"Even after what we saw?" she asked.

"Especially after what we saw. We don't have the ammo or the time to right the injustices of this new world. If we come upon someone we can help, we will do our best if it doesn't involve too much risk to us, but if we can't, we leave. A bunch of guys on a tractor with guns falls into the chapter ent.i.tled, Leave those s.h.i.theads alone,'" Nathan said.

Jasmine let out a long puff of air. "I guess you're right," she concluded.

"Hey Jasmine, I've just taught you how to operate your weapon and you've only fired mine three times. You're not ready to start getting into some s.h.i.t, girl. I'm teaching you so you can stay alive, not get into a war. At least not yet," Nathan informed her.

"I know, it just seems unfair," she whined.

"Yes it is and that's what sucks. Life is unfair and good people get the shaft," he let her know.

She nodded her head. "Thank you, and you have my permission to spank me if I try to do something stupid," she said.

He thought for a minute. "d.a.m.n, didn't know I needed permission," he said.

"Well you have it so it doesn't matter," she said smartly.

"Alright, let's get the firecracker up and get the morning stuff out of the way," Nathan told them.

An hour and a half later they were on the road. Jasmine and John were now decked out in tactical gear. John had sucked and pulled till he got the clothes to fit. Looking at Jasmine, Nathan had to admit Jasmine looked hot in the gear. She kept looking down at the drop holster on her thigh then back up. It had taken Nathan an hour last night to show both of them how to draw the pistol out of the holster by pressing a release and for them to get used to it. Jasmine and John both had the officers' messenger bags for tote bags. They left everything they couldn't use in the ravine, hoping it could help someone else someday, although they did take Nathan's concealable bulletproof vest. Leaving something like that was just too much for Nathan. He could leave some of the guns, but not the vest or ammo.

With Nathan in the lead and Ares next to him, the others stayed in a staggered file behind him. It took Nathan awhile to explain that in single file one bullet could take out most of them. Glancing back, Nathan watched little Amanda looking around like she was told to. She had informed everyone that she wanted a gun like theirs. Nathan had promised he would do his best to get her an M-4 and she accepted that, but Nathan secretly had little hope of finding' another one. To be honest, Nathan was tickled pink they had what they had.

They had walked for an hour when Ares let out a soft growl. Like a switch, Nathan dropped down into a crouch then eased into the ditch, telling Ares to follow. Looking behind him, he saw the others follow his lead. Looking down at Ares, Nathan saw him staring intently off to the side of the road. Fearing an ambush, Nathan scanned up ahead with his binoculars and didn't see anything. The other three moved up to him.

"What's wrong?" Jasmine asked.

"Don't know. Ares smells something he doesn't like," he said, looking at Ares. "Follow me and be ready to run," he told the three. "Ares, easy show," he commanded and Ares started walking forward. As they moved up, Nathan saw where a tractor had been coming and going out of the woods. Dirt on the road showed it had been going right and left, but the wettest, freshest tracks were heading away from them.

"What, Ares?" Nathan asked as Ares looked past the dirt road into the woods.

"Come on, let's get the h.e.l.l out of here," Jasmine said, a slight tremor in her voice as she looked at the impressions in the dirt from a tractor.

"Ares doesn't like something," he said.

Nodding as she looked up at Nathan, Jasmine said, "Right, all the more reason to leave."

"Just stay quiet and follow me," he told them and eased down the driveway. They followed the twisting dirt track through the woods for half an hour then heard what could only be a kid scream off in the distance to their front. Nathan led them off the dirt path into the woods and motioned them around. "I'm going to see what's going on and you three stay here. If I'm not back in three hours, leave. If you hear a lot of gunfire, leave; and if Ares comes back and grabs his pack, leave. Go to the rally point and wait till morning. If I'm not there by that time, leave," Nathan told them in a commanding voice.

"Wait. Let me come with you?" Jasmine begged him.

"That is a no," Nathan said.

"What about We can't save the world,'" she said.

"Unless we are at a spot we can help, I'm going to see what's going on to find out if we can help. If we can't, be ready to leave when I get back. Now if I can take them out, I'll send Ares back to bring you. He'll probably go to Amanda. Bring my pack and his and hurry," Nathan said, handing her the map. "If something happens, make sure you get my pack. There is stuff you'll need in it."

Tears started welling up in her eyes. "Let's just go," Jasmine begged. Amanda came over to them.

"Come on, let's forget this and leave," Amanda said, trying to convince him.

"Guys, we're wasting time. We know some of them are gone. Stay here," Nathan said, dropping his pack and reaching over to undo Ares' pack. "Stay safe," he said then started walking away, staying inside the tree line beside the dirt path.

After a few hundred yards he could make out some people talking and laughing. Seeing the hair on Ares' scruff starting to stand up, Nathan reduced his pace and eased forward.

In about fifty yards he reached a slope, where he hit his belly and moved carefully to the top. The voices became more distinct, and he heard more laughter. Then Nathan heard a man yell and others laughing. A gunshot split the quietness of the morning, and he heard several kids screaming. Not being able to take the kids' screaming, he moved forward at a snail's pace with Ares staying right beside him.

Coming over the rise, Nathan crept forward very carefully through the bushes. Looking out onto a plateau next to a small meadow, he saw three men seated in chairs around a camp fire. Several more chairs stood empty. A man was standing over another, who was spread-eagled and tied to stakes driven into the ground. The man was aiming a pistol at the person on the ground and was holding a b.l.o.o.d.y hand to the left side of his neck; blood was oozing out from under his hand.

They were still about sixty yards away and Nathan couldn't hear what the man was saying, but he sounded p.i.s.sed off. Clearly the other three thought it was funny. Then the person on the ground screamed and Nathan realized it was a woman. Lifting up his rifle, Nathan turned the focus up on his scope and the figures became clearer. Scanning around, he spotted another group off to the side: a man, a woman, and two boys, all tied up with tape over their mouths.

Looking for the kids he'd heard screaming, Nathan found them tied up on the other side of the circle; behind the man with the gun. Finishing his search, Nathan aimed at the gun-wielding man. I'm fixing to die, Nathan thought, taking a deep breath. Moving his crosshairs from the three men sitting and the one standing, Nathan was sure he could get two before the other two moved, but they had M-4s or AR-15s. He could see them leaning against the chairs.

"Ares, protect the group," Nathan whispered and calmed his breathing. Aiming at the gun holder, he flipped to burst just as the man lifted up his arm and aimed at the woman. Nathan squeezed the trigger and didn't even wait for impact before aiming at the next man and squeezing.

Moving to the third man, Nathan saw him turning, pulled the trigger and advanced his sight to the next, only to find him standing up and aiming an M-4 in his direction. Nathan calmly squeezed the trigger and watched all three rounds. .h.i.t him in the belly. The man dropped his rifle and collapsed, screaming shrilly.

"Ares, come," Nathan said and took off running, praying none of the men's companions were close. He could hear two of them screaming as he came up to them; he shot them both in the head, silencing them.

The woman started to babble and Nathan put his fingers to his lips. Ares was looking off to the left toward some buildings. Nathan could tell there was something he didn't like over there. Crouching down next to the woman he pulled his knife out and started to cut her loose. She'd been shot in the abdomen. He whispered, "Stay quiet, the dog senses something over there." Then Nathan moved to the man, woman, and two boys.

He pulled the tape off of the man's mouth. "How many in those buildings?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know!" he whispered back.

"Where are the other five then?" Nathan asked and the man looked at him with astonishment. "There are nine chairs around the fire, and I only killed four," Nathan said, rolling him over and cutting his hands loose.

"They left right at dawn," he told Nathan.

"Cut everyone loose and be ready to run," Nathan said, handing him his knife before moving towards the buildings.

"Ares come. Find," he said and Ares slinked ahead of him with his head down. One of the buildings was like a small house with a shed beside it, and the other two were large and made of metal. They bordered the side of a large field. Ares moved toward the two metal buildings and led Nathan between them.

As Nathan came around the corner, he found a man hanging from a rope which tied his wrists together; he was covered in blood. He didn't have a shirt on but Nathan could tell by the pants that he was a cop. Taking off his glove, Nathan felt for a pulse and couldn't find one, but the man was still warm. Nathan backed away as Ares smelled the man's legs. "I'm sorry, friend. If you'd lived another few minutes you would've known I got some of em," Nathan said.

Pushing the anger away, he looked inside the metal buildings to find them piled full of stuff. Not taking the time to look at what it was, Nathan moved to the house. Opening the door, he froze. Everywhere he looked were guns and stacks of boxes. Making sure there was no place for someone to hide, he stepped back out. After checking the small shed, Nathan headed back to the group and noticed giant mounds of supplies around the entire area.

Inside the circle of chairs, Nathan saw four kids kneeling beside the woman on the ground. The man he freed came over. "Thank you, sir," he said, handing Nathan his knife back.

"Do you have gear here?" Nathan asked.

"Yes sir," he replied.

"Get it," Nathan said, going to the woman on the ground. He looked at Ares. "Go get Amanda," he said, and Ares took off as Nathan knelt down. He moved the woman's hands to find a small hole high in the left abdomen with dark, almost black blood oozing out. "d.a.m.n," Nathan said.

"That's about what I said too. We have bad bedside manners," she said.

"Yes ma'am, but I'm a nurse and I should know better," he said.

She smiled at him, her eyes bright. "So am I."

Nathan looked at her and wanted to cry. "Ma'am, I'm sorry," he said.

"For what? You saved my babies. That man said-" she stopped as tears started rolling from the corners of her eyes.

"He-he's gone, okay," Nathan said. "You're all safe. I can give you something for the pain, but-" he stopped.

"It will lower my blood pressure, making me sleep, and I'll slip away," she finished. "No, I think I'll spend the time with my kids," she said, trying to smile.

Nathan looked down and for the first time noticed she was nude. Jumping up, he looked around and found a blanket lying on the ground and covered her up. "Thank you," she said. "My name is Lillian."

He nodded. "I'm going to have someone come over here in a minute, okay. I have to make sure this area is safe."

"I'll stay right here," Lillian said and then looked to her kids, who started hugging her and crying.

He headed over to the four men he'd shot and grabbed the first rifle he came to. It was an M-4 police issue. There were three more. The last one, an AR-15, was leaning against a chair and Nathan picked it up, noticing it had every bell and whistle known to mankind. The man and the two boys came up just then.

"Can I have my rifle back?" the man asked hesitantly.

"Thought this was too high dollar for this fool," Nathan said, handing the rifle to him. The man and boys had on their packs and the two boys had shotguns in their hands. "You need to get out of here," Nathan told them, looking at the mom and her kids.

"If you don't mind, we'll stay for a bit," the man said.

"Sir, the others might be here soon," Nathan said.

"That's what I hope," the man said.

"Fine, but if you stay, we attack them my way. Nathan Owens," he said, holding out his hand.

"Howard Mans. My wife Jackie and my sons, Glen and Leon," he said pointing.

"Howard, move the two that don't have their heads blown off into chairs so it looks like they're just sitting there. We'll figure out how to arrange the others," Nathan said.

"Will do," Howard said, and they went to work. Nathan saw Ares coming back with his woobie in his mouth. Jasmine, John, and Amanda were right behind Ares and even from where he was, Nathan could tell they'd been crying. Jasmine and John each had a strap of his pack and were more or less dragging it. Amanda was trying to carry Ares' pack and run, barely doing either.

Nathan went to them and Jasmine and Amanda dropped the stuff and ran at him with John right behind them. As they reached him, Jasmine slowed and slapped the s.h.i.t out of him, sending Nathan's sungla.s.ses spinning off his face. Before he could do anything he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down to see Amanda kicking him in the shins.

"What the f.u.c.k!" he yelled and the three lunged at him, wrapping their arms around him and crying. The anger left Nathan's body faster than it had arrived and was replaced by confusion.

"I'm shooting your d.a.m.n dog!" Jasmine cried out in hysterics.

"He's so stupid!" Amanda yelled in tears. John just blubbered something out.

Nathan wrapped his arms around them, giving them all a big hug. "Will someone tell me what the h.e.l.l is going on?" he demanded.

"We heard shots and some kids screaming. Then we see Ares just bouncing down the road. He ran up to Amanda and then turned around. Thinking everything was okay, we started to move and Ares ran to his pack, grabbing his woobie. We thought you'd been killed! We were crying as we tried to put the pack on him so we could leave. He pulled his woobie off and ran up here. That's when we knew you were okay," she said, her story punctuated by sobs.

Nathan looked at Ares sitting there calmly on his woobie, "I'm so kicking your a.s.s!" Nathan yelled at him. Ares just barked once-Woof!-like "Bring it."

"I'm cutting that woobie up," Jasmine said, burying her face in Nathan's chest.

"Ah Jasmine, he's a trained attack dog. That wouldn't be a good idea for you," he said.

"I don't care. We almost-" she stopped crying abruptly, angrily wiping tears from her face. Nathan looked at John and lifted his chin up with his hand.

"I'm good," Nathan said, looking him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm crying," John said, wiping his face.

Nathan smiled. "Don't be, it's what makes us human," he said. He pushed them back gently. "Guys, look at me. We don't have time. That woman over there was shot. She has four kids, and she is going to die," he told them.

"We have to get her to the hospital," Jasmine said.

"Remember, s.h.i.t doesn't work," Nathan said, and Jasmine's face crumpled; she felt stupid. "I'm sorry," Nathan said, lifting her chin up and she smiled at him. "I need you to get a pen and paper and start writing. I want their names, dates of birth, social security numbers, where they were born, and whether they have any family left. Basically I want to know as much as you can get in twenty minutes. Get my camera and take pictures of the mother and kids. Record her talking to them, okay," Nathan said and she moved to get his camera and start writing.

"Amanda, John, there are M-4s over there. I've taught you how to tell the difference between the M-4 and the AR-15. Find any M-4 and put it by my pack. Don't go near those buildings, okay," he said and they took off.

Howard walked over. "I'm sorry they beat you down for rescuing us," he said, motioning to the three.

"Nothing to do with that. The darned dog told them I was dead," Nathan said, glancing around. Howard looked at Ares, wondering how the dog could talk. "Where do they park the tractor?" Nathan asked.

"They left from over there," Howard said, pointing towards a pile of stuff. "They load the trailer and haul it up here and dump it."

"How fast do they drive up the dirt road coming here?" Nathan asked.

"Not very. The tractor isn't in that good of shape."

"You have your stuff ready?" Nathan asked, looking at the bodies. He nodded approvingly; three of the bodies were in chairs and the one missing half his head had a cowboy hat over his face like he was asleep.

"Yeah," Howard said.

"Get your gear to the other side of the clearing. If it goes bad, get out," Nathan said as Amanda and John came over.

"We could only find three," Amanda said.

"Okay, you two take our gear to the other side of the clearing by that big oak tree over there," Nathan told them, pointing at the tree thirty yards away across the small meadow. The two took off after grabbing their things. He looked back at Howard. "Get some blankets and stuff and make it look like you and the kids are still in the same places," he said, and Howard called for his family.

Just ten minutes later everyone froze, hearing the tractor off in the distance. Nathan ran over to Lillian. "Ma'am, we can't move you," he said.

"Just get my kids and go," she said.

"We can't; they'll catch us. We have to kill them," Nathan said and she nodded. "I will leave you here and get the kids and the others to the far side of the field. At least they'll have a chance, okay?"

"Kids, go with Jasmine for now. You can come back later, okay," Lillian told them. "Natalie, keep Emma quiet, and that goes for everyone or those men will kill us." They each kissed their mom as Jasmine came over.

"Jasmine, head over to that tree where our things are, and take the kids with you. If you see them shooting at me, light their a.s.s up and tell Howard the same, but I will be here so check your shots," he said. "Remember, wait till they shoot at me so you can take them by surprise." She nodded and kissed him on the mouth. Spinning around, she guided the kids across the field. Standing there in shock from the unexpected kiss, Nathan shook his head and turned to check on the others.

He watched Howard lead his family away and Nathan looked down at the mom to find her smiling up at him. "I'm all right, I've got a little time," she said.