by Angela White
Jennifer waited until her entire group had been herded away from the inside zone, and for Cynthia’s clan to be brought into that area. Then, she went outside to Zone A, where the dozen refugees coming in were lined up with possessions and nervous expressions. The rest had been told it was Zone C or nothing. They were currently walking down the cold hill, shouting curses.
“Your turn, folks! Come on now.”
It was a cold, long afternoon for everyone laboring. Jennifer kept the zone rotation going, aware of Kyle tiredly trailing her as he’d insisted on doing until the gate was fixed. It gave her an extra boost of confidence and she was pleased with herself when the chore was finished. Zone C was also being repaired while it was empty, and a roof was being added. The chicken wire would only slow determined people, but it was a resource that Safe Haven had an abundance of, with little use due to the weakness. There was also a second gun tower going up and Jennifer hoped it didn’t have to be used like she’d dreamed about. Kyle had been merciless, but the flood had been unstoppable.
Jennifer signaled to Shane as he helped the new group settle into Zone B, where they were next in line for testing and admittance. She estimated there were three more group in trucks and cars still waiting to be evaluated. She beckoned Greg over. “I don’t know where she wants the rest put.”
Greg handed her a note, profile uneasy.
After Shane’s group, tell everyone else there’s a two-day wait. They can camp outside Zone A.
Jennifer didn’t argue. The people had to be tested, observed, and then questioned. That took time.
Jennifer gave the message to Morgan, who had taken over as Point man on the gate for this shift. “Keep repeating it until everyone out there gets the message. Then send it over the air.”
Morgan recognized Angela’s handwriting and did as he was instructed.
“There is now a two-day wait to be evaluated for entry to Safe Haven. Please camp around the gates marked with the letter A,” speakers blared.
In front of the gate, three teams of Eagles retreated and raised their guns. The shouts and curses that came from the announcement were intimidating after the calm behavior of their own people.
Jennifer waited with the rest of the Eagles to discover if there would be a fresh attack, but the shouts quickly faded to mutters. Jennifer honed in on some of these.
“They’re gonna stop takin’ people in!”
“Yes. Not enough room.”
“Or food.”
“We got here just in time.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. Survivors have been thinking about coming here, but everyone has to come now or risk not making it in before winter sets. This place is going to crawl with desperate survivors.”
“Will we be inside before then?”
“I hope so. Camping out in the open like this won’t be safe.”
Jennifer marked the people who had been talking. They were in a small blue truck and had a small child. She saw Kendle still standing nearby, also guarding the gate while covered in blood. If not for her own foray into the gruesome, Jennifer wouldn’t have understood the pain the woman was feeling. It was never easy to face what lurked inside.
Jennifer scanned the pile of bodies around Kendle and then the crew coming to carry them outside. Her gaze went to the line of ants already dragging off the corpses there. Feeding them such an awful diet wouldn’t result in anything good and Jennifer was hoping that Angela had a solution planned. The ants were still getting larger and each batch of hatchlings that emerged was smarter than their parents. It was terrifying, but also fascinating. The earth was undergoing a massive change because of the war. Species were evolving at rates that people rarely witnessed, let alone experienced. Jennifer knew of a few insects that would spontaneously mutate during a scarcity of food, but it was unheard of in humans. She didn’t think the chemicals released in the war could have produced such extreme reactions. Even the instincts of the animals were changing.
Jennifer kept tugging at those mental threads while she patrolled the area. Marc and Angela were in the medical bay now that order had been restored, and Jennifer didn’t want to be there. It still reminded her of giving birth to two babies, but only having one to hold.
5
“Samantha, you’re being suspended from Eagle duties for a week as a punishment for your lack of caution, which resulted in the injury of a teammate. Do you accept this decision?”
Samantha nodded stiffly, cheeks bright red. She was standing next to David’s cot, fists clenched in her pockets.
Around them, injured men stared in surprise at the punishment. David had refused to tell anyone exactly what had happened to cause his injury, which usually meant the infraction wasn’t officially handled.
Angela knew that and she didn’t like it. She never had. “Is there anything you’d like to say?”
Samantha shook her head as tears welled.
“So be it.” Angela didn’t let herself soften the blow. Samantha had to learn to follow the rules, but she really had paid enough without the suspension. Sam was being used as an example to their new recruits.
Angela regarded David, tone not softening. “You’ve been cleared to remain in Safe Haven. If you go back to Adrian, you’ll have to stay there.”
David patted Samantha’s arm as he carefully stood up on the crutches the doctor had reluctantly given him a few minutes ago. “I’m leaving as soon as I’m cleared here.”
“You’re cleared,” the doctor stated curtly at Angela’s nod. “Take the medicine, change the dressing, let it heal.”
Samantha helped David out, torn between him and her duty to Safe Haven. Maybe Conner could help him too, but she doubted David would ask. The former soldier was more stubborn than even she was.
Angela gestured to Marc and followed him to the brig, where they were holding the man he had rescued from the house of horror. The man wasn’t locked up, but there were two guards inside the shelter with him.
Their brig was a long hallway with a row of cells welded and nailed to a wooden frame. It was drafty and uninviting, which was perfect for its purpose.
Angela let Marc go in first and he sat down on the small stool in the corner of the middle cell. If the stranger tried to hurt her, Marc would handle it.
“Who are you?” Angela asked as she swept his recovering pallor and empty food dishes. Though he’d been held hostage, he wasn’t really injured. With Marc’s stories of lurkers, she’d expected much worse.
The man slowly sat up on the cot, very aware of Marc’s big body in the space with him. He pushed up against the wall and kept the blanket around as much of his thin frame as he could. “Who do you want me to be?”
Angela had no door into his mind.
Marc gave a shake to indicate that he didn’t either.
“Not being trouble for me would be a great start.”
The man smiled regretfully, stroking his long beard. “I’m afraid I bring that to everyone. It’s just your turn.”
“Turn for what?” Marc demanded. “Who are you?”
“I’m the Keeper,” he replied, holding out a hand. “My name’s Chauncey.”
Angela knew Marc wouldn’t like it, but she still leaned forward and placed her hand in the stranger’s chilly grip.
“Ah…” Chauncey shut his bright green eyes and smiled wider. “I didn’t know that power was female. I sensed you months ago.”
Angela pulled her hand away, worrying over the black void that came up when she tried to penetrate his mind. “Angela.”
Chauncey looked over at Marc. “Then you have to be the Ghost. I wasn’t completely sure. You do an excellent job of dimming yourself, even during sleep.”
Marc grunted, studying and evaluating.
“What is a Keeper?” Angela asked. “We’re new.”
“That, you are,” Chauncey agreed, chuckling. “A Keeper does exactly that–keeps things. Myself, I track descendants.”
“How?” she asked, settling ont
o the stool outside the open cell door. Marc didn’t want her inside. She could feel that.
“I scan vast distances and determine where descendants are. In the old world, I kept track of the little red dots on my radar.”
“And now?” Marc asked coolly.
“Now, I search them out and place a name to that red dot,” Chauncey informed them. “It’s your turn to be…recorded, if you will, in the official registry.”
“The what?” Marc and Angela echoed together.
Chauncey chuckled again. “Someone has to keep track of things, you know. That’s my purpose.”
“Who gets the information?” Angela asked before Marc could threaten or demand.
“Why, the highest bidder, of course,” Chauncey answered, tone switching to that of a slick salesman. “If you pay the price, the information is nice.”
“How about I kill you instead?” Angela asked softly. “And any others like you.”
Chauncey tiredly leaned against the wall. “I wish someone would. I’m sick of bringing death.”
“How long until it arrives this time?” Angela demanded, using the man’s power as she motioned Marc out of the cell.
“Mere days, lady,” Chauncey responded gravely. “Four days and your soul. I’m also here to record that in the official registry.”
Angela gasped, filled with sudden dread.
Marc locked the cell door this time, scowling. “What?”
“That Maker Call put you on every radar in the world,” Chauncey told Angela gleefully. “I’m here to witness your fall from grace.”
“Witness for who?” she forced out, needing to hear it.
“The Creator. My dreams insisted that I get to Safe Haven and deliver his message. I didn’t expect to be giving it to a woman.”
Angela braced as Marc listened in disbelief.
Chauncey’s face became alive with fury as he shouted, “Murderers will never be forgiven!”
Angela laughed.
The harsh, bitter sound rang through the small jail and chilled even those outside who heard it.
Chauncey and Marc stared uneasily, uncertain what was going through her mind.
Angela slowly calmed down, wiping away tears. “I’m…sorry, but…it’s so funny!”
Marc realized the hormones were helping and waited patiently for it to pass as Chauncey began to glare.
“It’s just that, I was expecting a real threat, like my son or Marc,” she explained, still chuckling. “My soul is already damned!”
“What of your unborn child?” the Keeper asked slyly.
Angela lunged toward the bars, letting her rage be seen. She had just lost three rookies–three fine men–who hadn’t deserved their fate. “Be very careful.”
Chauncey flinched away from the menace and she sent a scornful gaze over him. “I’ll kill you before I let you sell your gifts to even one more person. Pick a side or die. You hold no power here.”
“You’ll never know,” Chauncey taunted arrogantly as he kept his distance. He had already figure out that Marc wouldn’t attack unless he threatened Angela. “You can’t get into my head.”
“Well, I can.”
Jennifer was in the doorway, personal shield glowing pale red.
The sight of her sent Chauncey into an immediate panic. “That’s not possible! There are none left!”
He scurried away from the bars and into the corner, but his eyes never left Jennifer. “There are no enforcers left!”
Surprised by the reaction, Angela called her witch forward. Enforcer?
The witch began to cackle. That explains it! Enforcers ensure that the Keepers stay in line. She’s an enforcer!
Angela smiled a bit at the new information and she swung toward Chauncey with it playing on her lips. “Would you like to change your answers?”
Trapped, Chauncey quickly nodded.
“New arrivals!” the radios crackled again.
“I’ll want a full report,” Angela told Jennifer as she left.
“You’ll get it,” the teenager promised, still staring at Chauncey. “He’ll talk or I’ll gut him like a fish,”
Following Angela, Marc smiled proudly. She got that from me. Safe Haven’s women were not to be trifled with and it was something all of the males here enjoyed. It let them sleep without worrying that their heart would ripped out, like Jeff’s had been.
6
“Got a minute?”
Shane spun to find Brittani behind him and he stumbled around the tent peg, tripping in the slush.
Brittani laughed, but quietly, so he wasn’t as embarrassed. She was trying to get her people settled into the fenced zone as quickly as she could so the tests could be handled.
Shane flushed and quickly picked himself up. “I do.”
“The doctor is coming for tests. What happens if he finds something?”
“Depends on how bad it is,” Shane answered honestly. “If you’re worried about Gus, don’t be. We only screen for stuff that can spread.”
The woman gave a relieved smile and returned to her assigned tent. Shane had told her to skip unpacking, that Angela had already approved them, but they still needed to stay at least one night and it would be cold. The light flurries currently splattering them said it would stay below freezing.
“Comin’ in, base,” the radio crackled with Ryan’s voice. He was leader of the missing crew.
Shane turned with everyone else as engines sounded and five bikes carrying the crew drew cheers. They no longer had anyone unaccounted for.
The gate guards were ecstatic. Safe Haven still had roughly a hundred refugees waiting. They needed their men–all of them–to provide defenses if things went crazy again. They couldn’t afford to keep sending them out on rescue parties, or worse, to lose them.
Kenn came to Angela’s side and extended a small notebook.
Angela placed it in her coat pocket and Kenn slipped away to join the group of rookie Eagles carrying supplies to the men repairing the gate. When the others saw him, they would work harder.
“Something good?” Marc asked, already positive the book wasn’t.
Before Angela could answer, Shawn walked by, with Tara and Missy on his heels. Their quiet conversation drew her attention.
“If it had been going faster, that truck would have made it through!” Shawn exclaimed excitedly. “Being at the top of a hill has advantages.”
“But isn’t the den vulnerable to things like explosions and cave-ins?”
“Sure, but we have escape tunnels. I’m sure you’ve seen the guards on them.”
“Yes, I have.”
The trio left earshot, with Missy kicking dust against Shawn’s boots.
“I love you,” Angela said suddenly.
Marc caught the tone and grimaced.
Angela took his arm and led them to a secluded corner of the chaos, but before she could explain anything, another voice broke the cold air.
“I want justice!”
Darian came stomping up to them. “I demand to know the result of the moral board’s vote on the charges!”
“There was no vote,” Marc faced the man coldly. “Your sister was going to create a world of human slaves. We stopped her.”
“You had no right to make the choice!” Darian fumed. “You killed her before she even committed a crime!”
“Did I?” Angela asked icily. “Had she never taken an innocent life?”
Trapped, Darian glared. “Murderer.”
Around them, Eagles and camp members had stopped to gawk in surprise and disapproval.
“I think it’s time you left our hospitality,” Marc stated. He regarded Angela. “Yes?”
“Yes,” she agreed slowly. “I had hoped he would realize it’s wrong to enslave people.”
“Humans are inferior!” Darian snapped, revealing his true nature. “You’re a traitor to your own kind!”
“That’s enough!” Marc growled, moving forward. “Be out of Safe Haven by morning or I’ll make you go.
”
Darian wasn’t intimidated by Marc. He didn’t know that he should be.
“Traitors!” he accused scornfully. “Both of you.”
He stomped toward his tent.
“He feels the way his sister did,” Angela confirmed unhappily.
“Will he come back to haunt us?” Marc asked.
She sighed. “Don’t they always?”
“Do you want me to–”
“Yes.”
Marc still loathed using Adrian for anything, but being the executioner was what he deserved. Angela saw Cynthia staring toward Adrian’s site and said, “Have her deliver it. She’s going there as soon as we’re finished with the repairs on the gate.”
Cynthia needed to do the next interview for her paper and she’d requested that anyone but Daryl accompany her. Marc wondered about the conversations that wouldn’t go on the record, but he wasn’t overly concerned. Nothing Adrian did would earn him forgiveness. If they did leave this country, regardless of the situation, Marc wasn’t going to let the former leader on the boat. Adrian might make it to the island anyway, but it wouldn’t be on free ride. Those days were over.
7
More refugees came in overnight, but there was no room in the zones. Brittani’s group was inside the gate, and the Amish people had been released into the population with settling partners, but the outer zones had filled up as fast as they’d emptied them.
Marc and Zack got the new arrivals settled as quickly as they could in the blowing snow. Most of the other refugees were asleep as the new group came in and Marc was glad when respectful people emerged from their vehicles and asked for sanctuary. He put them outside Zone B after a scan with his demon and came into the main camp to warm up. The flurries had stayed through the night, as had the stiff wind and Marc recorded the temperature at 27°.
He and Charlie had also done a workout together where the boy hadn’t had much to say. Neither had Marc. They were both too cold and tired for personal drama, so the hour had been peaceful. Tracy had even joined them for the last few minutes and Marc had spent the time studying them. Other than anger over Tracy’s injuries, they were okay and Marc had left them alone in the tent without a chaperone. They didn’t need one.