by Angela White
The girl glanced up in panic. “He fell and she tried to help… What do I do?!”
Angela noted John’s breathing was steady and went to Jennifer. Blood was pooled around her legs and the amount was too much to hope that it could be stopped.
“Get Kyle. She’s having them now.”
“Now?”
“Get going!” Angela barked, sliding over to allow Marc room to help.
“Put her in the recliner.”
They got Jennifer into the plush chair as she began to moan.
“Jennifer? Wake up, honey. You have to help.”
Jennifer’s lids opened and her face clenched in pain.
“It hurts!”
“I know,” Angela soothed, removing clothing as Eagles closed the door behind Anne.
It opened a few seconds later and Kyle flew inside. “Jenny?”
His voice was panicked and Angela grabbed his arm. Keep her calm or get out!
Kyle nodded curtly and took the stool on Jennifer’s left.
“Here we go again,” Jennifer complained, hands cradling her enormous belly. “Stop and start. These kids are gonna be…Ahh!”
Angela injected Jennifer’s arm, not responding to Kyle’s concern. She had her hands full with the girl and there was still the unconscious man on the floor behind her.
Chapter Eleven
All that Planning
1
A lone wail of life split the tense air, pathetically weak.
Behind it, came a mother’s scream of denial.
“But is it the good one or evil?” Marc’s demon asked, cuddled with Angela’s witch in their mental hideaway.
“That has not been revealed.”
The demon chuckled, staring at her.
The witch held still. It was something he was prone to do for long minutes and after so much solitude, she understood. Not being alone anymore felt strange.
“Why do you come here?”
The witch made the air around them snap with flames. “Teaching, learning, enjoying. Many things.”
Marc’s demon reached out and took a hold of her arm. “How do I gain his trust, so he’ll let me roam the way she does you?”
The witch smirked, soul-searching orbs lighting up. “Would you like me to coach you on that? I’d have to stay close.”
The demon swallowed thickly at the images. “I have no problem with it.”
The witch cackled. “Your master will. Marc hates me.”
The demon agreed reluctantly. “Just stay in the rear. I’ll work on him.”
Marc waited by the camper door, worry growing. He knew Angela would be a wreck when she came out. Word had already gotten around.
“Is she okay?”
Marc stiffened. “If she isn’t, I’ll handle it.”
Adrian sighed, moving by him. “Yes, I’m sure you will. Where’s Conner?”
“With John. She asked him to help.”
Adrian didn’t argue. It’s what he would have done.
Marc watched Adrian until he and Kenn vanished into the shower campers, and then turned his back to them to keep from glowering through the window. How he hated that man!
The medical door opened and Angela stumbled out, looking ten years older.
“Need sleep.”
Down to words instead of sentences, Marc swept her into his arms and went to their tent. She began drawing from him the instant her arms went around his neck.
2
Adrian stared out the window, ignoring Kenn’s meaningless chatter as he got things ready. The pain of constantly accepting being turned away was enough to choke on. He wasn’t going to do it much longer.
“You ready?”
Adrian began stripping down. It was his first shower since before going into Little Rock and he’d been anticipating it.
“Make it hot. I want to sweat some of this shit out.”
Kenn adjusted the water and began laying out rags and small bottles. As he worked, he kept his mouth shut this time, sensing his boss was working on something.
Adrian appreciated the quiet. He had a lot to consider. For the first time since Las Vegas, he didn’t have to think about the herd first, but he still was. He needed to get into that bunker and kill whoever was in charge. Once that happened, Safe Haven would be free. Angela’s plan didn’t account for the return to their homeland–probably because she wasn’t expecting to make one, but Adrian had already seen parts of that surreal time, too. They would be gone for years, but eventually, this would become their home again.
“Angela will see to that,” Adrian murmured.
Kenn frowned. Everything about Adrian said Angela’s assessment was right. The real boss was planning to sacrifice himself for the good of the herd. Getting in and killing The Man was a great idea, but someone had to be left here, to lead, and even if she were hard enough, Angela didn’t want the job. Adrian had to stay. Someone else would have to die in his place and to Kenn, it didn’t matter who.
3
“Come on, boy!”
Matt groaned as his arm was yanked, stumbling to his feet. He’d passed out in a small cave around dawn and now felt like hell.
“Where are we going?” he demanded.
“To make a call,” Mitch answered cryptically. He’d found Matt’s hiding place easily enough now that he wasn’t drinking anymore, and grabbed the boy before the Eagles came.
“Who we calling?” Matt asked, trying to keep up as they struggled to the top of the incline.
“The government, of course. They need more details and we need a ride.”
Matt didn’t argue. He’d gotten through on the com truck CB, using the new channel that he’d learned in the Jr. Eagles, but he hadn’t asked for anything from the man who’d answered. He’d only wanted to expose Angela and those like her so that Kevin would be taken away. Now an outcast, Matt wished he’d asked for protection.
“A little quicker, boy. We can’t be up here in plain sight for long. One of the snipers will pick us off.”
Matt shivered. “What have I done?”
Mitch grunted, out of breath, but clear headed and hopeful. “You freed us, boy.”
Mitch tugged his son closer, helping the hungover teenager along. “Wish I’d done it.”
4
The fireworks were a mixed bag of emotions as they began. It drew the usual appreciation, but it also brought memories that people didn’t want to face and caused moments of tension. The expected musical accompaniment also stirred them up, and the Eagles observed people drinking and dancing in concern. Three hundred of them could do a lot of damage if things got out of control. What concerned them most were the conversations taking place. Some were openly against fighting the soldiers, while a few more were trying to gather people to leave with and form their own group.
“We’re losing people,” Rusty stated, directing Seth’s attention to the parking area. “We’re light two cars now.”
Seth scowled, but didn’t call it in. They had orders not to stop anyone from leaving.
“We’ll be short twenty come dawn if she doesn’t do something,” Rusty guessed, watching a small group go to their tents with furtive glances at the Eagles and Angela. He had loved his time on Seth’s team and would do anything to keep it from ending.
“More than that. Some of the men won’t come back.”
“Eagles?” Rusty questioned angrily.
“Self-preservation will thin the herd. That’s why we’re not to stop them,” Seth stated. “She’s lightening our load for the move and for the battle.”
“She’s also protecting the chain of command,” Kenn pointed out as he walked by, thrilled to rate his own shadow. “All of us have guards tonight. She’s worried. Watch your six.”
Kenn continued on his rounds and the men indicated that they would. The mood was tense and a bedtime story was only going to do so much. If Angela wanted to keep this camp together, she’d better do something by tomorrow at the latest. After that, half the camp would flee.
<
br /> 5
“Can you take over the Kai lessons for a while?
Jeff tore his eyes away from the group of females working out on the other side of the training tent. “Yeah, uh, sure.”
Neil slapped him on the arm, grinning. “Get to enjoy that ride yet?”
Jeff scowled. “I didn’t ask her out.”
Neil guessed what had happened next. “She went out with someone else.”
“Yes. He’s staring at her.”
Neil did a casual sweep and only found three men paying any attention to the dirty, sweaty women of Angela’s team. Marc, Adrian, and Zack.
Neil was surprised. “I thought he hated women.”
Jeff huffed angrily. “He changed, Neil, you know that. What matters is that she wasn’t bluffing.”
Neil snorted. “You thought she was? Oh, man, were you wrong.”
“No shit.”
Neil spent a moment thinking and then asked, “How many times have they gone out?”
“Twice.”
“She’s still fair game. Go over right now and offer to cook her a hot meal tonight.”
Jeff started to say he couldn’t do that, and then grunted, “What the hell. It’ll put an end to it, at least.”
“Exactly. You’ll know where you stand.”
Jeff walked toward the women who were doing pushups, eyes glued to Crista’s dirty ass. “I can do this. It’s going to go well. Relax and pay attention. You know how she stuns you sometimes.”
Neil listened to Jeff’s instructions to himself, shaking his head. The Eagle hadn’t figured out what he and Jeremy, and many of the others here, already knew. Love and lust made the rules. The best a person could hope for was a balance of the two that didn’t smother everything else.
6
Crista tensed at the Eagle moving her way, stumbling. It broke the groove.
“Take a five!” Cynthia snapped, guessing what was about to happen.
Crista knew Jeff was annoyed by her dates, but didn’t think it would come to anything. Over the last weeks, she’d discovered that Jeff was as stubborn as she was.
Guess he just doesn’t like me, she thought unhappily.
“Got any use for a hot meal?”
Crista looked around, sure he was talking to someone else.
Jeff stiffened as she acted like she was too good to talk to him. “What?”
“I’m just not sure what’s going on,” Crista answered sharply. “You haven’t spoken to me in a week.”
Jeff sighed. He was still learning how to be around people again. Even before the war, he’d isolated himself. “I’d like to make breakfast.”
Crista wiped at sweat self-consciously. “What?”
“What, what?”
Crista snickered. “You are so bad at this.”
Jeff’s face reddened and she smoothly slid in front of him before he could stomp off. “What are you making me for breakfast?”
Jeff stared down into those mischievous brown eyes, drowning. “What do you like?”
Crista groaned. “Anything other than fish.”
Jeff chuckled with her, observing the sun lighting up her skin. “I can do that.”
“Two minutes, ladies!” Cynthia called impatiently.
“When?” Jeff demanded, unconsciously leaning closer. “In the morning?”
Crista denied him regretfully. “I’m on duty or have classes for the next 12 hours. Dinner would work better.”
Jeff caught sight of Zack’s stunned face. “What will you tell him?”
Crista smiled, taking his breath. Jeff barely heard her answer.
“Nothing. I belong to me.”
7
“I want three teams sent out the day after tomorrow. We have to have everything on these lists.” Angela handed Kenn the paper. “Let Marc know who you pick to go on which run. He has final approval.”
Kenn put the paper into his book and added a note. “Are you okay? You look…”
“Rough?” Angela supplied tiredly.
“I’m only asking because that strip of gray in your hair is almost white. It’s so bright you look like you have a glow ring on.”
Angela sighed. “That explains why they were all staring at me, but I can’t worry about it now. You’ll take care of the supplies? We can’t win without the things on those lists.”
Kenn patted his notebook. “I’ve got it covered. We’ll bring in camp labor and teach them to protect us while we gather what we need. It’ll make them feel important.”
They are important, Angela thought, but didn’t correct the Marine. He was only capable of so much change at one time, as were they all, and he’d given her a confirmation of her plan without realizing it.
“Get the kids ready for a lesson tomorrow. I want them to spend time with the ants again.”
Kenn didn’t think Marc would protest like he had a little while ago. After everything else they were risking, it was little by comparison. The kids were in the training tent now, busy working. They’d begun with the odd instructions of ways to make friends with the ants so they could be trained, and the kids hadn’t stopped yet.
Marc had come up with a brilliant way of feeding the ants and training them to stay on the west side of Safe Haven’s perimeter. It kept them from losing tires to rugged ant holes, but more, it gave them a warning on that side of the sprawling camp. The ants were becoming more and more vocal with each passing day. Whenever there was a problem, the guards knew. Marc was able to keep them in one area by having the garbage dumped there. It gave the ants exactly what they wanted, and when there wasn’t much garbage, the Eagles went to a nearby town and dug some up.
The Jr. Eagle lesson time had been up for a while. Occasionally a guard would peek inside to make sure everything was okay or to deliver a snack. Some of the senior men realized Angela was keeping them occupied, but a few of the smarter among the camp also thought she was using them at the same time. It’s what Adrian would do and some of Safe Haven’s Eagles had recognized that pattern.
“We found prints,” Daryl stated, talking to Angela nearby. “We know where they’re hiding.”
Angela’s voice was eerie. “Justice will come to them through other means.”
“But the camp...”
“Will get to witness it,” Angela predicted, turning around.
Marc was standing behind her, waiting in the shadows until she was ready to be confronted, and Angela heaved a sigh of relief. It could be over now.
Marc, seeing firsthand how smart she really was, had already concluded that she was dangerous. Until today, however, he still hadn’t been able to see her as a monster in any way. That had changed.
She motioned the others back and went to him.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d already seen this coming?” he asked.
“Because there was a plan on the list that I didn’t show to anyone. It’s the plan I decided to go with.”
“What?”
Angela pulled up the exact words she’d written. “Option E. Force one showdown that requires the enemy to stock up and call in men before they can attack. Make them scared and jumpy along the way, wear them down and then wipe them out. Their numbers will be decimated, camp morale will soar, fighters will come in, and Safe Haven will be free to live and grow as we please.”
“Not many men here could lead a team to do all that,” Marc stated slowly, mind placing clues.
Angela’s hands clenched into fists. “You could.”
Marc realized all at once that he’d been toughened up for this moment, that she’d planned it all.
“Why would you do that?” Marc demanded. “Why would you turn me into a killer of women?”
“She was concerned that there was only Kenn to handle such a threat,” Kyle interrupted. “I learned to get over my own revulsion to fill a slot on that doomed team, but only two Eagles who can do it? It’s only enough if…”
“Those men are lethal,” Marc finished. She’d done it on purpose, to tempt him i
nto giving into his harsher nature.
Wake up! his demon growled. She did it to expose me. She wants me to kill for her.
“You’re a bad-ass Marc, one of the few true dangerous men still alive. She did it because Safe Haven needs you.”
“It’s done now, either way,” Angela stated coldly. “And I suggest we inspect it from their side.”
Kenn did just that. “It’s been seven long months for them, too. One bunker may hold enough food and water to sustain a large population, but I’d bet they were overcapacity with all those draftees and their family members slipping in and out. The food is running low, fights are starting, and those in charge know they’ll lose control unless topside is reclaimed. So they sent out a couple patrols to recon whatever they could find.”
“And what they found, was Adrian.”
“Yes. They heard the calls the same as the others out in this apocalyptic nightmare. They knew the Major was waiting for him, so it didn’t make sense to waste men and supplies chasing him down.”
“But he escaped. They probably already knew that from the Major’s silence. They could stay to their side, but they won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because they need our gifts, but also because I challenged them,” Angela answered defiantly. “I drew a line in the sand and dared them to cross it.”
“Why?” Marc demanded.
Zack and the other Eagles waited for her to blow him off or blame something else, but Angela didn’t. All the lies would be cleared.
“Everyone assumed the troops would come for Adrian as soon as they discovered the Major’s death. I assumed the opposite. And if they didn’t come immediately, what would they do?”
Kenn answered, “Stock up and get ready.”
“Exactly. Adrian’s has been training me as a…well, a contingency analyst, I suppose. I examine the other side of the theory and on this one, I saw them coming for us right as we settled into the mountains for winter.”
Angela sent the image of a crippling explosion through the tent, the one from her dreams. “We would have lost almost everyone. I had to stop that, anyway I could.”