Heckel Casey (29 page)

"Of course. I spotted a good-sized fishing hole about a mile down the river. Do you think you can make that?"

Bobby kissed me on the cheek and said, "You betcha. I haven't been fishing since my dad left us."

Chapter 26

The 500 hp Cummins diesel engine roared to life as Madeline walked up the steps to the opulent RV. The driver stood up immediately and welcomed her aboard. "Good morning, Miss Madeline."

"Seriously? A motor home? This is how I travel? What about a personal jet or stretch limo?" Madeline asked standing at the doorway.

"Your assistant said you wanted to see what your country was looking like. So he ordered this—"

"Tenement on wheels," Madeline said interrupting. She looked down the side of the motor home in disgust as though she had just drank sour milk.

"I think you'll find the ride very comfortable. Prevost is the premier motor coach. Always has been. You have all the comforts of home and then some."

"We'll see about that," Madeline said, wrinkling up her nose and then pursing her lips. "Oh, where are my babies?" she queried turning around to see two black dachshunds with diamond-studded collars clambering up the stairs behind her. They made their way to the soft leather sofa and looked out the window, barking at a large German shepherd off in the distance.

"There's mamma's little sweet peas," she said, gushing over the dogs. Madeline threw her briefcase down and petted the dogs.

"Would you care to see the rest of your home on wheels?" the driver asked.

"I suppose so," she said with a slight whine. Madeline followed him down the aisle. The nickel tour didn't last long. "Very nice. Say...how long will it take for us to get out there?" she asked impatiently.

"Well, ma'am, we are not exactly sure. There's a great deal of debris along the interstate that will need to be cleared."

"My advisors said that was being taken care of," she replied.

"Yes, I believe it is, but there still may be some delays."

"What about fuel?"

"There is a large diesel fuel truck following us. It's like having your own gas station in tow," he said with a slight, nervous laugh.

"Fine. Let's just get this going," she said, not picking up on his feeble attempt at humor.

The driver excused himself while Madeline looked in the refrigerator. It was fully stocked with all her favorite snacks and foods.

"My chef is coming, right?" she yelled to the driver.

"Yes, ma'am. He is in another vehicle."

"Good."

The RV began backing up and she was startled. "Sheesh," she mumbled, grabbing hold of the counter as she made her way to the sofa. Once the motor home was on the road, Madeline stretched out on the sofa.

After about half an hour, the driver asked if she cared to have some music. "Yes, that would be very nice. Preferably classical."

Strains of Bach filled the motor home. The two dogs were fast asleep on the sofa at her feet. It was a partly cloudy day, or was it partly sunny? She guessed it was how you wanted to look at it. She preferred a nice dark, cloudy day. The sun made everything too cheery. The landscape was dotted with burned-out vehicles, the charred remains of bodies and empty homes. She smiled. Soon all this would be hers. The world would be rebuilt with a foundation of evil and fear, mostly fear of her. It's humanity's destiny. It always has been. Mankind has now turned to the dark, that is, once this Heckel virus is purged.

"I just have to eliminate the one light in the way, Heckel," she muttered, looking down to see sparks jump from her fingertips.

The RV pulled into a deserted campground somewhere in Pennsylvania. It was just getting dark. The large fuel truck that was following the RV pulled up alongside and began fueling the rig.

The driver came back in, pushed a button and the sofa where Madeline was sitting began to slide outward. "Don't worry ma'am. I'm just giving you some more room. It's like magic," he said as though he were a little kid showing off a new toy. Madeline stood up and peered down the aisle toward the back bedroom, watching the other slides extend outward.

"There you are," the driver said.

"Impressive," she muttered. "Say, since we will be together for a while, what is your name?"

"Quincy, ma'am."

"Now there's an unusual name, especially for someone as young as you."

"My mom liked the old TV show called Quincy. It was about a medical examiner and starred Jack Klugman." After no response from Madeline, he smiled at her, bowed his head once and excused himself. Madeline watched his behind as he exited the RV. "Nice tush!" she said under her breath and wondered if Quincy was as good in bed as he was a driver. Maybe she'd just have to find out, needing something to make the unpleasant trip more bearable.

After dinner, Madeline went outside to walk her dogs for a while. When she came back to the RV, there was an elderly man sitting in a chair next to a large campfire. She knew who it was immediately. Mr. Barker.

"Good evening, Mr. Barker. What a pleasant surprise," Madeline said walking up to him with her hand extended. He did not move or even look up from his fixed stare on the fire. It was as if the flames mesmerized him. Madeline turned, walked over to a chair across from him and sat down. Now she was nervous. She tried to remain strong and confident.

"Your little plan with Bobby and Jackson fell through, I see," he said calmly with a hint of disdain. "Such a disappointment for you, I'm sure."

"Yes, it was."

"As it was for me. I had so hoped this matter with our friend, Mr. Heckel, would be over by now. He is a real fly in your ointment as you once mentioned."

Madeline nodded slowly and stared into the fire.

Mr. Barker got up and began pacing around the fire.
Here he goes again
. Madeline fidgeted in the camp chair. As the long period of silence wore on, she rubbed her hands over and over in her lap. The campfire flames steadily rose in the air, causing her face to get very warm.

"It appears that you are planning to take matters into your own hands and confront this Heckel character directly," Barker said calmly as he rubbed his hands.

"I always thought that if you want something done right, do it yourself," Madeline said with confidence and a slice of know-it-all.

"I suppose. However, Miss Madeline, there is much at stake here and if you fail…well, let's just say that cannot be an option."

"Correct, it is not. I will not fail. My power is strong."

Barker walked up behind Madeline and massaged her shoulders. His touch made her insides squirm as if hundreds of worms had suddenly slithered and wrapped themselves around all her major organs. Looking down at her arms, she could see her skin take on the appearance of massive goose bumps or as one person told her once—chicken skin.

He bent down and whispered in her ear, "Yes, it is strong, but you need more to defeat this man. Much more."

Madeline assured him that her army vastly outnumbered Heckel's puny band of followers and that her forces were much better armed.

"Still, we are concerned," Barker said. He let go of her shoulders and continued his pacing.
I just want him to leave,
she thought.
Please. Please. Please.

Hoping to put his mind at ease, Madeline babbled on about how after her army destroyed his followers that she would meet him face-to-face and destroy him once and for all.

Barker smiled and, with a half-hearted laugh that turned into a wicked, thundering shout, yelled "No, he will destroy everything that you have done, you fucking imbecile!"

The fire shot up fifty feet into the air. Sparks flew in all directions, followed by loud crackling and pops. Madeline fell backward out of her chair, scrambled on her knees away from the fire and flopped onto her back. Barker stood over her shrieking, "You must kill him now before you ever confront him on any battlefield. Seek him out under the dark veil of night. Kill his bitch and child. Then you will reduce him to a weak, defeated man and finish the task." A green putrid spittle flew out of his mouth as he went on with his rant. Madeline winced as it hit her face, flinching as if acid burned her skin.

After Barker regained his composure and the fire settled down, he went over to the dark edge of night surrounding the campfire. He pointed a finger at Madeline and calmly said, "We still believe in you, Miss Madeline. Don't fuck this up or you will regret your very existence for all eternity."

Standing erect with fists clenched and a defiant posture, Madeline replied, "Mr. Barker, know this. I will not stop until every part of Heckel's life is destroyed and his body is reduced to pieces. Then after that, every last member of humanity who does not bow to the evil that I spread will be slaughtered without hesitation."

Barker's eyes glowed brightly and he slowly nodded his head as he backed into the darkness.

Whew, that was intense,
Madeline thought to herself as she brushed the dirt off her pants. She looked down and saw a dark spot on her designer jeans. "Shit, I pissed myself," she said. Then anger brewed inside her, mixed with a feeling she hadn't had before.
Was it doubt? What if I can't defeat this Heckel? What if…

"Stop. There is no room for doubt. Push it aside. No, what-ifs! You must kill him and soon," she said loudly.

From the shadows of the RV, Quincy came forward and asked, "Is everything all right, Miss Madeline?"

Walking up to him, slowly taking his hand, Madeline replied, "It will be soon." She led Quincy into the RV and closed the door.

Chapter 27

That was just too damn close. Thank God, Bobby couldn't twist that knife,
Sela thought as she looked down at Heckel sleeping. She couldn't bear the thought of losing him.
Dear God, please, please, please, make all this…this…battle stop. I fear that we cannot defeat the evil that pursues us. We need more help. Anything, please.
Tears welled up in her eyes and little by little spilled over onto her cheeks.
I love him so much and our child needs his Daddy. Please hear my prayer and help us.

As Sela lay back down and snuggled closer to Heckel, her mind stopped reeling, and she was able to get back to sleep. The morning sun got to work early whipping up hotter temperatures. There wasn't much of a breeze. Heckel already had several small fish frying in a pan.

"Oh, my…that smells heavenly," Sela said sliding out of the tent. She stretched, letting the warm rays of the sun give her a healthy dose of vitamin D.

"You look well rested," Heckel said as he maneuvered one of the small rainbow trout onto a plate.

"I feel good." She sat down near the campfire. Jerky padded her way over and curled up in her lap. "I'm sure there's a little fish for you, my dear," she said, petting the attentive cat.

"How is it?" Heckel asked.

"Manna from heaven," she said, stuffing her mouth.

"Well, it just may be. I mean, there's a couple of fishing holes down that way that are feeding everyone pretty well."

"When are we planning to head out?" she asked.

"Well, I suppose tomorrow. Everyone seems to be itching to leave. They're hoping once we get closer to the coast it won't be so hot."

"Heckel, I was thinking," Sela said sheepishly. "Maybe…um…well…I don't know how to put this, but here goes. What would you think if we didn't go to Oregon and maybe just kept going south…by ourselves? We could hide away somewhere down in Mexico on the coast or something."

He looked at her as if she had sprouted a large turnip out of each ear and corn was spilling out of her nose. Calmly, he put his plate down, put his arm around her shoulder and said, "I understand what you're thinking. We all have doubts and lots of fears…me too, but we can't let those notions build walls in front of us and bring us down. We are strong and have to believe in ourselves. You were the one who said that to me not too long ago. Remember?"

"But the other night…I mean, if poor little Bobby can be seduced into evil, what chances do any of us have?"

Heckel took her hand and kissed it. "We rise above it and let faith in God and the people we trust prevail. Bobby did."

Sela nodded her head and felt better. "I love you so much and never want to lose you. I'm just so afraid of…" she said throwing her arm around his neck.

"You won't ever. I plan to grow old and gray with you and have lots and lots of children. Our love is stronger than any evil twisted knife that Madeline can turn. Once we end her reign our world, the world of love and kindness, will flourish once again. As it was meant to."

"Indeed. You're right," she muttered and kissed Heckel's hand.

After breakfast, Sela found Tempest and decided to go for a ride down to the river. It was warm, but there was a slight breeze that helped cool things down. After a couple of miles, she was getting pretty hot and decided to go swimming. She found a nice spot, stripped down and jumped in. "Oh, this feels so good," she said to Tempest as the horse drank from the water's edge. After swimming for a while and enjoying the cool, clean water, her mind seemed to sharpen and a sense of calm filled her. Suddenly, she stopped swimming, looked at the riverbank and saw a young girl standing near a large boulder. She smiled and waved.
I wonder how she got this far away from camp or maybe there were other people camping nearby.
Sela swam closer. The little girl held Sela's clothes in her hand and handed them to her as she got out of the water.