Conversations is excited to start offering teasers from great books of all genres in the pages of our magazine. Enjoy this excerpt from Chapter 78 of K3 by author Tracie O'Neil Horton.
ABOUT K3: A controversial political thriller—or a glimpse into our future? K 3 is a timely, thought-provoking read for today’s audience.
In K 3, the United States has been strictly divided into racial provinces. When Mikela Flanders discovers her country’s true past, she enlists the help of an American Indian, her friends, and an army of wolves to reunite the USA.Mikela is a brave, smart, strong young woman with courage and honor that help her fight against forces intent on keeping the country separated by race. Her story incorporates elements of adventure, romance, and suspense, along with a tangible love for animals and nature. Above all else, it’s a cautionary tale about how far politicians will go to further their own agendas.
Chapter 78
Two of
the things moved toward the group.
Mikela ran her knife through the eyeball of one of them. She kicked at another, sending it back and
away from her family.
“Dad! Boomer, now, let’s go!” Mikela gave out
orders while Westmoreland has his face under water.
“Move,
move, move! Let’s go!” she said to the
people who still sat in shock around the table.
People rose numbly. Michelle and
Janice couldn’t stop looking at Sarah’s still body on the table.
“I
know. But we can’t do anything for her,
and your daughters are waiting for you now,” Mikela said as she gently tried to
hurry them out the door.
“Lexi is
going to need you now.”
Molly
and John were already out the door.
James and Peggy were right behind.
“Chris
and Ben…” Peggy said.
“Should
stay right where they are,” Mikela said, hoping the boys would hear.
“Okay,
they’ll stay right where they are,” Peggy said.
The boys
heard. They needed no encouragement to
stay right where they were. Chris and
Ben hugged and stayed quiet under the dining room table.
Everyone
crammed into the Boomer. John started
the vehicle and they were off like a bullet.
Westmoreland
went to the freezer and grabbed a steak to put on his face.
“Get
after them! Follow them!” he yelled.
His men
sprang into action. He yelled into his
E-phone for all local AI to converge on his signal.
Westmoreland
had men in pursuit. He waited for the
new teams to show up. He had machines
from Coopers Falls and every neighboring town within a twenty-five-mile
radius. Vehicles converged on the
street. Neighbors stuck their heads
outdoors, asking what was going on.
Westmoreland
told them to shut the fuck up and to get their asses back inside.
Several
gasps ensued. Indignant old ladies
stepped on porches. Large men dressed in
black approached the old ladies with angry faces and large fists raised. The
ladies retreated into their homes and watched out windows while spreading the
gossip on their E-phones. Mothers ran
outside and picked up their children.
Mikela
instructed her father to drive to the five combines along the towpath. John left North Oak Street and drove down
East Street to School Street to Pearl Street.
“They’re
following us!” Michelle shrieked.
Mikela
craned her neck to look through the rear window. It was difficult with all the people crammed
into the back of the car.
“That’s
not all of them,” Mikela said. “Only
some are following. The rest will come
when reinforcements arrive at the house.
They will follow those guys’ signal,” she said as she pointed her thumb
back behind them.
John
followed Pearl Street until he came to the parking area at the top of the
combines. He paused to park.
“No, go
all the way down.”
“We
aren’t allowed to drive down there.”
“We are
today. Move it Dad,”
John
glanced at his daughter.
“Sorry,
Dad.”
He
smiled weakly at her.
“It’s
okay honey, we’re all a little tense right now.”
Mikela
couldn’t help it. She laughed and
reached out to squeeze her dad’s shoulder.
Mikela
knew they were following the signal on her phone. She turned off the GPSE.
They
drove down the steep hill past the stairway that was the five combines. John didn’t stop until he was at the T at the
bottom of the road. Mikela’s truck was
backed into an off-road, a small, man-made road that led to more fields and
trees. She told her father to park next
to it.
Farmland
was out beyond the T paths and Mikela could see her horses grazing. Two hundred feet from the horses she could
see tall grass, reeds and cattails.
There was a pond nearby.
River
was walking to her. Mikela ran to him,
throwing herself at him. Molly and John
watched this with great interest. Lexi,
Alex, Elena, Brian and Sky came to them as well. Michelle and Janice ran to their daughters.
“Where’s
my mom?” Lexi asked.
“She
stayed with my nephews,” Mikela said.
“They were scared. I didn’t want
them to be here, and I couldn’t leave them alone.”
She felt
terrible for lying to her friend, but it wasn’t a complete lie. And she needed Lexi to be able to focus on
the fight about to come. The other
mothers heard. They said nothing.
“He’s
human. The leader is human!” Mikela said
to River. She told him of her mom
throwing hot soup at his face.
“She
scalded him. He is real.”
Mikela
gathered everyone together in front of the truck.
“Mom,
Dad, James, Peggy, Michelle and Janice, go to where the horses are, and head
for those reeds. I want you to hunker
down in the reeds and cattail and don’t move.”
“But
Mikela, it’s dirty down there, and there will be bugs,” Michelle said.
“Mom,
get dirty!” Alex barked. “Better dirty
than dead.”
Michelle
flinched.
“I can
help,” James said.
Mikela
smiled and shook her head.
“No,
bro, you can’t. Just go with the ladies
and keep them safe.”
“The
boys have my E-phone. I slipped it to
Chris when they crawled under the table,” Peggy said. “Please let us know when we can go back to
them.”
Two
black Millennium Mountain Lions pulled into the parking area at the top of the
five combines. They were followed by two
more, and then two more behind that. The
things looked around and found nothing.
Mikela’s signal had stopped here.
One spoke into his E-phone.
Westmoreland barked orders for them to check out where the road led.
“Will
they come after us?” Peggy asked as she walked towards the pasture.
“They
will. They are waiting for the boss,”
Mikela said.
“I love
you,” Molly said as she walked away from her daughter.
“I love
you, Elena,” Janice said.
Alex
hugged Michelle. “I love you Mom,” she
said.
“Okay,
enough. Go. Now!” Mikela said sternly.
Her
parents shrunk from her. The girls’
parents, with Peggy and James, walked down the slight hill to the pasture and
disappeared. They appeared again
briefly, then were lost in the reeds and cattails. Michelle’s comment of ‘YUCH’ could be
heard. They all laughed for a bit.
Alex put
a hand out.
“Robot
stoppers, let’s go!” They all put a hand
in.
“To
freedom!” Lexi cheered.
“Yes,
let’s get ourselves emancipated!” Alex yelled.
The hooting
and cheering abruptly stopped. All eyes
turned to Alex.
“What?” Alex asked.
“What did I do?”
“Why is
it always the not smart ones?” Elena said.
“The
Emancipation Proclamation is the key,” Mikela whispered.
“Oh, my
stars. OH! MY! STARS!!” Lexi said. “We can turn them off.”
Mikela
fumbled with her pockets.
“Where
is it? Where is it?” she was
frantic. Her eyes grew wide as she fumbled
for her E-Phone. It must be in the
Boomer.
“What?” Elena asked.
“My
E-phone. I need to call my nephews. They
can help.”
“Here,
use my E-phone. Call my mom,” Lexi
handed her phone to Mikela.
“Oh,
honey,” Mikela looked at her friend and her lip quivered.
“No...no,”
Lexi stammered. Brian came up behind her
and held her.
Sixty
cars pulled into the parking area. There
was no place to park any more. The cars
lined up one behind the other in the parking area, and more just stopped,
overflowing from the lot onto Pearl Street.
Car doors slammed shut, making a noise as loud as thunder.
“I’m so
sorry, Lexi. Your mom was hurt. That’s why she stayed behind.”
The man
with the scalded face was walking towards them.
His face looked red and angry. I
hope it really hurts, Mikela thought.
“Lexi, I
need you to be strong now. That asshole
walking towards us hurt your mom. We
have to be strong and level headed so we can beat him.”
Mikela
took Lexi’s phone and called Peggy’s number.
Chris answered on the first ring.
“Chris,
it’s Aunt Mike. I need your help, okay?
Can you help me?”
“Yes,”
Chris whispered.
“I want
Mommy, I want Mommy,” Benjamin was saying repeatedly.
“Good
boy. Go in the kitchen to where the man
is standing in the corner. You need to
turn him on. He’s turned off, like one
of your toys.”
Mikela
looked up to see the man she had scalded.
He was close, and he had a gun. They all had guns.
“Disperse!” Mikela said.
Everyone
ran for the woods.
“Chris,
we need him turned on,” Mikela said while she ran to the woods.” He can help us, so we can come home. You want us home, right?” she was whispering
now.
“Yes.”
Chris’ voice was soft, and quiet. He was
in shock, she knew.
.
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