The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  Angela understood the feeling, but didn’t start searching for another path. Charlie had made his choice, and like her, he had the right to it.

  Angela realized she was going to get what Marc had gone through while watching her make a team, and grimaced. She had a feeling she would have more sympathy afterwards. Charlie was as determined as she was.

  “What would Adrian have done, if I’d killed the trader?” Charlie asked as he and Marc left the area.

  “You’d probably be considered a threat and put under guard,” Marc answered honestly.

  “Why?” Charlie’s voice rose. “The man was bad!”

  “Two wrongs. That phrase makes sense,” Marc replied, steering them toward the empty training tent so that Charlie could work off some heat. They would start doing this regularly.

  “Not usually to Adrian,” Charlie argued. “He makes his own choices without worrying over the consequences.”

  It was clear by Marc’s silence that he didn’t want to defend Adrian to his son, and the Eagles close enough to hear the conversation respected him for doing it anyway.

  “Not true, boy. Adrian doesn’t order a single damn thing without planning it out five levels beyond.”

  Marc grunted, loading weights onto the smaller bench. “He accounts for everything that can go wrong and makes his choice after he has it all covered.”

  “But he hasn’t had it all covered. Look at what’s happened.”

  Marc grunted again, bitterly this time. “Believe me, I did, and I was wrong. I hate his methods, but sometimes things happen that no one can account for.”

  “Adrian calls them fate’s wild cards–Kenn and my mom.”

  “I’ve heard that. Wonder what he calls himself,” Marc mused, flipping power on to the tent.

  Charlie’s tenor lowered into adult concern. “Damned.”

  Marc didn’t know what to say. The truth (He is, boy. More than anyone I’ve ever known.) seemed out of place.

  They fell into the workout after that, listening to the sounds of the camp being put back in order and worrying over what could have been.

  Marc was concerned about his son getting hurt.

  His son was afraid he might like hurting other people.

  4

  Left out because of her injury, Angela had time to study the people and she was glad. Her heart was still trying to regain a normal rhythm.

  She watched Billy and Kyle drag the lead attacker’s body to his own truck and heft him into the back of it. Kyle didn’t speak to his men, and they weren’t including him in their looks of victory.

  Kyle slid into the truck and followed the others out of camp for the dump and burn. As he drove by, he swept that knocked-down tent with enough personal torment showing to make Eagles frown at Jennifer.

  “They won’t accept her until they have their team leader back,” Angela stated, frowning slightly. “I hope he knows that.”

  “He knows,” Adrian confirmed. “It just doesn’t matter to him right now.”

  Angela wasn’t okay with the situation, but Adrian seemed to be, so that must mean it was for the good of the camp. Angela planned to watch and see how this newest mystery fit into Adrian’s intricate puzzle. She had no doubt that the illegal couple were about to be at the head of a sharp change for Safe Haven.

  Hope I get to help, she thought, stretching her sore shoulder carefully. Can’t take much more of staring at my damn tent.

  Adrian looked at Angela, at her ugly but healing stitch-line, and gave a reluctant nod. “Light duty–in here.”

  Angela smiled. “Finally!”

  The recovering doctor immediately moved deeper into the QZ, and Adrian chuckled. He didn’t bother to assign her a guard. This was the safest area in Safe Haven right now.

  John and Anne were busy tending a camp member, and Angela moved toward Jennifer, mind still half-clenched in a ball of terror. Charlie being in the battle-zone had rattled her so badly that all she could do was smother him in protection. It was what she should have tried to do for herself at the rest stop and then she probably wouldn’t have been shot. But I’m a rookie, she thought. It’s a mistake well-learned.

  “What should we do?”

  Angela’s gun was out before she had a chance to think. She hadn’t realized Samantha and Cynthia were on her flank.

  Angela pulled the fire in and holstered as the two women moved hastily back. My Eagles...my first orders.

  Sam and Cynthia had reached the QZ at nearly the same time, and hung back. When Angela headed in, they’d shared a stiff look and followed.

  Worried heart easing a bit more, Angela began looking around. “Um...John will need his bag... Have a new water truck brought in for the QZ shower so that Kyle’s team can get cleaned up after they burn the bodies... Send someone else to deliver trays for Charlie at lunch mess...”

  Angela pulled a few more small things, and the two females awkwardly divided the list as she went to make sure Jennifer was okay.

  It had begun now, her open change in status here, but Angela doubted many would recognize it yet. There were too many other things to distract the camp–like Kyle and Jennifer, and even Seth and Becky, who were finally beginning to draw notice by how often they were seen together. Everyone was still adjusting to surviving the slavers.

  Pleased with Sam and Cynthia, Adrian turned toward the camp, certain his calming words were needed there. He wasn’t upset over the attack, not like he would have been a month ago. Their progress was obvious, but since eliminating the slavers, more and more of the future was becoming clear. The offspring of his army would be incredibly strong–even more so than their sires–and he had the honor of training them. Fate might be a fickle bitch, but when she was pleased, her generosity was staggering.

  “Permission to go to Wichita and search for the kids?” Neil asked, coming to his right.

  Adrian shook his head, thinking if they didn’t find water soon, it could mean trouble. The liquid was precious and that QZ tanker had been full this morning. “I need you here.”

  Neil opened his mouth, and then closed it without saying anything. He left with slumped shoulders. Unlike the rest of the teams, who were excited about the coming Level tests, Neil and his weren’t taking them and had little to look forward to.

  Adrian understood the need to go, but they were only fifty miles from Wichita and already gearing up for a trip into that city. The camp was hoping for a new load of convenience supplies, like batteries and music, but Adrian was hoping to find fuel and water. They would add a search-and-rescue for the kids, but Adrian wasn’t sending a team out yet.

  Neil still hadn’t settled down, though it was all over. Finding out about Becky’s rape had screwed with his sense of worth, and he’d been leaving camp every chance he got. Those opportunities were frequent, calls from survivors needing escorts were coming in almost daily. Many of these were minorities. Now that they’d beaten the slavers and proved they were capable of defending their members, other races were finally starting to join. It was helpful that anyone considering asking for shelter could see other dark-skinned refugees in camp. It went a long way in calming old fears.

  It was also helping Joseph, one of the few black men in Safe Haven, to understand Adrian’s words to him back in Wyoming. Guilty of expecting their leader to fix it all quickly, the professor had also become a convert. He was now regularly seen escorting the nuns as they rotated from area to area. Camp rumor said he had a thing for Missa, who had recovered enough to occasionally join the group on their morning activities. Scuttlebutt also said she wanted nothing to do with Joseph, or any other man. Only time would tell if she might recover in that way.

  The kids from the airfield were also a mix of races and fitting in well with the camp’s younger crowd. The college kids liked to have fun, but they were also old enough to want to help with the dream. It wasn’t uncommon for them to show up at the workouts and meetings–hopeful shadows in the background that Adrian would bring into the fold. Mixing races t
ogether before the war had been a trial-and-error process that had to accommodate the chains of the past. To fix centuries of such negligence and abuse wasn’t something Adrian expected to achieve in six months or even years, but he was incredibly proud of the progress he had made so far.

  As the women and children from Cesar’s camp had been cleared, they’d been put with a small group of camp females for their day-to-day lives to help them settle in. That was the way Safe Haven had always handled new arrivals that were abused. The few exceptions to this were either Eagles or leadership, and it wasn’t missed that Kyle’s camper and tent hadn’t left the QZ even after he and Jennifer were clear.

  The camp members had found out that Jennifer was carrying Cesar’s children, but it was quickly pointed out that several of the new kids were offspring of the enemy. It hadn’t taken long for the majority to accept them for what they were–victims. In the next few months, Jennifer would give birth. If it came sooner, and the babies didn’t make it, that was fate. New life was always welcome in Safe Haven.

  Adrian realized he’d misjudged a bit, though, thinking the herd wouldn’t be able to handle that or all the awful things the Eagles did on his command. Part of their acceptance was pride–Safe Haven had come out on top–but the rest was the effects of the former slaves telling stories and convincing people without meaning to. There hadn’t been another choice.

  The rest stop had been looted when Adrian had taken the camp by it, but the carnage was clear. For Safe Haven, it was the sight of the sombreros and the bullet-ridden rest stop that finally made the end of the slavers feel real. For the Eagles, it was the stains from Angela’s blood near the door. For the former slaves, it was that once golden corvette, now charred and crushed under Adrian’s old semi. These things sank into people’s hearts and unlocked chains to terror that they were finally able to let go of. It was over, thanks to Adrian.

  A few people still viewed him with resentment–Tonya, Mitch, Peggy–but the Eagles and the camp were firmly behind their line-walking leader. He had brought them through the fire with only a slight burn. If Angela had died, things might have gone differently, but fate had saved them all.

  5

  “We’re not taking the Level tests this time around.”

  It wasn’t a surprise, but hearing it from Kyle sent fresh tension through the team disposing of the bodies. Other than curt answers, none of Kyle’s team had spoken to him in a week. He hadn’t expected their support, but the isolation was nearly intolerable.

  “Let Daryl know what event you want to oversee.”

  Daryl, who was smothered in guilt over the way he’d graduated to second in command, said nothing. He thought their team was being unfair to Kyle, but if he spoke out, it would be viewed as sucking up. Right now, they were reluctantly accepting Kyle’s decision to have Daryl replace their fallen XO.

  “What event are you covering?” Shawn sneered, implying Kyle wouldn’t be there.

  Behind them, bodies burned hotly.

  “I’m not,” Kyle answered curtly.

  “Got better things to do now, I guess,” Shawn accused, glaring.

  “I have duty over Angela.” Kyle moved toward the trader’s neat truck. “Marc is testing this time around, and doesn’t trust anyone else.”

  Kyle climbed into the driver’s seat and got set to roll back to where his heart now waited.

  His men exchanged worried glances. The team leader they knew would have struck back at that open challenge.

  “What the hell’s wrong with him?” Morgan asked.

  “We need to talk to Adrian,” Shawn suggested reluctantly. Going to the boss over your Eagle leader was a huge no-no that violated their unspoken code to handle things in-team.

  “Maybe call a vote?” Crone added. He was the only one eager to see Kyle replaced.

  “I’ll handle it,” Daryl stated, choosing to do what he thought was right. Seen as sucking up or not, it was part of his new duties to support their team leader.

  “How?” Shawn demanded.

  “I’ll start with talking to him instead of throwing challenges,” Daryl responded pointedly. “We’ve looked up to him the entire time we’ve been Eagles. Why does that disappear without him even getting the chance to explain?”

  “You think it’s all innocent?” Crone asked snottily.

  Sure that it wasn’t, Daryl didn’t lie. “No, but I do think there’s a reason to his madness.”

  Daryl slung the bag of tinder over his shoulder, glad it didn’t smell like the small pellets of shit that it was full of. “He isn’t breaking any rules, you know. We’ve watched the shadows on that tent more closely than we ever did Rick’s. We’d know.”

  Daryl’s tone was grew hard as the others absorbed that light blow. “Kyle may want her, but he won’t cross that line until it’s legal. And yes, I’ll bet my new place on it–for those of you taking notes and wanting the slot.”

  The six other men shared leery glances. They were relieved not to have to talk to Adrian, but it was obvious that they didn’t trust Daryl as their new XO. They wanted their team back the way it was before.

  6

  “Judging by the lack of marks, I’d guess that it was Eagles this time, instead of camp members,” John observed, ignoring the sudden nausea that sank into his stomach. He gathered a tray of supplies as quickly as he could. It had been a busy day for medical care. “They don’t leave me as much evidence.”

  “Yeah,” Dale agreed dejectedly. He and Ray resembled each other enough to be related. That helped with new arrivals until they saw the lingering glances and soft brushes, and then they understood. Most glared, but more than a few would remark on it. Only once had there been a different reaction. When the vet had seen them, he’d started joining them for evening meals. Dale had assumed the vet was also gay, but would never ask. He was just glad to have someone else sitting at the table.

  “Eagles did this?” Ray asked angrily. As Kevin’s XO, he had a lot of interactions with the other Eagles and Adrian, and no longer had problems with the senior members. It was the incoming rookies that Ray usually had to set straight.

  “No, not since you got hurt...”

  “Saving Adrian,” John finished.

  “Explain ‘this time’!” Ray demanded.

  Dale and John both shut their mouths.

  Ray scowled angrily. “Don’t worry over it. I’ll know before I hit the rack tonight!”

  Dale groaned. “No. Don’t do that, okay?”

  Ray tried not to relent. “Then tell me.”

  “Sometimes the rookies say shit to me.” The failed Eagle couldn’t hide his hurt. “And sometimes they want to see a little queer blood.”

  “Who?!”

  “I won’t tell you that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s like you said the other night while we were at the movie. I don’t have a real place here yet. When I do, they’ll leave me alone.”

  “They should anyway!” Ray growled.

  “Yeah.” Dale dropped his head, chest heavy. Wasn’t there ever going to be even a little peace and happiness for him?

  Ray felt Dale’s misery peak and moved closer. “Hey. Damn. Are you okay?”

  John left the tent to give the couple a moment of privacy–one Ray would take advantage of to offer comfort. John personally believed the males had the right to love whomever they chose, but the idiots getting a free ride in Safe Haven weren’t about to accept that view. The three men who’d beaten Dale in the shower didn’t have a set place here, either.

  John was angry, stomach aching loudly, and his feet took him straight to Adrian’s tent.

  7

  “Is it a variation of Stockholm Syndrome, in either case?” Adrian asked.

  In the hour John had been here, smoking and relaxing, they’d moved onto other topics.

  “Unlikely,” John stated sourly. “Bonding after a crisis takes strange forms. In time, they’ll both recover and choose what suits them. I expect they’ll s
tand by their men, as well. From what I’ve heard from the other freed females, Jennifer is much harder than any of the men are giving her credit for. We already know how determined Rebecca is.”

  “And my camp?”

  John blew out a tired grunt with the lungful of smoke. “Will fall in line, so long as you approve.”

  Adrian didn’t respond to that. Yes, they would, but not without causing problems first, testing the strength of those underage bonds.

  “How about you?”

  John stubbed the roach out. “I’m surviving.”

  “Angela wants to try.”

  “She’s not strong enough yet.”

  “That’s what Marc said, but she makes those calls.”

  John didn’t argue. The pain was becoming intolerable without the pills. He was spending too much time stoned on them.

  “She’s healing well.” John wanted to ask Adrian how she was recovering so quickly and stopped himself. That would reveal a faint edge of envy that the doctor didn’t want known. “When?”

  “In the next week or so. She’ll tell me.”

  “Okay.”

  As they stood up, Adrian clapped John gently on the shoulder. “How about cutting off early and getting some rest? Bags that dark under your eyes are not a good advertisement for a doctor.”

  John looked at him without amusement. “When will we head for Arkansas?”

  Always a quick thinker, Adrian stared back steadily. “We have been all along.”

  “I mean openly. When will the Eagles start gearing up for the fight waiting there?”

  “Sometime after Wichita,” Adrian answered, pushing back the heavy worry. “Right now, they still need a break, too.”

  Adrian left to do his rounds, and John returned to the medical tent. Ray and Dale were gone, and the doctor headed straight for the medicine cabinet.

  When the flap rustled a bit later, the doctor was in his chair, waiting for the pills to work.