by Angela White
“It doesn’t feel as if we’re fighting for America. It’s like those freaks are the new government.”
“I think so, too, but most of the camp feels we won’t win without them.”
“Probably won’t win either way.”
The Eagles on sentry duty nearby listened to the words with anger. There wasn’t anyone else on this chore. The bitter camp men, who thought they were alone, weren’t censoring their words.
“Some are leaving again.”
“Normal. People get scared. They’ll return if we win.”
“So, you are staying?”
“Yes. Freaks aside, the government has to go and I’m not so stupid that I think we can win without magic.”
“And if we do win?”
“I’d say we’ll have a private meeting and then the freaks won’t be in charge here anymore.”
The Eagles had heard enough. They left their posts, drawing the attention of the snipers, who covered it as soon as they realized the threat was inside their population.
Aware of the conversation–he’d been tracking it–Marc didn’t stop them from the beating, nor did he interfere with the violent ejections through Safe Haven’s front gate with only the clothes on their backs. Traitors and assassins weren’t welcome here.
Marc did understand why the descendants were considered so strange, how it was making the camp members uncomfortable and a bit jealous. He sympathized. He had been on that end of it before facing who he really was. They would eventually come to the same realizations. Magic was in every soul. It was finding the door to access it that was a bitch.
“She won’t like that. She says they have a right to question their leaders.”
“Make sure she knows that I disagree.” Marc looked over at Kyle with cool detachment. “You are her spy now, right?”
Disheartened, Kyle finished pulling on his gloves and turned for the target area, for Angela. “I’m not your enemy, Marc.”
“You’re not my friend, either,” Marc responded hotly. “If you were, Adrian would be dead!”
Shocked, Kyle rotated to protest, but Marc had vanished.
Kyle snorted angrily and continued on to Angela. He reported the loss of two more men quickly and left, not waiting to witness another part of what Adrian wanted. Their former leader hoped to keep Marc and Angie at each other’s throats. That would distract Marc, get him killed, and then Adrian could gradually bring her back. It was the secret plan of every man with a serious rival, but thanks to the apocalypse, Adrian was now able to live it. Marc was right. Killing him was the only solution.
Nearby, Angela’s anger lashed out in a sharp blast.
Kyle screamed as pain flared brightly along his spine. His knees crumbled and he hit the dirt with a gasp as the fire increased.
“Angie!” Marc grabbed her by a scarred shoulder. Her eyes were roiling flames.
“Adrian is not to be killed.”
The tone was without compromise, chilling in its rabid need.
“I’m trying not to plan it,” Marc gave in slowly. “I really am.”
“Friendlies at the front gate,” the radio cracked, interrupting the tense moment.
Angela jerked away, ignoring Kyle’s flinch as she stormed by. He was slowly recovering, but the mental pain hadn’t faded completely.
Marc helped Kyle to his feet. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I,” Kyle offered, taking a deep breath as Angela got out of sight and the fire subsided from his spine. “The clear shot was there more than once.”
“Why didn’t you?” Marc asked curiously.
“Because she loves him and we need her.”
It was something Marc had already faced and he shrugged. “We can’t plot against her. She gets cranky.”
Kyle wasn’t amused. “She shouldn’t have done it so openly. The herd is already spooked.”
“Yes.” Marc’s tone dropped into low warning. “The enemy is coming. She’s trying to spook you. She wants everyone angry, ready to fight.”
Kyle considered his own feelings now and gave a curt nod. “That’ll do it.”
Marc didn’t think anger would matter in the end. The levels of manipulations going on here were well above anything Adrian had been doing, but it still wouldn’t be enough.
“One face for the world, one for yourself,” Marc muttered, going to check the rear gate of the camp.
During any chaos, members would now be able to get to whatever exit was the nearest to them, instead of crushing each other to get through a single funnel. The sirens wailing were Angela’s deadline for backing out of the chores she’d assigned in those dreaded envelopes, and Marc thought it was more than fair. She was giving them every chance to escape the coming bloodbath. He respected her for it, even as he mourned losing the men and women who were choosing not to fight or stay.
“Nothing’s the same now,” was the most common answer. Marc understood. For many reasons, they’d delayed the monthly meetings, camp meetings, daily schedules, level tests, adoptions, underage couple interviews, and runs out of camp for gathering supplies. It was time to hunker down and finish this job before nature unleashed her winter fury on them. If snow came before the battle, they would lose.
Marc noted the newest group coming in to visit and detoured that way, though he wasn’t worried over having problems. He simply wanted to see how Angela was doing with their Indian guests. She hadn’t protested their presence here, but he thought maybe she didn’t like it, just the same. He was still looking for clues as to why.
5
“Please tell him I’m not mad,” Angela insisted.
Red Stone tried not to frown as he said, “Our ways are clear. He must make amends for the curse to be lifted.”
The Indian leaders of the camps around them were here daily to visit Marc, with many of the braves coming and going through Safe Haven’s gates as if they were members. It was easy to see they weren’t, though. The natives were still nearly naked and enjoying the brisk wind, while Safe Haven had made the switch to heavier coats and gloves. A change of season was on the way. When the wind ran down the cliffs, it felt like a frigid spell might be coming. Angela was counting on it holding until her plan was done, but even if it buried them all in feet of early powder, the war couldn’t be halted now.
Angela stared at Atolius with a calm expression, but inside, she was annoyed. The Indian had let it slip about Marc and Kendle, and now thought she had cursed him.
Like he’d be standing there, only sweating, if I’d cursed him, Angela thought.
The witch inside cackled at Angela’s quip.
Red Stone extended the small pouch again and Angela impatiently reached out for it this time, bumping his hand.
The peace offering flew into the air and hit Stanley, their clumsy medic who taking a shift on gate duty.
Stanley, completely unaware, fumbled the pouch and tripped backwards, arms flailing. He landed against the gun rack, knocking it over to send firearms scattering.
The clumsy medic immediately scrambled to grab the weapons, fingers carelessly curling around triggers.
“Get down!”
“The safeties are off! Get down!”
Too late to avoid it, a recoil from one of the guns firing knocked Stanley over. He rolled down the small cliff, losing the entire armload.
Stray rounds slammed into the ground, the gate, and the tree above them, but didn’t injure anyone.
It was the brittle tree branch snapping that caused damage as it dropped to the ground in front of Atolius. A shower of splinters and dirt swept the shocked Indian.
“What is wrong with you?!” Atolius shouted at Angela in angry fear. “You didn’t even consider my gift!”
A second branch creaked above him in warning as it let go. Atolius, who hadn’t even had time to cringe from the chain of events, fled Safe Haven’s gates.
Red Stone, unable to keep his stoic façade, burst into laughter, joining everyone else. Even Angela’s laugh was genuine and for
one second, all was right with the world again.
Watching from a short distance, Marc waved Shawn to cover Stanley’s post and then continued on his rounds, shaking his head. They kept the guns by the gate ready to go in case of attack. He would now consider changing that or banning Stanley from being near the gates. He wasn’t sure which would be harder.
Marc spotted Dog sitting restlessly behind the shower camper that was out of rotation for refilling and joined the guard on the area with a frown. “Again?”
Daryl shrugged, straight faced. “He’s washing her hair, boss.”
Marc caught flashes of what Daryl had seen through the window and groaned, “That’s, uh…some hair.”
“Yeah,” Daryl laughed. “I thought so. When he gets to the next uh, area, I’ll notify you on it.”
Marc thought when Charlie went beyond staring at Tracy’s body, the entire camp would know. Teenagers weren’t good at hiding things like that.
Marc waited as Daryl went to the camper door and jerked it open, as he was prone to do with any of the underage couples, and Marc was happy. It would appear as though he’d ordered it and was making sure that even his own son was following the rules.
Daryl came out with a blank face and a ‘no problems’ motion, but Marc caught the images easily and sighed. He should go in and scold them, but this was the last day that everyone would all be together and he agreed with Daryl’s thoughts of let them have the good moment while there was time for it.
Marc kept walking toward the rear gate. Charlie was sure about what he wanted and Tracy wasn’t going to protest. Time would test their feelings soon enough.
Before Marc got to the rear gate, Cynthia and Jennifer fell in on either side of him. Marc didn’t say anything. He was fairly sure that he knew what they wanted and why, but going against Angie wasn’t something he was prepared to do over their roles in her plan. The females had agreed. He wouldn’t provide a pass.
Jennifer gave Cynthia a nod, indicating for her to start.
Suddenly terrified of being the one to ruin it all, Cynthia lost her nerve.
Marc continued toward the sentry on the rear gate. “Keep working on that nerve, ladies. You’ll need it.”
Cynthia and Jennifer exchanged a worried glance as they waited for him to do his check-in.
“Things are quiet,” Jeff answered, surveying a small shadow in the distance. He’d only seen it move once, but that was enough to have him on edge. “Not still, though.”
Marc narrowed in on the spot and almost immediately began scowling. “Have more dust put down around the perimeter and get your crew on standby with rifles. We’re going to have company on the ground.”
Jeff scowled as he hit his radio. “Snakes again. Perimeter team two, report to the rear gate.”
A slight flurry of activity ran through the camp as members were moved away from the danger and fighters lined up to handle the reptiles by hand if it became necessary.
Marc hung back, watching Jeff lead the team to the top of the wall. The ladders weren’t always a good idea, but for keeping vermin away from the holes in the gates, they worked well. The shooter stood on the top and had a clear advantage.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The small team fired in steady blasts that sent tension over the camp and clouds of dust into the chilly breeze.
The minor threat was quickly taken care of.
Pleased, Marc waited for Jeff to climb down, then asked, “We’re being jammed, right?”
“Yep. She’s got it covered.”
Realizing Jeff knew that part of the plan, Marc got an update. “It’s all buried and ready?”
“Yeah. She got it going as soon as she chose this location. A couple of the cords were ripped apart during the camp set up, but we fixed it after the sheep went to sleep.” Jeff glanced at a lumpy spot in the dirt near them. “Everything we need to roll it out is under there. Got those all over the place.”
“How long from the minute she calls it?”
“Ten, maybe a little more or less, depending on the chaos.” That was the best they could do for communications.
Marc gave Jeff a pointed look. “What else does she have you on?”
The Eagle grinned. “Just the stuff I’ve waited my entire life to play with.”
“Yeah, she likes to give us toys. More than Adrian did.” Jeff’s face clouded over, but he didn’t lower his voice. “I’ll handle that for you. In a permanent way.”
Marc was a little surprised and more than pleased now. He’d thought Jeff would need to be converted. “I might want that at some point.”
“I certainly would.” Jeff shrugged, turning to his post. “You say the word. I’ll go off for a while.”
For Jeff, the thought of being alone in the woods was a good one. Being in camp, around Crista and the other pregnant women, was making him uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure why exactly, and a mission from Marc would give him some time to think. So far, all he’d done was stare at the ground while avoiding everyone, including Crista. She’d moved into the community tent yesterday, unable to take his silence. Jeff wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. He also hadn’t heard that voice in his mind again and was glad. He had liked his new life the way it was and there were too many changes taking place at once for him to adjust.
Marc fought to keep Jeff’s offer from his thoughts as he turned and found Angela walking across the camp. Near to where he was, he had little doubt that she could have heard. He had to hope she’d been distracted. Dog padded near her ankle. The way she was glancing down told him they were having a conversation. Marc was only a little relieved. At some point, she would have to face the fact that Adrian was not a good man. Once that happened, she might kill him herself.
If she didn’t, that’s when Marc might worry, though the Eagles might do the job anyway. Marc was still being surprised by the men who were quietly declaring their loyalty to him, like Jeff. The change in leadership had gone as smoothly as Angie had predicted.
Jennifer had used the time to gather her nerve. She stepped in front of Marc and leaned close, whispering.
When she finished, she took Cynthia by the arm and left him standing there with waves of anger radiating from his stiff frame.
“You told him?”
Jennifer nodded, steering Cynthia toward the workout tent. Kevin had gone in there half an hour ago. “Yes, but only what we agreed on.”
“Okay.” Cynthia sighed. “I hope he can help her. She’ll follow through. He has to know that.”
“Yes,” Jennifer agreed. “He also knows we all fall if she dies. Marc will handle it.”
Cynthia and Jennifer parted ways near the mess. Jennifer joined Millie at the center table, cooing at her baby. The humiliated medic-in-training, Stanley, was now helping Peggy look after little Autumn while Jennifer worked this guard shift with Kyle. He’d sent her on a break and she wanted to spend it with her daughter. In a few days, she and her baby would be parted, maybe forever. Thought was nearly unbearable.
Jennifer glanced toward the top of the mountain, studying the foreign clouds overhead. Ugly times were rushing toward them and it was too late to hide. All they could do now was stand and fight. Jennifer intended to give her all. Morals and ethics would be set aside this one time to bring peace. That was the only thing worth all this death and destruction to Jenifer. She said goodbye to her baby silently, refusing to cry. That time was also behind her.
Chapter Two
Cold Winds
1
“I gave you a job to do. Why isn’t it rolling yet?”
Kenn flinched, turning to see Marc. Instead of submitting to the scold, he scowled. “You don’t know what she’s like!”
“Don’t I?” Marc chuckled.
“I mean it,” Kenn insisted. “She does what you want, but everyone else has to fight with her. She isn’t Angela.”
“Yeah,” Marc agreed, thinking if she had been, he might have been tempted. Once he got over the scars, Kendle had a nice body and lo
ts of heat to keep a man warm at night.
“Adrian isn’t helping me,” Kenn complained, surprising Marc. “He says to leave her alone and let her settle in, so go argue with him.”
Marc could have growled or threatened, or even hit. “Okay.”
As he left, Kenn stared worriedly, not sure what he should do. Marc and Angela were running things, but Adrian had experience with battered women.
Marc was thinking the same thing. If Adrian thought Kendle needed more time to adjust, he would leave it alone, but he still had her under guard. She wasn’t in control and being here, where there was no blood spilling, was rough on her.
Marc had wanted to spend more time drilling his wishes concerning Adrian into Kenn, but a slender figure subtly dropping out of sight drew his attention. Marc headed for the livestock tent in concern.
2
Angela paused behind a pile of fat boulders, trying to calm her stomach. She’d been walking by the tents they used for protection while butchering and the smells and gore had been too much to take.
Angela heaved noisily into the weeds, bringing up nothing. It seemed like it wasn’t ever going to stop and by the time it did, she was aware of not being alone anymore.
She wiped her face on the hoodie she was wearing, then unzipped it and dropped it on the ground. When she was handed a bottle of water, she rinsed and drank until it was empty.
“He’s going to figure it out. Tell him and let him try to help you. Or let me.”
Angela doubled over as a sharp pain hit, and felt the witch come forward to sooth the muscles. Easy, the witch cooed.
When she looked up, Adrian had seated himself on a large boulder and was chewing on a long blade of grass. He stared at her with a thoughtful expression and dangerously dark eyes.
Angela felt his power swirling over her, ready to give her what she needed, but he stopped just before contact.
Angela had tensed to tolerate (she needed it) and glowered.
Adrian left his force slide across hers and pulled it back. “Ask me.”
Angela’s rage flew out.
