by Angela White
“Uh, they’re about to leave,” a voice above them said pointedly. “If you’re going in, now is the time.”
They looked up to see no one there.
“Who is that?”
Crista had to stick a hand from her blind and wave before they found her location.
“Oh, too good,” Becky praised. The hammock was cleverly hidden by blending with the tree trunk. One of the newer models that had come out before the war, the hammock was horizontally hung, with branches woven into the straps until it appeared to be a part of the tree.
Even Seth was impressed, but he mostly felt relief. Crista was one of the best snipers in camp. He was suddenly sure she wasn’t alone here.
Seth glanced around subtly, searching. He was rewarded by Zack’s face a few trees away. He was using the same setup as Crista.
Seth realized there were hammocks and fighters all through these trees, watching them in relief that the waiting was over.
“Feel better now?”
Seth nodded at Becky’s breathless question, realizing she’d been scared. “If you keep lying to me, we’re going to have problems, Rebecca.”
Seth waited for her anger or a denial, and was surprised by her answer.
“I’m an Eagle, Seth. I follow orders. So do you.”
She turned toward the camp. In a few seconds, all hell would break loose and Seth would casually join the fleeing soldiers during the chaos, wearing Kenn’s dog tags.
Being a cop was very close to being a soldier. Other than terminology, he would have no trouble blending in. Angela had provided close lessons with Marc and Kenn on the guns and gear he was currently carrying, though Seth hadn’t known why he’d been taught those things until now.
“It’s a go!”
Seth controlled himself as he watched Becky vanish into the sudden chaos, covered by Zack’s constant firing and Crista’s careful shots. Those two were a lethal pair.
Seth waited like was supposed to, even when he saw Becky grabbed by a huge soldier. The big man dropped her almost immediately, staring down in horror. When he lifted his own gun and put it in his mouth, unnoticed by the other soldiers trying to survive the unexpected assault, Seth realized what Becky had been hiding. She could take over a person’s mind and make them do things. Bad things.
5
“I’m leaving now.”
Kendle didn’t look up from her glower at the small camp of soldiers on the rise below them. She was two minutes from dropping. She didn’t need Kevin’s distraction.
Kevin went to his team. “Let’s go.”
His team had shown up during the night to offer protection and deliver the boss woman’s newest orders.
“Your people need you. Leave Kendle.”
Kevin didn’t have anything else pulling him away now. He felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders as he chose to return to his goals of being the best Eagle in camp. He would no doubt spend a lot of sleepless night from here wondering what had gone wrong with Cynthia, but he would get through it.
Kendle heard them leave, but didn’t care. She didn’t want the bonds that Angela and her haven were trying to force on her. She wanted blood.
Kendle understood on some level that Angela had sent her over the edge on purpose, but the rage in her mind was constant. She didn’t have the strength to fight it anymore.
Kendle jumped down off the edge, knives out and ready. Saw the two other Eagle teams camped under the ledge, but it was too late to go back. Her mind switched off and the animal came out.
Not very far away, Kevin and his team stopped, exchanging unsure glances. They didn’t like leaving anyone to die, let alone a woman, and it was obvious that that’s what they were about to do. The sound of men shouting was proof that Kendle had drawn more trouble than she could handle alone.
“She made her choice. Let’s go. The boss needs us.”
There was nothing else said, even when a woman’s desperate screams echoed across the mountainside.
6
“That’s one of ours,” Jennifer said, stopping. She and Kyle were doing a fast hike through the paths, but with so many mined places, it was hard to maintain a steady pace. Being able to recognize the Safe Haven equipment was helping them identify dangerous areas, but there were camps of soldiers to sneak around and rain running down the cliffs in furrows.
“Should we–”
“No.”
Jennifer knew Angela would have their people covered. If she didn’t, there was a reason for it and Jennifer wasn’t going to interfere. Add that to the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and it came out in a harsh, demanding tone that Kyle associated with the witch.
“We have our orders.”
“Down!”
Jennifer dropped to the ground as a branch swung out, spikes meant to impale her. She stayed down, catching her breath.
Kyle waited for her to be ready. He’d known she was tough, and she was doing well, but he was still beyond furious that Angela had sent them all out here this way. Surely there had been a better plan!
Jennifer, who was so strong mentally that not even Angela could keep her out if she wanted in, didn’t tell Kyle the result would be worth it. If all of Angela’s team died, it was worth this goal, but it was also one the males would never have allowed, let alone supported. Their leader was a clever, evil, problem-solving bitch. Jennifer was suddenly very proud to have served her, no matter for how short a time.
The sounds of battles behind them pushed Kyle and Jennifer back to their trekking. The mobster kept her close, sharp gaze picking out holes, triggers for traps and other obstacles, hoping the soldiers coming up the mountain were being as careless as they sounded.
“They might be blowing them before they reach it,” Jennifer reminded, not wanting to get their hopes up for a victory. Even if Angela got what she wanted, Safe Haven could still lose enough people to be devastated, including Angela herself.
Jennifer’s stomach flipped, hard and fast. She leaned over the faint trail, retching.
Kyle watched their backs nervously, hating the sudden lull in the noise. Jennifer’s sounds would carry…
A series of thundering explosions echoed from below them, signaling the onset of Angela’s chain.
Kyle grabbed Jennifer by the arm. “Come on!”
They both knew there would only be a short time until the chain caught up with them. They plunged ahead, hoping not to blow themselves up.
Jennifer gagged again, stomach out of control.
Kyle lifted her over his shoulder, ignoring the mess as he hefted them up the last part of this cliff and onto a flatter area. It was covered in tents and soldiers who’d heard the explosions and already started to flee instead of waiting for it to reach them. Until Kyle burst into their campsite. For one second, none of them moved except Jennifer, who retched over Kyle’s shoulder, and then the soldiers turned to fight, going for their guns.
Kyle ran toward the side of the cliff, knowing he’d never make it.
Jennifer raised her gun, firing wildly as she puked again. Her witch came forward to direct the aim.
Kyle moved faster, picking out the edge. They were almost…
Kyle arched as the slug hit, thrown off his feet. They both fell forward and over the edge of the cliff, with Jennifer screaming and Kyle not reacting at all.
“Get them!”
The soldiers followed their surprise prey to the edge, but the drop was too far to see the bottom. Rain, mud, and debris were rolling down the cliff. It was impossible to see where the bodies had fallen.
“Go down and get them!” the highest ranked man ordered through the storm and explosions echoing upward.
“No way, sir!” one of the men shouted angrily. “I’m heading away from that noise!”
The other men followed the rebel and the officer was forced to do the same, thinking there was no way the couple could have survived the fall even if none of the bullets had hit.
Kyle lay still at the bottom of the ledge, bur
ied in mud and almost unable to move. Pain, hot and sharp, rushed over his spine as if Angela were punishing him again.
Jennifer had landed further down, rolling with the water. She pushed herself up dizzily, blood running down the side of her face. “Kyle?”
She stood up, shivering, and found his still form lying in the thick mud. “Kyle!”
Jennifer splashed to him, and rolled him over, seeing the red water. She screamed for the witch as her hand found his injury and tried to plug the hole.
Let him die.
Jennifer wanted to shout in denial and managed not to. Save him!
You agreed with Angela. You know she’s right. Let him die now and save him the pain of later.
Jennifer couldn’t do it. Kyle had healed her in too many ways for her to abandon him like this. In all the leaving scenarios she’d foreseen, he’d still been alive.
Save him! Jennifer sobbed. Give him my son’s life.
He isn’t injured badly enough to use your credit, the demon confided reluctantly. She’d clearly been hoping Jennifer would leave him here to die in the explosions that were steadily getting closer.
The witch sent power through Jennifer’s hand and Kyle arched again, gaining consciousness as the bullet was forced out of his body.
Kyle’s scream hurt Jennifer in ways she had no time to examine as shouts of fleeing soldiers came.
“Get up!”
She helped Kyle to his feet, aware of his daze, and got them headed back up the water. It would be treacherous, but still better than the areas that were mined. At least the pounding water would have cleared out the traps.
Kyle hugged Jennifer and tried to stay on his feet, barely aware of what was happening as the witch continued to heal his wounds. It was a painful, distracting process that left him breathless and groaning.
“Shhh,” Jennifer cautioned, leading them to a small stand of trees for cover as more voices echoed close behind them.
“Get down!” she ordered in a hiss, shoving him.
Kyle lay still in the mud with Jennifer across his back as the two teams of soldiers came running through.
“Keep moving!”
“Get higher!”
Fleeing the chain of events, the soldiers were on top of Kyle and Jennifer in seconds, and then gone, leaving only muddy prints and relieved hearts.
“Let’s go,” Jennifer said, pulling on his arm.
Kyle stopped her, recognizing the area they were in. “Over here.”
He led them to a small cliff and began feeling around on the black wall.
Jennifer grinned in surprise when the blackness fell away to reveal a cave that had been hidden by a simple black sheet.
The pair went inside, replacing the cover, and waited for the explosions to stop. As soon as it was over or at least settled down, they would head out.
Jennifer, stomach rolling again, quickly got a drink from her nearly empty canister and tried to think good thoughts.
Kyle was still too dazed for clear thinking. He spent the time counting explosions and marveling over her gifts. He’d worn a double vest set up, but hadn’t counted on being shot in the small of the back. By all rights, he should be dead.
7
On the top of Lookout Mountain, Angela and her small group were the only ones remaining. Everyone else was protected in the dens she’d chosen, or below her, fighting for all their lives.
The morning had come with heavy grit above a layer of nasty black clouds that splattered them with angry drops of acid rain. Weakened by time, the chemicals no longer caught fire as easily, but it still caused discomfort against skin. The hives and itches spread with the storm, drenching friend and foe alike.
“Anything yet?” Shawn asked, pushing a hot cup of stale coffee into her icy hands. She hadn’t slept.
“Give the weather more time to work,” she answered vaguely, ignoring the steaming cup in her hand. She was peering down the mountain, spotting heat clusters and waiting traps–potential disasters that she now had no control over. Once the mines were triggered, other layers of her hell would be activated and from there, hundreds more would die. Angela had left herself only a single choice in the plan and she peered down the last ridge with that moment on her shoulder. She saw too many of her fighters who would be trapped to ignore the small twinge of concern. It would lessen the damage she was about to do, but it would save the lives of her front line. Angela keyed her mike, very pleased with Jeff’s ingenuity. The field radios would also be heard by the soldiers, but her people had extra batteries and orders not to shut theirs off in case of an emergency.
“Wait.”
Angela let off the button, turning to glare at Adrian, who she wasn’t sending anywhere that she couldn’t get to him in mere seconds.
“Give it another hour before you call. It’ll give away too many positions to do it now.”
“Why do you keep trying to help me? I’m handing you over to save the camp.”
Adrian shrugged, leaning against the bars. There wasn’t room to lie down. “The future. You know about the future, don’t you, baby-cakes,” he taunted.
“Don’t call me that!”
Adrian chuckled, shaking his head. “We would have been fire and brimstone together.”
Angela was now able to recognize the way he was trying to manipulate her. She hit the mike while staring into his nervous eyes. “The area you are about to enter is dangerous. Safe Haven people are already clear. You will kill more than half of your remaining five hundred men. We will outnumber you. Drop your weapons on a main road and go to your bunker. Do it now.”
Angela let the evil come forward to make sure they understood she wasn’t bluffing. “Or I will kill every last one of you. Please consider attacking Donner instead. A high place in my army goes to the man or woman who brings me any piece of Major Donner.” She cackled a bit. “I prefer a whole head, but even eyes will work.”
Donner’s sharp voice echoed across the radios of his men, giving away their locations and saving Safe Haven teams who were being snuck up on. “When we take their camp, you can rape any female you want, any age!”
“He still thinks men can be controlled with sex,” Angela pointed out. “I know it takes blood. I’ll set you to cleaning out our country, cleansing it of the evil that he represents.”
She paused to let Donner reply, not expecting him to as he realized she’d tricked him into triggering radios and locations.
Angela hung up her mike, almost able to feel the blood barreling towards her on the edges of the next black storm cloud. It was about to get very ugly. Someone’s group had chosen to go forward. It would trigger the others.
“Welcome to the One Day War of the new world,” she whispered.
Behind her, Adrian was trying desperately to figure out why Angela was doing everything she could to stir the pot instead of stopping it from boiling. He knew she had to have an ulterior motive, something larger than defeating Donner, who they both knew wasn’t really a match for either of them.
What prey are you hunting? he wondered. And why do you need bait like Donner? And me?
Angela felt his curiosities and stayed facing the battlefield, glad he wasn’t shoving into her mind yet for details. If he discovered her true plans, he would interfere and that would ruin everything she was doing. So far, only he or Seth could do that. Seth, she trusted to make the right choice. Adrian, she was set to sacrifice.
Chapter Twenty-One
All Day Battle
September 9th 2013
1
“Here they come.”
Theo’s team had been in the field since the alarms sounded. The noise of the explosions was something of a relief. They were ready to go home.
The small group watched the soldiers fleeing towards them with little compassion. It was life or death now.
Theo nodded to Candy, who had worked surprisingly well with them on this run.
Candy, feeling better with time around a solid group, pushed the button as she�
�d been shown and the land below them exploded in a hail of wooden shrapnel as the trees blew apart.
Theo had timed it to come in stages, as one group ran by and made it, the next was hit. As those who made it through the gauntlet of exploding trees came toward the ledge, Theo and his team was there to open fire.
The shots rang between the explosions of the chain that had nearly reached their altitude.
Theo nodded again. “Do it.”
Candy hit the last button with a small measure of satisfaction. “For Lee!”
The bottom of the ledge rumbled as the charges went off, the entire cliff rattling, groaning, and then giving way to roll down and crush the soldiers.
Theo and his group spun around to flee…and found another group of strangers standing behind them with their hands full of stones.
Theo didn’t like the look of them, but they clearly weren’t soldiers, so he didn’t draw his gun.
“Who are you?” Everett asked, staring at the Eagle uniforms. “You from Safe Haven?”
“Yes,” Candy confirmed, tone soothing despite the chaos coming for them next. “We are. Are you?”
Everett didn’t answer, except to motion toward the faint path that Theo had been leading his team toward.
Theo didn’t wait for a second invitation. The stone throwers looked dangerous and he needed to get Candy to camp before the final battle.
“Tell your boss we’ll be hanging out here, catching the strays.”
“I will,” Theo answered, letting all of his team go first. As the strangers disappeared behind the trees and boulders, Theo shuddered a little and got moving faster. The chain would reach this area in the next minute. He had to get them under cover now!
“There!” A small cleft of boulders provided a tiny space that the five people crammed into. They held onto each other as the mines in their zone started blowing. The ground shook, dirt and mud flying and then explosions were going off right next to them.