by Angela White
“But?” Greg insisted, catching the tone.
“I’m not sure either of those things are wise,” Angela stated honestly. “He’s a traitor and no matter what anyone feels about him, that fact won’t ever go away.”
5
Kyle and his team lingered outside the main gate as the doctor nervously came out to do the blood tests. Kenn stayed with them, loving the front row action he’d gotten, but still missing Adrian. That man was in his tree line, recovered Saiga dangling, expression unreadable as he watched his highest team joke and chat.
Kyle noticed Kenn’s stare and followed it to where Adrian’s pale eyes waited for a sign of recognition–be it forgiveness or hatred.
Kyle spotted Conner and Kendle in the shadow behind his fallen idol and disapproval flashed across his profile. Before thinking to consult Angela, he spat, “You’re either with us or against us. You better make that choice soon or the Eagles will do it for you.”
Kyle turned his back on Kendle’s dismayed expression, ignoring Adrian completely. All the men agreed with him and so did most of the herd. Kendle couldn’t keep living both sides of the line. It was time to choose.
“He’s right,” Adrian said, going to his tent. “Tell the boss what you need and she’ll set it up.”
Kendle didn’t care for sneaking around, but it didn’t stop her from following him inside the canvas. He’d been right when he said she would crave it, but it wasn’t for the pleasure. After he knocked her out, she didn’t dream, and that was more valuable to her than all the orgasms in the world.
A radio in the corner crackled to life. “I have an official announcement from the boss, folks. Tomorrow, we relocate into the cave and everyone earned a reward, because we’ve been in it for a week already! We’re moving, folks!”
Adrian was ecstatic at the news. “I knew she could do it. Less than two weeks. That’s amazing!”
He spun around and jerked Kendle into his arms, making her giggle as he twirled them around. He’d been waiting for word to come.
Kendle felt the excitement change to arousal and tilted her mouth up as his lowered. He would pretend she was Angela now, and the pleasure would be incredible.
Inside, the old Kendle shriveled up a little more and continued to bleed.
Chapter Eighteen
Lurking
1
“Damn tremors,” Billy muttered, scanning the wreck site. Shane’s vehicle looked like it had rolled down the cliff, with them inside it.
“That’s exactly what happened,” Marc stated distractedly. He keyed the radio. “Safe Haven is on your doorstep, Eagles.”
They were parked at the end of the driveway of a small house that still held sullenly twinkling red tinsel in the trees around it, and the front door opened immediately following the call.
A large group of black men came outside, loosely holding minor weapons like bats and clubs. Marc didn’t discern any guns and he wondered how long the group had been here. Since the beginning?
Behind the strangers, the stranded Eagles jogged down the stairs and greeted their family.
“Thanks, man,” Shane told Marc as he got out of the van. “We’re okay here, but they don’t have much food. Felt guilty about eating.”
“They don’t have much here,” Tommy explained before Nathan could start prattling.
Marc gestured toward the rear of the van. “Then you’ll like what the boss sent.”
Shane helped carry the cooler of beef and pork to the nervous strangers. Marc followed, observing the peaceful interaction. It was a nice change from the constant fighting.
Joseph stayed with Marc, not sure what to do now that they were here. He hadn’t thought to ask and Marc hadn’t given him any instructions. I don’t know how to do this. She knew that. Why am I here?
Billy remained by the driver’s door as Quinn went with Marc. Fresh from a shift patrolling the snow gathering location, Quinn hadn’t hesitated when Marc asked him to come along as security.
“Oh, shit! They got blacks, man,” the small teenager in front of his mother stated loudly.
His mother quickly shushed him and Marc grinned. “Kids, huh?”
The woman gave him an uneasy smile in return, sweeping his hard body.
It caused the wide man at her side to twist toward her in surprise. “What just happened here?”
“Where?” the woman asked.
“Here,” the man repeated, scowling. “What just happened here, woman?”
“What?”
Marc didn’t know if she was screwing with the man’s mind or not, and hid a snicker. Women, huh?
“Was that a crack?” the woman demanded suddenly, glaring at Marc. “You got a problem with women?”
“No, ma’am!” Marc choked out through his surprise. She’s a descendant!
“Your boss didn’t tell you,” Brittani guessed. “I probably wouldn’t have either.”
“I wondered why she wanted me to come,” Marc stated, holding out a hand. “I’m–”
“The Ghost,” Brittani interrupted, shaking his hand. “We know all about you and your people. We’re fine being neighbors with Safe Haven.”
“Any thoughts of being members?” Joseph spoke up, feeling like he should be doing something.
The woman glanced around her group and shrugged. “Thoughts of the past might prevent that. You’d have to be convincing.”
“Can we stay and share a meal with you?” Marc directed. “We’ll cook and supply the food.”
“And during this meal?” wide man demanded, still gaping at Brittani. “You gonna welcome them personally?”
“We’ll just be talking,” Marc quickly stated. He could almost hear Angie snickering at this.
The woman turned to Marc. “Why? You don’t think I’m hot?”
She was, in fact, but Marc only laughed. “The boss is gonna love you, lady. Really. Name your terms while I feed my men.”
“Thank you for knowing how it had to go.”
“Thank the boss when we get there,” Marc stated. “She told me I had to know when to ease off. She didn’t tell me you were willing.”
Brittani chuckled. “Yeah, she said you guys needed the drill, but I can tell you’re tired, so I’m cutting you a break.”
She wrapped her arm around the waist of the wide man, who instantly looked mollified. “Come on. Let’s eat and then get moving. Oh, and she said you need to check the alarms on the return trip.”
Marc gaped, both loving and hating how easy this had gone.
He saw Joseph with the same expression and shrugged at the man. “She didn’t tell me.”
Joseph wanted to be upset, but it was amusing and he cracked a reluctant grin. “That Brittani’s something, isn’t she?”
Marc went cold, stopping as alarm bells blared. “How do you know her name? She didn’t give it and I haven’t said it.”
Marc shoved into Joseph’s mind, digging through weak, hastily erected walls to discover a carefully tended secret. “You’re a descendant!”
Ahead of them, Brittani cackled. She’d spotted it as soon as Joseph got out of the van. She’d known descendants were close by the power she’d felt and the woman was eager to have her people under the full protection of Safe Haven.
2
“What town is that?” Samantha asked.
They were stopped for a quick meal of Li Sing’s burrito wraps and none of them was in a hurry to restart laboring. Since leaving after this morning’s excitement at the gate, they had cleared thirty-two vehicles. They’d expanded the cleared road by five miles and all of them were covered in grease and dust. Even the soldiers had taken turns this time, and Samantha hadn’t argued when they’d insisted. She and her trained girls had taken up the sniper posts and tried to keep their attention off the sweaty men.
“Cleveland, I think,” Conner answered when no one else did. “My dad and I went through there a couple days ago. There isn’t much left.”
“You guys had a different list, I’d bet,” Samantha co
mmented cheerfully. “I want to go through there and then call it a day. Five miles is good.”
“You’ll watch our vehicles,” Samantha told Conner firmly.
There was a tense silence where the soldiers frowned and the females nodded.
“Good. Pack it up, gear up, and let’s roll.”
Samantha’s words drew reluctant respect and the soldiers followed her orders and then her as she led them toward the town.
“Wait.” Conner got their attention. “We shouldn’t go in there yet. Let’s wait until tomorrow.”
The soldiers stared at him, but the females felt a cold chill. They knew that tone, even if the voice was different.
“Why?” Cynthia asked snidely. “So you can feel like you protected us?”
“I’m too tired to do anything about what I think may be waiting in there,” Conner admitted, sitting down on the hood. “Do what you want. I’ll watch the vehicles.”
He sounded like Adrian and it sent anger through the women.
“I say we go and do it now, while there’s still light,” Samantha stated. “Vote on it.”
Enough hands rose to get the win and Samantha signaled for them to follow. The mall she could see was half a mile over cracked pavement and a small wooden bridge. If they found anything useful, she planned to send a pair of the soldiers for their wheels.
Candy and Tracy brought up the rear, not letting the males surround them for this run, and David shrugged when his men looked to him for instructions. “Follow their lead, I guess.”
Samantha loved the feeling that gave her, but nervousness was also present, creating an ugly mix in her gut. It was a reminder that she was carrying new lives and she slowed their pace a bit. Conner had been able to heal her completely and she wouldn’t waste the gift by getting hurt. He had refused to tell her how it was possible to get rid of the cancer though, and she hadn’t insisted once the pain receded.
Samantha motioned for weapons out, something the soldiers had already done, and the group of nine strolled into Cleveland, Georgia an hour before dusk.
Samantha took them straight to the mall that had two stories encased in brick and a huge entrance sign lying across the wide stone steps. It was dark and felt empty, and Sam led them up the stairs calmly. She had scanned the mall and the town all day, as much as she could, and didn’t feel any danger, despite Conner’s words.
The mall had been looted and there were bodies, but both were light and the group nimbly took mags and gear from these corpses. The soldiers realized the skeletons wore uniforms of a foreign nation and stored the information. Adrian had said to get a complete account of everything that happened today. He’d obviously known Samantha would go exploring.
The setting sun didn’t cast much light and Sam flipped on her belt light, adjusting the angle so that the glare from the shiny floors and walls didn’t blind her. Those in the rear did the same and the illumination allowed them to read the various signs.
“You are here.”
“Wheelchair Rentals at the Office.”
“Radio Shack.”
Samantha headed toward the big red letters. They would check other stores, but if this one held something usable, it would go with them now. Parts for their radios were hard to come by.
Samantha swept the store with her light. There was broken glass and plastic, and papers, but no bodies she could discern and she eased through the propped-open door. Forcing her finger to stay off the trigger, Samantha led her group inside and began scavenging.
“We should clear the rooms back here,” David stated, taking a position near the rear hall.
“Go on,” Samantha stated, prying open a metal cabinet. “Everyone else, grab what you can and be ready to leave in ten minutes. I want to be at the vehicles by dark.”
David and two of the men went down the hall together in a neat form that drew Candy’s attention. It made her feel safe and a little curious about how they had been trained. Would she be able to achieve that in time?
Samantha opened a drawer of resistors. They came in many sizes that could be soldered onto circuit boards.
“We’ll have to test these before we install them,” Sam stated, carefully loading the packages into her kit. “But there’s a chance some of them will be usable.”
“Won’t all of them?” David asked. “They’re not even opened and the cabinet isn’t damaged.”
“I don’t know if we’re in an EMP radius from the war,” Samantha answered. “And I’m not even sure if it would affect these anyway, since they’re not connected, but it would suck to install them and then find out they’re dead weight.”
“Good point,” David agreed, starting to like these Safe Haven women. They were smart, they were brave, and they were feisty. It was a powerful combination.
The noises of clinks and thuds echoed across the mall, along with their voices and laughter. It made the soldiers nervous and David was forced to say something. If he didn’t, his men would.
“We’re making too much noise,” David informed Samantha. “And our time is up.”
Before she could protest, David picked up her kit and slung it over his shoulder. “Lead us out.”
Samantha stood there for a brief moment, considering weapons, and then she spun toward the door, gesturing to her team.
The women followed her while casting resentful glowers at the men and David swallowed an apology. The blonde was cool and he didn’t want her pissed. He’d already heard stories about her temper.
Samantha stormed down the stone stairs, hating the fact that he’d been right on both counts. He didn’t have to handle me like that.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Samantha paused on the bottom step, not sure if she would accept his apology or not. She certainly felt she was owed one.
“We have orders to get you to Safe Haven’s gate by dark. I should have told you that when you suggested coming in here.”
“Orders from who?” Samantha asked in a dangerously cold tone.
“Our boss. He said you’re needed at home.”
“You should have told me!” Sam accused angrily, taking off. “I owe you!”
“Damn,” David breathed, taking off after her. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
“She means it, too,” Cynthia tossed over her shoulder as she flew by to take Samantha’s right.
“Great,” David grumbled, letting himself and his men once again be the filling in the sandwich. “Now they’ll never let me in.”
“You’re living with our enemy,” Candy told him as Samantha increased her pace and a sense of urgency filled the air. “We weren’t going to let you in anyway.”
Before he could reply to that bombshell, David stumbled and fell. Half of his men stopped to wait for him and the rest of the group kept running.
“Stay with the women!” David grunted through the pain. Something was sticking through his leg. He could see both ends of it, and was almost certain it was a dart of some kind.
Dart?
Fuzzy, David tried to focus. Did someone shoot me?
“Look out!”
“No!”
“Open fire!”
David heard the chaos from a foggy distance and couldn’t stop his lids from shutting. Help!
3
“We came from Atlanta,” Brittani told them while everyone was enjoying the burgers the Eagles had prepared on their personal stoves.
Each Eagle had made two sandwiches from their kits and shared with one of the strangers. Li Sing had told Marc of having a custom like this when new people came to his restaurant and Marc had adapted it. Besides showing there was nothing wrong with the food, it also gave the Eagles a new layer of training. They hardly ever had to use the gear in their kits and that had to change. Marc had spent the time guiding the team through assembling the Emberlit stoves, lighting them, and then cooking the meat. Marc had enjoyed the demonstration and the group of men and women had watched in interest and hunger. They’d been cook
ing over open fires too, but they didn’t have the gear that the Eagles did.
“Atlanta?” Marc finally responded, after swallowing. “That had to be ugly.”
“It was. My dad and I grabbed the few people we knew we could trust and came out here to our family cabin.”
Marc peered around the neat home, approving. “Nice handmade radio there. You do that?”
Brittani motioned to the wide man she’d been orally sparring with earlier. “Gus. He usually runs the radio, but when we found out we had Safe Haven people here, I decided to make contact.”
“Wise,” Marc said. “And you’ve been here the whole time, listening on the radio to the fighting?”
“Yes.” Brittani didn’t shy away from Marc’s slightly accusing tone. “We’re inner city people. We don’t know how to fight and I don’t how to train them anymore than I already have.”
“You didn’t want them to be sacrificed in someone else’s war.” Marc read her guilty thoughts. “We won’t hold that against you. A lot of good people didn’t come and fight with us.”
“I didn’t know you,” Brittani stated evenly. “And I’ll kill for these people. It didn’t seem like a good time to bring them around.”
“It ain’t now, either, girl,” Gus said in a quick rush.
Brittani’s cold frown gave Marc pause and he observed her intently as she pinned Gus with a nasty glare.
“What did you say, Boy?”
Gus realized he’d tripped a switch and said, “Nothin’.”
“Nothing!” Brittani cried angrily. “We’ve spent hours and hours on it every day and you still sound like some ignorant fuck!”
Gus flushed and Marc grimaced, but he approved of the lesson. In fact, he had hopes that Angela would create a language class soon to help with those already in Safe Haven. Understanding what someone from across the country was saying got hard sometimes.
Sighing, Brittani put a hand on Gus’s big wrist. “I don’t want them to be mean to you.”
Gus smiled a bit. “I know. I’m sorry I embarrass you.”
“Embarrassed,” Brittani repeated automatically. “If you leave off the ‘e d’, then it means you always embarrass me and that’s not true.”
