by Angela White
Marc glanced over to see Kenn wearing a confused expression and found he didn’t mind explaining this time. “Adrian thought he was the only gifted male in our camp, other than Charlie. A teenager isn’t a threat, but me, well...” Marc chuckled again. “I’m more than his match.”
Kenn thought about it. Weren’t there any other gifted males in Safe Haven? There was...Conner, though a son wouldn’t be viewed that way. And there was… “Damn.”
Marc nodded, no longer smiling. “Kids, he can handle. Eagles and camp members, he’s great with. Our kind? He’s on the bottom rung with very little power and a whole lot of mistakes to keep him there. It allowed him to overlook people.”
Kenn wasn’t sure if that was true, but the fact that he had to consider it sucked. The information coming from Marc made it worse.
Marc shrugged. “Sorry about that, but you’ve earned it the same as he has.”
“What about you?” Kenn sneered. “You’ve done the same shit we have, just at different times.”
Marc wasn’t going to be drawn into that. “I’m not on trial here, Marine. You and your idol are. Time to pay for your choices, your lies, the deaths and mistakes that came from it.”
Kenn was shaking his head. “Name one person I killed who didn’t deserve to die!”
“Your unborn son.”
“You piece of…” Kenn came over the table and Natoli and Sebastian got out of the way as quickly as they could.
Marc met him with a vicious head butt that knocked Kenn out. He slid to the floor in a quick movement that scattered papers and cups.
Marc rubbed his forehead gingerly. “That’s gonna hurt tomorrow, right?”
Natoli chuckled, while Sebastian grinned weakly,
“Yes, my friend, but it is much quieter in here.”
Marc sighed, now wishing he’d chosen to punch. The throbbing headache was already starting.
Take from one of them and it will heal you, the demon reminded.
Marc closed his lids, concentrating, and managed to bring the pain down to a level he could stand, without any help. Controlling pain was a skill that soldiers developed quickly.
Nice, the demon praised.
Marc didn’t respond as a punishment for almost being tricked into drawing when he didn’t need to. The demon didn’t realize Marc was also monitoring him.
The demon withdrew.
Marc looked over with the others as the rear door to the cabin opened. They’d left the jingle bells up, but Marc was already tired of the sound.
Adrian spotted Kenn and then the ugly welt coming up on Marc’s forehead.
“Figures,” he grunted, stepping inside to pull Kenn’s big body onto one of the pallets along the wall. Once finished, he returned to his post outside, breathing heavily.
Marc leaned back, arms crossing. “You two should get sleep while you can.”
Natoli was honored to be on Marc’s war council. He had no problem taking the order. Sebastian obeyed without showing any emotion at all. The two leaders crashed in their bedrolls at opposite ends of the building and were soon snoring.
Chapter Eight
Choices to Make
1
Samantha stood up as the van came to a halt. They’d been traveling for hours, all watching Heather for signs of aggression. And they’d been grilling her, of course. It was still going on.
“Tell us when they’re coming! That’s all we need.”
“I don’t know.”
“Marc won’t go easy on you. Save yourself. Tell us when they’re coming.”
“I wouldn’t even if I knew!”
Slap!
Samantha did a fast check of her gear to be sure she had her two kits and pack, then moved toward the door.
“Hey! Where is she going?”
Samantha flashed her instruction card to their driver, who frowned but opened the door.
As she stepped out, alone, Kyle couldn’t stay quiet. “You’ll be okay?”
Samantha didn’t answer. She’d spent the ride getting set for her mission. She’d known something like this was coming from the remarks Angela had made to her when they were alone. Samantha had been longing for it, as if it were the very air she needed. No one else existed for her now. Not Neil and his macho attitude, nor Jeremy and his whining charm. Not even the twin sons she was carrying. Her duty, her mission, would come first. It was the one thing she’d been denied her entire life because of her gender, but no one could take it from her now. She would either succeed or die.
Samantha vanished into the shadows with her head up and feet carefully moving through the tangle of underbrush.
Kyle closed the doors before the need to follow and drag her back could overwhelm his resolve to follow orders. “Next stop in fifteen minutes. If you have number two, get ready.”
Kyle was glad Samantha was the closest stop to their camp. He inspected the remaining pale females, at the reality settling over their faces, and got them rolling. Angela said to stay on schedule, not to be late or early at any of the stops. The windows and avenues of detour she’d given him would cover almost everything that could go wrong, so long as he remembered to do his part.
“What are we supposed to do with her?” Tracy asked about Heather, tiring of the useless questioning between satisfying slaps.
Heather saw a moment of distraction and quickly spat the snot and blood from her mouth. She wiped her face with her sleeves, clearing until she was dry. She didn’t act like any of the bruises hurt.
That bothered the guard on her. Tracy snagged Heather by her hair and slammed her face against the seat.
Heather screamed as her nose broke, blood splattering.
Tracy let the other women pull her away. “Felt that, didn’t you?”
Heather flung a bloody hand toward Tracy splattering bloody drops. “Drop dead, bith!”
It sounded pinched and garbled, causing the van of women to snicker.
Heather pulled her scarf off and used it to stem the flow. “Mean whore, hipping from fa back!”
Tracy crossed her arms over her chest to keep from lunging again. “That’s what you’re doing, spy.”
Heather groaned, and then snapped her nose into place, making everyone in the van wince, including Kyle. He knew exactly what it felt like to do that.
“Dust kill me!” Heather ordered. “Don’t dwag it out.”
“We want information and then you can go free.”
Heather held the scarf tighter as the blood continued to drip. “Swew you!”
Kyle shook his head at Tracy when she would have finished the job, as he’d been teaching them. “Not for us to decide. She goes to Angela.”
The thought of facing Marc’s anger sent a wave of silence through the van. None of those pictures was pretty.
Heather stayed quiet about that coming moment and about her shoulder, her broken nose. Complaining that she was still bleeding wasn’t smart, but she worried over it a little. Heather didn’t heal well. She had a weak system, her mom had told her that, and without the government’s medicine, she would die. Therefore, she had chosen to come out and betray her fellow man to keep on living. Now that she might be killed, it was still those shiny pills that she cared for. Living without her drugs was not an option.
“Next in line, get set,” Kyle called. This would be a long run.
2
“Are we ready?” Neil asked the team of men behind him. “Cause we’ve got company.”
The Eagles were set. Everyone stilled except for being sure that they were indeed in position. This would be a quick hit and run, but it was also tricky on the timing.
They watched the three jeeps of soldiers roll right up to the cave entrance and rush inside as if they weren’t worried over anything or anyone who might be in the area. Neil vowed to change that. He and his teammates had been here for hours, waiting patiently to start Angela’s war.
Neil held up a hand as Jeremy’s finger settled over the button.
The last jeep of
soldiers were expected to remain outside, but Neil wanted as many of them as he could get. He waited until they took up sentry positions outside the entrance to the vast network of caves. It had been a military supply depot at one point.
Neil and his team had gone through it a week ago, cleaned out what they could use before wiring the entire tunnel system. There wouldn’t be any fleeing and escaping through a different exit.
Neil nodded.
Jeremy pushed the button.
An instant later, the cave began to blow up.
The Eagles stayed under the cover of the opposite cliffs, protected from the debris, but not the dust as the side of the cliff disintegrated into millions of bits of dirt and stone. The first blow had been struck.
Not far from the Eagles, a large group of soldiers snuck through the woods and rocks, headed for Safe Haven. They heard the explosions, but didn’t detour from their mission. Armed with the usual arsenal and hopes for a pass out of this hell, there were exactly forty of them.
3
We’ve got a report of shots fired at the base.”
“In-fighting again?” Zack asked hopefully.
“No. A plane came today and dropped someone off. A few minutes later there was rifle fire and then a crew digging a large grave,” Kevin answered.
“New leader must have come and put his house in order. Guess we’re back to the stress.”
“I didn’t know we’d stopped,” Kevin joked.
Angela wouldn’t like the news, but both men were confident she had this covered. The base sending someone to lead those planeloads of troops had to happen.
“I’ll tell her,” Kevin offered. “Go grab a nap. You look like you need it.
Zack vanished gratefully into the weeds that lined the fences. They’d been here for a week now and it was starting to feel like a basic settlement. Zack hated it. That feeling wasn’t supposed to come until they were all together, right?
Kevin watched Zack duck into the tent and continued on his way to where the boss was supervising trucks being loaded with their special defenses. Only a few people had been allowed a glimpse of Angela’s plans so far and Kevin was just as curious as everyone else was. If he hurried, he might get a peek at the boxes while delivering the message from the sentries still posted near the destroyed base. He refused to spend any more time worrying over his personal issues. There would hopefully be time later.
4
“Do it,” Marc ordered.
Kenn fired on the small group of soldiers below them. It still felt wrong to shoot at men in uniform and he had to force himself to obey the one shot, one kill rule. They didn’t have unlimited bullets and this was now open war. There would be no more herding.
Marc released the lever as the soldiers came up the hill. He and Kenn ran down their escape path as trees exploded. Shrapnel whizzed through the woods and the screams blared into the sky.
The thin rope holding the rack of dead trees snapped under the pressure. The entire lot went rolling down the hillside, crushing the soldiers. Those who survived were severely injured, with broken bones and open wounds that would need stitching.
The medic who would have performed that duty died when a large chunk of debris slid into his eye and pierced his brain.
Marc and Kenn circled back a short time later to clean the bodies of anything they could use. A lot of the gear had been damaged, but the uniforms were mostly intact once the logs were rolled off and the owners removed. They were in and out in just a few minutes, back at the cabin by the time the sun started to sink. Right on schedule.
5
“You okay to keep going?”
“Getting a little tired,” Becky admitted. “Maybe a break?”
“Come on.” Charlie steered them into the small cave that he’d been scanning while considering when to stop for the night. Late afternoon shadows were deepening around them.
Becky followed Charlie into the cave without fear. Charlie had gifts to use if they got into trouble.
“You have a couple gifts now, too,” Charlie commented. “Don’t you?”
Becky nodded slowly. “I haven’t told anyone.”
The cave wasn’t high, but it was wide, with two entrances–one at the top of the rise and the second on ground level. The floor of the cave was rough, but level. Charlie unslung his kit and knelt down to dig through it. “Mom knows. She asked me to give you this.”
Becky took the envelope reluctantly, scared of what was inside.
Charlie quickly hung the pre-taped black curtain and then hit the light around his neck. “Can you see?”
Becky didn’t answer. What she was reading had sucked her brain into a zone that she rarely ever accessed.
Charlie slipped in to discover what had her so upset, but there was a brick wall as soon as the door opened, Every time he clawed through, there was a thicker wall. He finally gave up when he heard her snicker.
“You’re good.”
Becky was pleased. “Yeah, being on your mom’s team adds something to the lessons.”
No longer feeling like he had to be careful not to offend her, Charlie renewed his mental attack on her wall.
Becky grinned at first, sure she could keep putting up walls faster than he could break through, but as they stared at each other, she could feel him gathering a blast that would plunge through more than one at a time.
Becky quickly began throwing up walls in panic, but they weren’t as strong without the concentration and they crumbled weakly under his constant onslaught.
“Okay,” she breathed. “Can’t keep that up.”
Charlie, lost in the pleasure of a mental challenge, pushed deeper, harder.
“Stop now!” Becky shouted, pain lancing through her head.
Charlie almost couldn’t. The feel of invading her mind was better than the kisses he’d stolen from Tracy.
“Please,” Becky begged, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Please don’t look.”
The door opened.
Charlie shouted in horror at images. He shoved himself back, biting his lip to keep the sounds inside.
Becky cringed along the wall, shoved back into those awful moments she’d suffered with Rick.
Charlie stayed still as she cried, wishing he’d been able to stop before that last door opened. He’d only wanted to practice, to be ready. “I’m sorry.”
Becky didn’t answer. She was in hell.
Charlie slipped back in with much less eagerness this time and gently drew her away from the past.
“Come on,” he coaxed the naked, bloody girl.
Becky watched her spirit lift from her body and take Charlie’s hand.
A minute later, she became aware of sobbing uncontrollably in his arms. She let it come after that, soaking them both as he rocked her.
Lost, Charlie kept his mouth shut and his mind on good things. He never wanted to see something like that again. If he did, bullets would fly. Or worse.
Becky thought about the message again and burst into fresh tears.
You don’t have to do any of this.
“But, I do,” Becky whispered as the tears finally started to ease. “It’s the only thing I haven’t tried to get him out of my head.”
Charlie had begun calling for his mom mentally as soon as Becky had started crying. He had no experience with this.
When Angela didn’t answer, he thought maybe she’d done this to him on purpose. He could almost hear her laughing and saying he had a woman of his own who would have moments when she cried and he would have to know how to handle it.
Charlie hugged Becky tighter. He could do this part. It was when they got mad that he wanted to run. Or duck. Or hide. He was never sure what the proper reaction was.
6
Samantha was into the darkest part of the woods by dusk. She’d been traveling since Kyle dropped her off, and made it nearly five miles away from where everyone in the van thought she would be. That had been on her card and Sam agreed with it completely. If Heather were to e
scape, the traitor would give bad information on locations, which meant dates and times wouldn’t be right either. Angela was smart. Samantha respected her more now than she ever had. Rather than oppress her people into searches and threats, with punishments to back them up, Angela had chosen to limit knowledge. It would allow them to track down their traitors one by one, though the need for secrecy wasn’t sitting well with some people. The Eagles were watching those folks closer than the rest. The whiners didn’t understand what was at stake, how serious this fight was, so they probably couldn’t be counted on to do what was right for Safe Haven. Sam wasn’t sure what would happen to the rule breakers and rebels among them once the war ended.
Sadly, that was another problem that Angela had to deal with. Even reliable men and women were fleeing, afraid for their futures. It made it hard to assign jobs and chores in a normal camp, let alone dole out secret battle plans. Sam had no idea how Angela was keeping track of it, or keeping it flowing, but she was. The first round of envelopes and instructions had been delivered and were being obeyed, providing some people with opportunities to do more than they’d ever thought they would. When she signed up for the Eagles, Sam had wanted to go on runs like this with the men, but understood it wasn’t likely to happen. However, here she was walking through the dark Georgia mountains, on her way to kill someone. She’d never felt so alive, so needed. Little would pull her from this chore.
Samantha chose her spot carefully, exhausted after walking all day. She quickly unpacked her sleeping bag and a meal, settling into both in a kind of tired, relaxing haze. She’d spent the time thinking about her life so far and the choices she’d made. If she died in this final battle, she wanted to be ready to face whatever would come next. Sam was sure many of their people were spending their waiting time doing the same soul searching.
Samantha made sure the sleeping bag would be hidden under the pine needles and leaves, then curled up in it and went to sleep, uncaring about the bugs or snakes that might crawl across her hiding place. Once again, she had larger worries to be concerned with. She drifted off thinking of the spider bite and how she’d had the strength to do what needed to be done.
