The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  We all need a real break, he thought. The stress is catching up.

  They’d spent the day at the electric company, securing it and waiting for their relief to arrive. Once the stripping team had shown up, Kyle’s team had come north for the second half of their mission.

  “Another five hours before we’ll reach our target,” Whitney commented, map spread over his knees. “You want to switch?”

  “Not yet,” Kyle answered. He was still enjoying driving instead of riding a horse. His ass had ached for days. “We’ll sleep when we get there and start fresh in the morning.”

  “Sounds good,” Whitney agreed. Thanks to Angela, they were expecting problems and being well rested was a good idea. If there were already people at the refinery, they had orders to keep going to the alternate site. If the second refinery also had people there, they were supposed to detour east and check a third site. Either way, they were on a long run.

  Whitney put the map away, and then leaned against the seat. “Wake me when you’re ready.”

  “You got it,” Kyle responded, certain he wouldn’t need to switch before they arrived. He was too wound up to sleep. His mind was split between Jennifer and Adrian, and he chose to dwell on the former leader in place of pining for Jenny. Dropping Adrian off on their way to the refinery hadn’t taken any extra time, but it had stolen his concentration. Did Angela plan to keep using Adrian until he did something big enough to be forgiven? There was a small chance that it would succeed with most of the camp, but Kyle didn’t think the Eagles would ever go for it. They’d given up everything to follow him and his ways, only to discover they were being led to a slaughter. If Angela hadn’t joined Safe Haven, Adrian would have handed all of them over to the government.

  Distracted, Kyle missed the furry shapes in the road until he was right upon them.

  “Shit!” Kyle jerked the wheel, swerving around the coyotes, and the truck hit a large pothole. It bounced violently, tossing the truck into the air, and Kyle fought to straighten it out, heart pounding.

  Kyle regained control as cries of surprise filled the truck, and he sighed in relief. “That was–”

  The tree across the road was hidden by an old wreck and there was no time for brakes or evasive maneuvers. The front of the truck hit the tree and the vehicle of shouting men flipped into the air.

  When the mangled truck finally came to a stop, there was silence in place of the screams.

  2

  Sally peered through her black curtains, observing the accident. She’d already doused her lights and gotten her gun out, but the wreck was ugly and she hadn’t seen any movement. Had anyone survived? Do I care?

  Sally sighed unhappily. She didn’t trust people. She had waited, hoping they would crawl out and disappear. She didn’t want to have contact with strangers. Strangers were always a danger.

  Sally reluctantly donned her boots and kept her gun handy as she eased outside. The night was quiet, still, and cold and she could hear the moans clearly. Someone had survived and it sounded like a man.

  Sally circled the truck in a wide path, using her penlight to view through the windows. She counted five men and at least three of them were dead. Being impaled was a particularly nasty way to go, but at least the trio in the rear hadn’t suffered long.

  Sally moved toward the front, and she shined the light on the passenger. He was banged up, but only his awkwardly bent arm seemed serious.

  As she shined her light on the driver, Sally realized she could smell gas and she peered at the ground, hoping to find it dry.

  The puddle was slowly coming her way and Sally hurried on to the driver, not positive yet what she would do.

  Kyle moaned as the light hit his face. Hanging upside down and dazed from the impacts, he groaned at the pain. “Please. Help my men!”

  Impressed that he would care for his people even though he was obviously injured, Sally tried to open his door.

  It swung wide after a few tugs and Kyle hit the seatbelt button, tumbling out onto the icy pavement.

  Sally went to the passenger door and dragged the other man from the wreck, trying to avoid pulling him through the fuel.

  Quickly out of breath, Sally knew neither man was out of range if that gas caught fire, but she didn’t think she could transfer them by herself.

  Pop!

  Sally jumped at the loud bang from the truck. Fear of a spark got her to her feet. She began to tug the passenger a few inches at a time. At least one of them might survive.

  Kyle groaned louder, pain everywhere, and he screamed as he was grabbed by the arm. More pain flared and he passed out, unaware of being jerked across the rough road.

  Dog whined in pain as he strained on his casted leg, feeling the plaster crack. He was sorry for the teeth punched into Kyle’s arm, but it seemed like the only safe place to get a hold of him.

  Dog lunged backward, and skin ripped, cast shattering, and Kyle’s body slid to the edge of the ditch and then rolled down the small hill.

  Dog followed him just as the truck exploded.

  Sally spotted Dog dragging the driver, and then the gas flamed up and she threw herself over the passenger she had gotten into the opposite gulley. She stayed covering the man as debris rained over them.

  A second explosion sent more flaming pieces of the truck into the sky, and then there was the sound of burning wreckage.

  Sally slowly sat up. She saw Dog limping toward her and forced her shaky knees to hold her as she stood.

  “Good boy,” she praised, rubbing the wolf’s ears. She’d lost all fear of him during the week they’d been together. “Let’s go get the sled, huh? Neither of us should be trying to transport these men on our own.”

  Dog followed the woman to the shed, worried. What if she decided to chop them up and feed them to her pets? Dog hadn’t made up his mind about her yet.

  Sally retrieved the passenger first, as he was closest, and she ignored the wolf’s low growl when she headed for the barn. She tugged the sled to the very rear and slid open a wall panel that Dog hadn’t noticed. A panel hid a small room, and she put the man inside, which eased Dog’s concern. He had no issues with her locking Kyle and Whitney up, only with her killing them.

  Sally rolled the passenger onto the pallet and clamped a dusty leg iron around his ankle, and then went back outside for the driver. That man was bigger and it took all of Sally’s strength to get him onto the sled.

  As she dragged the sled across the smoldering debris, she noticed the myriad of injuries and thought she would end up feeding the animals with this one. He’d already lost a lot of blood and she didn’t have that here.

  Sally put the driver by his friend, but didn’t bother to handcuff him. He was too hurt to be a threat. Sally strode to the house for her bag of medical supplies and Dog stayed in the doorway, golden orbs shifting between the Eagles.

  I miss Marc, Dog thought, whining lowly. They smell like him.

  3

  Whitney came alert all at once and held in a scream at the pain in his arm. It was clearly broken.

  He found Kyle by his side and obviously badly injured.

  Whitney didn’t hear the other men and he struggled to sit up. The chain around his ankle clanked, and then held him in place and Whitney opened his mouth to shout.

  “Don’t.”

  Kyle sounded bad and Whitney scooted over to him. “You okay?”

  “No,” Kyle coughed, spitting blood onto the pallet. “She saved us. Truck exploded.”

  Whitney leaned away as Kyle sprayed more red drops. “Where are the others?”

  “Dead, I’d guess,” Kyle gasped out. “Truck was full of pipes.”

  “What happened?” Whitney asked, his arm throbbing.

  “My fault!” Kyle groaned. “Hope I die.”

  “Damn,” Whitney swore. “Don’t say that, man.”

  Kyle’s eyes rolled backward and he slumped to his side, swallowed by the blackness.

  Whitney heard the light steps of a woman an
d shouted, “Hey! He needs help!”

  He heard the cocking of a gun and then a female voice answered, “I’ll do what I can. You stay where you are.”

  Whitney slid up against the wall as the woman came into the tiny room, followed by a furry figure that had him gaping. “Dog?”

  Dog whined uneasily, but didn’t approach his old teammate. He’d served many shifts with Kyle and Whitney, but his loyalties had changed.

  “You know the wolf?” Sally asked, kneeling by Kyle.

  “Yeah,” Whitney said, hoping she had medical training. If not, Kyle could die. “He was in our camp for a while.”

  Sally frowned as she examined Kyle’s injuries. “Your camp?”

  “We’re Eagles, from Safe Haven.”

  Sally’s scowl deepened. “Never heard of it.”

  Not sure why she’d lied, Whitney asked, “Can you help him?”

  Sally found the biggest problem and blew out a breath. “Maybe, but be quiet so I can think. I’ll do your arm after I get this piece of metal out of his stomach.”

  Whitney blanched, but said, “How can I help?”

  Sally didn’t want to trust him, but she did need the extra hands. “Move over here and hold these towels. It’s gonna bleed a lot.”

  Whitney awkwardly got up, but froze when he realized her gun was now aimed at him and she had a finger on the trigger.

  “I won’t want to, but I will,” Sally warned. “You be very careful.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Whitney replied instantly. “And thank you.”

  “Remember that when I set your arm,” Sally snorted, lowering the weapon so she could help the driver. “It’ll mess up your recovery if I have to add a bullet wound.”

  4

  “Damn!” Whitney shouted hours later. “That hurt!”

  Sally quickly finished setting his arm. “I noticed.”

  Whitney wasn’t sure why their host was so hostile, but he didn’t intend to ask.

  “Here, slip this around your neck and then put your arm through it. I have to make up the cast strips.”

  Whitney watched her mix the plaster, wincing as he put his arm in the sling. The awful throbbing had dropped into a moderate ache that he assumed would flare up shortly to remind him it was broken.

  Still better than the others, he thought. Holding Kyle still so the woman could remove the metal and then stitch him up had been ugly. Kyle had screamed repeatedly, for Jennifer and Adrian. It had been haunting and Whitney had been grateful when the woman shot him full of morphine. Listening to Kyle’s ranting was hard. He’d still been confessing his sins when the medicine knocked him out.

  “Is he really a killer?” Sally asked suddenly, looking toward the small room where Kyle was. She’d had Whitney come into the barn and sit on a stool for his treatment.

  “Aren’t we all at some point?” Whitney answered vaguely.

  Sally didn’t want to answer that, but she also didn’t want a killer here. “I shouldn’t have saved him.”

  “Yes, you should,” Whitney stated. “He’s a good man.”

  “Doesn’t sound like it,” Sally refuted. “He kills people, as a job.”

  “Do you think executioners at prisons are killers?” he tried to reason.

  “Yes, but even if I didn’t, those people were tried and sentenced to that punishment.”

  “So were Kyle’s kills,” Whitney told her. “Safe Haven doesn’t execute innocent people.”

  Sally didn’t respond to that. She was happy the apocalypse had come, happy that society had fallen. They’d been marked for destruction and it had happened. Who was Safe Haven to try to reverse that decision?

  Whitney examined his watch, but it had broken in the wreck. “Any idea how long we’ve been here?”

  Sally frowned. “Why? You got someplace to be?”

  “Yes, actually, but it’s rather important that you answer me.”

  Sally heard the tone and felt that old hatred rise in response. She clamped down on it as best she could. He wasn’t her father. No beating was coming. “About six hours, I’d think. Sun’s up.”

  “Then I guess I should tell you to expect company soon. We were eight hours away from home when I fell asleep, so you may have another hour, but I doubt it.”

  “Company?” she questioned angrily. “Who did you call?”

  “Not me,” Whitney informed her. “Him. Every scream he let out was heard and Jennifer should be arriving soon.”

  Sally relaxed at the female name. “Good. She can care for him. I have stuff to do.”

  Sally again considered what it meant to let the Italian leave here, eyes going to the gun that she was keeping close. She could shoot both men, and dispose of their bodies, in much less than an hour.

  “I can guess what you’re thinking,” Whitney stated carefully, not making any sudden movements that might trigger the wildness he read in their host. “And I’ll even assume you have good reasons for feeling that way.”

  Sally was held by the compassion she read.

  “I’m sorry you were treated badly, but not all men are evil. Not all men need to die.”

  Sally flushed as Whitney swept the bones in the cages, the animals that were staring at him and drooling. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out what happened to unwanted company.

  “I don’t blame you for your reactions. We all survived and it changed us. But Kyle is a good man and when Jennifer gets here, she’ll help him and we’ll go. If he dies before she gets here…” Whitney was unable to voice that. “Please, make sure he doesn’t.”

  Sally felt afraid then and she hated that. It allowed her to ask, “Descendant?”

  Surprised, Whitney nodded.

  “Shoulda killed you both!” Sally snarled. She shoved the pan of plaster toward him, taking up her gun. “Get started wrapping it around. I’ll help with one hand.”

  Whitney sighed, relieved and disappointed. “Okay.”

  A tense silence filled the next ten minutes, broken by her terse instructions. She didn’t put the gun down, though it wasn’t pointed at him, and Whitney began to realize she had experience with descendants, otherwise she wouldn’t know to be so scared.

  “She won’t hurt you,” Whitney said as they finished and the woman hastily retreated to a better position to view the open barn doors where a lantern hung. “She’ll be grateful.”

  “I’m going in the house now. I’m not coming out until you’re gone.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Whitney let her flee, feeling a coldness coming through the doors that had little to do with the weather.

  Jennifer was here.

  Sally fastened the door to her home and ran to the window as the bike screeched to a halt in the middle of her yard. Mud flew against the house and Sally held still as a small figure dropped the bike and ran into the barn. She couldn’t discern anything else and though she kept listening, there wasn’t any noise.

  After half an hour of the same tense silence, Sally forced herself to clean up and settle in her bed with her gun. If they come in here, I’ll shoot. I don’t want anything from those freaks!

  5

  “He can’t be moved.”

  “I figured that, but our host isn’t going to like it.”

  Jennifer continued to send energy into Kyle’s feverish body and grunted,” I’ll handle her.”

  She’d gotten a good sense of the woman in the small house as soon as she’d arrived, but out here in the barn, where the animals were unhappily chittering, it was clear what the woman was.

  Kyle began to thrash around and Jennifer dug through her kit for the medicine that Angela had shoved into her hands. They’d both been woken by Kyle’s screams.

  Jennifer injected Kyle’s arm and then his hip, not letting her mind go to bad places. Angela had told her he would survive and Jennifer planned to hang onto that promise.

  “You gonna live?” she asked, thinking it was a wonder any of them had. The wreckage out front was stunning.

  “I
think so. Broken in a couple places, light concussion.” Whitney studied the doors. “I’ll clean up the road later.”

  “Good. We’ll say something over them.”

  Whitney had thought to take the bodies home, but didn’t argue. A long ride home with corpses wouldn’t be pleasant.

  “Not much left to stink,” Jennifer informed him. “Hell of a fire.”

  Whitney winced. He hadn’t been that close to the three men–they’d been chosen from the members list–but he had liked each of them. “I’ll handle it.”

  Jennifer sat back, almost panting from the effort. She’d given him all she could spare. Now, she needed to sleep.

  Whitney watched her lean her head against the wooden wall and fall asleep. She did love him. It was hard to miss.

  Whitney slowly got up and moved to the barn, giving them privacy and getting some fresh air to clear his mind. He didn’t know exactly what had happened to cause the accident, but he was certain it hadn’t all been Kyle’s fault. “I should have stayed awake and helped him navigate.”

  Dog appeared at his side, Kyle’s blood still in his muzzle fur. Whitney carefully rubbed the wolf’s ears. “Hi.”

  Dog didn’t linger or answer. He padded toward the house, where he curled up under the woman’s rocker and laid his head down.

  “Guess you aren’t ready to leave yet, either,” Whitney observed. He scanned the small farm, approving of the setup. “Can’t say I blame ya. Safe Haven is all toil some days.”

  Whitney stared at the house, wondering if the woman was doing the same at her barn. He also wondered how she would react to finding them still here come evening. Jennifer wasn’t going to transport Kyle until he could survive it and if that meant taking the woman captive, Whitney was positive that Jennifer would.

  “If she doesn’t kill you,” he muttered. “Do us all a favor and make the right choice.”