg had over a hundred men with him when he started after Joe. Along the way, the dogs took out over half of them and ate them before their bodies had a chance to cool. After Joe’s group killed half the people in town, this old man came in with his dogs and killed the rest. He’s after Joe; just like we are. If we would’ve known that, Greg and his men would still be alive. If he is headed this way, I want to be long gone before he gets here. If the man and his critters are on the move, you can bet Joe is out of the mountain. I tell you firsthand that Joe and his people are just as bad as the dogs,” the second man said.

“Isn’t he the one with the giant wolf?” asked the first man.

“Don’t even talk about that wolf around here. Most of us get skittish every time the subject is brought up,” said the second man in a nervous voice.

“Seem’s to me all of you could use a little backbone. I have yet to see the dog or wolf I’m afraid of,” said the first man in a belligerent voice.

“Good, then you can stay behind and find out what the old coot wants,” the second man said.

“Wait a minute. Just because I’m not afraid, doesn’t mean I’m stupid,” the first man hurriedly said.

“Just as I thought, talk’s cheap. Let’s go help them load the truck so we can get out of here.”

Jake heard them arguing as they left. He waited until they were at the warehouse and eased from behind the abutment. He went to the bottom of the ravine and jogged until it was safe to climb out. At the road, he checked both ways, then continued between the hills until he came to the side road where Joe stood guard.

Joe stepped from behind a tree, “Are they after you?”

Jake waved his hand for Joe to give him time to catch his breath. Hands on knees, he said, “Zeb is heading this way and the men are in a hurry to leave.”

“Did they say how far back he is?” Joe asked.

“No, but from the way they’re acting; he can’t be too far away,” Jake answered, straightening up.

“Stand guard while I go get Gail and the kids,” Joe said and took off at a run up the dirt road. Ten minutes later, he came back behind the wheel of the beat-up Ford Ranger. Polly and the kids were in the back. Jake jumped in the back with them and Joe pulled onto the road. He drove to just below the top of the hill, leading down to the town, and parked the truck beside the road. Together, they crawled to the top of the hill and looked down at the town.

“We need two bigger vehicles, Jake. See if you can spot two full-sized pickups. I’ll take the west side of town. You take the east,” Joe said, raising his binoculars to his eyes.

They heard someone blow a horn three times, wait a few seconds, then repeat the signal. The men standing guard made their way to the trucks, where they climbed in the back of them. Soon, they heard the grinding of gears and watched the trucks pull onto the main street and head away from them.

“I spotted a car lot on the other side of town,” Jake said.

Running back to the pickup, Jake jumped in the back while Joe got behind the wheel. As they topped the hill, Jake saw the last truck disappear across a hill on the other side of town. Joe drove down the main street until he came to the car lot Jake had seen. Looking at the vehicles, Jake realized where the new Ford Explorer the leader of the men was driving came from. There were over fifty brand-new cars and trucks of every model sitting on the lot. Gail, Polly and the kids were checking out the cars while Joe and Jake looked at the trucks.

“A car would be nice, but where we’re going, a four-wheel drive truck would be better,” Joe said, opening the door of a rugged looking Ford pickup.

Jake wondered over to a Jeep Grand Wagoneer sitting in the corner of the lot. After checking it out, he said, “This will give us enough room for one or two to sleep in the back while another drives. You can take the pickup and haul Stalker’s body in it. We can switch drivers a couple times a day. That monster will beat your kidneys to death in no time.”

They went into the building and found the office. Keys were spread all over the floor and desk. After half a dozen tries, they found the keys to fit the pickup and Wagoneer. They put Stalker’s body in the back of the pickup, along with the supplies they brought. They found a couple CB radios and mounted them in the vehicles. Gail, Polly and Tommy got in the Wagoneer with Jake, while Tammy climbed in the cab of the pickup with Joe. Joe pulled out of the lot in the lead, with Jake close behind. They went in the same direction as the men with the trucks full of computers. As Joe drove, Tammy looked at a map she found at the car lot.

“About ten miles ahead, a four-lane highway cuts across this road. It goes north into Wyoming. If the men ahead of us remain on this road, we can use that one,” Tammy told him.

Joe played with the radio, trying to pick up the channel the men ahead of them were using. A voice blared from the speaker on channel twenty-seven. He turned the volume down and heard a man say, “Damn it, Andy, if we take Route 36 south, we can be there in two hours.”

Tammy was busy trying to find the route on the map when another voice said, “Okay, we’ll go that way, but if we break down in that godforsaken land, I’m going to beat you to a pulp.”

“Good, we can stay on 34 and hit I-25 at Loveland. It’ll take us north to Cheyenne and on to Casper,” Tammy said.

Joe changed the CB to channel three and told Jake the route they were going to take. Everything was going fine; they were making good time. About ten miles from Cheyenne, Jake came on the radio saying, “We have company behind us, Joe.”

Joe looked behind them in the big side view mirror. Miles back down the road, he saw the headlights of a bunch of vehicles. Picking up the mike, he said, “Jake, we have to get off the interstate before they get close enough to see that we’re not from around here.”

Tammy was looking at the map, trying to find a road breaking away from the interstate. “According to the map, there’s nothing between here and Cheyenne.”

“They’ll catch up to us by then, unless I speed up and I don’t want to go roaring into Cheyenne without first checking it out.” Rounding a curve, Joe saw a bridge ahead. He jerked the truck toward the berm and went down the steep grade. A fence to keep animals off the road ran along the bottom of the bank. He steered between two posts and heard a screeching as the fence broke and scraped the sides of the truck. Cutting the wheel to the left, he gunned the motor and pulled the lever up into four-wheel low range.

In the rearview mirror, he saw Jake steer the Wagoneer through the fence. Bouncing over ruts and holes, he drove off the bank into the shallow stream. For a moment, the rear bumper hung up on the bank until the front wheels dug in and pulled it off. Keeping near the bank, he drove under the bridge.

Jake pulled up beside him a few moments later. Now it all depended on whether the people behind them saw them leave the road. Joe got out of the truck and was joined by Jake.

“Get your rifle and join me near the top,” Joe said and started up the bank. He climbed up under the bridge. He crawled up until he came to a guardrail. Lying on his stomach, he looked back down the road. Still a couple miles away, he saw the cars approaching. Jake crawled up beside him.

When they got closer, Joe saw it was a large convoy of cars and trucks. They all had their lights on, though it wasn’t dark enough to require their use yet. A bright yellow Chevy pickup was in the lead, with the back of it filled with people. From the looks of it, they were having a good time.

They saw several of the people raise bottles to their lips and drink. As the truck went by, Joe and Jake both jumped as a beer bottle broke against the guardrail a dozen feet from them. They heard the people whooping and yelling.

Two dozen cars and trucks passed and still the end of the convoy wasn’t in sight. A little way down the road, they saw a pickup pull out of the line of traffic onto the berm. The truck slowed as it approached the bridge.

Joe tapped Jake on the shoulder and motioned backward. They crawled back until they could get under the bridge. They heard the men in the pickup shout insults at the cars going by. The crunch of loose asphalt stopped twenty feet out on the bridge.

“Damn, Buster, I thought you were never going to stop. My eyes are going down for the third time,” a man on the bridge above them said. Moments later, a stream of yellow liquid fell from above to hit the ground. Soon, there were half a dozen streams falling from the top of the bridge. A whiskey bottle floated over the side and broke on a rock near the stream bank.

They heard another vehicle pull in behind the pickup. A woman’s voice said, “Any of you boys up for a little loving?”

“Who in their right mind would fuck an ugly bitch like you, Susan?” one of the men yelled in a drunken voice.

“Listen to who’s talking, girls. Shorty no-dick, calling me ugly. Let me tell you something, girls, even when Shorty has a hard-on, you can barely see his dick, it’s so small.” Men and women laughed at that.

“That’s because the only thing you’ve humped in the last five years, Susan, is that old German shepherd of yours.”

“He’s a hell of a lot better than you are, Shorty,” yelled the woman. This caused another round of laughter.

“Come on, Buster. Let’s get the hell out of here,” the insulted Shorty said.

“Hold your horses, Shorty. Susan may be ugly, but some of those girls with her are pretty cute. Hey, Susan, ask that cute little blond sitting next to you if she wants to play dip the wick with me?” Buster yelled.

“She says catch her tonight, and she’ll fuck your brains out,” Susan yelled back.

“Damn it, the bitch knows we’re leaving for Casper at midnight,” Buster muttered. He got the men back on the truck and they pulled in behind the last car.

“Shit, they’re going the same way we are,” Jake said, after the cars were out of sight.

“He said they weren’t leaving until midnight. That gives us six hours to get a long way in front of them. Either they’re meeting another group in Casper, or the city is held by people like us. We’ll give them another fifteen minutes, then get back on the road,” Joe said, sliding down the bank to the truck. Joe had to use the winch on the front of the pickup to pull the Wagoneer up the creek bank. Joe climbed the bank to the highway on foot and looked both ways along the highway, then motioned for Jake and Gail to drive up to the road.

Tammy was studying a detailed map of Cheyenne. She raised her head and said, “There’s a beltway around the city. If we take it, we might not run into those people again.”

“Oh, no,” Joe heard Jake groan.

“What’s the matter, Jake?”

“Look back to where the stream comes through the mountain.”

Joe looked that way and at first, didn’t see anything. Then he saw a dog climb out of the stream. It was followed by a dozen more. They all stood there, staring in Joe’s direction. He saw movement on the mountain and watched a pack of dogs come over the top of it. “How could Zeb have caught up with us so fast?”

“Zeb’s a long way back, I’ll bet. His animals are keeping track of us,” Gail said.

“Joe, I was listening to the CB and they were talking about all the groups meeting in a place called Colter Bay in Western Wyoming. They’re talking about capturing a town just across the Montana border. From their conversations, I gather this town has withstood attacks by groups they sent in to take it in the last month. The town is just south of I-91, that’s the road we wanted to use. Maybe we can take the time to warn the town. The numbers I get are about five thousand will be attacking. With some warning, the townspeople may be able to hold them off. What do you think?” Tammy asked.

“We’ll try, Tammy. A lot depends on what happens between here and there. The people who just passed are supposed to link up with another group in Casper tomorrow, and we’ll need to find a way around it. I figure three hours hard travel will get us close to the city. I would like to get there around two or three in the morning. At that time of night, it isn’t likely we’ll be spotted,” Joe told her.

“First, we have to get by Cheyenne,” Jake mentioned.

“One thing at a time,” Joe muttered.

They traveled up the interstate with Joe and Tammy a mile ahead of Jake and the Wagoneer. Topping a small hill, he saw the start of Cheyenne ahead of them. Joe pulled to the side of the road and took out his powerful binoculars. He spotted the beltway around the city. The people who passed them were parked at a McDonald’s where the interstate ran into the roadway Joe wanted to take. From the looks of things, they planned to spend the night there. The beltway cut through the suburbs, as far as he could see, and they were sure to be spotted if they tried to reach it. Joe backed the truck to the other side of the hill and joined Jake, who had waited there.

“Jake, wait here and keep an eye on the people in town. Tammy and I are going back to try and find out how many dogs are following us. We’ll be back around dark.”

“Okay, check in every half hour. Subtract four from the channel I tell you to check in on the next time. If they do pick us up on the radio, that should fool them for no longer than we’re on the air,” Jake told him.

Joe kissed Gail and stilled her protests about going with him. He told her not to worry about Tammy, saying they had been through many situations like this. He climbed in the pickup and turned around. Tammy waved at Tommy as they started back down the road.

Five miles down the road, they spotted their first dog standing along the interstate. The dog was gaunt, nothing but skin and bones. Tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth, it was barely able to stand up on its wobbly legs. Half a mile further, they saw another one beside the road. It lay on its side feebly kicking, as it tried to get to its feet. The animal’s sides heaved in and out. Stopping twenty feet from it, they watched its body convulse several times and lay still. Down the straight stretch of road, they saw several dogs climb up the bank to the interstate. Upon reaching the road, they ran on wobbly legs toward where Joe sat in the truck.

“The damn things are running themselves to death trying to keep up with us,” he told Tammy.

“Joe, if we take off back the way we came, they’ll follow us. Any different dogs will be weakened by the time we turn around. We’ll never get rid of them completely, because wherever we go, there are bound to be dogs. If we can keep them running themselves into the ground to keep up with us, they won’t be able to gather in large numbers.”

“Good idea, Tammy,” Joe said as he put the pickup in gear. Soon, they were rolling back down the highway toward Denver. Several times, Joe swerved to miss dogs on the road. The further south they went, the more animals they saw.

Twenty miles south of where they started, they saw more dead dogs lying on the road and in the fields to the side. A chill ran down Joe’s back. Anything as determined as these animals were was a force to be reckoned with.

Fifty miles down the road, he pulled into a rest stop and waited until he spotted the first dogs loping up the road behind them. When they were a quarter of a mile away, Joe turned around, crossed the medium and floored the truck and headed back north.

Every now and then, a few of the dogs would throw themselves in front of the truck. Joe knew what they were trying to do. If enough of them could get in front of him, he would be forced to slow down. If that happened, the dogs would be able to throw enough bodies in front of the truck to cause him to stop. Lucky for him, he had turned the front wheel hubs to lock at the rest stop. This allowed Joe to use the brute strength of the rugged four-wheel drive.

With yelps and howls of pain, the dogs continued to throw themselves in front of the truck. The steering wheel jerked back and forth in his hands as the front wheels hit them. His speed had dropped from fifty to thirty since hitting the first wave of dogs. Reaching down, he pulled the floor lever up into four-wheel drive high. He felt the front wheels spin as they crushed panting dogs beneath them. Although he had the gas pedal floored, their speed continued to drop. When the speedometer reached fifteen miles an hour, Joe pulled the lever up into four-wheel low. The wide, deep lugged tires dug and spun on the flesh under them. At times, the front of the truck was a foot off the pavement, before the spinning tires dug through the flesh to the road. They were going so slow, the dogs launched themselves at the windows.

Joe began to think they weren’t going to make it when, with one last bump over the bodies, he saw clear road ahead. Wiping the sweat from his face, Joe once again floored the truck until he was a quarter mile ahead of the pack of dogs that loped after them. He slowed down enough to take the truck out of four-wheel drive.

Joe accelerated until they were doing just under seventy, leaving the dogs behind. The steering wheel jerked back and forth slightly in his hands. A tie-rod must have bent while he drove over the dogs. If the jerking became worse, he would have to slow down.

Until then, he was going to put as much distance between him and the dogs as he could. The last ten miles was clear of dogs. They had all taken off south after him. He guessed they had gained an hour, maybe two, before enough of the dogs could get there to cause trouble.

It was almost dark when he pulled up beside the Wagoneer. He could barely make out Jake, lying at the top of the hill.

Pushing open his door, he was struck by the smell of blood and flesh. The outside of the truck smelled like a slaughterhouse. Holding his nose, he got down on his hands and knees to look under the truck. Pieces and parts of dogs were wedged everywhere. He saw the reason for the vibration in the steering wheel. A small dog was wedged between the tie-rod and the frame. The still alive dog snapped at him as he reached to pull it out.

Sliding the big gator knife out of its sheath on his leg, Joe cut the animal’s throat. Waiting until it was dead, he pulled it out and threw it to the side of the road.

Jake walked from the top of the hill and eyed the gore all over the truck. “They’ve settled down for the evening. They didn’t even post a guard,” he told Joe.

From the south, they could faintly hear the mournful howls of dogs. “I had hoped to wait until later before going in and hitting the beltway. With the racket the dogs are making as they come up the road, the people will be on the alert. If we try to sneak through without lights and are spotted, they’ll be on us before we know it. I suggest we drive to the beltway, nice and slow, like we belong there. If anyone sees us, they’ll think we’re part of their group, or stragglers from another, and won’t pay attention to us,” Joe told them.

With Joe in the lead, they drove across the hill and down into the valley. No one came out to stop them. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they left the city.

Chapter 21

Zeb parked the dune buggy at the top of the hill overlooking Casper. Thousands of dogs spread out on either side of the hill. Many of them could hardly stand; they had been running for so long.

“This is doing us no good, old one. Too many of my creatures are dying because of the pace we are setting. At this rate, I will lose half of my creatures. No, we must set a more leisurely pace to allow them to keep up without killing themselves. Have no fear, old one, we will catch Joe. It will just take a little longer.”

Zeb stared at Org, then looked down in the valley. He saw smoke rising from a lot of chimneys. This must be an area where the power is off. They had run across several areas like that. To warm themselves, people had taken to staying in houses with wood stoves or fireplaces.

Most of the time, they broke up furniture from nearby houses to use as fuel. In some of the towns they passed through, Zeb had noticed some freshly burned homes. He imagined it happened when some city slicker tried to use the woodstoves and didn’t know how they operated.

His heart ached for what the country was becoming. In small ways, the standard of living was falling. Some people, sane and crazy, wouldn’t get through another winter if the electricity continued to fail, as was happening now. So used to turning a switch and having heat to warm them on cold winter nights, they wouldn’t be able to cope with the cold. Modern living was nice, he had to admit, but too many people had forgotten the lessons they had learned in the past. Now that simply staying alive was a struggle, many of them wouldn’t make it.

Org interrupted his thoughts by saying, “There is a strange source of power in that town. Can you not feel the probe it is sending out, old one? It is like a radar beacon, sweeping round and round. We must be careful until we discover what it is.”

Zeb reached out with his mind. Aided by the part of Org in his brain, he felt the sweep of the probe as it passed. It was low level and seemed to pose no menace. He felt it was searching for something. Everything it came across, it ignored. He knew the one thing Org couldn’t stand was to be ignored. Around him, the dogs came to their feet and split into two groups. One headed for the east side of town, while the rest headed toward the west. They took their time, conserving energy.

“Take us back to the other side of the hill, and out of sight, old one. I want to wait until my creatures report to me before we continue.”

Zeb backed the dune buggy over the hill and pulled to the side of the road. He took the small cooler, which was tied to the back, and walked over to a shady tree. Sitting on the grass, he lifted a container of bottled water out of the cooler. He sipped from the bottle as Org paced up and down the road.

Putting up his defenses, he withdrew into his mind and tried to find out what was disturbing Org. Flickering images of power and something else that hid in the shadows flickered across Org’s mind. Org was thinking about going on, but still wanted to find out what this new source of power was before he continued.

Zeb heard the frantic messages Org sent to the dogs, who were entering Casper. More than anything else, Org was confusing them. Some concepts, they just weren’t able to comprehend. Power was one of them. To the dogs, power meant either a car or a firearm.

They reported seeing all kinds of cars and trucks. A few of them reported seeing humans with guns. The more Org explained these weren’t what he was looking for, the more confused the dogs became.

Zeb felt Org block the probe every time it passed over them. At first, Zeb didn’t notice the probe had stopped its regular pattern. Org didn’t either. He was concentrating on getting information from his dogs.

When Org kept throwing up a block for the probe and it wasn’t there, Zeb noticed its absence. This was another piece of information Zeb might find useful in the future. Org couldn’t concentrate on more than one or two things at a time.

Zeb was the first one to notice it, only because he was watching for a change. He felt something coming from the town and drew his mind back. On the road, Org let out a howl of pain and ran in circles.

Gently, Zeb drew back into the edges of Org’s mind. He was hit by a mind-numbing pain. He saw Org throwing up mind blocks, which were torn down as soon as he erected them. Org severed the link with the dogs in town and the pain quit.

The power had used the link between Org and the dogs to get to him. Zeb withdrew and stumbled to the dune buggy where he rummaged in his pack until he found a bottle of aspirins. Taking off the cap, he poured half a dozen tablets into his hand and then in his mouth. He washed them down with water. His head felt like it was going to burst. Zeb felt the beat of his heart in the temples of his head.

Turning around, he saw Org lying in the road. The small dog’s sides heaved rapidly in and out as he tried to cope with the pain. Staggering to where Org lay, Zeb lifted the small dog and carried it to the dune buggy. He laid Org on the seat and forced an aspirin between his teeth and down his throat. Holding Org’s head with one hand, he tilted the bottle of water and let the liquid trickle into the dog’s open mouth. Org sputtered and clawed Zeb’s arm as he tried to get away. Zeb held him tight until the aspirin kicked in.

“Thank you, old one. The thing you gave me has eased the pain enough for me to block it. Now that I have some idea of what it is, it will not happen again.”

“What was it that caused you so much pain?”

“You will not understand, old one, but I will tell you, anyway. The pulse that came down the link between me and my creatures was a form of pure negative energy. In your world, almost everything operates on a positive energy source. When the negative energy hit my positively-charged brain cells, it started short-circuiting them. If I had not broken the link with my creatures, it would have destroyed my mind, and yours as well. Whoever or whatever the source of power is, it knew exactly how to get to me. This worries me. I knew nothing of, nor have heard of, a mind as powerful as this. We will remain here until I find out what sort of creature can do this to me. We will go back to the small town we passed and find shelter for the day.”

Org was right about one thing, Zeb didn’t understand any of his explanation. All he knew about positive and negative charges was how they hooked up to the battery in a car. The red lead was connected to the post with a plus mark beside it and the black to the one with the minus mark. All this talk about positive and negative energy went completely over his head.

He carried Org over and laid him on the seat. Zeb climbed behind the wheel and headed back down the road. Fifteen miles later, they came to the town, if it could be called that. There were only six buildings and they weren’t in the best shape. He drove up to the largest building, which had a post office, store and bar on the ground floor. Entering the post office first, he found the floor littered with letters and half the mail boxes had the doors smashed off them. Mail bags were thrown around, some of them still containing mail.

Shaking his head, Zeb went next door to the store. The door hung by only one hinge and canted sharply down. He had to lift up and drag it open. The place looked like a bomb had hit it. Glass jars of food lay broken all across the floor. Most of the stuff that would rot had already done so. The place still smelled rank. He backed out, holding his nose. Taking a few deep breaths, he washed the stench from his lungs.

Walking down to the corner of the building, he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. When he looked in that direction, he couldn’t spot anything. Opening the door leading to the bar, he was surprised to find it in good shape. Everything was a little dusty, but all in all, the place wasn’t trashed.

Going behind the bar, he slid back the lid on one of the large beer coolers. The thing was half full of warm beer. He lifted one out and twisted the cap off. Taking a sip of the warm liquid, he spat it out. If he had some ice to cool it in, it wouldn’t taste half bad. On the shelf behind the bar were several bottles of whiskey. He picked up a bottle of Scotch and took a drink. The stuff burned all the way to the bottom of his stomach. His eyes watering, he put the cap back on the bottle. The place wasn’t big. It had four small tables and a dozen bar stools. An old Wurlitzer jukebox stood in the corner. A coal stove sat against the back wall near a door, leading to the back of the building.

Going to the door, his hand brushed against the stove. He jerked it back and gently touched it with his other hand. The metal was hot to the touch. Someone had built a fire in it recently. Probably last night to take off the chill.

Carefully, he eased the door open. The room had a bed and chest of drawers in it. Crossing the room, he bent down and looked at the white quilt covering the well-made bed. Not a speck of dust could he see. He checked the floor for footprints. The only ones visible were his own, leading to the door in the thin layer of dust.

Taking his cap off, Zeb scratched his head. He knew someone had slept in the bed; otherwise, the quilt would have been dusty. How they reached the bed without leaving footprints was a mystery. The top of the chest of drawers had a film of dust on it. A six by eight picture of a young man and a redheaded girl sat there. He ran his finger across the top of the frame. No dust on it, which meant it had been placed there recently.

He opened a door on the other side of the room and found a walk-in closet. Shirts and pants hung on a bar near the rear, along with a few dresses. Near the inside wall were several pair of blue jeans and some pullover shirts. They belonged to a much smaller person and didn’t have any dust where they crossed the clothes hangers. He guessed they belonged to whomever was staying here. Leaving the room, he crossed to the front door. Org waited patiently on the porch outside the bar.

“Is this place suitable for us, old one?” he asked as he trotted through the door Zeb held open for him.

“Yes, this will do and we can even have a fire tonight to warm our bones.” He decided not to tell Org the place had been recently occupied. Org sniffed around the room. He snorted as dust entered his nose and gave up.

Zeb leaned against the bar, and tried to keep from laughing as Org inhaled a nose full of dust. Org finally went over and lay down under a window with sunshine streaming through it.

He opened the door on the stove and stirred the ashes around. Soon, he had some of the embers glowing. He placed a few small pieces of wood on the embers from a stack sitting off to the side of the stove. As the small pieces caught fire, he placed larger chunks on top of them.

Going out to the dune buggy, he un-strapped the cooler from the back and carried it inside. He put it on the bar and took out half a dozen cans of soda. He reached over and took the same number of cans of beer out of the broken cooler and put them in where the soda had been. The amount of ice he had was getting low, but he figured there was enough to cool the beers. He made himself a couple sandwiches and washed them down with one of the cold sodas taken from the cooler.

Org lay snoring in the patch of sunshine. Zeb decided to go out and sit on the porch. Carrying a chair from one of the tables near the door, he sat down and leaned back against the wall. Dogs wandered up and down the street looking for something to eat.

Occasionally, two of them would start fighting. For the most part, they were too fatigued to do much more than lay in the shade and sleep. He felt drowsy himself and fought against drifting into sleep.

After a while, he got up and walked across the street to another building. The door was locked so he broke one of the small panes of glass. Reaching through the hole, he unlocked it. The room was dark inside, so he raised the blinds on the windows. Turning to face the room, he jumped back startled. His heart racing, he noticed several people across the room.

Zeb started to speak, then noticed the expressions on their faces. They were frozen in different positions. He walked over to the nearest one and let out a sigh of relief. Mannequins, dressed up for display, eight of them stood in the corner. He touched one of them, as if to assure himself they were not real. One of the smaller mannequins, half-hidden behind another one, seemed familiar. He couldn’t place where he had seen the face before.

Shaking his head, Zeb turned to search the rest of the room. Merchandise lay on tables and hung on the walls. He saw carpenter tools and a harness for a team of horses.

Zeb couldn’t shake the feeling he had seen the small mannequin before. He rummaged around in a case that contained hand guns. A nice little .38 lay at the back. He picked it up and liked the feel of it in his hand. He put it in the waistband of his pants. Under a shelf were boxes of shells. Zeb opened a box of .38 shells and loaded the gun. He filled one of his pockets with more shells.

Straightening up, Zeb remembered where he had seen the face of the mannequin. The face belonged to the girl in the picture on the chest of drawers in the bedroom at the bar. With the .38 in his hand, he crossed to the mannequins. One of them was missing. He saw a partially open door behind the mannequins and went to it. Looking through the door, Zeb could see it was a storeroom. He heard hinges squeak and saw light flash at the back of the room. Going down an aisle between supplies, he came to an exit in the rear wall. Opening it, he shielded his eyes from the bright sunshine. He glanced to the left and right.

Damn, the girl was quick, he couldn’t see her anywhere. Placing the gun in the waistband of his pants, he closed the door. In the main room of the store, he picked up a pair of heavy work gloves and a bright orange baseball cap. Leaving the store, he looked up and down the street. He knew, at least one set of eyes watched him.

Zeb walked down to the filling station and went into the office. He would have to find some way to get gas out of the underground tanks. The dune buggy was almost empty. With the power off, the pumps outside wouldn’t work. He noticed an extension cord coming under the door leading to the bay area of the garage. Following it, Zeb ended up at the end of the office where it entered an electrical box. It was wired into a circuit breaker labeled: pump one.

Opening the bay door, he traced the cord to a small room in back of the garage. On the floor was a small, portable Honda generator. A flexible tube was clamped to the exhaust that went through a hole in the wall. He checked the generator and flipped on the switch. Pulling on the starter cord, the small engine coughed a few times. He pulled the choke halfway out and pulled the cord again. The engine sputtered as it started, and he adjusted the choke until it ran smoothly.

Going outside, he went to the pump at the end and flipped the lever down. The numbers rolled back to zero and the motor in the pump kicked on. He squeezed the handle on the nozzle and gas spurted out of the hose. Neat, very neat, now he could fill the dune buggy and the extra gas cans strapped to the front bumper. He went back and shut off the generator. For a piddling little nothing of a town, someone had done a lot of work to make sure needed things would work.

Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his head around. A fleeting flash of red showed near the window. Taking his time, he went outside and ambled to the end of the garage. He saw nothing but a few dogs wandering around. How could the person flit around without the dogs seeing them and raising a racket?

Zeb had a lot of questions and few answers. He left the garage and went back to the bar. Org had moved over near the stove and was fast asleep.

Lifting a beer out of the cooler, Zeb went back to the porch and sat down. Twisting off the cap, he sipped the semi-cold brew. It felt good going down. He finished it and set the empty can down beside the chair. The beer, combined with the warm afternoon air, soon had his head nodding on his chest.

Sunlight streaming over the lip of the porch roof woke him. Moving nothing but his eyes, he saw a girl standing at the end of the porch. She held her finger across her lips and motioned for him to follow her. Standing up, he looked to where the girl stood waiting. Several dogs passed within inches of her without noticing her. A lot of them glanced at him when he stood, but they acted as though the girl didn’t exist.

When he reached the end of the porch, she turned around and walked down the side of the building. Following her, Zeb noticed that she wasn’t very tall. He doubted if she was five feet. Her long red hair hung to her waist. She was so slim, that from the rear, it would be easy to mistake her for a boy. She stopped at a small house behind the bar and went inside.

Following her, Zeb paused at the door and looked around. The girl sat on a couch against the wall, with a television and chair across from her. She motioned for him to sit in the chair. Sitting, he looked at her. He flinched upon seeing the once-beautiful face, now mutilated. Ugly scars, a few months old, criss-crossed her face. Zeb saw that they had just recently stopped scabbing. “Who in the world done that to you, girl?”

She started writing in a tablet she held in her hand.

A group of men captured me six months ago and tortured me. Cut out my tongue and raped me. Who are you? Why are you traveling with that vile creature sleeping inside the bar?

Zeb told her his name and explained the creature was called Org. He told her how Org had put part of himself in Zeb’s mind and controlled him by using pain. He explained that he couldn’t kill Org, without the creature taking his life as well.

So you are a prisoner of this Org?

“I was, but I’m learning how to block most of the pain Org throws at me when I displease him. I act as if the pain is terrible and pretend I can’t take anymore, which causes him to stop. Slowly, I’m building buffers in my mind, which will allow me to escape from him. How can you walk around without the dogs noticing you?”

I don’t know. I was in the garage when you came into town. As I went out the back door, a large dog stood there looking at me. I thought it was all over. I knew he would get to me before I could make it back inside. I stood perfectly still. The dog got a puzzled look on his face and walked forward and stuck his head in the door. I was less than six inches from him and he completely ignored me. After a few minutes, he backed away and continued around the building. A little later, I ran into a pack standing in front of the hardware store. They didn’t pay attention to me. Stopping in front of one that looked really mean, I made as if to hit it. It paid no attention to me. That is how I found out the dogs cannot see me.

“How long have you been staying here and what happened to the boy I saw in the picture with you?”

The young man was to be my husband this June. We lived in a small town north of Denver. Neither of us caught the disease and we stayed in town while all the infected people went to Denver. For the first two weeks, we were left to ourselves.

One night after we went to bed, a bunch of them snuck up to the house we were in. They kicked the door in and held guns on us as we lay there. Roy jumped out of bed and asked what they thought they were doing. One of the men hit him over the head with the barrel of his rifle.

Two of them grabbed the covers from me and yanked them off. They stood around laughing and making jokes as I lay there trying to cover myself. Their leader was a short man, who, in the past, kept pestering me for a date. He walked over and slapped me. As my hands flew up to protect myself, he began to maul my breasts. I kicked out with my foot and hit him in the crotch. He fell to the floor with a grunt. The rest of his gang came over and held my arms and legs. Jack, the man I kicked, clawed his way up from the floor. His face was twisted with pain as he dug in his back pocket and brought out a switchblade knife. He brought the knife to my temple and slowly dragged it down to my chin leaving a gaping cut.

By this time, Roy had regained consciousness and saw what was going on. He rushed Jack and knocked him off me. Two of his gang grabbed Roy and held his arms. Jack had the men lead Roy over to the bed and place him in a kneeling position beside me. He had another man hold Roy’s head back. Jack whipped the switchblade across Roy’s throat. Blood squirted across the bed, landing on my face and upper body. I tried to get out of the way, but they held me down. Roy struggled so much, two more men had to grab and hold him. As the stream of blood slowed down, so did his struggles. From the waist up, I was covered with my loved one’s blood.

Not satisfied, Jack straddled my chest and went to work on my face with his knife. He only quit because my face had so much blood on it, he couldn’t find a clear place to cut anymore. He stood and yanked down his pants, then knelt beside my head. He tried to shove his member in my mouth. I snapped, they were going to kill me anyway, so I wanted to injure them in any way I could. I opened my mouth and took as much of Jack’s member as I could. He let out a sigh that turned to a scream as I clamped my teeth down. Shaking my head from side to side, I ground my jaws together. Suddenly, a gush of blood hit my face and Jack’s body fell away from me. In my hysterical state, I didn’t realize I had bitten his member off. The men fell back as Jack rushed toward them with blood spurting from below his waist. He rushed out of the room and that’s the last I seen of him.

The other men picked up the sheet and wiped some of the blood off me. While four of them held me, the rest raped me, some of them, twice. The pain became so bad, I passed out. I think my rapists must have thought I was dead, because when I woke up, they were gone.

The first thing I did was take a long shower and washed all the blood and sperm off me. I did the best I could for the cuts on my face. Putting my clothes on, I went to an outbuilding and found a shovel. Picking a place in the backyard where the ground was soft, I started digging. The sun was coming over the mountains when I finished. I was so weak, I had to drag Roy by his ankles out to the grave. I rolled him into the hole in the ground and said a silent prayer. I was completely exhausted by the time I finished burying him. Staggering into the house, I took another shower, then dropped into the bed in the spare bedroom.

When I woke up, it was dark again. Going to the kitchen, I heated a can of soup and made two sandwiches. After I finished eating, I packed a backpack with food and filled two canteens with water. Going outside, I looked up at the sky. I had no idea where I would go, but I wanted to be away from there in case the men returned. A meteor streaked across the sky in the north. It seemed like a good omen, so I took the back streets out of town and headed in that direction. I walked by night and hid during the day. I got here about a month ago and decided to stay until I made up my mind what I was going to do. Every now and then, groups of people go by on the interstate, but none of them stop. I started thinking I could spend the summer here without being disturbed. Then you showed up. Now I don’t know where I’ll go.

She handed him the pages as she wrote them. Finished, she hung her head to keep him from seeing her face.

“Now don’t be like that, girl. Maybe some of the young bucks would laugh and turn away from you, but I never will. Age teaches a body that it’s not what someone looks like on the outside, but what they have in their heart that makes them beautiful.” He reached over and raised her chin, looking her square in the eye to let her know he was serious.

Thank you. You’re so kind. If there were only more people like you in the world. That’s just wishful thinking, though. The world we knew no longer exists.

He read from the sheet of paper she handed him.

“Listen, girl, if the dogs can’t see you, do you think it’ll be the same way with Org?”

Only one way to find out.

Getting to her feet, she walked out of the house.

Zeb followed behind her as she marched up to the bar. Hesitating for a few seconds, she raised her head and pushed open the door and stepped into the room. She went to the left and placed her back to the wall. Zeb walked over to where Org slept and nudged him with his foot. His hand was at the small of his back wrapped around the .38. If Org could see the girl and wanted to harm her, Zeb was prepared to kill him, even if it meant Zeb’s own death.

“Why do you disturb me, old one? I need rest to recover from the strange power that attacked us this morning.” Climbing to his feet, he went to the water bowl Zeb had put against the bar.

The girl flapped her arms as Org walked to the water. She danced around him, but he never hesitated and went directly to the bowl and started lapping up water with his tongue.

“I didn’t get your name, girl,” he said as she raised herself to sit on the bar.

“Old one, why must you talk to yourself all the time?” he heard Org ask in his mind.

Zeb turned his head and smiled. Org couldn’t understand any spoken language. He could only impose his thoughts, which were turned into words in the mind he occupied. “I keep telling you, Org, I do it without realizing it. Talking to one’s self is something that happens to humans when they get old and I am older than most.”

“Try and control it more, old one. It is disturbing to hear you talking when I do not know what you are speaking about.” Org walked back to the stove and lay down beside it. “Wake me when it gets dark and we will travel back to the town with the strange power. Until then, do not disturb me.” He laid his head on his paws and was soon asleep.

Zeb walked over and took the piece of paper the girl held out to him. On it was written one word. Brianna.

“Well, Brianna, it looks like I’m the only one who can see you around here. Let me think on it a while and see if I can figure out a way of taking you with us.”

“Please, old one, must you? Go outside where I cannot hear your rumblings,” Org said in his mind.

Zeb headed for the door motioning for the girl to follow. Once outside, he sat down on the top step and patted the spot beside him for her to sit. “You can sleep in the bedroom and I’ll bring in my sleeping bag and spread it on the floor.”

No need to do that, we can both sleep on the bed. It’s big enough and I trust you.

Zeb read after she handed the sheet of paper.

“Listen, young lady, just because there’s frost on the roof and I’m old, doesn’t mean I don’t have desires. I do this for my own protection. I remember what you told me about the last fellow who tried to force himself on you. When I die, I want to go with everything I came into the world with,” he told her with a laugh.

Shyly, she lowered her head and wrote furiously on the page. Tearing it from the book, she handed it to him and turned her head, blushing a deep red.

I would be gentle with you Zeb. After all, you are old and I wouldn’t want to be the cause of your having a heart attack. I insist we sleep in the same bed. If your desires get the best of you, you might not find me as opposed to the idea as you think.

He put his right arm around her and drew her close. “Brianna, even if I wanted to make love to you, I couldn’t because you are so young and it would be like child-molesting to me.” He didn’t like the twinkle in her eye as she turned her head to look at him.

We shall see, old man.

She got up and pointed to herself and laid her head on her folded hands. She was telling him she was going in to sleep. The lingering look she gave him from the open door bothered him. “Be careful around this one,” he said.

He drove the dune buggy down to the gas pump and filled it up, along with the gas cans on the front fender. He parked in front of the bar and went inside. He looked in the bedroom and saw Brianna asleep on her side. He went back to the cooler on the bar and took out a cold beer. He downed it in three gulps and went into the bedroom. He pulled the covers aside on the left side of the bed and got under them with his clothes on. He was almost asleep, when Brianna turned over and threw her arm over him. She snuggled up close against his back with her head next to his. He lay there rigid, until sleep overtook him and he relaxed. He would have worried if he had seen the smile on Brianna’s face as he relaxed.

Chapter 22

Tammy sat bolt-upright from where she slept against the door. “Pull over quick, Joe,” she said, holding her head.

“What’s wrong, Tammy?” he asked, as he steered the pickup to the side of the road.

“I sense trouble ahead of us, lots of it. We need to get off this road and stay well away from Casper. This feeling has a different texture to it. I don’t think I’m sensing the crazy people, but others even deadlier.”

Joe sat there watching Tammy and gave her time to sort out the feelings she received. Jake walked up to his window and asked why they’d stopped. After Joe told him, he suggested they take the time to eat something. While Gail and Polly made sandwiches from their dwindling supply of cold cuts, Joe stayed near Tammy. After a while, she shook her head and sighed.

“Can you describe what you felt, Tammy?” Joe asked.

“It was the strangest feeling, Joe. It was like a blank. Nothing was there; yet at the same time, I could feel the presence of people. With the crazies, I feel their hate. It’s the overriding emotion they send out, but this is an entirely different feeling. I’m still getting a low-level sense of the crazies, who are all around us. That’s not the problem; they’re always there. This was more like a mind scan. It locked onto me for a moment, then continued on. While the thing was in my mind, I had the overwhelming feeling of hunger. Not for food, this hunger was like nothing I’ve ever experienced and it scares me. Whatever this thing is, it’s using the crazies ahead of us without their knowledge.”

Gail handed Tammy a sandwich and a soda. She nodded her head for Joe to follow her and walked to the back of the Wagoneer.

A few moments later, he followed her. “What’s up, Gail?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but I’ve been receiving bad feelings the further north we travel. At first, I attributed it to stress; but after hearing Tammy, I wonder if we all might be affected by this thing. About half an hour ago, Polly complained of a sudden headache. At about the same time, Tommy started moaning in his sleep and Jake wandered all over the road. I thought he fell asleep at the wheel. When I asked him, he said he didn’t remember weaving from side to side. Did you feel anything about the same time you noticed Tammy’s behavior?”

Joe thought back to just before Tammy sat up in the seat. He thought hard, but could only remember looking in the rearview mirror and seeing the Wagoneer half a mile behind them. Surely, he would have noticed Jake weaving all over the road? He remembered no such thing. He wanted to attribute it to the daze drivers get when they’re behind the wheel for a long time, but he knew that wasn’t the answer. He was aware, there were a few seconds his mind couldn’t remember, but had no idea how he knew.

They walked up and joined the others and asked them what they had felt. Polly said she had a sudden sharp pain in the back of her head that disappeared a few moments later. Jake didn’t remember anything. All Tommy could remember was having a dream that turned into a nightmare. Out of them all, only Gail and Tammy knew something was wrong.

“This is weird. I’ve always prided myself on being able to remember minute details. Now you tell me I did something I don’t remember doing. Are you sure I weaved all over the road, Gail?” Jake asked.

“Yes, Jake. Polly, you were awake. Didn’t you notice?”

“Sorry, Gail, all I can remember is the sharp pain. Other than that, Jake drove straight and steady.”

“Something happened, but we don’t know what it was. Since you two are the only ones who detected the differences, I’d like one of you to stay awake at all times. If either of you notice any strange behavior from the rest of us, no matter what it is, bring it to our attention immediately. We’re going to detour around Casper as far as we can.”

“You lead the way and we’ll follow you,” Jake told him.

“Keep a couple hundred yards between us. Gail, if you notice Jake doing anything wrong, flash your lights and we’ll stop. Twenty miles ahead, the map shows a side road that will take us around Casper. I want at least two of you awake at all times. Polly, you can relieve me when I get sleepy. Okay, let’s get out of here,” Joe said and headed for the pickup.

Unable to sleep, Tammy sat looking at the road map. Her mind was troubled by another impression she received from the mind probe. For an instant, she could see young children being tortured. She sensed that whatever it was derived its power from the pain inflicted on innocent children. She wanted to tell Joe, but he had enough to worry about without her unconfirmed feelings adding to his problems.

About an hour after she felt the first probe, Tammy felt it again. This time, it wasn’t as strong. She felt it trying to find something to lock onto in her mind. She kept shifting her thoughts around. For some reason, the probe couldn’t enter her mind as long as she concentrated on keeping it out.

Tentatively, she probed with her mind to see what would happen. Instantly, she felt pain like never before. Shifting her probe, she came in at an angle. A white energy formed on the outside of her probe, taking away all the pain.

She followed the link back to its source. A man, short and bald, sat at a table in a room littered with junk. In the corner huddled two little boys. At their feet was a pool of blood. The taller boy tried to protect the smaller one by remaining in front.

The tall boy flinched and a whip came down across his shoulders. Blood seeped from where the whip had struck. The boy groaned in agony. He turned and Tammy got a look at his back. It was one massive raw red lump. The boy’s flesh quivered with pain. Every nerve ending in his body shouted for the pain to stop. The lash fell again on the boy’s back. He fell to his knees with great moaning sobs.

Tammy sent the probe to the boy’s mind. The link she had traveled down to get there had a firm grip on the boy’s mind. Tammy felt the lash strike the boy’s back. A surge of agony raced for the boy’s brain. Just before it got to the nerve center, the agonized energy from the pain shot down the link to the man. The man let enough pain get to the brain’s nerve center to cause agony, but not enough to allow unconsciousness.

The bald man absorbed the energy of the boy’s agony like a sponge. She realized the man could keep this up for hours. The boy’s flesh knew it was in agony, but that pain never reached the control center of his brain. Tammy went to where the boy had taken shelter in his mind.

“Are you the one causing me such great pain?”

“No, but if I can help you, I will,” Tammy answered.

“There is no hope for me. My body has already died several times. When the man releases his hold on my mind, the rush of pain will overload it and my heart will stop. These things I know. If you really want to help, find a way to get my little brother out of here.” Another wave of agony shot down the link to the man.

Although protected by the glow around her probe, Tammy felt a small part of the pain the boy’s body was feeling. She gasped and shook her head from side to side. She thought her head was going to explode. The pain expanded outward like a flash of fire, searing her nerve endings. As quickly as it came, the pain receded. “How can you stand the pain?” she asked.

“For my brother, if I remain strong and give the man what he wants, he’ll leave my sibling alone. I’m weakening fast, now. I don’t know how much longer I can last,” said the boy.

Tammy did a quick distance check, finding they were less than twelve miles from the room and the boy. Moving closer to the boy, she touched him with the bright glow. Like dawn coming over the horizon, the light spread over him. “Hang on for as long as you can. We’ll try and save your brother,” she told him.

“What’s your name?” asked the boy.

“I’m Tammy. Please hold on until we get there. We’re not far away. I’m going to have to leave you for a while, but I’ll return as soon as I can.”

“My name’s Josh. Thank you, Tammy. Somehow, I’ll hold out until you get here. I’m looking forward to the blessed relief of death. Hurry, Tammy. Death is waiting for me.”

Tammy coiled her probe back across the distance to find Joe shaking her. The concerned faces of Gail and Polly leaned over Joe’s shoulder. “I’m okay, Joe. You can quit shaking me now.”

“What happened to you? One minute, you’re sitting there nice and calm. The next, you’re moaning in pain. I couldn’t get you to come out of the trance you were in,” Joe said, on the verge of tears because of his concern for her.

Tammy reached up and ruffled his hair. “Thank you, Joe. I’ll tell you about it later, but right now, we have to get to a house on the outskirts of Casper and save a little boy,” she told him.

Without a word, Joe told the others to get in the Wagoneer and follow him. Tammy directed him over a series of crossroads and side streets until they came to a dead-end. She told Joe they needed to go to the last house. Joe drove across the lawn of the first house on the block and parked out of sight behind it.

“How many people are inside, Tammy?” Joe asked.

“Three that I know of; there could be more. Watch out for a short, bald man. He has some way of getting a mental lock on people’s minds. He has to be killed as soon as you enter the house. Be careful, Joe. I have to let Josh know we’re here.” She settled down in the truck seat and sent out her probe. It didn’t take long before she came across the man’s general probe, and linking to it, she followed it to Josh. Now, all she felt was one solid wall of pain beating against his mind, trying to get in. The glowing light that protected her sizzled and cracked as the pain tried to penetrate it. “Josh, I’m back and help is only a few minutes away.”

“I don’t know if I have a few minutes left,” he answered in an agonized voice.

She touched his mind with her probe and some of the energy spread to him. The more energy she gave him, the weaker her shield became. Now she felt the pain. Not as much as he had felt, nevertheless, it caused her body to jerk around and moan. She felt Josh’s pain lessen to a point where it was tolerable.

“Don’t weaken yourself for me, Tammy. My time is almost up. I appreciate what you’re doing, but it only delays the inevitable. All I ask is that you keep me company in my last few minutes.” He forced her energy back to her and her pain diminished.

In the truck, Joe watched Tammy’s tossing and turning body. Every now and then, a tortured moan escaped her lips. He handed Gail a rifle, saying, “You and Polly stay here and protect her. Jake and I will go to the house. Shoot anything that comes close.” He kissed her and picked up his rifle. Jake joined him.

“How do you want to play this, Joe?”

“You take the other side of the street and I’ll take this one. The house at the end of the block is the one Tammy told us about. Check the others as you go by. We don’t want anyone to walk out and see us. We want to be in and out of there as quickly as possible. At the first shots, people will come to see what’s going on. We want to be out of there before they arrive.”

Joe peered from behind the hedges where they were hiding. When he noticed nothing moving, he motioned for Jake to cross to the other side. Jake ran across the street and ducked between two trees. Joe walked along the side of the house and crossed to the next. He saw a light at the back of it. Stepping carefully, he approached the partially-raised window and could hear laughter. He ducked down and listened.

“I tell you, there’s something strange about Will,” a voice said from inside the room.

“Hell, Carl. Half the people here are strange. Will is just a little worse than the rest,” a female voice said.

“I don’t like the way he takes the small kids we capture into his house. In case none of you have noticed, not one of them come out the next morning. What does he do with them? Remember what the man who lived next to him said? He told us a couple of the rooms were soundproof. Late at night, he would hear faint screams coming from the house. A couple times, he tried to find out what Will was doing. Will would chase him away and tell him to mind his own business. I get the shakes just thinking about Will catching me doing something I shouldn’t do.”

“Get me another beer, Carl,” the female voice said.

Joe heard the sound of a refrigerator opening and the clink of glass. He backed away from the window and made his way around the front to the house next door. He saw Jake one house down from him on the other side of the street. He hurried along and glanced quickly at the houses he passed. He finally got to his goal and paused behind a tree. It looked like an ordinary one-story house. The windows appeared blacker than normal, but they were probably painted.

He saw Jake take up a position behind a hedge next to the house. He edged from one tree to the next until he was about ten feet away. He was about to step from behind it, when a cat let out a squall and bounded away. The cat ran down the street like a dog was after it. He heard the door open and flattened himself against the tree.

An immense shadow filled the doorway. The figure walked to the edge of the porch and down the steps. The man was all chest and arms. He walked around the side of the house the cat bolted from. He reached down and adjusted something near the ground at the base of the tree next to the house. Rising up, he checked something chest-high. Satisfied, he walked close to the dwelling and edged around the corner. He climbed up on the porch from the side and went to the door. He stood there for a few minutes, looked around, and then closed it.

Joe slid down until he was prone on the ground. Slowly, he crawled toward the area the man had just checked. Approaching from the side, he inched forward until he was three feet away. He stared at the base of the tree. A small black box about the size of a pack of cigarettes was mounted on a tripod about six inches above the ground. Another one was mounted on a rod, waist high, from the bottom of the tree. He backed away until he came to the tree he had hidden behind. He motioned for Jake to join him. Jake ran over and squatted beside him.

“What was the big man doing around the side of the house?” Jake asked.

“Resetting the alarm system. Must be some kind of laser system. There are two sensors, one six inches above the ground and another three feet up. We need something that will let us get over the three foot sensor. See if you can find a stepladder. I’m going to find the other sensors.

* * * *

Tammy felt Josh weakening. “Hang on a little longer, Josh,” she told him. Every pore in her body ached with the torment he was going through. He had endured more pain than any human could stand, and it was on the verge of winning. From somewhere, he drew up his last ounce of energy and pushed it slightly back.

“Watch out for my little brother, Tammy. He’s a good boy. It’s time for you to withdraw from my mind now. When my block falters, the pain will rush in. Even your shield won’t protect you. The pain will blow away your shield like a twig in a tornado. One last thing, would you make sure my brother never forgets me? I’d like to think someone remembered me every now and then. Go quickly. I only have enough strength to keep it at bay until you leave.”

Tammy reluctantly withdrew from his mind. She saw an incredible amount of energy shoot down the link to the man. This was Josh’s life energy as his mind barriers broke down like a sinking ship. A new kind of rage began to build in her. The bright glow around her probe began to intensify.

Back at the pickup where her body was, Gail and Polly backed away as her body began to glow. They watched as Tammy’s hair stood straight out from her head. What scared them most was the look on Tammy’s face, it was the visage of a maniac about to do something terrible.

Tammy watched the glow become so bright; she had to hide her eyes. She knew nothing could stand against the force she generated. Turning toward the man, she saw him sneer at her.

“I knew you were there all the time, little girl. I could have crushed you anytime, but I wanted to find out who you are and why you’re here. You’re the first one I’ve run across with the same ability I have. Tell me, do you enjoy entering people’s minds? Do you need other people’s life force to survive?”

“I am nothing like you. You’re a monster that has to be destroyed. I could never be like you. I would rather die than be forced to kill innocent people to live. Only one of us will leave here alive.” She shot a bolt of pure energy at him. He deflected the bolt with a wave of his hand.

“Nice try, young lady. I think you’re a little out of your league. Try this,” he waved his hand and a bolt of deep blackness shot from his hand.

A bolt of brightness met the black bolt and was absorbed by it. The bolt hit her and she never felt such pain before. The glow around her probe dimmed a little.

“That was but a small portion of the power I control, little girl. Now can we be civilized and hold a normal discussion, or do you want more of the pain?”

“What are you? Where do you come from? Most of all, why do you torture young children?”

“To be quite frank with you, I don’t know what I am. I woke up one morning with a desire to inflict pain on others. By shifting it to myself, I grow in power. Pain is like food to me. Without it, I’ll wither away and die. I don’t enjoy causing it, but like a drug addict, I can’t do without it either. Am I a man, or a monster? I don’t know. I have found that young people under the age of twelve have the will to live and can take a lot more than someone older. I wish it were otherwise, but I do what I must to survive. How is it that you’re so different from me? Do you not survive on the pain of others?” he asked in a puzzled voice.

Tammy was shocked. How could the man think she would do those things? She sensed a deep loneliness in him. He was eager to talk to her. “How long have you been like this?” she asked, maneuvering so that if he attacked, she could protect herself.

“One morning about two months ago, I woke up like this. Before that, I was an ordinary man. At times, I could be unpleasant, but mostly, I was just like everyone else. I ran an insurance agency in Fargo, North Dakota. I had a wife I loved and two beautiful children. They died six months ago of the disease. I wandered here and there after they died; not wanting to live. One day, I ran into a group of people who had the disease, but didn’t die of it.

“I joined them and they accepted me as one of them, although the disease never affected me. That in itself is strange, because they always kill anyone not like them. Most of the time, they ignore me, unless they have something they want me to do. They use me in situations where they want to inflict pain.

“They supply me with young victims so I can survive. In that sense, I’m dependent on them. As you can see, I’m not a big man. Left on my own, I wouldn’t be able to catch enough people to sustain myself. I’m trapped by what I have become. Basically, I’m the same person I used to be, I still reason and think and know right from wrong. I’m okay until the hunger hits me; then I become the monster you saw a few minutes ago.” He paused and cocked his head to the side, as if listening to something.

“Ah, your two friends are here. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes. Your friends are powerful, perhaps as strong as I am, but this is not the time or place to find out. Take the young boy with you and watch over him. Teach him to hate me. I’ve foreseen that when he grows up, we’ll meet and he will cause my death. Girl, you don’t know how much I wish that day were right now. Every night, I pray for death to release me from this wretched curse, even though I know it will do no good. I don’t ask for your pity, but every now and then, think of me as a man caught in a trap not of his own making.

“If you can find it in your heart, separate the man from the monster and say a prayer for him. You and I shall meet many times in the future, for our paths are intertwined. I’ll be searching for your thought pattern wherever I go. You now know my imprint. If you come across it during your many travels, I would be most grateful if you would take a few minutes and link to it. I’ll know and make sure the monster portion of me is safely tucked away. You’ll never again witness the scene of a few minutes ago. This is going to sound strange to you, but if you ever need my help, seek me out and I’ll come to your aid. I must leave now. Remember to contact me when we are near.” He broke the link and she traveled back to her own body.

* * * *

Jake placed the legs of the five foot stepladder on either side of the beams. Carefully, Joe climbed up one side and down the other. Jake did the same and followed him to the porch.

Together, they crossed to the door. Joe placed his ear against it and listened. He could hear nothing from inside the house. Reaching down, he twisted the doorknob. It turned in his hand. Standing to the side, he pushed the door halfway open, expecting bullets to fly through the empty space.

Jake crawled through and went to the left. Joe stepped around to the right. By the faint moonlight coming through the door, they saw a normal looking living room. Joe expected the barrel-chested man to jump up and grab him at any second. He saw the sheen of sweat on Jake’s face and knew he was sweating as well.

It was too quiet. He covered Jake as he made his way around the couch to a door on the left. Jake opened it and looked in. He faced Joe and shook his head. “Nothing.” As Joe went to the door on the right, Jake took up a position across the room. Joe looked back at Jake and got a nod. Reaching out with his right hand, Joe turned the doorknob, then pushed the door inward. Nothing happened.

Quickly, he glanced into the room. A bed and two dressers, but nothing else. He closed the door and started for the back of the room. Jake stood to the left of the door there and he took the right side. Joe motioned for Jake to go in low and to the right; while he would go in high and to the left.

Taking a deep breath, Joe nodded and threw the door open. Jake scrambled in front of him to the right. He took three steps into the room to the left. Both of them were blinded for a split-second by the light. As his vision returned, Joe dropped into a crouch with the .45 sweeping the room.

He saw the table and chair Tammy had described. The only person he saw was a small boy kneeling beside the body of another. Jake backed into the corner where he could cover the entire room. His eyes darting everywhere, Joe crossed the room. He stopped beside the kneeling boy. Reaching down, he grabbed the child under his arms and lifted him, with the boy making no sound at all, almost as if he wasn’t even there. The only sign of life the boy displayed was in his eyes. He never took his eyes off the young body on the floor. Looking into them, Joe saw the flaming glow of anger.

At that moment, he felt sorrier for the boy he held than the tortured body on the floor. He knew the look in the child’s eyes. It was an anger that could never be quenched. That kind of emotion which would burn away every shred of decency in the child as he grew. In the end, it would eat him up and kill him. He carried the boy to the door and through the living room to the porch.

Jake followed him to the porch and asked, “Where did the man Tammy saw go?”

Joe shrugged his shoulders that he didn’t know and walked off the porch. Carrying the boy, he walked from one house to the next, carefully checking the way. He took the boy to the Wagoneer and laid him on the seat.

Tammy came over, looking the worse for wear. She put her hand on the boy’s brow and he relaxed and fell into a deep sleep. Gail and Polly made room in the back of the Wagoneer for the sleeping boy. Gail got behind the wheel, Polly and Tommy got in the front seat beside her. Jake crawled into the back seat and fluffed a pillow. He was asleep before they reached the interstate.

Tammy told Joe about the conversation she had with the man.

“Joe, I can’t explain it, but I felt sorry for the man. He said he knew everything he did, but couldn’t stop himself. He even told me he knew right from wrong. I got the impression he was in torment every time he tortured someone. It was as if two minds occupied his body. One is normal and decent. The other is as depraved as a mind can get. The second one takes over when he gets what he calls ‘a hunger’. As I understand it, the only way this ‘hunger’ can be satisfied is from the pain he inflicts on others.”

“How many more strange people are we going to run into? We know Tony, Ben, and Zeb are working under the influence of some power. Don’t forget Stalker. His situation wasn’t exactly normal.

“Now we come to you. Did you have any indication you could get into other people’s minds?”

“No, Joe. It doesn’t work that way. I can’t enter other people’s minds. In some way, I linked with his probe and used it to get into his mind. On my own, I can do none of these things. He knew I was there and showed me the way without my knowing it. Joe, I think he wanted me to see his two sides. His normal side is so very lonely. The other part of him could care less, because it’s in complete control. He told me our paths were interlinked and we’d see each other many times in the future. I wonder what he meant by that?”

“I don’t know. Did he mention how he would contact you?”

“All he said was I would know when he was near. He almost begged me to link with him when I felt his presence. All he wants to do is talk, Joe.”

“It could be dangerous for you. Promise me, you’ll tell me the moment you sense he’s nearby.”

“I will, Joe. You know, I can’t help feeling that he isn’t a threat to us. No matter how sick and demented he is, his normal half would stop the demented part from causing us harm. I wish Stalker was alive. He knew and could sense so many things. He would know if I should contact this man again,” she said in a sad whisper. She stared through the rear window at the wrapped body in the back of the truck, with the soft blue glow surrounding it.

“I miss him too, Tammy,” Joe said.

Tammy sat there, staring into the night. She reached out with her mind and felt the faint traces of Will’s wandering probe. Her stomach cramped and she knew she was about to start her period. She liked it better before she started all this woman stuff. Oh well, it was all a part of growing up. She thought about Josh and how brave he was, fighting to the end to save his brother. Enduring unspeakable pain to give them time to get there. She wondered if she would be as brave, if she were in the same situation. As the miles flew by, she slowly began to fall asleep. Soon, she was curled up on the seat, fast asleep.

Joe would occasionally look down at her and his face would have a softness about it that seemed out of place.

Chapter 23

Joe pulled into a roadside park and stopped beside a picnic table. Leaning back, he closed his eyes, letting the tension ease from his body.

“Are you all right, Joe?” Tammy asked.

“A little tired is all, Tammy. Some food and an hour’s rest will straighten me out,” Joe said, kneading the back of his neck.

Tammy got out of the pickup and went back to the Wagoneer. She led the small boy they had rescued to the picnic table and told him to stay there. She helped Gail and Polly set up the Coleman stove. As she helped prepare breakfast, she glanced at the boy every now and then.

Jake walked to where Joe worked the kinks out of his tired body and watched for a few minutes. “I tell you, Joe, it’s creepy the way the boy just sits and watches. He hasn’t said a word since he woke up. Polly tried to draw him out as we traveled and the only answers he gave was a nod of his head. I watched him in the rearview mirror, and if it wasn’t for the burning fire in his eyes, I wouldn’t know he was alive. The only one who can get a response out of him is Tammy. Has she told you anything about him?”

“She told me the boy would have to work things out in his own mind first. She also told me the child is destined to kill the man, or creature, who killed his brother, sometime in the future. She said the being she was in contact with told her this. I don’t pretend to understand it, Jake, but you can bet your last dollar, it’ll happen. To tell you the truth, I have a hard time understanding most of the things that have happened so far.”

Jake shook his head and sat down on a picnic table. He took off the cap he wore and ran his hands through his short hair. Small wrinkles of worry lined his eyes and the bright luster that used to be there was missing. Thin as a rail to begin with, the loss of twelve pounds over the last six months gave him an emaciated appearance. His clothes hung loosely on his body. He leaned back, stared at the bright blue morning sky and wondered, Why me?

He missed the structured workdays he used to have in the bureau. He regretted not having had the chance to become an investigator for the FBI. His thirteen years of service consisted mostly of guarding politicians and dignitaries. Never in those years did he have to draw his service revolver. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the job was boring. The other one percent occurred when the man or woman he guarded received a death threat or warning.

He wondered if fate played a hand in putting him on the plane taking Ben to Colorado. Since then, his life consisted of a running battle to stay alive. He gave up trying to make sense of the strange happenings that occurred along the way. He coped by living day-to-day and not thinking about the future.

At least, he did until he met Polly. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. In the past, he never let a woman close enough to want to share his life. His job came first and it left very little time for socializing. His flings had been few and far between. When he was a young man, he worried about his lack of sexual drive. The help of a good psychiatrist and thousands of dollars made him realize he didn’t have a problem.

He smiled as he remembered what his father said, “Hell, son, you could have gotten the same advice from me and it wouldn’t have cost you anything.” He proceeded to tell Jake that the males in their family were born with a very low sexual appetite. He apologized for not having this discussion with him sooner. Jake told him to forget about it. He knew his father had the same trouble discussing sex with his son most fathers had. He wished he knew whether his dad was alive or dead. Someday, he would go back to Atlanta and find out.

Until then, he preferred to think his father had moved to the small farm he owned outside the city. Gail interrupted his thoughts by placing a paper plate with two sandwiches on it next to him. “Thanks,” he told her

“Jake, we’re almost to the town the people are planning to attack. Tammy and I will go ahead and make sure we aren’t running into a trap. You hang back until we radio for you to join us or come get us out of a bad situation,” Joe told him as he polished off the sandwich he held.

Tammy sat next to the small boy at the picnic table. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. When he finished his sandwich, she said, “Lonnie, we will protect you and not let anything happen to you. Josh told me to be your friend and answer any questions you have. Is there anything you want to ask me?”

Lonnie turned to look her in the eye. All traces of childhood merriment were gone from his soft blue eyes. His body trembled as he tried to contain the emotions he felt. “Why did Josh have to die?” he asked and dropped his head.

Tammy reached over and placed her hand in his. She could feel his body trembling from the pent-up emotions he was feeling. “I can’t answer that, Lonnie. All I can tell you is that your brother loved you very much. He wanted me to tell you to be brave and not worry about him, because he would be in heaven watching over you.”

Tammy felt Lonnie’s trembling increase. She reached over and drew the small boy into her arms. His sobs started low and increased in volume. He clung to her, like a drowning man would to a log. After a while, he pulled back and rubbed his eyes with his small fists. He looked so small and fragile as he sat there with red-rimmed eyes. He was small in stature for a boy of six. He was no more than three and a half feet tall and weighed about fifty pounds. His unruly blond hair stuck up in back, reminding Tammy of pictures she had seen of Dennis the Menace.

In a sad voice, Lonnie said, “I’ll try and be brave like Josh wants me to be; no matter how much it hurts me. I want to be just like him. When Mommy and Poppa died, Josh looked after me. At night, when he thought I was asleep, I could hear him crying. He would talk to Mommy and Poppa up in heaven, asking them what he should do. We were doing pretty good until the bad men came to the house where we lived. Josh kept telling me not to worry; everything would be okay. I knew he was afraid, so I tried to act brave when they let us see each other. Josh never hurt anyone. Why did they give us to that evil man?” his voice broke and he started crying again. Tammy saw the looks of concern on Gail’s and Polly’s faces as they listened to Lonnie.

Tammy knew Joe was eager to get on the road, so she pulled Lonnie up and led him to where the others sat. “Lonnie, I’m going with Joe. Gail and Polly will take care of you until I come back. I won’t be gone long.” She tried to free her hand from his grasp, but he hung on like a leech.

“Don’t leave me. Please, I’ll be good,” he sobbed.

Joe came over and lifted Lonnie into his arms. “Sure you can come with us, Lonnie. Now what’s this crying all about? What would your brother tell you if he was here?” Joe softly asked.

Lonnie raised his tear-stained face and said, “Josh would tell me to quit crying and act like a grown-up. He used to tell me that all the time. I try, mister, but sometimes, I forget.” He lifted his face to the sky and said, “Josh, I’ll be a man like you kept telling me to be. I won’t let you down anymore.”

Joe had tears in his eyes as he carried Lonnie to the pickup. The rest of them wiped tears from their eyes as they packed to leave. Tommy came over and gave Tammy a hug. He didn’t say a word, but Tammy knew that he understood how she felt. Feeling sad, she walked to the pickup and sat down beside Lonnie. After fastening her seat belt, she felt Lonnie’s hand ease into hers. She gave his hand a squeeze and smiled at him.

Joe handed the mike for the CB to Tammy and said, “Keep in constant contact with Jake in case we need help.”

Joe drove in silence through the beautiful valleys, concentrating on the road ahead. Tammy talked quietly with Lonnie. Behind them, Jake and Polly talked, while Gail and Tommy slept in the rear of the Wagoneer.

“The longer I’m with you, Jake; the stranger things become. Do the surprises keep coming?”

“Believe it or not, in time, you get used to all the strange things happening to these white folks.”

“Jake, have you noticed there aren’t any black people in the towns we pass through?”

“Now that you mention it, I don’t remember seeing any. I took it for granted there weren’t that many blacks out here in the middle of the country. Thinking back, I can’t remember seeing any since this thing started. Damn, are we the only two blacks left? The thought makes my skin crawl.”

“It worries me. What if we are the only two alive and not crazy like the people we’re trying to avoid? Think about it. What happens to the black culture? How are young black children going to learn about their roots?”

Jake didn’t ask her the obvious question. If they were the only two blacks left, who were these children she referred to? He was smart enough to know that the two of them couldn’t sustain a whole race, no matter how many children they had. No; there were other blacks out there. There had to be.

“We’ll find other blacks, Polly. After all this is over, we’ll search for them,” he told her and patted her hand.

“God, I hope you’re right, Jake. Joe, Gail and the kids are all right. I can’t help but think that all the prejudices from before are out there. Now that society has fallen apart, I don’t believe the people left will care much about human rights. Right now, it’s a fight just to survive.” She shook her head sadly.

“Some things never change. We’re still in the minority. The way I see it, there are two forces of power in this country now. You have people like us, who the disease didn’t affect; then you have all these crazy individuals who were affected and are trying to kill us because we’re different. The crazies outnumber us ten to one, so we have to be very careful what we do or we’ll end up like the dinosaurs.

“It was a tough world out there before this happened, now, things are going to be a lot worse. I’m glad I wasn’t in Atlanta when things went crazy. From the radio reports we picked up, it was utter chaos in the big cities. The first thing that went was law and order. Christ, we heard reports of law officers committing a lot of the killings there. Before all the radio stations went off the air, we heard the big cities like New York, Washington, Chicago and the like had millions of dead.

“These crazies were piling them in huge mounds and burning the bodies to cut down on disease. One reporter said the smoke over New York from the burning bodies blocked the sun for days. If you think about it, we have a much better chance of staying alive out here, than we would in a big city.

“Can you imagine what Los Angeles must be like now? Everyone had their own turf before and were ruthless protecting it. If these crazy people are in control of the big cities, it must be a living hell for those like us, who can’t escape to the country. The mindset of gangs that controlled their turf was bad then. Now, since there’s no law enforcement to curb the slaughter, they must have gone on a rampage. As bad as white people were to us blacks, we still had rights under the law and all in all, the decent people did a fair job of protecting them. Now, everything is chucked out the window. I guess those days are gone forever. In today’s world, might is right.”

“Makes you wonder if humans will regress back to using clubs when they run out of bullets. I don’t see how things can get any worse,” Polly said with a sob in her voice.

“Somehow, I think things will get a lot worse than they are now. As long as Todd and the new President are fighting each other, we’re ignored. If they reach an agreement where President Donaldson gets all the land east of the Mississippi and Todd gets everything west of it, we’re in for real trouble.”

“What made you stay with Ben and his family after things went to hell?” Polly asked.

“My job. I know that sounds strange, but I was ordered to take Ben and his family to the hospital in Colorado. I tried calling the Bureau a couple times. Each time, some nut ranted and raved that it was my duty to hand Ben and the people with him over to Todd. That was one order I couldn’t carry out.

“You have to realize, my entire adult life was dedicated to law enforcement. Next year—I guess it would be this year now—I was going to be put on the drug team. I wanted that job bad. I spent many a night burning the midnight oil and passed all the tests. My name was at the top of the list. The next opening to come up was mine. That’s all in the past now. I did get a call through to an agent who retired last year. He told me the crazy people shot everyone in the Atlanta Bureau who weren’t like them. He said the first thing they did in Washington was take over the FBI and the Justice Department. The crazy people had some of their technical individuals digging through the files both departments kept on the worst criminals in the country.

“The way he told it, this President Donaldson made up a list of these people. He had his trusted cronies contact those still alive and brought them into his inner circle. Most of the men were in prison, so they weren’t hard to find. Those he picked surprised me at the time, but now, his choices make sense. All of them are brutal, cold-blooded killers with connections to the underworld. Who better to put in charge of his outlying offices? These men will do his bidding and eliminate any problems. Half a dozen of the most vicious ones he kept as bodyguards.

“Jamie, that’s the retired agent’s name, said he was leaving the next day for parts unknown. Apparently, these people had a list of all retired agents and were systematically eliminating them. His advice to me was to stay out west, to go east would be committing suicide. After learning I didn’t have a job anymore, I stuck with Ben. Along the way, we met Tony, Bill, Joe, Tammy and Stalker.”

He chuckled, “I remember the first time I saw Stalker. Joe and Bill sneaked up on the camp while Ben and Jane were sleeping. I was on guard duty, and I heard a commotion in the camp. Quietly, I went back there and saw Joe with a knife at Ben’s throat. Jane had her .45 centered on Joe’s crotch, while Bill had the barrel of his rifle pressed against Jane’s head. I came up behind Bill and pressed my .38 against his head. There we stood, a hairsbreadth from blowing each others’ brains out. Through all of this, Ben slept, snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Finally, Joe suggested we all lower our weapons before one of us made a mistake. We had just lowered our weapons when I felt something nudge my side. Thinking it was a limb on a tree, I put my hand back to brush it out of the way. The hair stood up on my head when I felt a mouth with needle-sharp teeth clamp down on my hand.

“Slowly, I turned and saw a face straight out of hell. My small hand looked like a matchstick in his mouth. Two glowing yellow eyes stared up at me. Right then and there, I knew I was dead. Before I could bring my gun around, the wolf would tear my arm off and be at my throat. Joe said something and Stalker released my hand. I swear the damn wolf was laughing at my shock as he sat there watching me. After that, every once in a while, Stalker came over and clamped down on my hand, then moved away and watched me.

“To this day, I believe Stalker was acting out his own joke. I got the impression he was amused every time he did it. In time, I got to really like Stalker and the rest of them. At that point, it was too dangerous to be alone, so I stuck with them. In a way, they’re my family now and I’m sure they feel the same way about me. We’ve moved beyond the old color thing, now we’re just people who watch out for each other.”

“Funny, it took all this death and dying to make people realize how petty all the world’s squabbling was. I wish I’d met you sooner, it would have saved a lot of wear and tear on this body; not to mention, my nerves. Come to think of it, you’re my black knight in shining armor.” Polly then laughed.

Jake blushed as much as a black man can and kept his eyes on the back of Joe’s truck in the distance. Polly unsettled him with the way she made stark statements toward him. He wasn’t used to dealing with females on a personal basis.

* * * *

In the back of the Wagoneer, Gail listened to their soft talk as she pretended to be asleep. Everything they said was the truth. Some of the things they talked about shocked her. She wasn’t a worldly woman, having never been more than two hundred miles from home. Things that happened around the country and the world were so distant from the way she conceived them to be, she disregarded most of it as false.

Her main focus in life was to be a good mother and wife. Things changed after her husband died in a car accident. Raising a small child by herself wasn’t any picnic.

At first, she tried to get a job in the small town she lived in. The only job she found that she was qualified for was waiting tables in the only diner in town. Having dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade to care for her mother left her ill-equipped to land a good job in the labor market.

Things went along fine for a year. With her salary and tips, she made enough to get by and even managed to save a little on the side. In the second year on her own, the local mining company, the biggest employer locally, shut down. Soon after that, some of the local merchants began to close their shops because the economy turned sharply down. Each week after the mine closed, she would watch a couple U-Hauls leave town as families moved away to find jobs.

The restaurant began to lose customers and it got to the point where the rush hour consisted of only a few customers. Mr. Greken, the owner, kept her on much longer than he had to. It finally came to the point where he either had to close the restaurant, or declare bankruptcy. It surprised her how rapidly the town went downhill after the mine closed.

By the time she made her mind up to go stay with her aunt and uncle, only three of the dozen businesses were still open. There were more empty houses around town than occupied ones. Her aunt and uncle welcomed her with open arms.

Not rich, they did own a small farm a few miles from town. They grew most of their food in a garden plot. Gail pitched in to help them, spending most of her time in the garden, seeing to the plants. Tommy thrived and sprouted like a bean. The work was hard, but satisfying. Her aunt Mattie let none of the vegetables they grew go to waste. What they couldn’t sell to the local market, she put up in mason jars to be eaten that winter.

Occasionally, one of the local men would come to call on her. As gently as she could, she turned down all offers of dates. Eventually, word filtered down to her that all the eligible men were calling her a spinster and the offer of dates gradually came to a stop. Her aunt said it wasn’t good for a healthy, young woman to be by herself all the time. She pestered Gail, until Gail finally relented and went to a drive-in movie with the son of a man who owned the farm next to theirs.

Things were fine, at first, until she noticed the man drinking from a whiskey bottle hidden under the seat. In the middle of the second movie, he scooted over next to her and tried to kiss her. Politely, she told him she wasn’t ready for that yet. He then became insistent and began to maul her.

She smelled the whiskey on his breath every time his head came near her. When he tried to get his hand up under her blouse, she hit him in the head and knocked him to the other side of the seat. She opened the car door and got out. Looking around, she spotted the car of an older couple who were friends of her aunt and uncle.

Going to their car, she explained her situation and asked if they would drive her home. The couple was sympathetic and did. After that episode, her aunt never brought up the subject of her going out again.

A new company bought the mine a year later and started hiring people. Gail applied for and got the job as timekeeper for the new owners. The money was good, so she decided to move back to town. She found a small, four-room house on the edge of town.

Over the next six months, she was able to save enough to buy a used car. Everything seemed to be going right for her. Then last spring, the killings started. The first week, a family was burned to death in their house. The sheriff took into custody a well-known farmer from the surrounding area. The man was totally out of his mind. He stood in the courtroom before the judge, and with spittle flying from his mouth, shouted they were all going to die. The incident was treated as a once in a lifetime thing for a small community like theirs.

The next week, a prominent businessman marched into the courthouse and shot the sheriff four times before the deputies killed him. Townspeople still didn’t realize something was terribly wrong. They explained the killing of the sheriff as a jealous grudge. Years ago the lawman had won the hand of the woman the businessman wanted. It was sad, but things like that did happen.

The next incident happened at the end of the week. One of the cooks in the school cafeteria went crazy during the lunch hour. Witnesses say she had acted strangely all morning. Around twelve thirty, the lunchroom roared with the conversations and antics of the children as they ate. The cook, a grossly overweight woman in her forties, grabbed a large meat cleaver.

One of the teachers supervising the lunchroom that day said the cook turned and swung the cleaver at the neck of the woman working beside her. The smaller cook, who weighed only a hundred pounds, didn’t know what hit her. The razor-sharp cleaver cleanly severed her head from her body. Blood spurted into the air and fell into the large kettle of mashed potatoes. The woman’s headless body took half a dozen steps, then crumpled to the floor. While the adults stared in disbelief, the cook rounded the serving counter. She started slashing the children at the nearest table.

By the time the adults came to their senses, ten children lay dead in pools of blood. Two male teachers jumped the woman and wrestled the cleaver away. In a time span of three minutes, ten children lay dead and another dozen were seriously injured.

Angry citizens demanded to know what was happening in their town. After that episode, Gail kept Tommy close by her side and took him to work with her. One day, Tommy stayed home sick and while she was in the bathroom at work, she heard several men talking in her office. The men must have thought she wasn’t in the building. As she started to open the door, she heard one of the men ask for a pen to write down the names of the people who were to be killed.

Horrified, she listened as the men listed people she had come to know and like. She almost fainted when one of them opened the door to the bathroom and walked to the commode. She pressed herself against the wall behind the door and listened as he urinated. Someone in the next room asked the man a question. He told them to wait until he washed his hands and he would be out.

The sink and rack of paper towels were against the wall Gail was leaning against. She watched the man come within sight. Please, oh please, don’t look this way, she prayed.

The man was George Herns, foreman of the evening shift. He had asked her out several times in recent months. She had liked the easy way he bantered back and forth with her. A few times, she almost said yes to his proposals for dinner and a night on the town. Now, here he was, cold-bloodedly talking about killing many of his friends and neighbors.

She closed her eyes, expecting him to grab her any second. All he had to do was turn his head, and he couldn’t miss seeing her behind the door. She heard him shut off the water in the sink and tear paper from the roll mounted on the wall. She opened her eyes and stared at the wastebasket sitting at her feet. George wiped his hands on the paper towels. Oh god, he would see her when he put the used towels in the wastebasket. He started to turn her way, when the lid on the commode fell. It sounded like a shot and she jumped bumping the door, which caused it to swing back a few inches exposing her even more.

George quickly turned the other way and swore, as startled by the sound as she was. She watched him shrug his shoulders and turn toward the door. She could only see half of him now. Something soft caromed off the wall and hit her in the face. It took everything she had not to cry out. Looking down, she saw the wet paper towels George had used to dry his hands laying at her feet.

Her heart jumped again as the door pulled away from her. Her legs were shaking so badly, she had trouble standing. She knew she was going to die in the next few minutes and let out a long, silent breath. It took her a moment to realize that George had pulled the door almost closed when he left the bathroom. She slid down the wall and drew her knees up under her chin. Silent sobs escaped her as she sat in the corner and listened to the men talk about their plan to kill a lot of innocent people.

Time seemed to stand still. As they filed out of her office, she looked at her watch, shocked to see that only fifteen minutes had passed. What frightened her the most was that both her name and Tommy’s had been added near the bottom of the list. Shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, she got up and went to the sink, where she splashed water on her face. The face in the mirror staring back at her didn’t look like her own. It was deathly white. The eyes were drawn and pinched. The lips quivered, as if they wanted to cry out at any moment.

She heard her name called from the door of her office. At the sound of the voice, she gripped the sink hard enough to cause her hands to go white, and it was the only thing holding her up. If she let go, she would fall to the floor a sobbing heap. The voice called her name again, but this time, it came from outside the partially open bathroom door.

It was the voice of her boss. She remembered the men had added his name to the list. She heard the door being pushed open behind her. She met his eyes in the mirror and saw concern on his face. He asked her if she was alright. Without thinking, she told him she suddenly felt ill and needed to go home.

Concern written all over his face, he told her to take the rest of the day off and to stay home until she felt better. She thanked him and got her coat and purse. Pausing a moment, she wondered if she should tell him the danger he was in. No, it would only delay her from getting home to Tommy. After all, he probably wouldn’t believe her. She found it hard to believe herself. She would call him after she got home. She thanked him again as she pulled on her coat. On wobbly legs, she walked out to her car.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder as she put the key in the door lock. Sagging against the door, she would have fallen to the ground, except a pair of hands grabbed her by the arms and held her up. Stark terror shot through her as she heard George ask if she was okay. Struggling, it took all her will power to turn and give him a wan smile. She told him she was ill and on her way home to go to bed. She assured him she would be all right with a good night’s sleep.

With a puzzled look on his face, he opened the car door for her. Getting inside, she fumbled the key as she tried to insert it into the ignition. Finally managing to start the car, she backed out and drove away. In the rearview mirror, she saw George staring after her with the same puzzled look on his face. Her only thought was that somehow, he knew she was aware of their plans.

Drawing in a deep breath, she drove home. On the way, she composed herself and began to think clearly. If George suspected she knew of their plan, her and Tommy’s name would go from the bottom of the list to the top. Her only thought was of getting them both away from town, out to her aunt and uncle’s farm. She could tell them what she overheard and ask their advice.

Rushing inside her house, she went to Tommy’s room and shook him awake. She told him to hurry and get dressed. Going to the kitchen, she took down the old cookie jar and removed the money she kept there for odds and ends. Tommy hopped into the kitchen, as he tried to put on his tennis shoe. He asked her what was wrong. She told him she would explain later, as she got his heavy coat from the closet and told him to put it on.

As she was about to open the door and go out to her car, she saw George pull up to the curb. Grabbing Tommy’s hand, she ran for the backdoor. Looking through the curtain on the door, she saw a car pull into the alley behind her house, containing at least four men. A knock sounded at the front door. Telling Tommy to be quiet, she dragged him into the bedroom. Going to the closet, she reached up and pulled down the ladder that led to a small attic.

Pushing Tommy up the stairs, she positioned the door so it was half open. Ripping clothes from the rack, she threw them around the room to make it appear like she had left in a hurry. Climbing the ladder, she reached down and grabbed the rope. She pulled it up and locked it in place. Boards had been placed on the cross beams of the roof trusses to form a loose floor. The compact space measured twenty feet by ten feet. At the center of the house, the roof trusses sloped up, giving them a little over four feet of standing space.

Gail motioned for Tommy to sit down beside her. Half an inch of dust coated every flat surface. The heat was stifling. Below them, they heard the sound of breaking glass from the kitchen. She heard the sounds of feet go from the kitchen to the living room. A muffled conversation took place there, then the men moved to the bedroom. A loud voice started cursing, then yelled for the men to find Gail and her son.

A chill ran down her back when she heard the man say he wanted them both dead before the sun set. The two of them sat there sweating as men went through the closets. She started as the folding ladder shook on the small lock that held it in place.

Crawling to the trapdoor, she braced her foot against the locking bar to hold it shut. The man pulling on the rope called for someone to help him pull down the ladder. The two of them pulled down on the rope, causing the bolt to slide half out of its holder. Bracing her back against a roof brace, Gail placed her other foot against the one holding the bolt and shoved. The rough edge of the bolt bit into her tennis shoe sending bolts of pain up her leg. The men continued to pull on the rope. One of them figured the ladder hadn’t been taken down in years and was probably rusted shut.

Biting her lip in pain, she continued to push against the bolt. Tears ran down her cheeks with the pain she suffered. At last, she heard the man telling the rest of them that no one could have gotten into the attic. They would be better off by searching for her trying to get out of town. Hearing the men leave, she eased her pressure on the bolt. A quiet sob escaped her as the pain relented to a throbbing ache.

Tommy whispered that they should leave before the men came back. She motioned for him to remain silent. Brushing dust from the frame holding the ladder up, she placed her ear against the wood and listened for twenty minutes and didn’t hear a sound. Still, she waited, sitting in her sweat-drenched dress.

Two hours after the men left, she heard a soft noise below her. Placing her ear against the frame, she heard two men talking. Tension eased from her body when she heard George say he was through wasting time. There was no way she could still be in the house. After the front door closed, she listened until a car engine started out on the street. Sliding the bolt on the ladder, she carefully lowered it. Shaking Tommy’s foot, she whispered for him to follow her.

At the bottom of the ladder, she peered through the open closet door into the bedroom. The only light came from the window across from the closet. She saw that it was almost dark. The men had trashed her nice tidy house. In the kitchen, she picked the pieces of an old crock pot off the floor and laid them on the counter. Her mother had given it to her on her wedding day, just as it had been handed down to her. Of all her possessions in the house, the crock pot was the most precious.

A small part of her died on seeing the pieces. Someday, she planned on having a daughter. Gail’s hope had been to pass the crock pot to her on her wedding day. Now that dream lay in pieces on the counter, like so many of her other dreams. Clutching one of the handles from the crock pot to her chest, tears streaming from her chin, she walked into the living room. The cheap living room furniture lay shredded around the room. The stuffing from the couch and chair lay in separate piles. The end tables lay near the door with their legs broken off. Tommy hugged her in silence as they surveyed the mess.

Wiping away the tears, she went and looked out the window in the door. Long, dark shadows covered many of the houses on the street. Settling down beside the door, she waited for full dark.

Two hours later, she snuck out of the house and down the block, where she stole a car and drove out of town. A short distance out of town, she stopped the car near the top of a hill. Walking to the top, she saw a police roadblock at the intersection near the bottom of the hill.

In the headlights from stopped traffic, she saw George’s car next to one of the cruisers. Going back to the car, she backed down the hill and drove onto a rutted dirt road. A quarter of a mile later, she backed the car into the brush and settled down for the night. Tommy curled up in the backseat and was soon asleep. She lay in the front seat and fidgeted until sleep overtook her.

Waking the next morning stiff and cramped from her awkward sleeping position, she crawled out of the car. She woke Tommy and told him to stay inside the car. She walked through the woods to the top of the hill and looked down at the intersection. The roadblock was gone, which brought a sigh of relief from her.

When she got to her aunt’s farm, she found the woman dead in the kitchen and her uncle barely alive in the front yard. With his last breath, her uncle told her to load his old pickup with what she needed and drive to the cabin he owned in the mountains.

She had been at the cabin for two weeks when Joe and his group showed up during a snowstorm. She smiled, remembering her meeting with Joe. Her first thought was that they had come to kill her and Tommy. In desperation, she had knocked Jake out and kicked Joe so hard in the crotch, it was two hours before he was able to stand.

She thanked her lucky stars they had come along. At first, she was apprehensive about the members of the group. Ben, with his guardian, and Tony, with the power to make other people not see her, seemed a little weird to her. As they traveled, she came to realize these were plain, ordinary people. As sleep overtook her, she heard Jake chuckle at something Polly had said.

Chapter 24

Todd shouted in fury at the man lying on the ground beside him. “You said President Donaldson withdrew the planes from this area!”

Donald Riker ducked his head as another jet flew across the hill at tree-top level and dipped down into the valley. His big, beefy body shook with the rumbling of the bombs dropped in the valley below. “I swear to god, Todd. As of yesterday, his planes were well away from here.”

Todd crawled up the bank to an outcropping of rock. Standing, he looked down into the valley. His forces had marched down the road an hour ago. The morning started off beautifully. There were less complaints and grumbling from his men than usual. They were in a good mood as they ate their cold rations for breakfast.

The leader of his column started out as the sun popped above the horizon. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It promised to be a warm spring day and he looked forward to riding in the sunshine. The past few nights had been cold as his men moved from area to area under the cover of darkness. This was the first time they would march during the day and his men looked forward to the sunshine. Their mood continued to improve as they marched down into the valley and started across it. As the head of the troop carriers approached the hill leading from the valley, disaster struck.

Todd sat in the passenger seat of the all-wheel drive Suburban he used as his mobile command post. The first hint of trouble came when the men he left to guard his rear called in and tried to tell him something. All he could hear was a tremendous roaring noise.

Moments later, a jet streaked across the hill behind him, less than a hundred feet from the ground. His driver wheeled the Suburban off the road and into the trees. Todd got out and watched as the jet dipped down, released two objects, and went vertical. Flames shot out the back of the plane as the pilot kicked in the afterburners. Near the front of Todd’s line, two huge explosions erupted. Smoke rolled into the air from burning vehicles.

Staring dumbfounded at the sight, Todd heard another ear-piercing shriek as another jet came over the hill. In all, twelve jets released their bombs. He busied himself trying to get reports of the damage as the last jet flew out of the valley. The air waves were jammed by people asking for help and others wanting to know what was happening. All he could do was sit, listen, and try to piece together how bad things were. He ordered his driver to head back the way they came, telling him to remain within the trees as much as possible.

He had his driver pull off the road halfway up the ridge. Taking his binoculars, he climbed on a large boulder and looked down into the valley.

The first twenty trucks blazed, sending streamers of smoke high into the air. He saw bodies strung out for a hundred yards on either side of the blazing vehicles. The next thirty stood in the middle of the road untouched. Behind them, a line of cars and pickups, used to transport most of his men, burned or were motionless. Very few of the bodies lying on the ground showed any signs of movement. Those who did crawled toward the trees.

In stunned disbelief, Todd saw that half of his five thousand man force was dead. The worst part was the bombs had destroyed almost every food and ammunition truck. There was no use going on now. Without food and ammunition, it would be suicide to attack President Donaldson’s troops. He was about to order his men to retreat, when the jets appeared again. This time, his people had enough sense to pull into the trees out of sight. Still, he lost even more men and equipment.

That was when Donald Riker scrambled up to where he stood. Riker was in charge of the men who controlled this part of the state. Todd had met with him the day before and was told that all the planes had been removed from the area. That was why he decided to travel during the day instead of at night. Now, his forces lay in shambles in the valley below.

Jumping off the rock, he pointed his gun at Donald’s head and said, “I don’t know why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand. You have five seconds to give me a reason.” Todd pulled back the hammer on the pistol.

Sweat running down his face, Donald stared into the bore of Todd’s .45. “I swear, Todd. I was told the planes would come no farther than the Ohio border. In the last month, they weren’t used on us in any of the raids we carried out. Someone sold us both down the river. Hell, I didn’t know you were near here until last night. Do you think I would willingly walk into that inferno down there?” He pointed to where fires raged all over the valley.

Todd reached up and gently lowered the hammer. “No, I guess not; but this sure as hell puts a crimp in my plans. Go down and salvage as much equipment as you can. Move the troops to the next valley back and keep them under cover. Tonight, we’ll head home. Kill any of the wounded who won’t make it. Make sure the men are out of this area before you kill them. I’ll go to that small town we passed ten miles back. If you need me, that’s where I will be.” Todd holstered the .45 and walked to his command car.

His driver asked, “Is it very bad, boss?”

“Worse than you can imagine, Randy,” he answered, laying his head back against the seat. That’s all he needed now was a head-splitting headache. “Take me to the small berg we passed through ten miles back.” Pressing fingers to his temple, he thought about Donald’s last statement. The jets coming in when he was less than a hundred miles from the target was too much of a coincidence. The strike had set him back at least a year. It would take at least that long to train enough men; let alone, to get them there. In the meantime, he knew President Donaldson would shore up his western front.

How had Donaldson’s commanders found out he was moving a large force into the area? He believed Donald when he said it wasn’t him or any of his people. Whoever set the strike up had to have advance warning as to the time they would enter the valley.

Donald and his people didn’t even know Todd and his forces were in the area until last night. The way the jets attacked told him they knew in advance where his forces would be. He hated to admit it, but it looked like he had a spy among his people. The decision to march during the day wasn’t made until after midnight. Seven hours later, the attack occurred. Not enough time to put together an attack squadron with the lack of support forces President Donaldson had. No, the planes were at a staging area waiting for the precise location of the force to be attacked. Someone had sent a message to the air force commander telling him exactly where Todd’s people would be at seven in the morning.

He leaned forward as they drove into the small town. Not many places to house his men while he decided where to send them. He had Randy park in front of a small, sturdy building. Going to the door, he raised his foot and kicked in the door. Expecting to see the flimsy looking door fly open, he was surprised and grunted in pain.

It felt like he had broken his foot. Hopping on one foot, he eyed the door. It hadn’t budged an inch. Gingerly putting his weight on his throbbing foot, he limped up to the door. Inspecting it, he found it only looked flimsy from the thin plastic covering on the outside. Reaching down, he twisted the lever-like handle and pushed. It opened on well-oiled hinges. He now knew why his foot hurt so badly. The door was at least six inches thick and made of bonded steel.

He stood in the lobby of a bank. To the left, three teller cages ran in front of a vault. Two doors stood open on the right side of the room. Going to the first one, he saw that it was an office. The next door opened to another office. A small amount of money lay on the floor in front of the teller cages. Leaning across the counter, he looked into the half open vault. Money and what he took to be safety deposit boxes lay scattered over the floor.

Walking to the steel door, he told Randy to bring his things into the bank.

Chapter 25

“Old one, will you quit talking to yourself? It is beginning to annoy me,” Zeb heard Org say in his mind.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Org, I am not talking to myself. There’s a real live girl sitting on the back of this vehicle.” Zeb moved the fingers of his right hand.

“That is another thing annoying me. Why have you all of the sudden started twitching your fingers and hands; is it some sort of human affliction?”

“No, Org, it’s called sign language. By making various signs and gestures with my fingers and hands, I’m able to talk to Brianna. She’s teaching me sign language.”

“Old one, I believe the strain of the past few months has caused the parts of your brain I don’t control to lose their sense of balance. There is no woman and the idea of talking with your hands is preposterous. If getting the human I am after wasn’t so important, I would stop and let you rest for a few months in the hope you would recover.”

Zeb watched Brianna’s fingers move rapidly. He understood only a few of the words. “Did you ask if I just talked to the dog?”

Brianna nodded her head yes.

“Org is getting a little put out with my talking to what appears to be thin air. I believe he thinks I’m becoming unbalanced. How can you tell I’m talking to him? We don’t speak words with our mouths, but with our minds.”

Brianna wrote swiftly on the pad she always carried,

You get this blank look on your face.

Zeb nodded that he understood and glanced up at the clear blue sky. He felt much better now that he had someone to talk to. Before leaving the small town, he strapped a small seat to the back of the dune buggy on top of a duffle bag stuffed with clothes. He told Org he wanted to take the clothes with him; after all, they were free. When Org asked him who he was talking to that morning as they prepared to leave, Zeb told him the truth. Because Org couldn’t see or sense Brianna, she didn’t exist as far as he was concerned. Zeb even let Org see her through his own mind, but he just thought she was a mental picture Zeb thought about, without substance or being. Zeb felt the concern Org had about this new turn of events.

Driving under a sign with Casper on it, he slowed down. “Are you sure we have to stop here?” he asked.

“Yes, old one, I want to check on the power I felt here yesterday. The source is a lot less powerful today. It seems to be moving away. Perhaps we can find a clue to its source in the town.” Zeb got the impression Org was disappointed the power source was no longer in the town.

He turned down the exit ramp that would take them into the business district. The closer they got to the center of town, the more dogs they began to see. During the night, Org had sent them ahead to enter the town. They were well-rested and looked hungry. Although it was early, a few people came to their doors as the dune buggy approached. Zeb felt the vehicle lurch at the same time he heard a rifle crack. A man stood on the left at the mouth of an alley. He held a smoking rifle in his hands and turned at a sound behind him.

At the same time, three big dogs attacked him, which caused him to stagger into the street. Zeb stopped the dune buggy and watched as one of the animals sank its teeth into the man’s leg. Screaming in pain, he fell to the ground. A grey and white mongrel darted in, locking its teeth on his neck. The man tried to hit the animal with the butt of the rifle. The third dog clamped down on the arm holding the rifle, causing the fingers to lose their grip. Helpless, their victim tried to pull the canine loose from his throat. Beating on its head with his hand, the man finally managed to wrench it away with a tearing sound. Blood spurted from his neck into the street. The other two animals loosened their hold on their future meal and scampered a few feet away. As the man frantically tried to stop the flow of blood with his hands, the rest of the canines watched with a look of anticipation on their faces. Falling to his knees, the man pitched forward and feebly kicked his legs. As his kicks ceased, dogs appeared from everywhere. A mad rush ensued to the body, where they tore at it. There were so many canines, quite a few of them began to fight with each other over strips of flesh torn from the corpse.

Zeb wished he had driven on. Now the street was so crowded with dogs, he couldn’t go forward. At the back of the pack, two animals fought over a hand. One of them crunched down on fingers like they were plump sausages. Behind him, he heard Brianna throwing up. He became a little nauseous when a dog ran by, trailing a five-foot section of gut. He had seen it happen before and wished he could get out of there. The half-starved animals were in a feeding frenzy. Some of the dogs began to break away from the main group and crash through windows. Soon, up and down the street, screams of terror sounded and were cut short.

“Let us continue, old one. My creatures will spend the day gorging themselves. Drive on down this street; the aftereffects of this power lingers a few streets over.”

Zeb wound his way down the street, turning where Org indicated, until they were at a tree-lined road. The houses, although nice, were a little on the rundown side. Org had Zeb drive to the last house on the dead-end street and park.

Org scampered out of the dune buggy and up the steps of the house. “Come on, old one, open this door for me.”

Zeb opened the door and stepped into the house. He followed Org through the small living room into the kitchen. Org nosed around a door leading from the kitchen. Zeb stepped over and opened it. Org darted into the room, Zeb close behind him.

The room was a regular torture chamber. Near the back of it under a pair of manacles used to chain a person to the wall, lay the body of a small boy. In the center of the room sat a table with all kinds of wicked-looking instruments.

Zeb walked over and bent down beside the body. Lash marks criss-crossed the small frame. Lifting the small, stiff hand, he saw the fingernails had been pulled out. Looking down, he saw the toenails were also missing. The boy’s ears had been cut off even with his head. Something extremely hot was placed against the remaining holes; cauterizing the wounds so the boy wouldn’t bleed to death.

Rolling the body over, he gasped and held his mouth to keep from throwing up. The boy’s penis and testes were gone and the area of his crotch looked like a steak that had been burnt to a crisp. Where the child’s nipples had once been, it looked like someone had used a corkscrew, leaving two holes in the body. They were cauterized. He pulled a cloth over the body and walked out of the room.

Brianna stood on the porch with a questioning look on her face. He pointed to the dune buggy and said, “Go,” in a harsh voice he didn’t recognize as his own. Without a gesture or sign, she walked to the buggy and took a seat.

Zeb went to a storage shed behind the house. He found a five gallon plastic container of kerosene. Carrying it into the house, he walked to the torture chamber and started splashing kerosene on the floor and walls.

“What are you doing, old one?” Org asked, scampering around the room, agitated by the rage he felt in Zeb’s mind.

In a voice seething with fury, Zeb said, “Org, unless you want to die and kill us both, I suggest you get out of this house of inhuman degradation.” He continued splashing the kerosene in the kitchen and living room. On the porch, he took a rag from his pocket and drenched it with liquid. Stuffing the rag into the neck of the container, he pulled a lighter from his pocket. He held the flame under the rag until it burst into flame. Picking up the container, he threw it into the living room, which also burst into flame. He stayed on the porch until the heat became so intense, his jacket began to smolder.

Org sat next to the wheel of the dune buggy. “Old one, you are becoming more peculiar every day. Was there a reason to burn the dwelling, or was it a spur of the moment thing this time?”

“Org, it’s no secret that I hate you for what you’ve done to me. The person who used that house makes you seem like the Pope in comparison. You are cruel and heartless, but never have you tortured for the love of it. You may order your dogs to kill people, but you never allow them to play with their victims. If this person is the source of the power you felt, I can’t wait to meet him and tear his soulless head off and shit down his neck.” Zeb was so mad, he was panting and walking back and forth.

“I would like to watch that, old one, but I am afraid this person is much too powerful for you. Perhaps he is even more powerful than I am. Come, we have no time for sentiment. Joe is getting further away as we stand here.” He jumped up to the seat where Brianna sat. With a yelp, he hit the ground. Brianna quickly left the seat for the one on the back of the dune buggy. Org jumped back into the seat and sniffed around pawing the air.

Hiding his grin, Zeb asked, “What’s wrong, Org? Are you starting to see my invisible friend?”

“Funny, human, funny, but I could swear there was someone in the seat a moment ago.”

Zeb turned to see Brianna clutching her sides in silent laughter. She pointed at Org and tried to sit up. Watching her, Zeb began to chuckle; then he burst out laughing, beating his hands against the steering wheel. Tears of rage and joy streamed down his cheeks. Unable to stay upright, he fell out of the dune buggy to the ground. Rolling into a fetal position, he tried to stop laughing, but couldn’t. It was as if the laughter drained every hurt and degradation he’d suffered over the past months from his body. He looked up to see Org standing on his seat, looking down at him and Brianna peering over the side with concern on her face.

This sight started another spasm of laughter, this one lasted five minutes. Wiping his eyes, he grabbed the edge of the buggy and pulled himself up. Sitting in the seat, he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Although he hated being under Org’s control; to a certain extent, he knew others had it a hell of a lot worse than he did. No longer would he feel sorry for himself. Now he would just try harder to take control of his life and destiny. Turning to Org, he said, “Thanks.”

“For what, old one? Why could I not have chosen a human who did not have a damaged brain?” Zeb heard him mumble.

Zeb started the dune buggy and turned back down the street. As they left the city, he turned and saw billowing, black smoke coming from the area they just left. He drew in a deep breath, relishing the crisp, clean air. Brianna put her hand on his shoulder and he looked at her. Her blue eyes told him she understood and was there if he needed her.

Chapter 26

Joe’s mind was on other things as he drove around the curve and saw the truck parked across the road. Stomping on the brakes, he twisted the wheel, which caused the rear of his vehicle to slide around. He was about to step on the gas, when a large truck blocked the road behind him. In the woods on both sides of the road, men pointed rifles at his vehicle.

“I don’t feel any wrongness about them, Joe. I sense danger, but it’s in the other direction,” Tammy said.

Joe placed his hands on top of the steering wheel in plain sight. In the rearview mirror, he saw a man talking on a walkie-talkie. He had expected something like this, but it still took him by surprise. These people were good. The person in charge knew what he was doing. On each side of the road, one person stepped out of the woods and walked toward where he sat. He admired the way they stayed out of the line of fire of the other people in the woods. Two others did the same in back of his truck. They approached close enough to see that he didn’t have anything hidden in the bed, then stopped. Joe waved to those in front, hoping to ease the tension in the air. Neither of them blinked, but continued to aim their rifles at his head. Sticking his head out the window, but keeping his hands in sight, he said, “Uh, people, I have two children in here, so please don’t do anything rash.”

Tammy put on her best little girl smile and waved at the men. One of them smiled and nodded at her. If he could have seen the cocked .38 hidden below the dash in her other hand, his smile would have disappeared. Lonnie had taken the gator knife out of its sheath on Joe’s leg. He put the tip down in his tennis shoe and pulled his pants leg down to hide it. They may be children, but they were learning how to survive and Joe was proud of them.

The man with the walkie-talkie walked up to the rear of the truck and stopped. “Mister, do exactly what I tell you and no one will get hurt. Reach outside and open the door with one hand, while keeping the other where we can see it. Step out and put your hands on top of your head.”

Joe did as he was told, stepping away from the truck with his hands on top of his head. The man walked up behind him and patted him down for weapons. The .45 was lifted from the holster at his side.

“Okay, friend, walk back to the truck I came from while I check out your kids.” The man nudged him with the barrel of his rifle and Joe walked to the truck where two men handcuffed his hands behind his back. At Joe’s vehicle, the man ordered Tammy to open her door and get out with her hands over her head.

Tammy got out of the truck with her little-girl smile on her face. When the man tried to pat her down, she kicked him in the shin with her foot. Startled, the man dropped his rifle and shouted an oath while hopping on one foot.

Joe held his breath as Tammy reached down and picked up the rifle and gave it to the man. He almost laughed when Tammy said, “If you want to feel me up, you dirty old man, I’ll give you more than you counted on.” She stared defiantly at him. The men around Joe laughed and some of the tension went out of the air.

The man Tammy kicked turned red and stared at her dumbfounded. Twice, he tried to say something, but the words came out garbled. Finally, he pointed to Joe and shoved her toward him.

Next, the man ordered Lonnie out of the truck and around to where he stood. Lonnie walked around the truck, sobbing with each step. He stopped in front of the man who tried to calm him.

Lonnie grabbed his stomach and bent over. In the blink of an eye, they saw the man’s face go chalk-white and he stood ramrod straight.

“Give me the word, Mr. Joe, and he’ll lose everything he holds dear,” Lonnie said. In his hand, he held the big gator knife pressed into the man’s groin.

“For God’s sake, mister, please have him take the knife away!” shouted the man as he stood on his tiptoes to get away from the tip of the knife.

“Lonnie, draw back the knife and come over here,” Joe said.

Lonnie lowered the knife, took the man’s hand and pulled him, in his state of shock, over to where Joe and Tammy stood.

“Jesus Christ, mister, what kind of kids are you raising?” the man asked. He really lost it when Tammy brought a cocked .38 from under her dress and aimed it at his forehead.

“Take the cuffs off Joe, or as sure as the sun comes up in the morning, you’ll have a third eye in the middle of your head,” she told the man in a low, deadly voice.

The men around them stepped back and raised their rifles, uncertain of what they should do.

“Easy, Tammy,” Joe softly said. “Lower and uncock the gun before someone gets hurt.”

Tammy hesitated for a few seconds, and then she pointed the gun to the side. She reached up and drew the hammer back, then lowered it. She turned the gun around and handed it to the white-faced man. He took it and in a weak voice said, “Take the cuffs off him. God, I need a drink.” On wobbly legs, he staggered to the cab of his truck and opened the door. Reaching under the seat, he drew out a bottle of whiskey. Taking off the cap, he upended the bottle and gulped down a quarter of its contents. He grunted, his face turned red and he bent over and threw up on the grass. Wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, he turned to them.

“Who the hell are you and these young demons?”

Joe gave them his name and told them about how they came to be there. Quickly, he told them about Jake and the Wagoneer so they would be expecting it when it came around the turn. Someone handed him the radio from his truck. He raised Jake and apprised him of the situation only moments before Jake came around the turn.

These people were very careful. Jake and the others went through the same routine Joe had. While this was going on, the leader, who had regained some of his composure, was talking on the radio. He gave Joe’s name and looked at him as he kept saying, “That’s right.” Joe wondered what the conversation was all about. The man seemed in a more relaxed mood after ending the conversation. Walking over to Joe, he stuck out his hand, and said, “Sorry about this, Joe. I hope you understand the need for such precautions. I’ll have a few of my men take your group to town. There’s someone there anxious to meet you.” When Joe asked who it was, he shook his head and let Joe know he would see when he got there.

As he watched them leave, he turned to the man next to him and said, “I wouldn’t want to get those people mad at me. Christ, I can imagine what the adults are like by how deadly the children are. I have no doubt the girl would have shot me and the boy would have gutted me.” Shaking his head, he yelled for the men to back the trucks off the road.

Joe followed the small green pickup. The closer to town they got, the more activity they saw. People were digging ditches on both sides of the road and covering them with staked-down tarps. Leaning out the window, Joe saw women placing sharpened sticks in the bottom of the ditch. Whoever attacked the town from this direction was in for a rude awakening. On the two small hills the road ran between, he saw people placing sandbags at the top. From these two bunkers, a few men could hold off a much larger force, if the attackers didn’t have any heavy weapons. On the other side of the hills, the road sloped down in a gentle grade to the town, nestled in the bowl-shaped valley. The driver motioned for them to stop in front of a squat, two-story building.

Joe parked and shut the engine off. Jake pulled in behind him and did the same. Getting out of the truck, he stretched to loosen his tired muscles. Jake walked up and joined him. “These people are preparing for a war,” Jake said as they watched the frantic activity going on around them.

“Somehow, this looks familiar to me, Jake. I get the feeling I’ve seen defenses like these people are setting up. You know, when I was in the army, we had a man in my outfit who sat around and thought about situations like this. He would go on for days, just telling us how he would defend a place like this. Damned, if this doesn’t look like something he would dream up.”

He thought about his former buddies, Had it only been five years since they got together? Shaking his head, he turned when someone called his name from the door of the building. Joe told Jake to make the women and kids comfortable until he found out what was going on.

Entering the building, he dodged out of the way of a woman carrying a load of papers. She smiled at him as she went by. At the rear of the room, a large man huddled over a radio arguing with someone. The closer he got, the more he thought he should know him. The man turned, lifted his hand and smiled. Joe stopped in his tracks. It wasn’t possible; he just didn’t have that kind of luck. The man motioned for him to have a seat, then turned back to the radio. Joe sat down in a daze. Around him, people were going about their business like well-oiled machines. Someone shouted his name from the outside door. All he could see was long, bright-red hair, and a gangly body rushing at him. He found himself lifted off the floor in a bear hug. Looking down at the man, he smiled and asked, “Phil, is it really you?”

“You’re damn right, it’s me, you old Indian. What the hell are you doing here, Kemosabi?” He released Joe and stepped back.

Another set of arms closed around his chest from behind, lifting him from the floor like he was a feather. A voice said into his ear, “I still think the only good Indian is a dead Indian.” The arms holding him flew apart and he fell to the floor with a jolt.

He turned to the man, saying, “You never did have any couth, Dave.” He grabbed the man and hugged him. They walked out to the porch where Joe introduced Jake.

Phil winked at Joe, then said, “Joe, did I ever tell you about the time me and my pappy hung three niggers back home?”

Jake stiffened and his hand crept to the gun in his pocket. “I don’t think much of your friend, Joe,” he said in a harsh voice.

Phil looked at him with a puzzled look on his face. “Hey, man, what’s your problem? You one of those strange people who love those stringy fish?”

Jake looked him in the eye and said, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Fish, man, niggerheaded trout. We had to hang them up for at least a day before they could be cleaned. ’Course, there are those who eat them right away, but they would be unrefined people. What do you think I’m talking about?”

“Sorry, I thought you were calling me a nigger,” Jake said, still thinking about what Phi said.

Phil slapped himself on the head. He walked around Jake and eyed him up and down. Facing Jake, he said, “Where are you hiding the black and white?”

Now Jake looked at Phil like he had lost his mind. He turned to Joe and asked, “Joe, is this guy all together in the head?” As he asked Joe, Phil lifted his shirt and looked under it. Shaking his head, he backed away and got a very serious look on his face.

“Hey, man, I asked you a question.”

“Listen, I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about.” Jake began to suspect he was the butt end of a joke, but he had no idea what it was. “What black and white are you talking about? Do I look like a cop to you?” Behind him, he heard Polly snicker and Gail laughed outright. Rolling his eyes back in his head, he looked up at the sky and said, “Do you have something against me? Why am I always the one who doesn’t understand?” Getting no answer, he lowered his eyes and asked, “Alright, I give. Is there some point to this conversation?”

“Oh, Jake, don’t be so dense. I think, in his own way, he’s telling you skin color makes no difference in today’s world,” Polly said, taking his hand and squeezing it.

“Give the little lady the gold ring.” Phil bowed to Polly.

“White folk, why can’t they say what they mean, instead of beating around the bush?” Jake whispered to Polly.

They heard the high whine of an engine and saw a cloud of dust approaching the edge of town.

“Joe, Jake, ladies and children, if that’s who I think it is, I believe you would be a lot safer if you stepped up on the porch,” Dave said. He lifted Tammy and set her on the porch, then climbed up beside her. They turned to watch people scatter as a red pickup barreled down the street. The driver locked up the brakes, leaving streaks of rubber as the truck slid sideways and came to a stop at the edge of the porch.

Gail and the kids stepped back when the driver threw open the door. Jake started to draw the gun from his pocket. Joe reached over and stopped him. Wild-eyed, the man ran up the steps and hit Joe in the jaw, knocking him off his feet. “I owe you that, you cheating, half-breed son of a bitch,” the man said, then smiled and helped Joe to his feet.

Rubbing his jaw, Joe said, “Damn it, Zap, I didn’t cheat. Did it ever occur to you that you’re a lousy card player? Hell, the way you play, Tammy here could take all your money.”

A small girl got out of the passenger side of the truck and walked up the steps. She stopped in front of Joe. Balling up her small fist, she whirled around and hit Zapper in the groin as hard as she could. Zap dropped like a rock. Curled up in the fetal position, his face turned blue as he tried to breathe, yell and pass out at the same time. She drew back her leg to kick Zap, but Dave grabbed her from behind and pulled her away.

“The next time you pull a stunt like that, Zap, I swear I’ll cut your balls off,” the trembling girl said as she tried to get away from Dave.

“This little wildcat is Ginger, our resident goddess. She’s been nothing but a pain in the ass to me since we met,” Dave told them as the girl struggled to get out of his grasp.

Tammy walked over and laid her hand on Ginger’s arm and she quit struggling. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment.

All of them knew Tammy and Ginger were communicating with each other on a level they didn’t understand. Ginger nodded once and walked over to where Zapper lay on the porch groaning.

“I’m sorry, Zap.” She put her hand on his arm and a faint blue glow surrounded them both for a moment; then was gone. Zapper quit groaning and stretched his legs out. Although the pain was gone, he gingerly got to his feet.

“For two cents, I would turn you over my knee and tan your hide good,” Zapper told Ginger, who stood there with a little girl look on her face.

“Ah, Zap, you scared me so bad, I didn’t know what I was doing. You could have killed both of us, the way you were driving,” Ginger told him and took his hand in hers.

Joe saw that Ginger had Zapper wrapped around her little finger. Dave had Phil take the women and kids over to the hotel to get something to eat. He went with Joe and Jake down to the bank. Joe and Jake carried Stalker’s body into the building and placed it in the vault. They stopped on the sidewalk outside and watched the townspeople, busily preparing for the coming battle.

“We’re about prepared for them. All we can do now is wait for them to arrive and start the fight,” Dave said.

They went to the hotel and joined the others. The rest of the day was spent on catching up on what had happened to each of them in the last six months. Joe had a hard time going to sleep that night. So many different players; it was getting to the point that he needed a score card to keep up with them.