by Angela White
Kenn knew it. “I’m sorry.”
Adrian didn’t make him feel worse. He’d had to leave Kenn in charge while they handled the slavers, but he’d known as they left that it wouldn’t go well. That rock-and-hard place was gone now.
“You did the best you could. Make plans for the things that got out of control, so that it’s covered next time.”
“Next time?”
Adrian snorted, low on patience–on everything. “You don’t really think the slavers were our only enemy, do you? We’ll have to this again. Get ready for it.”
4
It took a while for Safe Haven to settle down.
The livestock was fed and watered, the dogs were put out, and four common tents surrounded them with the flapping they had all gotten used to. It sounded like home, and almost felt that way. The perimeter was widened, the flag put at half-staff, and the mess and bathrooms were growing full of unwinding people that would crash hard tonight in relief. The threat was over and their shepherd had returned.
Now doing rounds, Adrian watched the sky swirl and fluctuate around the perimeter. The power here was growing. Each challenge they faced sent nourishment into the magic seeds that were planted in his Haven. They’d come through what he had assumed would be the hardest part–surviving the first six months. Now, the future was here, full of possibilities and pain. At the moment, it was exhausting, but even under his weariness, Adrian knew what the next chore was. Magic was about to become a part of his duties–blending it in and training it to protect the sheep instead of itself.
“It’s almost time to form the council,” he slowly decided. If I’m still leading them after Little Rock, the first Presidential Cabinet of the new world will be chosen. If I’m not...
Adrian’s head turned toward the warehouse, but he didn’t finish the thought as movement nearby caught his attention.
Just the Ants.
Adrian didn’t understand why the mutations were occurring so fast. The chemicals in the ground wouldn’t cause changes this quickly, and neither would eating from infected corpses. They had to have another contamination source, a powerful one.
It scared Adrian, and not only because of the obvious danger. The ants’ determination to survive was as strong as the human will to live. If not for the dogs and the wolf running them off, the bold insects would probably be fighting them for space in their tents. As the ants continued to grow larger, these methods would become ineffective. They could only do a basic routine with the dogs, unlike the wolf, who understood them.
Adrian changed directions, blending into the trees as if he were a part of them. “Dog?”
The brush rustled to his right, and the wolf padded to his side with matted fur and a tense demeanor.
Realizing Dog had been close, Adrian frowned. “Where’s Charlie?”
At the mess with his playmate. They’re feeding the strays.
“Serving the trays,” Adrian corrected. “Who has guard?”
A rookie.
“Who made that call?”
Kenn.
Before Adrian could hit the button on his mike, Dog gave a soft growl. The pup is safe. Nature outnumbers us. That is our problem.
To their right, a single-file line of ants was slowly crawling up a moldy tree just outside the perimeter tape. The line stretched into the distance, where cone-hills rose from the ground like pimples on skin. Soldier ants surrounded the line, larger and more aggressive than the rest of the colony. Their hard black eyes returned to Safe Haven’s protection repeatedly–the dogs and the people–but it was the wolf that they studied.
“Be careful out there.”
Dog understood why he was getting the warning. Yes. I suggest only pairs for patrols.
“I have some ideas, but I need to get the dogs following orders the way you do. Is that possible?”
Adrian moved toward the warehouse while he waited for the mental answer.
Not unless I talk to them.
“You can?”
Dog snorted heavily, shaking his body to clear some of the scent of civilization. He missed the wild. What message shall I relay?
Adrian accepted the newest oddity with a brief mental lurch. Discovering that an animal they had always considered inferior was actually capable of cross-species communication, was humbling. “They have to lay down scents around the camp each time we set up.”
They’re already doing that, the wolf answered with disgust. Like the Eagles, he was also tired enough to snap at anyone who came too close. The perimeter reeks of mutt.
Adrian chuckled lightly. “Chemicals and urine don’t detour the ants, but all of the mutations avoid places where you’ve rolled off dead fur.”
Yes, that’s good. And smart to have noticed. Perhaps you were a wolf in a previous life?
Adrian realized the animal was joking with him and replied, “Perhaps you were a human.”
I was cleaner than those here, the Wolf growled lowly.
“We’re rationing, cutting shower times,” Adrian explained, missing the wording in his exhaustion. “Three hundred of us use more water each week than what we’re finding.”
Dog looked up in golden-eyed amusement. Have you encouraged licking?
Adrian snickered. “If I did that, our species would die out from lack of mating.”
In exchange for being able to lick myself, I’ve been given a tongue that takes layers of skin with each stroke. Why create such horror?
The wolf snorted in bitter amusement that almost made Adrian recoil–it was much too human. “Maybe that’s why pups are so wild. It drives them crazy.”
Not pups, Dog corrected gently, sensing Adrian was ready for guidance outside the realms that he was already familiar with. Men. Each life born into the animal kingdom now is a human spirit, paying for mistakes.
Adrian’s mind shuddered, step pausing as that awful truth locked into place. It fit too perfectly.
Nature was gentle in the Garden. When it was sealed for man’s crimes, the world changed.
“Because evil was born unto the animals,” Adrian guessed, dazed as his mind sorted a batch of puzzle pieces in a back corner. This was an ancient mystery–one mankind was cursed by–and Dog may have just given him a key piece.
Yes. They only began killing when the evil of men took control.
“And the apple?”
Dog looked up in confusion. He had forgotten most of the world he came from, the fast vibrant life that he’d held before. He remembered his part in it, but only that much.
“What was the crime that got man banished from the Garden?” Adrian rephrased the question.
You already know what they did to curse us, Dog stated. It’s why clean spirits pass on, but evil stays–constantly repeating in both human and animal populations.
“They lay down with the beasts,” Adrian muttered the theory he’d held for some time now. “HE stepped away for a breather, and they went crazy with their discovering.”
And cursed an entire world, Dog confirmed.
“The first births?”
Dog wasn’t sure how much the man was ready for now–Adrian’s eyes were slightly feverish in the coming light–but he answered, Was animal-like. Its sibling was human. When the mistake was understood, the first son was banished to the wilderness, where he watched his brother with jealousy that became hatred. How could he do anything else but kill to reclaim what he had lost?
“So earth...”
Is Hell. There is no better place to punish, than where the crime was committed.
Adrian was aghast. “How do we fix a curse like that?”
You cannot change what has been, only what may be.
“Meaning?”
The war gave one chance for mankind to repent, to get it right, and you are leading that grueling charge. You have to convert them, rip away the evil, and make them believers.
“That’s what Safe Haven already does,” Adrian argued. “One ugly step at a time.”
The head start is too bi
g. You could convert every survivor on the entire planet, and it would not be enough.
“How then?”
STOP!
There were rules, and Dog heard the mental warning clearly–he wasn’t allowed to share the answer.
“I only want human suffering to end. I’d never use anything you tell me to gain power,” Adrian pled.
Dog broke the rule without caring what punishment he might receive. Adrian was the shepherd. He needed this information.
If drawn by a bright enough light, lost souls might come, ready to mend old hatreds and be reborn in peace. Such might shift the balance of good and evil to man’s favor.
Adrian tried to estimate a number of lost souls and couldn’t. “How do I convert them once called?”
The same as you do your living herd, Dog answered. Carefully.
5
“The Ambulance and escorts are back.”
“Copy.”
When Adrian got to the QZ, he found Seth waiting for him at the tape. The headache in his temples grew worse as his mind continued to sort through all that Dog had shared.
“Rick’s dead.”
Adrian didn’t congratulate Seth, sensing the damage was bad. “And?”
“And Samantha has a concussion and a face that looks like she went five rounds with a Heavyweight,” Seth sneered. “She got off easy.”
They both turned as the ambulance door opened, watching John and Anne help Becky into a wheelchair. Even covered in sheets and the haze of drugs, it was clear what she had suffered.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you or her mom yet–said if you make her, you’ll both be sorry,” Seth stated.”
“What did John say?”
Seth’s hands clenched. “John wants her under 24-hour suicide watch in the medical tent.”
It was still better than what Adrian had expected upon finding out Rick had also taken Becky. “And Samantha?”
“I’ll live.”
Sam climbed from the ambulance slowly, grateful to John for insisting on the painkillers. She felt like shit and not the normal kind, but a pile that had been rubbed across the sidewalk by dozens of feet.
Adrian immediately went to help her, scowling at her misshapen face and bandaged hands. “I’m sorry.”
“I brought him here,” Samantha replied stiffly. “You don’t owe me that.”
“Rebecca won’t accept it, either.” Seth muttered, shattered in a way that he had no idea how to fix. “She hates everyone.”
“Adrian didn’t do this. Neither did Neil or myself, Samantha stated firmly. “Rick did and in time, she’ll realize that.”
Sam turned toward the QZ’s small parking area, where the guards were preparing for the mission team’s triumphant arrival. Extra tents were going up, the mini-mess was being erected, and the smell of food was wafting over them. Very soon now, she would have to face her own mistakes and sacrifice her desires to repair the damage.
“You headed for a tent?” Adrian asked, sure John wanted her resting.
Samantha’s eyes stayed on the parking area, where camp women were gathering–some waiting to help the new people, some waiting to care for the Eagles. “There’s something I need to do first.”
Adrian recognized the tone and waved an alert-looking rookie over. “Stay with her. She gets out of your sight, you’re out of my army.”
Samantha and the rookie both frowned, but Seth nodded in approval. During the ride, Sam told him how Rick had waited for the rookies to leave her alone during the shift change. He’d grabbed her from the shower during the lapse. None of the camp’s special people would ever be without guards again.
Engines swelled, and the redhead crossed his arms over his chest, face tightening. He hadn’t argued with Samantha about it not being anyone’s fault but Rick’s. She was beaten and medicated, why bother? However, Neil, who Seth could see as the trucks rolled closer, hadn’t suffered anything. He didn’t even know what had happened, but Seth was about to make sure that Neil was aware of the debt he owed to the devastated girl who had chosen to stay in his tent.
6
“You are approaching an American M-Military Refugee Camp. Identify yourselfs!”
Frowning, Neil keyed the mike, “Amber waves of grain.”
“Swelcome back!” Mitch slurred cheerfully.
“Thanks, drunk,” Neil lashed out sarcastically. “That means so much coming from you.”
Laughter floated over the camp.
Neil didn’t give their radioman time to respond. “Your mission is now complete, gentlemen. Well done.”
Headlights from the rest of the team flashed in his mirror as the radio lit up again.
“The doctor is waiting, the mini-mess has cold sandwiches, milk, and hot coffee.”
Mitch now sounded tense, as if he was hurriedly trying to sober up while looking over his shoulder for Adrian.
Neil nodded in satisfaction as he climbed out, noticing that Jeremy was talking with a QZ guard. His XO was finding out what Neil already knew. Something had happened–something the team intentionally hadn’t been told about.
Jeremy slowly turned, reeling in fear. He found Neil across the parking area and read no surprise, only the same grim need to know.
Jeremy joined his team leader. “She’s in the medical tent.”
Neil started to duck under the tape and Jeremy caught his arm. “In the QZ medical tent. Rick kidnaped her and Becky.”
Neil’s heart thudded against his chest. “Is she okay?”
Jeremy didn’t have to ask which female he meant. “Lee said she’s allowed visitors.
“Is Rick dead?” Neil demanded.
“Yes.” Seth appeared behind them, face a mask of anger. “Becky killed him–after the hit and pit.”
Both Eagles felt the weight of her abuse, but until they knew about Samantha, it wasn’t going to sink in.
“She got hurt, Neil–they both did,” Seth growled angrily. “Are you happy now?”
Neil recoiled in surprise. “No! Why would I be?”
“You flipped when Samantha came, changed your mind, and Rick was right there watching, taking advantage of it. Some of this is your fault.”
Seth wanted to fight, to find a release for this helplessness in his heart, and pulled himself together as best he could.
“You owe her, Neil. And if you don’t pay that debt, I’ll turn the Eagles against you.”
Seth stalked off, going back to lurk in the trees around his (Becky’s) tent.
The trooper didn’t need to look around to know that everyone who had heard the argument agreed that he was partly responsible for two of their females being hurt.
The rock-solid place in Adrian’s chain of command that Neil had protected so selfishly, tilted harshly under his feet.
7
“No more. I mean it!”
Hearing the warning, Adrian marched quicker through the damp night.
Disturbing the peace right now was an extremely dangerous thing for anyone to do. Like his men, he also needed a release for the guilt and horror.
“What the hell, Zackie?” Tucker asked. “We always razz him. You do, too!”
“No more,” Zack denied. “He’s earned his place.”
“You don’t get to make that call,” Anderson spat. He’d never liked Zack for how he sucked up to everyone.
“Yes, I do. Until the rest of the Eagles are cleared, I’m top man here under Kenn,” Zack said. “You’ll do as you’re told.”
“Or what?” Tucker argued. “You’ll set up a guard for the little baby like with that new bitch?”
“I’ll tell the boss,” Zack warned.
“Tell me now!” Adrian ordered, coming through the trees.
Zack was elated as Adrian joined them. “If you’d taken the order you were given, you’da been in the clear. Now, you’ll pay.”
Zack had already confessed his own behavior to Kyle, right after he’d been taken back into the Eagles. “He’s waiting.”
Anders
on, Tucker, and Jones didn’t speak, and Adrian didn’t need it. Instead of the scold they expected, Adrian helped Ray to his feet. “You gonna live?”
“You know it,” Ray grunted, arm shielding a rib he was sure was broken.
“The fire crew needs a team leader,” Adrian rewarded, composure cracked enough for them to hear the compassion that he usually held inside with his iron will. “You’re it. Have Dale help, if he wants to.”
Ray’s gratitude made his eyes damp, and Adrian felt that ugly side of him lunge to the front. He needed a release and people needed a lesson. Adrian spun around.
Thud! Thud!
“Hey! Wait–”
Thud! Thud!
Zack stayed alert, no longer cocky as he worried that the boss would go to work on him next. He hadn’t really paid for what he’d done, only confessed and stopped.
Adrian’s hard knuckles were streaked with crimson as he stepped away from their groaning bodies, breath ragged.
He met Zack’s wary gaze over the groaning Eagles. “Get them in line! If you can’t, they’re gone!”
“Yes, Boss.” Zack was relieved when Adrian stalked by, slinging blood onto the blackening trees.
Ants as long as a pigskin hurried to taste it.
Ray moved by Zack without a word but it was a big moment for both of them–the gay and straight man face-to-face, and for one instant, on the same side. It gave Ray hope and sent Zack’s mind into another layer of self-exploration.
This was what Adrian wanted, a part of the dream even before Ray had saved their leader’s life–for all of his people to be accepted. The words spoken right before Anderson and Jones had held Ray so that Tucker could take rib shots with those big, beefy farmer’s hands, had brought that to Zack’s thick mind clearly.
Ray didn’t struggle. These three had been waiting for Dale to come out of the shower, and Ray had drawn their attention with a quick insult. Dale had run for the man on Point–Zack–as the scuffle turned ugly.
“Go on. Get it over with.”
“Oh, we will!”
“Hold still!”
“Why? Because you’re scared and need the rush to prove that you’re still alive when everyone else isn’t?”
