“He’s very protective.” Sam commented when two more rookies joined the guards below.
Angela kept her voice low. “Good reason to be.” Needing the woman to know she understood, Angela let a bit of her own worries out. “They’re coming soon. We have to help him.”
“I want to, but other than… some forewarnings, I can’t do what you’re doing.”
Angela raised a brow. “Bull. You and I both know there’s more to your skills, than have been used.”
Sam flushed, but didn’t deny it. “If they find out…” Her whisper was laced with bitterness and longing in equal amounts. “I want it, too, but they’ll burn us. These sheep will panic and we’ll be caught in the stampede.”
“So you worry about getting hurt again?” Angela asked softly, sure she had been through the same hells, and worse.
“No.” Samantha’s voice was broken. “I worry I’ll get these people hurt.”
Angela shrugged. “That’s a worthy argument, but don’t forget to weigh in how much difference we can make when he has all of this in place.”
“I have. And I’m watching, seeing where I can help.”
“Me too. The Eagles are another way to do that, you know.”
Sam snorted, drawing attention again, and her voice lowered. “Me? Just can’t see that happening.”
“But you’ve thought about it or you’d be hiding in a tree somewhere else. Like the rest of us, you’re drawn to it.”
“Yes. I want what you’re building, what he’s about to offer to all the women here.”
“Good. Watch what I have to go through and get ready for it. Jeremy and Neil will help you.”
“And Adrian? Won’t he want to handpick the females who do this?”
“We pick ourselves, Sam. If you want it, grab it. Let him know you’re ready for the chance and he’ll see to it personally.”
The man now standing below them keyed his mic. “All levels to the tent.” Adrian faded into the background, able to feel her indecision. Would she show?
“They don’t want you there, right? Because you’re female.”
“Yes. They see only my weaknesses, but that will change,” Angela promised, emboldened by Adrian’s presence. She came down the tree and moved stiffly into the training tent, to be flanked by Kyle and then Neil. The crash of silence was instant.
Adrian stepped in behind them, moved toward the front of the tent. It was all part of the plan.
“Come morning, I’m officially opening Eagle tryouts to females.”
There were hardening faces, but no response and his set tone warned them to choose carefully. He motioned toward the back of the tent. “Our first female rookie has been chosen. “
Angela flushed under all the appraising, hostile glares, and raised her chin. How many of them could have made that shot tonight?
“Those who would speak against it, I’d hear now.”
Nearly every head turned toward Kenn, who had fallen into his customary place on Adrian’s right. Only Angela noticed Marc’s grimace from the back corner.
Kenn wanted to speak up, but knew his place would be gone the second he opened his mouth. Hands clenched, the Marine stared back impassively, while horrible thoughts crashed in his head like waves.
Adrian softened his tone a bit. “Imagine the camp’s women armed and sure of how to use those weapons.”
There were a few snorts and Adrian let a grin crack his hard face. “Yes, pissing them off will have more… serious consequences.”
There was laughter to break the tension and Adrian used his magic, pushing it out to influence. “We need them trained and ready to fight alongside us.” His glowing blue eyes found Angela again in the back of the tent. “You’ll start with her.”
Flushing darker, Angela unknowingly sent out her own wave when she smiled hopefully. “I’m all yours, gentlemen.”
There were more snorts and smiles and eyes rolling, but no one spoke against it. What Adrian wanted from these men, he got.
6
“I won’t do it.” Zack’s voice was loud and whining. “I don’t care how good she shoots. I ain’t helping with no lesson that she’s a part of.”
They were still in the training tent, roughly half the Eagles now getting things set up for the next days scheduled events.
“Not even if it’s what your boss wants?” Seth inquired, always hoping for an excuse to get the trucker tossed out of the Eagles.
“My boss says she belongs in the Mess or babysitting,” Zack retorted, drawing frowns from everyone listening.
“Kenn is not in charge here,” Neil stated harshly, coming back through the tent flap from a check-in. “And he may not even be a member of this camp much longer.”
The Trooper moved toward the hayroom. “I suggest switching your loyalties, Zack, or maybe you’ll be with Kenn when he goes.”
Zack’s face tightened. “I don’t take orders from you, O’Neil, and I won’t do it. Someone trade me?”
The men mostly wanted to, not eager to have any woman under Zack’s thumb for a lesson, but before one of them could volunteer, Marc’s voice echoed from the far corner.
“I’ll do it if you’re so worried about serving with a female.” The tone was full of contempt. “Some Eagle.”
Zack spun around, but stopped at the sight of Marc standing up straight, clearly hoping he’d drawn a reaction.
“She don’t belong here!” Zack protested, expecting a few of the men to agree, but there was only silence as Marc moved closer.
“Neither do you, shithead.”
Marc’s body was tensed, ready for the fight and Zack flushed, but didn’t push back. After seeing him take Kenn out so easily, the trucker wasn’t about to issue a challenge.
“I won’t do it,” Zack repeated, seeing the Wolfman was now within lunging distance. He was unprepared for Marc’s grin.
“It’s probably for the best anyway, Zack. She’d feel bad for killing you.” Marc looked at Kyle as he appeared in the flap. “The coward here just switched me for tomorrow’s gun class.”
Kyle nodded eagerly as he stepped inside. “I’ll let the boss know.”
Zack paled, despite his brave words of only following Kenn, and the watching Eagles grinned. Word would get back to Adrian about it and there would be a punishment for the trucker, even if it was one he didn’t recognize as a correction. Probably he’d end up babysitting or escorting the females around camp.
“Yeah, run to Adrian whenever something doesn’t go your way,” Zack sneered, hoping Lee or Jeff would come in and support him. One of those men was close enough to have done so, but he was too distracted by the thoughts that had been running in his head for the last few days. They were about his missing wife and Angela’s abilities.
“I’m covered,” Zack continued to insist. ”I ain’t switched shifts with anyone the whole time I’ve been here. Pretty sure that’ll give me the right.”
The trucker’s boast was true, but none of the hard eyes on him relented. Zack’s face reddened in anger when Kyle pinned him with unforgiving words.
“If you don’t think Adrian will know the real reason, you’re dumber than you look. And if you think he won’t make you pay for it, then you’re too stupid to be one of us.”
The Mobster turned toward the hay-ring, where Neil was lounging in the doorway, listening. “Come on, guys. Let’s get things set up for tomorrow.”
They ignored Zack’s protests, moving around him to unpack the gear. The tension grew when Kenn stepped into the tent a minute later.
Kenn had been around the side, listening the whole time, but his blank face indicated otherwise and Zack got the hint to stay back by the lack of eye contact. He would make his report later.
“What’s being set up in here?” Kenn asked tonelessly, studying his clipboard. He already knew by the size of the crates they were opening, but he’d wanted to make sure Angela wasn’t in here celebrating.
“Field Trip day,” Neil answered, waving at the smaller beams and ma
ts being unloaded.
The Marine checked it off his list and moved back out of the tent after a fast look around. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone except Marc and that was only for the briefest glare. As he let the flap drop behind him, the real hatred was visible to those on duty. Kenn’s face said he was planning something Adrian wouldn’t like.
7
By 2 am, there was a camp of silence, the new arrivals settled and waiting for word on Missa, who had survived the operation, but only by a thread. The Eagles were also settling for the night and Adrian was making rounds of the Qz, listening to their thoughts on the mission. He wasn’t disappointed and he moved toward her newest hiding place with a feeling of peace that was rare for him.
Angela looked down with a smile, holding out the smoldering joint. “I thought you’d be by.”
She sounds like John, Adrian thought, taking the weed without touching her. She was in the shadows of the medical tent, reclined in the fork of a low tree. He watched her, thinking about how each day now started with a fast search for her, then normal rounds. It was so different… so excitingly miserable.
Angela was walled-in by her experience, the guilt-relieving rescue fully under her evaluation now, and Adrian let her go over it while he waited.
“They wouldn’t have come if I hadn’t been there. What about the next run?”
Adrian was impressed again. He had been expecting a complaint or doubt about her actions, not the future. “We’ve had to face it a few times, leave people behind. The War has caused trust to be given only under dire circumstances.”
Angela’s tone was adamant. “I’d go on them all!”
“It’s not our duty to save them all. You told me that.”
Angela sighed, hating it. “I know, but what can we do about it?”
He could hear the very real pain in her voice and he answered with his own emotions clear. “Keep trying and keep losing those who won’t trust.”
Angela’s heart clenched. So many!
Knowing there was finally someone who felt it the way he did, had Adrian turning to her with more openness than he ever gave the others. “It’s them I see at night,” his voice lowered into despair. “Sometimes I send the Eagles back anyway.”
“And they’re dead?”
“Always.” He drew air into a chest that felt like it was made of lead. “Their ghosts haunt me. They say I should have dragged them back here against their will. Most of them would have stayed.”
Angela was already shaking her head. “But you didn’t because you believe in freedom too strongly.”
She stubbed out the roach on the tree and the Witch was awful to hear and yet right, too. “Those people wouldn’t have survived anyway, be it here or alone. Fear rules them, not Change. Those who are here deserve to be.”
Picking up the observation, Adrian shelved his true feelings. “Yes, they do.”
He moved toward the Com truck with a lighter step and Angela realized it was true. They would save as many as they could. And that number would increase, she thought with a smile. Now that she was in his Army.
The guilt began to fade, letting the successes rise again and her smile became a grin. He’d known exactly what she needed - a moment of personal trust. America’s survival meant more to him than a successful leadership. It was everything he was now. If this camp fell, Adrian would likely join the other relics of the old world.
Her instant scowl at the thought had guards in the area sweeping for trouble. Learning to watch her like an alarm was already starting to come naturally to them.
Adrian’s death couldn’t be allowed to happen and Angela vowed to do whatever she could to stop his fall. “Even when his secret comes out?” the Witch asked ominously.
“Yes. If he falls, we all fall.”
The Demon’s tone was curious. “Such a fast bond with this man. Perhaps that should be examined as well.” Those whispered words were ignored.
8
“You look as tired as we feel.”
Aware of the dawn coming and still in the shadows of the medical tent, Angela didn’t open her eyes. She had mentioned to Charlie that she’d been officially accepted into the Eagles, and instead of the support she’d sort of assumed she’d have, he had blown up at her and stomped off. She’d spent the hour since, rethinking, making sure she had the strength to do this.
“Have a seat.”
The two Eagles took up places in nearby branches, exchanging glances.
“He knew it was there. I didn’t save his life.”
Neither of them spoke. Adrian knowing didn’t matter. It had happened in front of the Eagles. That did.
“How much will this change?”
“A lot,” Neil admitted, settling back carefully. Using trees for cover was something they’d been doing for a while, but as seats or guard spots, had only begun recently, when two of their camp members had started climbing them for privacy and unknowingly rubbed it off on everyone else.
“The camp will be converted, minus a few.”
“The Eagles, too, the ones who understand Adrian’s dream,” Kyle stated.
Angela sighed tiredly. “But not enough, right?”
“No.” Kyle’s tone wasn’t firm. “It will buy some time, weeks if we’re careful with it, and then they’ll call his bluff.”
“He’s not bluffing,” Neil stated. “And it’ll cost him everything if you can’t keep up.”
There was a thick silence and they could feel her determination not to let that happen.
“Work me hard?”
They both nodded and Neil met her eye with a sincerity she understood to be an apology. “Sometimes, if the people are… determined enough, Adrian will give… special lessons.”
“Didn’t he agree to give me that?”
“No. He agreed to treat you like one of the men.”
“Good.”
Kyle leaned closer, his branch almost even with hers. “There are other lessons that go on here, out of the camp’s view. You know that.”
“Like my Kai lesson that has Brady so pissed.”
Neil grimaced, thinking the Wolfman would be even more upset when he found out they’d given her this new information. “Exactly, except Adrian’s lessons usually handle a direct problem the person has.”
“Or a fear.” Kyle hinted.
Her face lit up. “How does a person go about that? Just ask?”
“It has to be suggested by senior level men.”
Angela’s interest was replaced with bitter exhaustion. “And will it be if I want it? Have I proven enough or is there some other trick you guys want?”
Kyle and Neil both laughed, much to her surprise, and her eyes narrowed.
“That’s part of why, too. Not even Seth had that much fire,” Kyle pointed out, talking to Neil.
“I agree.”
“It’s unanimous then.” Kyle met her eye. “Yes.”
Understanding they were razzing her like a rookie, Angela immediately set out to please them so they really would talk to Adrian. “I’m restless when I get off third shift duty. When you can, will you both schedule me an extra hour then? Help me catch up?”
Surprised, they both gave short nods and silence.
She dropped from the tree, trying to hide her soreness. “Thank you. Good night.”
She moved out of sight and Kyle lit a smoke. He tossed it to Neil before repeating the motion for himself, and took a deep drag of the menthol before speaking. What she needed was someone who would hit her. “Kenn.”
Neil’s face was upset. “We can’t let that happen. If he ever does it again, for any reason, this camp will change. We’ll lose everything we’ve worked for.”
Kyle frowned at the note of self-preservation, but let it pass in order to get an answer and not an argument. “What if she can win?”
Neil snorted, mouth opening, but he stopped, not sure what to say. She was good for a female. Marc had gotten the basics down with her and she was quick on the pick-up. Being a
ble to read what was coming was an amazing ability all the Eagles wished they had. Too bad she couldn’t share… “I don’t know,” he said finally.
Kyle was encouraged. He’d expected a set denial. “You’ll think on it?”
“Yes. If she could back Kenn down in front of the camp, the way would be clear for her and the others Adrian wants.”
“Others we need. There’s too many sheep. We’ll lose a cut and that’ll kill him. We have a long way to go in this new world and we need more fighters for the battles that are coming.”
Neil’s tone was reluctant. “We need more like her…”
“And for Brady to get on board.”
“He’ll miss her first course workout before we go; he’s scheduled for duty over the opposite end of camp.”
“He’s smart to separate them for it,” Kyle stated, meaning Adrian.
Neil looked around the darkness. Clear. “I’ll let Brady know where you’re taking her for the sets, but I doubt it will matter. When he sees her afterward, he’ll blow up like her boy did.”
“Yeah. Wish those three grunts would grow up.”
Kenn overheard the comment as he went by them, but made his feet keep going. He was headed to meet Tonya outside the camp’s taped perimeter and he wanted that conversation more than he wanted to pay the Mobster back for the insult, but it was close. Later, the Marine told himself.
Finding the sloppy setup not far into the darkness, Kenn tapped lightly on the tent flap, ducking inside at the call and the first hour of their time was spent in an amazing wash of pleasure and pain.
As they lounged on her bedroll in the aftermath, Tonya’s voice rose and fell, telling him everything she’d seen and heard over the last few days. She was quite the able spy and he had no problem using her as such now that he knew her for what she was… an evil genius with an Adrian blind spot.
“That’s most of the gossip. Nothing unusual among the camp, but the guards will keep talking about it, so I’m sure the sheep will know soon.”
Tonya sat up carefully, sore and sated. “Neil’s team made some schedule change with that blonde woman, and the new guy, Rick, might be following her around. He’s slick, so I’m not sure.”
Adrian's Eagles: Book Four (Life After War) Page 22