The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  Jennifer giggled, sending good vibes across the camp. “Okay.”

  Above her, the shield rippled into view for a bare instant that was noticed by three people. Two of them were in different parts of the camp and assumed the other had done it. The third stiffened with a hundred connections filling in the blanks of Jennifer’s profile.

  Kyle backed up. She wasn’t just special. She was meant to lead. Only those with that duty could influence the shield. It was the first thing that he and Neil had noticed about the mysterious bubble.

  Jennifer felt Kyle’s withdrawal and instinctively knew he had discovered one of her secrets.

  “Are you sure you really want me, Kyle?” she quickly distracted him, vowing to control her emotions better. “It’ll be hard.”

  Kyle was jolted from his deep thoughts. “So much that I’ll make any deal you want, even if it costs me everything I’ve built.”

  Jennifer’s heart leapt. He’s mine now, if I want him. The manipulative girl gave him a smoldering glance that was hidden from the others by her hair.

  I do.

  Kyle’s openly returned leer said he’d known all along, but his reaction spoke louder. He backed up another step. He meant to stand by his word and not touch her until she was legal.

  Jennifer didn’t celebrate her victory, thinking a life at Kyle’s side now looked better than any of her other options. She had come to care for him, without meaning to.

  Kyle absorbed the warmth in her eyes as if it were the icy drinks she’d confessed that he smelled like to her. And then he stepped even further away. A man could only take so much.

  Totally distracted from what he’d noticed with the shield, Kyle leaned against the truck, staring at her without the usual protective cloak over his expressions. Making her happy was something he planned to do repeatedly.

  The Eagles on the area (His team was about to be relieved so they could take their places overseeing the level tests, instead of participating in them.) wanted to continue being upset but couldn’t. Hearing his promises, being sure he would stick to them due to his reputation in Safe Haven, went a long way. If Kyle said she’d be of age, then she would be. Daryl’s support and carefully chosen words had also helped to convince them.

  The vet ignored all of them as he came out of the semi, only caring for the wildlife in his charge, and Mitch staring at him through the com truck window. Maybe later he would swing by and find out what the disgruntled man had seen…and maybe Safe Haven would be short another useless member. Connie and Rick hadn’t been the only evil Adrian let into Safe Haven. He and his Eagles had to play by the rules, but Chris hadn’t before the war, and the vet didn’t plan to now, either. Some things had to be done. Some people had to die. It was that simple.

  “What do you want in exchange for the pup?” Kyle asked the vet. “I’m her collateral.”

  Chris had been expecting it. Anyone could see the mobster was smitten, and what better way into a young girl’s heart than a puppy? “She joins the training lessons and shows up. One sign of abuse, and I come for it.”

  “I’m not trying to buy her.” Kyle made sure his words carried. “I thought she’d like it. There are no strings attached.”

  That had been her first thought and Jennifer was glad to know she’d been wrong.

  “I’ll show up for every lesson, my word. And I’ll come help you, if you have something I can do,” she informed Chris, thinking the vet had probably once been a very handsome man, but nice hair and straight teeth couldn’t make up for that nasty attitude. None of the females here ever looked his way.

  Kyle opened his mouth, but Chris beat him to it. “Paperwork and play with the small animals. They get restless, being caged so much.”

  Jennifer’s happiness radiated again, making her glow. She could tell she was glowing by the way the males stared. The closer she got to delivery, the harder it was to control the things that made her different from the other survivors here.

  “Cool beans!” Jennifer used a simple smoke-and-mirror technique to defuse the tension. She sounded her age.

  Both men blinked in response, shaking off the haze.

  “You can’t start working until Adrian clears it, but come and play with them whenever we’re camped.”

  The vet’s tone had become the one that Kyle had only heard him use on the animals.

  “Which one do you want?” Unable to control his jealousy, Kyle directed her attention back to his gift. “The solid black one is the runt.”

  Instead of picking, Jennifer stood up and moved into Kyle’s personal space, pushing herself and him to show how much she appreciated the gift. She knew pets weren’t allowed here.

  Big stomach resting against his hip, Jennifer cautiously curled her arms around his thick neck. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

  Kyle clenched his fists to keep from reacting, nose on fire as her sweet scent flooded him. “Anything to make you happy.”

  She leaned closer to hug and Kyle groaned, hands coming up to hold her shoulders. He eased away before his fingers could cross a line. “Go pick your puppy, and we’ll hit the mess for a snack before you crash.”

  Happier than she’d been since the war, Jennifer did as instructed. She still held a fear of the dangerous man who had chosen to be her protector, but it wasn’t something she had to worry over right now. She’d also heard enough of the adult females talking to know there was another side to sex, one where humiliation and submission weren’t involved. Jennifer thought that was probably BS, another line fed to female children to keep them following blindly…but if anyone could show her that side, it would be Kyle.

  Jennifer’s breast hardened into the deep ache that said delivery wasn’t so far away now, and she shifted around so the men might not notice her adjust her bra. She couldn’t wait to hold her babies, but carrying them sucked. Not that she would complain. Angela had saved her children, given her another chance. Jennifer wouldn’t be caught alone again, nor would she hold back the witch from how often she wanted to draw energy from Kyle. She would do whatever she needed to.

  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 in
to 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.”