Where We Stand

by Angela White

Before he could respond, she pranced away, leaving him in complete confusion. He’d been on duty last night. He would get to sleep by Samantha when the sun went down tonight. What the hell?

  Jeremy peered at Neil’s face and knew something wasn’t right. He also knew the Eagles who had witnessed it wouldn’t think so. They would assume Neil now had two women and the problems would coming from that. The camp was tolerating Samantha’s choice, but if he and Neil broke out of the routine she’d set up, it would disturb the herd. Because Sam didn’t want them whoring around.

  “What do I do now?”

  Jeremy spotted Samantha staring in shock at them from the garden truck’s door. “I don’t know, but it better be good. Here she comes.”

  Both men turned to find Sam prowling toward them with an evil expression on her face. Instead of stopping, she kept going and they followed, not sure what to expect.

  Samantha growled only one sentence.

  “If you want her, either of you, stop me now.”

  Neither man interfered, understanding that Bridget was about to learn who she could cross and who she couldn’t.

  “Hey, heart-ass!”

  Bridget, who loved the name she’d been given by the males, turned with a sweet expression on her face, all set to turn down an offer of a date because she was dating Neil.

  Slap!

  Samantha followed it with a harsh kick and another quick slap before Bridget could recover.

  “Fight!”

  “Fight!”

  The two women weren’t fighting. Bridget was trying to stay conscious while Samantha took out anger on any exposed body part she could reach.

  “Better get in there,” Doug stated. “Bosses won’t like this.”

  Neither man reacted. Samantha was delivering a series of punishing, but not deadly hits, and they weren’t about to draw her ire.

  “Break it up!”

  “Stop it!”

  Kenn and Adrian got the two women apart before Bridget could be seriously hurt, but Samantha wasn’t finished.

  She lunged from Kenn’s weak hold and slammed her head into Bridget’s chin.

  “Stay away from him!”

  Bridget slowly sank to the ground without answering. It was clear that she couldn’t.

  Samantha turned to Neil with chips of crimson ice. “The next time she touches you against your will, I’ll kill her.”

  Neil grinned, flooded with heat. “Okay by me.”

  Jeremy sighed. “We’re trading off tonight and tomorrow. I can’t handle her when she gets like that.”

  “Sweet!” Neil agreed eagerly.

  He had no trouble with being a little rough to please her. He knew the differences now in pain for training, pain for pleasure, and pain just to be causing pain. Samantha’s needs were helping him learn those lines clearly.

  Jeremy left Neil to deal with the chaos and went to the Mess. He hadn’t slept well with all the tossing and turning Samantha did. Besides the stunning moments when she turned to him in the night, Jeremy loved being able to look over and check on her, but he hadn’t honestly adjusted to this setup.

  He didn’t hate Neil, only the circumstances in which they’d been brought together. All of them deserved happiness and the time to find it, but that wasn’t going happen unless they drove the government back. The time to fight or die was almost here and there was nowhere else he wanted to be than with Samantha when it happened.

  It also didn’t hurt that Neil was able to carry half the load. Samantha was high maintenance and Jeremy hadn’t realized it before, though he should have. She and Neil were a better match and there were times when he felt like an outsider in their relationship. Samantha often told him he was the reason she still had hope for the future, but Jeremy didn’t know if he believed that or not. For now, it was enough to stay close to her, but if they won, he knew he would have to decide if he wanted to spend the rest of his life this way. If that was only a few more weeks or months, he didn’t want to change anything. If that was decades, he wanted Samantha to himself.

  3

  “Camper crew’s pullin in, Boss.”

  “Copy.”

  Angela went that way tiredly. With the springs she was keeping them close to, their water tankers were staying full and the camp had begun to grumble about still being in tents. She’d sent out a team to bring in a load of campers, thinking they could use the materials if they got pinned down. The RVs wouldn’t stop much in the way of bullets, but they could be easily reinforced. She’d worried the whole time they’d been gone and it was good to find her men coming from the shiny new motorhomes with jokes instead of wounds. She wasn’t sure, but she thought maybe the team had been protected by one of the camps around them.

  These men Marc had sent were hard fighters who preferred to keep their own rules, but stayed nearby to deflect anyone coming in with bad intentions. Whatever else Marc had done while away, he’d gathered a loyal crew. They were getting daily reports now of the fighting, of the wounds Marc was inflicting on their enemy, but they were also hearing of their own fallen comrades, like Paul, and the mood of the camp was somber. As the fighting at the Little Rock base intensified, the feeling grew worse.

  Angela didn’t stay to talk to the camper team–she’d only wanted to be sure they were okay–and detoured to the Mess. The lunch meal was being served and everyone was enjoying the last harvest from the garden. Angela personally thought the fresh food was one of the reasons the camp had accepted Samantha’s gifts so easily. It was a common sight now to find her entertaining the children with dust-whirls in her downtime. They didn’t know she was also practicing nightly with Neil and Jeremy. Sam would be a powerful offense and defense when the fight made it to their gates.

  Angela’s mind went to the last transmission they’d gotten from the base. There had been updates and the sounds of distant dying, but no message from Marc.

  Heated tingles went over her skin and Angela searched around. That feeling was restless, lonely, and near the edge of doing something stupid. Adrian was staring at her and she sighed, moving that way. Time to play her role again.

  Instead of going to sit with her group of Eagles like usual, she took her tray to the rear table, causing the focus of the camp to shift.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  Adrian smiled and everyone around them noticed. “Always welcome.”

  Doug and Neil added their agreement, and she glanced at them.

  “Camp could use a tension release, I think. Maybe you two should have a fight.”

  Doug approved right away. “We were just trying to figure something out for entertainment.”

  “I’m in if you are. Who’s gonna win?”

  Neil got excited without knowing why he was reacting so quickly to the suggestion. Maybe it was the way Sam had claimed him so completely.

  Doug flexed his muscles menacingly and gave the cop a nasty glare. “You take it. About time she knows you’re the more dangerous of the two.”

  Neil would have denied and Angela listened curiously, catching flashes of acceptance and reluctance to restart the rivalry with Jeremy.

  “Run into me when I come through with my coffee.”

  Neil raised a brow that made the giant shrug as he stood up. “Wouldn’t get mad over something cold, would I?”

  Adrian waited until both men were out of ear shot and then he turned to her. “They’re gone. What’s up?”

  “Can’t a girl sit at your table without something being wrong?” she joked awkwardly.

  His tones were full of insight. “Lonely?”

  Her eyes went to the left. “No.”

  He leaned forward, catching a hint of vanilla. “Liar.”

  She stiffened, but relaxed as quickly. “Yes, I am.”

  “You clumsy fool!”

  Doug’s words boomed through the Mess, drawing instant attention from everyone.

  “Sorry, man, but you were in the way.”

  Neil sounded anything but sorry.

  “F
uck! Look at me vest!”

  Doug’s growled response was genuine to Angela’s ears.

  The two men suddenly began swinging and people ran toward them, but when security looked their way, Adrian shook his head. They stayed at their posts.

  Angela took the moment to search the camp for trouble.

  Adrian studied her.

  The fight was ugly and drew a few dozen people from around the Mess, creating a circle of nearly sixty, Samantha among them. Neil was taking a lot of hits, but he was also delivering some nasty punches and drawing blood.

  Doug was already out of breath, Neil’s graceful hits wearing him out, and Samantha worried needlessly over Neil as he beat on the giant in the now stained and bloody vest.

  “We done?”

  Neil grunted, full of energy and fire that he hadn’t been aware of needing a release for.

  Kyle motioned Kenn forward.

  “I challenge you!” Neil spat at the Marine.

  Kenn advanced warily. He’d also noticed that Neil was hot and planned to stay out of reach until the trooper settled down.

  Neil jumped, high kick landing against Kenn’s shoulder and from there, it got mean. He swung again and again, Kenn able to do little more than keep his feet. He was accepted again, but not enough to fight back like he wanted to, and the Marine accepted the beating–took one for the team. It was something he couldn’t do before.

  Kyle jerked Neil away as Kenn went down again, and the cop swung on him, out of control.

  Kyle staggered, shaking his head to clear the stars from Neil’s bloody fist. “I’m on Point, Asshat! Pick someone else!”

  Before Neil could sweep the area, Seth came into the circle. “How about a fair fight this time?”

  Neil’s fire blazed higher and Seth didn’t wait, just started swinging.

  “Why did you choose fighting?” Adrian asked, sure of the answer, but needing an excuse to be able to maintain eye contact.

  Angela felt more of his pull than she wanted to. She was trying to resist, but also still craving it like everyone else here.

  “Besides reminding the camp how dangerous you men are, I needed to break the tension. Physical contact used to cover that, but with your men, this is the next best thing.”

  He contemplated her red face. “I assume that also goes for me?”

  Angela’s voice carried a slight edge. “I know you’re not doing without. I thought you’d want the rush since you’ll be cleared soon. Been a while, right? You wouldn’t want to get rusty.”

  He suddenly, stood up, flooded with rage. Having her setting things up to ensure his happiness was almost too much. “A demonstration. Excuse me.”

  Angela followed him to the people-ring that now included the new doctor, who had been brought to the patients who couldn’t come to him. Seth was nearly unconscious and the two men next to him didn’t look better.

  “I challenge you!”

  Neil spun to meet his next target and froze when he saw it was Adrian.

  The fire dimmed a bit, dampened by respect. “Not you.”

  Adrian handed his gun belts to Angela. “Why not? You need someone to knock you down. That’s still a part of my job.”

  Neil’s face darkened at the words, anger flaring.

  Adrian felt the thrill of the fight rising then. Neil was a worthy opponent. She’d been right.

  Angela took a place near Samantha as the two men circled each other and instead of studying Adrian like the Witch wanted to, Angela casually touched Samantha’s elbow and witnessed it through her mind.

  Sam tensed at the first hit, already sure who would win despite Neil’s flare of temper. Adrian was rock hard again, and the trooper’s hits glanced off flesh that didn’t respond.

  As Neil quickly went to the ground, she flinched at the spray of blood.

  Neil landed a hit to Adrian’s jaw that rocked him on his heels, but when Adrian fired back, the trooper hit the dirt.

  “Had enough?”

  Neil roared in anger, driving into Adrian’s gut, and they went down in a tangle of swinging limbs. They rolled in the dirt and people jumped aside to avoid being knocked down.

  They leapt to their feet at the same time, Neil’s stance a bit rougher.

  “You’re getting tired.”

  Neil didn’t respond and Adrian provoked him. “Again, then.”

  Neil rushed him and Adrian used his momentum to flip the trooper over his shoulder.

  Neil grunted in pain at the hard landing, not moving.

  Samantha was at his side before the doctor. “You okay, Neil?”

  Neil tried to clear the chirping and managed a rueful grimace. “I’m not mad at her anymore.”

  Sam snorted as she helped him to his feet. “Neil’s due to go on a run now. If you’ll excuse us.”

  Adrian had been looking at Angela and saw her pride at the sight of Neil and Samantha leaving together.

  “I’m actually smirking over Bridget’s thoughts,” Angela stated. “She was sure Neil would get in trouble. Instead, she did.”

  “That’s what this was about.”

  Angela sat down instead of healing his minor cuts and scrapes like she wanted to. “It had many benefits.”

  Her voice sounded too much like his when one of the Eagles asked how he’d known to do something, and she flushed. He’d already returned so much of the old Angela. What could she do for him?

  “You’re already doing it.”

  He indicated the quiet, but intense conversation Samantha and Neil were having as they got out of sight. “They’re a good match.”

  “So is the other one she chose,” Angela observed.

  “Both men still want her to themselves.”

  “Yes. It may happen, but the odds are going down.”

  “She’s been lonely, too.”

  Angela flushed as he brought the subject back to the previous pause.

  “I can schedule you private lessons, like we were doing before. I’m clearly recovered enough.”

  Her head snapped up at the word. “Private?”

  “However you’re comfortable,” Adrian answered calmly.

  Angela tried to resist his pull and failed. “Okay.”

  He was surprised, it showed in his face, and she stood up before she could take it back.

  “I’ll be on rounds.”

  Adrian watched her walk away, thinking Marc wouldn’t have it to himself long. Her heart had room for others.

  Angela turned, catching the thought, but before she could yell, time began to slide and she was stuck in a slow-motion disaster.

  The moldy telephone pole teetered heavily, power lines snapping up, knocking over boxes and tables, and then the cars that were parked over the lines.

  Angela shoved herself toward Adrian, feeling like her body weighed tons. She tried to shout, but wasn’t sure if she actually did.

  Riiiipppp!

  Twisting metal groaned and with a loud snap, the final wire holding the pole broke.

  Angela dove into Adrian, lifting them into the air.

  The groaning power cable missed them with only inches to spare as it snapped by, sharp and hungry. It severed the canopy and then the top of tree it was secured to.

  The pole crashed through the side of the Mess where Adrian had been sitting, splintering the picnic table.

  They landed hard, with her on his chest, and Adrian gasped for air.

  “Easy, be still.”

  Her voice calmed him and he felt the heat of her hand over his chest, filling him. The pain eased, faded…

  Angela helped him up and they were immediately surrounded by panicking, yelling camp members. She let herself be swallowed by the crowd, trembling. If she had ignored his pain and sat at her usual table, none of that would have happened except for the pole. He’d be dead now.

  Adrian let them help him, but shrugged off those who wanted to take him to the medical tent. “I’m okay. Thanks to Angie.”

  His eyes found hers in the rear of the concern
ed crowd for a brief moment of intense gratitude, and then she was gone and he was forced to turn his attention to calming the herd.

  “It’s okay. Pole finally gave, that’s all. I’m fine. Let’s get this cleaned up.”

  4

  Conner ducked into the pharmacy tent as the afternoon sun began to sink, confident he wouldn’t be missed. His next class wasn’t for an hour and he needed some time with Tonya.

  “What do you want?”

  Conner sank down into Kenn’s chair and stared up at her arrogantly. “Your help.”

  It was like looking and listening to Adrian, except that man would never say such to her.

  “With what?” she asked when she could talk normally. Her one moment with Adrian was something she’d ever forget.

  “Something bad, of course.”

  Tonya stopped dusting the shelves, wondering if this was a test. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Lie. You can do that, right?”

  Tonya grimaced absently. “I’m female. I can lie to anyone. What is it you want me to say?”

  Conner grinned wider. “Tell Adrian that Angela needs him to stay closer, that being without a man is hurting her.”

  Tonya stared in surprise. “Why would I?”

  Conner’s eyes lit up with the red glow that the descendants were becoming known for in camp when they were upset or hungry.

  “I’ll be the friend you need.”

  “I have friends,” Tonya answered, not getting irate, like she might have done in the past. “I won’t mess that up.”

  “Because of the baby.”

  Tonya tensed. “Why hasn’t anyone told him what I’m hiding?”

  “You’ve been forgiven, I assume,” Conner guessed. “Or maybe they know that if you fall, you take Kenn with you.”

  “Maybe,” she mused, not offended. Her history here was common knowledge. “So tell me why I should risk all that.”

  “You won’t be,” Kenn stated, coming through the flap. He gave Conner a polite nod. “I’ll work on her. Go away before he finds out you were here.”

  Conner quickly ducked out of the tent.

  Tonya rounded on Kenn angrily. “Whatever you’ve got going on with that boy, stop it now! You’ll screw us up.”

  Kenn took her by the arm and led her over to the chairs. “These people want the old Adrian, and there’s only one way it will happen.”