by Angela White
“Why can’t you leave her alone?”
Adrian stopped, wiping his brow with a sweaty sleeve before pinning the teenager with a cool look. “You don’t know?”
Charlie flushed under the light scold, but held his ground. “I know the truth, no matter what the camp is told.”
Adrian scowled at him. “The truth is only an illusion in any group of people, son. You’ll figure that out. In the meantime, swallow the snot that can’t wait to fly out of your mouth and ask what you want to know.”
It was the roughest he’d ever been with Charlie. Most grown men would have withered beneath his tones.
The sullen boy only turned a darker shade of red, face saying he didn’t want to keep going, but he was.
“Why did you train her to take your place?” The child’s tone lowered, became pain-filled. “Is it really what was best for the camp…or is it personal?”
It was demanded with so much genuine pain that Adrian didn’t hesitate. “Why does it have to be one or the other? Why not both?”
There was a stunned silence where even the Eagles on duty around them forgot to breathe.
The noises of the camp rolled on the wind as the two males stared at each other, one in shock and the other in complete control.
Adrian waited until the boy was about to speak, expression saying it was ugly, and cut him off. “As her blood, it’s natural to question my personal interest in her, but as for your version of the truth, it doesn’t exist. She’s not betraying your dad.”
Adrian stripped his gloves to fish for a smoke. “Though I wouldn’t fault her if she did and neither would most of the Eagles.”
Charlie waited silently, stunned to have been given honesty.
“We have rough roads ahead and not enough warriors,” Adrian stated, never doubting what came next or what his response should be. “You still see the timid mouse that my right hand man beat on. She no longer exists. Your mother is now a leader of men.”
“And the personal?” Charlie forced out.
Adrian tossed his butt into one of the empty cans and met the teenager’s wary gaze. “She’ll need someone to care for her if your dad doesn’t make it back.”
Adrian’s blue eyes lit up with a deep hunger that the hormone-filled teenager recognized instantly.
“And I want that job like I’ve never wanted another. I’ve searched for her my whole life and I have the ability to make her happier than any of the men who’ve had her light.”
Adrian went back to shoveling; aware that he’d sped his plans up, but wasn’t overly concerned. It was about time everyone knew he wanted her. More changes were coming.
“If your dad does return, I’ll step aside, like I’ve been doing since she got here.”
Charlie took it all in as evenly as he could. He hadn’t considered what would happen if Marc died. His mom would fall apart.
“Does…does she want you?”
Adrian snorted in bitter amusement. “That, is another matter entirely. I am the wrong one to ask.”
“She won’t give me an answer.”
Adrian sighed miserably. “Because it’s hard for her to accept. Yes, she might eventually take my comfort, but she’d never forgive me or herself. If your dad dies, I’ll be there for her, but she’ll pretend I’m him.”
Charlie opened his mouth to blast out the awful heaviness that thought brought. And went back to shoveling instead. If he’d lost Tracy to the water snake, he might have done the same thing. He already couldn’t imagine being without her.
“How do you hold on when that’s all you have to look forward to?”
Adrian couldn’t refuse to answer now and he found himself giving all of the truth, something he rarely did. “I love her. She’ll need me to put her back together. My life means nothing compared to hers.”
That type of selflessness was something Charlie respected, but didn’t understand except in the smallest terms. He hadn’t been through Adrian’s decades of pain and hell. Hopefully, he never would.
Adrian waited for the next rounds of questions.
“Tracy isn’t going to service the Eagles anymore.”
Adrian smirked at the quick topic change and the new warning. “Have you cleared that with her?”
Charlie flushed.
Adrian pushed, “Her choice, right?”
“Our choice.”
“You’d better clear that one with your mom, then. It’s still a couple months shy of your birthday.”
Charlie waved a frustrated hand at the preparations going on around the camp. “We may not have months!”
Adrian found it harder to pretend than he usually did. “Still, rules are important, even when it seems grim.” He glanced up. “If you do it, she has to let the others here who’ve been waiting to be legal couples. You’ll throw off all the balance we’ve made. You’re her son. If she makes an exception for just you, she loses respect. Be sure your choices won’t hurt the camp.”
Charlie took the advice to heart and then continued on to his next issue. He’d asked to be put with Adrian.
Kyle hadn’t argued. He’d known what was coming. The Eagles didn’t have a right to that series of conversations. As her son, Charlie did and they were eager to know the results.
“Conner’s hiding something.”
“Yeah,” Adrian grunted. “But what?”
Charlie was glad Adrian had also noticed. “He blocks too well. You’ll have to have my mom do it.”
“Why not tell her yourself?”
Charlie shrugged. “I don’t want her to think I’m jealous or anything. I like Conner and it worries me. He’s not happy here.”
“No, he’s not,” Adrian agreed. He didn’t tell Charlie that Conner wanted the same as what he had when his mom had first come–to be alone with his parents and for everyone else to go away. Conner also didn’t like it that his father wasn’t in charge of the herd. It wasn’t how he remembered things.
“I got all that, but there’s something else,” Charlie pointed out lowly. “He has a dark spot.”
Adrian knew. “I’ll handle it.”
“Good.”
Adrian looked over. “What else?”
Charlie laughed, feeling better now. “I know what Becky’s gift is.”
“What?”
“She’s a tracker. She has a mental grid like my dad. She can tell us where the enemy is, if he’s close.”
New plans began spinning, new threads twining around the complex ball that already existed. Adrian leaned the shovel against the truck. “Guess I’ll be talkin’ to your mom now, after all.”
Charlie watched him go, noting the proud look around the camp, and realized Adrian’s good mood swing had come from knowing that he would spend a few minutes around Angela.
“I won’t go through this with you, Tracy. Please don’t try to put me through the same shit,” Charlie muttered in annoyed resignation. “I’ll walk.”
4
Angela had listened to Samantha’s weather report without any change in expression, but in her heart, she’d placed the warning with the sense of doom that had been haunting her. That was why Adrian had them planning to leave the country, instead of going to ground here. He knew Yellowstone was going to blow, had probably seen it in his dreams. It was yet another foresight on his part that might save them all.
As it was, the steady temperature drop was already making both of Safe Haven’s leaders nervous. How soon would winter be on them at this rate? With the trips and extra stops Angela had planned, water and fuel wouldn’t be a problem. They were almost full. The camp had voted for Lookout Mountain and she would take them, but not before gathering what they would need to live on and fight with. Adrian had taught her well.
Angela forced her thoughts from that man’s actions, instead considering how happy it had to make him that they now had so many children. There were more than any of them had found in one place since the war, and it was impossible not to like them. Thanks to the den mothers and Eagles, th
ese children filled areas of camp with laughter that was sorely needed to remind these people of what they were about to be fighting for. More than thirty kids now called Safe Haven home, leading to longer, more luxurious RVs to hold them all. There were now five of these shiny, old world reminders and double the security. Not that it mattered. Daryl’s team was always near them now, though not only to protect the kids from outsiders. The new age limit had given these men insights that the other males here didn’t have, plus, Daryl still had them observing one of their own for a possible violation. After handing out punishments to Seth and Kyle, Daryl’s team had become the camp enforcers. One of them–Billy–had found a girl he liked too much while they’d been doing duty over the kids in camp. His team had noticed.
Angela didn’t think there was anything to worry about, unlike when they’d been watching Crone. In fact, she thought it was proof of what Adrian had told her after the last camp meeting. The Eagles would become protectors of their females and age wouldn’t make a difference. Their little girls would have happy childhoods and then be eased into breeding by caring, strong men who could love and protect them. Billy was likely to be the first one to fall that way. Others would follow, but all of them would be monitored. It had to be handled carefully, case-by-case, but it had to happen. They needed babies more than even bullets. Jennifer’s birth had resulted in a child, one of two, but another woman had lost hers since then. They were down to four coming births, with no new pregnancies that they were aware of. It was forcing the camp to accept that every little girl born now would help them continue to exist later.
Angela looked to where Jennifer was enjoying a few minutes of peace. The other college kids from her first pickup were helping with weapons and classes where they could, as were many of the people who’d had the time to settle in. Even the Nuns were assisting, learning how to load weapons. They’d refused to take the defense or gun classes, though. Cesar’s former slaves, on the other hand, were excelling in those two areas. They were also causing trouble.
Lilly and Grace hadn’t forgiven Jennifer anything. Having them in a tent together made for a tense class. There was more to come between those three, Angela was sure. To counter the danger, she’d placed Beth, the pregnant nun, under Jennifer’s care. That meant all of the pregnant females came around, because Beth had made friends. It wasn’t uncommon for the breeders in camp to do everything together, even eat. It gave Jennifer friends and protection when the Eagles couldn’t stay close to her, and allowed the mothers-to-be to get a view of what they were in for as she learned to care for little Autumn.
“New arrivals in the QZ,” the radio blared.
“Copy.” Angela pushed up from the table. It was her day to sweep the new people. Tomorrow, Jennifer and Charlie would cover it.
Wincing slightly as she curled her newest ingrown toenail into flesh, Angela glanced over the smoke detectors on the fences, then the patches on the guards walking those areas–making sure they didn’t have any wolves in sheep’s clothing again. It’s clear, the witch reported.
Angela went back to her thoughts and observations. She was keeping them camped close to water for the fire safety, but also because so far they hadn’t found a sinkhole near a water mass. It also allowed her to keep up with the sanitary conditions despite the new influx of people. When Adrian had said the call would bring new fighters to them, he’d been right. The ranks were slowly filling out and giving them hope. They now had one hundred Eagles, though a third were rookies. It would be a while before she felt like they had enough protection.
“Good evening, Safe Haven.” Kevin’s calm tones over the radio started the official settling of the camp for the night.
Angela listened to him for a minute, pausing on her way to the QZ gate. She wasn’t picking up anything bad about the new arrivals. She hadn’t told anyone yet that she didn’t have to be around or even talk to the people anymore. All she had to do was tell the witch to show her their secrets. Right now, she could do it from across half the camp. It was a defense she was working on expanding every day.
“We’ve gotten news that Marc’s team has engaged the enemy. They took out a full platoon and two tanks!” the radio blared.
A loud cheer rose across the camp, but not from those who knew what that battle must have been like.
Angela steeled her emotions and was glad when Kevin got soothing music rolling through the tents and campers. She was having them keep the camp updated about the good news, but sometimes the bad slipped in and she had to spend hours getting them under control again. Kevin was better now about letting the herd hear what she needed, but whenever new people made it out of the QZ, not all of them kept quiet.
Angela didn’t think it would matter for much longer. Once the fighting reached the base, it would sink in for everyone that the soldiers were really coming. She planned to have Safe Haven in the mountains by then, or as close to it as she could get.
Kenn and Kyle had indeed become her point men in battle plans, but they had also become her go-to guys for supply runs and planning traps. Once she tossed an idea out, those two ran with it and came up with deadly results. Once the camp got to Lookout Mountain, they would start setting up and assembling those weapons and defenses.
Across the camp, laughter spilled out. Angela was fairly sure she knew where it was coming from. The campfire group now had more than thirty members who could be found around the flames at any time from dusk to dawn. Sometimes the group was quiet, reminiscing or planning, but mostly, they were laughing and living, and Angela was grateful. It was another sound that Safe Haven was low on now.
As she walked by the animal area, Angela spotted Adrian and paused, unable to look away. Beautiful muscles rippled with renewed health and strength, reminding her of how lonely she was.
Angela tore her gaze from the man and forced her feet to move. She drew in calming air and tried to relax as a wave of nausea flew through her. Where was that cast iron stomach now?
Before Angela could make it to the chair, a small group of new men met her and began blowing her world apart.
“You must be the Ghost’s other woman. Wow. Lucky man.”
Angela paused at the words, too slow to brace herself. “Other woman?”
“Should have known one wasn’t enough for a man like that,” Atolius said in awe.
He shook her hand vigorously.
Angela’s face filled with a fury that drove him backward, where he tripped and scrambled away with the knowledge of death coming into his face.
“Angela.”
Seth’s voice brought her around.
She quickly turned away. “Welcome to Safe Haven. May it become your home.”
She cleared the group of tired fighters with that, and vanished into the shadows.
5
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.
Adrian’s denial would have been the end of it if he had been talking to anyone else.
Angela was already pissed. She wasn’t going to permit more interference. “I’m taking three men and my snipers go where I do. I have three alarms, two guns, my K-bar, a wrist blade, and three speed loaders on my belt. I also have my mini-kit around my waist, an extra radio inside my shirt, and enough fucking rage to light this camp’s fuse.”
Angela shoved by the men. “Excuse me.”
Nursing a headache, Kenn joined the grumbling men around the QZ and saw Angela striding determinedly for the gate.
“Where’s she going?”
“Out to visit the camps on our perimeter,” Adrian growled, unable to stop her by his own rules.
Kenn, who hadn’t lost much of his scheming mind, took advantage. “If she won’t be stopped, she should be protected.”
Adrian snorted. “You heard her. She thinks she has it covered.”
Kenn waved at the kits in the rear of his truck. He kept several bags around camp, packed and ready. “Go with her.”
Angela turned to argue and Kenn raised his voice a bit, to be sure she understo
od he meant to fight her on this. “Take him or stay here. We’ll hold a vote while you’re gone. Safe Haven’s leader won’t be allowed to leave camp again until after this threat is over, no matter who has control. It’s a security risk.”
Angela’s temper flared, but she spun toward the gate without refusing.
Adrian gave Kenn a curious look as he handed him the kit and an extra bandolier.
“You’re welcome.”
Guessing, Adrian kept his head down, voice even lower. “You shouldn’t do this. The Eagles won’t like it.”
Kenn snorted. “They liked it when you were happy. If this is what it takes, they’ll support it.”
“Not if he comes back alive,” Adrian stated lowly. “They’ll view it as a failed conspiracy.”
Kenn didn’t agree with the assumption that it was a lost cause. “That only becomes a problem if either of them insist on it and they won’t.”
Adrian didn’t have time to argue further as the gates slid open. “Thank you.”
He hurried to catch up as their snipers rushed to keep them covered.
Kenn waited for the gate to close, then gestured to Kyle. “You’re in charge. I’ll be around if you need me.”
Kyle was dumbfounded by the gesture of respect. He’d been preparing to deny Kenn lead of the herd for even half an hour. It would have distracted him from Adrian and Angela being alone in the dark together with only half a dozen men for protection. If he’d known how the men in the camps around them felt about her, Kyle might have been able to relax.
Kenn walked away, calming nearby men with jokes and light chatting.
Kyle realized the Marine had changed again while they weren’t looking. Maybe it was the pranks, he thought. We should try it on other assholes.
6
Angela stormed into the woods around them, but stopped as soon as she was out of sight of the camp. She slowly pulled in the rage. She was careful to only let the camp get as much information as they needed to have, but the pressure! Angela tried to calm down, but she missed Marc more than she’d thought was possible.
He was off dying for them and had to live with the knowledge that she’d sent him there and would eventually end up in Adrian’s arms for the comfort. The dreams were hard on her and they refused to leave Marc’s face the same in her mind. They kept merging until it was a different pair of stunning, blue eyes that she was begging for release.