by Angela White
“Is it okay to let Conner roam?”
“Yes, but don’t switch him even after he’s cleared. By his father’s side is the best place for him right now.” Angela viewed the slowly moving crews working on cleaning up the mess from yesterday and last night. It hadn’t been nearly the wonderful holiday that many of them had been hoping for, but it was certainly one to remember.
Jeff started to ask another question and had to stop to cough. In that moment, other sounds rang out to Angela from across the camp. Sneezes, sniffling, coughing and spitting. Was it a normal amount or were too many people feeling the effects of so much rain after going without for months?
Angela listened harder and was relieved to hear no deep rumbles in chests or trouble breathing. Still, it was better not to take chances. She would do a complete round of the camp and look, listen for signs. An epidemic was something that could derail all their carefully sewn plans. It was something she’d keep a close eye on.
Angela spotted Samantha under the protection of the mess canopy and half a dozen men from Neil’s team, and was glad no one was treating her badly. She was getting a lot of stares, but no comments or glares and that was progress from yesterday’s mob.
The vote had been uneven for the first time since she’d come here. Roughly fifty-five percent of the camp thought they should flee for the mountains now, while the rest had voted to break into smaller groups and get out of the path. The mountain voters wanted to hole up and hide Adrian, something the Eagles were busy explaining would get everyone killed when the soldiers finally came. The split group wanted to take Adrian with them, to lead him away from the danger. She and Samantha were expected to go with one of those groups also, giving someone a distinct advantage when you added in Marc and Charlie. It had caused another loud fight this morning that had been solved by her declaring that if they couldn’t stay and fight, they didn’t deserve to care for Adrian or to be protected by his Eagles. Three more carloads of camp members had then left Safe Haven’s light.
But not forever, she thought. If we win, you’ll come crawling back as fast as your knees will carry you. And be welcomed.
She forced the images away before she could get on the radio and try to talk them into coming back now. Losing people was killing her on the inside and it was starting to be a struggle to hide.
2
Samantha glanced over the harvest, unable to stop the pride. There were five full tables of baskets from the garden–corn, beans, onions, tomatoes, green peppers, broccoli, and cauliflower. In a week or so, the potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and melons would be ready. Safe Haven now had enough vegetables for a couple months of settling into their new home in the mountains.
Samantha turned around to find a small group of camp members lingering near the tables, observing her and the food with dark expressions.
Samantha glowered defensively. “I’ll plant more as soon as I turn the soil. I’m earning my keep.”
The woman in front gave only a small grimace. “Do you need help? We know how to can food.”
Samantha’s mind took a minute to adjust. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
She directed them toward the truck, where Li Sing would be glad to have the help with the steamy mess of jars and hot water he was currently surrounded by.
“That’s a good sign,” Hilda remarked.
Samantha’s heart lightened a bit. “Yes, it is.”
“Maybe your record here did the trick.”
“Maybe.”
“Or they’re okay with you being like Adrian and Angela.”
Samantha didn’t answer. She’d had that thought, too. It felt different than she’d assumed it would.
Jeremy appeared at her side, and he pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek, relishing the feel of not hiding his feelings anymore. “How are you?’
Samantha leaned against his arm. “Tired, but better. Headache’s gone.”
“Good. Angela sent me. She’d like to try a few things later.”
Samantha wasn’t eager, but she wasn’t dreading it, either. “Okay. When?”
“She’ll send someone for you. She said for you to stock up for the rest of the day, that you’d tell me what’ll work best for that.”
Samantha’s brows furrowed, but she didn’t fight. “Take me out into the crowds, where we’ll have to be close to them. Excitement is a good source.”
Jeremy left Hilda to monitor the food and gently led Samantha into the camp members. Only after dawn, there was already large numbers of people observing the Eagles work, helping with hands and tray deliveries. He felt it was still a slight risk, but compared to yesterday, it was calm. There was no hostility now, no real fear, either, only curiosity and relief.
Samantha assumed the relief was because they wanted her to be a good guy, to help, but Jeremy could have told her they were relieved to have been wrong about her. The camp had come to care for Samantha, but even more, they needed their leaders to be reliable. If Samantha had fallen, it might have been too much to keep them all believing in Adrian. After all, he’d placed her in the chain of command and that still meant something.
3
“Set it up right in the center of camp.”
“What?”
Aware of time counting down, Angela motioned toward the cracked blinds and flaps all around them. “They need to believe that we’re ready.”
Marc directed the men that way. “Once you unload, stay and unroll it.”
Kenn joined them and Marc pointed at the center fire. “Get that lit. We’ll use it for our testing and garbage.”
Eagles came by, carrying cases of weapons, and the waking camp began coming out.
Ten minutes into the unloading, there were a hundred boxes near the center fire. Half an hour later, there were stacks of crates and boxes as high as a man, various guns and launchers, setups, and pieces of dangerous metal that few of them could identify. There were also bags and tubes, rolls of wire and rope, buckets of knives and handheld weapons. It was impressive.
“She was right,” Zack murmured, observing camp members pulling Eagles into discussions about the weapons and tools. “This will give them hope.”
Angela went to the middle of the stacks and the top thirty eagles formed a half moon behind her.
“What we need to start with, are surprise weapons that can be easily carried. The first team is leaving in a day and they have to have a full load of items of pick from.” She glanced around. “I’d like you to break into groups and work on small items first. Nothing bigger than a fist.”
Angela saw the camp was still listening. “They’ll need help. Mostly to hold an end or go get something. That’s where you come in. Also, you can cover their guard posts so they can keep working. Either one is a big help.”
“When do we get to do something that matters?” Jerry questioned snidely.
Buuurrrr…
The sound snapped every head to the sky.
Marc was wrong, Angela thought, time again slowing as fate waited for her response.
There was only one thing they could do. The gifted people would stand together while the camp ran.
Angela opened her mouth to order a bugout…
“One plane, flying low…looks like it’s picking someone up,” Kevin reported over their radios.
Angela closed her mouth as the single plane came into view. She grabbed Marc’s arm as everyone else continued to stare. “They have to do it, Marc–the camp.”
Marc stared for only a second, admiring her less resentfully this time. Then, he leaned close and whispered what she needed.
Kenn was already adjusting his radio as Angela turned to him.
“Marc swears they’ll do a low flyover. I need to know when they report us. Make sure I hear it.”
Kenn’s hands were racing to find the right channel in time.
Angela moved toward the most mature looking section of the about-to-panic camp members that were still gathered around the stacks of weapons. “You, you, and all of you! Come get a gr
enade launcher.”
The ten men and women did it eagerly, and the camp settled down a bit to observe.
“Theo, bring the gun over to the middle of the piles for cover. I don’t want them to know until it’s too late.”
Eagles started to get out of the way and Angela’s voice grew sharp. “Keep working! The camp and I have you covered.”
The men did as they were told while ripples of excitement and fear ran through the crowd. A few people fled for their vehicles and Angela let them go. The plane being destroyed might bring them back, and if not, it was another cut, another thinning.
Adrian watched them leave in painful silence. He understood the reasoning, had agreed even, but it still hurt.
“Line up here, keep your weapon pointed down, and listen to Marc. He’s going to give you a thirty-second crash course on how to use it.”
Radios crackled across the area. “They made the pickup…coming this way! Here they come!”
Angela grabbed a long roll of camouflage netting and tossed it toward the other side of the camp line with Theo’s help. “Get that over your fighters or the plane will have them!”
It was an awkward struggle that shoved people, scratched hands and mashed fingers, but the two canopies went over the nervously waiting fighters as the plane came into view.
“Everyone stay still!” Angela ordered, turning to glare at Kenn. “Stand your ground. They don’t own us!”
The camp let out a small cheer at that and Angela pushed a bit. “This is what they get for the war!”
The camp cheered in a frenzy now, calling out their own insults and threats, and Angela swore under her breath. “Now, Marine!”
Kenn switched again, straining, and stumbled into what they needed.
“Looks like a large group, base, hundreds. Organized, guards in sight…and weapons, base! Stacks of weapons! They’re ready for war.”
The transmission crackled and Angela firmly controlled the people with the launchers. “Wait for it and we’ll kill them all, including those who betrayed us. Mitch and Matt are on that plane.”
This time, the camp screamed for blood, drowning out the next transmission.
“They just reported seeing Adrian here,” Kenn stated furiously, ear to the radio. “Do it!”
Angela strode into her waiting rookies, falling behind to help Marc and Doug direct them. “Drop the canopy! Let them see what’s coming!” Angela stifled the fresh guilt. “Take away their shields.”
Theo’s machine had been humming roughly, building strength from the solar reserve they’d captured, and it vibrated harshly, explaining the need for it to be sitting on something solid.
“Here it goes!” Theo hit the switch and the machine blew up.
Except nothing scattered, no fire flamed out, not even smoke came from it. The blast of solar energy was concentrated into the shell that whistled through the air toward the plane.
“We’ve been fired upon!” the plane complained.
The shell hit the air in front of the nose of the plane and exploded in a disappointing flash of green and black.
“That’s it?”
The crowd echoed Kenn’s question.
The plane didn’t react at first…then smoke began pouring from the right engine.
“We took out the wiring!”
Angela tapped Joseph on the shoulder. “Now.”
He obligingly pulled the trigger. He’d had plenty of time to aim.
The others waited until they were tapped, firing within seconds of each other.
Explosions rocked the sky.
The sight and sound of the plane going down was something that Angela wouldn’t ever forget.
“I did that,” she told herself. “I’m damned.”
Adrian was close enough to hear her over the cheers and he sent it to Marc. She would need comfort later and he couldn’t be the one to give it. When Marc left, that would change.
4
“We verified them?”
“We got there before it finished burning. Three of theirs, plus our two,” Marc confirmed stonily.
Angela was moving steadily through the busily working camp and Eagles. “And we stripped anything usable?”
“Yes. We didn’t get much in the way of supplies. Parts might come in handy.”
Kenn joined them outside the medical tent. “You got the training plans ready?”
Marc handed him a sheet of paper from his pocket. “You’ll do basic combat marksmanship in the form of Table Two, and then later with Table Three and Four, if you have time.”
Marc waited for Kenn to catch up, glad to be working with someone who understood his lingo.
Kenn grunted. That would develop certain aspects of marksmanship that were crucial in combat, like where to shoot someone–T-box, Center Mass, Groin.
“We’ll also run drills like our CO–Pick ‘em up, hit the target line, and engage the enemy.”
Kenn grinned at that one. Done to mimic the effects of a real fight, the Eagles would love it. “I’ll get it going right now.”
Angela viewed Marc as Kenn left. “You’ve got the kids working?”
“Yes. Adrian’s with them for the next three days, overseeing.”
Angela looked away at the name and Marc shot a dirty thought toward that tent. “Are you okay?”
Angela brought up her walls and forced a smile onto her face. “Never better.”
Marc let her go, but when the demon whispered, he listened to his fears and worries be confirmed. He also took the advice his demon gave. Once he heard it, Marc agreed that nothing else would succeed as well for their future. If you loved something, you let it go.
Word spread fast that Marc was leading their ambush team and it immediately calmed the twitchier members of camp. Marc was lethal. Everyone knew that.
Marc himself didn’t realize how much that meant until he put it with what Angela had planned around Matt. Then he understood that half of his setups had been to prove to the camp that he could do this, that they didn’t have to flee. Even as far back as his cage match, Adrian had known this was coming.
“And who did you see winning, you secretive bastard?”
“Us, of course.”
Marc let out a sigh at Adrian’s words. He hadn’t heard the man approach. “I forgot sneaky.”
Adrian went on as if Marc hadn’t spoken, “With their numbers cut in half, they’ll get to the base tired and nervous. You’ll wipe them out.”
Marc didn’t doubt that, only worried over who may be caught in the crossfire. “And those left in the bunker, what will they do?”
“Leave us alone until they think they’re strong enough to try again. By then, we’ll be in the south, out of the damage path.”
It was what Angela had told him and made little difference to hear again. Marc would complete the mission he’d been given.
So would Adrian.
5
“You had no right to do that!”
Already furious with herself, Angela faced Cynthia coldly. “I had to choose. That boy or this camp.”
“You sacrificed an innocent kid!”
Angela didn’t look away. “So did you. Anyone else might have developed feelings and pulled him in. That would have kept this from happening and changed our future.”
“They told the government. We don’t have a future now, thanks to you!”
“Yes, we do, only not here.”
“You’ve doomed us.”
“I helped them find the truth. Only death waits for us on this soil. We have to leave for a while. Something is coming and we have to get out of the path. These people weren’t going to go without knowing about our gifts and the protection we can give.”
“You set me up!”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“Anyone else would have felt pity for Matt, saved him, but not you, not with Kevin on standby.”
Cynthia stared at Angela in horror as Adrian stood up and walked to the flap.
&nb
sp; “It was mostly my idea.” Surprised Eagle looks were ignored. “She made an impossible choice based on the greater good. It’s exactly the choice I would have made, only none of you would have questioned it to my face.”
His parting reminder was enough to calm the Eagles, but Cynthia wasn’t ready to let it go.
“I don’t know how I can stay on your team. I don’t trust you anymore.”
Angela raised a brow. “Did you before?”
“Well...no.”
“Then why does it matter? You were given an FND chore and you handled it exactly as I expected you to. It wasn’t an easy duty, but it is over now and you’re out on top. What more do you want?”
“For that boy to still be here! For you to apologize!”
“For knowing you were too hard-hearted to fall for Matt?” Angela asked coldly. “Not likely. Next?”
Cynthia argued in exasperation “You don’t get it. You’re wrong for doing this.”
“No, you don’t get it. Right and wrong don’t matter, only survival does.” Angela stepped away from the furious reporter. “Save your resignation. I won’t accept it yet. I know what I’m doing and you can quit once you understand that.”
Cynthia thought of the nights with Matt, of the service she’d put in, and turned away from her team leader. “I miss him, Angie. What did you do to me?”
Angela didn’t answer and Cynthia walked away as she muttered, “Get ready for it. I’ll be the first Eagle to leave.”
Angela doubted that was true, but didn’t argue the point. Cynthia would also adjust. She hadn’t been forced into anything, nor tricked into it, despite what she was currently feeling. She’d been given something she couldn’t refuse and after the first trip as XO, Angela was sure the reporter would accept what had happened and decide to stay.
Cynthia’s newspaper had been put on hold. They couldn’t spare the supplies or her time. There were too many other important things they needed to accomplish. That was another reason for the reporter’s lagging spirits.
Marc didn’t miss any of it and like Cynthia, he was surprised by the cold calculation. He hadn’t thought Angela capable of all this.
Adrian knew, Marc thought. He saw this right away, knew she’d be capable of the intricate plots and setups. And if he knew her that well on sight, what does it say about my bond with her?