Free Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home by Thomas A Watson Page B

under it.
    He was sure people were under the overpass. Glancing down at the SAW to make sure it had a full belt in it, he looked back up. Sloshing through the water, the group made the mile to the turn in half an hour. Up ahead, Nathan saw a group of people on the interstate under the overpass.
    As they neared the interstate the water got shallower, and a hundred yards past it they were on the muddy road. “Stay calm,” Nathan said over his shoulder, resting his right hand on the SAW as the few people pointing at them waved out from under the bridge. Emma babbled away under his duster as he adjusted the SAW forward.
    Nathan’s group kept the horses at a steady walk toward the bridge. The other group was about twenty strong now and moving toward them. When the group walked on the road blocking them thirty yards away, Nathan spun Smoke to the left across the road and leveled the SAW at the people. “Stop and don’t come closer. Get out of our way and let us pass!” he shouted.
    “Give us a ride!” someone shouted.
    “Give us some food!” several shouted.
    “Move out of the way!” Nathan shouted, flipping the safety off.
    “Let’s just take—” someone started to shout as Nathan pulled the trigger. He was totally unprepared for the noise. Smoke jumped but Nathan yanked back on the reins and dug in his heels, swinging the SAW left and right at the group, sending a stream of lead into them. Some in the group just dropped and others raised their hands to surrender. Nathan raked his aim across their bodies.
    When the SAW locked back empty Nathan dropped it and pulled the M-4 off the front of his saddle. He sent bursts into anything moving. Like the SAW, the M-4 didn’t have a suppressor and was thunder in the air. Not that it mattered to Nathan and the others, they had the hunter’s ear and ear buds in for the radios canceling much of the noise. Emma didn’t have any and she thought the world was ending as she screamed. The boy riding with Jasmine tried to climb behind her.
    Feeling his bolt lock back Nathan, dropped the empty and slammed in another, continuing to shoot anything moving. He changed magazines again and aimed at the group. The safety meter on the hunter’s ear turned off and he heard Emma screaming. “Let’s go!” he shouted. He rode over the bodies, some of which were still moving. When he reached the other side he spun Smoke around so he could cover his group and noticed John off his horse picking up something off the ground. He climbed back on his horse and kicked it into a run. He flew past Nathan and Nathan wheeled Smoke, around kicking her into a run. When they cleared the bridge Nathan glanced over his shoulder and saw a few more people come from under the bridge, running to the mass he had shot.
    When they were several hundred yards away he told everyone to stop. Pulling out his binoculars he looked at the mass of bodies to see people fighting for stuff the corpses had. Dropping his binoculars he hung the M-4 back on his saddle and trotted Smoke to the front of the group. “Emma, it’s okay,” he said, taking her out of her sling and hugging her.
    Emma wasn’t screaming but she was sure crying as the others fell in behind him. The boy had turned around, wrapping his arms and legs around Jasmine. The one thing that bothered Jasmine, the boy never cried out, he just wanted to hide.
    Half a mile from the bridge, Emma had stopped crying and they were back in the water. It was about a foot deep as they trudged on and still the rain fell. They felt they were leading their horses across a lake. When darkness fell everyone turned on NVGs and silently shivered.
    It was just before nine p.m. when Nathan led them out onto a road that wasn’t submerged. With lifted spirits they followed on having to lead their horses through small sections of the road that was submerged but nothing like before. At midnight they crossed into Kansas, and Nathan made everyone get off and do exercises and eat.
    It