by Anna Hackett
“Bioweapons?” Shaw said, incredulous.
Adam nodded.
“Yeah,” Marcus said in a calm voice.
KMA-3s let off a gas that rendered its victims unconscious. It slowed the heart until eventually it stopped.
“It’s painless,” Marcus added.
Adam managed a nod. But no one really knew if that was true, did they?
“It’s the only call,” Marcus said.
“I know.” But Adam knew it was another thing to haunt him. A decision that would torment him in the dead of night.
“Claudia, we need the KMA-3 grenades.”
The female soldier sucked in a deep breath. “On it.”
Adam turned to the convoy. “All right. Everyone back in your vehicles. The aliens are on the way. We need to get out of here as quickly and as safely as we can. Remember, stay in formation, stay under the illusion.”
A lot of people started, panic crossing their faces. They scrambled for their vehicles. Other people just looked tired and resigned. Even though they’d experienced it so many times, he could see the wear and tear. Liberty was right, they couldn’t handle much more of this.
A woman clutching a baby in her arms stepped forward. “We…we can’t leave those poor people to the aliens.” She gripped her child tighter. “They’ve clearly suffered enough.”
“We won’t let the aliens touch them,” Adam promised with a heavy heart. “Now go.”
He watched the engines start and the convoy move out.
When he turned back to the cage, Claudia had returned, holding two small metallic grenades in her hand.
Adam strode forward and took them from her. “I’ll do it.”
***
Adam slammed into his truck, his thoughts a churning mess. “Drive,” he snapped.
The engine gunned and they pulled out. He didn’t even look at the private, just stared at his hands.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He snapped his head around and looked at Liberty. She sat calmly in the driver’s seat, her gaze focused straight ahead.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
“I traded with Matt.” She glanced at him. “I’m a very good driver.” She paused. “You did the right thing.”
Adam slammed his head back against the seat. “Spare me the psychoanalysis.”
“You need to talk about this. If you don’t, it’ll eat you through.”
“It already is.” The words rushed out of him. “Fuck.”
“Swearing helps,” she added. “It helped me.”
“And what did you need help with? What pretty clothes to wear, what perfume to spray on?” He knew it was mean and petty, but dammit, acid was chewing at his gut and he was feeling nasty. Liberty had climbed in here and made herself a target.
“No. My abusive ex-husband. The one who mentally berated me, physically beat me, raped me, and controlled my every move for two years.”
Adam sucked in a breath and turned to look at her. She looked her usual calm, beautiful self. He found it hard to imagine her trapped in an abusive relationship.
“I escaped…eventually.”
He saw her hands flex on the wheel, and realized it wasn’t as easy as she was making out. “That takes courage.”
“Oh, I had no courage left by the end. He’d turned me from a happy, confident young woman into something far less. He eroded my sense of self, my confidence, my courage. It was pure desperation that finally let me escape.” Blue eyes met his. “I knew if I stayed another day, he’d kill me.”
“Liberty—”
“It’s my past, Adam. It made me who I am today. A woman who vowed to enjoy the hell out of every day.” A small smile flirted on her face. “Alien invasion or not, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t let what he did to me ruin life for me. I vowed to enjoy sex, enjoy clothes and looking good, enjoy just being me. All the things he’d denied me. But I couldn’t start doing that until I healed. Therapy helped me with that. Talking, swearing, raging at it all, helped.”
“I can’t unload this on you…on anyone.”
She raised a brow. “What? You have to be superhero? Never lean on anyone, or be seen as less than strong?”
“I’m the leader.”
“God, Adam, you get to be human, too.” Her voice lowered. “You were human with me last night in your bunk.”
His muscles tensed, memories rising. “That shouldn’t have happened. Can never happen again. It was a mistake.”
She smiled. “Then it was the best mistake I’ve ever made.”
Chapter Six
It was quiet in the truck. Liberty felt the terrible tension throbbing off Adam. When she glanced sideways at him, she saw the muscles in his forearms were strained, and torment filled his handsome face.
She knew he was thinking of those poor people—trapped, abused, mistreated. It turned her stomach, made her feel incredibly sad, and so angry at the aliens.
But looking at Adam, knowing the hard decision he’d made in order to end those people’s suffering, it made her realize more than ever how much he shielded them all from those hard choices.
Instead, he shouldered all the anguish alone.
“You did the right thing,” she said quietly.
He made an angry noise. “I killed them.”
“You ended their suffering. Even if you’d gotten them out, they wouldn’t have survived. The aliens killed them.”
Silence.
“And you got that boy out,” she added.
Adam shifted in his seat, the muscles in his chest flexing. He seemed unaware he was still shirtless. “Did Doc Emerson say anything about the boy?”
“His name is Elijah. He’s dehydrated. Malnourished. Scared. No signs the raptors experimented on him. He’ll need time.”
“And now he has no mother.”
Liberty gripped the steering wheel. “No. But he has a group of people who want the best for him. People who understand and will protect him. And he’s no longer a prisoner.”
The silence thickened again. She knew what it was like to dwell on the horrors in silence. She’d done plenty of it after she’d escaped her abusive marriage. She’d spent a whole lot of time with her toxic thoughts, blaming herself for not getting out sooner, questioning every little thing she’d done or not done.
She fiddled with the comp on the dash until she found the music list she’d uploaded to the convoy’s systems. There were no radio stations anymore, but she’d spent the last eighteen months collecting music from every survivor and pestering the tech team for anything they could recover. She eyed Adam again and picked a song.
As the melodious female voice of a soul singer popular over a hundred years ago filled the vehicle, she sensed Adam looking at her.
“How the hell could you possibly know my favorite artist?” There was suspicion in his voice.
Liberty stared straight ahead and smiled. “She’s your favorite? Must be a coincidence.”
“I get the feeling there are no coincidences with you.”
Liberty kept smiling. Who knew confounding Adam Holmes would be so much fun?
She negotiated the narrow road, following the vehicle in front of them. They were near the front of the convoy, and the drive was incredibly slow.
They had to wait for constant feedback from the squads creating the diversions and the drone operators. Still, it was better than stumbling into an alien patrol.
There was nothing more frustrating than knowing the Enclave—safety—wasn’t that far away, but they had to practically crawl to get there.
“General, do you copy?” Elle Milton’s voice came through the comm.
“Go ahead, Elle,” he said.
“Hell Squad reports that there is a stream ahead. The convoy’s water levels are becoming dangerously low. Requesting we stop to take on water and clean up.”
Liberty saw Adam look at his hands. They were still stained with dirt and blood from the trap. He also glanced at his bare che
st, and his eyes widened.
“That’s a yes, Elle. Pass the word around. But we can’t stay long.”
“You got it, General,” Elle confirmed.
Not too far ahead, Liberty saw the lead vehicles pulling over. She slowed the truck and pulled them off onto the dirt beside the road. Just down a shallow slope, a wide stream gleamed in the sunshine.
“Don’t forget a clean shirt,” she said.
Adam pushed opened his door. “I won’t.”
She lowered her voice. “I really don’t want all the single ladies discovering what you’ve been hiding.”
He glanced up fast, blue eyes hitting hers. Ah, there it was. That spark of desire he kept buried.
He stared at her for a moment, the air thickening in the cab of the truck. Then he got out.
Liberty sighed. Her general was going to take a little more convincing to loosen up and spend some more time with her.
He grabbed a blue shirt from the back of the truck and with it slung over one shoulder, they headed down to the stream. Hell Squad was supervising some of the convoy members, who were filling large water containers. The containers hovered on iono-lifts above the ground. The flat cargo lifts were used to carry heavy items and utilized electrohydrodynamics to produce the thrust to stay in the air. From there, it would be loaded into the trucks and run through purification filters.
Claudia and Shaw were knee-deep in the water, dragging the containers through, then passing them back.
As Liberty watched, Shaw glanced around, then slapped a hand in the water, sending a huge spray up at Claudia.
The female soldier whipped around and skewered him with a look. “Moron.”
The general ignored them. “Marcus, how’s Gabe?”
Amusement flickered briefly over the tough soldier’s face. “Awake. Grumpy. Doc’s keeping him in a bunk in the med bus, and he’s not happy about it.”
Some of the tension in Adam’s shoulders eased. “Good. Glad he’s okay.”
Adam moved to the water’s edge and started washing his hands and face.
Shaw whistled. “General, either you wrestled a lion, or you’ve been holding out on us.”
Liberty frowned and saw Adam straighten. She got a perfect view of his back and her mouth dropped open.
“What?” Adam said with a frown.
Liberty saw Cruz grinning, Claudia smothering a smile, and even Marcus was smiling.
Cruz rubbed the side of his nose. “Some she-cat left a whole lot of scratches down your back. Looks like she drew blood.”
God, she’d done that? Liberty stared at the scratches, couldn’t look away. She’d never left gouges in a man like that before.
Adam turned to hide his back, his cheeks filling with dull color. He quickly pulled his clean shirt on and set to work doing the buttons up.
Shaw shook his head. “General, you hound dog. Here I am, imagining you sitting at your comp at night or poring over maps, all alone. Our fearless leader who does nothing but work tirelessly—”
Claudia elbowed the sniper. “Shut it, Baird.”
Adam glared at them all. “We need to get moving.”
The soldiers nodded. Claudia splashed out of the water but paused beside Adam. “Don’t know who she is—” the female soldier smiled. “—but she’s a lucky woman. Looks like she enjoyed herself…a lot.”
A laugh burst out of Liberty and everyone looked her way. She pressed a hand over her mouth.
Adam cleared his throat, a sound almost like a growl. “Get everyone ready to move out. Now.”
***
Adam walked along the line of convoy vehicles. As he talked, consoled, and offered motivating platitudes, he wondered if any of them heard the tiredness in his voice. He wondered how much longer he could keep telling people they were almost there, and that everything would be all right.
He headed back toward his truck, wondering where Liberty was. He couldn’t believe he’d paraded around without his shirt on and let everyone see the marks she’d left on him.
He didn’t care about himself. Hell, he was honest enough to admit he liked knowing she’d left her mark on him. He’d been more worried she’d be embarrassed.
Not that she’d appeared to be. Instead, she’d looked…intrigued.
He felt a curl of desire.
Dammit, he was supposed to be staying clear of personal entanglements with her. It was bad enough being trapped in the same vehicle, smelling her perfume all around him, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
He reached the truck and heard her laughing. Curious, he rounded the back and spotted her sitting on the bumper of his truck. She was surrounded by a group of kids of varying ages.
As he watched, she flicked a finger at the chin of one teenaged girl. “How you holding up, Ava? A pretty wild road trip, huh?”
The girl nodded. “I always thought a road trip would be fun, especially after being stuck in the base.” She pulled a face. “This one, not so much.”
“Hey.” Liberty handed the girl something.
It was a stick of chewing gum. Ava snatched it up like it was gold.
“I know things are crazy,” Liberty said. “But even in the middle of that, you have to find the things that make you feel good. Enjoy the little things.”
“Like what?” a boy grumped, but his gaze was on Liberty’s hand.
“Well…like a delicious muffin for breakfast. A pretty sunrise. A smile.” She handed some gum over to the boy and he took it with a grin. “Some good candy.” Her gaze rose and caught Adam’s. “Or spending time with someone who makes you feel good.”
“Libby, Libby.” Small hands patted at Liberty’s pockets.
She bestowed a radiant smile on the trio of tiny kids tearing at her. “Hang on, munchkins, I haven’t forgotten you.” She pulled out a spill of multi-colored jelly beans. The kids pounced like unfed tiger cubs.
Two of the kids shoved handfuls of the treats into their mouths. But one little boy contemplated his, a serious look on his face. He lifted huge brown eyes. “Libby? Are the aliens gonna get us?”
It was a blow to Adam’s insides. Here was a child, maybe four, worried if he was going to be hunted down like an animal. Adam’s hands fisted by his sides. This boy should be worried about when he could have a playdate, or head to the park, or about his first day at school. Not this.
Liberty crouched down to the boy’s level. “Ian, honey, we have some special people looking out for us.” Her gaze flicked up again. “The general here works day and night to keep the aliens away. And we have the squads.”
A little girl plonked herself in Liberty’s lap and the teens crowded closer, like they needed to be closer to Liberty, soaking up her easy calm.
Liberty straightened the little boy’s crooked collar. “You leave the aliens up to the general and his soldiers. But I have an important job I need all of you to do, too.”
“What is it?”
“What?”
The chorus of eager voices made some of the tension leak from Adam. He couldn’t look away from Liberty. She radiated something that seemed to captivate—it made kids want to sit in her lap and men want to weep.
“Smile,” Liberty said. “I need you to play and smile and laugh. No matter what.”
The boy who’d asked about the aliens was now chomping noisily on his candy. “I like to play soccer.”
“I like to go on pretend adventures,” one of the girls said. “I want to discover buried treasure.”
The others chimed in with their favorite games.
“Okay.” Liberty set the little girl on her feet and stood. “Sounds like you can all help me out. Now, off you go. We’ll be leaving soon.”
When she turned to face Adam, he couldn’t manage any words. He just stared at her, trying to make sense of this woman. At first, you saw beauty, a woman with easy charm who enjoyed the pleasurable things in life.
And there was nothing wrong with that. But if you stopped for a second, you got a deeper glance at wha
t lay beneath.
And it was fascinating.
He cleared his throat. “We’re moving out shortly.”
She nodded. “I’m ready.” She popped a piece of gum in her mouth. Eyeing him, she pulled something else out of her pocket and held it out.
Adam stared at the piece of black candy. “How could you possibly know I like licorice?”
A Mona Lisa smile played around her mouth. “A woman never, ever gives away her secrets.” She lifted her hand and pressed the licorice to his lips.
The strong taste of aniseed exploded in his mouth. Without thinking, he grabbed her wrist, keeping her fingers at his lips. He sucked one of her fingers into his mouth.
She gasped, her pupils dilating.
He dragged his tongue along the slender finger, sucking once, then let it go.
“There is so much you keep hidden,” she murmured.
“Same goes, Ms. Lawler.”
“Adam—”
“General!” a female voice interrupted.
Adam took a hasty step back from Liberty and put on his general face. He turned and saw Doc Emerson hurrying toward them. “Emerson.”
The doctor nodded her blonde head. “We have a problem.”
Chapter Seven
Liberty could see the strain in the doctor’s face.
Emerson huffed out a breath. “We have a lady refusing to get back in the vehicles.”
Adam frowned. “She doesn’t want to leave?”
“No. I’ve tried to talk to her.” A frustrated sigh. “She’s elderly and stubborn and…I think she’s given up.”
Liberty swallowed. She knew that a lot of people in the convoy were starting to feel that way. Why keep running, fighting, living on fumes when you could curl up and let all the pain go away?
She understood. She’d felt that way once, curled up on the tiles of her bathroom, bleeding and hurting.
But there was always a glimmer of light somewhere. You just had to look.
“I’ll talk to her.” Adam’s voice was firm. “Go, get the med bus ready to leave.”
As Adam walked in the direction Emerson had pointed, Liberty fell into step with him.
