The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  “Here’s tape.” Angela tossed the roll. Most of the supplies on this level were accessible.

  Tonya watched as Angela directed her dimming lamp toward a small line of wires stapled to the wall.

  “Like this.” Angela spliced snapped connections together by twining the matching wires around each other and then wrapping them in the tape. Tonya got busy, hoping that Angela would go to the bottom level soon. The herd needed her down there.

  Sighing, Angela motioned to Jennifer. “You’d better stay with me so that Marc doesn’t get worried. Let’s go.”

  Happy that her mental suggestion had been accepted, Tonya stayed where she was.

  Angela walked into the main room with the control panel, stopping by Ozzie. “Any idea on time yet?”

  Ozzie didn’t stop working. “Give me half an hour and then I’ll be able to tell you. Once we get all the wires reconnected up here, we have to go through and disconnect the lower levels or we’ll start more fires when we flip the power on.”

  Angela patted his arm. They all had work to do.

  Angela did a brief evaluation of each level of the cave that she came to as she went down the ladders and ropes. She was forced to go slow because of her physical health, but she also needed an idea of what came next. Marc was laboring on water. Ozzie was working on power. Kenn and the others were providing protection. They needed food, blankets, and medications. Many of their injured would develop infections if they didn’t get antibiotics.

  Angela stopped near the ladder on the level with the former medical bay. She used the last of her flashlight battery to scan the rubble, trying to determine where the precious cases had fallen. When she thought she had a general idea, she descended to the bottom level and began to dig through the rubble.

  Billy spotted her and came over to help. It was obvious what she was hunting for when he realized all the debris in this pile was medical related.

  As they worked, shifting debris into a bare corner of the floor, other survivors came over to help.

  Voices drew attention again as another small group came down the ladder. Everyone was overjoyed to see new survivors.

  Missa helped Joseph lower himself down the rope, face streaked with tears. Behind them, James, Booth, and Peter followed, all loaded with dusty bags and boxes.

  People rushed over to take the burdens.

  “We were trapped behind the guard shack.” James waited for his turn to come down the rope. “Marc put rations under there. I’ve got about 400 packages of Mountain House Beef Stew.”

  Angela marked that off her list as one hot meal for their current population, relieved. That would buy more hours.

  “I found the purification tablets!” Britani shouted from the water chamber.

  Eagles hurried to get the case so they could start treating the water the doctor was crying over not having access to yet, despite it sitting right there. He needed to be able to clean some of the wounds, but more than that, he needed to be able to wash his hands. The blood was building up on his skin.

  “You have to help her!” Shawn grabbed the doctor’s arm.

  Jimmy pushed out of Shawn’s tight grip. “She has smoke inhalation. There’s nothing I can do for her without oxygen. Get off of me!”

  Before Shawn could grab the man again, Nancy distracted him. Much calmer now, she led Shawn and Missy, who was pale and quiet, toward a corner of the bottom level. “Let’s try over here. There might be a fresh breeze.”

  Shawn let Nancy talk to him, but he was terrified that the girl wouldn’t recover. To him, she looked bad. She wasn’t the active, talkative, bossy little kid that he had gotten used to taking care of during their time together.

  All around the doctor, others were in the same situation. Terrified for their loved ones and unable to help, panic was about to set in. Those who were calm enough to foresee it coming hoped Angela, Adrian, or Marc were able to get it under control before things got any uglier than they already were.

  As if drawn, Angela came down the ladder and began helping the doctor.

  Two minutes later, Marc and his group came from the opposite end of the bottom level, where they had found a way to put a ladder up to the residence areas. The tension went down another notch.

  Marc went straight to Angie, with Charlie on his heels.

  Angela took a moment to embrace both of them, grateful that they had survived the first wave. Now I have to get us through the aftermath.

  Chapter Six

  Life and Death

  1

  “Stay with her. When you see the baby’s head, yell for me.” The doctor limped away, sweating. He had twisted his ankle earlier while treating patients.

  Nancy stayed crouched next to Mandy, who was in labor two months early.

  Still helping with the wounded, Angela worried over the coming birth and a lot more. Smoke being pulled out of the mountain was a concern now. The trouble in the passage wouldn’t be the end of it. The steady smoke said they were in trouble, making this a perfect time to attack. They needed to get real security set up.

  Marc joined her. “I’ll need six hands to take care of it.”

  Angela was eased. With Marc on duty, no one would get through without paying the price. “You pick them.”

  Marc glanced at Charlie, who was kneeling by Samantha. “We need more food and medicine. I’d like you guys to work on that.”

  Glad to be able to help, Tracy hurried toward the ladder and Charlie followed. They knew most of the supplies had been on the destroyed level. Like Angela, they would track things from their origin.

  Marc let the couple get out of earshot before meeting Angela’s eye.

  “Thank you.”

  He smiled, glad she approved. He didn’t want the boy down here using himself up on the wounded. “My honor.”

  Marc picked his six men and motioned them toward the corridor where he’d fought the Mexicans and killed a man he’d called a friend. Eddie’s betrayal was disheartening. Marc had chosen his for the rookie team.

  Angela felt the same way. She had believed Olivia would make the right choice in the end.

  “I found one!” Jennifer grasped the edge of the box, tugging hard. Angela had put her on searching while she helped their wounded. Jennifer lost her grip and slid down the rubble pile.

  Gus grabbed Jennifer’s arm, helping her gain her feet. The shifting rock sent a fresh cloud of dust across the bottom level, recoating everything.

  “Thanks.”

  “Sure.” Gus gave her a little shove to help with momentum as she went back up. They were all tired.

  The doctor and students would handle distributing the medications that were in the box, but it was one of the smaller containers. Jennifer knew they needed to locate a large one that held enough to treat their entire population for a week. That was the emergency outbreak bag and there was only one of them. She recognized that as a mistake.

  Jennifer got a stronger grip on the box this time and jerked hard. It came free, sending a small slide of rubble down the pile.

  People jumped and gasped as rocks crashed to the ground, terrified that the earth was shaking again.

  Jennifer hurried over to Samantha with the box, already flipping the bent latches.

  Angela told one of the students how much to give the injured storm tracker and watched to make sure it was correct. She scanned the area, noting that Cynthia and Candy had been brought down. Sedated, both women had slept through the chaos. Autumn was snuggled between them, also sleeping. That made Angela wonder where Cody was.

  It only took a minute to find him next to his mother’s body. Someone had covered her with jackets, but the little boy had uncovered her face.

  Angela put an arm around his small shoulders. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Cody leaned against her, sniffing. “She wasn’t a good mom, but I loved her.”

  Angela held the boy, scanning the other bodies. Several people had fallen during the quake. They had broken their necks or been impa
led. Chauncey was one of those. Angela wondered if he had foreseen his own death and pushed away the gruesome contemplation.

  “He told her something before it happened.” Cody was staring at Chauncey now, tears dripping down dirty cheeks. “She told me what it was. Do you want to know?”

  “Yes.”

  “She said the Onion man is coming.”

  Angela frowned, trying to decipher the words. “Onion man?”

  Cody glanced up in fear. “The Onion man isn’t supposed to be here. He doesn’t like America. He’s a descendent too.”

  On a break, Adrian had come to check on Angela. He’d been staring at her for five minutes, pondering things, but now, he stepped from the shadows near the water chamber. “Do you mean the UN man?”

  Around them, people stilled, trying to listen.

  “He has a lot of men.” Cody craned his chin at Adrian. “They’re coming here.”

  Angela knelt in front of the boy. “Can you tell us when?”

  Cody began to count on his fingers. “Six, seven, eight! Eight days.”

  Angela and Adrian both sighed as tension flew through the survivors. That was the last thing any of them wanted to hear.

  “Help! Help us!”

  Missy had collapsed.

  Angela hurried over to begin CPR. The doctor was busy dealing with an impalement that had just been brought down, and three of the students were occupied with helping Mandy give birth. From her cries and groans, that moment was fast approaching.

  Responding, Missy sucked in oxygen and coughed, body twitching.

  Angela held up a finger. “What’s your name, honey?”

  The little girl frowned. “That’s not funny.”

  Confused, Shawn crouched over the girl in terror. “Is she okay?”

  Angela caught a flash of Missy’s thoughts and added it to her list of things to settle once she had time to settle things down. “She needs oxygen treatments.” Angela pointed toward the medical bay. “I think I saw two setups where Tonya was trapped. They were caught on the ledge with her. You might be able to reach them if you’re careful. They look like a breathing mask with a hose and a plastic bottom.”

  Shawn was moving away before she finished speaking.

  Angela helped the little girl over to the line of wounded that was finally shrinking. Missy had been following Shawn around as he dug through rubble piles to find something to help. It had worn her out and overloaded her saturated lungs.

  Mandy screamed in agony as the next contraction hit.

  A few feet away from the doctor, Neil began grunting. “Come on, Sam! Come on!”

  Two of the students were performing CPR on Samantha.

  Angela ran, aware that she was at her limits. She hadn’t been refilling her magic from anyone and her injuries were too fresh. The single life force had healed the last of her injuries from Vlad, but there hadn’t been any reserve. She doubted she would be able to help, but she took one of Sam’s clammy hands, determined to try.

  Terrified, Neil waited for something to happen, but none of the previous orbs shot out and there was no blue light. Sam didn’t respond.

  “What is it? What’s the problem?”

  “She’s too weak.” Cody had followed Angela. He placed a hand on her wrist.

  Almost immediately, multicolored orbs began to shoot from Angela’s fingers. They slammed into Samantha with enough force to shake her body.

  “Thank you.” Angela didn’t scold the boy for not telling them sooner and she didn’t reprimand herself for not knowing that Cody was a healer. These gifts weren’t predictable, good or bad, and they didn’t have anyone who could identify power. As far as she knew, there wasn’t a descendant with that ability.

  Samantha inhaled deeply, body arching. She curled into a ball, coughing violently.

  Uh, I can do that. Sonja also had a beta who could do it. I’m not sure that we’re that rare.

  Angela frowned at Marc’s message. Do what?

  Identify descendant gifts…on sight.

  Evolving. Angela sighed, standing up so that Neil could help Samantha sit up. It’s good.

  Marc sensed she was unhappy, though. Why?

  I had hoped you wouldn’t evolve, Marc. It’s part of my nightmares. It’s why you die.

  I don’t get the connection.

  With that skill, you’ve just become the most sought after type of descendant on the planet. Keep quiet about it, please? Even when it’s hard?

  I will. Marc hadn’t asked her for the exact details of that moment yet, but now he understood that it was more complicated than Adrian stabbing him in the dark some night.

  I’ve never told you because you wouldn’t have believed the truth. I still don’t think you will, but your gifts are evolving. The second part of what I saw has come true, so I’ll tell you now if you want to know.

  He does it for a good reason. Marc had always been fast on his feet.

  He saves everyone–the same as he’s been doing all along. Angela groaned as she stood, spine popping.

  Would we be enemies if you had told me that?

  Angela was hopeful at his reasonable response, but she didn’t censor the truth. The time for that was over. Of course. If he could get away with killing you, he would do it. Same for you. The rivalry will never end until one of you is dead.

  Marc caught a very fast flash of Angela shoving someone into the line of fire and then she was out of his mind and hers was closed to him.

  Angela left Neil to comfort Sam, hoping what she and Cody had been able to do would be enough. She was weak and the boy was young. Together, they might have bought Sam a day or two, but her own health would have to take over from there. Neither of them would be able to do it again.

  Cody tensed. Angela realized the other injured, and those with friends who were injured, were coming toward them. Forced to make an ugly choice, she held up a hand. “I’m sorry. We can’t do anymore. Help them as best you can.”

  She led the boy over to Gus, confident the big man would keep him safe.

  Gus knew what she wanted without being told. He had been watching. “I got him.”

  Angela squeezed Gus’s arm and returned to their line of wounded. She couldn’t help magically, but she could assist with the skills of a doctor.

  Adrian pointed to a few of the healthier survivors and signaled toward the ladder. “We need to get the levels covered while Marc secures the tunnels. Come on.”

  In situations like this, most of the camp was grateful that he still cared enough to help them. As Adrian climbed to the next floor, followed by people who were happy to be distracted from the misery on the bottom level, Jennifer came after him.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  Adrian motioned for the others to go ahead.

  “We have a killer in here.” Jennifer lowered her voice as she remembered there weren’t appliances or electronics running to cover the conversation. “And not the kind we can use. I’ve found five bodies that weren’t from the quake.”

  Adrian wasn’t surprised. It was a prime opportunity, for both good and bad, to take advantage of the lack of security. “I’ll tell the boss.”

  “She already knows.”

  Adrian frowned. “Then why are you coming to me with it?”

  Jennifer put her hands on her hips. “Because we can’t have a killer running loose in Safe Haven. It’s the wrong choice.”

  Much like Angela had, Adrian snorted. Surely the teenager understood that killers had a place, considering that she was one?

  Jennifer would have argued further, but Marc and Kenn came up the ladder. Wanting more weapons, Marc had sent his crew on to secure the tunnel while he and the filthy Marine collected them.

  “I’m not sure we should do anything.” Kenn and Marc had heard the conversation. “Whoever it is, they’re eliminating problems for us. We were watching Bobby and Howard before the quake.”

  “Fewer problems are a good thing.” Marc stiffened. “’Cause we do have a lot of th
em.”

  Everyone rotated to find two men with guns standing in the shadows of the rubble.

  Neither of the traitors was in the mood to talk or try taking a hostage. Both men assumed they were about to die. They were only determined that they wouldn’t go alone. They had found the bodies of their co-conspirators and assumed Angela was having them eliminated. Both men raised their guns...

  A tall figure bathed in shadows appeared behind the two men.

  Chris swung, bringing the short, metal pipe up from the hip with the force of his body.

  Jennifer winced at the awful crack.

  Marc and the rest of his group watched in astonishment as the vet swung again in the same form. Blood splattered the cave wall.

  Chris swung the pipe a last time, enjoying the squelching noise as his feet slid in the pool of blood. Job finished, he disappeared into the shadows without looking at any of the witnesses.

  Marc shared a glance of amused concern with everyone and then shrugged. “I didn’t see anything.”

  The vet was glad to hear that as he went down the rubble on his hands and butt. He was already bruised and scraped, and covered in dirt and dust from the labor that he’d been doing. It was a relief to know Marc wasn’t going to have him hunted down yet. Chris had no doubt there would be serious consequences from the actions that he was taking, but saving the important lives would help in that moment. Right now, he wanted to be certain that Angela was okay.

  As the vet came down the rubble pile in the far corner, Angela felt his inspection.

  Very good.

  Chris beamed and settled into the shadows nearby.

  Angela signaled James and Peter to carry the water container around for people to get drinks. The purifying tablets had been sitting in them the required time. It wasn’t sanitary to have everyone drinking from the same containers, but it was better than passing out from dehydration.

  As the camp got a drink, the adrenaline crash started to wear off and people got sleepy, but there was no actual sleeping or even drowsing with the wounded man shouting under the doctor’s rough hands or the woman screaming as she pushed out a new life.