The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  “You lied to me!”

  Already leaving sporadic drips, blood began to roll over Kyle’s arm and fall to the dirt in ominous splatters.

  “Where’s he going with no punishment?”

  “Why is he allowed to beat people?”

  “Teacher’s pet,” someone promptly supplied.

  The disorder around them rang in Angela’s mind and despair came for the first time. If they couldn’t understand that Anderson and Tucker had deserved what they got, how would she ever get them to fight for her?

  “These people don’t stand a chance against the government,” she muttered. “I need more weapons.”

  Kevin grunted agreement as they went to help the Eagles settle things down.

  A group of men eating close by exchanged pointed looks. Each of the five men were Eagles, but none of them had been noticed yet. They’d bonded during teamwork and had been trying to come up with an idea that would give them some glory while doing something big for the camp.

  “Weapons,” Theo repeated quietly, dropping his eyes to the lunch that they were nearly finished with. “I might have built a few things like that in my time.” He raised a brow, including the others. “Anyone else?”

  All of them raised a subtle finger. Engineers were notorious weapons examiners. Some loved them and some hated them, but everyone wanted to know how they worked.

  Theo returned to his beef Manhattan. “Anyone want to meet in my tent after evening mess for cards? Closed game.”

  The time was narrowed down and the five Eagles faded back into obscurity, but the sense that their purpose had just been revealed was clear.

  4

  Charlie took Conner to Adrian, calling a quiet greeting to John and Anne.

  “How is he?”

  “I’ll live,” Adrian croaked.

  The boys each took a side of the bed as John left Jennifer’s cot to inspect Conner’s wound. The pregnant girl was sedated. Kyle was in the chair at her side, looking broken.

  Charlie shot a quick thought down to Adrian while everyone was distracted.

  Conner thinks you’ve fathered other children since him, that I’m yours.

  I wish you were. Adrian slammed the wall down too late.

  Charlie’s face darkened. “She doesn’t!”

  Adrian’s pain was almost tangible. I know. It’s always ‘my Brady’.

  Charlie withered under his idol’s sarcastic misery. “I’m sorry.”

  Adrian held out a hand. “So am I, son. You’ll help me stay out?”

  Charlie slowly took Adrian’s hand. His anger, most of it anyway, came from remembering how he’d once wished for Adrian to be his dad.

  You have to leave them alone. It will destroy Safe Haven.

  “I’d never hurt my sheep...” Adrian’s body relaxed as sleep claimed him again.

  “I believe in you.” Charlie patted his hand, understanding the drugs were in control of Adrian’s mind right now.

  Conner turned to find Charlie bent low in concern, hand gripping Adrian’s.

  He promised! He wasn’t supposed to have more kids!

  Conner straightened, rage pulsing. “Did he kill your mother, too?”

  Charlie gently covered Adrian up. “Almost. He used her for bait to draw out the slavers. It saved the whole camp and turned her into someone I don’t know most days.”

  Conner tried to sneer, but the pain of losing his mom made him sympathetic to the misery he read in Charlie’s mind. He settled for warning, “Watch out. Once he’s in her head, she’s lost.”

  Charlie understood that’s why Adrian had said stay out, not away. The more time he spent with her mentally, the stronger the bond would become.

  Charlie flashed a surprised grin at Conner. “You don’t know it, but you just helped me out, big time. I may even owe you for it.”

  Charlie left without explaining that if he spent mental time with Tracy, she would want him. It always worked that way with their kind. Hadn’t Adrian himself said so during one of their private talks?

  Yes. Charlie pulled up the correct memory file.

  “They don’t even have to like us for the bonds to start. Be careful who you choose to ensnare. You may not be able to get rid of them.”

  Charlie’s pace quickened. He knew exactly what to do now. He did owe Conner. Maybe they could even be friends or something once Conner was placed in the Jr. Eagles. He couldn’t hang out with Conner until that happened. An unproven friend didn’t factor into Charlie’s plans.

  5

  “The bleeding stopped, but it’s only a matter of time. No way she’ll make it to September.”

  Angela had been fairly sure, but still hoping to be wrong. If nothing changed, the twins would be here before the government.

  “And Adrian?” she forced herself to ask.

  “He’ll live,” John responded.

  Angela had been waiting to hear John say it before letting herself believe. She hadn’t been sure, either. His wounds had become infected so fast that it was a miracle.

  “When will he…”

  “A while,” John snapped. He’d already heard the question too many times to pretend he had any patience left. “At least two weeks.”

  Angela understood John was protecting his patient, but these people needed Adrian at the helm as soon as possible. “Any chance of half that? He won’t want to lie around, and we’ll pump him full of energy.”

  John wasn’t ready to deny it could happen. “I’d be surprised.”

  Angela had to let it go at that. “Two weeks, huh?” She sighed, staring at Adrian’s medication-calmed face. Want to or not, she could tell how weak he was, how the infection had drained him.

  “Fine. I’ll adjust for two weeks instead of one. How soon can he travel?”

  “Five days for camp travel.”

  “Too long,” Angela denied, adjusting her plans on the fly. “Have him ready in three.”

  She didn’t stay to hear the arguments that she already knew. They were on a deadline. She couldn’t afford the extra days here. That one delay might cost them in the end, and she wasn’t taking the chance. Jennifer and Adrian’s health would be covered as best they could. The rest was up to fate.

  “Good girl,” Adrian muttered, now surfacing in quick, blurry moments.

  John scowled, but didn’t scold. She was Safe Haven’s leader. The camp came first. Adrian had trained her well, and John hated him a little for it. The gentle Angela who had joined them in South Dakota wasn’t coming back.

  6

  Refusing to dwell on morbid thoughts, Angela went to the little mess. She didn’t need to call Kevin over when he saw her quick stride. He appeared at her hip with his notebook out before she could hit the button on her radio.

  Angela settled at the center table as Li Sing hurried over with hot tea. She thanked him, and waited until he was out of earshot to start handing out instructions.

  “Adrian needs the magic users. They’ll each have five minutes, every day for the next three. Tell them I said he’s empty. It’s been a while since Adrian was forced to draw. He’s usually surrounded, and they’ll need to insist.”

  Confused, Kevin noted it for later. “How do I…”

  “Talk to Kenn and Kyle first. They’re tight these days for some reason that I should probably be worried over.”

  Kevin didn’t like that. “I’ll look into that, too.”

  Angela didn’t tell him no. That part of Kevin’s new job–spying and rumor-gathering–was what would keep a leader abreast of coming trouble.

  “I want Leslie on the QZ today. Give her a senior man who won’t be a distraction. She has to know how to work these kids.”

  Angela observed Peggy and Hilda walking by on the other side of the tape, and Anne coming from inside the QZ toward them. The trio stopped, talking casually at first, but the conversation apparently took an interesting turn because all three females lowered their voices and went toward a less traveled section of the circular path that wound throug
h camp.

  Curious, but not worried, Angela turned to tell Kevin to find out what that was about, and found him already writing it down.

  She didn’t offer any encouragement, but Kevin could feel that he’d pleased her. It lightened the shadows on his scruffy face.

  “How are you adjusting to being my right hand?”

  “That’s Brady,” he remarked, leery of traps.

  “You know what I meant.”

  Kevin did. He’d been stalling. “It’s different.”

  “You ready to give it up?”

  Aware of the wording, Kevin refused. “No.”

  “Good. You’re quiet, you pay attention, and so far, I’m not falling behind. I’d hate to have to break in a rookie.”

  Kevin was startled into a place of contentment that he hadn’t known he was lacking. This was how Kenn and the others felt when they did something right. It was...amazing.

  Angela motioned toward the buffet. “Cynthia stayed with Adrian until dawn. She could use breakfast in bed today. Feel like dropping a tray?”

  Kevin didn’t need to be asked twice. He assumed it was a reward for sticking with the duty he’d been given.

  Angela let him think that, smothering the guilt. She had a very short amount of time to work on this first plan. The Major’s men should be at the bunker within the next ten days. That was how long she had to persuade the camp to fight, and a great deal of that success would rest upon Matt and Mitch behaving as she’d foreseen.

  “I counted on their weaknesses,” Angela reminded herself lowly, listening to Kevin load up a tray and leave. “Two dogs, for a herd of three hundred sheep and shepherds. We’ve done worse.”

  7

  Angela stared at the ants rooting through their ever-growing garbage pile, frozen in place. She’d just had an idea so unimaginable that the new leader inside had insisted she explore it.

  The ants viewed Safe Haven as a food source, often digging up anything they buried. And they were aggressive about defending their hills–which they only built when Safe Haven stayed camped. It was leaving behind not only a mutation legacy in every state; it was also a trail for fresh antlings to follow so that they could catch up to the colony.

  Angela had little doubt that the hills were stocked with food and protectors. The ants were evolving at an alarming rate and every sign she picked out screamed intelligence. For example, the bait balls no longer worked. The colony simply sacrificed a few of their soldiers to carry the poison away from the hills. They buried it out of the scent line and then crawled off to die alone. Samantha and Neil had complete documentation on that one. They’d been sent out on more than a few observation trips during Adrian’s command, and they’d discovered that the ants were cleaning up the towns as the colony went by. That could be useful.

  “You got anything for me?”

  Angela hadn’t realized he was her open shadow today. “Yes, actually. Nice timing.”

  Kyle didn’t tell her that he’d observed that look on Adrian’s face enough to understand. The only difference was that Kenn was usually the one who had the honor of hearing the new idea or plan first. He also didn’t say he couldn’t stand to be cooped up in that tent any longer. She knew.

  “Ask Dog, and then Jennifer, this question: Can they talk to the ants?”

  Kyle stared, dumbfounded, and Angela returned to her thinking. What would the insects want if someone could bridge the communication gap?

  Kyle recovered slowly. “Why Jenny?”

  Angela’s answer wasn’t a comfort.

  “If she wants you to know, she’ll answer that.

  Kyle waved Billy over to cover his post, going to the tent where they had Dog stashed. Apparently, there was a lot he still didn’t know about Jennifer and her gifts, and this was a bad time to be low on details. When she woke, he would face her accusations and try to save himself.

  8

  Angela observed Samantha climbing slowly from the front seat of Jeremy’s truck. The couple had moved there when the rain began.

  Angela saw the gentle kiss Samantha placed on his cheek, the way she smoothed hair back over his sleeping face. That was more than the response of a close friend or relief source. Samantha loved Jeremy.

  Angela hadn’t realized it was possible for Samantha to have real feelings for both males, and she stared hard, thinking it through. For every action, there was always an equal, and opposite reaction...

  Samantha went to her team leader’s side, not answering the silent questions. Angela had her own triangle going on. She’d figure it out in time.

  Angela scowled at the thought, turning to watch John and Anne enter the medical tent, where Adrian was.

  Samantha waited, slightly impatient and a bit groggy. When Jeremy woke, he’d come for her and she wanted to be too busy to talk until he cooled off. Hoping to speed things along, Samantha took her notebook out and found a pen. She rubbed at her hip, thinking at least now she knew where the red line had come from. She hadn’t remembered the pen was in her pocket when she crashed.

  “I want a list of things that will make John’s life easier,” Angela stated, picking out his ginger movements through the medical tent window.

  Samantha started writing as she spoke. “Less carrying–a gopher to stay with him. Less climbing. I’ll ask Neil. Pain relief is Tonya, but I doubt she’ll give it to me…”

  Angela waited.

  “I’ll have Marc ask her,” Samantha chose, falling into the assignment. “All the women want him, so she won’t say no. More rest…”

  “Say that again.”

  Sam tensed at the order. “Which part?”

  “Pain relief.”

  Sam’s shoulders unhitched. “Well that’s what we should have been giving cancer patients all along, right? I read a Post article on it.”

  Angela raised a brow and Samantha quickly explained, “Scientists were brewing it as a tea and an oil, I think. They’d sent it into remission in lab rats, but the government wouldn’t renew their funding.”

  Angela didn’t have to consider the outcome on this one. “Tell Tonya that Marc wants it and I’m paying–a trade of her choice.”

  Samantha went toward the couple’s tents to deliver the messages, understanding Angela didn’t want Marc to owe Tonya. Samantha agreed with that choice. Reformed or not, the redhead was dangerous.

  9

  Jeremy didn’t want to wake up.

  The dream had pulled him in deep and the flashing numbers in his mind were definitely a pattern. If he could stay here in the dark with Samantha, he could get the last two numbers and break the code.

  “Why do you need to?”

  Samantha’s voice didn’t echo, but Jeremy still cringed. No one was supposed to know of his obsession.

  “Too late for that,” Sam responded neutrally. “But I have to know why. I won’t let anyone hurt him, not even you.”

  “I’m not a traitor,” Jeremy replied, still trying to memorize the next two numbers.

  “They’ll be able to track us if you break the code.”

  Jeremy knew that and it didn’t matter. “I have to do this.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I wake up thinking about the code, you, and the future–in that order.

  “I can’t let you have it until you know why,” Samantha denied him unhappily. “The risk is too great.”

  The darkness around them lightened and the flashing roman numerals vanished.

  “No!”

  “Jeremy!”

  Jeremy snapped awake with a snarl. Samantha knew the code and she wasn’t giving it to him.

  “Jeremy, you up?”

  “Yeah,” he answered Daryl’s call with a curt tone.

  “You have sniper duty over the boss in an hour.”

  Which one, he thought sarcastically. He only said, “Okay.”

  Jeremy didn’t care who their leader was right now. Being denied the final numbers was more than frustrating and he got up with a fresh scowl of anger. It
would be a long day. He had QZ duty after sniper rounds and until he could be alone with Samantha, everyone had better stay out of his way.

  10

  “Seth’s back.”

  Angela hit her mic. “Copy.”

  She went to observe his team pulling into the QZ parking area.

  Seth came straight to her.

  “They’re gone–tried to give us the slip during the fog. We tracked them until dawn, went west.”

  “That will have to be good enough,” Angela stated, pushing away the lingering concern. She would have preferred a ‘no survivors’ report.

  Seth frowned slightly. “We could find them.”

  Angela heard the unspoken words–I’ll go back and do it. I’m capable of that, too.

  “Not unless they come here,” she chose. “We have bigger problems.”

  Both of them glanced toward the medical tent, where John and Anne’s shadow were moving calmly.

  “Anything else out there you think I need to know about?” Angela asked.

  Seth thought of the enormous herd of elk moving north, though it was now officially Summer. “Nothing we haven’t been observing all along.”

  “Okay. Get some rest.”

  Seth waved off the compassion. All he wanted right now was Becky. Being around those hard females had reminded Seth of his duty to her. He was going to increase Becky’s training now that her body had received some recovery time. In a few months, she would be as dangerous as those snakes. Then, he would start handling her other needs. Mental healing was a slow process and Becky needed a guide through it.

  “Get off me, Neil!”

  “Make me.”

  “I’m warning you…”

  Neil braced, but didn’t let her up off the tent floor. It was her first Kai lesson, only he’d done it differently with her, based on her terrors. Every lesson she got from him for a while would be hands-on to help her learn to fight Rick’s ghost.

  Becky felt the ugly rage rear its head and snapped her mouth shut. Neil didn’t understand how much she hated to be touched. He had to learn to respect her.

  Becky let the anger loose.