Life After War: Books 1-3

by Angela White

  3

  Angela blew out a restless sigh.

  She gently braked as the semi in front of her came to an almost complete stop before shifting gears and crawling along again. They were driving through a lightly wooded area with nothing to see but thin trees and brown weeds, and while she applauded Adrian's choice, it was a little frustrating and almost painful for her.

  They were going so slow that the emotions (ghosts) of the places they were creeping by were coming to her in strong, hurtful waves. They were full of death scenes and madness, but the cries of the living were worse. Full of heartbreak and desperation, Angela had to force herself not to reach out to them, unsure what to do. This was a door that was usually closed to her.

  She planned to talk to Adrian about each thing like this that came up, but she couldn't tell him over the radio. While she thought it was only somewhat possible Marc could read a mental message thrown the length of a football field, she knew her son definitely would. Charlie and Dog were riding with the vet, the teenager still giving her, and now everyone else, the cold treatment after his day of hard labor for fighting. Something like this was exactly what he didn't need to know how to do. It would put him at risk because he would use it without caution in his anger, and people would discover the truth. That meant toughing it out.

  The truck braked again, and Angela clamped down on a four-letter word, eyes going over the two men riding with her. Kenn's initials on her schedule told her he had been the one to put her with the older men and he hadn't been happy when Neil and Kyle had traded their places in sleep-n-ride bunks to the miners she was supposed to riding with. It had been a neat switch though, no time for her Marine to argue. Like Marc, Angela had been trying to place the chain-of-command since they’d gotten here. After this morning she knew she was looking at third and fourth in Adrian's Army. The question was: what were they doing with her? Adrian's orders? Brady's cautions? Curiosity?

  Angela tensed as a fresh wave of agony hit her, this one a small group of starving kids, and it was a struggle to keep her foot on the gas pedal. She didn't want to pass them up. She wanted to help!

  "Are you okay?" Kyle asked tiredly from the back seat.

  “Fine. Why?" she asked.

  Kyle sat up, met her eye in the mirror as Neil stirred restlessly in the reclined passenger seat. "Because we feel it, strongly."

  Angela’s eyes cringed, and she whipped her head back to the truck that was finally moving faster. "Feel what?"

  Her voice was off, and it was the trooper who answered, not looking at her. "Your… displeasure. Something's bothering you. Spit it out so we can get some sleep."

  She flushed, and Kyle frowned at Neil, held up a hand. "He doesn't mean it like that. He's used to stupid females. Tell us what's up. It's why we're with you."

  Both of them were looking at her expectantly and Angela kept her eyes on the truck in front of them, not wanting to see the disbelief.

  "He's passing up people and supplies, and I can't tell him over the radio."

  Kyle hesitated, raised a thick brow, "You can't just... send it to him?"

  Angela shook her head, struggling to breathe at the openness. "Not right now, and since it's my fault you're all in danger..."

  Kyle's firm voice interrupted, "They were already headed for us. It's not anyone's fault. If he's passing things you think he wants or needs, tell us, we'll handle it."

  Angela was stunned. Where were all the questions and snide remarks? "College kids and fuel tankers."

  Neil sat up and immediately took the mic from its holder. "Three to Base, request leave to pull out for a short recon."

  "In sight?"

  The trooper looked at Angela, who shook her head, surprised that not only they believed her, but also that she could go.

  "Negative."

  "Roger. Cars six and eight will provide escort. Half-hour check-ins. Happy hunting."

  "Copy, out."

  Neil hung up the mic and waved a hand as two jeeps fell out of the line ahead of them, waiting. "Let's go. The fuel, not the people. Adrian will send a team back for them."

  Angela didn't look at Brady as she passed him and the stinking livestock truck he'd been put behind, wondering if he would stay here and let these strangers care for her.

  "We'll need you to tell us what you can," Kyle said from the back seat, checking the gear in the black bag at his feet.

  When Neil nodded his agreement, hands busy doing the same, Angela felt a large chunk of that outsider shell crack and fall off. These two had accepted her just as Adrian had. The leader had known instantly how much she had to offer, and she would start helping right now, by giving him something he wanted - more sheep.

  Passing derelict beef ranches and wheat fields, Angela drove confidently over roads she had never been on, and used her gift, pushing, trying to get the kids into position. They had to get to the tankers. “Move to the tankers. Help is coming.”

  "Angie?"

  Kyle's voice was so much like Marc's at that moment that she responded as if he were, forgetting her fear. "There are five of them, three women; one of them is pregnant, but I think she doesn't know. The fuel is at an airport near them."

  Both men were thinking that her voice didn't sound right somehow.

  While Neil looked at the maps, Angela met Kyle's eyes in the mirror, sure the mobster would be more sympathetic. "They're kids. No threat. I want to help them."

  Kyle shrugged, willing enough, but Neil looked up, frowning. His orders were clear and they came from more than one man - Keep her unharmed at all costs.

  "No. We get the gasoline and let a team come back later."

  Angela shook her head, determined to help these starving survivors. "They'll run. The three of us won't seem like such a threat. I'll be able to talk to them."

  "What about the two jeeps of men behind us?" Kyle asked, wondering if this would be the time Neil used his higher rank.

  Angela waved a hand, eyes forward. "Someone has to get the tankers."

  "No. They'll both be pissed that I put you in danger."

  Angela looked at the trooper with a tight face and annoyed eyes that Kyle recognized from his months with Adrian. The mobster hid a grin. This would be the final blow. The stories they'd been quickly told hadn't been exaggerations.

  "Yes, your ass. Let's talk about that, Neil. Will he take a bigger chunk if we do it now and bring back more people, one of them carrying the next generation of Americans? Or if we don't, because I might break a nail, and they're gone when you come back, taken by the Slavers?"

  The silence was deafening. Kyle looked at her with new respect.

  Neil shook his head, blew out a frustrated breath.

  The only sheep Adrian wanted more than females were pregnant females. They were both shocked she understood how powerful a weapon she’d chosen.

  The state cop began to unbutton his black shirt, shaking his head. "At least put on my vest so they don't think I'm a complete idiot. Pull over. We'll wait outside."

  4

  Angela did it quickly, suddenly feeling a bit nervous, and a short five minutes later, they were traveling over a weed-dotted, two-lane road. The Rapid City airport rose out of the gritty skyline like a dark omen. Nothing moved except glints off broken Christmas lights that framed dark-and-dirty windows.

  Angela felt their tension growing as the wind picked up, whining eerily. The Eagles didn’t like it here, at all.

  They rolled slowly over pieces of the twisted, rusting, airport gates, the row of fuel tankers the first thing they saw; directly ahead and all the way in the back.

  "We'll be checking ports from now on. I never even thought about it.”

  “Yeah, makes sense. Have to have normal fuel for their trucks and things."

  The two men looked over what they could see. When they were near the middle of the vast lot, Kyle held up a hand. "Stop here."

  Angela kept her foot on the brake as the two jeeps flanked her, and she tried hard to see what they did.
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  Two long, empty, grassy runways, and a large dark main terminal-building with a lot of shadowy doorways. Three big faded, red-and-white passenger planes lined up near the fuel tankers like forgotten toys, and numerous small outbuildings and vehicles, most damaged. There were also charred places on the weedy concrete, and an overturned security car in front of the burned-out frame of a city bus.

  Angela saw the two Eagles exchange worried looks.

  "We need more men."

  "But they'll run awa …"

  "We cannot secure an area this size with only eight Eagles."

  Kyle's voice was firm, and Neil handed him the mic, letting the guard do his job.

  "Four to Base. We have six A3’s and need drivers, plus two full levels for security. Someone is on the way back to meet you from where we left."

  "Copy, Four. Cars 7, 10, 14 and 21 are on the way."

  Angela watched the jeep to her right turn back, able to feel their relief at having more men coming, but she wasn't sure what they were so worried about. Yes, there was a bad feeling here, but it was mostly like the other places she'd been. Empty.

  “Are you sure?” the Witch questioned quietly from her cell.

  Angela frowned, shaking her head. No, she wasn't. After the call, she'd forced the Demon back into its cage, scared of the camp finding out. Except when she was with Adrian, she hadn't used the power at all in two days.

  "What is it?"

  She closed her eyes at the question, concentrating, but there was only darkness. The rustle of her jeans was loud in the silence as she shifted restlessly. "Something might not be right here."

  "What?"

  Angela opened her eyes, not letting them see how glassy they were as she turned to look at the driver on their left. "Not sure yet."

  Seth nodded, turning off his engine and she did the same. The silence was thick as they waited, listening to the total nothingness around them.

  "The kids are here. I got them to come," she said suddenly. "Don't let anyone shoot. They're not the danger we feel."

  Angela flipped off the safety on her gun with a smooth movement, and the two men exchanged looks again, thinking of their conversations with Adrian and the Eagles. Definitely not the same as the other women.

  "I can't wait. They're about to run. There’s still too many of us."

  Kyle saw only a single shadow near the planes as Angela opened her door.

  "Stay here for a minute so she doesn't take off. That's our soon-to-be mom. Try not to get out until you have to, I'll be quick."

  She closed the door on their protests. This was the Angela from the hospital, the one who couldn’t possibly have been curled into a corner the night before. She had lived two lives then, but now, she was free to be herself, and it gave her steps a subtle swagger the shadows watching recognized with longing. It was the stride of someone who wasn’t living in fear anymore.

  Both Eagles were relieved (and instantly jealous) when Seth got out and fell in on her right, but wasn't sent back.

  Neil hit the button on his belt. "She never leaves our sight!"

  Seth nodded at the hissed order, as the doors on both sides of the Blazer opened slightly in case Neil and Kyle needed out fast.

  Angela stopped about twenty feet from the steps of the first huge plane and didn’t look up into what was sure to be another ugly scene.

  Just behind her, Seth keyed the button on his own belt, so that the other men could hear.

  "Can we help you?"

  The shadow flinched but didn't respond, and Angela stayed where she was.

  "We're from Safe Haven. It's an American refugee camp. You'll be safe with us."

  The shadow snorted, and Angela took a few steps closer, waving Seth back when he wanted to follow.

  They were close to rusting gates, and an enormous field of waist-high grasses where anything might be lurking, and the black-clad cop's tired eyes swung continuously.

  "I can prove it," Angela told the slender female who had no skin showing beneath her dark, heavy clothing. She smiled encouragingly at the pale green eyes. "He did what I wanted, right? If they were bad, I'd be a slave."

  The girl shrugged. "It could be a trick. Slavers are smart."

  Her voice was nervous, hopeful, and young. Angela pushed comfort again. "Safe Haven follows the old rules. You and your new family would be well cared-for there."

  Angela felt the scowl and hoped she had chosen correctly as the whine in the wind increased.

  "How did you know I'm not alone?"

  "Maybe I didn't." Angela's smile turned as cold as the air around them. "You just told me."

  "You tricked me!" the girl cried angrily, stepping back.

  Angela waved a hand, able to feel the others nearby. Warmly dressed and well-blended into the surroundings as they listened, this fragile-looking chemistry student had done a good job of teaching them to survive.

  "Hardly. You speak for the group?" Angela switched to an authoritative voice, making the disbelief thick in her tone. She hid her relief when the girl stopped backing away, hand going to her hip angrily.

  "I resent that! I've done the best I could!" the girl stated indignantly.

  Angela pierced her with hard eyes. "Then it's time to get them out of here. Hand that burden over to our Guardian. In return, you'll work and follow the rules. We have two doctors, real MDs, and none of us are starving."

  Angela gestured behind her. "They came from all over the country. We can also give you answers."

  That did it - Angela saw it in her eyes.

  "You know about Nevada?"

  "Doug does, he was trapped under a bridge there for almost a week," Seth said quietly, thinking for a woman who had only been with them a few days, Angela had sure picked up on Adrian's style fast. He had snorted at the things he'd heard while the camp packed for travel, but now… he wondered.

  "You have a lot of people?" The girl studied them with mistrustful eyes.

  "Yes, doctors, lawyers, farm workers, soldiers and housewives. We follow a set schedule and we travel a lot. Most people pick their own jobs, but with your education, I'd think you would want to be more helpful to our leader."

  The girl missed the fact that Angela knew she had been a student, sneering. "Yeah in exchange for being allowed in."

  "No. You're welcome even if you're not useful at all." The tone was just right - a little patronizing, a little insulting, and implying laziness - and the girl clearly felt it.

  "What a load. You'll take our guns and be in control. No thanks!"

  "We are not slavers!"

  Angela's voice thundered, and she only lowered it a little at the fear now in the girl's pale eyes. "We help anyone we can, and we've risked a great deal to come get you. The rules are simple. Pull your own weight!"

  "What's the crime rate?"

  Angela shrugged, not expecting the question. "There's been one thief since I came. That's it. No rape, no murder." She leaned a bit closer. "Makes them think twice when the penalty is death."

  The girl nodded, wanting to believe, and Angela locked eyes with her, pushing gently as rain clouds rolled behind the grit. "We're American survivors who help our own, and you are that, Honey. Come with us. We'll help give back some of what was stolen from you.”

  The girl's eyes had dampened, and she looked over her shoulder. "I think we should go with them."

  Other shadows beside the plane moved, stood up, and Angela knew by the way the girl flinched back that the Eagles behind her were headed their way with weapons drawn.

  "It's okay. They're just not sure about you, either," she explained, waving a hand.

  Again, there were flashes of envy when the others stopped, but Seth moved closer and was allowed to stay.

  The two males in the small group of strangers hung back, flanking very thin, younger girls who would have been called nerds before the War, and Angela was suddenly sure the males had been athletes. Some kind of state contest they'd been flying home from.

  "They're right
to be worried," the tallest teenager said, pulling his gloved hands from his pockets when Seth's hard eyes remained there. "We're in danger."

  The others were nodding, casting long, worried looks at the dark, main building.

  Angela followed their line of sight, frowning. "There are people living there?"

  "If you want to call them that," the tall boy said.

  The pregnant girl waved her hand in agreement, voice low.

  "Radiation victims. There was a gamma burst near the Canadian border. We were shielded by the plane."

  Angela looked at Seth. "We need to get the gas and go. Now."

  The redhead looked at his watch and made some signals to Neil, who immediately held up one finger.

  "Ten minutes for the backup," Seth translated.

  Angela nodded, looking at the group of nervously milling kids. "We offer you a home with us, but in ten minutes we're driving those fuel tankers out of here, and we're not coming back. The Slavers are headed this way. They've taken Casper."

  The girl's eyes widened, and she shook her head, ignoring the mutters of her group. "You can't get the gas. It's half the reason we haven't left yet. When you get near the trucks, the walking dead attack. It's like they're guarding it. Every time we've tried, we've lost people."

  Seth's sharp eyes saw things around the tankers that made his stomach roil. Men's boots, three of them, oily puddle shaped stains and was that a woman's skirt by the landing gear? He nodded. This was exactly what it felt like. Another place of death they couldn't away from soon enough.

  "We'll handle it. Why don't you guys go wait in my Blazer? There's probably going to be some gunfire," Angela warned, trying to prepare them.

  The small group of kids moved slowly toward her vehicle and the other men. They stayed together as the guards moved back, nodding their hellos, but never taking their attention from Angela and the sense of danger surrounding this place.

  Angela went to Neil and Kyle, ignoring the looks they gave Seth. "How does he usually handle radiation victims?"

  Neither man wanted to answer her question because they expected her to have a doctor's outraged response.

  She gave them a hard look with narrowed eyes. "Sorry if I stole your thunder, but they were going to run. You heard everything. I suggest fire. It will prevent further contamination, but don't get even a scratch. It's likely mutated by now and may be contagious from just breathing. Got any masks?"