by Angela White
Aware that he was drifting, Jim looked over to tell Alexa yes and found her gone. A generous slice of the bread was lying on a foil square by his leg and he ate it slowly, uncaring that tears were occasionally rolling down his cheeks. The flashes were very vivid, painful, and he wouldn’t have stopped them even if he could have.
“What did she do to him?” Peters asked lowly from next to Merrik.
Merrik shrugged. He didn’t care. “Beats me. Got ammo left?”
Peters wasn’t about to give up any of his supplies. “Two mags. That last hit wiped me out.” Peters stepped over a deep rut. “Why? You out?”
Merrik snorted. “Me? Out?” He lowered his voice. “Just making plans. You ready?”
“I’ve talked to the boys, but they won’t help until we’re on the boat.”
Merrik spat into the corn, nearly tripping over another of those deep, scratched ruts. “Figures. You tell them if they don’t support me, we can’t finish this job and that means we don’t get back on the inside.”
Neck and face bruised, occasionally rubbing his shoulder and head, Merrik looked rougher than everyone else in their convoy. He clearly wasn’t adjusting well.
“I’ll tell ‘em,” Peters grunted.
“You don’t sound like they’ll care.”
The Private wasn’t going to be drawn into betraying confidences. “Let me talk to them and then I can answer that.”
Always angry and unable to do anything about it, Merrik spotted Alexa walking nearby and verbally attacked her again. “Where are you taking us? We should be at the dock by now!”
Alexa, in the middle of enjoying the last slice of her bread, gave him a glower as she finished chewing and swallowed.
“No pumpkin bread for you. Asshat.”
She dropped back to the wagon and hopped onto the seat next to the driver before Merrik could recover.
The driver sped them up a bit, so she didn’t have to be there when Merrik finally came up with a response.
Listening from behind them, Mark snickered. He loved being with Alexa. She knew how to put someone in their place in such a way that they had almost no defense against it.
Mark scanned the corn to his right and slowly rotated, making sure he met the gaze of every member of their team. It was an alertness that all of them had learned from Alexa and it was effective under these circumstances. Every few minutes required eye contact. Mark often did his early, as did Edward. Jacob and David were still forgetting it sometimes and were often smacked with small stones to get their attention for a check-in. It was taking time but they were getting it.
Paul, however, had interrupted their lessons. Alexa wasn’t teaching them much right now, though escorting these people certainly was. Often something unexpected, Mark already missed their special session where Alexa showed them something they hadn’t know existed or gave them a new skill to add to their already impressive resumes.
Mark watched Alexa slowly slide from the wagon to walk alongside the prisoner’s cell. She showed a small foil square to his guards and got their approval before holding it through the narrow bars.
The man took it gratefully and wolfed it down like he was starving. Not particularly fat or thin, the prisoner stared at Alexa with a slick gaze.
“Some more?”
Alexa rewarded the begging with a second foil and the man grinned. “What chu need, lady?”
Alexa raised a brow and the man laughed cruelly. “Don’t nobody talk to me unless it’s an order. A gift like this? Never.”
Alexa shrugged. “You have nothing on you I want.”
Sly, the man settled back into his cage and enjoyed small bites of the bread. Between swallows, they chatted lightly.
“If you make it to where you’re going, you’ll be hung?” she asked. The thief’s name hadn’t been brought up, and Alexa had no idea what to call the sly man who peered at her through the bars. Thief? Prisoner? Walking dead man? All of them fit.
“Knifed on arrival is more like it,” the thief stated shamelessly. “I ain’t got no friends in Lincoln.”
Alexa let that stew and started a new pot. “Are you sorry for your life of crime?”
“Nope. Got rich stealin’. Also got caught, though, so maybe it ain’t even. Hard to say at this point.”
“And why is that?”
He grinned, showing perfectly white teeth. “Cause I ain’t there yet, of course. There’s always hope til then.”
“Papers some people carry still give hope, as well,” she hinted.
“Things from the old days? Sure.”
Seeing she had his full attention now, Alexa flicked her eyes to the messengers, to their chests. The three hunting buddies had signed up to be mail carriers for the excitement, but once here, they’d realized how dangerous the job was. They stayed twitchy, hands always ready to pull the switches to the explosives strapped to their chests.
Alexa didn’t say anything else to the thief, just stayed there until Edward sent Paul to tell her there was a silo and the outline of a barn ahead of their convoy.
As she left the prisoner, Alexa gave him a quick glance and got the single nod she expected. She paused by Mark.
“Is he guilty, my pet?” Alexa asked in a low murmurer.
“As sin, lady,” Mark snorted harshly. “Shoot him now and save your headache.”
“In due time,” Alexa responded, easing his concerns.
She kept going and joined Edward in the lead. The challenge she’d given the thief was one he wouldn’t be able to refuse, not if he was as good as she thought. Very few pickpockets were worth the trouble of a barred wagon and guards. If a man was so violent to need all that, he was usually shot and his body dragged back as proof of punishment. Life had changed drastically in America and it wasn’t finished yet.
3
Alexa sat down near the single center fire and eased off her boots, like she did most evenings. Taking care of their feet was a priority for a group who traveled on them.
The others, seeing things were okay for the moment, gathered around her. They ate, cared for themselves, and waited in longing.
Alexa let them wait. She was aware that evenings had become story time and she didn’t mind that, but the chores would be finished first.
“Two senior soldiers on sentry up high, three on constant patrol.”
The soldiers reluctantly followed her directions when Merrik remained silent. He and his female slave were sitting as far from Alexa as he could get, glowering while the tall slaver woman took care of his multiple injuries. He’d suffered scrapes and bruises from dealing with Alexa’s men, but he’d also gotten a gash on his cheek from the wagon.
Edward and Daniel quickly organized the sentry posts while Billy watched Brian and Paul; glad there would be little wind to interfere with hearing. They too had been anticipating more of Alexa’s past. Little of it mattered now, but it was still fascinating.
Alexa took her time, being sure they were all on edge before beginning. She knew how to help a legend flourish.
“When they came for us, my father and I were in the bunker area, using the small range. We’d finished the shooting and he was telling me about controlling my reactions. To this day, I still regard it as one of the most important things I was taught. The entire day was a guide for the rest of my life.”
Then
“Pay attention.” Adrian’s thumb was gentle as he swiped a tear from his only daughter’s soft cheek. “I’m going to teach you control.”
“Will that help me shoot better?”
Adrian smiled, flashing love and understanding. “Yes, but you need it for more than that. Control, when used correctly, can move mountains.”
Alexa tried to concentrate, to get what he meant. Some of their conversations were easy, like hunting and evading, but sometimes they were so deep that he had to explain it to her in a few different ways before she was satisfied. He said her brain required a complete picture, that he’d been the same way about subjects.
&nbs
p; “One example is a man trapped in a burning building. If he controls his emotions and thinks, he may be able to find a way out. If he panics, he’ll die. A second definition would be when someone makes you angry. You’re a killer. Never doubt it. With that comes responsibility. You can’t kill someone for any reason, except for there being no other choice. Without being able to control yourself, you would kill them no matter what.”
Alexa couldn’t argue that point. She had been hard as a child, but training under her father had brought out the ruthless side. There had already been times when she couldn’t stop herself from reacting to one of his goads during a defense lesson. She hated it when anyone got a hit on her and the fact that the men were only tagging her like a goal post made it worse.
“A more complicated form of control is over other people.” Adrian’s tone was knowing. “You’ve gotten a good deal of experience with that one, so I know you’re clear.”
“I’ve only ever used it to help other kids like me. I don’t know the rules there.”
“That’s an area we’ll have to get into another time. It has a lot of little details that we’ll miss if we try to fit it in here.”
Alexa suddenly shivered with dread and sadness. “What about when you leave? How will I know these things?”
Adrian opened a kit near their chairs and handed her a thick notebook. “I have hundreds of these. You’ll read my words when you can’t hear my voice.”
Alexa grabbed him for a hug that Adrian allowed himself to enjoy. She was so much like him. Being the oldest, he had expected that up to a point, but her gifts were stronger than his were and he had chosen to start her training early. Normally, they wouldn’t have had much contact before she was of age, but the world was changing and there wasn’t time to let her grow up.
Adrian started to push her into the chair and pulled her onto his lap instead. “Your mom wanted me to wait until you were safe before I told you anything about her. She was afraid you wouldn’t be able to control yourself.”
Alexa left her head on his shoulder, loving being with her dad. He was perfect. “What did she think I would do?”
“Cause the end of the world.”
Alexa sat up, face paling. “I dream about the end. It’s coming. Soon.”
“Yes,” Adrian agreed gravely. “And nothing you can do will stop it or cause it. Your mother assumed you would be our weakest link because you were stolen from us so soon after birth, but even with five years at my side, your brother Elliot has that honor. Beware of him.”
“I will,” Alexa promised, shivering again.
Adrian gently slid her into her own chair. “It’s in the notebooks. And there are copies, typed and sent out for all of you. Keep to our kind.”
Alexa paled further. “They’re here.”
Adrian sighed, now kneeling at her feet. “If I stay with you, they’ll keep coming and you won’t have time to learn this, to become what our country will need.”
Alexa held the tears, but threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, daddy!”
Adrian held onto the bittersweet moment with a mumble of powerful words that sent bright green light curling around their embrace. “You’ll always be a part of me!” he swore.
Alexa let him set her back so he could stand up. “Get your vest on. Take your safety off.”
Alexa hurried, suddenly furious that her time with her father was being interrupted. She wanted to spill blood.
“Good,” Adrian approved. “So do I. Got that vest on?”
Alexa let him tighten it, hearing heavy footfalls coming down the hall that weren’t their light-footed protection.
Adrian slid the gas mask over her face and quickly donned his. He pulled the pin from his smoke grenade and pitched it into the hall as the enemy neared.
Shouts and coughing echoed, and Adrian waved Alexa into a far corner.
Alexa slid against the wall and went over her lessons while she waited to kill her first man. Before her father gave the order, she opened fire.
Bang!
Adrian stared in shocked admiration as the first soldier through the door fell to his knees, blood oozing from the wound in his forehead. Then he started firing too, and neither of them stopped until nothing moved except smoke and small rivers of blood.
Now
Alexa stopped talking long enough to get a drink and few hits from the smoke that Edward tossed to her from his place atop the lead supply wagon. She stretched, listening to the field around them, but it seemed like even that predatory threat wanted to hear the rest.
“When it was over, we’d won. My father’s men were still the best I’ve ever seen and they drove the government troops off of the island.” She sighed. “But we had to leave. Burning it kept the enemy from finding any clues, but it also drew more soldiers and they attacked whoever they could reach-the island residents. I forced myself to watch it. I controlled myself until I didn’t feel anything except the hate and vengeance I nursed every day after that. The feeling of losing my father, of being robbed, has never faded.”
“Did you see him again?” Paul broke the moment with his too-loud voice.
“Once,” she answered, standing. “It’s time to be sleeping. Dawn comes again soon.”
Alexa’s men were almost in shock. They’d never heard Alexa speak about emotions or show as much of herself to strangers as she had tonight. It was surprising to hear her talk of youthful insecurities and scarring events. It was also intriguing to have these newest pieces to her puzzle. It explained more and more for her men, and made it easier to figure out why they followed her. She’d been battling and surviving like this her entire life. It was all she’d ever known.
4
“Incoming! Everyone up!”
“Lookout!”
Everyone in Alexa’s tent snapped awake instantly, grabbing for guns, except for Mark. He’d only been asleep for an hour and he rolled onto his feet with a bitter anger. “I’m getting really sick of this place.”
Alexa’s crew began shooting the bats and wolves as they spotted the chaos, and a few of the soldiers joined in, but it only took a couple minutes to understand that the colony of bats had simply been going overhead, not attacking. Alexa had given the last shift to Paul and Edward, and she faced them angrily.
“I couldn’t get my damn hand around his mouth quick enough,” Edward explained in disgust.
The growled words cleared him of the actual mistake, but he was in charge and he’d let this get out of control. Even the wolves still pacing their perimeter hadn’t been attacking, only defending.
Paul cringed into the ground as Alexa moved toward him, but she kept going to Edward.
The horseman waited tensely.
Alexa placed a hand on his arm, again shocking her men. “We’ll be shed of him soon. Keep trying.”
Edward managed a nod to confirm the order, feeling even more uneasy without the punishment. Her illness must be worse than they’d thought.
Chapter Ten
Short Ride, Wrong Side
1
“Ten minute break!”
Alexa’s call was unexpected and brought Merrik by her side almost as fast as Paul was.
Alexa pointed to the rough walls of a small town that had appeared. “I’ll be in there.”
She signaled for Edward to take charge and headed for the stone barrier that clearly hadn’t defended its people. Skeletons were hanging over the guard towers like gruesome ornaments.
Paul stayed behind her, hoping she would allow him to come, and Mark only let the pair get a few feet away from him. He’d made a private vow to be her shield and he couldn’t do that if he followed orders and remained with the wagon train.
Alexa didn’t care about the two males trailing her. She needed something from inside these crumbling walls and she would have it.
Mark stopped Paul from going inside with a heavy hand to the shoulder that the scientist cringed away from in surprise.
Mark held a finger to his lips and po
inted to Alexa, who was currently stomping on the skull of a skeleton with pale tatters of clothing and little else.
Alexa knelt down to fill her pouch with the small chunks of bone, and then filled another with the dust inside. She repeated this step several times as she explored the town’s small courtyard. This town had no damage that Mark could see, only bodies, and it was eerie. It was as if something had swooped down, killed everyone, and then left the remains.
Mark and Paul gave Alexa plenty of space. They stayed by the break in the two walls and kept Merrik from bothering her.
Recognizing her guards (Zale’s killer and a convict), Merrik marked the site as someplace to check out after Alexa was in custody, Brian and the wagons had been delivered to Roscoe, and the rewards were claimed. Merrik had drawn hope from the future. Alexa had the upper hand right now, but that would soon change.
Merrik spotted Brian talking with Billy, who’d had charge of him the entire time. With Alexa’s men, Brian looked almost happy and it was salt in Merrik’s open wounds.
That boy’s a problem, he thought. Merrik didn’t like the voice in his mind but he listened to it. Right now, it said between the three of his required captures, Brian might be the most important.
Busy thinking, something he didn’t do much of, Merrik didn’t realize he was shorter on men than when they’d first stopped. He noticed it as Alexa came from the walls with a pouch in her hand, and dismissed it as his bad counting.
2
“Where are we?”
Peters shrugged at the question. They’d seen a little girl with blood on her and tried to help. Now, they were totally lost and couldn’t even hear the wagon train.
“Come on. They’re going due south and we’ve got compasses.”
Private Nicholas eyed the corn and the shadows. “Did we really see her?”
Peters shrugged. “No idea at this point. Let’s move. We’ll catch right up.”