The Price We Pay (Life After War Book 7)

by Angela White

  Samantha stayed down, watching for cracks and waiting for the nauseating rumbling to ease off.

  It didn’t.

  Samantha listened to the growling earth below them, aware of a shift in the air, as if it had gotten ten degrees hotter in an instant. Her mind began calculating possible faults, comparing it to what she remembered, and the ground under them began splitting open.

  “Shit!” Samantha scrambled to her feet and ran with the rest of the camp toward the carpet warehouse that Angela’s final instructions had sent them to yesterday. People stumbled inside, shoving and shouting, and it was a clear moment for Samantha on why they need to have descendants in charge. Without the proper shelter, they would be dying faster than they could breed, and it was obvious that someone among them had foreseen this happening now. Sam had odds on Angela, but it could have come any number of people. She only wished she’d been able to predict today and be more prepared. She never would have let them outside.

  “Stop berating yourself and help me!” Cynthia shouted, handing her a crying baby.

  Samantha felt her body respond and for one second, nothing else mattered but the tiny life in her arms.

  “Look out!”

  Samantha ducked automatically, covering Jennifer’s baby with her body and she Daryl pulled her away from the falling stone.

  The roof above the doorway collapsed, trapping the last of them to enter in darkness as they pushed their way toward the door they’d come through this morning. They knew it was there but with the cloud of dust that was causing constant coughing, it was impossible to discern.

  “Light us up!” Kenn shouted, flipping on his own.

  Once they could see, things quickly calmed down a level, but everyone was aware of screaming children, muttering camp members stuffed into a huge cutting room, and the rough grumble of the earth under them that still hadn’t faded away.

  “Did they bomb us?”

  “What is it?”

  Confused voices called out for answers and Samantha forced herself to stand up, though she refused to surrender the baby that she was instinctively rocking. “Calm down. It was a quake. Take it easy.”

  Her words were repeated and sent to those huddled in the rear rooms and the screams slowly faded below the sound of grinding rock.

  Samantha had never known a quake to last this long, and then her mind flipped her into the zone, showing her what she’d missed.

  “Yellowstone.”

  Several people around her frowned at those words. Adrian had mentioned the super volcano more than once.

  “Man, when does it end?” Sam wondered what so many before her asked and received the same answer that they had loathed.

  “It doesn’t,” Daryl repeated what Adrian had told them in Oklahoma “We have to survive it.”

  “When will they get here?” she asked.

  “At least two days, maybe three.”

  Sam sighed resignedly. “Okay. Let’s get the wounded handled and rooms set up. We’ll stay here until she gets back.”

  10

  Marc kept his group by the train until the ground was completely still. The sound of collapsing structures was now the loudest noise, and Marc wanted to be out of the ground more than he could say. The concrete tunnels had showered them in dust and pebbles, and thankfully, had held, but for how much longer?

  Marc stood up, tugging Angela along with him. “Who has rope?”

  Marc had spotted a hatch and he kept Angela by his side as he directed the fighters on how to blow it open and rig the rope to get them all out in the fastest manor. They’d been lucky to have no injuries that were fatal, though the walls could have collapsed on Adrian and Marc would have ordered a celebration right then and there.

  “What’s that sound?”

  All of them looked to the west, where the sky seemed to have been swallowed by an early nightfall.

  “Bugs or birds, maybe,” Becky said, sending out her grid as Marc did the same, only in a different direction.

  He suddenly knew what was coming and concern rose up. “Uh, Jenny! Where can we go?” He sent her the awful images and for a moment, she was speechless.

  “Bugs and birds. Also dogs,” Kendle confirmed, feet starting to inch toward the tunnel. She had let go of Adrian, who was no longer full of holes, but was still on the edge of death, and he slid to the ground unnoticed. Next to him, Kenn stared at the sky, thinking they didn’t have air horns this time.

  “Can we use the train?”

  Angela moaned in protest, but Marc immediately detoured that way. Hours behind those bugs and birds would be an ash storm. And then people, survivors. Safe Haven would need its leaders there either to welcome or to eliminate them.

  Kenn was the only one who thought of Adrian, and even the Marine hesitated for a second. He didn’t want Adrian dead, but down there, it could happen. Marc would never forgive the blond.

  “Can we make it to camp with him?” Jeremy asked lowly, turned away from the others. “I see a truck you can hotwire.”

  Kenn wanted to, but no matter what happened with Adrian and Conner, Kenn had earned his place back. He wasn’t leaving until Brady told him to. “No. No fuel or gear, and no time to collect, and he’s not good. Kendle said he had to sleep and eat before he was bounced around.”

  Jeremy and Kenn struggled to get Adrian back down in the tunnel by themselves and managed it only because of Kenn’s determination to uphold his vow to Adrian.

  “I’ve got you,” Kenn whispered. “Just like always.”

  Marc was waiting at the bottom of the rope. He’d already sent people to get the train rolling, and settled Angela into the front car’s lounge. She’d refused to take any of the cots scattered through the train.

  “He’s not going with us. If you want him brought in to stand trial, find a way to get him there. Make your choice now.

  Jeremy knew what his priorities were even without Neil’s pointed glance at the door to the train. Jeremy let go of Adrian, giving Kenn an apologetic look and took his place by Neil

  Marc stared at Kenn with an expression that said he knew everything going through the Marine’s mind. For all Kenn knew, he did, and then the moment was gone.

  “I won’t leave him, not like this. It isn’t right.”

  Marc shrugged. “That never mattered to him. Wise up before he throws you under the bus.”

  Adrian opened his eyes to search for the only one he cared about and found her leaning heavily against the window inside the first train car.

  “You knew.”

  Angela nodded wearily. “Of course. It had to happen here, out of view of the herd. When I said your life for his, I always meant Marc.”

  Adrian’s cry of pain caused Angela to flinch as though she was feeling it too and Marc stormed to the train. He disappeared inside, calling, “Get us moving!”

  Kenn stood there with an arm under Adrian’s, respiration not even yet from the trip down and watched the train slowly roll away. He had no idea how he would get Adrian to Safe Haven, but he had little doubt that was where his boss would chose to go once he could travel.

  Kenn heard the birds and bugs start to pass over and hefted Adrian’s body up to get them moving. He would follow the train for a while and stay away from the open areas where the fleeing wildlife was sure to try to take cover. Down here, they were safe.

  “Wait.”

  Kenn spun in surprise. He hadn’t known anyone else was still here.

  “Let me help him a little more before you drag him around all night.”

  Kenn laid Adrian down and watched Kendle send those mysterious orbs into Adrian’s body. The castaway had injuries too, but Kenn saw they were scabbed and assumed she’d tried to heal herself, because the stream of orbs was weak.

  Kenn put a hand on her arm, trying to help.

  Kendle flinched, swing out, and Kenn fell against the tunnel wall, smacking his head, hard.

  As he faded into the grayness, his last words were, “Don’t teach Tonya that.�
��

  Unable to take being down in the tunnels, and fed up with the way things had gone since she returned to America, Kendle stood and detoured to the rope. She didn’t care about birds or bugs. Her rage wasn’t as bad now, and for the first time since the wave hit her cruise ship, she felt almost normal. She needed to do some hard thinking and determine what her future would hold. She’d made the choice to live and that had been the first step. Now, she had to figure out what came next and the two men at the bottom of the tunnel had nothing to do with that.

  11

  “Come on out before I get upset.”

  The vet had lingered, waiting to witness Marc carry Angela out of the ground with loving and care. He’d viewed Adrian’s bloody body and Kendle healing him, but he’d only wanted to behold one person emerging from the ground and he’d hid his joy as best he could when Marc brought her up alive.

  “I could have healed him completely,” Kendle said quietly. “But Marc wanted him in pain for the ride and then in the medical tent, out of his hair.”

  “And you’d give him anything?”

  Kendle shrugged. “I understand his hatred. Adrian is a manipulative son of a bitch.”

  The vet instantly liked Kendle and found himself joining her on the logs around the fire. When the rest of the rescue party had left, Kendle remained behind, wandering the tunnel until the last of the daylight faded, tying to conquer the fear that had almost kept her from following Marc down there. She made a fire and stayed close to it, clearly not sure that being in Safe Haven was what she wanted anymore.

  “I didn’t want it before, but Marc was there.”

  “And now?”

  Kendle sighed, a painful sound of neglect. “Too hard, maybe. I’m not normal.”

  “You’re a descendant,” the vet pointed out. “Not supposed to be normal.”

  Chris dug in his kit and tossed a pouch by her feet. He opened his own and had a light meal, listening to the sounds of Mother Nature cleaning up the mess below them.

  “What are you doing here?”

  It was a question that hadn’t occurred to her right away. She watched the vet tense and had a brief moment when she felt like she might be in danger. Then it passed and she waited patiently, content with the company.

  “I love her.”

  Kendle winced, slapped. “Yeah, that figures.”

  Chris shrugged. “She doesn’t know and wouldn’t care if she did. I had to come and make sure she was okay.”

  “You drew the arrows,” Kendle exclaimed, studying his red fingertips.

  He didn’t answer, face melancholy, and Kendle left him alone. At least he did understand how she felt. He too wanted something he could never have.

  “Is her whole damn camp like that?” Kendle asked. “’Cause that’s a little much, you know?”

  Chris nodded. “Considering I’m eightieth on any list, I sympathize.”

  Kendle was startled into a snicker and the vet joined her, allowing the small release of emotions that he usually shared with Ray and Dale. Kendle wasn’t like the others, not expecting him to be normal because she wasn’t, and it made it easier to connect with her.

  “Because I’m screwed up,” she confessed. “Otherwise I probably would worry over you. Be careful with your actions or someone will notice.”

  “I have been,” he stated, tone hard.

  “What’s your excuse for being gone all this time? Or are you not going back?”

  “Are you?”

  Kendle wasn’t sure. “I’ll make the choice come dawn, I think. See how tonight goes with the thinking.”

  “I’ll tell them I got lost, fell down and got knocked out. I’ll have someone discover me on a patrol.”

  “Smart,” she observed, not caring that he was lurking about. If he flipped and killed Angela in his obsession, all the better.

  “I’d never hurt her!” Chris snapped.

  Kendle stared in shock. “You’re one of us. You’re a descendant!”

  Chris realized he’d given himself away and shoved to his feet. “Damn you!”

  He stomped into the darkness and Kendle chose to pretend she hadn’t run into him at all.

  “I stand by the thought,” she grumbled angrily. “If he flips out and kills her, Brady will come to me.”

  It was almost reason enough to go try living there again—that and the feeling of aloneness settling onto her shoulders. Marc wouldn’t even notice her absence for days or more. She could be free now, if she had the guts to break away.

  Do I?

  Kendle hung her head.

  No.

  Humiliation was still better than isolation. Her time as a castaway had destroyed her.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  1

  “Does this feel odd to anyone else?” Billy asked.

  A small group of them were in the front car, watching the tunnel go by, but the sense of traveling backwards was strong despite the concrete appearing the same.

  “Me too,” Becky said, scanning the monitor that showed where they were going. She could feel the worry in camp, the need for Angela to be there, and she wished they could make the train go faster. She’d already suggested it and Billy had refused, saying it wasn’t the same as going forwards for any vehicle. Becky had no idea what he meant, but the feeling of needing to be in camp was strong for all of them.

  “How long?” Jennifer asked, sitting in the swivel driver’s chair.

  “It took us hours to get here from the hub we blew up.” Billy answered. “From there, we have to acquire another ride.”

  “And it took a day to get from camp to the hub,” Greg added. “So, at least a day and a half

  “Damn.”

  “Yeah,” Greg agreed. “We’ll need to have a spot ready to sleep. Get the maps out.”

  “Safe Haven isn’t in the same place,” Jennifer stated, coming over to point out the new location. “There.” She was locked onto her daughter and not even the ground kept Jennifer out.

  “Good,” Billy said. “I saw a car dealership about a mile before we found the hub. One of those beauties will have fuel that’s still good. I feel it.”

  Everyone except Jennifer snickered at the driver’s antics, glad of a light moment. Despite this run being over, they weren’t relaxing yet and that was a bad sign, as if their minds knew there was more trouble waiting for them.

  “Something’s wrong in camp,” Jennifer said suddenly. “They think we’ve abandoned them.”

  Billy’s brows drew together. “Is there…are we able to call them now?”

  Dumbfounded expressions circled the group and Billy picked up the mike with a grin. “Come in Safe Haven? Anyone out there? This is Eagle team 6. We’re comin’ home.”

  The sound of his voice was the answer, but the man on the other end knew to confirm it.

  “Say again, team 6,” Daryl prompted.

  “We have found the ravens and are coming home!” Billy paused and then added, “She did it, Daryl. We’re really free of them this time.”

  In the next car, Marc was still evaluating Angela’s condition and trying to figure out what all to do for her, and in what order. Her condition was terrible, but not anything he couldn’t fix. What concerned him was the baby. Her pregnancy wasn’t far along and he’d been thinking about it since Adrian had ripped his guts out and made him go talk to the doctor. When Hilda had confirmed her life was in danger, he’d made the choice easily. Soon, very soon, he had to bring that up to Angela.

  “I’ve already thought it over,” Angela said tiredly, not moving from the lounge chair where she was snuggled under Brady’s jacket and pillows. “I can’t.”

  Marc needed to know why, but was wise enough to understand this wasn’t the time for that. He handed her the small tray of food he’d been able to scrounge and scowled again when she dove into it like there was a steak in front of her, moaning in delight.

  Angela frowned thinly. “She’s hungry, Brady. Let it go.”

  Marc dug through his
kit again, searching deeper, and pulled out a twisted, faded wrapper that crinkled in his hand for an instant and then it was gone.

  “Chocolate! Oh, Brady!”

  2

  “I missed you.”

  The witch drowsed contently in Marc’s demon’s arms, fed, loved, and safe again for a while. She had accomplished a dream with Angela that no other had ever been able to do, and the feeling was incredible.

  “Did you find anything?” she asked, not expecting much.

  The demon opened a chest across their nest, mentally bringing out a small scroll he had gathered while away from her. “Marc found it at the bottom of the halls, under the feet of muck. I wasn’t sure he would come up when he saw all the others down there.”

  The witch read it eagerly, sitting up in excitement. “It’s about the Calls! Marc knows what will happen!”

  The demon settled back smugly, happy to have the advantage, though not in the cruel way. Marc needed him for the first time in their lives and the demon was proud and satisfied.

  “You’ve done well by him,” the witch complimented. “Waiting until he could accept you. Most of us would have gone mad if we’d had to wait so long.”

  The demon puzzled it out for a moment and then shrugged. “He didn’t really need me until then. If that hadn’t happened, I’d still be in the sleep.”

  The witch shuddered. She would never permit that. Not even if the Maker returned to walk the earth.

  3

  In the west, the Yellowstone volcano exploded, shooting a geyser of possible primordial material high into the sky. It blasted through the park with waves of ash and debris that raced over the land like a time-lapse shadow. Above the ground, the geyser of lava spewed lava bombs and flames that flew for miles before setting a new area ablaze.

  Burning embers floated down, bringing the air to a boiling mix of ash and smoke that took away oxygen and smothered all forms of life it coated. Tons of ash swirled in the atmosphere, rushing with the wind as it covered the surrounding area. Escape was impossible, the only option to take shelter as fast as possible. Few people made it.