by Angela White
Glad he understood, Kendle smiled.
Tommy gasped at the sensation, at the beauty under her scars and violence. She’s perfect.
“Not even close,” Kendle muttered, pushing him off.
Not finished, Tommy grabbed her hip and slid in from behind.
Content, Kendle stayed still and let him have his moment. He’d given her relief. The least she could do was return the favor.
Observing the couple from the shadows, Conner also listened mentally. He had to hope she wouldn’t notice, but he needed that information. Kendle and Candy were a lot alike. If he could use that charm on Candy…
Conner spun into the darkness, rebuking himself. I’m not like my dad. I won’t blow my second chance. Candy can have Theo. I don’t need her.
Conner went into the small farmhouse, where the comradery of his team surrounded him with support and caring.
This is all I’ve ever wanted, Conner reminded himself. No one can match this feeling. I belong now. I’m happy.
Inside, that cruel voice would have protested, but the teenager gently shut the cage. Go to sleep now. I banish you.
For how long? the demon cried as he was forced into the small cell.
Conner rested his cheek against the chair. As long as it takes you to become good. Until you can do that, I don’t need you anymore.
The barrier to the mental cage slammed shut, blocking off the screams for mercy.
Conner sighed in relief, gesturing to Josh. “Let’s play some cards. They’re gonna be a while.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Which Way?
1
“This is a bad idea.”
Kendle didn’t respond to Scott’s nervous comment. The marina was small and dark, and lined on each edge of the dock with a variety of boats. Many of them looked as though people had tried to live on them after the war.
Tommy didn’t discern anyone now. The small dock held dozens of boats. Many of them were damaged from being slammed into each other too many times in the weather, but a few appeared to be in good shape “Are we doing this?”
“Yes,” Kendle answered. “We have two hours of gas left. We have to find something here.”
“Can we wait for daylight?” Conner asked. “We’re not alone.”
“What do you sense?”
“A small group. They’re not awake, but they will be if we make any noise. I don’t want to scan further and maybe alert anyone that we’re here.”
“Are they in one of the boats?” Kendle asked.
“I’d have to track them,” Conner told her. “If they’re like us, it will wake them up when I do it.”
Kendle was too tired to deal with their kind tonight. “We’ll go in on foot, grab what we can and get gone.”
Kendle glanced in the mirror at Scott and the few others who had been chosen to stay with the vehicle and the twins. “You wait an hour and then you go. Get them as close to home as you can.”
Sitting behind the wheel, Scott nodded tensely. The van was long and black, but he couldn’t find much else good about it. The vehicle was loud and guzzled gas. They’d run low long before they had estimated. “I don’t like this.”
Kendle sighed, zipping her jacket and her coat. “Me either. Last chance for alternate suggestions.” Fuel was getting harder and harder to come by. In the next few months, horses would probably make a comeback, as would bicycles and jogging.
“Let’s get it done,” Tommy called, adding support to her choice. She was a rookie being mentored and trained on this run, but she’d already earned a bump in rank as far as he was concerned.
“Stay center of us,” Tommy told Kendle as half of them climbed out of the vehicle.
Kendle wished there had been another option. She stayed in the middle of the six men as they walked through the darkness that surrounded the small parking area. The team traveled swiftly down the stairs and across the dock, but the eerie sound of water lapping against wood mocked their apparent bravery.
Tommy stopped part way down the dock and gestured two men to each side. The five boats right here appeared to be intact. Tommy shined his light over more of them, not spotting people. He could almost feel them, though.
Kendle kept her hip against Tommy’s, shining her light in the opposite direction. They tried to watch all the ramps and stairs, but it was clear that they were in danger. The darkness held lethal combatants–not the least of which was Mother Nature. The wind stinging them right now would have their eyes blurring if not for their goggles.
The two Eagles on Kendle’s side came straight back to them, gesturing. Nothing we can use.
The two men on Tommy’s side were now kneeling near the rear of the lightly floating houseboat. Not wanting to be split up, Tommy waited for them even though they were short on time and the temperature was around freezing.
Josh and Ben refused to hurry. They’d been trained to be meticulous on missions or people died. They carefully examined the fuel canisters, surprised that there were three of them sitting out in the open. This boat was loaded with boxes and crates, all strategically located to keep an even balance. There were also suitcases visible through the window. Guess they didn’t get out in time, Ryan reflected sympathetically.
Someone lives here, Ben sent in Eagle code, glad of the illumination from Tommy’s flashlight.
Ryan nodded, hating the guilt. They might be stealing from someone who was in the same dire condition as they were.
But why leave it out in the open? Ben asked himself worriedly. Something isn’t right about this. He sniffed the can and recoiled. It was definitely gasoline.
Benn hefted two of the cans as Ryan grabbed the third and brought up the rear with his gun in hand. This place felt hinky.
Kendle and the others were relieved to witness the men carrying fuel. They were also surprised at how quick and easy this had been.
Let’s go, Tommy motioned, listening to the waves and soft bumping of the docked boats. He had goosebumps.
The team hurried across the dock and up the stairs, breaking into a fast trot as their vehicle came into view.
“Damn.”
“You have something of ours!” the tall man in front of their van shouted coldly. “You give it back and we’ll do the same.”
The Eagles immediately spread out into that dangerous V, guns coming up.
“Step away from the vehicle and put your weapons on the ground!” Ben ordered. He was the center of the V.
The local standing by the driver’s window of their van had his gun against the glass. Two other men stood with their weapons pointed at the rear windows.
“Are we all going to die?” the leader asked calmly. “I offered you a way to save your lives.”
Kendle lowered her gun a little. “We didn’t know anyone was here. We need the fuel. Can we buy it?”
The leader scanned them, picking out their gear, their weapons. “Maybe. Three cans are worth the van.” Clyde and his boys were bundled from boots to ski masks, with only their red, raw facial skin showing. Tall and brunette, they might have been models before the end of the world. Now, they were scavengers like everyone else.
“We have a few rounds of ammo and a little food,” Kendle admitted. “We’re from Safe Haven.”
Tommy and the others frowned at her disclosure, but the leader of the four men shook his head. “No one’s heard from them in a month. You’re lying.”
“I’m on the Safe Haven council,” Kendle insisted. “We will pay for the fuel.”
“How?” Clyde demanded. “You got nothing we need but that van.”
“Are you leaving?” Tommy asked, bad feeling glowing brightly in his gut.
“Everyone is,” Clyde answered, sounding exhausted. “Put the fuel down and get out of here.”
Ben and Ryan put the cans on the ground and followed Tommy away from them. As the two groups changed places with leery glances and light steps, all of them were relieved.
Once her people were safe, Kendle spoke w
ith the leader, using the vehicle lights to study him. “Is there anything we can do to buy it?”
Clyde examined the woman, noting her scars and wild hair. He had already recognized her but being a former TV star wasn’t more valuable than being from Safe Haven now. All dynasties fell. It was the law of the land.
Kendle pushed into his thoughts carefully, needing something to bargain with. What she found made her shudder.
“Come on,” Tommy stated, putting an arm around her shoulders to lead her to the van. “We’ll keep searching.”
Kendle let him guide her into the van without speaking, still digging into Clyde. She shuddered again.
“What is it?” Tommy demanded as soon as they were all inside. “I saw your reaction. Tell me.”
It reminded her so strongly of Marc that Kendle was shocked to discover tears behind her lids. She shoved them away. “The Mexicans came through their hometown. These men are barely surviving. We have to keep going.”
“So why are you whiter than the moon?” Ramer asked from the seat next to her.
“He saw them, so I could see them.” Kendle glanced around at her men. “There were thousands.”
“As in plural?”
Kendle nodded shakily at Ben’s concern. “If they got into the mountain, Safe Haven might really be gone.”
“Get us out of here,” Tommy ordered.
Scott shifted the van into drive, but rolled slowly, searching for fuel. As their driver, he was doubly conscious of how low the fuel line was on the dial in front of him. They were almost out of time.
“Where else?” Scott asked as Josh consulted the maps again.
“There’s a strip of businesses along the interstate, but there’s no way they’ll have anything left if thousands of troops went through there.”
Kendle gestured toward the junkyard that was across from the marina. “Think that’s been cleaned out?”
Tommy shrugged, pointing their driver toward it. “We’ll find out.”
“Do you believe it belongs to those people we left?” Carl asked worriedly. He hadn’t liked sitting there waiting for the rest of the team with a gun to the glass by his ear.
“I’d say they’ve scavenged it, but they’re in the middle of leaving,” Kendle told them. “They were leaving at sunrise. It’s why the gas cans and crates were all in view.”
That answered a few of their questions, but as they rolled into the dark, creepy junkyard, they weren’t comforted. The locals were fleeing, which meant something bad was coming. Thousands of Mexicans would definitely qualify. In a month, they could have looted Safe Haven and be on their journey home. Clyde’s mental timeline had been roughly thirty days ago.
The junkyard had the typical stacks of cars and the crushing machine, but it also boasted signs promising technology that outshined their neighbors. Kendle wasn’t positive what that meant.
“What are we searching for in here?” Scott asked. “They drain all the gas tanks before they bring these cars in.”
“Not all of them,” Kendle replied. “The police don’t have the same rules as the public when they bring in wrecks. There’s also operating equipment and employee vehicles.”
Kendle was glad to observe no signs of people and this time, it felt that way. They drove around the recycling warehouse that still had shutters and broken doors that smacked frames as the wind picked up.
“How do you want to handle this?” Ben asked Kendle.
Kendle grimaced. “I almost got us killed over there. Someone else needs to…” Kendle trailed off as the men laughed. “What?”
“We’re Eagles. You saved our lives by negotiating.”
Kendle realized she’d underestimated her team. “We were caught off guard. I didn’t want to lose anyone.”
“We wouldn’t have,” Tommy assured her. “We’re trained to handle it when things go wrong a lot more than we are for when things go right, but we don’t like killing if we don’t have to. You did great.”
Kendle blushed at his warm tone. “Thanks.” She studied the employee parking lot across from a crushing machine, using the spotlight on the van. “Keep going,” she chose. “There are scratch marks by the gas flaps on all these cars. They’ve been drained.”
Scott slowly took them around the winding dirt path, picking out tall shapes of smokestacks and another long warehouse.
“Nice!” Tommy grinned as he spotted the sign on the next building. “It’s a small refinery.”
“No way it hasn’t been cleaned out,” Kendle reminded them.
“We can get it going and make our own fuel to get home,” he suggested.
The team both liked and hated that idea. It was safer to make it, but took more time. All of them wanted to be home.
Kendle shrugged. “We can take what those men have. We’ve lived through an apocalypse. It is survival out here.”
“We’re Eagles.”
Kendle smiled at Ryan’s words. “Yes, you are. Let’s learn how to make fuel and get a good night’s sleep. We’ve earned it.”
2
“I found some manuals,” Kendle called, coming from the rear of the building that stank of awful chemicals even all these months after it had stopped running. “We’ll need to power this place, but I think we have the rest of it.”
The refinery was full of tall, metal tubs and vats, with robot arms and miles of piping and wires. It reminded Tommy of the cave Angela that had chosen before their people had moved into it.
Knock-knock!
Kendle and the team froze at the light tapping…then drew their weapons.
“Come in,” Tommy called, gun and light pointed.
The door swung open to reveal the four men from the marina.
Before Tommy could order them to get lost, Kendle waved at the mess behind her. “Did you guys do this?”
The leader nodded, not entering. “We tried to make our own.”
“No power?”
“Exactly.” Clyde looked at her. “We’re too short to reach our destination on those three cans.”
“So you want to work together to get what you need?”
“Yes,” Clyde answered, relieved that no one was shooting yet.
“What changed your mind?” Kendle asked.
“You said you’re from Safe Haven,” Clyde admitted. “If they lived, we know they’re a place we can trade with in the future.”
It was a flimsy excuse, but it was clear the men wanted no problems, just fuel.
Kendle shrugged at Tommy’s lifted brow. “I got nothing bad from him or his men.”
“My sons,” Clyde told her, motioning the boys to come in and shut the door. “Lost their mom about six months ago. Nothing to keep us here now except lack of transportation.”
Kendle and the others understood. If Safe Haven really was gone, they probably wouldn’t stay around that mountain either.
Ben lit the lantern and placed Rita along the wall that had no windows, helping her get settled with the babies and Conner, who was fighting a cold. His runny nose was worrisome to all of them, as they had no medications along other than Tylenol and morphine.
Ben gave him the Tylenol.
“How long do you think we’ll be here?” Conner asked, sounding stuffed up.
“A few days,” Ben answered, capping the bottle. “Maybe we get lucky and roll out in two.”
Conner put his head down on the bedroll. “If I die, take me to my dad.”
Ben snickered. “You’re not going to die. Sleep for a while. When you get up, we’ll have hot soup.”
Ben joined Kendle and the new people as the rest of the Eagles secured the building and got set to spend the night. “You okay?”
“I’d be better if we could figure out how they powered this place,” Kendle muttered, fighting with a blueprint.
Ben handed her a rolled up paper from the shelf by her knee. “You’ll want this one.”
Kendle unrolled the paper to discover they’d had solar and wind power. “Well, that’s inter
esting.”
“Better,” Ben told her. “Easier.”
Kendle was glad something about this trip might be easy. So far, nothing else had. “Good. Okay, well, we’ll get sleep and start working in the morning.”
“Why not now?” Clyde asked.
“Too many lights on without knowing what we’re doing,” Kendle answered. “I don’t want to be held up again by…company.”
Clyde flushed.
Kendle gestured toward the opposite wall. “You guys can have that space. Please honor our hospitality. I don’t want to waste bullets on you.”
Clyde was just glad to have a night where he could sleep and not have one eye open while doing it. For some reason, he trusted these new people. “Getting soft,” he muttered. When he’d been on the run from the law, he would have carjacked anyone, but twenty years of living his life right had changed him into a good person. “Probably gonna get me killed.”
3
“It has to be primed with gas? You’re kidding!”
The shed was built for the equipment it held, boasting shelves and hangers made in odd shapes and sizes. The wooden floor held footprints that were nearly filled with dust.
“We also have to fill up this generator,” Scott stated, pointing to a chunk of hoses and metal in a shiny case. “It runs the windmill and the battery banks.”
“This gonna make a lot of noise when we fire it up,” Tommy stated, discerning the generator was an older model. “Get some people on duty and I’ll help Ben handle this.”
Kendle moved toward the main building. They’d been thrilled to discover the generator shed right next to the windmill, but that was the extent of their happiness.
“We need two monkeys for guard duty,” Kendle stated. She chose the first two hands that went up and joined Scott at the small desk where he was trying to decipher the chemicals they needed to add to the fuel mix during the refining process. He didn’t look thrilled.
“I have no idea what we’re doing.”
Kendle pointed toward the tank on the end that was one tab full, according to the measuring devices on the front. “I don’t believe we need to know how it works exactly,” Kendle told him. “This all shut down when the power stopped. It was probably in the middle of a batch.”