by Angela White
She waved a hand at Edward, who moved the shooters into a clumsy line.
Very little was said, and Alexa held out one of her guns to the first of them with an expressionless face. "One shot. Do the best you can."
It was pitiful to see. None of the first half even hit close to a target, and there were only four shooters left when one of them finally clipped an edge.
Alexa watched calmly, aware that the noise had drawn the church people. The preacher stood in front of his sweetly dressed flock of five, and glared at her with dark, disapproving blue eyes framed by jagged scars that crisscrossed his cheek and forehead. The reverend hadn't always been peaceful. Narrow hips and an unruly mane of bushy black curls spun with the wind as he moved their way.
The last shooter also trimmed the target, but none of them expected to be invited along and none were. As they slowly headed back for the pub, Edward was there to press a small bit of gold dust into each of their dry palms.
"Take it down."
"Another shooter? Upon a condition."
Alexa raised an expectant brow at the lean blacksmith, "And that would be?"
A few of the barflies had stopped to listen, and Alexa's Eagles gently moved them on, giving her privacy - except for the preacher. This might be a double stop.
"I'd know the job first. A hired killer I'm not."
Alexa's mouth opened, but another voice answered for her.
"That's all she's come for - a fifth trained dog."
The blacksmith read a small amount of satisfaction in the beautiful blonde's eyes, and there was no surprise for him when she simply held out the weapon.
The preacher barked a laugh, "Well, at least she doesn't deny it." Jacob’s tone softened a bit, "Go on and have your turn, David. Perhaps you've had enough of this place."
Alexa ignored the bitter man, never looking away from the blacksmith's very alert eyes, "I search for something long gone, and nothing will stop me. Nothing."
David only considered for moment, and then reached for the gun…
The preacher snarled, "The only good man here and she'll take him away! And what is it he'll die for? Nothing!"
Alexa also ignored this outburst, as did most of her men. The one who responded had been with her the longest, had the most right.
"You'll have a turn as well, Reverend. Anyone with that much anger to spew is no religious man."
The preacher spun to argue with Edward, but the bang of the blacksmith's shot stopped him.
"Near perfect - very nice."
Alexa's praise had the same effect on David that it did the rest of her men. She moved from his line of sight before he could fall at her feet, as they still did sometimes when she caught them off guard. Her gifts, her pleasure, gave them strong bursts of devotion. It was a side effect she'd learned to use. The Fire Demon inside was very appealing to males.
"Last shooter," she called.
The religious leader might have resisted if not for the way her scent blew over him. When he shuddered, Alexa’s fighters understood. It was a smell like no other, one that called, tempted. And she knew what effect it had, standing in just the right place…
The scarred man shivered again when she smiled softly.
"It's time for you to make your choice Jacob…” Her tone became merciless. "Or I can leave you here."
She turned from him with that, and each of her men knew what his response would be.
Crack!
His shot was dead on the target, blowing out the entire center.
Alexa nodded without looking back. "Tear it down. I'll be at the church. Stay within a call."
A subtle sexuality filled the air as the minds of her men turned to the few town whores watching them hungrily. Not voicing her disapproval, the blonde moved toward the rickety church that was now empty, door standing open.
The preacher followed with a furious glare toward the blacksmith, who was disappearing into the pub to get the gold.
3
The church was spotless, clean enough to eat from the wooden floor and yet, it was unloved. The candles were lit, even the offering plate held valued items, but it had not been done with care. There was no feeling of awe, only of disappointment.
To Alexa, it was clear that the preacher didn't want to be here.
"Will you break bread with me, Jacob?"
He flinched at the name as it echoed inside the rickety shack, scarred face at a loss for words. He blew out an angry breath, "Yes."
Alexa chose the altar purposely, laying out a simple meal of smoked meat, wine, and hard bread. She moved to wash with no thought to his feelings, and there was only a low mutter when she dirtied the blessed water. Good. He would have to leave these things behind to come with her.
The preacher watched her move, her taut, healthy body twisting his mind into fiery pits and sweaty fantasies. She was beautifully made.
When she pushed back her cloak back to begin the meal, he felt his pure body harden, ache. He wanted her!
"Enough to forsake your vows - to kill on command as my sixth trained dog?"
Flushing in horror at having his words used that way, Jacob dipped his head. Forced to choose between his nature and keeping up the lie, he struggled. "I… Yes."
Alexa broke the bread. "I belong to no man."
His eyes cringed at the tone, and she responded coolly. "So it's understood. You'll… share to seal your promise?"
It wasn't a hard choice... Really, there wasn't a choice at all. "Yes."
His husky whisper caused her to smile, and this time, she let the effect land on him. "Mine?"
Jacob fell to his feet at the altar. "Yes! Thank you for wanting me!"
Satisfied, Alexa handed him half of the bread. "We are so bonded, Jacob. Nothing shall break it."
4
"I was afraid," his shame-filled whisper drew no response as they lay together. He continued with a shaking voice, "Because of my face."
Alexa's bare chest rose and fell evenly in the silence, and his tone became urgent, "I'm sorry!"
She responded instantly. "If I told you to go right now, naked, to the whores who lay with my men, and shoot them in the back?"
Her words were like steel. The preacher didn't even think about calling her bluff. "Can I use your gun?"
Alexa chuckled tiredly. It was a dangerous thing, the way she'd always been able to bind men to her, and yet, it was very useful. With these six, she would be able to find Safe Haven.
"When I leave, you'll be at my side and with a weapon of your own."
Filled with pain and joy, Jacob let her pull him close, this time to sleep.
5
Alexa stepped from the church to find four of her men lounging patiently around the steps. The blacksmith also waited nearby, though not as still, a kit and bedroll on his wide shoulders.
Alexa looked at Daniel and back towards the blacksmith. "Your student."
The biker went willingly, eager to please his mistress.
Alexa stepped aside to let their newest member be seen. "This one as well."
Gone was the traditional black and white garb of a religious man, and no beard tempered the ugliness of his scars. In their place was the complete outfit that all of her men wore.
In his mid-twenties, Jacob's dark eyes gazed back at them with no expression, but the healthy color in his cheeks told the others he'd enjoyed his time alone with their leader. If not for the scars, his baby-soft skin would probably have been hard for women to resist. Without them, he could have easily been her best-looking man. Instead, he appeared the cruelest.
"The riders came in."
Noting the deep purple of the coming sunset, Alexa moved down the stairs.
Edward fell in on her right, and the others followed, hands showing the two new men where to walk.
"Eleven horses, eight men wearing Nazi gear and markings. They headed into the pub and then straight upstairs, like they were meeting someone."
"Did they know you were watching?"
&
nbsp; Edward’s voice was uneasy. "Yes. Their leader's sharp... dangerous."
Alexa didn’t doubt his observation, was only eager to make her own. "Daniel, take the rookies and set up camp a mile east - get them started."
Daniel waved at the men, turned toward the west. A direction given in public meant the opposite, keeping the rats on their trail guessing.
The two new men didn't want to go, but neither protested this first order. They moved away with reluctant steps.
Edward talked faster as Alexa’s pace increased. "White, army clothes and boots with the swastikas - The Man carries a dual sword belt, but only one saber."
Alexa stopped at the bottom of the pub steps, and her three remaining men waited while she considered.
What would their kind come to River City for? The only thing here was the town itself. It was prone to flood, and there was little of real value to draw their kind. Except... This town rested on top of what had once been a Presidential Bunker.
Alexa looked at the only mounts in sight. The Nazis horses, probably the last in this whole dusty state, were nearly dead. The blackie with the limp would be lame as soon as the swelling went down in his fetlocks.
What would make them ride such valuable animals into the ground? In this new world, a good mount was precious. The only reason her own group didn't have them was because it wasn't necessary and the lengthy, bonding journey was.
Her eyes narrowed. Only three things held any power now - food, water, and weapons. They must think the bunker still held something.
"And my fighters want to explore."
The blonde's smile was hard as she turned away. "Maybe we'll meet a few rats in the darkness."
Alexa moved them into the brittle trees, not seeing the town lighting up behind her as dusk fell, but aware that it was. After such a hard ride, would those men wait for daylight or head out as soon as the town settled for the night?
Her pace increased again. She and her three available hands had a stop to make.
6
Glittering green eyes watched their passage with longing and contempt in equal measures.
She'd excluded him for a religious freak and an iron bender. Not that there weren't reasons for Rick’s existence other than Safe Haven, such as the riders who'd come in days late, but to be left for the likes of those two! It was an insult, and the traitor took it to heart.
Rick watched the woman pause on the steps with a familiarity that he instantly loathed. He’d seen her kind once before, had tried to kill them all and failed. Had she sensed it on him?
The woman turned away with a smooth motion, and Rick eased out the door and headed for the stairs to the loft. He had a goal here, and it would be done, but the blonde and her fighters were now in the front of his bitter, calculating mind.
Cesar had been gone for half a decade - his charred gold convertible was overgrown with nature, but Rick was still looking for a way to avenge the evil slave trader he’d belonged to. The two months after the War had been the best of his life, and someone would pay for ending that… maybe this woman and her small army. He’d failed to kill Adrian, to extinguish Safe Haven’s light, but maybe fate was giving him a second chance.
7
The preacher and the blacksmith followed Daniel into the thin trees, glancing over their shoulders repeatedly… looking for Alexa.
Knowing it was expected of him, Daniel drew in a breath and spun around.
"Pay attention," he barked, loud enough to make them both freeze in surprise. "She doesn't need you that much! Earn your place."
The teacher turned his back and moved on.
The two men hurried to catch up, sharing rueful looks, but neither of them considered turning back.
"Do what I do - all the time. Start now."
Daniel began to move in a rotating watch pattern, and they tried hard to copy his movements exactly. As they went past the bunker hole, that glint of steel was noted again and ignored. There would be time later, if Alexa allowed it.
"We do everything one way - hers. You'll be my students, but she's the real teacher."
He led them through the trees at a fast clip, a bit disappointed he would miss the fight with the riders, but eager enough to help make her choices fit in. Daniel had only earned one ‘reward’ from Alexa in the time he'd been with her, not quite as fast or sharp as the others, but with a gun and a bike, he was lethal.
Hearing their steps, the rustle of their clothes, their breathing, he spun again. "You make too much noise!" he snapped, freezing them. "You'll get her killed."
With that awful warning, Daniel turned back toward the path. They, too, would have an apprentice someday, if the mistress approved it. Mark had been his first – he had been Edward's. They shared everything.
That sent his thoughts back to pleasing Alexa, and the biker almost frowned. It wouldn't please her that he himself wasn't focused on this task. He was the first to have two students at the same time.
Daniel stepped aside, waving a hand, "There's a trail here. We go on when one of you find it."
Six
1
Five once beautiful horses emerged from the knee-high fog, mouths foaming. Their riders talked openly, not worried about attracting attention. In this new world, Nazis were once again a powerful group, and only those not afraid of death challenged them.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
The group of bald riders moved closer.
"Didn't like the look of 'em."
"Me neither."
"Stop it, shut up," the leader demanded, his tone commanding obedience instantly. "Set up a perimeter. We're almost there."
"Where?"
"The bunker, idiot. You go in first."
"Aww, man."
The authority was shoddy at best, but when the dirty grubber in the center glared, the man on his far right nodded and looked away.
"Fifty feet northeast from where I'm sittin'. Find it."
Two of the men hurried ahead. Using small lighters to see by, their flames cast eerie shadows on the cactus and briar patches that surrounded them.
The hired hands were just that, extra fingers without brains, and the hard-ass leader watching them search swallowed his uneasy feeling. He'd left his regular men in Lincoln, not wanting to split this reward evenly but now, Donny was wishing he'd chosen differently. These four were basically useless for anything more than sniffing duty.
"Found it."
The metal hatch wasn't sealed, came open with only minimal effort, and that made their leader's stomach churn harder. Someone else had been here - recently.
"Guns out - torches and canisters. You know the drill."
They moved slowly, clearly reluctant to venture into the stinking darkness.
"Can't this wait for daylight?"
"No. The dust storm slowed us up. We have to deliver the gas and vial to Roscoe in five days. He's meeting us in Lincoln, and we'll have to hurry to make it."
"But I thought we was..."
Tiring, Donny spun around and knocked the whining man off his horse with a single brutal blow to the temple.
"Get in there!" he growled.
The bleeding man crawled the few feet and disappeared into the ground.
Donny turned to the others. "You two get the perimeter set. Ben, you’re with me."
The leader let the other thickly built man go first, pausing to take a map from his belt. With a last glare of warning toward the two nervous guards, he also vanished into the ground.
2
"The rabbit. A single shot each."
Knowing one of them to be unarmed, Daniel left his holster clear and immediately felt the rookie slide his Colt free and fire to the right.
The fat hare dropped with two bullet wounds, and Daniel hid his grin. She'd chosen well once again. Alexa was special, and the biker wouldn’t ever give up his coveted place on her left.
3
Donny froze on the long ladder as the two shots echoed, and the sound of a scuffle from t
he darkness below was little comfort.
"Give us some light, Ben."
There was no response, though he could feel the ladder vibrating and knew he wasn't alone on it. His eyes widened, realizing what that meant.
Donny fumbled awkwardly for his gun, but it was too late to stop the relentless hands that jerked him off the rope and sent him into the darkness below.
"Aaahhh..."
Thud!
“Give us some light.”
A single emergency stick flared and Alexa grunted her approval, eyes looking over the three new bodies as well as the dozens of skeletons. There were no survivors living here.
The signs of past radiation sickness were evident in the bottles of iodine and dust-covered stacks of used bandage boxes, but there would be more horror here before they left. Edward had made short work of the Nazi guards topside and soon, their bodies would be dropped into the hole too.
Full of cobwebs and dust, the spacious room they had found was clearly an escape hatch. The number of bodies directly below it suggested there hadn’t been time to get the new President out. Moldering furniture couldn’t hide the story of the awful ending that had occurred here - cartridge casings and bloodstains still glared at them from beneath grinning skulls.
"Five minute scan, in sight."
The other rooms sprawled out from this one, but they only needed to look in the first open door to know searching the abandoned complex was useless. The skeleton on the filthy couch was clearly mutated. Staying here was dangerous.
Eyes closing, Alexa concentrated, suddenly sure they'd stumbled onto something. There was a sense of peace here despite the nightmares filling these dark halls, a feeling of… safety.
The demon inside scented the stale, stinking air and caught a ghostly whiff of Polo that was instantly gone. Adrian!
Alexa held out a thick torch and lit it with a mutter, brightening the enormous room around them… and found the message sprayed across the monitors in front of her.
