'Do you think that Madeline had her hand in some of the natural disasters we experienced that year?' Sela inquired as she laid two big logs on the fire. Jerky lifted her head and yawned.
'Hard to say. I mean…we're pretty sure that she conjured the storm back in Iowa. So, I suppose she helped brew the three major hurricanes that hit the South in September when the collapse was occurring.'
'Then there were the earthquakes around the world,' Sela said.
'So many people lost,' I muttered. 'I wonder how much of the world's population was gone by the end of that year?'
We sat in silent reverence for a long while. I put my arm around Sela and she rested her head on my shoulder. After a while, I asked, 'How are you feeling?'
'Fine. Why?'
I looked at her with questioning eyes and a slight grin.
'I'm not pregnant, Heckel. I think I would know,' Sela said with a hint of annoyance. 'And if I were, trust me, you'd be the first to know.'
I hugged her.
After a few moments, she asked softly, ' Do you wish I were…um…pregnant?'
Gulp. I was stunned. I had no idea how to answer that. Words formed in my head, but they were all mixed up like on that Jumble game. Stammering and spluttering, I finally said, 'Well, good question. Hmm…um…yes and no.'
She turned and looked me straight in the eyes, as though waiting for my explanation. Her face clearly expressed hurt.
'Sela, I would love to have a family with you, but this isn't exactly the best time. Bringing a baby into the midst of some supernatural, epic battle of good versus evil is not my idea of-'
'I know. It's just that…well, I love you and if I were pregnant, it would be the most beautiful child ever.'
My insides did that flip-flop thing again and I hugged Sela harder. 'I agree. With your supermodel looks and kick-ass demeanor, our child would be…awesome.'
She leaned her head up and kissed me.
'Maybe once this is over, we can have that family,' I whispered softly into her ear.
The
As we rode into McKinney, I noticed several large towers circling the town. I looked to see if anyone was perched in them and couldn't see anything. Sela slowed Tempest to a walk and dropped alongside of me.
'What do you think?'
I shrugged.
A slow rumble made us turn around to look down the road we just traveled. The roar got louder. 'It can't be. That sounds like motorcycles,' I said. Jerky was draped over my shoulder. She jumped off, hit the ground, turned and hissed.
'It does. But that's impossible. There hasn't been any gas around for a long time,' Sela offered as the sound increased in volume.
The sound intensified further and the first sign of a group of motorcycles appeared on the horizon.
'I've got a bad feeling about this. I don't think that it's a bunch of old guys coming back from the Sturgis bike rally,' I said as Hope knelt for Jerky to jump up to me.
'No…more like Hells Angels, and I don't mean the California club. I'm thinking real Hells Angels. Let's get going,' Sela said as she kicked Tempest to gallop.
The sound was deafening as the motorcycles raced toward us. As we got closer to the edge of town, people popped up in the towers. I could see they were holding an assortment of weapons, including rifles, bow and arrows, shotguns and spears. There were even some older kids with slingshots. One individual had his hand up in the air as if ready to give a signal. We pushed the horses faster past the first tower.
I turned around once to see a few of the lead motorcycles only about fifty yards behind us. Suddenly, I heard a shout and the tower attackers let loose a deadly barrage. The bikers closest to us were thrown from their bikes. Some got up, kicked their bike back into life and continued to chase us.
'Yup, more of Madeline's forces. No doubt about it,' I yelled to Sela.
As we entered the main street of town, a group of men came out in front of us.
'Quick, down this alley,' one of them said to us, motioning.
The bikers kept getting knocked down, only to get back up. They had that same dull-red glare in their eyes. Right after the last barrage from the towers, I heard a roar from a crowd. Before I took Hope down the alley, I looked out at the edge of town and a small force armed with baseball bats, guns, pitchforks, big shovels-you name it-converged upon the bikers. I almost giggled because it reminded me of that scene in Frankenstein when the villagers assembled to go after the monster.
As we neared the end of the alley, two men took the horse's bridles and led us into a large warehouse. It was dark inside. My heart pounded in my chest. Jerky was on my neck. She licked my ear. Her scratchy tongue for some reason seemed to comfort me and made me feel at ease. Maybe she sensed my fear. I reached up and petted her head.
'Are you all right?' I asked Sela.
'Fine,' she said panting. 'Just a little shaken up.'
'Don't blame you folks. I'd be too.' A tall, elderly gentleman emerged from the shadows. 'Welcome to McKinney.'
'Thanks for the welcoming committee,' I said, extending my hand. 'And I
'We like to be prepared for anything. We saw you coming down the road and we waited to see if you were friend or foe. It was obvious that you were being chased and those bikers didn't look like they were exactly in your escort.'
'That's for sure,' Sela commented as she dismounted from Tempest. She extended her hand and introduced the two of us.
'And this is Jerky,' I said getting down from Hope. The cat purred as the man petted her head.
'Please to meet you folks. My name is Jack, Jack Hawkins. At one time, I was the mayor of the fine town of McKinney. Now it's more like governor, I guess. People wanted me to stay in charge.'
'I've been traveling for over a year now. This is the first town I've come to that actually has people in it that aren't…um…either dead or psychotic,' I said.
The sounds of Madeline's possessed growling bikers mixed with shouts from the McKinney protectors intensified. Jack had us move farther into the warehouse. He explained that after the initial months of the collapse took a firm root in the country, a small group of people bound together to support each other and learned to survive. 'For some reason, we didn't seem to have the maniacal urge to kill each other like what was going on across the rest of the planet. We built up our defenses, a little of which you saw coming into town.'
'Impressive,' I said, turning my head to hear the roar of a motorcycle approaching. I looked at the door and saw it beginning to slide open. That weird sensation in my stomach began to seethe and twist. I could feel the sense of power building in my arms. Sela glanced over at me and flashed me a look of concern. Jack kept talking and started to walk toward the door. I was about to lift my arm to unleash that unexplainable power inside me when suddenly the commotion outside the warehouse ceased. Seconds later, the loud, unearthly roar of Madeline's badass bikers faded away.
A bloody-faced teenager carrying a large axe slid open the cumbersome wooden warehouse door and yelled, 'We got 'em runnin'.'
'Good one, Tommy,' Jack yelled. 'Will you excuse me? I need to go survey the damage and help clean up.'
'What can we do to help? You did save our lives,' Sela asked.
'Nothing. You just get yourselves settled. There's some water over at the faucet and a bucket. I'm sure your horses would love a drink. I'll be back later.'
As he left the warehouse, Sela thanked him again. Turning to me, she asked, 'What do you think?'
