by Angela White
“Give me time with her to learn what’s coming from it, what we can do to gain control of it!”
Benjamin stared at the Major, one of the few that remained in the entire country. “Perhaps we can make a deal, Major Donner. Continue to your chosen destination. I will be in touch.”
“Wait.”
“Yes?” Benjamin’s voice was a warning all by itself.
Donner began to understand that the young man might also be hard. That could be useful. “What about Mitchel? I’ve gotten nothing from him.”
Benjamin considered. “We’ve been very upset with Mr. Mitchel since the war. I think its past time that he…retired. Don’t you?”
Donner chuckled. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. Alpha bunker out.”
Donner frowned. He had begun to hate that name. Despite what he wanted and all that he could gain, dealing with alphas was hard. Donner felt he was getting too old to continue this line of work. But with a baby who could do things, a retirement in the south with a few men didn’t sound bad. As long as nothing came from the call, anyway. Donner had known when he started this madness all those decades ago that he might not be able to handle whatever came from the contact. He’d accepted that he would likely be killed for the evil in his soul, but still hadn’t been able to stop himself. Now that his goal had been reached, Donner was confident that there would be a response.
He looked over at Adrian’s pale, unconscious form. As soon as they were settled, he would spend some time alone with Adrian and get the answers he needed for himself and the angry little bunker man. All he had to do was threaten Angela’s life. Adrian would do whatever he was told. It was the way Alpha pairing worked. Donner knew how to take advantage of it. Once he got the information, or assured himself that Adrian didn’t know, he would slit the blond man’s throat and leave his body on these dark, dank tracks for his precious Eagles to find.
If they made it this far. The refueling hub they’d left was filled with soldiers. When Benjamin had said he sent a team, he hadn’t been kidding. Thirty heavily armed mercenaries were now in these tunnels, setting traps and watching for anyone who didn’t belong. Benjamin had told him the team came from a small site in the east that was dying. The bunker leader had appeared glad to have a reason to use those who hadn’t starved. Benjamin had told them the Safe Haven rescue party was carrying a stock of food and that was all it had taken to get the desperate soldiers to agree. It was that way in all of the remaining bunkers. No one wanted to be sent out into hell unless it was for food. Then, there were too many volunteers to use.
There was only one other facility within a hundred miles of here. The Eagles wouldn’t be able to miss it. His advantage was that it would only take Donner three hours to get there. It would take the rescue party ten. He had the only train in this area. Not many elites had been expected to come from Georgia, Donner assumed. The four train cars were sparsely supplied and would hold forty people, at most. Donner only had half that number of men along, making it an almost comfortable ride that rolled through the tunnels in near silence. The government had spared no taxpayer expense on this private conveyance.
Donner went to the main car, missing Angela’s lids opening, the smile coming to her lips.
“Benjamin, is it?” she murmured, busy trying to track his exact location. Once she had that, she could lock onto the new President and then find him wherever he was. Her powers had grown again, though Donner would never get the chance to explore them. As soon as the bunker called again to confirm or deny the deal, she would strike.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Under the Bus
1
“What is this place?” Marc asked.
“It’s a refueling hub. They’ve got one like this outside the western bunkers.” Ivan was walking next to him, giving details when Marc asked for them.
The building had come into view slowly, lit by dim bulbs that flickered in reluctant duty. The platform of the small hub was dank in places and held an odor they all recognized.
“Someone’s been getting sick.”
“Too many chemicals,” Ivan muttered. “See how yellow it is? All drugs and no food.”
Those words were met with Marc trying to avoid the ugly pictures of Angela being starved and drugged while she was dragged through this newest hell.
“Doors to topside from here?”
“Negative.”
“Closest access point?”
“Ten miles, due west.”
“Great,” Marc muttered. That meant any number of soldiers could be waiting for them.
As he had the thought and held up a hand to stop his group, the sound of gunfire filled the tunnel.
Marc couldn’t see much once the lights overhead were shot out. He heard the hiss of flares being tossed as Ivan lit up the target zone. Marc followed it with a heavy layer of gunfire that allowed the rest of his fighters to take cover around the edge of the curve before the hub.
“Move in!”
The order came from the enemy.
Marc tossed his grenades into the tunnel in a useless attempt to stop the flood of mercenaries coming their way. Donner’s trap was more than Marc had bargained for. The feeling that gave him was as close to fear as he came when it concerned fighting and Marc let the demon out as he rushed forward to meet death.
He ducked, slicing in the smoky dimness and felt blood splatter his arms. He spun and slicked, stabbing behind him. He kicked out to knock men off their feet.
Marc’s Colts had one full load left and he used them now, taking out five of the stunned men who had no idea what was coming after them in the darkness as the flares burnt out.
A vicious growl echoed as Dog joined the fight, able to see perfectly. He clamped down on a man’s neck, squeezing until it burst in his mouth. He hadn’t been able to track the soldiers through the muck so he’d come back to his master.
“Marc!”
Kendle’s shout drew his attention to the flood of soldiers chasing his team, shooting at them.
Marc did the only thing he could think of. He shouted. “I’m the Ghost! Catch me if you can!”
He didn’t wait to see if they would. The shouts and stomping boots that said they knew the bounty for him was huge.
Marc fled toward the hub, hoping his team would come up behind the men to trap them.
At his heels, Dog lunged for another unprotected throat as the soldiers caught up and gunfire echoed again.
Missing the wolf, but not Marc, the gunfire trailed off as the pair vanished into the single door of the small refueling station.
“Move in!” one of the soldiers commanded from the doorway.
Dog was there to leap up and bite down on his face. More gunfire finished the soldier’s gruesome death as Dog darted after his master.
Less than a dozen mercs were left as they entered the dark control room in a quick line, trying to stay together.
Behind them, Marc’s team rushed up and piled in, leaving no room for anything except hand-to-hand combat in the darkness.
Men grunted, women screamed, knives slashed, and blood covered the floor, leaking out onto the tracks.
“Get out! Its gonna blow!”
The warning came from Marc.
Eagles fled the room right before it exploded, providing more light than they needed.
The explosion rushed down the tunnel, catching good and bad alike. The smell of charring flesh filled the air.
Marc struggled to stand up, blown against the wall as he tried to get all of his team out. He still wasn’t sure he had, but he didn’t observe any soldiers stumbling around. He’d had them all over him in a far corner when he’d pulled the pin and ducked, crawling his way out of the main blast zone.
Above them, a jagged hole had been blasted into the roof. Marc sucked in the fresh air gratefully, clearing his head. When he thought he could walk, he searched the area for any of his team who had survived, aware of a small cave-in happening behind them. Donner’s ambush hadn’t
killed him, but it had come close.
Marc’s hand slid down to cover the bloody bullet hole in his arm as he counted bodies and survivors.
“Spread out, search for people and ammunition,” Marc instructed. “And be careful.”
His voice sounded like he’d swallowed a chain. Marc pulled his shirt up over his face to avoid the smoke, then tied his bandana around his arm.
“Over here!” Quinn shouted.
They dug the rubble out quickly, piling it nearby to find the bodies of Ivan, Red Stone, and three soldiers who’d insisted on following Marc into the earth.
“The tunnel’s blocked,” Quinn said too loudly, making himself wince. His bleeding ears didn’t want to work right.
Dog brushed up against Shawn and the Eagle patted the wolf comfortingly, glad the animal had escaped.
“Are we stopped?” Quinn asked, not sure how they would track an underground train without being able to follow the tracks.
“Maybe we can help with that.”
The new voice was welcome. Marc nodded, and then groaned at the pain. “How about throwing down a rope first?”
Neil hurried to get them all out of the ground. He’d witnessed the explosion from his high perch and rolled down to find a gaping hole strewn with crimson splatters. He’d known that was where Marc would be.
Marc sat on Neil’s passenger seat while the rest of Neil’s men tended to the injuries. They also handed them much-needed mags.
“So what’s this idea?” Marc asked.
Jeremy leaned over the seat and handed Marc his laptop. “We broke the code.”
Marc stared at the waiting screen and broke into harsh laughter that ended in a coughing fit.
Neil exchanged glances with Jeremy that said they understood. While Samantha had been missing, they would have driven themselves and anyone around them into the ground during a quest to rescue her. Marc would do the same.
2
Adrian wasn’t doing well.
Awareness slowly came to his mind, along with pain, weakness, and worry. His health hadn’t been the best before this. The neglect and abuse were taking its toll.
Angela was in charge of this run. She would make the call on when they’d taken enough abuse in order to achieve their goals, but Adrian wasn’t as confident of his own outcome as he’d once been. Angela had sworn him to trade his life for Charlie. He had assumed that meant he would remain alive. He had no illusions about her leaving Marc. That bond was unbreakable.
“I should know,” Adrian croaked, not hearing himself through the ruptured eardrum that was causing nausea and dizziness. He hoped Angela planned to trigger their trap soon, or he wouldn’t be around to witness the result. Even now, his heart was giving odd palpitations that warned of a coming episode that he had no medication for.
“Easy,” Angela soothed from across the car. She’d been sneaking him bits of her food and water when she could, but it wasn’t enough. Another full day like this might see him dead and he knew it.
Will you kill him to achieve your goal? the witch asked curiously.
If I have to, Angela answered reluctantly. But I won’t.
She sent that to Adrian, along with what little energy she could spare, wanting…
Angela slammed her lids shut as Donner came into the car, followed by Trey.
“Looks like she’s still out.”
“What about him?”
Adrian groaned, hoping to avoid the usual punch to the ribs to wake him.
“Feed him,” Donner ordered. “Take him down and cuff him to the couch so he can sleep.”
Adrian fell when Trey unsnapped the chain. He struggled to help drag himself over to the couch. His body didn’t want to obey. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been in worse shape.
“We’ll be contacted soon,” Donner began, taking the seat near Angela’s evenly breathing body. “You’ll answer some questions I have.”
Adrian nodded. He put both hands to his neck, moaning at the sharp lance of agony. “Whatever you want, just don’t hurt her.”
Donner smiled coldly. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”
Adrian tried to eat everything in the MRE that Trey tossed onto the couch, but his guts wouldn’t hold much. He forced himself to take all of the water in the bottle and he sank down onto the softness with a grunt.
“Can I have a smoke?”
Donner gestured.
Trey lit one, then threw it onto Adrian’s grimy chest.
Adrian enjoyed the brain-fog that the first drag gave him, but the pain from the cough reminded him of his waking thoughts. “I’m not doing well.”
“I noticed that,” Donner agreed. “Something in the air down here doesn’t agree with you.”
Adrian’s chuckle was weak.
Donner frowned. “I’d heard you were a hard-ass.”
“Before Marc came, maybe,” Adrian said bitterly. “I was younger then.”
Donner snorted out laughter, as he understood the old bull, new bull reference. “That’s rich. Why didn’t you kill him?”
“I did,” Adrian stated resentfully. “And she saved him.”
“So you gave up? Unlikely.”
“I sent him to the front lines where he was killed again and brought back by another of his devoted harem!” Adrian spewed. “He can’t die.”
Donner was forced to accept that what his men had been telling him was the truth. The Ghost was alive.
“It’s him on my trail, huh?”
“Yeah.” Adrian dropped his cig into the tray so that Trey couldn’t eat the remaining food as he’d been doing to torture Adrian further when Donner wasn’t around. “It will suck to be you if he catches up before you reach the big bunker.”
Adrian rolled onto his side as best the cuffs would allow, easing the pressure off his broken ribs. “Thank you for the food.”
Donner didn’t answer. He waved Trey on and returned to the main car, scowling. He hadn’t counted on the child’s father being alive, let alone coming for his family. His hub trap might not be enough. He would have to come up with something else for the Ghost. Thanks to the destruction Marcus Brady had wrought upon the first battalion, Donner knew not to underestimate him. When Marc came for his woman and child, Donner would be ready to give him the welcome he required.
Donner glanced over at Adrian. First though, he would gain some much-needed information and secure his deal with the bunker.
3
“Answer me!”
Adrian shouted hoarsely as Donner sent fire into him again, but there was nothing to tell the evil Major. No one knew what the Master Call would bring.
Donner had tired of playing with his toy, but he wasn’t allowed to kill Adrian until there was a response from whoever was on the other end of such a call. Adrian had been insisting there hadn’t been a response and wouldn’t be. Donner knew he was lying, but he still couldn’t break the man.
“I’m not lying,” Adrian gasped. “I don’t know what’s coming.”
Donner gestured and the soldier chosen for this duty swung again.
Two cars away, Angela was feigning sleep while Trey ate her lunch and chuckled over Adrian’s pain. Trey had turned out to be much more dangerous than she’d thought, starving her, grabbing her when Donner wasn’t around, beating Adrian while he was unconscious. Angela wasn’t sure how much more she could take of it.
The monitor near the door beeped and Trey went to answer it, wiping away telltale crumbs. “What?”
Benjamin stared icily at the mercenary, angered by the lack of respect. Trey had to know who was calling.
“Get Donner.”
Adrian scream echoed through the cars, and Trey smirked. “He’ll be a few.”
“Working on Mitchel?”
Trey nodded, moving aside so that Benjamin could view Angela. “Takes care of her, though. You guys got some sort of deal, right?”
Benjamin already didn’t like where this was going. “She holds value.”
�
�How much value?” Trey asked, sitting down next to her. “Cause she holds a certain…appeal, for me.”
Benjamin frowned. “Name your demands quickly, before your master returns and kills you.”
“I’ll bring her to you and I get to stay. Donner isn’t going to, you know. There’s a small lab before we cross under the Mississippi River. He plans to stay there until she has the baby.”
“And you’ll kill Donner, I assume?”
“Of course,” Trey answered confidently, running a hand over Angela’s dirty braid. “Is it her or the child you want?”
“Both.”
“Figures,” Trey lamented. He rose and went to stand in front of the screen. “I need it written and sent to me, with your signature. I stay with you. Don’t care what happens to anyone else.”
Benjamin slowly nodded, noticing a new problem, but not speaking up about it. He hated having to negotiate with the help anyway. “I’ll draft it as soon as we’re done here. Anything else?”
Trey started to answer and felt the cold hand of fate settle onto his brow.
“I promised you something, Trey.”
The mercenary spun in surprise to discover Angela standing behind him. He opened his mouth to shout for Donner and found himself frozen. I can’t move!
Angela rotated to look at Benjamin, finally face-to-face with her true enemy. “Hello, Benny.”
Benjamin felt her tinkering. Her witch was coming through the screen! He tried to switch off the communication, but it was too late. Angela sank into his brain as if she’d been born there.
“Stand up,” Angela ordered.
On the screen, Benjamin’s eyes never left hers as he did what he was told.
“Draw your weapon.”
Angela could see him trying to fight, to resist what was coming. She increased the force, draining herself to insist, “Put it in your mouth!”
His arm slowly raised and Angela grinned at him, voice full of ruthless satisfaction. “You have been found guilty of treason against the people of this country. I sentence you to death.”
Mentally, Benjamin was panicking, but Angela only laughed as he opened his mouth and shoved the barrel inside, breaking off two of his teeth as he tried to clench them shut.
