by Angela White
"Where's our friendship now?" Neil taunted.
Seth shrugged coolly, dripping sweat as they circled. "Rules are rules. I'll follow ‘em."
Neil crooked an insulting middle finger, "Come on, then!"
Seth moved in low, sidestepping at the last minute to avoid the trooper’s swing, and he landed two hard fists to the cop’s gut that had him moving back.
Neil recovered fast and delivered a roundhouse kick that knocked Seth to his knees.
"Do it again! Do it right!" he shouted.
When Seth tried to, Neil got him in the shoulder with a knee. Seth's reflexes kept him in the battle, sweeping with his own leg.
The trooper used the undercover cop's momentum to slam him to the ground. "Get up! Be an Eagle!"
Seth was on his feet a second later and his swing had Neil grunting, jerking back. He hesitated to hit his friend again though.
The trooper’s roundhouse was brutal, sending Seth back to the ground. "Never hesitate! Don't you want this?"
The cops were both bloody and drenched in sweat, but the trooper didn't even sound winded, and Marc grinned. Third-in-command and definitely on that few dangerous people list he'd thought of earlier. Neil was also a lot more than just what he appeared to be.
It took Seth almost the full ten minutes, though Marc was sure Neil could have held him longer. Everyone except Kenn was glad to see the two men sharing grins in the chilly air instead of harsh words when it was over.
"Pass. See Doug. Kyle's next. If you drew his name, hold it up and he'll pick one of you. If you just came from inside, pick a number from the hat and get ready."
Marc watched Kyle indicate the larger of the two men who had his number, giving the stocky rookie a menacing stare as Neil returned, bottle of water in hand.
"This should be interesting. Kyle and Adrian suspect he's gay and want to expose it to the Eagles."
"How, by beating it out of him?"
Neil snorted unhappily, took a long drink as Seth headed inside the tent. "It's not funny how some of the worst shit never changes, always seems to have a place, but here, it does. If you can't fight, this is definitely the wrong career choice. Better if he finds that out now."
“It sounds like the same old shit.” Marc’s voice was low, telling the trooper he hadn’t forgotten where they were, but his tone was brutally honest.
Neil waved a quick hand. “Look at it from another angle, and it might help you understand. What happens in the future, when we settle down? Does it go away or start back up?”
Marc rolled his eyes. “It gets right back into what it was, but it’ll take time for that to happen. There’s no need to handle it now.”
“Adrian’s vision of our new world does not include the problems of the past. He’s tackling all of them at the start, trying to plan and eliminate the threats to our survival. This was one of them.”
Marc could feel himself getting angry. “How did the gays cause the end of the world?” The things these people told themselves!
“The same way the Wars that we were fighting did, the same way immigration and economic threats did. Smoke to blind us, and it worked. No one knew what the government was doing for those years before it all fell down. We were too busy being part of the problem and killing each other over the scraps from their table. And it was the same around the world. We let the War happen because we let our differences divide us.”
Adrian had stepped closer, enough to hear, and he stopped a frown at Neil’s limited understanding of the master plan on this issue. Only Kyle really knew the truth, that eventually, both women and gays would a part of his Army. There was only one way for either of those things to happen – a representative would have to step up and carry the heavy duty of being the first.
Adrian moved back toward the cage, giving Kyle a short shake of his head when the mobster would have enlightened the talking men. Like with Angela’s gifts, gays in his Army had to be handled one step at a time. First, was exposure. After that, was reaction and possible recovery, with the benefit of respect for not quitting. If Ray got that far, maybe more could come of it.
“But beating them? What comes next, banishment?” Marc was struggling to keep the conversation private. “How will that fix a future problem?”
Neil ignored the sarcasm. “It won’t fix it, but it will eliminate it from this group. And not by bad methods, either. Ray volunteered to be an Eagle, he wasn’t singled out. And if he honestly thinks to be one of us, the truth has to always be the truth.”
“Why not just talk to him?”
Neil snorted. “Because he’s already lied about it by pretending otherwise. He leers at the women, says he has his eye on Becky. It’s gone too far for a simple conversation.”
“And the camp agrees with Adrian handling it this way?”
Neil’s look was horrified, “The camp doesn’t even know there are gay people here. If they knew, they’d kill them, and Adrian wouldn’t be able to stop it. That’s the old world, and these sheep turn to wolves at the sight of it.”
Marc let that sink in. Adrian was trying to protect them? He shook his head. No, Adrian was one of the wolves watching for the old world, too. He just didn’t want to see his sheep turn into a lynch mob and maybe lose leadership.
“So why not just tell them quietly to leave when you find out? Why go through all this?”
Neil let out a disappointed grunt. “You’re so quick on the pick-up that I forget you’re a rookie. Look around. What does Adrian’s leadership scream more loudly than anything else?”
Marc clearly wasn’t sure what to say, but Neil waited, certain the Wolfman would get it. They all did.
Struggling, wanting to understand how they could all be okay with such horrid reasoning, Marc pushed past his anger to think about the Safe Haven he’d seen and not wanted to acknowledge.
“Light…hope… he cares about them.”
Neil clapped him on the back. “And not just about the ones already here, all life. You’ll see it in time. Even those we turn away, he misses.”
“He wants them to stay,” Marc realized.
“More than that. He hopes for their differences to be admitted to and conquered.” Neil understood more than Adrian or Kyle thought, but he didn’t think it would ever happen and he’d given Marc that view first.
The trooper waved a hand toward the cage, where Ray and Kyle had started their challenge. “That one, however, probably won’t. He’s lied too many times to take it back. For anyone to be accepted in Adrian’s Army, that’s the number one thing you never do to the Boss. We won’t forgive it.”
Both of them were thinking of Kenn now, and they turned to watch the match.
8
Eight minutes later, Kyle hadn't taken a single hit, and the rookie was on the ground, bleeding and gasping for air. The dog tags were still in the far corner.
"Get up!" Kyle ordered. "Get up or get out!"
The man struggled to his feet, dark eyes full of hate.
The mobster nodded. "Your kind had no real purpose before the War, but there can be now. If you pass."
Ray gestured angrily, all pretenses gone with the pain and blood, like the trainers had known it would be. "I belong here too!"
"Prove it. Be a man!"
Ray came in too low, letting his anger at the insult drive him, and Kyle used it to throw him back to the ground. He smirked in satisfaction when the rookie let out a cry that was much too feminine.
Marc saw Adrian's nod, and when Ray got back up, swinging wildly, Kyle let the hits land and the football coach darted for the tags.
Metal now in hand, the rookie's face hardened when he realized he had to get back by Kyle to give them to Adrian.
"Don't hesitate. I'm just a man," Kyle coached, surprised the bleeding rookie hadn't given up yet.
"Yeah, one who loathes me."
Kyle shrugged. "It doesn't matter. All of our enemies will hate you. Your belief in yourself has to overpower that fear. If you can't control your nee
d to hide or beg for mercy, you won't survive here, and neither will any of the others who think we don't know about them."
Kyle took a step closer. "Why don't you just quit, leave? Take those special friends with you!"
Ray’s eyes glazed over with fury, and he moved forward. "You keep them out of this!"
He drove his head into Kyle's gut, bringing them both to the ground.
As the buzzer sounded, Adrian was there to take the tags that the panting rookie held out.
"Stand up."
They both did, Kyle moving toward where Kenn stood.
Adrian locked eyes with the now, “out of the closet” rookie. "Pass."
Ray looked at him with disbelieving eyes, his breathing still rough. Blood dripped from numerous cuts and small gashes. "What?"
Adrian's voice hardened. "You'll pay a higher price for it than my other men."
"Because I'm gay."
"Because you're not really one of us."
The rookie's face fell at the words, and Marc listened closely, thinking even gays felt this urge to serve the blond. Was it in the air? The food?
"The War came and blew it all away. We've started over. You're still lurking in the past, not sure which way to go. People know the difference, they feel it. You'll work twice as hard as any man in my army, and you may still never get the peace and acceptance you long for. Be sure, Ray."
Adrian’s eyes shifted briefly to Kenn's unreadable face before coming back. "You can survive here while continuing the old ways, a lot of things that are discreet will be tolerated, but unless you change, you'll never really be an Eagle.”
Ray’s voice was icy. “You mean go straight.”
Adrian shrugged. “Change is different for every man in my Army. The only wrong choice is lying about it. The truth always shows up at some point.”
He turned back to the men before the bleeding man could respond. "See Doug. Next match-up in the Cage is Kenn. If you just came out, draw a number from the hat."
An hour later, Marc and an exhausted Neil stepped inside the big tent, the pungent smell of hay filling their noses.
Doug grinned at them, holding up a lantern. "We'll match for a few days."
The two men gave Marc a pointed look, and he understood it was another way they would be able to help. Conversations over black eyes wouldn’t be about just him and Kenn now.
"The small hay room is an improvising test. The men have a certain amount of time to make something from what's there, usually a sort of communications device. The cubicles are much the same, but each level’s goals are harder."
Neil pointed things out as Doug went by, supervising.
"You use your own list of ideas or what Adrian and Kenn provide?" Marc asked, watching Seth's fingers fly over a nice 9 mm that his blindfold kept him from seeing.
"Both. For Doug, who's served, it's okay to invent his own." Neil gave him a look that said he, too, would use his own experience when he got this far.
"The big hay room is memory, alertness and thinking. They may have to stare at doors and use the clues on them to find someone or something. Another level might be asked to look at the people or things and get hit with questions when they come out, like what color were his socks, which window had curtains, or even which one had the hidden grenade. The higher the level, the harder the questions will be. Each member of the team must pass six of seven parts. If two or more fail, none of them advance and they'll repeat the course with the next group. Adrian's goal is to have all the camp's men in training by the time we settle somewhere for the winter."
"And the women?" Marc asked quietly, but they were both distracted by Doug's loud words in the drafty room. He was ambushing a pair of guards who had thought they were done and drawn his attention with their high-fives as they started to leave the tent.
"Eight ways to start a car if it's only got a dead battery. Now!"
The two men started stammering answers, and Neil pointed to a dark corner that wasn't being used. "Let's go over there so he doesn't get us next for distracting them."
Marc thought about repeating his question, but realized he didn't need to. After watching all of this, he knew the answer. There were no women here because this was man’s work. Few females would have the courage to try, let alone be strong enough to actually succeed. Angie does! Angie is! His heart defended her, and he pushed it away uneasily. She wouldn't want this… would she?
"I've counted six tests. What's the seventh?" he asked, not wanting to explore that any further. He wasn't sure he could take the answer.
"Adrian's approval. You either have it or you don't."
Marc frowned, confused. "He didn't give it to Ray, but he passed."
"He earned it by the rules, but there are some things that will not be accepted by these people. What the camp is against as a whole, I am, too," Adrian said as he and the last group of men stepped into the dark tent behind them. Their movements almost silent as the rookies struggled to impress. "He passed the tests, but the camp's approval and mine go together."
Marc nodded. They had his back, and he had theirs. God help those caught in between.
"So, have you decided to accept the place with my Eagles?"
Marc nodded easily, eyes shuttered in the dim lantern light. "If you'll have me."
"I will, but I must ask. Why the change of heart?"
Marc shrugged, keenly aware of Kenn's furious face in the group of 13 black-clad guards. "I haven't had one. I just think it's a very good way to spend my time. I like to stay busy."
"Not enough," Kenn sneered, stepping past them. "That's not enough to get you your own team. They won't follow you for those reasons."
Marc snorted, ready for the big confrontation if it was to be now. "You're the only one still looking for power and control. The rest of us just want to survive."
There was a thick silence as most expected a fight because of the dig, but Kenn only shook his head, raising a corner of the flap. "I'd never betray him, and he knows it. He's my first priority. You'll never be a true Eagle until you can say the same. Your only loyalty is to my woman, and that won't be enough to make a place here."
Kenn stepped into the cool night air, voice a low mutter. "I'll see to that."
9
Angela was more than tired by the time Chris said they were done. She had stayed for a lot of reasons, but the biggest was his standing up to Kenn for her rights. The vet didn't seem to want to talk about it, which was good for her, because everyone else sure did. He clearly didn't want her ‘thank you’ either, so she'd given him her help instead. By 11 p.m. every animal had been watered, fed, bedded down in clean areas, and they had just finished repacking everything and putting it all away.
"It's late," she commented, using lotion on chapped skin.
The vet blew out their light, then gave her an unexpected grin that revealed a quietly handsome man. "Not for me. I'm usually here until 2 or so."
"Hi. I'm Angie." She held out a hand, feeling like she'd made a little progress, and was pleased when he didn't hesitate to shake with her. He even added a heartfelt apology as the wind blew garbage from the forest around their boots.
"Yeah, I'm Chris. Sorry. I'm not sociable. It's why I treat animals and not people."
"You do all this once a week?"
He nodded, and she turned to go, wolf heeling smartly. "Then I'll see you next week as long as they don't have me scheduled for something else."
Chris watched with thoughtful eyes as she and the wild, yet well-trained wolf vanished silently into the dark forest. She was smart, quiet, hard-working, and he was already looking forward to the next time. Every single male here would want her, the vet thought, reluctantly including himself among them. He wasn’t worried about her getting into his head. His secrets were hidden deeper than she could go, and were always guarded.
Most of the camp was in their tents for the night, and Angela was glad to see no lines for the showers. Gun within reach, she lingered inside the dim dampness, wishing fo
r Marc's comforting presence outside the door instead of Dog's.
It had hit her hard today while she was working with the silent, sullen veterinarian, that this was how her days would be now. No more little moments, no more small gestures. No smiles or jokes and certainly not the occasional brush of Brady’s strong hand against hers, but it was the loss of their nights alone that hurt the most. She wanted so many more of those, and she may never have even one! Being separated from Marc was horrible, and though she was forcing herself to handle it, it was hard. She missed him so much!
Marc saw her emerge from the shower camper and slowed, but didn’t let his feet take him to where he had wanted to be all day - by her side. Instead of watching her, he looked around, noting how many of the men were stealing glimpses. These were the proven, the accepted, and they had a place here that if Kenn's words were true (and hadn't the silence afterward said they were?) he might never have. Why would she pick him over them? Would their time together hold her while he earned a place? Was there a chance for them at all?
As if she sensed him (and he thought later that she had, his pain drawing her) she stopped and turned, eyes lighting up.
Angela couldn't stop her open look of need and d4espair and was filled with hurt when Marc turned away, pretending he hadn't seen her. He ducked into his tent, and she could feel him wanting to take it back, but he didn't, and she got her feet moving with a heavy heart. She'd loved Marc all her life, and while she knew he would fight for her freedom, she still wasn't sure if he'd fight for her.
Angela pushed it away, concentrating instead on everything she'd done today as she headed to the Mess. Male eyes followed, including Adrian's from his dark tent, unable to help himself. Her hair was down past her cheeks, wet, shiny, black curls that a man longed to have wrapped in his fist as they made love. She was beautiful, and when she went by, men noticed, whether they intended to or not.
The sense of a job well done followed Angela, even when she recognized the lone man at a back corner table of the dark deserted Mess. She ignored him as she headed toward the front, starting to feel the chill now that her hair was wet.