by Angela White
Kyle strolled into the shadows to take up a place by his XO. They didn’t speak right away, watching Jennifer sort through the five pups. The load these two lethal Eagles were carrying was toted without objection, and the moments like this–sweet and simple–were hard to come by. When one happened, senior men knew to soak it up as a buffer against the next horror.
Or the last, Kyle thought, flashing to holding Angela down so that Adrian could burn her skin closed. He could still feel the blood pulsing from her body to soak his clothes.
Jennifer picked the runt and then helped the vet take the remaining pups to the semi, chatting cheerfully with the surly man the entire way. To Chris, Jennifer was another expectant animal to be cared for. The fact that she was human didn’t matter to him. All he saw was her need and the abuse she’d suffered. Despite his bad attitude, it was winning the vet a special place in Safe Haven among those who understood what made him tick. The man abhorred violence of any kind, but most especially to animals and mothers.
“That was nice of you,” Daryl stated.
“She needs it.”
“Someone to be nice to her?”
“To feel special,” Kyle answered.
Daryl raised a brow. “And to know someone cares for her?”
Kyle watched Jennifer’s awkwardly perfect waddle. “She already knows that.”
“Then why?” Daryl insisted.
“Tell the camp I don’t want her to be lonely while I’m on runs.”
“And, the real reason?”
Kyle’s heart, his guilt, spread over his face. “Every time she loves it, she’ll be reminded of the man who gave it to her…and maybe love him a little, too.”
Daryl sighed, being swayed to the idea against his will every time he saw them interact. “The others are coming around. Just be careful and stop letting those sparks show when she touches you or smiles. It’s too clear.”
Kyle settled into that blank expression that was so dangerous. He wasn’t sure if he might lose it all, but he had no illusions that getting the camp to accept it would be easy. In this life, achieving happiness wasn’t meant to be. In fact, happiness for most people after an apocalypse was impossible, and Kyle was glad to know that he and Jennifer could be an exception to the rule. Once she understood that he would never hurt her, that he would always love her above himself, they would be perfect mates who had never had to hide anything from each other.
It had only taken the end of the world for him to find it.
Chapter Ten
Tiger by the Tail
1
As the gritty sky settled into full black, Kenn was finishing a shift on guard duty over two tents–Tonya’s pharmacy and Candy’s hairdressing canvas. Both females were getting customers, and as Kenn had predicted, most of the pharmacy orders were for Tonya’s stashes of Advil and Chapstick. In exchange, people were donating time to teach her the things she’d been avoiding. It was earning her small gestures of friendship and giving Kenn an awareness of emotions for her that he hadn’t known existed until his snap. Leaving her behind had been hard, and recognizing that had made Kenn keep their relationship within legal bounds for the last weeks. They were both walking the line.
Life for Kenn was now a confusing mix of new emotions, of being accepted by the camp again, but still being loathed by the Eagles. For those brave men, it was justice. For the camp, life was better and it was mostly because now that Marc and Kenn were no longer fighting, they were working together and making their own magic.
Kenn still didn’t know if Marc and Angela had been together while she was with him, or how they had split up, but there was another suspicion that had become more pressing. Whatever Charlie had said had triggered the shootout with the traders. Had he been hiding his gifts? Was he like Angela?
Kenn wasn’t sure if mattered. He also wasn’t sure that it didn’t. He was making progress, finally growing as a person, but to be fooled for ten years by a child? How was he supposed to react to a crippling blow like that?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kenn spun, hand dropping to his 9mm before he realized it was only the construction crew adding another layer to the sniper shield around camp. They were out of wooden planks and down to using the moldy trees for stakes to attach the ledges. Once they chopped the trees down and cleared the mold there was still usable wood, but in another year, that wouldn’t be the case.
Thud! Thud!
Zack’s boys were the ones cleaning the mold off the trees. It was their punishment for stealing supplies from the trucks while Zack’s team was on duty. The trucker hadn’t known about it, and he had let Adrian handle the boys with a week of hard labor. That had been the lightest punishment given. Mitch had been assigned a buddy in the com truck, so that he was never alone on duty. The first time his buddy reported him drinking and working, he would be finished as Safe Haven’s radioman.
All around Kenn’s post, people were working, digging latrine holes and garbage pits, washing clothes, playing cards and handheld video games, chatting lightly while waiting in lines. It was calm, but Kenn wondered how many of those low conversations were about Angela and the things she could do. Those who had been in the medical tent were refusing to talk, but John’s renewed health said something huge had happened. He was moving without discomfort again, the fog pushed away, and he appeared to be sober, telling the camp she had helped him enough that he didn’t need the painkillers. With his vigor returned, John was busy implementing new procedures for the camp, like monthly disinfecting of all tents and equipment, and restarting vaccinations for those who want them. He had also upped the iodine consumption for the entire camp after his weekly absolute lymphocyte count came back more elevated than usual. The doctor tested random batches of blood from people who came in during the week and Safe Haven members, then compared it previous amounts to tell Adrian how much needed to be added to the drinking water. Today, John had done all of that, and had just finished examining Billy’s broken leg, sending him out of the medical tent on crutches instead of in a wheelchair. That Eagle was ecstatic. And clumsy.
Kenn watched Billy fall twice, wincing each time. If he kept up like that, John would be setting the other leg next, with no sinkhole to blame it on.
“Instructors and testing Eagles to the training tent,” the radios crackled roughly. Some still weren’t functioning at all despite Kenn and Brady working on them.
Angela walked by with a gun on each hip, fast clip implying her recovery was speeding along. John had also cleared her for private lessons with the Senior men. Marc wouldn’t like Adrian’s plans, but to Kenn, there was a strong sense of time running out. Whatever Adrian had been preparing Angela for was closer now.
Kenn stepped over to where Doug was standing. The big man was in charge of making sure the cans were lit, the dogs were put out, the supply trucks were locked up, and the keys were delivered to the next person on Point.
“Is everything set?”
Doug didn’t answer.
Bracing against the lingering ache from his healing rib injury, Kenn raised his voice. “Are we 5-by?”
Doug swung around in surprise, and Kenn ignored the twinge in his side to view what had distracted the big man so thoroughly. Doug wasn’t normally one to miss much. If not for his limp, Kenn would have considered him a serious rival when he’d first joined.
“We’re all set,” Doug answered stiffly.
Kenn narrowed in on the mess. Hilda and Peggy were unpacking the truck and it wasn’t hard to guess which female the giant man was eyeing. The stories were flying through camp.
“You should go talk to her.”
“What?” Doug stared as if Kenn had three heads.
“You’re allowed a personal life,” Kenn reminded him.
You don’t understand, Doug thought. You don’t look like me.
Doug was addicted to the dream of rebuilding as much as the rest of Adrian’s refugees, but the idea of finding a woman among Safe Haven’s hens was terrifying. No one wants
a hulk like me.
“Doug?”
“I don’t need a woman.”
Kenn flashed to one of his last moments with Tonya, to the way she’d had him shuddering and groaning. “If you say so.”
Doug quickly pushed Kenn’s words out in favor of the silent worship from afar that he’d been doing for months. She wouldn’t have anything to do with someone like him, not a strong woman like Peggy, but he liked to look at her. The stern bun she always wore was loose from a day of labor, and the sight of all that strawberry silk gone wild had drawn his eye from across the camp. It glistened in the light of the campfires like diamonds.
Doug’s daydreaming was interrupted by a familiar, hated ache, and the big man limped toward the bathrooms. Eventually he would talk to John. After hiding his own illness, surely the doctor would understand and keep quiet. The debt Doug felt he owed Adrian for pulling him free of that collapsed bridge along the Nevada state line hadn’t been paid yet.
There was a lot of that going around in Safe Haven.
2
“How about I teach you to hear differently?”
“Sure. How?”
Becky heard Seth come up behind her. When his big hands settled onto her shoulders, she didn’t flinch. They were just outside her tent, with a small campfire going. With so many of the camp and Eagles at the level tests, it was almost isolated. “The world is full of sounds. Even this dead one.”
He rustled her hair against her jaw. “The wind, the animals, us. Even if it were all gone, there would still be sound. After light, it was the next thing created.”
Or so I understand from my dreams.
Becky heard his thought clearly and tried not to flinch at the newest evidence of her gifts.
“Light and sound,” Seth highlighted. “Without your eyes, there is no light, and without ears that can hear danger, sound no longer matters. For true survival, the ears must work as well as the other senses, and then be better.”
Seth rubbed his fingers together, making a light scratching noise.
“We hear ranges of sound, from high pitches to low, deep to shallow. Our ears process it for us automatically. So much so, that most people don’t realize they can consciously sort those sounds. With the right mindset, a person can make a sound louder or softer, in order to hear what’s around them.”
He made a few low noises, demonstrating, and Becky immediately understood what he meant.
“Controlling it is like anything else–practice and willpower. In time, sounds from multiple sources can be not only identified, but also tracked to a close location and evaluated for the threat.”
The sound of him sliding his knife from his sheath made her tense, and Seth immediately put it away.
“Very good. You’ll use your ears and react accordingly.”
Seth grabbed her arm, forgetting to warn her.
“Don’t!”
Her panicked shout stopped him in his tracks and drew the attention of those on duty–his team. None of them envied the undercover cop this chore, but each of them respected him for living up to it.
“I won’t touch you.”
“I’m okay.” Becky was shaking.” You just moved too fast and I…”
She dropped her head, starting to cry, and Seth slowly put his arm around her shoulders. She rested against him tensely.
“It’ll get better with time.”
Coming to herself for a brief, rare moment, Becky raised her eyes and a hand that went to Seth’s cheek. “It’s good that you’re not like him.”
Seth placed a gentle kiss in her palm. “Thank you for not giving up. There’s always hope.”
Becky’s demeanor snapped into cold desolation, hand dropping. “Don’t be confused, Seth. I’m destroyed. There’s only a gaping hole surrounded with endless rage. Killing him may have let me survive, but I’ll never trust another man as long as I live.”
Her face hardened further and she revealed yet another new level of the adulthood that she’d been forced into, saying, “And that includes you, even after all that you’ve done. He robbed me of something that I can’t ever get back. Even I know that.”
Becky stumbled toward the tent. “I need a few. Go take a test or something.”
Seth headed for the level tents, waving his team closer to her. She did trust him, though, even if she didn’t recognize it. He had to show her that she was wrong. He’d hoped the new friendship between her, Charlie, and Jennifer might help, but he hadn’t seen any signs of it yet.
Studying them from across the camp, Neil couldn’t miss the connection, their spark. Seth was extremely protective. Maybe that’s what Becky needed now.
Neil grimaced, tilting his hat forward to block the glare of the roaring center fire as he headed to the tests. I certainly didn’t put her safety first.
Seth wasn’t among the largest of Adrian’s army, but those thin hips held up a man that was wiry and determined to succeed. Everyone had expected Seth to be a hot head when Adrian had brought him into the Eagles (that bright red hair and those glinting green eyes said he was just as wild as a first glance implied) but he’d settled in and found a place with his team. All of those men adored Seth, and if that meant accepting Becky as his woman, Neil was sure they would agree.
Unlike my team, he thought, trying not to be bitter. He understood they didn’t have as close a bond because he wasn’t an enterprising person like Seth or Kyle, or even Kenn. Neil liked his place where it was and didn’t see the need to fix what wasn’t broken.
After weeks of watching Seth guide Becky into her tent and hold her until she cried herself to sleep, Neil still hadn’t made a final choice. The shadows had confirmed that Seth was mostly only offering comfort, but it implied they’d had at least one intimate moment that had bonded them. And no matter what date he came up with, Neil was pissed. He would keep watching until he was sure Seth’s motives weren’t like Kyle’s.
3
“Welcome to the Cage. Let’s get started.”
The Eagles and camp members who were crowded around the testing area cheered in response to Adrian’s words.
Those about to enter the dome only grinned as if they couldn’t wait. For the first time, the camp was being allowed to view a complete level test and hundreds of people watched, waiting for them get everything set up. Of those fighting tonight, Marc’s was the team that everyone wanted to see–especially the Eagles. Marc had been working privately with his men for almost two months now, not letting them show what he was teaching, and even Angela was curious.
“Draw a name from the hat.” Adrian pitched his dog tags into the rear of the cage. “Trainer with the number three goes first.”
Billy held up his number three for them to see, grinning.
Some of Marc and Kevin’s team groaned. After Neil and Jeff, Billy was the most ruthless at kai. Seth was now a close number four.
Kevin was nearest to the hat, and he swallowed a complaint when he pulled Billy’s name from it. He would go first.
“Come on, rookie.”
Kevin snorted, unbuckling his gun belt. “Suck my Rookie.”
Loud laughter rang through the crowd as the men faced off. There were easily two hundred people watching.
Marc moved for the hat, and everyone craned to see who he would face.
Marc flashed Greg’s name.
When the groaning and betting began, Marc gave Neil’s new third in command a hard grin. “Ready?”
Greg sent a worried look around. “Oh shit. Who’s got my back?”
More laughs as Adrian started the match.
“Go.”
Marc watched the first minute or so and then found his interest lagging. His team was set to give Adrian what he wanted, but more than that, it was what all his men wanted. They loathed being so far down the Eagle chain.
Marc noticed that there were more females in the front rows than there had been for any of the events he’d been to so far. Those included Samantha, Tracy, Cynthia, Becky, and half a dozen cam
p women. Those last six were a clique that called themselves sisters.
There were more than a few Eagles eyeing these females as they watched the now bloody match that they themselves would be facing in a few weeks. Most of them were pale, but a few seemed like they might be more interesting to watch than the current match. Kevin was good, but Billy was toying with him. Being levels ahead meant all the difference, and it was another sign of Adrian’s genius. As long as the men continued to pass each level, the teams would be easy to manage, and those on top would keep seniority over the years.
“That’s a pass.”
“4:41,” Shawn stated, recording it.
“Number two, pick someone who drew your name,” Adrian instructed.
Jeremy waved his paper. “Let me have Ray. If he gets by me in a fair fight, I’ll support him and Dale.”
A shocked silence fell over the area and then shouting echoed until Adrian began glaring at people.
Ray, who wasn’t about to miss an opportunity like this, eagerly stepped forward, “Let’s go.”
Jeremy took up a defensive position in front of Adrian’s dog tags. “If you lose, I’ll be with the moral board when they vote it illegal.”
Ray’s face tightened. “I can’t wait to see you bleed. Then the rookies will know that straight blood looks just like ours.”
Jeremy waved a hand. “Come on, then.”
Adrian hit the timer, and everyone crowded closer to watch the surprise matchup.
Marc was about the only one who didn’t. Ray had come to him not long after Angie broke Zack’s nose and asked for private lessons. Jeremy was set to take a dive for the dream, but it wouldn’t be needed. Ray had caught on as fast.
Thud!
Marc grinned as those watching went crazy.
“He’s out!”
“Get the doctor!”
“Did you see that?”
Marc met Adrian’s eye over the mob, brow raised. Happy with that?