by Angela White
River City had been rebuilt a second time, after the volcanic eruption that had coated everything with ash, trapping refugees inside for weeks at a time. The population had taken another large hit, and the town had remained. It now boasted seven businesses inside real wooden frames and nearly twice as many slanted, prone-to-collapse homes made from scavenged debris. The people had adjusted, but it was not a place of prosperity, and the thought of finding what she needed was distant in her mind as Alexa and her small army moved toward the dusty town.
The fighters been on the road together for almost half a year and their movements were smooth, matched. The four men paced her long stride exactly, and Alexa was proud of the small herd she’d gathered. Today, if she were lucky, there would be a fifth warrior - the Magician. Except for Daniel, each of the males with her had been gathered in the same fashion she was about to use. Only the settings were different.
A small movement in the distance caught the attention of Edward, the one who had been with her the longest. He wore his rugged good looks proudly now, unlike when they’d first met. His full lips and hard jawline no longer hinted at how miserable he’d been before joining her quest.
“Dust whirls. Too low for a storm.”
Her voice was tightly laced with approval, “How many riders?”
The Horseman studied, “At least five, maybe with spare mounts.”
“Coming here too?” Billy asked softly. He had massive hands and thick forearms that had killed upon her orders and were ready to do so again.
“Aye. Mind your six, my pets. And remember your lessons.”
She increased her pace, wanting a safe cushion of time in town before the riders came. She wasn’t sure why, but there had been too many battles won on instinct alone to ever ignore it. “Watch form.”
The males moved into a rotating pattern around her billowing cloak as she scented the air. The town looked abandoned, and Alexa used her senses to evaluate, relentlessly searching for danger. She would not lose those with her.
The air was thick with watery rot - no smoke, no sweat - just decay. It tasted no better, harsh with the chemicals still lingering even now. At that thought, she drew up enough saliva to spit.
The dust had settled thanks to the late night rain, but the hardpan under their feet was parched. They could hear the angry roar of the river, but it was no more upset than usual. For such as this world got, things were normal, calm. But for that slightly closer dust whirl in the distance, she might have suspected there was no threat here at all.
The road into River City began to slope downward, and the thick, sickly trees thinned into no cover at all by the time they hit the bottom. Half a mile or so away now, they were clearly visible.
Nearby, Ft. Collins still stood as a reminder of the horrible struggle for survival that had started it all. The town that had protected NORAD had fallen with it. They couldn’t see its charred frames or its tattered skeletons, but they’d passed it on their way here and stepped lightly until it was out of view. Ghosts lurked in such places. That was common knowledge.
“Cover switch.”
It was impressive to see five warriors in long cloaks remove and replace their hats with slightly larger versions at the same time, without losing pace or form. Each one was done with a simplicity that wasted no energy, but allowed an artistic flair that made the woman leading them tighten her lips against the pride.
So they could switch to bulletproof hats in one neat move. Could they walk for a week straight? Shoot the leaves off trees? Fight to the death? This time, she allowed the tiny grin to liven her usually expressionless face. Yes. Her men could do all that and more.
“The church has people inside. A dozen?” Mark, her newest man, announced.
Alexa didn’t respond. The green letters tattooed across his ten knuckles said more about him than anything else - I WILL… KILL U. It was a warning and description in one. Mark had been a criminal when she came for him, in an underground slam with the other killers, but that hadn’t stood in her way. When Alexa left Boulder, he’d been at her side.
The landscape hardened around their boots, becoming more jagged, and they picked out signs of the world that had once been with uneasy eyes. It still hurt to see the smaller skeletons; still felt wrong to hear them crunch under their boots.
“There’s a bunker hole,” Daniel pointed this out quietly; reminding her he had a good eye for details. The shaggy Racer was lanky and limber, the smallest of their group. He was often sent into places that the rest of them couldn’t fit, and his tone said he wanted to use that skill on this old-world relic.
“Yes, maybe we’ll do some digging before we go - if there’s still an interest after our work here is done.”
That pleased them. Uncovering the secrets of the past was fodder for their adventurous souls and Alexa signaled a formation change as she swung into full alert.
The town was at their feet now, and she let the Fire Demon inside take control as they crossed from the Colorado borderlands into Wyoming.
Bone Dust & Beginnings
The Survivors
Like most days now, the sound of the ocean haunts me.
My name is Angela. I’m a mother, doctor, soldier, and now, in the year 2017, I’ve become a leader of men. Thanks to the end of our world to nuclear war, I’m the Guardian of an American refugee camp named Safe Haven.
Surrounded by carefully watching guards, I sit beside the immense Pacific Ocean as my people work and play nearby, confident my Army will look after them while I tell you about the War of 2012…and how we were forced to leave our beloved Country. It was a nightmare from which we couldn’t wake. Some of us still haven’t, and soon, we’ll be at the water’s mercy again. In less than two months, we’re going home.
America waits for us to reclaim and to rebuild, but mostly, simply, for us to return. Before we undertake that perilous journey, I have to get the 357 souls here ready for the trip, and I only know one way it can be done - Adrian has to come back, and lead us home, as he promised.
Adrian… That incredibly patriotic man has been exiled, even though he’s the only reason that we survived. His secret was the only excuse the camp needed to turn on him, but I won’t. I can’t. I swore myself to him the same as the rest of his Council, and like them, I still believe.
I’ve gotten way ahead of myself, far beyond the beginning, when our future didn’t look as good is it does now. Most people here in New America won’t talk about the War or the long, ugly journey we made together. They say the memories have faded, but I know a lie when I hear one. Some horrors you never forget. Like our final battle with Cesar and his large band of ruthless Mexican guerillas.
It’s been five years, but I still see the deep red streams of blood running down rain-soaked trees. I still smell men burning alive in their metal coffins. I dream of it sometimes: of the cold, wet night when I was the bait, and I’m sure Adrian does, too. It was the moment we knew our people would live - because of one man’s dream and his lies.
From the very beginning, Adrian kept us alive, gave us everything he had - and he always did what was best for the camp, no matter what it cost him personally. He taught us to be stronger than we thought we could be, to look out for each other, and ourselves, and through it all… he lied by omission, knowing these scared, hurting survivors would never have trusted him, would never have given him a chance, if they had known who he really was.
We came a long way together in the year after the War, over thousands of miles of heartbreaking devastation, and it hurts those of us who remain loyal to see him accept their unfair judgment without a fight. It makes everything we went through seem less important than it was, weakens the magic somehow, and I can’t allow that.
I’ve been seeing open doors again, and that sly ocean cautions me, says the return trip will be just as hard as the one we undertook to get here. If there’s a storm headed toward the flock, it’s our Shepherd we’ll need to see us through it.
So, for Adrian an
d for those of us standing by him, still ready to die for him, and for the dreams he made me believe in from almost the first minute I set foot in his Refugee camp, I will tell our story and leave nothing out. Maybe then these people will realize what he did for our country, accept how much we owe, and allow him to reclaim what’s rightfully his. Us.
Before I tell you about our harsh, ugly journey, let me show you what happened on that day, what they did to us and what we did to each other. This is how America’s story of survival began…
The Survivors
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The Bachelor Battles Trilogy
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The Change – Available Now!
Changeling Winds – Spring of 2013
The Network – Coming late 2013
The Change: Book One
500 Years into the future, nine of every ten babies conceived are female. Men have been enslaved for their own protection and the only way to get a mate is to enter the Network Games and fight for one. The catch? It’s a live battle to the death and the competition is fierce.
Who’s ready to play? Are ya? Are ya really?
Let’s meet the Players…
Candice Marie Pruett- Just barely 18, this intimidating Bounty Hunter resides in the Recovery Zones of Ohio and has a long record of excessive force. Recently fined over one million UDs for injury to a family member, this brutal Changeling only wants one thing. - To get back what was stolen from her. Rank at the start of competition: 5/10.
The Blonde Bombshell- As reigning champion, this scarlet-wearing Dock Worker is heavily favored to repeat her vicious victory and claim a second Bachelor. Trying to amass a harem to stand between her and the Change, she starts the games ranked 1/10.
The Ex-Defender- Fresh from tracking fugitives in the deserts of Nebraska, this former Network guard seeks to make amends by winning and donating her prize to charity. Baker, the dangerous, untrained male she allowed to escape, is still missing. It has lowered her rankings on day one, to just 7/10.
And their prize: A choice of…
Daniel is a 20 year old Bachelor with excellent home skills and no memory of his life before being sold to the Network. Calm and unaggressive, he has been trained to be the perfect, harmless mate, and now hopes for a kind and loving owner to take him home.
Or…
One of the eight other brutally brainwashed males sharing his Cell. They are lot #21198.
Who’s ready to play? Are ya? Are ya really?
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All Angela White Titles
Life After War series
The Survivors
On The Road
Safe Haven
Adrian’s Eagles
Bachelor Battles Trilogy
The Change
Changeling Winds
Flash Fiction
Twisted Shorts
Alexa’s Travels
A Prelude
Bone Dust & Beginnings
Upcoming Releases
The Network
The Killin’ Fields of Nebraska
From the Ashes