The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  The males snickered, and Angela frowned at herself as she pulled damp clothes away from irritated skin. I still have a long way to go to be a real soldier.

  Not the goal, Adrian sent, keeping a sharp ear on her thoughts for things her inexperienced gaze might miss.

  “When we get there, I’ll have to leave you alone for a few minutes, but I won’t be far,” Conner stated, slowing.

  “You’ll meet and tell them what you think?”

  Conner finally looked at his father, feeling bitter, old. “I’ll tell them you’ve promised to take them all, no matter how sick or flawed.”

  Adrian understood if he went back on that, Conner would convince his kids to run from them.

  “This is it.”

  They came to a dead-end and helped Conner shove a large chunk of the wall to one side, exposing a narrow passage.

  “This was an escape route some convicts dug from the prison. Now, it’s our backdoor.”

  As they went through, the Eagles verified that the crumbling bricks had indeed been gouged in millions of desperately taken swipes that appeared to have been made with forks, knives, sticks, and fingernails.

  The passage was damp, making the floor a slick trail of thick concrete-like mud that filled in their footprints almost as soon as they lifted their feet. Most of the letters on the door they came to were faded, gone, but there were enough left to warn them they’d better have their ids ready.

  “When the guards found the bodies of the men who’d been snake bit before they could dig through, they convinced the city council it would make a good stop on a Halloween tour.”

  Conner pushed the door open to reveal a small, dingy holding cell that hadn’t been touched by a scrub or a prisoner for years. The toilet was red with rust, the bunk rotted through, and here, the floor was covered with a thicker layer of that reeking sludge.

  Conner swiped at the spider webs over the hall cell door before opening it, and they were all impressed as they realized the boy had brought them in a different way than he had come out.

  Another lesson he remembered, Adrian thought. Thank you for letting him live!

  “Wait here until I call. They’re jumpy.” The rusty door closed behind the boy, taking away some of their light.

  Adrian and the team took up positions around the room, and Angela stayed close to the boss. Something didn’t feel right.

  “You can come in now,” Conner called from the other side of the door.

  Angela frowned, wishing she knew the boy better. As soon as he had disappeared into the other room, her line into his mind had closed.

  Adrian went first, using his hands to tell Kenn and Kevin to stay out here and alert.

  Kenn watched the team file in through the door, straining to pick up any bits of conversation from the other room. Beside him, Kevin did the same. Both men thought it odd to hear nothing from a room full of kids, but Kenn was instantly uneasy at Adrian being out of sight.

  “Good job, son,” a deep voice praised Conner triumphantly. “He had no idea you were lying the entire time. Excellent.”

  Thud!

  “Rookie lesson R!”

  Adrian’s roar meant trouble, and the two Eagles waiting outside followed their training. They spun into the darkness to avoid capture.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  A Major Pain

  1

  “Shoot him.”

  Conner hesitated to complete his betrayal, and Garret growled, “Finish it!”

  Conner’s thin shoulders slumped. He’d taken a risk, but hadn’t seen a better choice. It was up to his dad now.

  He fired the dart and hit Adrian in the neck.

  Garret laughed in delight. He hadn’t been sure, either.

  Garret gestured to his guard. “Now, dart the son.”

  Conner turned to run, and the dart caught him in the back, took him to the ground almost instantly.

  “And now, a bit of fun for me!”

  Thud! Thud! Thud!

  Garret paused long enough to throw an order now that Adrian’s team had seen him being beaten. “Dart them all.”

  The drugs forced Adrian to endure the beating as his men fell around them.

  Thud!

  “That’s enough, for now,” Garret panted, slinging blood onto the walls.

  Adrian sagged, sliding to his knees as the bounty hunter let go of his arms.

  Around him, all but Kyle and Angela were down. Only Kyle holding her back was delaying their turn. Around them, were three dozen bounty hunters dressed in long coats and hatred.

  “Nice to see you again, Mitchel.”

  The bitter man standing before Adrian was the same one Angela had seen in his mind, but with years of hatred layered on. The green eyes and brown spiky hair were still sexy, and the body was incredibly defined under the dusty coat, but the demeanor was schizophrenic and extremely unstable.

  Angela hated their captors on sight. Unlike Cesar’s vendetta, which could almost be understood, these were Americans, and she was once again sickened by her fellow man. Before the war, Angela had been one of the few who had believed things would be so ugly. Her time with Kenn had shown her the hard side of human nature, but she’d never expected the aftermath to be this bad. She had even hoped for groups of traveling aid convoys back in the beginning, but there was only this setup, time after time. Evil reared its head, and she and Adrian destroyed it. That would be their life’s work.

  “And what do we have here?” Garret asked cheerfully, turning his attention to the remaining Eagles. “A female. Not smart, Mitchel.”

  “If you don’t let me go, I’ll hurt you,” Angela warned furiously.

  Keeping her behind his body, Kyle gave her a rough nudge. “Be careful! Rape is the least of your worries with someone like that.”

  Angela closed her eyes as tears of rage welled. I’m going to kill them all, Kyle, but I need strength.

  On your mark, Kyle approved.

  Angela began to draw power, and Kyle jerked, distracted by the powerful sensation.

  Flames spun onto her wrist, and Angela drew back.

  “Shoot her,” Garret instructed.

  No panic in it, the icy voice told her where to aim. Angela threw as the bounty hunter fired.

  Flames exploded over the area where the Major had been standing, hitting two of his personal guards. Garret had sensed it coming and stepped side, but he hadn’t warned his men.

  Kyle spun around, but the man firing had counted on that. He knelt as he hit the trigger and the dart plunged into her thigh.

  Angela gasped as the drugs hit her like the blast of fire she’d sent.

  Kyle scrambled to catch her, flashed to the rest stop. Except this time, there was no blood and no smell of burning flesh.

  Angela’s mouth opened, panicking, and Kyle held her closer. “I’ve got ya, rookie.”

  She managed to smile, and then her lashes fluttered closed and her face smoothed into a beautiful void.

  “Can you carry her?” Garret asked calmly.

  Kyle gently positioned her along one thick arm and shoulder, freeing his other hand. It went to rest on an empty case. His Glock was currently riding in the Major’s extra holster.

  Garret laughed. “He trains them so well!” The Major stepped in front of Adrian, not caring about the loose ends that had fled. They would be blind down here, trained or not, and help wouldn’t come from any source, including those they’d already had contact with. The snake women had bartered Conner for their own escape from these tunnels and then taken it.

  “You want him hit again, with the knockouts?”

  Garret shook his head at Hudson’s query. “Adrian and I have catching up to do. We’ll have a talk now, while he’s unable to lie.”

  Adrian was still alert enough to understand what drug he’d been given, and he quickly forced the moment. Garret couldn’t find out about Safe Haven.

  “Shannon tasted like the best pudding I ever ate,” Adrian taunted. “Did she swallow with you–
”

  Thud! Thud! Thud!

  Hudson watched the beating with uneasy eyes. When their drugged prisoner dropped and Garret kept swinging, Hudson reluctantly interfered.

  “Hey!”

  Garret spun around, swinging and slinging blood.

  None of his men were hit. They knew how to get his attention without the bruises now, and Hudson waved a hand. “No reward if you kill him. And no revenge later, if you have it all now.”

  The Major slowly froze. His hardened face was immobile, expression a mix of hatred and confused anger.

  His men waited patiently. This was Garret getting that dangerous rage back under control.

  Hudson didn’t move, not even to scratch or switch feet. The Major was unstable. Everyone knew it, but if you were careful, there wasn’t a more rewarding place to be than on his crew. He currently had a hundred semi-loyal men fighting for every run he handed out.

  “Gather up the ones we want and take them to the cells. Leave the rest.” The Major slowly began to regain life. “Do it now.”

  2

  Kyle followed on the heels of the men supporting Adrian’s mostly limp body, mind racing as he subtly searched the dank tunnels they passed. If Kenn and Kevin followed the complete lesson, there was a chance for the unconscious Eagles to be rescued. Kyle’s duty was to the leaders that had been captured by the enemy with just a few shots from a powerful dart gun.

  Kyle stiffened as Garret moved back to place a crushing hand on his free shoulder.

  “You’re his killer. I can smell it on you.”

  Kyle knew better than to ignore him. Crazy people didn’t like that. “I do what I’m told.”

  “So did we.” Garret’s hand dropped. “Until he started seducing our wives and giving us his sons to raise.”

  The man fell back to talk with someone else, but Kyle didn’t let the words bother him. He already knew Adrian had a weakness when it came to women. He also knew that Angela would be the last. Kyle shifted her limp body to his other shoulder, thinking, Adrian has great taste.

  Angela’s shot had missed the Major, but nailed the two men standing behind him. They were currently hissing and groaning lowly as they did triage from kits around their waists. After three months at Adrian’s side, she was already extremely dangerous. Kyle hoped to see her at lethal. He was determined she would have the chance, and the boss would be there to witness it.

  Kyle studied the enemy next, picking out details, as Garret was no doubt doing with him. The hunters carried extra ammunition in wide straps across their shoulders instead of hips, and their holsters rode high. It was designed for fighting while moving through these sewers, Kyle realized. It kept the most important tools above the water. These men were fighters and survivors, but they weren’t like Safe Haven’s defenders. Garret’s crew took what they wanted and left only destruction in their wake. Adrian’s army did just the opposite.

  Unlike the tunnels they’d come in through, the Major’s route went through his bunker of supplies. Very near to where Conner had taken them, it told Kyle that the kids hadn’t been down here in a long time. The man leading these hunters wouldn’t have left any food, water, ammo, or buckets of other goods to be stolen.

  The underground bunker that had obviously once been a utility room and bomb shelter was stacked floor-to-ceiling around the walls, leaving narrow paths for the passing men to traverse. With a burden over his shoulder, Kyle did the best he could not to disturb the stash, but he marked where it was. If possible, they’d be back for it when this was over.

  Thunk!

  As they moved out of the bunker, Kyle caught sight of the shelter door, and recognized recent modification marks. That heavy steel barrier would probably lock upon closing and trigger an alarm topside. Clever.

  Thump!

  Two mean laughs hit Kyle’s ears, and he shifted to be ready. “How much farther?”

  “Why?” Garret sneered scornfully. “Tired already? I thought you were his killer.”

  Kyle grinned back as if they were having high tea. “Oh, I am. And, if they mishandle his son one more time, you’re gonna have proof of it. Sooner than you’ve planned for, I’d guess.”

  Garret glanced at the two suddenly nervous men and the bloody boy, then back to Kyle.

  “You understand he lied, right? Betrayed you all?”

  Kyle didn’t answer because it didn’t matter.

  Garret frowned. “Carry them both.”

  Kyle immediately turned around to do just that.

  Surprised by the boldness, the two bounty hunters carefully loaded Conner’s body over his other shoulder, and didn’t meet the mobster’s eye.

  Kyle began breathing in and out in steady breaths, and resumed matching the pace of the marching convoy.

  Garret laughed. “Once we wash Adrian’s stink off of you, there might be a job offer.”

  The Major stopped laughing and all friendliness vanished from his tone. “Or a set of slugs, just to be sure you can’t follow. That choice will be yours to make.”

  Kyle didn’t respond to the prompt. When Adrian woke, there would be hell to pay, and the Major would be responsible for the bill. If Garret knew Adrian, then he already had that information.

  Garret came back up the long line, and Kyle openly eyed the shotgun on his back, and then the full belt of knives, clubs, and guns. “Jumpy?”

  Garret laughed without offense. “Yes, and you know why, don’t you?”

  Kyle kept quiet. Of course, he knew. Garret was scared of dying at Adrian’s hand.

  You should be, Kyle thought, breathing deeper. But it’s the witch you won’t see coming. Angela won’t stand for this.

  3

  “Come on!” Kevin whispered angrily. “We’ll lose them!”

  “That’s not everyone.” Kenn didn’t say the others probably weren’t alive. The fact that they hadn’t heard any gunshots was good.

  Adrian’s bloody form had angered them, as had Angela’s unconscious body, but for both of AWOL Eagles, it was the careless handling of Conner by those in the rear that was enraging. They tossed him over shoulders, bumped his arms and legs into the walls, and snickered. They clearly hated the boy, and it made the Eagles fill with determination to see that they paid for it. Kenn and Kevin didn’t understand Conner had betrayed them, but it wouldn’t have mattered to them wither. He was Adrian’s son. That made him valuable in their hearts.

  Kenn and Kevin eased back into the kids’ area, glad to find their men alive, but confused as to why they were. Whatever the team had been hit with was strong. None of the men responded and while they could probably hole-up here and wait, Kenn was sure that Adrian didn’t have that long to live. The man in charge here had already beaten Adrian and left his men for the predators. The fate planned for him couldn’t be any better.

  “If you leave them here, the vines will come. They’re quite bloodthirsty.”

  Both men spun around, guns coming out.

  Cara didn’t move, but her snakelike demeanor was enough to startle them both, even after they recognized her under the new fighter’s clothes.

  Cara stuck her tongue out and sniffed. “Smells like good meat in here.”

  Kenn blinked in confusion. Sniffed?

  Cara closed her mouth, still yearning for what she couldn’t have. She saw Kenn’s eyes on the golden scales in her hair and explained, “We are waterproof this way.”

  “We could use some help.”

  Cara snorted at Kenn’s request, pupils reddening. “You need a miracle.”

  Kevin followed his instincts. He had a good idea why she had come prepared for battle. “So does Conner.”

  Cara stiffened, paling in near panic. “Can you save him?”

  Kenn silently thanked fate. “Yes.”

  “You’ll owe me. I will be saving many lives.”

  Kenn wasn’t about to argue that point. “Name your price.”

  Cara looked at the bodies and then back to Kenn. This time, there was greed and lust warring for
room. “We’ll take them to the park and cover them with netting. After that, we’re leaving this city.”

  “The Major probably thinks you’re already gone,” Kenn guessed, not immune to the way she was admiring his body. “Since you’re the one who betrayed Conner and his kids, right?”

  “Yesss, well, the Major is on a need-to-know basis with us now.”

  Kenn chuckled. “Fair enough.”

  Cara’s face lit up with raw hunger. “Again!”

  Kenn didn’t have time for the games. “Now or after…Cara, was it?”

  She shuddered at the sound of her name on his lips and forced herself to breathe. “Now. If you die during, I’m already paid.”

  “And how do I know you’ll keep your word?” Kenn questioned.

  Cara whistled, and the sound of footsteps came. Women in shiny snakeskins began to fill the room, and Cara indicated the fallen men. “Take them to the park and hide. Valuable cargo, not for eating.”

  The women muttered and grunted, but dutifully began picking up burdens and taking them out.

  Kenn and Kevin both frowned.

  Cara saw their worry and shook her head. “We are not starving, because we’ll eat what others won’t. It means they can’t sell them to the other residents for food.”

  Kenn wasn’t amused. “And when your food source runs out? What will the snake women eat then?”

  Cara stared back with a dark, unblinking gaze that was almost hypnotic. “Each other, of course.”

  Kenn’s stomach flipped and he forced it back to watch their men be taken out.

  The trousers and gray shirts covered strong, lean arms that didn’t strain under the weight of the men they were carrying and Kenn wondered if the snake meat might be doing more than causing physical mutations. Was it giving them strength as it merged with their DNA? Even their hair was thick, thigh-length brown and black braids on most of the females, and healthy. Kenn made a note to talk to Adrian about it when this was all over.

  Cara took a step closer, ignoring Kevin and her busy girls. “Satisfied?”

  Kenn sent his mind to the last time he’d stolen a moment with Tonya, and then been interrupted.

  “No, I’m not.” He lowered his voice, trying to emulate Adrian’s magic and help get himself in the mood. “But you will be.”