The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  “What’s going on, kid?” Ben asked from the passenger seat. Kendle had gotten them fresh wheels, picking two service vehicles that scavengers hadn’t searched for fuel. Then she’d collapsed in exhaustion. Her last order had been to keep traveling.

  “There’s a storm coming,” Conner answered. “It may be snow.”

  “I believe we should keep going,” Ryan interjected. “She said to.”

  “We can’t take these shuttle vans through a big storm,” Scott warned. “We’ll get stuck.”

  Ben frowned. “Okay. Flash Tommy to pull over. We need to make this choice as a team.”

  Ori and Rita took care of the infants and kept their mouths shut, but both of them hoped the men kept going. They didn’t want to die out here.

  It only took Ben the jog to Tommy’s window to understand that Conner’s guess on snow was accurate. The temperature had gone from mid-fifties to freezing and the wind was brutal.

  “We’ve got sleet,” Tommy called as soon as Ben was within hearing distance. “Maybe we should hole up?”

  Ben nodded, climbing into Tommy’s van. The wind was too strong to stand outside without thicker gear.

  Josh pulled their maps from his kit. “We’re not far from the cabin we stayed in on the way down. We’ve got enough gas to reach it, but it would be breaking an Eagle rule.”

  “Never stay in the same place twice while on runs,” Carl echoed from their lessons.

  “Other options?” Tommy asked, knowing there weren’t many. They’d chosen the cabin because it was in an isolated location where the smoke from their campfire wouldn’t show above the tall tree line.

  “No. We’ll secure it twice as well as we did before,” Ben stated, opening the door to groans as the icy wind flew in. “Straight there. We can’t waste the fuel on circling first.”

  Tommy was glad Ben had agreed. When Tommy had discerned the first layer of sleet on the windshield, he’d known they would be stopping soon. Why did I know before him? Tommy wondered. And why did I wait until he came to the same conclusion? Puzzling it out, Tommy let Conner pull around him to take the lead. He didn’t mind sharing command, especially on a trip like this one.

  Conner eased the van onto the off ramp, aware of sleet coming in thicker sheets. It wasn’t sticking to the ground yet, but it was bad enough that Conner glanced at Ben in the mirror. “I’m a rookie. Someone needs to take over for me.”

  Impressed with the maturity, Ben denied him. “You’re an Eagle in your father’s army. Act like it.”

  Proud and ashamed at the same time, Conner sped up a little and took his team to safety.

  2

  Kendle jerked awake as the engine shut off. “Gas! I’ll get us gas!”

  “Easy,” Ben soothed from the seat next to her. “It’s snowing. We’re holing up. Come on.”

  Kendle let Ben help her from the van, shivering as soon as the wind slammed into her thin jacket. They’d brought snow gear, but hadn’t had to use it before now.

  Ben hurried her into the cabin as Tommy and the others secured it, their vehicles and their supplies. This cabin sat down in a valley off a cliff that overlooked a formerly over-populated town. Kendle had considered it a good den on their way down and she agreed it was the best option for their return trip. There was no way to know how long the snow would last. “Babies?”

  “They’re fine,” Rita stated. She and Ori were still caring for them. “Very quiet. It’s like they know.”

  Kendle didn’t offer information about the descendant children in Safe Haven and neither did the men. Ori and Rita weren’t trusted yet. That would be made clear to Angela and Marc upon their arrival.

  Ben led Kendle to the couch and gently pushed her down. She was barely conscious. He covered her with his long jacket and dug out his sleeping bag. When he placed it on the floor next to the couch and then slid in, Kendle muttered, “What’s up?”

  Ben shrugged, groaning in enjoyment at the warmth. “You’re injured. Tommy put me on duty over you. No better place than right here.”

  Kendle was too tired to argue. She let her lids close, hoping the dreams would leave her alone at least until they returned to camp. She’d done well so far, but this trip had taken another heavy toll on her.

  “But I did it,” she whispered. “I got them out and helped people. She has to forgive me now.”

  Ben frowned as he realized Kendle was trying to earn forgiveness for wanting Marc.

  “No,” she corrected. “For being a killer. I’m atoning. She’ll recognize that.”

  Ben was sent into deep contemplations at those words. He let her fall asleep without asking any of the questions he had about her and Marc or about Market Town. It would wait.

  “Will she be okay?” Conner asked, spreading his sleeping bag out at the bottom of the couch.

  “I believe so,” Ben answered. He watched Conner scan the rest of their settling group before getting into the bag. “You’ve done well, kid.”

  Conner didn’t answer, but he did smile. He was too tired for more.

  Ben realized he wasn’t going to get the conversation he needed and forced himself to try to sleep as well. He hated to waste these bonding moments. Full Eagle teams always talked when the run was over.

  Maybe it isn’t over, Ben contemplated. His lids flew open at that and stayed that way until snores sounded.

  3

  Tommy yawned in the darkness, rifle across his knees as he sat on the reading ledge in the window of the second floor. They’d agreed a sentry wasn’t needed, but Tommy hadn’t been able to sleep without someone on duty.

  “Damn,” a voice stated from the stairs. “I came up to do that.”

  Tommy chuckled, sliding over. “There’s room.”

  Ben placed his shoulder against Tommy’s, following their training to share body heat in the cool cabin.

  “Oh, yeah,” Tommy groaned. “That’s good shit right there!”

  Ben tried not to let his laughter roll down the stairs.

  Tommy scanned the dark still-life apocalypse scene below them, wondering if there was anyone around here trying to survive. Snow swept harshly against the glass as if to mock the thought. They’d only been here for a couple of hours, but their tire tracks were already filled in. The two vans were behind the cabin, under the concealment of snowy trees, but they were facing the street for a fast exit. Tommy hoped it wasn’t needed. He was ready for a break without the fear of death or the chains of captivity. They all were.

  “We shouldn’t have gone back in,” Ben commented.

  “Maybe,” Tommy conceded. “But I’ve been considering this run. Wanna hear some crazy observations?”

  Ben nodded eagerly. “Sure.”

  “This was an odd crew to send.”

  Ben thought about that. After a moment, he replied, “We were set up to fail?”

  Tommy glanced over his shoulder, toward the stairs. “I don’t believe we failed.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not sure,” Tommy answered. “Just a sense of success when there shouldn’t be one, I guess.”

  Ben grinned. “That’s it! I feel like we won.”

  “We did, somehow.”

  “Angela will know.” Ben was confident of that.

  “She better, since she chose the people for this mission.”

  “It was the perfect crew for an exploratory of a town that she couldn’t be certain about from a distance,” Ben offered.

  “True. It was also a good trial run for taking the camp south,” Tommy pointed out.

  “Yes.”

  But neither of those felt right to the two senior men. They spent the next hour trying to wade through Angela’s possible motives as snow built up along the window.

  4

  Kendle sat up on the couch, eyes still closed. “Yes, they’re safe.” She blinked rapidly, dreaming. “Soon. We’re coming.”

  Kendle sucked in air in a great gasp and screamed as Ethan stabbed her in the stomach.

&nb
sp; Tommy and Ben flew down the stairs to discover their group cringing from Kendle’s hoarse shouts and swipes. She was standing on the couch, not seeing anyone.

  Tommy approached her carefully, aware of babies crying and rookies flinching from their duty.

  “Kendle!” Tommy roared her name, bringing the din to a halt for a brief second.

  Kendle’s lids flew open. “What?”

  The men breathed a sigh of relief as the two infants protested loudly. Rita hurried to soothe them.

  Kendle glared at the people staring at her. “What?”

  Tommy sighed. “Screaming. You.”

  Kendle grimaced. “Oh.” She yawned, lowering her weapon. “Sorry.”

  Tommy gently sat on the couch and then lay down next to her, forcing her over.

  Kendle started to get down, but Tommy tugged her onto his chest. “Come on. They need sleep.”

  Kendle flushed and stopped struggling. When he curled warm arms around her, pressing her ear to his chest where his heart thumped steadily, Kendle surrendered. She cuddled up to him gratefully and went back to sleep.

  “Thanks,” Ben whispered. He went up to the window to resume keeping watch. They’d won something and he was happy they were only a week of travel from home, but the twitchy sensation kept him near the frosty glass. He’d be better once the sun rose in another hour. Anyone could be sneaking up on them in this darkness and they wouldn’t know until it was too late.

  5

  “They’re close.” Dirce concentrated, catching waves of agony and insanity. Someone was dreaming…

  “Up there,” Dirce pointed to the illuminated hill that was dotted with abandoned cars and snow. There was barely enough room for a truck to slide up that incline.

  Nero, Dirce’s driver, did as he was told even though he hated traversing in this crazy American weather. Until he’d come to the United States, Nero had never observed snow, let alone driven through it in the dark.

  Dirce, picking up every emotion of every living thing in a five-mile radius, leaned over to whisper, “If you wreck, I’ll eat your tongue.”

  Nero grimaced and then steeled himself. “Well, I’ve been kissing ass for a long time, so don’t expect the taste to be good.”

  Dirce was startled in laughter. “No, I won’t.”

  The two men used the mirth to distract them from their concerns as Nero took them up the dark mountain. Their worries were very different, but in that moment, they were bonded.

  Dirce realized he could use it to his advantage. He studied Nero. “You came here on Yuri’s team, as his protection.”

  Nero nodded. “It got old.”

  “Should I expect the same treatment?” Dirce inquired angrily.

  Nero shrugged. “Depends on you, like with Yuri. He stopped being a leader after Malia was killed. As long as you don’t change, we’re good.”

  Dirce found himself liking the driver he’d grabbed in the chaos to follow Kendle. Dirce also understood that Nero was a good example of how all his troops were feeling right now. “What do you think we’re doing?”

  Nero carefully took them around a winding curve, barely missing a beaten-up Volvo with stickers all over the bumpers. He didn’t try to read them. “We’re tracking the Safe Haven people to their lair.”

  Dirce was satisfied with that answer, but he pressed anyway. “And if she gets away?”

  “Then Safe Haven will know the UN is on American soil.” Nero glanced over. “Why hasn’t she called out to her boss yet?”

  Dirce frowned. “Because she knows we’re out here, waiting for it.”

  “So they won’t call in, but they’ll lead us there?”

  “She believes they can kill us if we follow them all the way to their camp.”

  “Can they?” Nero asked tonelessly. All of his fear was currently being used on the narrow, snowy road.

  “Yes,” Dirce confessed. “She and the boy alone could have laid waste to Market Town.”

  “Then why didn’t she? Why Yuri?”

  “We made a deal,” Dirce explained, not sure why he was bothering. “He betrayed her.”

  “How?”

  “He was supposed to support her.”

  “He did,” Nero stated. “The cubby, weapons, protecting her while she slept.”

  “He broke into the cubby searching for evidence. He told the guards to let Renda into his apartment. He kept Renda wound up so the Widow would make it her goal to kill our slave master. He earned every bite.”

  Now Nero felt something–revulsion. “That woman is crazy.”

  “Yes. She’s the next generation of patriot that must be removed. Yuri was right about that.”

  Nero slowed, narrowing in on an oily spot under the edge of a thin snowdrift. “That looks fresh.”

  Dirce leaned out the window as Nero stopped by the stain. He shined his flashlight. “It is. Still warm enough to melt the snow landing on it.”

  Dirce rolled up the window, scanning the treetops and empty, looted cabins around them. “This is too obvious. Find the most isolated, hardest to reach building. That’s where she’ll be.”

  Nero obediently did as he was told. He had no problem with switching his loyalty from Yuri to Dirce. He’d wanted to be on this man’s crew since he’d first met him.

  “And why is that?” Dirce demanded. “Easier to knife me?”

  Nero snickered. “Yeah, but that’s not my reasoning. Xavier did want it, though.”

  “Xavier told you to knife me?”

  “He said to get rid of you in any way that I could.”

  “Why didn’t you follow orders?” Dirce asked curiously, not feeling threatened.

  “I had already met you,” Nero stated, grinning. “When you called Xavier in after the Widow left, I knew he wasn’t coming out.”

  “Would you have tried if Xavier had been stronger?” Dirce asked, tone becoming dangerous.

  “Of course,” Nero admitted freely, not concerned. He knew who he was dealing with. The truth mattered more to a descendant than emotional ties that were usually useless in a battle. “I’m a hired gun. I do what I’m told.”

  “As long as you don’t have to risk your neck?”

  “I like the risk,” Nero clarified, aware of Dirce’s anger with this conversation. “But I’m not going to die for nothing, you know? I have to get something out of it.” Nero steered up the hill at the next intersection, not consulting the ground or his boss. He’d been given an order on this hunt. It was the mental battle going on in Dirce’s mind that he had to be careful about. “I prefer to serve people with vision. You have big plans and I follow orders to the letter. We should get along well.”

  Dirce chuckled, impressed with the man’s courage and honesty. “I’ll remember that.”

  “Good,” Nero said. “because I believe I found them. Don’t forget that I like redheads.”

  Dirce ignored the words to narrow in on a thin beam of light shining up from a valley between two jagged, snow-covered cliffs. There was a very narrow road leading down into that valley. It both looked and seemed extremely dangerous. He could sense the driver’s hesitation, and this time, Dirce took heed of it. “Find a place to stash the trucks. We’ll go in on foot.”

  Nero, relieved, slowly reversed in the frozen front yard of a cabin that still had holiday lighting on the porch rail. He felt like death had just chosen to skip him.

  6

  “Put that fire out!” Ben shouted, flying down the stairs. His shout and heavy boots woke everyone in the cabin. “Put it out now!”

  Kendle and Tommy jerked awake, almost falling off the narrow couch as Ben jumped over them to reach the fireplace.

  “Who started a fire?” Tommy growled. “What dumbass did that?”

  Ben shoved Ori away from the fireplace to fasten the flue and stomp on the flames. He’d been about to drift off when he’d thought the sun was up. When he’d glanced at the black sky, he had realized light was glowing from the first floor.

  Scott hurried over
to douse the fire with his canteen and others did the same, sending clouds of smoke rolling into the cabin. Coughing echoed loudly over the voices and babies crying.

  “Get in the rear until it clears out!” Kendle ordered, kicking the locked barrier open when it wouldn’t budge. They’d assumed there were bodies in it and hadn’t forced it last time after Conner hadn’t sensed life inside.

  Kendle scanned the secure room in relief, able to feel the nerves before a battle now settling onto her shoulders like a brutal, familiar vest. “Stay here. Don’t come out.”

  She grabbed the arms of three men, pushing them into positions along the hall that led to the rear room. She didn’t try to explain yet, unable to get a clear breath through the smoke. She shut the door to keep the others from breathing as much of it, hoping they were sealed up tightly. It was probably about to get ugly.

  “What is it?” Ben asked, checking his gun, coughing.

  “Dirce is here,” Kendle answered. “I feel him.”

  Ori, who had remained outside the room of his own volition, came to Kendle. “He’ll burn it first. We should give up.”

  Kendle stared at him, taking the precious time to dig into his mind. “…you son of a bitch.” Kendle pointed her gun at him. “He lit the fire on purpose. It wasn’t an accident.”

  Now afraid of blowing Dirce’s plan, Ori quickly held up his hands. “No, I wouldn’t do that. We have a deal.”

  “A deal you know I can’t keep my end of,” Kendle accused through the thick smoke. “You loved Renda and still helped me kill her. Why?”

  “Because she was corrupt!” Ori spat suddenly, accent thickening with his anger. “All those men! She and Yuri enjoyed the slaves too much. There can’t be that type of open relation in the new world order.”

  “New world order?” she repeated, guts dropping.

  Ori smiled as the rest of the men in the hall pointed their guns at him. “You’re all going to die in here.”

  “You first.” Kendle pulled the trigger.

  7

  “There’s the first shot. Care to make a wager, mate?”