"From the sound of the tractor we'll know how much in fifteen minutes," Nathan said, walking over to the last man, who was missing most of his head. Nathan dragged him over to Lillian and put the blanket over his head. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, if this is what I can do to help," she said.

Nathan nodded and ran to where he'd ambushed the first group from. Looking around for Ares, he felt him b.u.mp his leg. "Okay, one more time and don't get me in trouble this time," Nathan said, changing magazines and crouching down in the bushes.

He heard the tractor pull off the road and turn down the dirt path and his heart started beating fast. Taking slow, deep breaths, Nathan tried to calm down as he heard faint hooting and yelling over the loud tractor. As he heard the tractor make the final turn he slowly twisted his head and looked down the dirt track.

The tractor slowly came up the small rise and he could see a man in the driver's seat with a woman sitting beside him. As the tractor pulled forward, Nathan saw the trailer come into view with four men in it. The only one who appeared to be unarmed was the woman. He stayed down as they drove past him at a normal walking speed.

When the group saw their buddies sitting in the chairs, all facing a man lying with the woman by the fire, they started cheering. Nathan stepped out behind them. The trailer was thirty feet long and Nathan crept up to the back edge and brought up his weapon. The four men in the trailer were standing up behind the driver, lined up along the front brace and facing forward. Nathan aimed at the one on the far right in the back of the trailer. Letting the crosshairs settle in right between the shoulder blades, Nathan squeezed the trigger.

Not even waiting for impact, Nathan moved his sights to the left, squeezing the trigger. With the sound of the tractor they couldn't even hear the m.u.f.fled report of the shots as Nathan dropped the third one in the trailer. The fourth man in the trailer looked curiously at his friends just as three bullets. .h.i.t him in the side.

Some blood from the shot hit the woman and she turned just as Nathan's gun bucked. His shot hit the driver in the spine and he fell over, knocking the woman off the tractor as he slid to the ground. Nathan took off running and saw the tractor bounce as it drove over the driver's body.

Trying to get to the tractor before it ran over Lillian, Nathan saw the woman who'd fallen off get up and turn toward him. In mid-stride, Nathan reared back with his right fist and lashed out, punching her in the jaw. The woman's body spun two complete twists before she crashed to the ground.

Nathan ran up to the tractor, pulled the throttle down and reached over and pulled the choke out, killing the engine as the tractor b.u.mped the first chair in the circle. With the engine off, quiet returned. Suddenly Nathan heard a scream and a dog growling.

Spinning around, Nathan sprinted for the trailer and found Ares tearing into a man holding a pistol. It was one of the men he had shot in the trailer. Nathan aimed at the man's head and squeezed, watching it disappear. Ares moved to each body as Nathan climbed up on the trailer and shot the other three in the head. With an irritated look, Ares rolled his eyes at him and moved to the back of the trailer and sniffed. At first Nathan thought it was some clothes lying there all piled up then noticed it was a dog.

Knowing Ares could handle it, Nathan jumped down and looked at the woman, who was struggling to stand back up. She slowly raised her hand and pointed to the driver's body. "You killed Stevie!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"You really want to shut up. I've had a bad day," Nathan said in a normal voice.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you killed Stevie!" she screamed.

"Sucks to be you," Nathan said, raising his rifle and shooting from the hip. Two of the three bullets. .h.i.t the woman in the gut, sending her to the ground screaming as Nathan walked over and stood beside her.

When they heard the tractor's engine die, Jasmine and Howard had crept across the field with rifles ready. Jasmine saw Ares sitting down at the back of the trailer and motioned the kids to go to their mom. "Howard, will you get that body away from her?" Jasmine asked and Howard motioned to his boys to help move the body.

The kids ran to their mom, Natalie holding little Emma in her arms. They all knelt down next to Lillian and started talking to her. Still not seeing Nathan and hearing a woman scream, Jasmine moved to the front of the tractor then walked to the other side. She found Nathan with his foot on a woman's bleeding belly; he was putting pressure on it to make her scream. He lifted up his foot and Jasmine could see the woman talking frantically. He did this a few more times. Then, without a second thought, Nathan raised the rifle with one hand and shot her between the eyes.

Nathan turned around and walked over to Jasmine. "There's no one else that knows about this place, but they have family and friends about six miles from here. They're all scared to even try and find this place. She was the first one they brought up here. She was married to the driver," Nathan said. Then he looked at Howard, who was dragging the body away.

"Ask Howard to get the boys to drag all those bodies to the other side of the tractor. They'll start to smell soon, so the further the better. I want you to fix something to eat for these kids and Howards' family. They haven't eaten in a while. Get Amanda to love on Ares," Nathan said.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I want to be alone. I'll be over there," he said, pointing to the house and the two adjacent buildings. "There's some things over there I don't want any of you to see, so don't come and get me. Send Ares," he said and dropped his vest on the ground. He laid his rifle on it and walked away. Jasmine stared after him sadly before making her way over to the kids.

When he stepped between the two buildings, Nathan fell down on all fours and retched out everything in his stomach till he thought he was going to die. Remembering the woman screaming as he stepped on her wounds, the retching increased, making his stomach cry in pain.

Jasmine told John what needed to be done then snuck off to follow Nathan to make sure he was alright. She heard him vomiting and ran back over to the mother and kids. Kneeling down, Jasmine took some pictures and recorded some video as Nathan had instructed her. Lillian looked over at her and smiled. "I look atrocious," she said.

Jasmine lowered the camera. "Just moderately," she said, smiling.

"I've told you everything about me and my kids. What about you and your group?" Lillian asked.

"We're just trying to survive," Jasmine said.

"Can you be a bit more specific? I really want to know the type of people who rescued my kids and will be watching over them hopefully," Lillian said with pleading eyes. Jasmine gave her a quick run-down of how the three had run into Nathan, what they'd been through, and where they were going. Then she answered some questions and talked with the kids, even getting them to smile a bit.

Jasmine looked up and saw Nathan walking towards them pushing a wheelbarrow. Compared to when he'd left, he didn't look much better. "Can I go check on Nathan? I'll be right back," she asked.

"Yes, and would you ask him to come here?" Lillian asked as Jasmine stood up. Smiling at Lillian, Jasmine hurried over to Nathan.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he stopped next to Howard and his family, who were eating a small meal.

"Yeah, I'm good, just tired. Bone tired," he said. "Howard, this is a big tent and a big camping gazebo. Can you get your boys and John to set them up? Then get the pile of tarps by the first shed and start covering this stuff up? I have to take care of something over by the shed," Nathan asked.

"Yes, we can do that, but aren't we leaving?" Howard asked.

"You can, but we aren't. Not today," Nathan said, looking at Lillian who was talking to her kids.

"Why are we covering this stuff up?" Jackie, Howard's wife asked.

"We don't know all what's here, and it's going to rain. Let's save what we can," Nathan said and she seemed satisfied with that.

Howard stood up. "Let me help you with what's behind the shed," he told Nathan.

Nathan held up his hand. "No, I found two more. I don't want anyone to see them," he said. "They were female officers and that's all I'm going to say. This was the group that killed the two cops we found," he told everyone, but he was staring at Jasmine. She gasped.

Howard dropped down in his chair. "My G.o.d, they said they were stringing up pigs. I thought-" he stopped.

"No kids back there, whatsoever, until I check the entire area. They don't need to see it and you don't either," Nathan said firmly. "Howard, you keep yours and mine busy so they can't wander back there."

Jasmine got his attention then. "Lillian wants to talk to you," she said. Howard grabbed the tents and moved with his family to set them up and called John and Amanda over to help. When he took out the boxes holding the tents, Howard spied the digging tools in the wheelbarrow.

Nathan walked over and knelt down by Lillian. He could see her face was much paler and her lips were almost gray. "h.e.l.lo Nathan, I want to thank you again," she said.

"Just wish I'd gotten here sooner," Nathan confessed.

"I'm glad you got here at all," she informed him. "Nathan, I want to ask if you'll make sure my kids are taken care of. Please don't drop them at one of the shelters; we tried that and were lucky to leave with a few bruises."

"So no family then?" he asked, and Lillian shook her head no. "I'll find them a good place, and if I don't, I'll watch over them myself," Nathan a.s.sured her.

"Jasmine told me you're taking your group to Idaho," she said and Nathan nodded. "Unless you find a great spot for them I'd rather risk their safety with you on the trip."

Nathan looked at the four kids who had stayed close to their mother, paying close attention to the two youngest, especially the little blond baby girl. "Some of them are not big enough for a trip of this magnitude. I don't think you know what you're asking," he said.

"I know what I'm asking. If you think you have enough supplies to take care of them where you're going, I would rather risk their safety on a long trip than a slow starvation at a center," she said.

Nodding, he sighed. "I'll do my best."

"Don't waste time burying me. You have too much you need to do," she said.

"Already have the stuff," Nathan said and she smiled.

"That big oak tree over there then. I've always loved oak trees," she said. Her eyelids were drooping and she began to blink very slowly.

"Any other wishes?" he asked.

"My historian has them," Lillian said, smiling weakly at Jasmine. "Let me spend a few minutes with my kids, please," she said, and Nathan stood up and grabbed Jasmine's hand and they walked away.

Jasmine lifted the camera and took a few more pictures. "Why would you want pictures at a time like this?" she asked.

He stopped and looked down at her. "Jasmine, out of those nine men over there, I shot seven in the back. If I survive this, fifteen years from now I don't want some do-gooder putting me up on trial saying I should've tried to talk to them first," he said.

"But the others you shot ..." she said.

"They can be argued self-defense. Granted, the gang that was walking down the road would take some work, but I don't think any of their families will survive," he said.

"The man under the bridge?" she asked.

"Oh, that was personal. Someone wants to prosecute that, I'll plug the chair in myself," Nathan said.

Jasmine looked over her shoulder. "How much longer does she have?" she asked.

"Less than an hour," he said.

"I'm going to stay close to her," Jasmine said.

"When she goes, let the kids say good bye and make them sit down and write a letter to send with her. I'll make some more tasks for them later," he said and she seemed startled. "We have to keep them busy. If they freeze up we can't carry them. Well, the one-year-old we could," Nathan said, looking at the little blond girl.

"She's twenty-six months old and her name is Emma," Jasmine said.

"You're kidding me, right?" he asked, still watching the children.

"No, and before you ask, nothing is wrong with her. She's just little for her age. The boy's name is Tom and he's thirteen. The girl with the light brown hair is Natalie and she's twelve. Next you have Casey. She's ten," Jasmine told Nathan, pointing out each kid.

"Keep them busy. I have to go and-" He didn't finish, but just turned around and left. Forty minutes later the three older kids let out a wail, dropping down and hugging their dead mother. Little Emma stuck her thumb in her mouth and stared silently down at them.

Chapter 9.

An hour and a half after he walked back to the sheds, Nathan returned, pulling a heavy-duty wheeled lawn cart with three tarp-wrapped bundles.

He had found the two females when he'd walked behind the shed looking for water after he puked. They had been left tied up in a frog position, naked. When he cut their bonds he looked for a means of death and couldn't find one. Wanting to forget what he was doing, Nathan wrapped the bodies in tarps and put them in the lawn cart. As he grabbed the handle, Nathan was sure he would remember the details on his death bed.

Pulling the cart over to the fire area, he noticed the two tents had been put up and most of the stacks of supplies had been covered. Jasmine and Jackie were dressing Lillian. Off to the side, Amanda and Ares were sitting with the kids at a picnic table. The older kids were busily writing away.

Hearing digging, Nathan looked out across the field and saw Howard, his two boys, and John digging four graves with picks and shovels. Nathan sighed, thankful he wasn't going to have to dig the officers' graves. All four of the grave diggers were stripped down to the waist and were at knee depth already.

Towing the cart behind him, Nathan headed across the meadow. When he reached them he said to Howard, "I can take a turn." His gaze was locked on the empty holes, and he looked sh.e.l.l shocked.

Howard looked up at him and dropped his shovel. "Nathan, are you okay?" he shouted, hastening to climb out of the hole.

"Yeah, I can take a turn," Nathan said, reaching for the shovel. Having heard Howard shout, Jasmine came running over and skidded to a stop as Nathan turned around.

She ran over to him and patted him down. "My G.o.d, are you hurt?" she asked. Nathan looked down. He was covered in blood and gore.

"No I was-" He stopped and looked at Howard. "That's good enough for the officers. Get Lillian's ready," he said, bending down and lifting one of the bundles. Howard grabbed the end, helping him place it in the grave. When the other two were in, Nathan grabbed a shovel. "We'll need markers," he said, shoveling dirt over the bodies.

Everyone just stared at him as he worked. He was literally coated in blood and other body fluids from the three bodies. Slowly they went back to doing what needed to be done. By the time the three graves were filled in, the boys were waist deep in Lillian's grave. Jasmine came over to Nathan with a bowel of water and a soft cloth and washed his face.

Finally done, the group carried Lillian over. She'd been wrapped in a sleeping bag and a tarp, and they gently lowered her in the ground. Nathan looked around to find everyone was staring at him expectantly. He took off his boonie hat and held it over his chest. "I'm proud to say I knew Lillian. She put her family first and her kids stayed with her till the end. Never once did she think of herself, worrying only about the well-being of her children. I'm sorry I didn't get to know you better in life, Lillian, but I will do my best to find a place for your kids or I'll keep them with me," he said, putting his hat back on.

The kids threw in flowers they'd gathered from the meadow, and ten-year-old Casey came over and handed some flowers. "You can put them in with Momma too," she said.

He reached down, brushing the hair out of her face. "Thank you Casey, I will," he said and put the flowers in. Then he motioned for everyone to gather around. "Jasmine, Jackie, I want you two to walk the kids around and find rocks to place on the grave, okay, but don't leave our sight," he told them and they led the children around the area collecting rocks.

Nathan, Howard, and the boys had the grave filled in by the time the kids started coming back, their arms loaded with rocks. Nathan directed them to place the rocks on the pile of dirt. Jasmine walked over and dropped a pile of rocks and he grabbed her arm. "Keep them busy," he said and she nodded.

Nathan went over and collapsed at the picnic table. Howard sat down across from him. "I don't have words for the thanks I owe you," he said.

"It's okay, you don't owe me anything," Nathan said. "You want to get your family ready to leave tomorrow."

"Aren't you leaving tomorrow?" Howard asked with a little alarm.

"I can't. I have to figure out how to transport the two little ones. I'm sure Tom and Natalie will be able to walk, and Casey will be able to walk some. But little Emma, I just don't know," Nathan said, lying his head down on the table and wondering what he'd got himself into.

"I've talked to Jasmine. Why don't y'all come to my dad's farm. It's just south of Tupelo and on your way," Howard offered.

"We can't take any more time off. We're going to be cutting it close as it is getting there before winter," Nathan said.

"Well let's crank up that tractor and run to my dad's farm," Howard offered.

"That's how the gang here got it. They shot the family off of it. The d.a.m.n thing only goes at a jogging pace, so outrunning someone is out of the question. We've already proven it can be heard a long way off. If it was faster, maybe," Nathan said, raising his head off the table.

"There's a truck back there. I saw it when we were covering stuff with tarps," Howard suggested, and Nathan shook his head.

"The engine block is shattered. I already checked it out. You also have to remember the government has stopped all Interstate transport. I was told they opened fire on a large crowd heading for Chattanooga."

"I heard that and a few others," Howard said.

"We'll have to stay on foot or get a truck that doesn't announce its arrival ten miles away," Nathan said. "We'll have to sneak across any state lines. That's why I suggested you and your family go ahead and take off. We'll slow you down."

"Ah, no offence but I talked it over with my family, and if you don't mind we'd like to stay close to ya," Howard said shyly.

"Don't have a problem with that, but I operate my own way," Nathan said.

"Yeah, that's what I mean. I'd-" he started. "We'd feel much better off with you leading us home."