by Angela White
Kenn was able to be grateful now. “Thank you for letting me keep my place.”
Angela didn’t deny that it was her choice, only gestured toward the schedules. “Like anyone other than Adrian could teach me that shit.”
Kenn gave a snicker, and the tension in the mess eased.
People went back to eating and chatting, and the lesson went by quickly. Things were improving throughout the camp that was becoming in tune with the emotions of those leading them. That golden bubble of light was so strong whenever the six of them were near it, that it was almost impenetrable without Angela lowering it.
2
“That’s a cute pair,” Kenn commented sarcastically a bit later, referring to Doug and Peggy sitting together again.
“They look happy,” Marc observed.
Angela closed her journal to observe. The lesson was over, plans were set for the trip into Little Rock, and a few of Adrian’s leaders were enjoying Li Sing’s cookies and tea.
“Not in about one minute. Here comes the rest of the family,” Kenn remarked.
Seth and Becky stepped into the food line, staying close to each other and ignoring the disapproving comments. They also appeared happy, and the center table tensed when the couple finished in line.
Becky spotted her mom first, freezing. She hadn’t known.
Seth nudged her forward and then spotted the problem. He stopped, expecting Becky to fly off the handle.
“That’s sure different. She hasn’t shown interest in anyone since my dad died when I was five. Let’s go sit with them.”
Seth gaped. Becky had been adamant about making Peggy come to her. The trip out with Kenn must have gone well. Seth hadn’t wanted to let her go, might not have if he’d known it was Kenn in charge, but Sam and Cynthia being along had helped. He hadn’t known her mother was going, too. “Okay.”
They stopped by the table, Seth aware of a mess full of witnesses expecting an argument.
Peggy stopped mid-sentence, picking up Becky’s curiosity, but no anger. She cleared her throat. “Would you like to sit with us?”
“That depends.”
“On?”
Becky looked at Seth pointedly.
Peggy flushed a bit, mouth tightening. “Him, too.”
Becky and Seth sat down across from them, and the mess went back to quiet murmurs as they witnessed a truce being made. It wasn’t spoken, but the moment was clear in the hope that it gave to those observing.
Peggy took in the strawberry hair drawn back in a tight bun, the bags under those pale eyes, sunken cheeks that made the freckles stand out, and realized she was needed. Not sure yet how to help her much too thin daughter, or even if it would be welcome, Peggy kept her mouth shut. She didn’t look at Seth.
Around the mess, came thumps and groans of men and women learning to defend themselves, to survive, and even the clicking of the cicadas was drowned out by it. The hungry bugs were finally starting to die off, but the other insects were increasing. The ears of all of their livestock were coated in salve, as were those of the working dogs, but it wasn’t enough to keep away the biting flies. Adrian was working with the vet to find a stronger chemical to use, but so far, they hadn’t discovered anything that worked. It was as though the flies didn’t notice the fumes and grease anymore. They just chewed through it to reach the blood.
“So, when did you guys become a couple?”
Becky’s words made Peggy grin and Doug flush.
“We’re not a couple, lass,” Doug protested, and missed Peggy’s hurt expression. “We’re friends.”
Becky started to tell him that she was teasing, and then Peggy stood up. She marched swiftly away from the mess with stiff shoulders.
Doug was aware that he’d done something wrong but didn’t know what. He stood up to go after her.
“I wouldn’t do that yet,” Becky advised.
“Why not? I hurt her somehow. Need to find out what I did.”
“You denied the relationship,” Seth pointed out, “Women don’t like that.”
“Damn it!” Doug complained. “I didn’t know she wanted it made public.”
“So there is something going on with you and my mom!” Becky accused. “Sit down, Mr. Patrick. We need to discuss this.”
Doug snorted and followed Peggy. “Sound just like your mom.”
His grumbling made Becky giggle. “That’s so sweet! He really likes her.”
The mess heard the sound of her amusement and knew it for what it was. Little Becky was recovering, rejoining Safe Haven life. By now, it was clear that she’d suffered something during the final slaver battle, and many of the senior Eagles thought Seth’s days of being treated badly might be over now. It was clear that he’d helped her. Becky leaving camp to go on the run with Kenn had also sent ripples through the herd and forced them to accept that she had earned the right to make her own choices.
“Are you okay with them being together?”
Becky leaned against Seth’s arm in happiness that dared anyone to protest the innocent contact. “Yes. I hope they find what we have.”
Seth smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head. “Me, too.”
The camp was slowly beginning to understand that Seth had hidden his feelings for Becky, that he’d cared for her long before Rick had come into the picture. Neil and others were casually spreading that information and making their opinions known on it. The time had come to forgive and forget.
3
“I’m sorry.”
“Aye.”
There it was again, that slight revelation that she was his kind. It hit him just as hard as the first time, and Doug tried to control it.
Lust wasn’t something Peggy could give into. If he wanted her, it had to be the legal way. “I’m not a whore.”
Doug recoiled. “Never thought that!”
“Just so we have it straight,” she intoned coolly.
Doug picked up on her meaning and snorted. “I don’t have anything to do with them. They want Eagles.”
Peggy was sympathetic, but only shrugged. “I’m sure one of them would be happy to comfort you. Eagle or not, you’re in the chain of command.”
Doug didn’t know what to say. Should he tell her of the way the camp women often snubbed him because of his limp, or the how he felt so inferior around them that he couldn’t even form sentences, let alone pick-up lines? That he still didn’t understand why she was interested in him?
His shoulders slumped. “What do you want from me, Ms. Kelly?”
Peggy smothered her disappointment. “Not a damn thing, Douglas. Not a damn thing.”
He watched her stomp off, confused and sorry for whatever it was that he hadn’t given her.
“Would you care for a word of advice?”
If it had been anyone but the doctor, Doug would have told them to get lost. “I guess I need some.”
John looked up at the big man, full of good health and vigor. “Claim her legally and settle down. Shack up in bliss and forget about the past. It’s gone.”
John left him standing there, speechless. Claim Ms. Peggy? Shack up with her? Was John crazy? She didn’t…
Doug replayed their moments and saw what he’d been missing. That was what she’d meant when she’d said she wasn’t a whore. If he wanted her, it had to be legal, in front of everyone.
Can I do that? Is that what I want?
Not sure, Doug went in the opposite direction. Maybe he’d go find Marc and get his nose broken again. That would be easier to deal with.
4
Matt struggled to pull his head out of the toilet, but the two boys shoving him down were stronger, and he sucked in a breath as his head went under.
Tim yanked him up and then shoved the gagging boy down at his feet. “Don’t ever rat someone out again!”
Eric laughed as Matt began to throw up and the two bullies left, locking the door.
Glad they hadn’t punched him this time, Matt continued to vomit, but the self-pity he usually fe
lt after a moment like this, was absent. In its place was a knot of hatred that couldn’t be untied.
Becky heard the banging as she walked by the port-o-lets that were off-limits because they were over-full.
Thud! Thud!
Becky realized someone was inside the last john and quickly unsnapped the lock that had been put on it by the Eagles. She looked around suddenly, wondering why those on duty hadn’t noticed the banging.
She spotted Tucker and Anderson snickering in the shadows and understood as the door slowly swung open. They’d let this happen.
Matt’s condition was indescribable, and she was downwind. Becky immediately turned and threw up.
Matt walked toward the shower campers with his hands balled into fists. All thoughts of Cynthia, the newspaper, and his dad were shoved to the rear by his rage. They wouldn’t get away with it this time.
Becky waved off Seth’s concern as he rushed to her side. “I’m okay...hang on...blahhh...”
Seth caught a whiff of what had caused it and saw Matt. He started to ask the guards what had happened, and then understood as he saw who they were.
“They’re the ones...letting Dale get hurt, too,” Becky forced out, needing the distraction to settle her guts. “Scared to get Adrian’s fists...set the new rookies up for it instead.”
Seth understood more than she thought. Those two were also being watched for the way they were hanging out with the younger girls in camp.
“Adrian should give them a lesson,” Neil stated, coming over from his place on the showers. He’d quickly traced Matt’s shit trail to here.
Becky tried to spit out the taste. “But not by us. Matt’s had enough.”
They all looked toward the showers, where people were rushing out, half-clothed and gagging, as Matt went in.
“I don’t know what he has in mind, but anyone who’s ever picked on him should be careful.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Neil scoffed lowly. “Matt pay it back?”
Becky wiped her face with the shirt Seth had taken off. “That was a breaking point for him. Matt’s gonna change now, and I think maybe some people are in danger.”
Seth and Neil took those words to heart, instantly flashed to the mass shootings of the old world.
“We’ll watch him.”
Becky tossed the shirt into the fire-can that would be lit later. “Good.”
She moved toward the medical tent, stomach rockin’ rough.
Seth was staring at her in a thoughtful way that had Neil raising a brow. “Everything okay?”
Seth shook his head, reeling. “No. She’s been lying. To me, the camp, Adrian, to all of us.”
“Who?” Neil frowned. “Becky?”
Seth nodded, watching her hold her stomach as she ducked into the large medical tent. “She’s like them, Neil. And...” Seth’s face flooded with fear. “She didn’t get off with just a rape.”
Neil blanched. “She’s late?”
Seth nodded in misery. “Five weeks since he took her. Not one drop of blood.”
Neil thought quickly. “Only a week over. Life is stressful now.”
Seth’s voice lowered. “This isn’t the first time she’s thrown up.”
Neil frowned. He’d seen her getting sick last week after evening mess, but thought the chili hadn’t sat well. It sure hadn’t with him. The bed farts had been awful.
Neil didn’t want to pry, especially since this was the first conversation Seth had held with him in that five weeks. His words of Seth being dead to him hadn’t felt right after talking with Kyle. The obsession these men felt toward their younger females was hard to loathe after seeing the results.
“And how long have you two been...?”
Seth’s eyes didn’t lose their misery. “Two week after.”
Neil nodded, thinking the moment he’d witnessed on the tent wall hadn’t been their first time and he was still a bit pissed over it. “Might be yours, then.”
Seth hadn’t thought of that. “I...”
Neil moved away as that stunning realization sank in. The odds on it were slim, but at least there was a hope for them. Neil had no doubt about Seth sticking by her, and that helped to calm his anger. He didn’t like it that Seth had let their relationship become physical so soon after Rick’s attack, but it was over and done no, and she was slowly improving. If that changed, though, he would know it. After all this guilt and remorse, Neil knew he’d been checking up on her for the rest of his life.
5
“I won’t do that.”
“But I don’t want one right now,” Becky said firmly. “If ever.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s against my moral code, as well as Adrian’s rules. I won’t do that,” John stated.
“I will.”
John and Becky looked up to see Jennifer in the flap.
Dog glanced around her leg to check the tent and then vanished.
John scowled. Despite seeing Becky nearly every day since her attack, he still hadn’t gotten into her head. He might be able to do so now, while she was so scared.
“She’s scared because she thinks it’s Rick’s. Can you tell her differently?”
John hated Jennifer in that moment. “No, but it doesn’t change anything. We need babies, and there’s a chance that he’s not the father.”
Becky listened to their lowly held argument, stomach settling from the pill John had given her. The positive test was on the tray between them.
“You have no right to deny her an abortion,” Jennifer stated.
“You have no right to offer her one!”
Becky stood up. “It’s my choice, right?”
“I’d like a say in it, too.”
Becky cringed at Seth’s voice behind Jennifer.
Instantly uncomfortable, Jennifer stepped aside to let Seth go by.
Not angry, Seth gave the pregnant girl a comforting nod. Jennifer and Becky had become friends. He had no doubt Jennifer would support her keeping the baby if that’s what Becky really wanted. Her own impending motherhood was proof of that.
John eased out of the tent to give them privacy, and Jennifer fell in with his angry stride. “I’m not evil, you know.”
John stopped and spun around, meaning to say exactly what he thought about that, and Jennifer cringed back in fear.
The doctor froze. “You’re scared of me? I couldn’t hurt you if I tried.”
Jennifer couldn’t stop the tear that rolled. “I’m sorry I made you mad.”
John watched her waddle away, shocked into understanding that she wasn’t nearly as hard as those females had given her credit for.
“I assume you’ll make that up to her?”
John nodded at Kyle’s curt order. “Yes. I didn’t realize she was...”
Kyle supplied the words. “Terrified of men? Of all men? She is. I’m working on it, but so far, she doesn’t respond much to other people.”
John thought of how she’d stepped up to defend Becky’s rights, but backed down from Seth. “Adrian can help her, too.”
“After the birth.”
John shook his head, ashamed for his previous assumptions. He’d known Jennifer was like Angela, but as with the camp, he’d thought she was manipulating Kyle. “Set it up, now. She’ll need the strength if her twins don’t survive.”
Kyle blanched. If the doctor and Angela were preparing her for it, then the deaths were set.
6
“That’s what you want?”
Becky flushed. “Yes.”
Seth understood, even though he didn’t agree. “I’ll clear it with Adrian.”
Becky shook her head. “I don’t want him to try to talk me out of it.”
Seth saw her fear and had to ask again. “You’re sure?”
Becky began crying, and Seth found another box of tissues. Her silence said she wasn’t. What did she need?
“You know I’d stick by you, his or not?”
“I know. I just don’t think I can do it, Seth.” She step
ped closer, needing him to know what was in her heart. “If I knew for certain it was yours!”
Seth surrounded her with his big arms. There was no way to know that until the birth, and by then, she would be attached. She was afraid of hating her own child, he realized.
“I’ll talk to Adrian,” Seth repeated, heartbroken for her. “I’ll get him to agree.”
A tap on the flap got their attention, but neither of them moved.
Peggy stepped inside with a neutral face. She didn’t like Seth, but Becky needed her. John’s quick words had made that clear.
“What?”
Peggy blinked at Seth’s snarl. “I want to talk to her–alone.”
Seth looked down to see Becky shaking her head.
“Later maybe,” he answered.
“After you’ve forced her to kill my grandchild?”
“I don’t want her to do it either, but that’s not our choice to make!” Seth growled in angry frustration.
“You haven’t…” Peggy stopped, confused. “You want it?”
“More than you do,” Seth grunted. Mother-in-laws never changed.
“And she doesn’t...”
Seth rubbed Becky’s shaking shoulder. “She doesn’t want to have Rick’s baby.”
Peggy hadn’t realized, had mostly forgotten about the rape in favor of hating Seth and Adrian for keeping her away. “Rick’s?”
“We don’t know.”
Seth’s words were sharp, but the mother heard the concern, the plea for her to help change Becky’s mind. That’s what she’d come here for, but the thought of making Becky have her rapist’s baby was something no mother wanted to do.
Seth motioned toward the chair. “Sit down?”
Peggy went slowly, watching her teenage daughter cling to Seth. Becky wanted to be with him. Seth had been by her side throughout her recovery. He wanted the baby even if it wasn’t his. Sinking into the chair, Peggy was forced to accept that she’d been wrong.
Seth slowly guided Becky to the other seat. “I’m going to send someone to cover my post, and then I’ll be back. Okay?”
Becky slowly let go of him, face bright red and shiny from her tears.
Seth paused in the flap, looking back. The two females were staring at each other with more true emotions on their faces than he’d ever seen them share. Seth ducked out as Peggy held her arms open, and Becky instantly went to her.