by Angela White
“Where’s your help?”
Neil gave an irritated roll of his narrow shoulders, a bit surprised to see the pretty female still with the boss. “Sleeping it off would be my guess. Said he had the runs.”
Adrian smirked. “Yeah, I hear you can get that now. It’s usually from a bottle, while at the bonfire until 2 a.m. getting bombed.”
“That's about what I thought. He said he’d do an extra shift, so I switched him to refueling all next week.”
Adrian chuckled and Angela understood that was a chore no one wanted as he turned to her.
“I’m gonna give him a hand. You can hang here or wait at the Mess for me if you’re ready for a break.”
She shook her head, untying her black sweater and tossing it over the handlebars of a nearby Harley.
“Neither. Brady showed me basic car care. I’ll help too. What’s first?”
Both men were grinning, eyes drawn to her slender hips and flat stomach.
“You’ll follow behind Neil and add what’s on the window while I fill them up.” Adrian was unable to keep the questioning tone from his voice. It was something none of the women here would volunteer for, and he didn’t force them.
Angela turned away, feeling slightly insulted. “How long does this usually take?”
“Two-and-a-half hours the last time we had three people,” Neil stated, checking his watch. Neither man bothered pretending they were doing anything but waiting to see if she knew what she was doing, if her words could be believed.
Holding a stray curl back against the light breeze, Angela read the window.
1 qt oil, 1/2 gal water, wash fluid, gas used? Left rear tire.
The loaded dolly was nearby and she got what she needed without hesitating, ignoring the men. She tilted the oil bottle in, leaving it, and added the water to the radiator while it drained. She replaced both lids, threw her trash in the bag on the side of the dolly, and filled the washer fluid just to the first mark.
Angela started to move to the next car, then stopped, considering. She went back and closed the hood, then wiped the things she’d done off the glass before pulling the dolly to the next vehicle, feeling the pleased eyes of both men still on her.
“Women will usually act the way you treat them,” Angela said clearly and when she saw their nods from the corner of her eye instead of the scorn she had expected, she knew for certain that this was a good place, one where she could build a strong life. Would Kenny let her?
6
Three hours later they were all on the last vehicle - a red-white-and-blue semi with a shotgun under the front seat. At her request, the two men were showing her where the fluids went. She was standing on a foot rail, the two Eagles on the bumper, and they were all leaning inside the big rig - a bit closer than some people would have approved of.
Angela was surprised to feel protected instead of surrounded with one of them on each side of her. She was thinking about some of the more private questions she now had, and then the bells went off and the uncomfortable nervousness came flooding back.
“You can dump it in now.”
She didn’t respond, and Adrian gave Neil a shake of his head when he started to ask if she was okay.
The Eagle snapped his mouth shut, watching her eyes turn a smoky, rolling blue. When Angela looked at Adrian, they both heard the tremor of fear, responded to it.
“Kenny’s watching us.”
They moved immediately, stepping down to meet him with sharp frowns, and she knew Neil hadn't doubted because Adrian hadn’t. Nervous, Angela stayed behind the two men, washing her hands and listening hard. How mad was he?
“John said I’m clear.”
There was an edge to the Marine's tone, an accusing light in his eyes, and Adrian lit a smoke, not looking away as he stared at his right-hand man.
“Kyle’s off point at noon, and you’re on til six. Jeremy’s back. Make sure it all gets squared away. I want John’s report on the blonde. Check with Chris and see if we’re doing meat tomorrow. If so we’ll need that other refer truck by morning. Schedules end for the entire camp tomorrow at midnight, so I suggest you start on them today.”
Kenn was scribbling furiously, and though the leader’s tone was neutral, even Angela knew he was pissed. All of this just over Kenn’s rude behavior? No. Adrian had added up the clues and was upset over what he’d come up with. He really hadn’t known. How had Kenn hidden it for so long from those sharp blue eyes? Did that mean Kenn really was a different person here? Had she ruined his second chance by showing up?
Kenn’s thoughts were along the same line, and he was gone quickly, leaving an uncomfortable silence where Angela could feel the men forming questions. She smiled brightly, retying her sweater around her hips with a woman’s slow distraction. “Did we beat the time?”
They both shook their heads, jaws tight, faces unreadable.
“Missed it by half an hour,” Neil said thinly.
“Oh well. I’ll get better the more I do it.”
Very aware of the neat way they were being manipulated - this tactic was used regularly on the camp - Adrian turned to Neil. “See you at lunch?”
The guard nodded, thinking Kenn would really hate the way she automatically fell in on their leader’s right. “You know it.”
Adrian looked at his watch as the Eagle left. “Ready for food yet?”
Angela grinned. “For lasagna and garlic bread? I’d do dishes for that.”
He smiled back, liking it that she was taking the time to read each sign they had posted. The sooner she learned the rules and settled in, the sooner they could get started. “Me too. Meet you in the Mess in half an hour?”
Angela smiled uneasily, not sure where she should go. “I’ll wait in Charlie’s tent if that’s okay.”
He didn’t waste his time telling her which one it was. Hadn’t she tracked him across the country? “You can move freely now. People know you’re new and will help you, but if there’s a problem, have a guard call me.”
Angela kept her eyes on the ground, embarrassed at the suspicions running through his sharp mind. “I’ll be fine.”
“Just the same. If you don’t tell me, one of my men will. I know everything they see.”
He walked away, and she didn’t feel any arrogance, just pride and protection, and was encouraged. There was no longer a reason to tolerate a boss, and yet they labored for free, following Adrian’s leadership as if he were their savior, and really, she could see why they might feel that way. In how many other refugee camps (if there were any) would old people and kids be so well-cared-for?
Adrian took the useful and the burdens alike, and seemed to have respect for both. How many of these “useless” people had been passed by and left for dead before he had taken them in and cared for their needs? Most, she thought, heading to her Blazer. She liked the feel of this place, the constant reminders of good days gone by, and admitted then that she wanted to be a part of these people. There was a lot she could do for them if Adrian had as much sway as he thought he did.
7
Adrian went straight to his tent, eager to write it all down while everything was fresh in his mind. He drank a Coke and smoked on one of the blunts he had rolled last night when the heartburn (anxiety) had kept him up. He’d been smoking a lot lately, trying to ease the worry. In the future, this sort of thing wouldn’t be allowed on a daily basis for any of Safe Haven’s members. Right now it helped with their grief (and his guilt), and it was certainly better than staying too drunk to hurt, but it was an evasion of life that had to end. When the camp was ready for those newer, harder rules, he thought. Long before that, they would have to accept Angie for what she was.
The leader grinned, happiness settling his heart into a soothing rhythm. He’d done a lot of things during his military career, including four years in an underground lab in the Utah desert. There he had been involved in top secret programs trying to create people like her. The successes were minor. The best had been a kid who could
sometimes tell which direction the enemy was, but the things he had seen today were genuine, natural. She hadn’t spent time in a lab or taken chemicals, and Adrian tried hard to record it all.
He had no real proof, just odd words and odd moments, but he knew. As sure as he knew they’d find no place on American soil that was safe enough to rebuild. He doubted there would be a single normal human life left on this continent two years from now. The radiation was already making its slow changes, working on the smaller animals and the plant life, lingering in the air they were all breathing. Bad now, but the mutations would get worse and that made the Seer the most crucial link in the circle. She would help him figure out where they went from here. As long as he didn’t push the camp too fast. If they found out suddenly that she could read thoughts, she would never be trusted, and eventually, they (the sheep, not the shepherds) would drive her out despite his support.
It could get tense, but it could also turn out perfectly. If they were careful, the camp would accept her as another much-needed doctor, and she would get the chance to become more. He’d see to that, especially if her gifts were what he was hoping for. If she got flashes of the future, he would give her whatever she needed to stay. The rules wouldn’t apply to her.
Adrian changed his gasoline-splattered clothes and stepped back outside. As he cleared the row of kids’ campers, he immediately spotted her heading for the QZ, a heavy-looking black duffle bag in hand. She stopped at the yellow tape and Marc came from the medical tent with the wolf heeling alertly. Adrian knew he wasn’t the only one who felt the sharp, yearning connection as their eyes locked, spoke. How close were they? A thousand miles was a long time to resist such a strong attraction, especially when the only rules that said you had to, were the ones in your own head.
Marc stopped with feet of space between them and Angela set the bag down, pushed it under the tape with her dusty boot. “I packed you a few things.”
He felt Adrian's frown on them. “Thanks. You’re not being quarantined?”
“No. You out today?”
“No.”
Their mouths said the right things, but eyes don’t lie, and Adrian’s frown grew. He had forgotten about Brady, too excited at having Kenn’s mate turn out to be even more valuable than he was. She didn’t want Kenn. She wanted the Wolfman, and his camp would be full of sinkholes and black ice for the three of them until things were settled.
Adrian turned toward the Mess, but caught her motion from the corner of his eye. He waited, subtly watching as she said something quietly to Brady, who nodded reluctantly. The sparks of attraction flew between them until she turned away, breaking the magic.
Angela could feel Adrian’s disapproval as she caught up with him and let out a soft sigh of sad frustration. “I won’t give up my… friendship with Brady to stay and help you. We should have that clear now.”
He sighed but said nothing, waiting to see if she would trust him with more, with something important to who she was on the inside.
“Brady and I grew up together. He’s the only... person I trust without reservations. When we… lost touch, it almost cost me everything that mattered.” She stopped, looked at him, sucked in a breath of courage. “I see your dreams, and yes, I could be useful to you, but I won’t trade anything or make deals. What I give will be willing or not at all.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, but if I can give you what you want, I will. My word on it.”
Angela’s haunted blue eyes found Kenn in the front of the Mess line, where a now gusting breeze was cooling the sweaty skin of those breaking for lunch from various chores, games, and activities.
“I want my family back. To give me that, you’d have to tear your framework apart and start over.”
“That, I can’t do.”
“And, that’s why there will be no deals between us. You can’t give me what I want most.”
Adrian sighed, thinking she was right - for now. But it wouldn’t always be so. He knew where she belonged. He would form his plans around that and her desires. “There’s no way you can just end it with him and move on?”
Angela snorted, hand rising unconsciously to her split lip. “No.” She stepped into the steadily moving line, not looking at him or the angry Marine now watching them from the center table. She and the Witch both wanted to be certain about this man before she turned her gifts over, and she slipped gently into the leader’s thoughts, concentrating on looking normal.
Adrian felt like someone was squeezing his chest and it was a struggle to talk and act like nothing was wrong. That was as good as a confession as far as he was concerned. Now Adrian knew what his second-in-command had been hiding behind all his carefully thought out words and actions. His right hand man was a woman beater. How long before the camp found out, and he was forced to banish one of his own? He had put his complete faith in Kenn. These people would no longer trust his judgment. It was only a matter of time before it fell. All it would take would be for the truth to come out publicly or for him to hit her again. The dream - these people - didn’t stand a much of a chance if Angela was a battered woman.
“They won’t just overlook it if you do?” she asked silently.
It took his full concentration not to show a response as she easily lit up a doorway between them. How strong was she? “Never. Most of these people were lucky to escape the Draft trucks and then the gangs and slavers. They won’t go back to that, and I won’t just overlook it anyway.”
“You have to for now. We’ve called a truce. Some time for thinking and choices. He’s fighting old demons, too, and it might be that I can get him to let go, but it will take time.”
She felt his despair then, the tide of misery that was easily heavy enough to crush them all, and the Witch looked back at him with sharp, cool eyes.
“Where’s your will now?” Angela saw the anger, the immediate denial that he had given up, and turned back, forcing herself not to nod. “I accept your rules and your hospitality, but Brady is my protection, and while we’ll be careful, I won’t sacrifice him. Nothing has to change for your people except they’ll have awareness that some of us were weaker than others before the War. It can all still work out as long as Kenn sticks to your rules and our truce.”
Adrian forced himself to relax, knowing some might read something into it, and brought a wall of titanium around his mind, shutting her out. He had no doubt she’d get through, was only curious as to how long it would take. He concentrated on finding a doorway. They’d been talking on her connection, and he labored to open his own and look normal to those who were watching, but leaving him alone. The camp was sure he was feeling her out, but he was actually letting her check them out without so much pressure.
“Is there no chance for you two?” he sent, almost breaking a sweat and closed the mental door with relief. He saw her shrug as she got her tray, waiting for him.
“That’s what he wants, expects, but I don’t think I can even give it an honest try.”
The defeated tone came through as clearly as if she’d spoken aloud, his wall nothing to her, but her obvious discontent bothered him as a leader, made him feel like he wasn’t doing right by her already. She wanted him to stay out of it, he could feel that, and he would for now, but Adrian hoped she didn’t expect that to last. Fixing problems was in the fine print of his job description.
Chapter Forty One
1
Angela sat between Kenn and Adrian, more than a little uncomfortable as she drank her tea. The meal was good, the garlic bread great, and she remained silent while the five men talked shop.
She knew all their names, had exchanged friendly banter with them when they’d sat down. Adrian had taken the edge, directing her to his right, and Angela was careful to avoid making eye contact with anyone, not wanting Kenn to be any angrier than he already was. These were Adrian’s closest men, his chain-of-command, and she was aware that her Marine seemed more powerful, somehow, more...
“Pissed,” the old Angela f
illed in, and she let out a sigh of agreement that she knew was heard by the observant men around her, but couldn’t help. The waves of anger were rolling from Kenn, and while she knew everything she’d done and said today had made it worse, it had been Adrian’s introduction as they sat down ("You guys remember Angie, Charlie’s mom and our new doctor") that was the straw pushing on the camel's back. She thought maybe the leader had done it on purpose, and liked him for it even as part of her wished he’d said Kenn’s wife just to calm the Marine down. He was so mad!
“Pay attention!” the Witch ordered.
“... here, either. Seth’s team took out a farm of hogs two miles northeast, said they were mutated. Set poison baits.”
Adrian added Neil’s words to his notebook, and then turned to Angela. “Feel like answering some questions about where you’ve been?”
She nodded, feeling Kenn immediately tense.
Adrian smiled reassuringly. “Just the basics. See or hear of any place safe to go?”
Angie shook her head, eyes grave. “No. It honestly seems better right here than anyplace we came through.”
“Mutations?”
She nodded, thinking the constant noise and movement of the people made it seem more like a crowded amusement park than a refugee camp... Was it that way on purpose? “Just about everywhere. We saw worms the size of a baby’s arm in Missouri and some kind of spider-cricket cross near Kirksville, but the giant ants were in every state we passed through.”
Adrian was writing it down, and Angela forced herself to keep going, knowing instinctively these were things he really needed. “Ohio had a weird mold climbing up everything, even telephone poles, and sick rats, flooding. Most of Indiana was burnt up. Illinois was...”