The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  10

  “You can go now, if you want.”

  Angela ignored the soreness invading her shoulders. “I’m good. Go about your business.”

  Kyle snickered, moving toward the new Com truck. They’d been on rounds for hours, going over the wreck, securing things and getting updates. They had no idea who the traitor was, but they were sure they had one. Kevin had been right about the brake line being cut.

  “I’ve got two more stops and then we’ll call it good.”

  Angela followed without comment, still mentally searching the people walking around them. The camp was uneasy and the Eagles being so alert wasn’t helping. If they had returned earlier, when more people were awake, there could have been trouble.

  “What do you want?” Mitch growled at Kyle.

  It caused Angela to stop and stare in surprise.

  “You already know.”

  The slurring radioman let out a frustrated bellow. “Damn! He ain’t been around here. Waved hello to me once from across the camp, though. Quick, arrest him.”

  Angela realized Kyle must have been the one to reprimand Mitch for having Rick in the Com truck when the quake hit.

  “Stop it!” Kyle ordered sternly. “If you keep acting like you’re on the other team, Mitch, you’ll end up there.”

  Kyle left the drunk sputtering indignantly and Angela followed, frowning. Not at the cool treatment, but at the way Rick had been able to con the people here. They didn’t have any real proof, but who else could it be? The man had admitted he was a spy. Where else would they look when things went wrong?

  At him and no one else, she realized. He could have someone else doing his dirty work. “Have there been any reports of him spending time with anyone? Does he have friends here?”

  Kyle’s thoughts were along the same lines. “No one that we’re aware of, other than Becky. He does his shifts, eats and showers, and stays quiet.”

  “Too quiet. And that’s suspicious.”

  “Intentionally done to draw us away from his accomplice?”

  “That feels right,” she stated angrily. “And it’s smart. He has to know we’re onto him. That’s why we can’t catch him. He isn’t the one doing it!”

  Kyle’s pace quickened. “Let’s grab a cup of coffee and go over the duty sheets for the days we were gone. Maybe we’ll come up with something.”

  An hour later, they were both tired of the background noise of emerging cicadas and of searching through the papers. Angela stood up with a groan. “I’m done. Dawn’s over the hill. I plan to be asleep before it gets here.”

  Kyle swept the papers together. They weren’t any closer to an answer, but he was hopeful about the morning, when he would check the accident scene again in the dim light of day. Maybe he would find something the others had missed. “Goodnight.”

  “Good morning, you mean.”

  “That’s one of our rules. If we haven’t been asleep yet, the day doesn’t change.”

  Angela snorted, thinking it might come in handy if she ever wanted to steal some personal time. “I’ll remember that.”

  “You did real good,” Kyle handed out a bit of praise, feeling it was well deserved.

  “So did Kenn.”

  “He’ll adjust. I believe that now.”

  “Me, too.”

  Angela went toward her tent, feeling Marc’s eyes on her. It was unmistakable, especially now that his anger had been converted into happiness. “You coming, Brady?”

  “What?” Marc hadn’t thought she’d known he was her shadow until dawn.

  “I’m tired. Aren’t you?” Implying they would share a bed.

  He hadn’t expected her to be this open and was relieved when she laughed. He wasn’t prepared for that yet. Hell, he wasn’t prepared for the gift she had given.

  “Night, Marc.”

  “Night, honey.”

  Angela ducked into her own tent, leaving him to chuckle.

  One day, it wouldn’t be a joke. They would share a life together and those images were the ones he fell asleep with a short time later. His happily-ever-after was waiting.

  Chapter Eighteen

  X Marks the Spot

  May 1st

  Swanson Rec. Area, Nebraska

  1

  “Your aim improved.”

  Sam reloaded, but didn’t answer and Neil understood she was still pissed. He and Jeremy had followed her after the wolf mission, hoping to apologize, but she’d refused to speak to either of them. She had finally called in Hilda and the other females to run block, so he and Jeremy had taken up places outside the shower camper. Hilda had gotten through to them both with only a single question (“How’s the boss?”) and they’d left her alone.

  Now, two days of traveling across the eerily deserted Swanson State Park had gone by and this was as close as Neil had gotten to Samantha.

  “I’m nowhere near Zena, over there.”

  Angela was at the range. As they watched, she stepped up confidently, fingers hovering, and then she drew and hit everything she aimed at.

  “Show-off,” Samantha muttered good-naturedly.

  Neil heard the loneliness behind it. “Sam…”

  “No.”

  “We’ll wait years if you make us.”

  “You know why I can’t!” Samantha cried. “Why are you doing this to me?”

  “You already know.” Neil was helpless against the truth. “You’re a fire burning in my blood. I want you, Sammi.”

  Samantha opened her mouth and then snapped it shut. She couldn’t lie and tell him she didn’t feel the same, but she didn’t have to confirm it.

  “You don’t know me.” Samantha moved around him.

  “Sam.”

  “No, Neil.”

  She left him standing there with stiff shoulders and a red face. How much rejection was one man supposed to take?

  Neil caught a glimpse of Marc moving toward the mess, happier than the trooper had ever seen, and his gut twisted. More. To get that, he could stand a little more.

  But not like this, Neil thought, cleaning up for the next set of students. Samantha didn’t want an open relationship. What did she want?

  Jeremy waited until she was out of Neil’s sight and then fell in step.

  When he kept his mouth shut, Samantha let him stay, knowing there were things they needed to get straight. It was different with Neil, who would become more determined with every “no.” He delighted in the game, the chase. Jeremy had tried to give Neil happiness and his own feelings had come as a surprise.

  “I guess this backfired for you.”

  Jeremy knew he was more like Samantha than Neil was, and therefore, a better match. He wore button-downs on his off day, unable to escape that sense of appearing professional to the public. He was quick to be a gentleman or break up an argument before it could get started. He tried to keep the peace and the camp rarely witnessed him bent out of shape. He also loved being an Eagle. He had been a sickly child, always weak and isolated from anything that might trigger an illness, but inside, he’d dreamed of being an explorer and he had gotten his wish. It was a big source of pride for Jeremy that he had come so far from that lonely little boy. He was now a man without an ounce of fat to spare and one of the few people in Safe Haven who was honestly grateful for the end of the world. It had given him a life he’d never dreamed of.

  But it can’t give me Samantha.

  “Cynthia’s suddenly warmer to me than she’s ever been and the questions about what we do have stopped,” he finally answered. “Something good came of it.”

  “Plus giving your team leader what he thinks he wants.”

  “Neil knows what he wants now. We both do after listening to Marc and Angie.” Pain flashed across Jeremy’s face. “He’ll be good to you.”

  “And if I don’t want him after all the trouble you’ve gone to?”

  “If he had said love back there, would you have given him the same answer?”

  She didn’t respond and Jeremy p
ushed harder. “I give it a month, maybe less.”

  “For what?”

  “For him to wear you down.”

  Sam snorted, thinking of her tortured dream last night. She and Neil made violent, passionate love and at the moment of climax, Rick shot them both. “I mean it, Sam.”

  “It’s more than your wants at stake here. I’d never endanger these people that way.”

  Jeremy let her go on alone. What did her relationship with Neil have to do with endangering the camp? Did Neil know? Would he share her secret?

  Jeremy found the trooper getting set to enjoy a bit of quiet before they left, fishing pole and a beer on the muddy bank. He’s changed, Jeremy thought, settling down next to him. The Neil he’d first trained with had been an uptight prig who always followed the rules. Having a beer was something he wouldn’t have done before.

  “No luck?” Jeremy tried to start a conversation.

  Neil glanced up coolly. “I could ask you the same thing.”

  They stared at each other for a moment where a fight seemed inevitable and only a loud call from behind them interrupted the tension.

  “Hold it higher. I can’t get it to stop squirting!”

  Both men, and most of the camp, swiveled to find Kevin and his team helping Marc with the fire hose. They were currently using it to flood out the ant holes around them, getting practice and hopefully killing the larvae of the shoe-sized mutations.

  “Anyone got a condom marked super-sized?” Jax joked from his place on top of the truck.

  “Someone ask Doug,” Kenn called, shocking everyone in hearing distance into a fit of laughing.

  Jeremy and Neil stared.

  “Did that happen?”

  “Yeah. Super-dick made a joke. It might be his first.”

  “You think he’s okay now?”

  “Yeah, I do” Neil began reeling in the line he expected to be stripped of the worms he’d dug up. “And if he can do it, so can we.”

  “Why won’t she let you claim her?”

  Neil tensed. “Or maybe not, if you keep being so stupid.”

  “I know she has a secret that would endanger these people.”

  Neil wasn’t sure about telling Jeremy, but being an Eagle came first and he quietly filled in his XO.

  “And you can’t tell anyone, not even the rest of the team,” Neil ordered.

  Jeremy was shocked. Samantha’s government!

  “Does it matter to you?” Neil demanded.

  “Yes, it matters,” Jeremy bristled. “We have to keep an eye on her. If these people find out, she’ll be in danger…”

  And that’s why she can’t become Neil’s mate, he realized. If it came out, her secret wouldn’t just hurt Neil. It would damage Adrian’s dream.

  “How do we fix that?”

  “You don’t.” Adrian was right behind them. “She’s had the worst trip here of any of these people and you two have spent the last weeks playing games. What about getting her accepted, instead of trying to claim a woman who doesn’t want to belong to anyone?”

  The harsh tones were unexpected, but well deserved and the two men slumped under the weight of Adrian’s disapproval.

  “Effective immediately, you will both stay away from her. When she needs a shadow, someone else will do it. The only time I want you two around her is during mess, classes, or if she comes to you.” His voice hardened even further. “If you can’t do that, stay here instead of escorting the supply mission.”

  Considering the cold shoulder they were getting from Samantha, there was no choice. They both agreed to stay away, but neither of them knew if they could honestly do it.

  2

  “I need you to talk to Tonya.”

  Moving by the fire truck, Angela glanced up at Kenn in surprise. “Why?”

  “Adrian wants it, said to ask you.”

  Angela understood then. Adrian wanted to be sure Kenn wasn’t abusing Tonya, and who better to know than his former victim?

  “I’ll do it before we leave.”

  “Report to the boss, not me.”

  Kenn stiffly returned to the hose they had wrapped in duct tape to stop the leak.

  Angela could have assumed it was because he was scared of more transgressions being revealed, but she thought it was really about trust. Tonya was a snake that would strike a man if it suited her needs, so Kenn wouldn’t have to do anything for her to say it was true.

  That’s why he’s sending you, the Witch enlightened. We’ll know if she lies.

  Angela changed directions, heading for the small hooch the whore called home. Tonya was set up in the rear, under sparse trees that were chirping loudly with young cicadas. Angela knew from her time with Kenn that it was to cover the noises that he and Tonya made.

  She tapped on the flap, ignoring the dozen or so members watching her in surprise.

  “Come in.”

  Tonya’s expression tightened when she saw the Eagle stepping through her flap. “What the hell do you want?”

  Angela picked out the new clothes, jeans and a t-shirt with a flag on the front, the clean tent, and the strands of red scattered around the vinyl floor. Kenn had taken her advice. He was trying to reform Tonya.

  “Well?” Tonya’s snarl was more misery than threat.

  “Is this a chopping party?”

  Tonya snapped another large chunk with the scissors and tossed it on the floor next to her chair. “I’m making your Marine happy, as I’m sure you know.” Tonya glared at her. “And I agreed to it, so go tell the guardian that I’m fine.”

  Angela stared in surprise. Was Kenn sharing that much information?

  “Why does the hair have to go?” Already knowing, Angela waited.

  “He said I’m vain, about these.” Tonya snipped another clump, and a tear rolled down her unpainted cheek. “I guess he’s right.”

  Angela instinctively knew not to say anything yet and the cicada song-filled tension thickened.

  Tonya kept her nasty comments to herself, following Kenn’s orders. “Get along with them or get away from me. If I can do it, after everything that’s happened, this should be easy for you.”

  “Well?”

  “I’d like a prescription.”

  Tonya stopped mid snip. “A what?”

  Angela moved toward the broom in the corner. It still had a tag on it and she had taken offense at the unwelcome reminder of their old world. She ripped it off and crumbled it up. It joined the red hair on the floor.

  “Right now, you’re a drug dealer.”

  Curious as to how smart Tonya really was, Angela didn’t add more.

  “But if I’m a...pharmacist, the camp might go for it.”

  “They will go for it. Most of them come to you in secret now. If it weren’t a backdoor transaction that reminded them of the past, they’d be willing. Especially the non-drinkers.”

  “Why would Adrian agree to this?” Tonya asked, confused. Had Kenn’s attempts to get her accepted been approved?

  “Because it solves problems, of course. Why does he do anything?”

  There was silence for a minute and Tonya scanned the newest bandage Angela was sporting. That alone would earn any other member a free joint at least. To those I don’t have a vendetta against, Tonya amended. And other than a sharp remark during her first day here, this tough female hadn’t bothered her, even though she knew about the affair with Kenn.

  Tonya let out a deep sigh that Angela recognized. Whatever deal she and Kenn had made, Tonya was willing to do what it took to uphold her end of it.

  “I’ll drop something off later.”

  Tonya continued cutting her hair, tears replaced with fast-connecting thoughts and Angela didn’t linger. The woman wasn’t being abused. If anything, they might need to put a guard on her. Tonya was sharper than Adrian had given her credit for.

  Maybe, Angela conceded. He had been able to keep the whore on ice for months.

  Reaching the parking area, Angela slung her new rifle over her shoulde
r with a feeling of power that she knew was shared by the nine men coming through the vehicles around her. With Zack and Kevin’s full teams on duty, plus the two rookie levels, she and Kyle’s team were free to go hunting for supplies. By the time they returned, Lee would have a small crew of friends together and be on the way to Lincoln for his cheating wife.

  Angela climbed into the Excursion without looking over at the bonfire. Brady was there, drinking and hanging out with his team, but his eyes hadn’t left her since she’d come through the trees.

  Kyle shut the driver’s door and Angela followed his lead. She and Marc had already said their goodbyes and she blushed at the memory of being in his arms, of kissing him in public. Different, was an understatement.

  “Eagle Four, signing off.”

  “Copy…”

  The pause filled itself and Kyle shared a grin with her.

  “He wanted to say be careful, but he knew Adrian wouldn’t like it.”

  “Yeah, he didn’t enjoy being told what to call us on the air, either,” Angela agreed.

  “You mean you’ll miss being little...hick-up!…little Darlin’?”

  Angela snorted laugher at the match to Mitch’s voice. “No more than you’ll miss being that Damn Italian!”

  There was another round of laughs at her words. Mitch and Kyle had a hate-hate relationship and it was often entertaining to witness them butt heads.

  The other Eagles switched into check-mode around her, and Angela did the same as Kyle pulled them out of the light and into the hard darkness that always surrounded their lives now.

  Kyle pushed the button on the mike. “Eagles by three.” He switched the channel and hit the button again. “Fifteen. Vests and guard, the new rotation. Billy has Point when we land, Daryl on Drag.”

  Angela ran over it mentally as she got comfortable. They would arrive in fifteen minutes. They were to wear their vests and run immediate patrols from the moment they arrived. They would be using the new formations they’d been practicing for the last two days, with her in the center, Billy in front, and Daryl in the rear. Neil and Seth were riding with Adrian, and their teams surrounded the convoy.

  Angela lit a smoke and listened to the banter of the men around her. She was definitely learning and the benefits continued to please her, as well. She slipped an adoring hand over the shiny barrel of the new rifle that had her initials burnt into the stock. It was her reward for the wolf mission.