Shaking his head, "John, these choppers can only carry ten to twelve men. That many can't stop the ma.s.ses we have seen," Nathan said.

John looked shaken. "They don't have to. In COD, you call in strikes," he mumbled.

"Impossible," Nathan scoffed as an explosion sounded off in the distance. "They might do something like that later but you don't start wholesale slaughter at the beginning of a crisis."

Jasmine grabbed his arm. "You do if you're purging those that don't follow directions, so others won't try to fight later."

Nathan jumped up. "Now who needs to relax?" he asked as they heard a jet scream overhead. Seconds later they heard several large explosions to the southeast. Nathan dropped to his knees and drew a line. "That was near Antioch," Nathan said as a steady thump from a cannon on an attack chopper sounded off to their east.

"Nathan?" Amanda asked looking around.

Reaching over Nathan took the tablet from Amanda. "Get the horses ready," Nathan said studying the tablet.

"What?" Jasmine asked slowly standing up.

"John's right," Nathan said, pointing at the map. "They are only setting out lookouts, trying to get people to stop moving. Once people stop moving they can find them."

"Just like you said, America is big. h.e.l.l we are in b.u.m f.u.c.k Egypt now. They can't just find us," Jasmine said.

"If they just saturate this area with drones scanning the ground they will find everyone," Nathan said pointing at the map.

Shaking her head, "That is too labor-intensive. They can't do that to the entire state, much less country," she replied.

"Look at the map," Nathan said pointing. "They aren't. We are in a grid between two large cities. They are trying to stop movement."

Jasmine looked at the map where all the X's were. Each was close to a crossroad or a high point on the map, forming a corridor between Memphis and Little Rock. There were smaller corridors running off the main one. "Oh d.a.m.n," she mumbled, seeing what Nathan and John described.

"Get your horses ready. We are moving," Nathan said.

"Let's wait till dark," Amanda pleaded.

"Firecracker, listen, if they get more lookouts out we won't be able to slip past them. They can spot us just as well in the daylight as they can at night from the air," Nathan said.

"What-" Amanda started to say.

"Amanda!" Nathan snapped, cutting her off. "We have to get the f.u.c.k out of here! Get ready to leave or I will throw you over my saddle." He hugged her. "We need to move," he whispered.

Amanda looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll be ready in a second." She scampered over to her horse.

"The horses have gone fourteen hours straight already. We can't push them too much harder or we'll be walking," Jasmine said.

"I know," Nathan said looking down at the tablet. "Get ready, Jasmine." Jasmine helped everyone get saddles back on horses. Nathan figured out the route he wanted and grabbed his saddle.

In fifteen minutes he was leading them through the woods, heading northwest as the choppers buzzed overhead.

Chapter 24.

Day 32 Nathan's horse was dragging its feet through the woods as dawn slowly crept up. The only animals that hadn't tripped in the last forty hours were the donkeys. Nathan looked behind him at everyone asleep in their saddles. He only had a few hundred yards to go before he could stop and let them rest. None of them could go any farther. Over the last two days he had moved them over fifty miles in stop-and-go runs.

Reaching down he patted Smoke. "Only a little further, girl," he said wearily. Smoke didn't acknowledge him. He spotted the small meadow up head he had found on the satellite map. They were ten miles to the west of Clinton, Arkansas in the National forest. During the mad dash Nathan had to change routes a dozen times, hearing gunfire or helicopters in the direction they were going. They had finally slipped into the National Forrest at three that morning.

During the entire trip the only time they were on a road was to cross it. Nathan was so sick of fences he wanted all of them outlawed. He looked down to see Emma was pa.s.sed out in her sling. Rubbing her head, Nathan had to admit for a two-year-old she did great during the mad dash.

They reached the meadow and Nathan guided Smoke around the edge to the stream on the west side. Yesterday he had tied a rope from him, connecting everyone's horse. The rest of the horses just followed Smoke where Nathan guided, their riders asleep in the saddles. Reaching the spot they were camping at, Nathan slowly climbed off and almost fell down from putting weight on his legs.

Feeling her horse stop, Jasmine woke up and noticed Nathan was off his horse. She looked behind her and noticed everyone was asleep. She climbed down, untied the guide rope Nathan had rigged up, and led the rest of the group up to Nathan. When she stopped she saw Nathan spreading out his woobie gently laying Emma down.

Gathering the last of her energy, Jasmine went down the line, waking everyone up. Casey and Amanda had started riding together so they wouldn't fall off as they slept. As Jasmine woke them up, she had to catch them as they slide off as she woke them up. When they were standing on their feet Jasmine let them go and Casey fell down on her b.u.t.t.

She looked up at Jasmine and Amanda. "My legs are asleep," she explained in an exhausted voice, tapping her legs with her hand. Nathan picked Casey up and carried her over to his woobie, laying her beside Emma.

"Get some sleep, little one," Nathan said turning around walking over to Smoke, taking his saddle off. John and Tom had both climbed down and were leading their horses. Amanda stumbled and dropped her pack, then fell down beside Casey. Slowly rolling over, she took off her rifle and put it on the ground beside her.

John stopped beside Nathan. "Are we safe now?" He really didn't care if they were or not.

Slowly Nathan turned to look at him. "As we can be, I haven't heard any choppers to our west."

"What about that one I heard around four o'clock?" Tom asked.

"It landed on a hilltop two miles to our northeast," Nathan said. Amanda was already snoring. Giving them a weak smile, Nathan started taking the other horses' saddles off.

The others helped, and soon the tired horses were hobbled and eating out in the meadow. Jasmine, John, and Tom hung up the horse blankets so they could dry out. They noticed Nathan wasn't with them. They looked around to see Nathan studying his map as he took Ares's pack off.

"I swear if another chopper comes near us I'm going to shoot it down," John vowed.

"What are you doing, Nathan?" Jasmine asked, dropping to the ground beside him.

Nathan looked off to the northeast. "Have someone awake at all times. The rally point is here," he said, handing her the map pointing at the X. "If I'm not back by tonight I won't be back at all," he said, standing up.

Not tired anymore, Jasmine jumped up and grabbed his vest, spinning him around. "Whoa buddy, what do you think you're doing?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

"I saw that chopper land last night. I know where they are. I'm going to find out what the f.u.c.k is going on," he said.

Studying his face, Jasmine saw his gla.s.sed-over eyes. "You're about ready to drop. You can't take off and expect to catch soldiers," she snapped at him.

Sluggishly blinking his eyes, trying to make Jasmine focus in his vision, Nathan slurred, "Jasmine, I'm not in the mood. We have to find out what's going on. We can't keep this pace."

"Jesus, you can't even talk straight you're so tired," she said. "Get some sleep first," she begged.

"They may not be there later. I have to move now," he said, looking back to the northeast.

"They may not be there now," she tried to explain.

Nathan shook his head. "No, I watched the chopper hover and four men rappelled down," he said, patting his leg for Ares to come over. "They are watching that road. From the hill they landed on you can see down that small valley."

She grabbed his arm. "Nathan, you can't go. You have to rest. You haven't slept in sixty hours."

Nathan let out a long sigh. "If we don't find out what the h.e.l.l this is about we can't make it home. If it's going to be like this the whole way we will get caught if we're lucky, killed if we aren't. I know how much I have left in me and you are making me drain what I need to get this done," he explained. "Get the group taken care of."

Jasmine stood frozen, watching him walk away with Ares beside him. She turned to John. "What do I do?" she asked.

"Nothing. We can't stop him," John said as he watched Nathan disappear into the woods across the meadow.

"He's going to get himself killed," Jasmine replied.

"If we go with him I can guarantee you he will get killed worrying about us. He never once slept leading us here. When he stopped to water the horses he would get off and check on us. He might make a mistake moving toward them, but I can be certain we would," John said.

"So we just let him go off alone?" she asked, throwing her hands up.

"Yes. If we go with him we will get him shot," John said, walking away to set up the camp. Jasmine looked across the field, wiping tears off her face.

"Please be careful," she whispered and went to help John and Tom.

When Nathan was half a mile away from camp he knelt down and reached in his pocket. One thing Nathan had learned if he took his Adderall like it was prescribed he didn't daydream and could remember anything. But if he took two, sleep wasn't his top priority. Nathan pulled out three tablets, tossed them in his mouth, and looked at Ares.

"Daddy's tired, boy, but we have to make sure the others are taken care of." Nathan rubbed his head. Even Ares eyes looked tired, but he panted at Nathan with his goofy grin. Struggling to stand up, Nathan headed off with Ares beside him.

Thirty minutes later Nathan was feeling better but he knew it wasn't going to last long. Holding out his hand, he could see a fine tremor. He glanced down at Ares and Ares was looking around. I wonder if a dog can take Adderall, Nathan thought. Not wanting to experiment, Nathan continued on.

It took him two hours to cover the three miles to the hill. He pulled Ares close. "Ares, time to work," he whispered. Ares suddenly became rigid. Nathan crept forward with Ares beside him scanning the forest.

When they reached the top Nathan slowly crouched down to his knees and looked at Ares. Ares stared off to the left side of the hill. Giving Ares a pat he stood up, and crept forward, heading to where Ares was looking. Gently moving through the woods, they made almost no sound, stopping every five feet to scan ahead.

Suddenly Ares froze and Nathan followed suit. Out of nowhere Nathan heard a person talking over a radio to his front. Like he was melting, Nathan lowered his body to the ground, careful not to make any noise. Ares seeing him lay down copied him.

Nathan searched in front of him through the trees and spotted two men talking twenty yards away. He quietly moved to put a big pine tree between them and eased up to his feet moving to the tree. When he reached the tree he could hear the men talking quietly with his hunter's ear. He crouched and eased his head around the tree.

Two men were ten yards from him on a bluff looking out over the small valley. Then Nathan noticed two more men lying p.r.o.ne looking at the valley with binoculars fifteen feet from the talkers. The two men lying down had on weird camouflage. Moving his gaze back to the other two, he noticed one had on black fatigues and the other had on regular army fatigues.

When regular fatigues turned a little, Nathan spotted a gold oak leaf on his collar. Oh, he has to come with me, Nathan thought. He looked at the other man. His black uniform had no rank or insignia on it.

Nathan drew back behind the tree, trying to figure out how in the h.e.l.l he was going to pull this off. The two men talking quietly had M-4's but they had them slung on their shoulders. Nathan was sure the others would at least have them close.

Reaching up, Nathan uncovered his badge. "f.u.c.k it," he said under his breath. He wheeled around the tree, leveling his rifle at the two talkers, and crept forward. He had closed half the distance before the major noticed him. The major froze and Nathan shook his head, motioning with his rifle for him to put his hands up.

Black fatigues noticed where the major was looking and froze, seeing Nathan coming at them with a big a.s.s dog baring its teeth. The both slowly raised their hands as Nathan stopped ten feet from them. "Turn around slowly. Get on your knees with your hands on your head," Nathan whispered. The two slowly did what he told them as Nathan followed them with his rifle sights, watching the two men keeping surveillance on the valley.

When the men were on their knees, Nathan snap-kicked the major in the back of the head and b.u.t.t-stroked the man in black. Bringing his rifle to his shoulder, Nathan saw one of the men lying p.r.o.ne turn around. Nathan squeezed the trigger, putting three rounds in his face, then sighted on the other man, putting three in his back.

Looking down he saw the man in black was moving. "Ares, get em," Nathan said pointing. Ares lunged forward latching on the man's arm as Nathan moved to the major pulling out a zip-tie. Nathan zip-tied the man's thumbs and middle fingers behind his back.

Standing up as the man in black screamed at Ares, who was trying his best to pull the arm off. Nathan walked over and kicked him in the face. "Ares, here," Nathan said as the man fell back unconscious. He zip-tied the man like his friend. Nathan approached the two he had shot.

Rolling them over Nathan knew they weren't part of the U.S. military just from their facial features. From their pockets he pulled out papers that had Cyrillic writing. "d.a.m.n, Red Dawn," Nathan said. He emptied their pockets, throwing everything in his tote bag.

He went back to the other two and pulled out his knife. Cutting their uniforms off, he cut the sling to the rifles and threw them aside. Pulling the shoelaces out of their boots, Nathan tied their legs together with enough slack that they could walk. Moving to the clothes he cut off he emptied their pockets.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing, officer?" the major demanded.

"Got a call about a peeping Tom," Nathan said, moving on to the packs.

"You don't know the trouble you're in, son. Your best bet is to cut me loose and let's see if we can work something out," the major said.

"Your best bet is to shut up before I tell my dog to chew your d.i.c.k off," Nathan said, going through the packs. Wisely, the major shut up as Ares eased over growling at him.

When the man in black woke up, Nathan moved over and pulled out some duct tape. Taping the men's mouths shut he pulled them to their feet. Wrapping some para cord around each one's neck Nathan leaned forward. "I'm in a bad mood. If you want to live, don't give me a reason to kill you." He pulled on their leashes, leading them down the hill.

It was noon when Nathan called over the radio, "I'm back with friends. Don't shoot."

Everyone was awake and worried sick, waiting for him. Across the meadow they saw him leading two naked men with rope around their necks out of the woods. "Told you," John said to Jasmine, walking toward Nathan.

"John, take them to separate trees and tie them to it with the knots I showed you. For no reason are they to be cut loose. If they have to s.h.i.t or p.i.s.s they can do it on themselves," Nathan said, handing the para-cord and zip ties over to him. Nathan held up his hand, stopping Jasmine and the girls before they hugged him. "Jasmine, keep everyone away from them. I have to sleep, I'm sorry." Nathan collapse on his stomach on his woobie. Ares moved over beside him and laid his head on Nathan's back, and in seconds both were snoring.

Chapter 25.

Day 33 Soft whispering close by slowly woke Nathan up. When he opened his eyes he blinked several times, making sure his eyes were open because he couldn't see. Sitting up, he heard gasps behind him. He could see the shadows of the tree line across the meadow and all the horses were grazing. Turning around, he saw the shadowy outline of his group looking down at him. "Hey guys," Nathan croaked. They dove down on him.

Nathan didn't complain as they hugged the air out of him. He could feel their relief that he was okay. "I don't mean to be rude but I have to pee really bad," Nathan groaned and they moved back.

"Nafan, pee-pee," Emma called out.

"Yes, I do," Nathan said, getting up. Emma came over, holding her groin. "Emma, let me go first," Nathan pleaded.

"Nathan, go, I'll take her," Amanda said, picking up Emma. Well Emma didn't want Amanda and she let everyone know it.

When Nathan stepped off his woobie he jerked his foot up. "Ow!" he yelped, picking his foot up and falling on his b.u.t.t. He had stepped on something sharp. Then it dawned on him. "Where the h.e.l.l are my boots?" he cried. Then he realized he was in his boxers. "Guys, I'm in my underwear," he informed them.

Jasmine knelt down beside him. "We took them off to wash them," she said as she put his flip flops on him.

"You better not have taken advantage of me," Nathan said as he waddled over to a tree.

The comment caught Jasmine by surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Jasmine, I have ten gallons in me. Give me a minute," Nathan gasped. When Nathan finished he actually wanted to lie back down but walked to the group. "You guys all right?" he asked.

"Us? What about you?" Jasmine asked.