Heckel Casey (19 page)

"Great," I said. It took us a few nights to feel at ease sitting around a campfire again after our little visit from the Madeline wraith.

"Maybe there are some people in Albuquerque who will join us," Sela said.

"That'd be—" Jack started to say until I interrupted him.

I jumped up and started pacing around the fire. Sela shot me a worried look.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it's a panic attack."

Jack and Sela just stared at me as I continued to pace around the fire. Jerky stood up and started pacing with me as if she were concerned about the same thing I was.

"Ya know, I have this bad feeling about Albuquerque," I said, picking up Jerky.

No one said anything. Jerky's hair bristled.

Vonnie and Missy came back from visiting friends. "Everything all right?" Vonnie asked. Missy sat down next to Sela.

"No, I…um…"

"Sit down," Sela said patting the ground next to her. "Let's think this through. You too Jerky."

I picked up the cat and plopped us both down next to her. Jerky walked in circles around my lap and finally, finding just the right spot, curled up and settled in.

"Maybe you and I should ride up ahead and take a look. There's a spot off I-40 on the eastern edge of Albuquerque where we can see out across the whole city. I've got some good binos. If there's a problem, maybe we can plot a course around it," Jack offered.

"Yeah, I think you have a good idea. Only, I think I should go alone. Jack, you need to look after the troops."

"I don't think so," Sela said determinedly, grabbing my hand. "I'll go with you."

The look she gave me clearly indicated that there was no chance of arguing with her.

"We'll be back in two days. If we aren't, turn around and go back to McKinney," I said to Jack as he held onto Hope's reins.

"That won't be necessary. I'm sure everything will be fine. You be careful," Jack said guardedly.

It felt good to ride fast for a change. Both horses seemed to really enjoy the pace. We got to Tijeras by lunchtime. Sela spotted a small creek near the road.

"Let's have some lunch and let the horses rest," Sela said as we neared the stream.

"Sounds good to me." Jerky jumped off my shoulders and ran toward the bushes. I knew the cat would find her own lunch.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" Sela asked.

"Yes. We just passed Tijeras which means we should be able to see down into Albuquerque soon. I think we'll get off the highway as we get closer just to be safe. I want to get up high enough to have a good vantage point," I said, taking a bite of some beef jerky. "Hmm…did you make this?"

"No, Vonnie did. It's pretty good, huh?" Sela said, ripping off a big chunk and handing me another piece. "Any thoughts on your premonition about Albuquerque?"

"Oh…nothing I can put my finger on," I said. "I just have a bad feeling."

"And here I always thought that women had the market on intuition," she said, wrapping her arms around my waist.

In a flash, she pushed me aside, drew her pistol and yelled, "Freeze or I'll shoot."

I spun around to see a man crouched behind a large boulder. I slowly slid my gun out of my waist.

"Don't shoot. I mean you no harm," he yelled as he slowly stood up with his hands held high in the air. He walked gingerly toward us.

"That's far enough," Sela commanded sternly. "Where are you from?"

"Albuquerque. I'm a lookout."

"A lookout for who?" I asked.

"Our group," the man answered nervously.

I put my gun down and eased Sela's arm down as well. "It's all right. I think he's one of the good guys," I whispered into Sela's ear. "Besides, Jerky doesn't seem the least bit concerned and she's been pretty good about warning us. Look at her. She's just munching away on…whatever."

Sela relaxed and asked the man a barrage of questions. Before he could answer, I interrupted and asked, "What's your name?"

"Justin. Justin Blake."

"Well, Justin, I'm Heckel and this is Sela." He approached us with an outstretched hand. I could tell Sela was nervous about the introductions.

After a few pleasantries, she asked, "So, who are you a lookout for?"

Justin explained that there was a group of about 250 good people camping in an old KOA campground on the eastern edge of Albuquerque. He recounted how they had been living together for about a year and turned the old campground into, for all practical purposes, a fort.

"We started calling it Fort Albuquerque," Justin said proudly.

"Have you had any encounters?" I asked.

"Oh yeah…most of them with Madeline."

Sela and I looked at each other with big eyes.

"You know about Madeline?" Sela asked, looking around the area as if we'd have a visit from one of her avatars.

"Sure do. We've had all sorts of attacks from the little bitch. Excuse the language."

"No problem. We're in full agreement on that account," Sela said.

We spent the next hour swapping stories about Madeline. Sela recounted the attacks in McKinney and just as she was about to reveal my special talents, I interrupted her.

"I still want to know why you are a lookout? Was something about to happen?" I asked.

"Yes. We'd been getting reports from other scouts of a large band of Madeline's Marauders approaching from the North. I was sent in this direction to scout for any potential problems from the east. Where are you folks going?"

Hmm...Madeline's Marauders. I like that…catchy.

"Albuquerque," Sela answered.

"You might want to go south of the city to avoid any conflict," Justin suggested. Jerky came up from behind him and curled around his leg. He bent down to pet the cat.

At that point, I explained to Justin that we were leading a group of about two hundred people to Oregon. Sela interjected that we were planning to confront Madeline.

"That's nuts," Justin said.

Sela explained everything about me. I held my head down, kicked the dirt and felt very embarrassed.

Justin didn't laugh or make any judgments. He simply looked at me, sizing me up and down.

"Huh, I'll be. There was an old woman who kept saying that there'd be someone to come and save us."

"I am not anyone's savior," I said with a deliberate tone, feeling very self-conscious.

Sela gave me that look which sent me into withdrawal mode. "Heckel, we don't need to get into that discussion again. Savior or not, we have a job to do and let's get on with it."

"Fine with me. Let's go up to that vantage point and have a look."

Justin decided to go with us. When it came time to mount the horses, Sela told Justin to ride on Tempest with her. As he mounted the horse, I suddenly got concerned. We really didn't know this guy. Sela saw me staring at her.

"It'll be fine, Heckel," she said softly.

I realized it wasn't concern, but more like jealousy. Justin had his arms wrapped around her waist.

"We have to trust people," she said, as Justin looked sheepish and embarrassed.

I flashed him a concerned look as he smiled nervously. "Yes, you are right as usual," I said, putting my foot in Hope's stirrup and pulling myself onto the horse's back.

"Of course I am," Sela said with a huge smile. "Let's go."

Justin proved to be very helpful by showing us a good route to a perfect spot to look down on Albuquerque. When we got there, we crouched down behind some large boulders. Taking the binoculars from my pack, I quickly spanned from south to north and abruptly stopped at one point. "Oh shit. We have a problem." Looking down at the old KOA campground, I could see a fight taking place at the entrance. "I guess Madeline's bikers have paid your group a visit."

"What?" Justin asked, holding his hand out for the binoculars.

"Here," I said, handing over the glasses.

Justin observed for a minute and then handed the binoculars to Sela. "Oh, they've been here before. We usually can handle them. Not too bright, more of an annoyance."

Sela slowly moved the binoculars northward. "Well, fellas, there's a much bigger problem up north. Here, look," she said. "That looks much more disturbing."

Looking north of Albuquerque, I could see a large troop of what apparently were Madeline's Marauders. "We need to alert your people. Let's go."

We rode fast down I-40. When we got to the Tramway exit, we got off the interstate and made our way down Central Avenue, the old Route 66. Jerky, perched on my shoulder, hissed loudly in my ear. "It's okay. We'll be fine."

As we approached the fight near the entrance to the KOA, we dismounted. I could feel the power inside me gathering. I looked down at my hands and a tinge of blue slowly emerged. Sela took out one of the rifles and tossed one of her Glocks to Justin. "Sela, I don't think you'll need those. Save the ammo. I'll end this real fast. Stay here with the horses."

Sela shook her head and said, "Not going to happen. Justin, stay here with Jerky and the horses." Jerky curled around Justin's legs.

I grunted something unintelligible and knew I couldn't argue with her. "Stay behind me."

As we walked up to the entrance, several of the bikers spotted us and revved their engines. They punched their gears and sped toward us. The balls of fire in my hands now spun violently in my palms waiting to be released.

"Hello, boys…remember me?" I said as I pitched the flaming orbs at the two closest bikers. My aim was dead on and both assaulting demons exploded, sending bits of motorcycle and chunks of flesh and leather flying into the air. The remaining bikers stopped fighting with the Albuquerque men and headed straight at us. I pitched the flaming orbs at them as if I were a young rookie pitcher trying to impress his coach. The crowd at the entrance of the old KOA cheered as the last of Madeline's Marauders were eliminated.

"Nice pitching," Sela said proudly as she came up behind me.

I just smiled. "I'm still not anyone's savior."

Sela remained quiet but got the last word in silently with a wink.

Justin walked up with the horses as a small group from the KOA came up to us. For a few moments, no one said anything. I finally broke the silence. "This is Sela and I'm Heckel."

The group stared at me as if I had a third eye in the center of my forehead and I was wearing woman's clothes. I actually looked down to see if Madeline had transformed me or something.

Finally, a woman from the back came forward. "It's a pleasure to meet you. How long have you had this ability?" she asked, pointing to my hands.

Feeling self-conscious, I put my hands in my pockets and mumbled something. Sela jumped in and explained that we were leading a group to Oregon.

After several more questions, Justin finally suggested that we get the horses watered and resume the discussion in a more comfortable setting.

Chapter 16

When we entered the old KOA, memories of the campground flooded my thoughts. "Ya know, when I was a kid," I said, leaning over to Sela, "my parents took me on a road trip to California, and we stopped at this campground. I remember it because I thought it was so clean and there were really nice people who worked at it. Years later, I stopped here again as an adult. It's always been a great place."

The campground was packed. There were people in old RVs, newer models, cabins, lodges, tents and even some of the really old Cruise America rentals. Justin took us to his camper and introduced us to his family. He picked up a bucket, put it to the faucet and filled it up.

"You have a working water system?" Sela asked with a look of amazement.

"Yes, it's about the only thing that works. We've got a few really good engineer-type guys who rigged it up," Justin answered as he watered our horses.

A group of five men came into Justin's campsite. "Ah, here are esteemed leaders now," Justin said. "This is our current president, Luke Johnson."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Luke extended his hand. He introduced the others and we all sat down.

"Tell us more about your group and why you are going to Oregon," Luke said.

Before I could open my mouth, Sela gave him the
Cliff's Notes
version of our recent exploits. She explained that we were going to Oregon to confront Madeline and do battle with her. All five men exchanged dubious looks as well as expressions of fear. A couple of them snickered under their breath. Then Justin added the information on my special talents that appear whenever I engage Madeline's attacks.

"So, you are the savior?" one of the elders asked.

Before I could object and get all defensive, Sela put her hand over my mouth, "Sort of. Let's just say that Heckel has been blessed with some abilities and Madeline doesn't like it. We think she feels threatened by him."

She took her hand down and calmly I said, "I just want to put an end to her evil. She caused the collapse of our world and we, together, need to rebuild it."