James Hoch - Heckel Casey

"Found these in a metal cupboard in the back so the mice didn't get to them," Sela stuffed the food in her pack.

"Anything good? My stomach is growling something fierce," I asked.

"Macaroni and cheese. We'll have a feast tonight."

She finished packing the food up and said that she wanted to check a few of the houses close by.

"Don't be too long…and be careful," I shouted, shifting the rifle in my hand.

She raised her Glock, shook it lightly, and went into the first house.

I led both horses over to a small patch of grass. Jerky came running out from behind the gas station. No mouse this time. She curled around my leg and looked up at me.

"Hungry?" I asked, bending to pet the cat on the head. Looking up, I saw Sela walking toward me with two bundles in her arms.

"Wahoo! Big score. I found a small backpacking tent in that house over there and a down sleeping bag in that one over there. Hopefully, we can connect it to the one we already have."

"Great luck," I said, helping her to tie the sleeping bag to Hope's saddle.

We rode for a few more hours. High wispy clouds filled the sky and a light breeze was at our backs. Sela yelled that she was looking for a place to camp that had a water source. Another hour passed before we spotted a large stream going under the interstate. We rode the horses a short distance past the bridge, upstream. There was a small clearing perfect to camp at. After getting off the saddles and bags, Sela led both horses to the water. I went searching for wood.

As Sela went about preparing dinner, I struggled with setting up the tent. "Seems we're missing a few poles," I declared holding up one end of the tent.

"Improvise," Sela said, stirring the boiling macaroni.

I dropped the end of the tent and went looking for a branch to act as a pole. There were several scrawny bushes near the stream and a few old cottonwoods. As I approached the tree, I saw the remains of a skeleton propped up next to the trunk. Regardless of the many dead people I've seen, I have never gotten used to the sight. Giving the remains a wide berth, I walked around to the other side of the tree in search of something to use. I looked up and saw a branch that would work nicely. Taking out the big bowie knife I had, I sliced off the branch. As I turned to walk back to camp, I heard a voice mumble something. A cold shiver raced up my spine. Taking a few steps around the tree, I glanced down at the skeleton.

"Death awaits you," it mouthed, the slack jaw moving up and down slowly. Remnants of clothes hung loosely on its frame. A swirl of wind made the rags flutter.

Suddenly my feet felt as if the roots of the old cottonwood had grabbed them.

"Looks like it already got you," I shouted at the bones.

"Madeline will take you. She always does," the skeleton said with a grating voice.

Sela came running up. "What's wrong? Who are you talking to?"

I pointed at the rotting skeleton. Slowly, the head turned. Far back in the deep eye sockets a red light gradually radiated. It reminded me of those cheesy Halloween decorations one would find in the aisles of Walgreens.

"Madeline will feast on your entrails, Sela, and the child within you," the creature intoned.

Sela ran up to the skeleton and kicked the bones, scattering them around the tree. The head landed in front of me. Its jaw now moved up and down rapidly and a horrifying, high-pitched cackle came out. With all my strength, I raised my knee and smashed my boot into the head, silencing the demonic messenger.

Standing there with probably the dumbest look on my face, I stared at Sela. "Well?"

"Well, what?" she said nervously.

"Are you pregnant?" I asked, walking toward her.

"Not that I know of."

"Why would that…thing…say that?"

"Heckel, think about it. Would you believe anything a skeleton propped up next to a tree said to you?"

"Putting it that way, I guess you have a point," I said with a slight laugh.

We both stood there for a while staring at the bones strewn around the tree. "Creepy," I muttered.

Sela gasped. "The macaroni." She ran, grabbed a shirt and pulled the black pot off the fire. The last of the water was nearly boiled out. She quickly stirred the noodles.

"Whew, that was a close call," she said, opening the cheese packet to stir in.

As I sat down next to her, I couldn't help but reflect on what the skeleton had said. Was it lying or was Sela really pregnant? Maybe she's not telling me because she knows I wouldn't put her in the middle of some epic battle to save humanity if she was with child.

"Hungry?" Sela asked, handing me a big bowl of gooey mac and cheese.

Her smile had a way of bringing me back to reality. "Yes, thank you," I replied, taking the food. "Manna from heaven. It looks great." My stomach did flip-flops. Either it was from being hungry or wondering if I was going to be a father.

"Hmm, maybe it is a gift," she said, taking a big forkful of macaroni.

That night, I didn't sleep. Every sound put me on edge and my imagination reeled with fear. Madeline was getting to me. W as I going to be a father? Gulp.

Several weeks passed as we traveled through Oklahoma. Our days settled into somewhat of a routine. We rode hard, scavenged for anything useful and enjoyed being with each other. By the time we made the exit sign, thanking us for our stay in Oklahoma, we figured it must be close to December. The warm weather continued to follow us down south. Still, we were glad we had a tent and cozy sleeping bags.

"Welcome to Texas," Sela announced as we rode around the border guardhouse. There were a few burned-out, rusty old cars and trucks in a pile.

"I hope this isn't a bad omen," I said, pointing to the wreckage.

Sela shook her head, made a scrunched up face and raced off down the side of the interstate. At around lunchtime, we found an old farmhouse. Sela tried the well faucet out by the barn and it worked. We watered the horses. There wasn't anything in the barn that was either edible for us or the horses. Jerky found her usual mouse.

Today's lunch consisted of a couple of Slim Jims, a shared bottle of Gatorade and a few jars of baby food, which we can thank Leonard for and his suggestion to look under shelves. As we were packing up the horses, Jerky started hissing. I looked down at the cat curled around my legs. She had her back arched and was spitting. Slowly turning my head to see what she was looking at, I heard Sela gasp.

"Oh shit. Here we go again. It's been so nice not to have a visit from the supernatural world," I muttered. There on top of the barn were about a hundred silky, dead-of-night, ink-black ravens. All with a fixed stare at us. I knew instantly they were not your normal annoying birds. These little demons stood frozen. I shouted at them and threw a stone. They didn't flinch.

"Maybe we should just get going," Sela said softly. "Don't provoke them."

I threw another stone and hit one. Still, they all remained motionless.

"Fine. Go tell Madeline. I'm not afraid of y'all or the demon bitch," I yelled. Still, they just kept glaring at us. Not one of them ruffled a feather. They looked like something you could buy for Halloween. Maybe some farmer put them up there to scare away…whatever.

As we rode off, they just kept vigilant watch. At one point, they simultaneously turned their heads to watch as if choreographed by the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz. A few seconds later, I turned around to see if they were following and stiffened when I saw there was no sign of them. It was as if they just vanished.

"Well, what do you make of that?" Sela asked as we approached the interstate.

"Madeline's eyes," I mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Madeline's keeping tabs on where we are. Those were her scouts or something like that, I guess."