The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  “We’ll tell everyone that we still have point. The Eagles will help. It will stall them for a little while.”

  Conner approved of Charlie’s choice. He couldn’t think of a better way that didn’t involve magic. “When they ask where she is, maybe we should admit it. She wouldn’t want us to lie.”

  “I agree.” Charlie pulled his kit onto his lap as the truck came to a stop. “Ready?”

  Conner pulled the rig into place and put it in park. “No, but I’ll follow your lead.”

  Both proud and scared, Charlie opened the door to find two people standing there.

  “Oh, my God!” Charlie jumped so bad he almost fell out of the truck. His kit did fall, sliding to the ground at Angela’s boots.

  Marc picked up the bag and held it out, grinning. “Miss us?”

  Conner and Charlie had to laugh. They hadn’t considered that Angela would beat them to the campsite. They’d been waiting for the RV to fall in with the convoy.

  Marc didn’t tell them that the RVs engine was still warm and they had only been in place for minutes before the lights of the lead rig had lit up the dark park where they were camping.

  “You did well.”

  Radio on the correct channel, Angela keyed the mike on her belt while Marc praised the boys. “Charlie and Conner have point for set up.”

  Charlie and Conner slapped hands.

  “All right!”

  They marched off to get started, proud to have been given the job. It had been a long day, but it was an honor to have point at their age and both of them wanted to enjoy the moment.

  “Ah, to be a rookie again.” Morgan stayed with Angela and Marc. He was practicing his skills now that they were back out in the wastelands and he’d done well enough that the teenage descendants hadn’t spotted him.

  Around the convoy that was stopping, people from the RV stepped into sight as the vehicle they had been assigned to parked and opened doors, including Samantha, who leaned against the truck for support. Exhausted, she didn’t protest when Neil came around to pick her up.

  “Are you hurt?”

  Samantha shook her head at Neil’s whisper. “Just very tired. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

  Relieved that she was uninjured, Neil carried her and his kit toward the area that had been staked out for the community tents. As soon as the first one went up, he would get her settled so she could sleep.

  “I did it.”

  Neil heard the self-loathing, but he also caught the eagerness to be praised.

  ‘I’m proud of you for being able to.”

  Jeremy had come to him with the awful idea right before the quake, pointing out that none of Angela’s top people were able to get close to the vet because they were known killers. Then, he’d suggested Samantha, because she wasn’t. Neil had almost punched him, but after the quake, when he’d been forced to tolerate the vet, Neil had realized Jeremy was right. The vet would sense it coming and monitor everyone who had killed for Angela. The list was so long that it had been clear he wouldn’t bother with people who hadn’t done that yet. The problem had been telling Sam. Neil had waited until he was tucking her into the vehicle to bring it up, so that she only had to hide her thoughts for a few hours instead of weeks. Apparently, she’d come through perfectly.

  “Does it change anything between us?”

  Neil paused, considering her muttered query. When he formed an answer, he set her on her feet so he could look her in the eye. “Yes, it does.”

  He reached out to tug her hood up against the stiff wind. “It means you need the next level of kai training and I can do that now.”

  Neil kissed her cheek and found hungry lips under his. After holding himself in check for so long, Neil swept her up against his chest and kissed her like he meant it.

  2

  Conner and Charlie made sure that everyone was escorted out of the vehicles and into the perimeter, flashlights bobbing and weaving in an entertaining path that would get the attention of anyone in the area. That was unavoidable.

  The familiar yellow caution tape around the camp was a welcome sight to everyone. It flashed them to the days in Safe Haven when the fate of the world hadn’t rested on everyone’s shoulders, but only on Adrian’s.

  Kyle wanted to get Jennifer settled down to rest, but the teenager refused. “I’m with Angela until she says otherwise.”

  He recognized the satisfied tone that came from a large battle that had both risked and cost lives. He swept the people emerging from the shadows as if they had been in the convoy and noted the one absence.

  “Samantha did that.”

  Kyle was surprised. “You’re kidding.”

  Jennifer shook her head. “We were pretty surprised too, but I think Marc and Adrian were about to handle it anyway. The vet was dead before he woke up this morning.”

  Kyle felt Jennifer’s slender body shaking against him as she fought to do her duty. After a long car ride, she shouldn’t be seen weak or it might give them away. “Take what you need.”

  Jennifer surprised him by stopping and putting her arms around his neck. She pulled his head down to hers, sealing their lips as she drew. Thank you!

  Kyle was helpless against the onslaught. He wrapped his arms around her, returning the kiss with all the love he usually kept hidden.

  Around them, people smiled or detoured to give them privacy.

  Angela motioned at the woman stomping toward Kenn. “Just tell her to stop.”

  “Yeah, like that’s gonna succeed.”

  “You might be surprised.”

  “What the hell.” Kenn turned around and held up a hand. “Talk to this.”

  Laughter rolled through the darkness, lighting up shadows and bringing a reluctant grin to Tonya’s face. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Kenn leaned down to kiss her cheek and then led her toward the camp. “Come on. I know what you need.”

  Tonya chuckled, anger forgotten with the reminder that she needed the bathroom. She’d been crossing her legs for the last hour.

  Angela gestured at Morgan. “Start spreading rumors. I want to be able to call a vote during the meal.”

  Frowning, Morgan left Angela and Marc alone.

  “You don’t have to do this now. I’m not going to demand anything tonight.”

  “At some point, someone in the camp will demand it. You won’t have to. I’m just staying ahead of problems.”

  Marc didn’t say anything else. He knew how hard the next few hours would be for her and he didn’t want to make it worse. He was also surprised that he wasn’t anticipating Adrian’s pain. He still hated the man, but Adrian had been a lot of help after the earthquake and it was fair to recognize it. He had also helped Angela before that, something Marc had been jealous about before, but wasn’t now. Adrian had brought her back. She wasn’t the same girl Marc had loved and she wasn’t the same woman he brought to Safe Haven, but this new person was strong enough that he could count on her in every way and that almost made up for the misery he’d suffered. The baby was a different type of pain, one that Marc assumed they would deal with together as the future came.

  Marc kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll be around.”

  Angela stayed in the darkness for a few more minutes, running through her options again. Despite it being what she had to do, she didn’t want to. She wanted to clear Adrian, but the vote wasn’t going to go that way. He hadn’t done enough yet to earn the camp’s forgiveness. Marc was still the only one who could really give that and their bond wasn’t strong enough. Angela hadn’t expected it to happen this fast, which is why she had based the next action so soon after their escape from the mountain. In the end, it wouldn’t be as bad as everyone believed. She and Adrian were the only ones who would be crushed.

  And it’s not like we don’t know how to survive that way. We’ve been doing it in every lifetime.

  3

  Brittani, with help from a dozen people, prepared her first full meal for the camp in t
he traditional Safe Haven style. It took an extra hour and items were burnt, but no one minded when she produced two large pots of chicken and dumplings to ward against the cold. Even the children were thrilled, coming back for seconds.

  The meal had been taken a lot from the stash. Angela wouldn’t be able to let them use so many supplies at once again until they built their reserves up, but tonight was a celebration of life that sent the smell of a home cooked meal and thoughts of happy times through the crowd. It was sad too, but that was also needed. They’d lost so many people that it was hard to know when they’d mourned enough. Angela planned to limit these moments, even though she too felt like their dead deserved more. They just didn’t have time for grief. The boat wasn’t going to stock itself.

  “These are the nightly updates.” Angela let the mess quiet as they realized she was holding a meeting now.

  At the table in the corner, Conner got up and left.

  Angela moved to the center of the crowd to keep their attention. “I need volunteers for tomorrow. I’d like to send out two scavenging teams and two hunting teams.” She motioned toward the clipboard lying at the end of her table. “All of this is volunteer basis. If you sign up, all I can promise is the shifts will not be longer than five hours. Later this week, I’ll try to get us back into the routines that worked so well for us before. Such as, the rules required that each person had to do a certain number of shifts each month. It would be better if citizens volunteered for that too, but I’m not going to worry about it right now.”

  The camp muttered and chatted, sipping their drinks and snacking on their food while enjoying the cold weather. It was very different from the camp that she had led over the last two months. Many of the members were ignoring what she was saying, staring at the sky, the trees, and everything else that reminded them they were no longer trapped.

  “All the food and water is being rationed. I expect that to last about ten days. During that time, we will have a mandatory camp meeting where we will discuss what’s going to happen over the next six weeks, but Safe Haven will no longer vote on destinations. Most of you understand that I’ve made the choice to take us to the island. However, I’m always willing to consider new information, so every mandatory camp meeting will contain a reminder of where we’re going and why. For this next meeting, I don’t need to remind you why. We just left that.”

  Nods of agreement caused movement in every corner of the mess. Even those who were twitching from the night noises or the weather were glad to be out of that rocky tomb.

  “As of this moment, all of Safe Haven’s rules are in full effect. We followed them before we went into the mountain. You lived by them while you were there. It won’t be hard for you to do the same now. Please don’t let the freedom go to your head. I will make you dig toilet holes or bust you down to rookie level.” She grinned. “And that reminds me, we’ll be restarting the Eagles next week.”

  A huge cheer filled the air.

  “We’re going to be restarting the garden as soon as possible. Samantha did an excellent job the first time around and she’s agreed to do it again. She’ll need volunteers to help a couple times a week when the plants start growing. In the meantime, any seeds that you find, give them to her. Samantha will also be on the hunting team as soon as her leg is healed.” Angela gestured toward Neil, who had brought Samantha upon her request. It was important that everyone saw all of the team leaders and council members functioning like they were supposed to. “Neil is in charge of security and leader of Special Forces team B. Kyle is the leader of Special Forces team A, which provides security for the council. Kenn, with help, will be taking over Eagle training. Details about all of those positions will come out as soon as I get us sorted.”

  Angela sipped her coffee before it got cold. “Now that we’re out in the open, scavengers of all types are a problem. As you can tell from all the cones around our campsite, the ants are also everywhere. I’m not using them for anything anymore. They need to be eliminated. From this moment on, Eagles may practice on all mutations–even during sleep hours, providing a quiet method is used.”

  Angela glanced at Kendle. “Over the next few days, you’ll hear a lot of stories from Kendle and her team. You’ve already caught some of them and I know they were hard to believe, but everything she’s telling you is true. However, we are not handling the Market Town problem. Safe Haven will roll out in the morning, going south to find a boat.”

  The cheering quieted as Angela held up her hand. Made from tarps secured to trees, this was nothing like their old mess, but it was great for everyone to be able to gather. The sounds of the eating people echoed differently. Wind rustling debris outside the tent caught everyone’s attention for a minute.

  Angela pulled it back. “Conner was placed on conditional banishment. I have lifted that, as many of you know. He has restrictions, but I consider his punishment over.”

  Many of the camp turned to Candy, judging her reaction. If she were upset, they would be too.

  Candy blushed under all the stares. “I don’t have a problem with that. We all overreacted, blaming him because of his dad.”

  Relieved, the camp looked to Angela. They now suspected who the vote was for. Word had spread fast.

  “I’m calling a moral camp vote.”

  Most citizens were thinking that she didn’t need to do this now, but Angela knew she did. Even if she only waited one more day, people would say it was because of her feelings that he was getting preferential treatment, and it couldn’t be allowed. Adrian’s offense was serious.

  “I’m doing this while he’s out of camp so that everyone can give an honest vote. I’m not going to do paper ballots or a lockbox because we don’t have them. It’s a simple yes or no. If you vote yes, raise your hand.” Angela doomed the man. “This vote is to decide if Adrian’s full banishment will be rescinded and a conditional banishment will take its place. If you vote yes for Adrian to be placed on conditional banishment, raise your hand.”

  Already knowing how the vote would go, Angela sighed as a few hands rose. There was no need to count them. The number was small.

  “The camp has spoken. His banishment will not be lifted. He’ll be arriving soon, but he won’t stay here tonight.” Angela sat down, indicating that it was over.

  “We want to be trained by Adrian.”

  Sitting at the next table over, Ivan’s comment drew attention.

  “Will that get us in trouble?”

  “No. The reason the camp didn’t choose death for Adrian is because he still has stuff to teach us. He will be a part of classes and training, but those moments will happen outside of camp. After tonight, he will not be allowed back inside our perimeter.”

  Lights glinted off the vehicles around them, alerting everyone to the arriving truck.

  The radio on Angela’s belt crackled. “He’s here.”

  Angela strode to the parking area, aware of everyone observing and a few of them following.

  Adrian pulled the flatbed truck as close to the mess as he could get it, not wanting Angela to be that far out of the protection of camp, even for a moment like this.

  As he pulled the flatbed into place, it reminded the Eagles and many of the camp members of the old mess that Adrian, Kenn, and Doug had put together. Those people felt guilty for not voting to lift his banishment. If Angela had called for a recount right then, the tally would have been closer.

  Angela didn’t. It would be taking advantage of the citizens by playing on their emotions. She didn’t want other people to do that to them, but she wasn’t going to allow herself to do it to them anymore either.

  Eagles faded into the shadows as Adrian stepped from the truck and walked toward Angela.

  Angela tensed, butterflies filling her stomach. A thick, musky scent filled her nose as Adrian stopped in front of her. “We did it.”

  “You did it.”

  Angela smiled. “I had a great teacher.”

  “You have amazing instincts for a bat
tle plan.” Adrian reached out and took her hand. “Thank you for being strong enough to do this.”

  “It was my honor.” Angela choked back tears, rubbing his hand with her thumb. “You have one request.”

  “I want your true feelings, for one minute.”

  Expecting much worse, Angela braced for it and then dropped all of her defenses. “Granted.”

  Adrian hugged her.

  Angela was helpless against the emotions as he opened his heart. Lights and love swirled around them in blinding flashes that sent pulses of contentment across the camp and out into the night.

  Adrian kept them that way for the full minute, connected to her in every way except for physical. He hadn’t considered asking for that, but as he held her, Adrian let her see those fantasies too. There was nothing between them at that moment.

  Angela was aware of their audience. Marc, Kendle, and several camp women were watching the scene openly, with a dozen more who thought the shadows obscured them. Angela didn’t care. It wasn’t their heart ripping out. She didn’t want to love a bad man. She just did.

  That’s the first time I’ve heard you admit it! Say it again! Say it!

  Adrian’s pleas broke her. I love you, all of you. From your evil plans to your ability to survive anything. Tell me the same, if you can.

  Adrian moaned at the feel of their glowing connection. I adore you for everything they fear. I’d never change you from what you are at this exact moment–a leader who would kill her own mate to protect this camp.

  Angela trembled at the truth, at the guilt and the bond that was pounding through her mind. Do it now if you’re going to and then don’t ever touch me again.

  Adrian kissed her, hands coming up to frame her face.

  Kendle turned into the shadows, not wanting to be here when Marc exploded.