Where We Stand

by Angela White

  He led them southeast, away from the fighting, then began gradually doubling back up to Oklahoma. He wanted the soldiers to think the Mexicans were hiding the rebels, a lie that Sebastian was encouraging. He liked having the excuse to get his army involved.

  Marc wasn’t worried. Sebastian was only a single bullet. First, he would be used to the rebel’s advantage. If the soldiers thought their support was mostly Mexican, and south of 40, they would keep traveling through Oklahoma and meet thirty-seven pissed off Indian nations. It would slow them enough for Marc to get to the base and blow the roads. There would only be one usable Avenue of Approach and he would remove that as he and his men came through.

  In the distance, the sounds of battling were receding and the invasive noise of troops once again rolling became dominant.

  Marc keyed his mic. “Do not lose hope, my friends. Your days of marching will be over soon. The ghost has seen your deaths.”

  Marc kneed his horse faster now that the bait was set. They’d made no secret of the fact that they were all to meet at the air force base. The soldiers would think that’s where Adrian was, as well. The next part of this massive plan would take place there.

  “Open fire!”

  Not expecting it, Marc grabbed Kendle’s arm and dragged them off the horse. He threw them into the water that lined their path and held her tight as she struggled.

  Marc let his lungs begin hurting before he let them come to the surface.

  Kendle gasped in air and then she was under the water again and panicking blindly.

  Marc held her in a vise, hissing out pain as she raked her nails down his skin

  “It’s almost over!” he shouted mentally. “Wait!”

  Kendle couldn’t. The panic of being under the water was one she wouldn’t ever fully conquer and she fought harder.

  Forced to surface or take more drastic measures, Marc shoved his mouth to hers and blew.

  Kendle’s head whipped around in shock, then she started to understand and gasped in both air and water in panic.

  Marc shoved them for the surface, wishing the current was faster.

  Slugs came from Kendle’s first cough and Marc realized the soldiers had counted on it. They were trapped.

  Kendle couldn’t stop coughing, drawing their fire, and Marc jerked them under the water again.

  Kendle sagged against him after only seconds and Marc shoved them through the murky bottom, going back the way they’d come. As he swam, Marc brought up the shield.

  Kendle slowly woke to find them inside Marc’s shield, hovering near the bottom of the muddy water. Fish and other water-life swam around them in panicked fear.

  “What the hell?”

  Marc grinned arrogantly. “I evolved.”

  Kendle’s face began collapsing, and Marc stared, happiness slowly fading. “What?”

  “Why are we so different?”

  Her voice was a pathetic, echoing whisper that jerked on his heart.

  Marc gently pulled her closer and let her bury her face against his chest, but didn’t give an answer. He didn’t have one.

  3

  Brady’s mental tactics were very effective. The soldiers on the outside of the line and those bringing up the rear were as much his target as those in the front, and it made for collapsing lines when he attacked.

  To counteract this, command sent down orders of executions for leaving their places. Because they chose to use a threat instead of a solution, it wasn’t helping them retain their numbers. What men the Ghost wasn’t killing, the harsh conditions were causing to go awol. Some of those were even joining the enemy and helping the rebels to spot weaknesses in the government defenses.

  It was chaos and there was little that command could do to quiet the unease. Every night since Denver had ended with dead men on duty and soldiers not returning from their posts. Whole teams and even platoons had been snatched in front of hundreds of men. It was haunting and the talk of rebellion among the ranks was growing. It didn’t matter that they were gaining ground or that the shadow riders were easy to kill when they got them out in the open. These soldiers didn’t like the mission or the orders anyway, but to have the Ghost talk to them on their own channels was almost too much. He sounded like a real leader, like a patriot, and many of them had once been both before the War.

  Now, they had been reduced to a no-frills life of servitude that was on its way to crush out the hope of the few who had managed to survive. It didn’t sit well with more than a few of these hard men. They would continue to fight and die while command stayed safe in the bunker. The reminder that they were expendable was the topic of lowly spoken conversations between team leaders who were thinking about trading sides. Some of these men were reported and dealt with, but the battalion had only a few rats, and the rumors and gossip continued to grow. Marc would have been thrilled.

  4

  “Blow it! Blow it!”

  Marc kicked his horse harder, feeling the others doing the same as the soldiers opened fire on them. They’d been trapped by a split force and barely been able to fight their way up to the cleared road.

  Kablamm!

  The road behind the riders disintegrated, taking a few of their own and a large group of the enemy with it.

  “Do the reservoirs!” Marc ordered, shielding himself from the showering grit.

  “Marc!”

  Kendle’s shout went through him in a sharp flare of need and he saw that she had fallen in the mad crush of everyone trying to get down the road before it was blown or overrun.

  She was perched on the edge of a wooden fence and Marc wheeled his exhausted mount against the mass of their fighters to get to her.

  Kendle dropped heavily behind him, making the horse rear up.

  “Easy… easy.” Marc manhandled it into obedience and got them racing for safety.

  They made the entry into Little Rock Air Force Base with her clinging to him like a second skin.

  The ground shook under the base and around it, vibrating through the walls and floors in warning.

  “Brace, folks,” the sound of Quinn calming people was music to Marc’s ringing ears.

  “We might get a bit of recoil…”

  Bamm!

  The building felt like it had been hit by a bomb blast and Kendle clutched Marc in confusion. She didn’t know about the two reservoirs they’d rigged to blow and block the soldier’s coming attempt to pin them down.

  Blamm!

  The second explosion wasn’t as strong and Marc went to the main office, taking in the changes they’d accomplished while he was away fighting and buying them time.

  Crates and barrels of supplies were already being invaded by the small army that had met up with him and Kendle after they’d come from the water. He’d waited until nightfall to move openly and his shadow riders had fallen in around them all through the wee hours. These were his hardest men, his closest bonds, and he thought it was likely that if they survived, these men would be with him when he returned to Safe Haven.

  “That’s it! Close us up!”

  Quinn’s call was met with a loud echo that told Marc the men they had inside here right now were all they would have for this battle. The soldiers wouldn’t let any other group through.

  Marc keyed his own radio. “Perimeter groups move in. I repeat, move in and lock them down!”

  Fresh gunshots echoed in the distance around the base from all sides, and Marc’s men yelled in angry delirium. Their hopes of those outer camps crushing the soldiers were unrealistic, but Marc didn’t stop their celebrations. They needed hope and he wouldn’t deny it, but inside, he already knew they would lose. The enemy would take over and use it as a command post to send out horrific attacks across what was left of the country unless he stopped them.

  Marc entered the command room under the awed gazes of the second floor guards and leadership, and it took him a minute to understand how many men were there. He’d left less than a dozen. There were now hundreds sitting, sleeping, wash
ing, prepping weapons.

  Marc heard Quinn’s approach and turned to him with approval thick in his voice. “You didn’t mention how much company you’d gotten in that last call.”

  Quinn shook Marc’s hand like he’d won a prize. “Thought you’d need the boost when you got here.”

  Marc took a seat near the cluttered desks they had lined up. “Understatement. Give me a minute to tend her wound and then I want updates.”

  Quinn reached for the first aid kit, but stopped when he felt the room hum with power and the light chatter disappear into stunned respect.

  Marc ran his glowing hand over Kendle’s arm, where she’d been grazed by a bullet. The wound healed in front of them and a tense silence filled the room.

  Thaddeus didn’t understand and Kendle explained as Marc glanced at them. “They didn’t know he was like me.”

  Those words drew concern from the Eagles. Marc had lied about not being like Angela. And who was this woman that clung to him, got his attention first, and acted like her?

  Marc didn’t want to take the time for it. That’s why he’d done it openly. “Updates.”

  Quinn gave them without leaving anything out, but the tone of warmth he’d greeted Marc with was gone.

  Marc took in the information while repacking his kit from the barrels and pouches they had stored in the rear of the room. He left Kendle to fend for herself intentionally. Once they saw she was like Angela, they’d ask their questions and she would give answers. They wouldn’t care for them, though, and Marc was ready to interfere if needed.

  “Who the hell are you?”

  Kendle’s expression darkened at the insult. She was surprise when Quinn’s mouth tightened, but he didn’t go away.

  “You one of his strays or a threat to be handled later?” Quinn demanded, ready to be hurt to know the answer.

  Kendle barked a laugh, impressed despite herself. She’d been expecting all weaklings in the Eagles that Marc spoke of so lovingly. Paul and Jax certainly hadn’t known much.

  “I’m Kendle.”

  Quinn held out a hand. “You’re the island woman Marc’s son told us about.”

  Kendle blinked. “Son?”

  Quinn began to suspect right then, but didn’t ask his questions. “Yes. You’re from Pitcairn?”

  Kendle’s rage was suddenly gone.

  “Yes, and I’m anticipating going there again.”

  “We’ll be along for that ride, I think” he commented, trying to find out how much she knew.

  Kendle didn’t think that was such a bad idea as she saw the way he appraised her scars and reflected respect. These Safe Haven men were different.

  “You ready for a meal?”

  “If I have to.”

  Quinn waved Shane over. “Hook her up with grub and gear, like we would Angela.”

  Kendle winced at the love and loyalty in his voice, in the name. She’d never be able to compete with that.

  Kendle’s heart began accepting right then that she would be Marc’s second choice. Any female who could inspire those feelings in these men would never settle for her man having a whore. Kendle wasn’t sure she could live as one anyway.

  I’ll start separating myself from him after we leave here, she thought, giving Quinn a searching look. Maybe he was lonely and needed a strong woman.

  “Try being on your own for a while,” that voice inside suggested bravely. “You might like it.”

  Kendle wasn’t sure. She only knew that the thought of being split from her Ghost was terrifying. She wasn’t sure if it was love. She thought maybe it was more like fear of being alone again with no one else inside her mind but this voice, and she stayed quiet as the men around her made their plans and updated each other. The only time she broke out of her heavy thoughts was when that already hated name was spoken.

  5

  “You should call Angie, man. She needs the lift.”

  Kendle felt Marc’s gaze swing to her and her heart thumped painfully. She didn’t want to listen to him exchange emotions with his first choice.

  “No.”

  Quinn tried again, using careful words. “There’s a lot going on in Safe Haven these days, Brady. A personal check-in would do good for our people, not just her.”

  “You call them,” Marc ordered. “I need a shower.”

  No one spoke when he left the room, but Kendle could feel their accusations and she quickly followed Marc from the room.

  Marc let her join him in the shower’s locker room. H took a seat on one of the dusty benches and let out a hard sigh. “We have to talk.”

  Kendle perched on the bench across from him, trying to brace to be told to stay away once they reached his camp.

  “The opposite, actually.”

  Kendle stared in surprise. “I don’t understand. You love her. Why have me?”

  Marc couldn’t refuse to answer, though it hurt. “She cares for someone else, too. And someday, she’ll leave me for him.”

  Kendle took that in with a burning in her gut and a sickened heart. But she didn’t protest. Marc was her lifeline right now. She needed him.

  “And I’ve needed you, as well,” he stated softly. “It will depend on her, when we get there.”

  Kendle understood in one quick blast of insight. “You want me in case she’s with him now.”

  Marc dropped his head to his hands, and Kendle was crushed by his pain.

  “She won’t.”

  “You don’t know them.”

  “I know you,” Kendle answered sadly. “She feels the same. You wouldn’t ever need someone who would betray you that way. She’ll be waiting.”

  Kendle went to the door, more upset than he knew.

  “And if not?” he asked reluctantly.

  “Then I will be.”

  Kendle left the locker room and Marc lay on the bench, miserable in his success.

  “And I called Kenn a piece of shit,” Marc muttered, lids closing. “I guess we’re even now.”

  6

  Despite being inside a base, it didn’t change much for the shadow riders. The soldiers were still on their heels and the need to fight was prevalent. The feeling of being pinned in was one that few of them could ignore, though everyone joked like they weren’t worried.

  The only time that facade broke was when a burst of gunfire or screams was particularly close. The fighting going on outside these barricaded walls was fierce. The enemy had broken through their lines near the northern reservoir, which had failed to kill the soldiers in the explosion. The water rush had gone around and even cleared them a path in. The perimeter men were still working on them all around the base, but it was clear that this fight wasn’t going to last.

  Ten hours after arriving, Marc once again had them working on that understated three attacks a day plan. It kept the soldiers off-schedule, drowsy from lack of sleep, but it also allowed Marc to do damage in small, effective bursts. He estimated that they’d now killed more than five hundred soldiers. That would force them to gather more men from the bunker before going any further than here. It also meant they would send everything they left had this time. When they came, bullets would no longer be enough. Only magic would save Safe Haven at that point, and Marc hoped Adrian had a plan for getting the camp to accept it.

  Adrian had been working on that since Angela joined, Marc assumed, but if the timing was wrong, the herd would run. Marc wasn’t sure that was such a bad thing anymore. He didn’t like the idea of losing camp members, but those he was serving with now had accepted the differences and understood the advantages. If Safe Haven’s members couldn’t do that, Angela would always be in danger. Charlie would also and Marc would force a choice on it when he returned.

  “A lot of things there have to change,” he muttered, observing the base flank through his glasses.

  Considering they’d been attacked two hours go, Marc expected the troops to be getting sleepy again about now. The rebels had the soldiers at a disadvantage. They needed to keep the base intact,
so many of their usual tactics were off-limits. There were no in coming rockets, only sharp cracks of snipers picking men off by their shadows.

  There was some heavier caliber weapons being used, but they were aimed at the battalion’s flank and sides to keep the Indians, Mexicans, and Shadow Riders at bay.

  “Break time?”

  “As soon as I finish my sweep,” Marc stated.

  Marc turned the glasses toward Kendle’s post on the other side of the base and scowled. Where was she?

  Kendle lunged from her hiding place, knives and teeth raking the man’s neck together. He jerked away, spewing blood and she cackled in glee at the sight. “More!”

  She slashed at his stunned partner and sank her teeth into his throat.

  “Ugg…”

  Marc ran through the base, staying low, but not enough to avoid drawing fire. Slugs peppered the wall above him as he flew through the halls and men ducked blow the fire-line.

  Marc emerged in the small courtyard behind the water tankers and found her sitting between two bodies. Blood dripped from her chin and hands, and Marc stared in horror as she tried to smile at him.

  “I’m getting worse.”

  Marc heard the witnesses, but didn’t let them instill their fear or approval in her mind. He scooped her into his arms and went to the shower.

  “I’ll find a way.”

  He’d already tried to heal her, with no luck. Adrian was the only one of their kind that had the skill to bring someone back from insanity or complete desolation. The man was good at putting people together, but Marc wasn’t sure he would be able to get her to Safe Haven’s light before she flipped completely.

  “They call me zombie… the Indians and the Mexicans.”

  Marc felt her shudder and let her hide against his chest. “You’re a killer, Kendle, one who knows right from wrong. Hold onto that part of you.”

  Kendle wasn’t sure she could. Right and wrong were secondary to spilling the blood, and she wasn’t sure now that she could ever live among normal, peaceful people again without becoming the threat.

  Marc helped her change her clothes, gaze never straying anywhere it shouldn’t.

  For Kendle, it wasn’t as if he was revolted by her and couldn’t stand the thought. It was as if she was any other body to be take care of. He had no attraction for her.