by Angela White
“Look after Adrian so the Eagles can work,” Angela instructed, scanning the camp.
Samantha motioned to the reporter to handle it, and Cynthia changed directions. Samantha stayed on Angela’s right.
Angela tossed an arm around Charlie’s tense shoulders as he and Marc arrived, concentrating. Together, they swept the camp and found the biggest problems.
“Shower campers, mess for control, fire crew to the tent area,” Angela listed as Marc copied.
She sent Charlie to the mess to help care for the camp members, sure that’s where most people would go. Adrian’s drills had them trained to take shelter there.
Angela rattled off more instructions, and Samantha copied them down, also making her own notes. Without radios, the Eagles were using hand motions, but those on the outer perimeter were moving in to see what the problem was. People were stumbling, fleeing, radios were sparking, burning, being stomped out, and the ground under the entire camp rumbled ominously. Samantha hid her sudden case of nerves and swallowed the secondary grin that wanted to flash next. She was an Eagle, supposed to be cool and calm even in the face of chaos, and she would act like it.
Angela found another problem and turned to Marc. “Perimeter men are leaving posts!”
Marc immediately went into security mode and began grabbing running Eagles, sending them out to keep those places covered.
Sscchhhrrrippp!
Around them, panicked camp members were fleeing, screaming as another crack tore through the ground. Animals began to run by, telling them there was also trouble in the vet area.
Seeing Adrian starting to move through the din was a comfort, and his men fell in around him, waiting to be told what to do. He headed for the area that had enough grit hanging over it to make people wonder if they had been bombed again.
Before Angela could go to him, too, Samantha shook her head. “Hang on. Something’s not right.”
“Can you tell what?” Angela asked over the new noise of Eagles shooting the wilder animals that were chasing camp members. She was getting nothing except panic and chaos from her own searching now. The witch was tiredly trying to decide which open doors were threats and which had only jarred loose from the emotions spewing across the camp.
“I get sensations, not images.”
Angela grabbed Samantha’s wrist. Maybe they could merge...
Samantha jerked as if she’d been stung and the door opened.
“Trap!”
Damn it! Angela followed Sam as she took off running. Adrian! Brady!
“Get this under control,” Adrian ordered, spinning around to take up a place behind the running women. He didn’t know where the trouble was, but Angela’s call had been urgent.
Kenn didn’t bother answering, instead stepping forward to flank Doug as the calmer camp members crowded each other for a view of the still-growing sinkhole.
Doug waved a hand. “I might be able to lift that corner enough to move it.”
Kenn paused in determining where to make his descent. The shower camper was only partially in the hole, the front end crushed against the jagged dirt edge.
“Okay,” Kenn agreed. He wanted to be able to tell Adrian there hadn’t been anyone inside.
7
“Shit!”
Crruussshhh!
Samantha and Angela arrived in time to see the kids’ camper drop heavily into the new sinkhole...and then keep going. The ground shifted on all sides, falling in on itself, and the young screams from the swallowed camper echoed across their hearts.
Adrian and a swarm of Eagles rushed straight into the danger. They grabbed whatever they could reach–bumper, door handles, window frames– trying to stop the camper from sinking further. Inside, women and kids cried out for help.
“We need Doug!” Adrian shouted.
Crunchhh!
“I’m here!” The big man had come as soon as he’d lifted the shower camper, leaving Kenn to supervise bringing up the body.
Another large chunk of dirt broke off near the camper’s edge and disappeared into the black hole.
“Help us!”
“Please!”
Surrounded by helping Eagles, Doug grunted in effort, lifting with his legs, and the small camper slowly came up enough for them to slide a concrete plate underneath.
Almost the entire kids’ area had been lost, but only this one camper was in danger of being devoured. Alert Eagles had driven the other campers away with their precious cargo inside.
“Get them out of there!” Adrian ordered as the camper was dragged away from the danger.
He put a hand on Angela’s arm when she would have gone in. “No.”
Covered in axle grease, Marc nodded his approval and went to finish securing the perimeter.
Angela didn’t like it, but didn’t argue as Kyle and Daryl began calling for what they needed to get the crushed door open.
Minutes later, bruised and bleeding kids were being carried out to John.
Doug came forward as a small Mexican boy was brought out, taking him from Kyle’s surprised arms with a gentleness that everyone noticed.
“Come here, boy,” Doug encouraged warmly. “We’ll wait for your brother together.”
The four-year-old hid under Doug’s big arm, and the man patted his shoulder comfortingly as they waited for Kyle to bring out the rest of their people.
The females of the camp were gathering here, too, and taking the uninjured children to the mess as they were cleared, offering what comfort they could get the kids to accept. Most were stunned, too dazed to keep crying, but a few were already laughing again at adult efforts, telling their guardians they were strong.
Doug took the shaking boys toward the mess when the elder one was led out, and Adrian watched them. Doug was a gentle giant in his army and very needed.
Searching for her charges, Peggy also saw Doug and the boys and crossed the pair off her list. She spared a quick glare for Adrian and then went to help Kyle and Daryl with the rest of the trapped children. Adrian had refused her request to make Becky talk to her, and the mother was still steaming over it.
“He’s good with them.” Angela smiled at Doug, who was still calming the two boys who may not have gotten much consideration from the others because they were Cesar’s sons with Maria. “Maybe they should stay together?”
Adrian shrugged distractedly, busy scanning the camp for the next issue to be handled. “Maybe.”
“Wow.” Angela pointed. “Speaking of changes, check that out.”
Adrian turned, ready to conquer the next challenge.
Tonya approached the fire crew hesitantly, being careful not to get in their way as they put out tent fires caused by sparking radios and panicking residents.
Tonya darted closer before she could lose her nerve. “Is there something I can do?”
Sent by Adrian to help hold the hose, Cynthia spun around, covered in soot and sweat. “No! Get lost.”
The Eagles around were surprised, but Tonya was hurt. She and the reporter had almost been friends before, bonded by their determination to have Adrian removed from power. “Oh, okay. Sorry.”
Cynthia heard the misery, but she didn’t take it back. Tonya had done enough to hurt the dream. Cynthia wasn’t letting her do more.
“I think I can find something for you.” Adrian’s words caused more silence as he joined them. He smirked in its wake. “You won’t mind getting dirty, will you?”
“No.” Tonya was shocked into honesty. “For a change, I actually want to help.”
Adrian stared at her for a long minute, feeling Kenn’s silent plea from across the chaotic camp.
“Is it over?” Adrian demanded.
Tonya didn’t pretend ignorance, but it was a slight struggle to give him what he expected in front of all these witnesses. “Yes and...I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” Amid the murmurs, Adrian pointed toward the shadowy figure of the vet, who was trying to calm the remaining animals. “Go help. He’ll think y
ou’re being punished, so expect to work.”
Tonya didn’t care. She was just glad Adrian was giving her another chance. She wanted it now. Not as much as power, but that need was starting to ease. If Adrian would make it so that she wasn’t an outcast anymore, Tonya intended to forgive and forget. Kenn, along with observing Cynthia and Sam, had converted her.
The vet had noticed Adrian pointing and waited. Tonya’s words as she joined him went a long way in soothing the vet’s growing panic.
“He said to help you, and I’m not being punished. I volunteered.”
Chris wanted to sneer at the whore, but he was too relieved to do more than nod. He’d thought Adrian knew something. He would already have to do something about Mitch. If Adrian had seen him, too, the vet planned to flee.
“Sing to the animals, if you can carry a tune,” Chris instructed grudgingly. “It calms them. If you don’t sing, then hum. You can do that, right?”
“Yeah.” Tonya followed the surly veterinarian, smothering a crude remark about not wanting to get her knees dirty to deliver a hummer.
“Come on, sing,” the vet ordered curtly.
Tonya sighed. Can’t I just fill a water bucket and feed them a brownie? They’ll mellow right out.
8
“I can cook for you.”
Adrian and Angela turned to see one of the new arrivals standing nearby.
Angela studied the short man carefully as flickering shadows moved through camp. “He’s okay, just old and wants to be around people.”
Too busy to be gentle, Angela caught Li Sing’s hurt expression and grunted, “We do need you.”
The man’s expression lit up, and he held his hands together as he bowed to them. “Let me know. Li Sing grateful to have a safe place for his family.”
Adrian waved him toward the mess, where the crowd was gathering. “Help get them settled down. Ask for Hilda.”
The man went that way, motioning for his large family to go back inside their QZ tents. They quickly obeyed and Adrian was struck by the newest part of the camp’s integration plan. Li Sing was spry and he had his family in line. If a few of them joined the Eagles, might not more minorities do the same?
Adrian grunted, having a personal moment. With the situation, he shouldn’t be sparing time on thoughts for the future, but progress on the camp’s reform was something he tended even at the worst moments. All around him, long shadows flickered restlessly. Most were straggling camp members going to the mess as they’d practiced during drills, but some were rushing away from that crowded area, still searching for loved ones or friends. Not everyone was accounted for, and Adrian flipped his radio on, hoping the sparking was over.
An immediate buzz and smoking told him the radios were useless. He quickly unsnapped the box and let it drop to the ground to finish smoldering.
Kyle joined Adrian, spotting Jennifer at the mess with Dog. He knew he had Charlie to thank for that. “We’ll have the perimeter men write down who they’ve come across. What’s next?”
“Roll in camp, and slide us south as you do it. We’ll go from there.”
Making their haven smaller would allow them to keep track of everyone, while helping anyone who may still need it. The sinkholes themselves appeared to be slowing, and nothing new had opened up. Even the animal noises were calming, though, Tonya’s singing left something to be desired, and Adrian hoped the chaos was over.
Samantha moved to Adrian’s side, conscious of the many eyes watching her. Neil and Jeremy were a few feet away, writing down the names of those they had seen on perimeter duty, but she ignored them.
“We need to be on concrete for a while,” Samantha suggested. “That or overtop of something that goes deep enough to hold us in place if the bottom drops out around it.”
Adrian felt Samantha’s concern for the camp, but also the lingering fear that she wouldn’t be believed. He immediately looked at Neil. “Recon for an area according to her specifications. We move at daylight, sooner if the holes grow faster than I’ve accounted for.”
Neil motioned to Jeremy and the two men left the area without even a glance at Samantha.
Sam was glad to see them working together and feeling like teammates again. Clearly, they weren’t fighting anymore, so her plan had worked, but it didn’t stop that ache in her gut. That, too, continued to grow.
Suddenly becoming aware of another potential threat, Adrian let his feet carry him away from the crushed camper. Thanks the way fate had gifted him, all of the major issues were being tended by competent people, but there was a smaller problem that wasn’t being guarded against during the chaos.
Ten minutes later, Adrian and a few of the men were out patrolling with the dogs, using the wolf to relay commands and keep the canines interested as they searched for any intruders. It was not a coincidence that the threat had come from under the ground. Nor was it coincidence that they had all been distracted by the first sinkhole, so that Nature could take a cut of their kids with the second death hole. Things would get uglier now, and Adrian found himself longing for Little Rock, but also dreading it. Once they reached that famed city, he might get a break from this constant stress.
I’ll be dead, but that’s still a break, right?
9
When Zack reached the first sinkhole, he spent a minute helping direct people away from the edges, and then he delivered messages to Kenn, who was keeping watch over the area.
Zack wasn’t a part of any of the aftermath scenarios taking place across camp, and it gave him time to observe some of these people without Adrian’s calmness to shelter their true selves. Like Ray. He was currently fawning all over Dale as he led him from the mess. That would have repercussions, but so would Tonya helping to recapture animals that had gotten free when cages toppled over and locks rattled loose.
Safe Haven’s in the midst of her own global warming, Zack thought. Changes, big and small, were arriving, and the trucker neared the edge of the twenty-foot sinkhole with that thought in mind.
Kenn was taking a minute to get his thoughts together. Why did it feel like they were always under attack now and doomed to lose?
Kenn raised a brow at his right hand man. “Truce?”
Zack wanted to deny him, but at that moment, the sense of being desperately needed for this camp’s survival was impossible to ignore. “Yes.”
Kenn grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Despite all their security and the magic they had here, he had to tell Adrian they’d lost someone. Behind Kenn, Alex and Anderson were bringing up a towel-clad body. So far, it was the only one, but the blow from this would be harsh for their leader.
“Do you want me to tell him?” Zack offered. A week ago, he wouldn’t even have considered it.
“No.” Kenn noted that Lexa appeared to have broken her neck, meaning it was quick. At least one mercy to tell the boss. “This is part of my job.”
Kenn didn’t want anyone else to witness Adrian’s grief, and Zack’s rage lowered to normal anger. Ass or not, Kenn was loyal to Adrian, and he was good at what he did. After he delivered the news and handled the blowback, Kenn would spend the rest of the wee hours setting this camp to rights. Come dawn, it would be back together.
“Anyone need the doctor here?” John asked.
“No.”
“Not here.”
Kenn and Zack both answered, stepping back to let John through.
John knelt down to confirm what a first glance had already shown. Lexa, the gun store owner from the City of Angels, wasn’t going to join Adrian’s army or any other.
John looked up at Kenn. “Does he know yet?”
Zack found the blond leader now comforting camp members near the mess. “In about five minutes he’ll start rounds, but head here first. Maybe less.”
“Yep,” Kenn grunted. Why couldn’t it have been someone else? Adrian wouldn’t take this well.
“He’ll pick it up from us even if we take her away,” Kenn stated. “Get a sheet. Leave her face uncovere
d and put an honor guard here. Let him know before he sees.”
Zack took care of it, giving Kenn a nod of respect as he left.
John stood up too quickly and had to sit down to keep from falling. Pain ripped through his stomach and stole his breath.
Kenn offered him an arm, and muttered, “Anne saw, not Adrian.”
John let the Marine help him up, and Kenn stayed with his body shielding the sick doctor from view of most of the camp. “Tell me what you need.”
“He needs a pill and rest.” Anne appeared and took John’s other arm, turning them toward the trees. “He doesn’t want Adrian to take him off duty yet. Help me get him out of sight, and you can scold him from there.”
Kenn grunted, doing as the woman ordered. He wasn’t worried about Adrian–the boss already knew John was getting worse–but he didn’t want the camp any more upset than they already were. It was what Adrian would have done.
Anne didn’t scold her husband, and her touch was gentle, loving. She understood a man’s pride, all too well, but did John understand a woman’s was just a big, just as thick? Did he realize this would drive her harder, make her more determined to be able to protect him? The shootout at the QZ wouldn’t be the last. Even a dying MD was better than none at all, and John was an easy target.
They got him inside the medical tent to find people already waiting for them.
Anne took charge. “Unless you’re bleeding, give me a few minutes to get him settled.”
“She’s bleeding.” Jennifer and Charlie were in the flap behind them, Dog at her side. The girl was pale, pulse in her neck pounding rapidly.
She sank to her knees as another contraction hit, groaning.
Anne let go of John, causing him to grab a cot and roughly slide down on his own.
“Go get your mom and then Adrian,” Anne ordered. “I can’t handle all of this.”
Behind Charlie, lurking to witness the results, Lilly’s face glowed with satisfaction in the light of the flickering fires. An ‘accidental’ punch during the stampede had been enough.