Spliced Page 5

“We’re coming into the Smokey Mountains,” said Lori. “We’ve made very good time and had easy walking. We’ll have to leave the trail soon and head more to the West.” It had been three weeks since they had left the city, and they were getting into a rhythm that worked for them. They would start the day with a cold breakfast of leftovers from the evening meal with Jason carrying both packs and staying on the trail. He could make good time this way, because he had a knack for balancing the packs so they did not interfere with his stride. By mid-day he made at least 25 miles if the going was normal. Lori would range alongside the trail with her slingshot. It was rare for her not to score a rabbit or a squirrel, either of which would make a fine meal. She would circle back to the trail ahead of Jason. When they met they would have the rest of the leftovers from last night’s dinner for lunch. She would take her pack and the two of them would continue the rest of the day together. In this way, they could make another 30 or 35 miles before dark. In the evening they would stop, light a small fire and cook the meat Lori had killed during the day. They would make a stew by adding some vegetables they had foraged during the day. They found the trail to be a ready supply of wild onions, cattail roots in the lower areas and wild grass seeds. These flavored the stew and gave them the necessary fiber and vitamins to keep them going. Their way had been uninhabited except for an occasional hiker. Lori would usually spot them during her hunting expeditions in the morning, so they could step off the trail and go by them unnoticed. They were lucky with the weather, too, because the temperatures were moderate during the day and cool for comfortable sleeping during the night, and there had been no rain as yet.

  “How much longer until we get to Mexico?”

  “Three weeks if the weather holds and the walking is good,” said Lori. “Once we get there I think we’ll be more anonymous. If we stay in rural areas we should be able to make our way without too much difficulty.”

  “Good hunting today.” Jason shouldered the backpacks and started to head down the trail.

  “Jason Wait!” Lori heard the sound of someone trying to be silent in approaching them off the trail to her left. She crouched and listened. Jason faded into the woods on the right side of the trail. Suddenly a short, bearded man dressed in camo and carrying an AK-47 burst onto the trail just ahead of where Lori was standing.

  “Well, if that don’t beat all,” the man said. He had a southern drawl that came through several missing teeth. His face was dirty and cracked with weather, and he had a smile that did not reach his eyes. “Ain’t you a cute little thing,” he said. “What’s a little girl like you doing way out here in the woods all alone?”

  “I’m not alone. My father and my two brothers will be right back.”

  “Well now, I kind of been watching you, see? And I ain’t see anybody but your little brother there.” He gestured with his rifle off in the direction Jason had taken. “Come to think on it you don’t look like a kid at all. You look like one of them freaks was on the TV a couple weeks ago. I heard there’s a reward for you. Now I don’t know whether it’s that dead or alive kinda reward, but I figure I can tie you up real pretty and take you in. And your brother too.” He started to walk towards her holding the rifle aimed at her middle.

  “Leave us alone, mister,” she said. She began to back away from him. The man started to run to catch up with her, but she ducked into the woods. The man quickly sighted his rifle and got off a warning shot. She stopped and turned to face him.

  “I don’t hold with you running off like that. Maybe I’ll just have to put a bullet in your leg to slow you down.”

  As he sighted along his rifle barrel, Jason burst out of the woods. “NO!” he shouted, and leapt in front of Lori just as a shot rang out. The sound of the bullet smacking Jason in the chest would echo in Lori’s mind forever. He let out a yelp of pain, and fell in a heap at Lori’s feet. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Lori faded into the dense brush between her and the gunman.

  “Well shit!” The man started running toward them, and approached Jason’s body lying on the ground. Lori found a space in the brush that gave her a clear line of fire at the man. She drew her slingshot and sighted. When he reached out with his rifle and poked Jason with it, she let fly the small stone. He felt a burning impact in his hand, and a sharp pain caused him to drop his rifle. “What the hell?” Then he felt another pain as a small stone smacked into his left eye. He let out a roar, and held his hands up to cover his eyes. Lori’s walking stick landed a vicious blow to the man’s kidney. He howled again in pain and fell onto one knee. He started groping for his rifle, but Lori brought her stick down hard on his good hand. She felt the bones crack. The man tried to scramble away from her but she was after him in a fury of kicks and blows with her stick. In a rage she drew her knife, jumped on the man’s back, and drove it into his already damaged kidney. The man dropped like a stone, lifeless.

  Lori ran to where Jason was lying on his back. Frantic, she felt for a pulse. There was none. Nor was Jason breathing. She ripped his shirt open and examined the wound. The bullet had entered just above the sternum and exited through a larger hole out his back. In a panic, Lori tried to patch the bloody, gaping hole with her hand. She hugged Jason’s lifeless body to her, rocking him and screaming in rage and grief. After a while, her body heaving with ragged sobs, she grew still. She gently laid Jason’s body on the ground and stood. With a purpose, she went back to where the man was lying. He had no pulse, but she reached down and withdrew her knife from his body, grabbed him by the hair and slit his throat to make sure the job was done.

  She slumped to the ground in despair. Jason ... dead! She had a funeral to prepare and a body to get rid of. Then she had a long walk home.

  December 14, 2027, 06:30

  Brazilian Jungle.