by Angela White
Dirce waited for them to be distracted, planning to sweep the team with gunfire as he ducked into the cubby across from Yuri’s.
“I’m going after him.”
“Boss said to stay together.”
“I’ll catch up.”
“Stop!”
Dirce eased the door open…
Bullets slammed into the wood and glass, shattering the pieces into Dirce’s unprotected face. He dropped down to his knees as the troops behind him were hit by several of the slugs. Bodies fell heavily over the rails.
Dirce held his bleeding cheek as troops groaned. Two more men fled down the stairs.
“We’ll burn this place to the ground,” Tommy shouted.
Dirce was forced to wait it out. He only had a dozen troops with him now and he already knew they couldn’t match that type of shooting. He wasn’t even certain that he could. He’d never witnessed anything like it. In real gunfights, people always missed or went full retard, but not these men. Their descendant masters had trained them well.
Dirce counted two minutes and then stood up, motioning for the remaining men to go down to the first floor. “I’m not beaten yet. You wanna play with fire? Let’s play!”
4
Kendle emerged from Yuri’s apartment coated in things that none of the team wanted to try identifying. It reminded all of them strongly of fighting Donner alongside the women. The females liked to wear their enemy’s blood. It was intimidating.
Kendle calmly walked through the halls of the second floor, passing cowering residents to reach the manicurist cubby across from her shop.
“I’ll owe you for the damage,” Kendle called, using her arm to shatter the glass in the booth. Rita hadn’t pulled the gate down over it tonight.
No need, Rita answered mentally, coming from her cubby wearing a thick pack. I’m coming with you. That’s why it isn’t locked down.
Kendle didn’t have time to bargain. She marched to the rear of the shop and began prying off the paneling that shielded the window. She’d noticed the draft while getting her nails done and marked it as an emergency exit.
Kendle climbed out onto the fire escape after shoving the rusty window up, glad the gate sentry had taken her advice to keep locals around the front. She tried to be quiet as she went down, going half way before waving at Rita to come next.
The team waited until the women were on the ground before slowly easing their weight onto the rusting metal. Thin clangs and groans echoed.
Everyone was relieved when they were all on the damp ground, but it had taken so long that they were all twitching and jumping at shadows as Kendle led them toward the hole in the fence that the guards hadn’t sealed yet. Once his men had inspected the wall, Xavier had been told there were multiple problems. He’d assigned a crew, but those sentries hadn’t been eager.
Kendle held the bushes for her team to go first, studying the lit market. She could discern shadows on the top floor, through the window they’d used.
Kendle concentrated. Bring them now or keep them. We have to go.
Positive that Rice would make it in time, Kendle took her partners through the dark, silent streets toward the alley where she’d torn the guards apart. She was glad they couldn’t discern the bloodstains in the dark. She was still hopeful that her men would never have to know what she’d done here.
Kendle chuckled, catching herself. She was coated in Yuri’s blood. They already knew what she was.
Tommy placed an arm around her tense shoulders, not letting his stomach interfere with what he needed to do. “We’re Eagles. That includes you.”
Kendle smiled gratefully. “Thanks.”
Tommy gently shoved her away as he felt the heat baking off her skin. He couldn’t stand that much fire at once.
Kendle sighed. No, not many can. Even Yuri needed chemical help to handle me.
Adrian didn’t, her witch commented snidely.
Kendle led the team through the large hole in the broken wall and then began circling toward their campsite to pick up Ori and the twins. She couldn’t wait to be gone from here.
“We’re one short.”
Kendle stopped, frozen. “Who?”
“Josh went after a runner,” Tommy stated angrily, taking her arm to keep them moving.
Kendle slowed her pace, considering the options. “Fine. We’ll wait around. Should be a breeze.”
The men snickered at the joke, not as worried as they probably should have been. They were free and they had their guns. Using them was appropriate after what they’d been through in this shitty little town.
5
Demetri ran harder, hearing the heavy steps. He assumed it was the Black Widow. His heart thumped heavily, remembering the promises of pain and death that her partners had given. If he were caught, it would be ugly.
Demetri detoured into an alley near the gate, hoping to get lost in the din of shouts, guns being set up and troops coming from all areas of town at Dirce’s calls over the radio. Demetri had already shut his off.
He held still, trying not to gasp as the steps came closer…and stopped!
“How many do I owe you?”
Demetri blanched. Too many, he counted, terrified. He darted out of the alley as a hand shot out.
He scrambled loose, shouting in triumph as he got free. He ran faster, not peering over his shoulder.
Josh stayed where he was, waiting…
The explosion wasn’t huge but it blew parts of Demetri across the troops that he was shoving aside, also killing several of them.
Josh vanished into the darkness, smiling happily. I’ll have to thank Angela for sending those grenades with us. That was cool.
6
“Where are they?” Rice demanded of Ori, a gurgling baby in each arm. He was alone.
“She said they were going for a walk,” Ori answered, sitting in the opening of the tent. He was busy digging through the kits and packs for valuables. He was positive that he’d been abandoned, but he couldn’t go back to the market emptyhanded. He planned to gather what he could use and set off for the western wastelands, where neither Dirce nor the Black Widow could reach him.
Both men jumped as an explosion came from the town, lighting up the section where the market would be. They’d already listened to the gunfire with growing worry.
“I can’t stay here,” Rice stated, shoving the kids at the sentry. “These are hers. Keep them alive or she’ll kill you.”
Ori tried to resist taking them, but he refused to let the babies fall. He juggled them awkwardly as Rice ran off into the woods and vanished down the hole he’d come from.
Ori regarded the two startled babies, stunned. “What just happened?”
“You got stuck holding the diapers,” Kendle joked, coming from the opposite thicket of tall trees beside the camp.
The Eagles hurried over to grab their gear and the tent, loading Ori with the diaper bag.
“Time to roll. Keep up.” She motioned Ben and Ryan to help him and took off running away from Market Town. Her team brought up the rear as the group disappeared into the coming sun, leaving a furious UN boss waiting behind a barricade that wasn’t going to be used.
Ori ignored his shock and revulsion at Kendle’s coating of blood, seeing Rita from the nail shop. He stayed next to her as they fled for a new life, both hoping Safe Haven was everything they’d been dreaming of since the Black Widow had shown up. The voice they’d heard in those dreams had been a person of great power and empathy that they wanted to meet, to believe in. The need to put a face to that power was urgent.
Kendle took them for a fast run, leading them to the abandoned farmhouse that she’d studied several times during her workouts. The two trucks in the garage hadn’t been much, but she’d been able to sneak out and bring a battery and some fuel. She was now deliriously happy that she’d planned things out this far.
“When did you do this?” Conner asked. She and Tommy were filling the tanks while everyone else climbed in, not using lights and not slamm
ing doors.
“I had a week to wait before I could kill anyone,” she told him honestly. “I had to stay busy.”
Conner smiled at her. “You did real well.”
Kendle refused to waste time on emotions. “Get in.”
Tommy and Kendle took the driver seats of the rusty brown and red trucks that Kendle believed had once been used to haul hay. Pieces of yellow, molded straw stuck to them as they piled in the cabin and the bed, hunkering down in case there was gunfire.
Kendle met Tommy’s eye in the mirror. Ready?
Yes. I’d like to go home now.
Kendle started the engine. Me too. Let’s roll.
Kendle drove calmly, without lights, down the driveway and steered them away from Market Town.
I’ll be back, Dirce. Watch your six.
A mile away and realizing that she’d gotten out of town somehow, Dirce didn’t need to catch the thought to know what Kendle would do. He knew of Safe Haven. If he’d had another choice, he would have killed her and her men, and pretended they’d never even been here, but by the time that he’d arrived, the locals had already been converted. After discerning what she was capable of, the UN boss decided that he’d had enough of this town, too. “Load it up. We’re leaving.”
“What about the locals?” one of the guards asked.
“Leave them alone,” Dirce ordered. He would send a cleanup crew tomorrow night while this town was busy celebrating Kendle’s victory of breaking the UN hold over them.
“We can’t tolerate that type of disrespect, Ms. Roberts,” he mumbled under his breath, climbing into his warm bulletproof UN vehicle. “Take me north. I want to know where she goes.”
7
“We have a tail,” Ben stated.
Tommy didn’t slow down. He was staying on Kendle’s bumper until he saw brake lights. “She isn’t stopping. She knows.”
Ben settled back, content to let Angela help them finish off this unexpected danger. No one doubted that she would when she found out what had happened.
Ahead of them, Kendle wasn’t as certain. She’d been free, with her men, and she’d chosen to let her anger make the choice to take them in and do damage.
“She’ll understand,” Conner stated.
Kendle glanced over at him, catching the tone. “Did she tell you this might happen?”
“My dad said we’d be home early, without making it to our destination. I didn’t believe him.”
“Wish he’d told me that,” Kendle grumbled, but she couldn’t be mad. She’d had dreams that could be called predictions but she hadn’t told anyone about them either.
“Why not?” Conner asked curiously.
“Because I wanted those things to happen,” she admitted without guilt. “So I let them.”
“You sound like my dad,” he commented.
Kendle was startled into a grin. “Yeah, I guess I do. Could be worse. I might sound like Angela.”
Conner snickered. “Man, when she finds out about that place…”
Kendle hoped he and the men were right. “Should be ugly.”
Conner glanced to where Ori, Rita, and a few of the team members were settling in and caring for the babies. “Can we make it on the gas we have?”
“Not a chance, kid. We’ve got about six or seven hours and then we’ll be on foot. Sleep now, while you can.”
“What’s the plan? New wheels?”
“Hopefully. Half our time will be gone before daylight gets here,” she pointed out. “I think I can get us to the town that had all those car lots.”
“The one with the big yellow Hummer?”
“Yes.”
“Cool!”
Kendle and the others smiled tolerantly at Conner’s excitement, his crime and banishment forgotten, forgiven. He’d pulled his weight during their crisis. He was now an official Eagle rookie trying to become more.
Kendle steered them down the dark highway, increasing her speed as the clear stretch opened up in front of them. When she flipped on her lights, Tommy did the same.
Confident that he was following her lead alertly, Kendle flew north, praying the half a tank each she’d been able to sneak out would be enough.
8
The trucks ran out of gas at almost the same time. Tommy carefully pushed Kendle’s vehicle until his also began choking from sucking air instead of gas. As the engine died, Tommy glanced over his shoulder. “Everyone ready for a nice romantic walk?”
There were grumbles and laughs as they piled out; taking all the gear that they’d stripped upon getting comfortable.
Kendle and Tommy took the lead, rifles out to make a good show for anyone who happened to be around. As dawn finally began to show, the team realized there was no one around here. The homes had been burnt to the ground, as well as the businesses.
“Not good,” Ori muttered, bringing up the rear. “Not good.”
Ryan shushed him angrily, still upset that they had to bring another enemy into their camp. He agreed with many of the Eagles that people who had fought against them should be left to fend for themselves.
The march through the chilly morning fog wasn’t a fun time, but it was better than being captives. Even Rita refused to let her worries ruin the fact that she was free. When the UN troops had come to her town, she’d been alone. Her husband was a truck driver. She hadn’t seen him since before the bombs fell.
Kendle tried to hurry, needing to get them out of sight, needing to get them new transportation, but the sound of engines an hour after they abandoned the trucks left her no choice. Kendle ran for the nearest shelter, knowing the barn was too obvious, but there were no other buildings in sight. She waved them all in, glad the babies weren’t crying to make their hiding pace even more evident.
She and Carl slammed the heavy wooden doors and Tommy and Josh dropped the bar to secure them.
The engines grew louder…
No one spoke as fear filled the musty shelter.
Kendle watched nervously, using a crack in the rotting boards to view the cars coming from the north.
“Not our guys,” Kendle called, spotting the two blue sports cars flying down the highway. She wanted to warn them what they were running into, but there was no time. The two cars, racing each other, were out of view in seconds.
“See what’s in here,” Kendle ordered, picking out big shapes under white tarps. The barn floor behind them was bare and huge.
“Oww!”
“You okay?”
“My knee isn’t. I hit a tractor.”
“A tractor?” Kendle repeated, small smile coming to her lips. “Does it have gas?”
“There’s a cart attached to it,” Tommy called.
“Not another cart,” Scott groaned. “I still smell like the last one!”
Kendle laughed with them, tension broken. “Spread out, search for gas cans. We might get lucky and discover something usable.”
An hour later, they eased out of the barn, cart hitched to the tractor. It was cold and slow, but they were moving and it wasn’t on foot.
Kendle consulted the map, pointing at the field. “That’s our road. They won’t even notice these tracks with all the others out there. We’ll take the first wheels we find and get gone.”
Tommy steered them over the bumpy, frozen ground, rationing the fuel even though his nerves were shot. He expected to hear more engines at any point.
“A little quicker,” Kendle urged. She felt it too. Dirce was close, hunting her as he’d promised.
Using the method Marc had taught her, and Adrian had practiced with her, Kendle shielded her group in the bubble and blocked off all mental communications. Nothing would get in or out to provide Dirce with a location.
Bye-bye, asshole. See you on the flipside.
9
Dirce lost the connection all at once and knew what had happened. His gifts couldn’t beat that, but he didn’t need them to know the group would continue north, to the last known location of Safe Haven.
; Dirce narrowed his eyes. “Is that a…BMW?”
“Two of them, sir,” his driver answered. “Blocking formation?”
Dirce shook his head. The vehicles were slowing down. “Curiosity kills most cats. Let’s see if these will come to us. Flash our lights. Tell them we’re friendly.”
Across the divider, the two cars stopped, windows coming down as they communicated. After a minute, the drivers agreed, both getting out and advancing across the median.
“Hey! Do you have any weapons for trade?”
“We’re from Safe Haven. We mean no harm.”
Dirce stepped from the truck, still bloody and battered from Kendle’s surprises. “We’d be happy to help you. Where is your camp?”
Seth realized the danger too late. He grabbed Becky’s arm, pulling her toward the shiny new cars, but a squad of troops in UN clothes rushed forward with dozens of guns.
Seth and Becky shared looks of regret and concern as they were shoved to their knees and handcuffed. They’d thought this was a convoy of citizens who had found military rides. They’d agreed to ask if there were any weapons they could buy. Both of them had been feeling guilty about leaving the camp surrounded by the Mexicans.
The guards hauled the couple to their feet and shoved them toward Dirce, who was already digging into their minds. “Interesting.”
Becky saw Dirce’s expression light up as they came to rest on her stomach. Her arms crossed over her gut instinctively.
Dirce gestured them to put the prisoners into the truck. A minute later, they were rolling again, searching. He’d run across two rats and where there were two, there were a dozen.
Dirce rolled by the barn without noticing the tracks in the field, as Kendle had predicted. Inside the safety of his truck, he also didn’t hear the engine of the tractor that carried his prey further away each second. But he felt it. The Black Widow had escaped his net.
Chapter Thirty
Fate’s Way
1
“We have to stop,” Conner stated, slowing down.
