James Hoch - Heckel Casey

"Hope we weren't too hard on your little squirmy serpent friends," I said with my best sarcastic tone. "They made for a good barbecue."

"Snakes. I tell you…you just can't depend on them. Well, at least it kept you entertained for a while," the apparition commented, playing with her hair.

"What do you want?" I asked defiantly.

Laughing again, all she did for the longest time was glower at me.

"Well?" I said.

"Disband and I might spare your lives. Stop this futile, silly journey." The heat from the fire intensified further.

"Are you getting nervous perhaps?" I asked in a taunting tone.

Madeline tossed the small ball of fire at my feet. I stood my ground, knowing that she couldn't harm me. At least, I was counting on that power inside of me to put up a barrier or something.

"Now that's no way to have a civilized conversation, but then again who ever said you were civilized."

More laughter bellowed from Madeline that slowly modulated into a low, guttural sound. "I destroyed civilization and I will destroy you. You puny man…you can't stop me."

The power inside me began to make its appearance. A calm spread throughout my body. "I can and I will," I said, taking a step forward. Sela let go of my hand and stood to one side. My fists clenched tightly.

Madeline emitted a piercing screech and flung a large sphere of flame at Sela.

I immediately stood in front of her. The fire went out inches from my chest.

Madeline's blazing specter flew up into the night sky. Our campfire instantly went out as if a wet blanket had been thrown on top of it. The dark enveloped us. Everyone stood in silence for the longest time. Finally, I turned to whisper to Sela, "Could you see my knees shaking?"

"A rock. You looked like a rock."

Jack inched his way over to me, nudged my arm and held out his flask. "Here, you might need this."

After taking a long swallow, I returned the flask. "Thanks. How many bottles did you say you had left?"

That night, I wondered if anyone slept very well.

For some reason, I felt a sense of relief when we left Texas. However, on the other hand, what the hell did New Mexico have in store for us? I could only imagine.

It took us about a week or so to travel through the eastern part of New Mexico. Thankfully, it was uneventful and everyone was in good spirits.

"We should be in Albuquerque the day after next," Jack said as we sat around the campfire.

"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?"