by Angela White
Neil didn’t answer Tim’s comment. The water plant below was the scene of an ongoing battle and Neil was busy trying to estimate the threat. Safe Haven needed that precious liquid.
“There’s another plant a few miles from here,” Donald stated. “We could try there and leave these idiots to their fighting.”
Gunshots echoed, along with shouts for surrender, and Neil studied the area. These people were on the edge of Safe Haven’s site. Eventually, their battle might spread and Neil didn’t think Angela would be very happy with them for letting it sneak up unmonitored.
As they observed, the group outside the plant tried to ram a jeep through the reinforced main gates. It slammed into the sturdy barrier and came to a sudden halt without doing much damage to anything but the jeep. Smoke billowed from the wreck and men stumbled down, bleeding.
“That wasn’t very smart,” Tim said.
Neil agreed and it helped him make the choice. “These people aren’t intelligent enough for us to leave them alone. How long before they try to charge our gates the same way?”
“But we don’t know who is in the right here,” Donald protested lightly. “What if those on the outside are the good guys?”
“There’s a lot of brass on the ground. We can’t leave armed combatants on Safe Haven’s hearth.” Neil insisted. “There’s one way for us to know who has to go. We’ll make contact.”
None of the men cared for that, but didn’t argue. Being Eagles meant making the hard choices and Neil was right about armed groups roaming unmonitored. It didn’t provide a comforting feeling.
Neil motioned for his team to stay close and led them down the winding road. Thin sunlight glinted off the small town and Neil lowered his shades, wondering if the smoke rising from the west was related to Becky’s mission. He wasn’t as concerned now. The radio signal for all crews within two miles to quietly come in and surround camp had calmed him. Angela had found a problem coming and covered it. That was her job.
And this is mine, Neil thought, easing his horse into a slightly faster walk as they reached the flat ground.
As Neil’s team neared the intersection, the group outside the water plant noticed them and reacted by pointing their weapons.
Neil stopped, hand coming up, and his Eagles neatly surrounded him.
The tension surged and Neil gave the expected order, “One shot and we wipe them out.”
“Go away! This is our water!”
“We’ll shoot you! Get out of here!”
Despite the hard words, the voices were full of dismayed nervousness and Neil was glad to hear it. He hoped it meant they weren’t ready to have a third party enter their struggle.
“We’re from Safe Haven,” Neil called, hand still up. “Send someone to talk. Now.”
The faces of the two-dozen men fell and they muttered to each other. It was clear that they’d heard of Safe Haven.
Neil slowly walked toward the group, spotting faces behind the fences. “Tell the people inside who we are. If they shoot, we’ll end up killing you anyway.”
“Hey! Inside!” one of the outer men shouted. “They’re Eagles. Don’t fire!”
“Fuck you, man! Liar!”
“Great,” Neil grunted, coming to a stop out of range of the handguns he could see. He hadn’t spotted any rifles yet, but there was a sense of being in a scope and Neil made sure he didn’t sound worried as he shouted, “Inside the gate! Send someone out to talk!”
“No way!” came the reply. “They’ll shoot us!”
“I’ll come and get you!” Neil shouted and heard his men mutter unhappily.
“You really Eagles?”
“Tell your sniper to inspect our clothes,” Neil stated, waving at the outside man to pass the word. He was done shouting. “I’m Neil, a level seven Eagle with the authority to order all of you killed.”
The men in and outside tensed, hands tightening on their guns, eyes darting for a safe place to fight from.
“We can all die right here,” Neil stated calmly. “Or you can send two people out here to talk me.”
“We’re sending someone out!” the inside man called. “If anything happens to him, we’ll come out shooting!”
Neil confidently gestured for his team to stay put and went forward as the fence inched open.
A thin man wearing a white coat was shoved out and the gate slammed shut.
Neil raised a brow at the outside men and wasn’t surprised when the translating man came forward.
“Let’s go over here and chat,” Neil instructed, leading the two glowering men to the base of a large tree. His team moved to be between Neil and the rest of the strangers, and they stayed alert. Now would be a bad time to let anyone sneak up on them.
Neil studied the two angry men for a brief moment. He couldn’t let them argue or the information would be too confusing. Instead, he used his police training and took the upper hand from the first sentence.
“Safe Haven wants this water.” Neil let their mouths open and then cut them off. “We’ll take it if we need to. In three hours, this place will crawl with Eagles. In five hours, we’ll be loading the water and the birds will be eating your eyes.”
“Hey! You guys aren’t thieves!”
“Yeah,” the inside man agreed. “You’re supposed to be fair!”
Neil sighed heavily. “Damn. I knew that was going to be a problem.”
Confused, the two men stared and Neil hunkered down between them. “You can agree to split the water and go your own way, or I’m calling my boss. Any guess what she’ll say?”
Neither man spoke, and Neil told them, “She’ll say to kill all of you and bring the water. She has no patience left for people who can’t get along.”
“We were here first!” inside man argued. “We don’t have to share.”
“We only wanted enough to get to the next town,” outside man explained. “Why won’t they help us?”
Neil sighed, lowering his glasses. He pinned the inside man with a dark glare. “You told them no?”
Inside man winced, nodding. “There isn’t very much and we have sick people to care for.”
“So, you turned them away?” Neil clarified. “Your fellow man was thirsty and you told them no.”
Before the man could protest, Neil scrutinized the other combatant. “So you decided to take it?”
Outside man, feeling the guilt, dropped his head in shame. “Yes. Our vehicles were overheating. We would not have made it to the next town.”
“You could have walked,” Neil stated. “You chose to kill.”
“We haven’t hit anyone.”
“Neither have we!”
“Okay,” Neil chose quickly. “Give me a tour of the plant. I’ll divide it and send both of you on your way. Safe Haven doesn’t need people like you living here.”
“We have sick people! We can’t leave.”
Neil stood up and went to the gate. “Give me the tour. I’ll decide if you get a house call from our doctor.”
Those words had the inside man on his feet and leading the way. Medical help was rare.
Neil signaled to his team and then regarded the outside man. “I suggest you leave while I’m in there. While I don’t agree with their choice, they were here first and that makes you the offender. In the old world, the law would not be on your side and it’s definitely not now.”
Neil entered the gates without worrying over reactions. Knowing who they were had solved the problem of who had authority. Angela’s master plan against the government had given Safe Haven more than freedom. They were now the reigning power in the country and these two small groups of refugees would likely be in one of their quarantine zones in the next few days.
Neil caught an odor of damp rot and detoured toward it. “Did anyone test the water?”
Inside man was busy talking to his people in low mutters and Neil dug through his kit for the pack of testing strips that all the Eagles were required to carry. “Are you idiots fighting over bad
water?”
3
“He’s been in there for a while,” Tim stated, eyeing the sullen men outside the gate. “Maybe we should go in.”
“Not yet,” Donald refused. “He has three minutes left and then we’ll call him.”
Content that Don was keeping track of things, the others fell silent, waiting. They didn’t like their team leader being out of sight for so long. It went against their training.
“There he is,” Allan said, pointing at the opening gate.
Neil stopped to talk to the outside men, handing them something his team couldn’t identify from where they stood, and then he marched toward his men, expression disgusted.
“What is it?”
“Are you okay?”
Neil held out his hand to show them three water test strips. “All of its contaminated and the idiots have been drinking it. I think they have a Cholera outbreak in there. Call the boss.”
4
“It’ll take about two weeks to get them all through it,” Doctor Reynolds stated, picking through his supplies and filling a duffle bag. “Lots of clean water and food.”
“Doctor.”
Angela was ignored as the man continued to gather supplies and think aloud.
“We’ll have to have a burial crew if they have as many bodies as Neil hinted. We can’t use–“
“Yo, Savage!”
The doctor was snapped into alertness and Angela didn’t waste time with niceties. “They’re not getting our doctor for two weeks. Not even a full day. Get in, evaluate, then tell them how to medicate themselves and get back here. The Limit is ten hours. If you can’t do it in that time, you might as well stay here and pass messages.”
“What?” the doctor stammered. “It’s an outbreak. I-I can’t.” He peered at her with squinted eyes. “You still pissed at me or something?”
Angela left, indicating for Marc to handle it. She didn’t like the new doctor. He would never handle her medical care.
“If we leave you down there, those people will take you hostage,” Marc explained coolly. “You won’t make it in one piece. Try listening to the boss. She knows what she’s doing.”
“So I can be a captive here or down there. Is that it?” the doctor protested loudly. “I’m not your prisoner!”
“No, you’re not,” Marc agreed, leaning in. “If you were, I’d punch you in your throat right now and this conversation would be over.”
Marc enjoyed the man’s sudden fear, but he didn’t take it any further. Instead, he repeated Angela’s instructions. “You’ll get in, verify that it’s Cholera, tell them how to dispose of the bad water and the bodies, and how to use the supplies we’re delivering. The Eagles will set up a quarantine area and when they leave, you can go with them or stay there–permanently. We don’t need three doctors anyway.” Marc went to the flap. “You know how I feel about you, so if you don’t come back with my men, and then change your mind later, I’m not likely to order a rescue.”
Marc left the man thinking about how ugly that could get and Angela was satisfied that the doctor would follow orders and return when the Eagles did. He didn’t understand how dangerous the situation could become if the people inside the water plant decided they wanted their own medical man.
Their radios crackled with,” New arrivals at the gate. Bring a doctor.”
Angela and Marc went that way without speaking. If Adrian’s notebook was correct, this was the lightest part of the flow of survivors from the west–their only chance to get ahead of it.
Angela surveyed the small group of five men, discerning runny noses and rashes. “Ash effects. Get them showered and fed and then Hilda will go in to run the tests. Have her take a student, in case she needs the extra hand.”
“Add to the security?” Marc asked, sweeping Zone C, where the drinking and shouting had resumed with dusk.
“Not yet,” Angela responded. “These new people aren’t a threat.”
Marc didn’t question her decision. It was easy to figure out that the group of five was ill and tired, searching for sanctuary.
“Zone A?” Marc asked. That was the area where she was putting people who would eventually become members.
Angela scanned them again, digging deeper, and was glad when she could say, “Yes.”
“We don’t care about no magic! We want in!”
The shouts from the large refugee group drew attention.
“What about them, Zone C?” Marc wanted to know. She’d said something went wrong during the fight with Jack, and implied that those people should already be gone.
Angela swept the ledge next to the drunken refugees, where Adrian’s cold camp couldn’t be viewed through the trees. “It’ll be handled. Keep the Eagles away tonight.”
Marc understood and scowled, but didn’t argue. Adrian being reduced to secret killer was another blow the former leader would have to deal with and it wouldn’t be easy. Adrian was a traitor, but not a true killer. He’d always had other people to do it for him.
“In the morning, I need you to take supplies in there, while the doctor is out.”
Marc nodded. The boxes they’d tossed into Zone C today had been destroyed in the scramble and only small pieces of the gear had actually been received. As they listened, a wail rose–one of hunger and grief.
“They didn’t share any of it, right?” Angela asked, furious. “The leader kept it all?”
“Yeah,” Marc answered. “We thought about going in and handling it, but you were asleep and I assumed you didn’t want our guys in there without you.”
“I won’t be going in there,” Angela informed him. “They’ll take me hostage and I’ll end up killing them all, in open view of our people.”
“That wouldn’t be good,” Greg remarked, joining them. “The herd’s a bit uneasy after today. They thought this camp had all the descendants. Jennifer is helping them calm down, but it wouldn’t be a good time for another demonstration.”
“Everyone chose to stay in the caves tonight?” Marc verified.
“All but a crew of Eagles,” Greg told them. “Said they want to be topside, no matter the threat. Jeremy’s with them.”
“Our Indian friends are staying topside too,” Angela said. “Along with doubled security. It’s fine.”
Angela went to the mess, where Li Sing had a light crew keeping drinks and snacks filled. She took a mug of hot chocolate, ignoring the upset stomach. As she sat down, her wrinkled arm skin drew her attention. His light is fading, she thought.
Moans and muttered curses came from the tents as Eagles worked off the day’s stress in the training area. Marc expected to find Kendle and Daryl in there after this shift was over. From the reports he’d been getting, it appeared that routine was helping her control the rage. Marc also thought Angela had given Kendle her fill during the final battles, to hold her while she adjusted to being around people again.
“Damn.” Angela rested her head on her arms. “In about a minute, there’s going to be a fight near the pharmacy tent. If it wakes Kenn up, Tonya’s gonna shout and the entire camp will come running. Head it off, will you?”
Marc rushed toward the pharmacy tent, not sure what he would discover, and Angela took the opportunity to relax her stomach and evaluate her condition.
Not good, the witch warned. A few more days of this and there will be no hope.
I need a week, Angela answered. It can’t be done any faster.
There’s only one way.
I won’t go to him.
Then the child will die, so that these people may live.
Angela let the single tear spill over her cheek and then quickly wiped it away as Li Sing approached.
“Please, eat.”
Angela caught a whiff of the stew and pushed herself up, running for the nearest garbage can.
Marc found the new man at the pharmacy tent, without Doug. Not supposed to be roaming without his settling partner, Darian had been surrounded by Eagles and Marc’s arrival had stopped th
e violent beating the sentries wanted to deliver.
The camp was now aware of why Darian had come here and few people had a welcome for him. Accusing their leader of murder, after the awful battle they’d all survived, was like a new war cry and Darian was shunned. Even Doug wasn’t as friendly as Angela had hoped, but she didn’t interfere. Time would tell on Darian and on herself. People expected a moral board vote to decide his claim. Darian expected a full trial like Adrian had received. Angela didn’t plan on either, as far as Marc knew.
“He’s one of them!” Logan pointed out. “We saw his men with the others who came here today!”
“Boss said this one’s okay, so let him be,” Marc ordered.
“We’re watching you!” Howard told Darian. “Don’t prove her wrong. You won’t like it.”
Marc led Darian back to his tent, not bothering to tell him to stay inside. The man was shaking lightly. He understood.
“Thank you,” Darian said, lifting his flap. “I wanted some fresh air. I shouldn’t have gotten so far from the tents.”
Marc knew Doug was sleeping and Angela had plans for this man, but that didn’t stop him from saying, “You should be careful. Traitors are hung.”
Marc left him with that thought and returned to the mess. He didn’t like any of the new people. Is it them or me, he wondered, striding to the center table.
Li Sing hurried out and told him what had happened with Angela, and Marc listened in anger. Why couldn’t she just say she wasn’t feeling well?
It’s more than that, his demon spoke up. She’s going to lose the child and she knows it. She’s sparing you the details and the pain.
“I hate it when she does that,” Marc growled, causing Li to flee for the safety of the truck.
Marc went to their tent, but didn’t have the heart to yell at her when he saw the shivering form beneath the blankets. Compassion and concern rose, and he immediately sent a blast of energy into her. He would be pissed later.
5
On the ledge above Safe Haven, a cloaked figure waiting for the right moment to act. The large, drunken group he was studying hadn’t noticed him and the man slowly inched closer, using the weeds and darkness for cover.
