by Angela White
“Got any use for a hot meal?”
Crista looked around, sure he was talking to someone else.
Jeff stiffened as she acted like she was too good to talk to him. “What?”
“I’m just not sure what’s going on,” Crista answered sharply. “You haven’t spoken to me in a week.”
Jeff sighed. He was still learning how to be around people again. Even before the War, he’d isolated himself. “I’d like to make breakfast.”
Crista wiped at sweat self-consciously. “What?”
“What, what?”
Crista snickered. “You are so bad at this.”
Jeff’s face reddened and she smoothly slid in front of him before he could stomp off. “What are you making me for breakfast?”
Jeff stared down into those mischievous brown eye, drowning. “What do you like?”
Crista groaned. “Anything other than fish.”
Jeff chuckled with her, observing the sun lighting up her skin. “I can do that.”
“Two minutes, ladies!” Cynthia called impatiently.
“When?” Jeff demanded, unconsciously leaning closer. “In the morning?”
Crista denied him regretfully. “I’m on duty or have classes for the next 12 hours. Dinner would work better.”
Jeff caught sight of Zack’s stunned face. “What will you tell him?”
Crista smiled, taking his breath. Jeff barely heard her answer.
“Nothing. I belong to me.”
7
“I want three teams sent out the day after tomorrow. We have to have everything on these lists.”
Angela handed Kenn the paper. “Let Brady know who you pick to go on which run. He has final approval.”
Kenn put the paper into his book and added a note. “Are you okay? You look…”
“Rough?” Angela supplied tiredly.
“I’m only asking because that strip of gray in your hair is almost white. It’s so bright, you look like you have a glow ring on.”
Angela sighed. “That explains why they were all staring at me, but I can’t worry about it now. You’ll take care of the supplies? We can’t win without the things on those lists.”
Kenn patted his notebook. “I’ve got it covered. We’ll bring in camp labor and teach them to protect us while we gather what we need. It’ll make them feel important.”
They are important, Angela thought, but didn’t correct the Marine. He was only capable of so much change at one time–as were they all, and he’d given her a confirmation of her plan without realizing it.
“Get the kids ready for a lesson tomorrow. I want them to spend time with the ants again.”
Kenn didn’t think Marc would protest like he had a little while ago. After everything else they were risking, it was little by comparison. The kids were in the training tent now, busy working. They’d begun with the odd instructions of making friends with the ants so they could be trained, and the kids hadn’t stopped yet.
Marc had come up with a brilliant way of feeding, and the ants and training them to stay on the west side of Safe Haven’s perimeter. It kept them from losing tires to rugged ant hills, but more, it gave them a warning on that side of the sprawling camp. The ants were becoming more and more vocal with each passing day. Whenever there was a problem, the guards knew. Marc was able to keep them in one area by having the garbage dumped there. It gave the ants exactly what they wanted, and when there wasn’t much garbage, the Eagles went to a nearby town and dug some up.
The Jr. Eagle lesson time had been up for a while. Occasionally a guard would peek inside to make sure everything was okay, or to deliver a snack. Some of the senior men realized Angela was keeping them occupied, but a few of the smarter among the camp also thought she was using them at the same time. It’s what Adrian would do and some of Safe Haven’s Eagles had recognized that.
Marc, seeing firsthand how smart she really was, had already come o the conclusion that she was dangerous. Until today, however, he still hadn’t been able to see her as a monster in any way. That had changed.
“We found prints,” Daryl stated, talking to Angela nearby. “We know where they’re hiding.”
Angela’s voice was eerie. “Justice will come to them through other means.”
“But the camp...”
“Will get to witness it,” Angela predicted, turning around.
Marc was standing behind her, waiting in the shadows until she was ready to be confronted, and Angela heaved a sigh of relief. It could be over now.
She motioned the others back and went to Brady.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d already seen this coming?” he asked.
“Because there was a plan on the list that I didn’t show anyone. It’s the plan I decided to go with.”
“What?”
Angela pulled up the exact words she’d written. “Option E. Force one showdown that requires the enemy to stock up and call in men before they can attack. Make them scared and jumpy along the way, wear them down and then wipe them out. Their numbers will be decimated, camp moral will soar, fighters will come in, and Safe Haven will be free to live and grow as we please.”
“Not many men here could lead a team to do all that,” Marc stated slowly, mind placing clues.
Angela’s hands clenched into fists. “You could.”
Marc realized all at once that he’d been toughened up for this moment, that she’d planned it all.
“Why would you do that?” Marc demanded. “Why would you turn me into a killer of women?”
“She was concerned that there was only Kenn to handle such a threat,” Kyle interrupted. “I learned to get over my own revulsion to fill a slot on that doomed team, but only two Eagles who can do it? It’s only enough if…”
“Those men are lethal,” Marc finished. She’d done it on purpose, to tempt him into giving into his harsher nature.
“Wake up,” his demon growled. “She did it to expose me. She wants me to kill for her.”
“You’re a bad-ass Marc, one of the few true dangerous men still alive. She did it because Safe Haven needs you.”
“It’s done now, either way,” Angela stated coldly. “And I suggest we inspect it from their side.”
Kenn did just that. “It’s been seven long months for them, too. One bunker may hold enough food and water to sustain a large population, but I’d bet they were over-capacity with all those draftees and their family members slipping in and out. The food is running low, fights are starting, and those in charge know they’ll lose control unless topside is reclaimed. So they sent out a couple patrols to recon whatever they could find.”
“And what they found, was Adrian.”
“Yes. They heard the calls the same as the others out in this apocalyptic nightmare. They knew the Major was waiting for him, so it didn’t make sense to waste men and supplies chasing him down.”
“But he escaped. They probably already knew that from the Major’s silence. They could stay to their side, but they won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because they need our gifts, but also because I challenged them,” Angela answered defiantly. “I drew a line in the sand and dared them to cross it.”
“Why?” Marc demanded.
Zack and the other Eagles waited for her to blow him off or blame something else, but Angela didn’t. All the lies would be cleared.
“Everyone assumed the troops would come for Adrian as soon as they discovered the Major’s death. I assumed the opposite. And if they didn’t come immediately, what would they do?”
Kenn answered. “Stock up and get ready.”
“Exactly. Adrian’s has been training me as a… well, a contingency analyst, I suppose. I examine the other side of the theory and on this one, I saw them coming for us right as we settled into the mountains for winter.”
Angela sent the image of a crippling explosion through the tent, the one from her dreams. “We would have lost almost everyone. I had to stop that, anyway I could.”
“What did you do, Angie?”
She met Marc’s eye without guilt showing, but inside, there was enough to drown by. “I gave up two of Safe Haven useless members and a few of the cowards who will slip off into the night while we prepare. I triggered the fight.”
“You did what?”
“I gave them Mitch and Matt,” Angela repeated tonelessly. “And I manipulated you into helping.”
“Yes, you did.”
Angela sighed grimly, but didn’t apologize. “Matt was going to hit us, either way. I delayed that hit, and then used it for our greater good.”
“What?”
“An attack, Brady, like with the balloon fumes. He was going to try to kill us all, including himself. The only way I could have stopped it was to have him removed.”
“And you couldn’t do that.”
“No. He had to prove the future, I had to know for sure that he was such a threat. When I understood he wasn’t going to be changed, I made plans based around it.
“And Mitch?”
“He was never going to quit, Marc. We delayed it so that Matt wouldn’t be alone in the end,” she explained.
“You set it all up!”
“Yes. I chose to sacrifice them to keep the camp alive and strong.”
“But they’re coming in force now, Angie!” Marc argued lowly. “Matt told them we were gearing up for a war and they’re coming in force to wipe us out. What have you done?”
“I gave us a chance,” she stated harshly. “We’ll get one shot where there wasn’t any before.”
“They’ll come in force,” he repeated.
“Yes, instead of tormenting us for the next decade or trapping us in the mountains when we’re unprepared. One fight for our freedom, one long, bloody battle instead of hundreds.”
There was silence for a moment where all of them realized she was right.
“What matters, is how they’ll come. Air or ground?”
Marc’s military mind was dragged into that against his will. He sighed heavily. “Give me a minute.”
Marc went to the far corner of the tent, staring at a corner in concentration, and Angela breathed a small sigh of relief. She’d expected this scene to be worse, but none of it mattered if he gave the wrong answer.
8
When Marc started to speak, all low conversations stopped.
“With all the extra bodies from the draft, they would have been short on space, which means short on standard equipment. Planes and tanks outside, under canopies. Those are now useless due to looting, weather, fuel and parts shortages. A full battalion after they hear Matt’s details on the Eagles and people here…”
Marc turned to the tense faces.
“Ground. They can’t transport that many men to an unsecured airstrip. Too much gas and too many unknown factors. Those planes are notorious for not being dependable. They’ll roll down 25 and take 40 straight in.”
Angela allowed herself to breathe. “Then we’ve got a chance to win, Brady. If they come by air, we lose unless we go underground and that will change Safe Haven in ways we can’t imagine.”
Marc stared at her for long minute, judging, putting pieces together. When he finally spoke, it rang through the tent.
“I want Adrian’s approval on all of this.”
Angela sucked in a wounded breath. “Adrian’s out of the loop now. He can’t know our strategy. He plans to give himself up when they come, to save the rest of us.”
“He should!” Marc swore angrily.
“But it won’t save us,” Angela insisted. “What happens to the rest of herd when one cow is found with a dangerous disease?”
Marc refused to give that answer.
“They would have killed everyone here. By letting Matt give them details, I’ve changed the rules of this game. They won’t try to kill us in one hit.”
“They’ll want to protect what they’re coming for,” Kenn guessed. “They may even try to negotiate.”
“Which is why you have to let me give myself up.”
Adrian limped into the meeting tent amid the protests and Kenn went to his side, automatically shoving his shoulder under Adrian’s hand for support.
“What’s the benefit?” Angela asked, drawing more protests. She had no intentions of it, but their leader needed to feel like he’d done everything he could before the dying started.
“I can buy you time,” he stated, only looking at Angela. “And maybe I can even get close enough to throw their entire chain of command into disarray.”
“So you want to be our assassin?” She asked coolly.
“That and more,” Adrian confided. “And I’m not on a suicide trip. You’ve made sure it won’t work.”
“Yes, I have,” Angela responded vehemently. “I won’t give you up!”
Adrian’s eyes lit with need.
“Son of a...” Marc swore.
The Eagles shifted restlessly.
“Is this a bad time?”
They all turned to find Theo in the flap.
Angela sighed. “Come in. We can use the break.”
Theo held the flap for the others and the five men gathered in front of Angela, each with a folder in hand.
“We came up with a few things,” Theo explained. “We didn’t know if you might want to go over them before you finalize your plans.”
Nowhere near that, Angela waved a hand. “Let’s see it.”
“It’s more of a demonstration, but we didn’t think you’d want that type of noise right now.” He opened his folder and held out a paper. “How do you feel about using solar weapons?”
Angela studied the diagram eagerly, able to keep up with most of the scribbled notes thanks to Adrian’s training. She tilted the paper, noting the value and the downside. It was…
“Good. What else?”
Theo and his group spent time on the folders, but only gave her the details she needed the most. When they left the tent, all five were in Brady’s possession.
Angela glanced around the tent, feeling the power, the magic coming to her, to them all. “It will take them a month to reach us on their own, but we have o double that. If we’re working on them the entire time, that can happen. I want teams set up along their routes, waiting.”
“Like traps?”
“Like ghosts,” Marc interrupted, admiring her plan even as he hated it. “They leave the bunker with a thousand, but are minus hundreds by the time they get here.”
“And you can do that by yourself, can’t you Brady?” Angela demanded ruthlessly.
Marc sighed, mind already a queasy blur of how. “Yes. Maybe all of them, if I had enough help.”
“That’s what we need, Marc. Half by the time they reach the base and the rest of them dead then, or it won’t matter.”
Marc stared at her, holding his emotions in check. “I’ll handle it. Personally.”
Angela waved a hand at her top men as tears came to prick her lids. “The Eagles are at your disposal. Pick a team.”
She stared at him until he vanished from sight, then turned toward the main camp. American Waves was currently soothing people to sleep, Kevin’s calm voice reading them the bedtime story she’d chosen, and Angela paused to listen to one of her favorite parts.
“But I’m hungry, Mother. I really am.”
Soft chuckles floated through the camp and Angela continued on her rounds. One Hundred and One Dalmatians was amusing, easy going, but when the whirlwinds started, it would almost be a guide. It was yet another technique she was using to manipulate them into the right places–movies and literature–but she was already sure it wouldn’t be enough. They needed a real miracle, the kind that was beyond even the descendants.
9
As Kevin continued reading, Angela went into the training tent for a few minutes alone to think. When he finished for the night, a call had to go out and she wasn’t anticipating an easy time of it.
“Neither am I.”
Angela jumped, but stopped herse
lf from drawing. “What are you doing here?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Angela spotted the table and chairs, the cooler and kit, and understood Kenn had moved Adrian here while they settled the camp.
Adrian took a small box from his pocket and set it on the table. “That’s yours.”
Angela reluctantly took the chair across from him. Time alone with Adrian was dangerous right now. That awful, selfish part of her female heart was already asking what would happen if Brady didn’t return. Angela hated herself for it, but couldn’t stop her eyes from going to Adrian. Guilt flooded, hot and heavy, and she snatched the box from the table.
Angela opened it and yank the chain out. When she realized it was her own set of dog tags, inscribed, the emotion was almost palpable.
Adrian didn’t break it, instead, allowing the heat to build. It was the time he’d been waiting for and hoping wouldn’t come.
Angela stared at the tags, at the name and rank details. The dog tags meant more to her than if he’d given her a medal.
“Thank you.”
Adrian was on his feet and behind her in an instant. He took the tags and carefully slid them over. “You’re doing good.”
Angela closed her lids as he placed a kiss to the top of her head. “It hurts.”
Adrian stroked her soft curls, feeding, drawing. “I know. I gave you a hard duty. You’re handling it.”
Angela let the tears slip, but only a few of them. The feel of Adrian’s warmth on her skin was stunning in it’s perfection.
Adrian felt her shudder, hardened. “I meant it when I said I wasn’t hiding anymore. You should send me away from here before I wreck it all.”
Angela trembled with the stress, the fear, the anger. None of this was right.
“No, but it’s what we’ve been given,” Adrian whispered, reaching out to touch her skin. “It’s what you’ve been given.”
Angela pulled away, resisting his draw. “Brady was who I asked for, who came when I need him. He’ll always be first.”
Adrian groaned bitterly. “It doesn’t matter to me anymore. Sharing, splitting you two up, my death. One of those has to happen for there to be any peace. The easiest is to remove me.”
Angela couldn’t stand the thought. “I could make you hate me, maybe…”