by Angela White
Snow rolled down all sides of the mountain, covering the jagged cliffs until all anyone could see was blowing white coming for them. It thundered as it fell, sliding along outcroppings and cavities to swallow the refugees trying to flee the valley. They were lost from sight as the snow continued to crash down onto the battlefield. Troops, fighters, and refugees were buried, but the avalanche kept coming.
Jeff shoved Kevin against a tank and hefted himself up, hoping the crew had already fled.
The hatch flew open, hand with a gun coming up.
Jeff kicked the gun into the air and then brought his boot downward as hard as he could, shattering the man’s face. He dropped into the tank, punching the gunner who went for his gun.
The tank driver fled up the short ladder.
Kevin grabbed the man and tossed him into the snow by the wheels. He dropped into the tank to help Jeff subdue the gunner as the wall of snow hit the bottom of the valley and buried everything.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cleanup
1
Angela’s group watched as the valley was buried under tons of rock and snow. The decoy passage was covered, as was the top entrance where a camp of wild refugees had been arguing about fleeing or staying to fight, but the explosions didn’t stop. They continued to circle the jagged cliffs, reminding Angela’s army of their battle with the government. She had used a chain event to their success then and she’d repeated it here.
Snow and rocks thudded in front of Angela’s tunnel, blocking their view and showering them all with icy dust.
“Move!” Angela got her inhabitants away from the entrance and then gestured at her fighters. “No survivors.”
The Eagles didn’t hesitate. With over seventy percent of Dirce’s troops suffocating under the snow, they were eager to be finished before those men dug out.
“Stay here.”
Angela didn’t argue with Marc’s order. She wanted to be here to protect her camp from anyone who might get through.
“No one will.” Adrian stepped by her, following Marc.
Comforted, Angela went to the rear of her scared people to make sure no one was sneaking up on them from behind. Some of the refugees had gotten in before Dirce blocked that corridor with his first shot.
2
“You line ‘em up, I’ll knock ‘em off.” Adrian had his rifle. “Give you a chance to practice that new grid.”
“I don’t know how to use it yet.” Marc brought his grid up, noting names where the red heat signatures had been.
“Narrow in on any of them and I’ll be drawn to it while we team.”
Marc felt Adrian link their minds and chose the targets that mattered most. He concentrated on the troops around the tank where Jeff and Kevin had taken shelter.
“You’re not asking much.” Adrian’s mutter was lost in the noise of his shot.
Marc grunted as blood sprayed from an exposed ankle. “One more miss and we switch.”
Adrian frowned. “I can do better.” He narrowed in on Marc’s grid, lining up a new shot.
The UN soldier peered over the tank and flew backwards as the bullet plunged into his eye socket.
“Again.” Marc picked out the next target.
Around them, Eagles, descendants, and camp members were fighting side-by-side with guns and magic. Not afraid of each other in that moment, their bond brought the bubble over the camp to life for the first time in months. Their unhappiness and differences were no longer blocking it.
The troops firing into the dark tunnel were angered that their bullets and magic were absorbed by the shield. This one didn’t fall at the blows. It grew stronger, feeding off the emotions of the citizens it was protecting.
Digging their way free like Jeff and Kevin had, UN troops were now rising up to replace those who had been killed. No sooner had Adrian and Marc cleared the tank then more troops clawed up and tried to get inside it. Kept to one area of the battlefield, they were both quickly aggravated with the limits.
“If your new gift came, now’s a good time to discover what it does.”
Marc concentrated, bringing up the hall of doors. There were several new options. “Um, this one. I think.” He opened it without knowing what was behind it.
“Sonic. Nice.” Adrian put a hand on Marc’s shoulder. “I’m blocking everyone behind us. Send it out.”
Marc shoved energy through, trying to aim at a cluster of troops running toward the corridor as they fired.
Marc staggered as the blast shot out of his chest and slammed into the dozen soldiers firing at Angela. He glanced away as their eyes exploded.
“Wow.” Adrian wanted to grin and congratulate him, but the horror wouldn’t let him. “I’ve never observed that before.”
Marc grunted, gathering energy for the next blast. “Line us up.”
Adrian concentrated on the closest threats to the passage, positive that’s what Marc wanted. “Go.”
Marc fired the next blast.
3
Angela waved at Cynthia and Samantha. “Do what you can.”
Both women frowned, but neither refused.
Neil fired his rifle, scowling, but he didn’t tell Samantha not to. She had the right to defend herself and there were still too many troops. They needed her help.
Sitting by the exit where she’d crawled to, Samantha lifted her hand and then slammed it into her palm.
The ground under the battlefield vibrated as if it had been punched. Men screamed as the snow shifted, splitting open in places.
Samantha slammed her fist into her palm again, hair standing on end as she used the gift her demon had revealed after her injury and Jeremy’s death.
Thud!
The icy ground broke apart in front of the tunnel, dumping troops beneath the snow. Behind the thud, came a cold wind that froze them in snowy graves.
Cynthia rubbed her stomach as she directed her child’s power. She and Samantha weren’t teamed, but they worked together anyway. Samantha dumped the men into the ground and Cynthia froze them. It was just as awful as Marc’s sonic blast, but the women felt it more. They weren’t seasoned fighters yet.
Thud!
More troops fell under the snow, screams locking in their throats as they froze.
4
On top of the cliff, Kendle’s team was using the last of their ammo to pick off troops who were in range. Most of them weren’t.
Realizing they were about to be out of the fight, Kendle waved toward their cave. “Get our rappelling gear. We’re going down to help.”
While the men hurried to do as she ordered, Kendle motioned at Conner. “You’re a Mitchel. I know you can do things from here. Get on it.”
Conner’s frosty cheeks paled. “They can’t know how different I am. I’ve got their respect.”
“Then do it now. If you don’t, I won’t support you when this is over and neither will they.”
Afraid of losing it all just as he’d gained it, Conner lifted his hand.
The sky above the battlefield clouded over and then kept going. The dim sunlight was blocked, turning day into dusk and clear vision into blurry guesses. Heavy wind slammed through the valley, hitting everything in its path. Tanks rocked, tilting, and troops were knocked into each other and their vehicles with brute force.
Conner lifted his other hand.
Kendle couldn’t look away from the hundreds of troops who rotated toward the boy with blank expressions. Their faces held no emotions, but their eyes were haunted as their bodies obeyed Conner’s commands and not their own. It was terrifying.
“Get it over with.” Kendle knew what was coming and was impressed as much as she was horrified.
Conner clenched both hands into tight fists.
The soldiers below lifted their weapons in unison and blew their own brains out.
Conner’s range from up here had only hit a quarter of the battlefield, but it was enough to get the attention of some of the remaining troops. A few of them fired at the boy
instead of Angela, but many of them began to retreat toward vehicles that weren’t blocked.
Those are my kids you’re shooting at! Angela’s wave of fire laid waste to the pocket of troops hiding behind a row of tanks to shoot at Kendle’s location. The men fled, screaming and burning as she blasted them with so much heat that paint melted and tires popped. She couldn’t stop the tears as she killed them. All life held value to her, even that of the enemy, but she didn’t stop firing. This wasn’t a time for mercy. It was survival.
5
“To the right!” Kevin was still being Jeff’s spotter.
“I’ve got it now.” Jeff had needed time to figure out how to work the controls. He rotated the barrel toward the final cluster of troops that were about to shoot a rocket into Safe Haven’s tunnel. He didn’t know if the magic would catch that, but he wasn’t taking the chance.
Jeff fired.
The tank in the center blew up, spraying metal and fire in all directions. Troops fled, dragging injured friends and leaving dead ones.
Jeff and Kevin didn’t know how to reload the tank, but they didn’t want to keep using it anyway in case their side didn’t know who was in here.
“Time for ground work.” Jeff checked his weapons and went up the ladder.
Kevin followed, no longer afraid or whining. Jeff knew what he was doing.
Jeff caught the thought and grinned. That’s rich. I’m as clueless as he is. Jeff dropped to the snowy, bloody ground around the tank and began shooting troops trying to make it into the corridor.
“We have runners!” Neil called Angela’s attention to the access road that the UN had used to get into the valley. “About thirty, on foot, and two vehicles.”
“No one gets out this time.” Angela opened her hand, shoving it toward the road where the two mountain ranges stopped short of kissing.
“That’s our way out!”
“We’ll dig a new one.” Samantha saw where Angela was aiming and switched her next fist slam to the same location. Together, the two women pounded the mountain until it began to fall.
6
Kendle’s team was suiting up as fast as they could; frustrated with the rappelling equipment they barely knew how to use. Still targeting troops, Conner saw the access road become covered in a thin layer of snow and rocks. Realizing Angela was trying to cut off the path of the retreating men, Conner focused there. If the boss wanted the road closed, he could do that.
Conner lifted his hand.
Huge boulders rolled down the cliffs, crushing the vehicles and the men. Those who survived were shot by snipers–magic and non-magic. Awful to view, it was also gratifying. Safe Haven had defeated every threat strong enough to wipe it out. They were the superpower.
Angela lowered her arm, halting the battle. Her fighters stopped firing, searching for survivors. There weren’t many. Angela counted a hundred, split across the bloody battlefield. Gunshots faded into screams from the wounded and the howling of a wind that wasn’t natural.
Angela rotated toward Kendle’s location. Bring them down now.
Conner drew in his power, gasping at the energy he’d used. “I’ll need a minute.”
You don’t have it. Angela gestured toward the camp members she’d chosen yesterday. “We need twenty vehicles. Collect their trucks and all the fuel, and get them to the road. I’ll get it cleared. Do it as quick as you can. More refugees will come here, drawn by the fight. We leave at first light.”
The crew strode out of the passage, already dressed for the chore. Angela had told them the UN vehicles would have toolboxes and other caches of supplies that they would need. She hoped they were able to scavenge enough vehicles. The UN hadn’t been prepared for a battle with magic users who fought alongside the humans. They’d also assumed Dirce’s negotiating would prevent a real battle. The amount of troops he’d brought was an intimidation technique, but they’d forgotten that Safe Haven was fighting for their very existence. They’d used every weapon in their arsenal.
Angela waved at her next team. “Walk it.”
This crew went slower, finding no sport in shooting wounded men. They understood the order and obeyed, but it was too personal for many of them. This battle might be the last for some of them.
Jeff had no trouble with it. He fired into a begging man’s chest and then knelt down to rifle through his pockets and pouches for anything he could use.
Next to him, Kevin did the same. “Extra mags for my 9mm. Nice!”
Jeff tossed him a bloody pouch. “Full of candy. You’ve got the sweet tooth.”
Kevin threw him a pack of unopened cigarettes. “I don’t smoke those.”
Around the two men, the fighters paused to stare at their callousness.
Jeff and Kevin didn’t notice.
Gritting his teeth, Adrian began looting the corpse at his feet. They’d been forced to do this at points during the battle with the government, but it had been random and the soldiers had already been killed in one of Angela’s many traps. These men were moaning and puking, crying and trying to bargain for their lives. It was wet work.
Angela joined her army. It was fair that she shared in this shame, but she also needed to replace her energy. Distracting Dirce had drained her.
She stopped by the first wounded soldier she reached, hand lifting. As his life rushed out and into her, angry lightning flashed above the battlefield.
“I’m already damned, remember?” Angela moved onto the next one. “If you didn’t want me to do this, you should have stopped them from coming for me.”
Across the battlefield, descendants began to follow her lead and absorb the life forces of the dying peacekeepers instead of shooting them.
Adrian was horrified. He was also relieved and impressed. He’d never believed she would condone such a thing, even for their survival. “That’s heartbreaking.”
“It’s survival.”
“Yes.” Adrian stayed with Marc, providing protection and storage. He didn’t look at anything Marc handed him, not taking his attention away from the remaining troops trying to burrow under the snow to escape.
7
“Ready?”
Conner nodded at Kendle’s question. He wasn’t afraid.
The team around them swallowed their protests. Kendle had chosen to bring the babies down in the first group. Both infants were snuggled in her pack. The contents had been shoved into other bags and pockets, but Kendle had also padded the sleeping babies with Rita’s jacket and shawl. Kendle didn’t think the dead woman would mind.
“Don’t rush.” Kendle stepped off the edge of the cliff and began to walk down it, anchored by a static rope. They’d hammered the anchors in deep, knowing they would have to be used twice.
Kendle hated hanging over open air. If the anchors came loose or the rope broke, they would fall to certain death, but she didn’t hesitate. If she did, so would her team.
“It’s Kendle’s crew!” One of the camp women, Sylvia, shouted, pointing. “There’s Tommy!” She’d missed his weekly relief sessions.
Eagles watched the team descend, many of them comparing it to old movies with secret agents rappelling down the side of a tall building together. It appeared as though the team had done it often, with no errors the fighters on the battlefield or in the tunnel could spot.
Kendle’s boots touched the ground five minutes after leaving it. She grinned and waved to hide her queasy stomach. The wind had pushed so hard that her grip on the rope had torn holes in her gloves. I’m never doing that again.
Kendle looked at Conner. “Tell Carl to hammer the anchors in again before we unhook and let go, or they’ll come out. Mine was shaking.”
Conner did, helping Kendle take off the pack with the twins.
Kendle felt the rope vibrating as the anchors were pried from the rock and then hammered into a new spot. She approved of the change, but she didn’t relax. She wouldn’t be able to until all of her surviving team was down.
8
Adrian l
ooked around, noting who was on the field with them and who wasn’t. “Where’s Charlie?”
“Guarding the rear of the passage from refugees.”
“How did she get him to stay in?”
Marc sighed. “She gave him something he wanted more than blood.”
Adrian considered that as he scanned for survivors. Tracy had to be involved… “They’ll be recognized as a legal couple, like Kyle and Jennifer?”
“Yep. She knew exactly what to use.”
“On us, too.”
Marc wiped his hands down his frozen pants. “But I’d still kill you and you’d still kill me. She’s the only one getting what they want.”
Adrian recognized the fuse if he wanted to light it. Instead, the former leader shook his head. “After everything that’s happened, she barely needs us at all. I think we should just be glad if she wants us.”
Marc would have argued with that, but he noticed Kendle’s team striding triumphantly toward Angela with laden arms and huge grins.
Adrian frowned, narrowing in on the two bundles. “Damn.”
Marc joined Adrian in the instant mood change. It was hard not to think that she’d ordered a replacement.
“I guess she doesn’t need us at all now.” Adrian’s heart hurt.
Marc winced at the double pain, still teamed. “That changes things. I can’t fight that.”
“I’m not going to try. She doesn’t need us.”
“But I do want you.” Angela walked toward them with a cooing infant in each arm. She looked at Adrian as Marc studied the babies. “Secure the perimeter.”
Adrian walked away after a fast glance at Marc that begged him not to fight with her.
Angela smiled down at the children. “We’re going to have a large family. Can you accept that?”
“That’ll be the easiest part.” Marc took the little girl, noting her eyes were the same shade of blue as Angela’s. “Cute.”
