The Price We Pay (Life After War Book 7)

by Angela White

  “Spies, traitors, and killers are how you win a war quickly,” Adrian stated what they already knew in an ominous tone. “Do those things with children and you can conquer the world in a month.”

  Marc’s resolve to remain calm vanished and he used his mind to register his complaints.

  Angie!

  Yes, dear?

  What the hell is wrong with you?

  I don’t have time to give you that list.

  How could you do this?

  How could I not? You wouldn’t!

  It’s barbaric! Who are you?!

  “It’s survival. Why don’t you know that?!

  Adrian swept Marc’s face, seeing he was delivering blows and receiving them, and the blond man grinned. “Gonna be a good evening.”

  Shots rang out ahead and all of them broke into a run.

  “They’re all dead.”

  Marc and Adrian swept the dim scene with expressionless faces, as Kenn moved to a higher vantage point. They’d heard gunshots and came the last few minutes in a run. Someone else could have done the same.

  Charlie stripped the nearest body of its gun, mags, knife, and vest, dropping it all into the rucksack Becky was carrying. Both of their faces were flushed, not pale like the adults had expected, and no one spoke.

  Becky shoved the rifle further into the bag to make room for a second vest and she quickly shut it and hefted it over her shoulder before opening a new bag.

  “We’ve got two other stashes of gear like this so far. Our instructions said not to tell anyone except senior men,” Becky told Marc. “You can add this one yourself.”

  She handed Marc the paper, ignoring Adrian’s careful nod.

  It was the only response Adrian could form at the moment. He’d never thought to find Becky so calm amid death. He was waiting to discover if she’d participated. Marc was currently replaying the battle in his mind. When they left, Adrian hoped to get him to tell what had happened. Had Becky done her share?

  “More than her share.” Marc’s tone was choked with horror. “She led this assault. She likes to back-shoot.”

  Marc waved Kenn down and took his place, fighting to keep himself under control. Angela was more ruthless than he’d ever thought her capable of.

  Charlie and Becky continued to loot. There were ten bodies and several tents to explore, and then the vehicles under the camouflage netting had to be disabled, since none of the Eagles here had time to drive them to camp. Their plans were all based on following rules and they wouldn’t deviate, even for two Humvees and a crate of grenades. Those, the entire group loaded up on and Kenn knew to grab a share of them for Marc, who was still on sentry duty.

  Kenn asked the obvious. “Will this really make the difference? Having kids out here playing war like it’s a movie?”

  Adrian, who now had more hope than when he’d woken, nodded slowly. “If she’s got enough little side plans like this going, yeah, it could. They won’t be expecting this.”

  Kenn scowled, lowering his voice so that only Adrian could hear. He often forgot about the mental abilities the descendants had. “Isn’t it all wrong?”

  “More than I can say,” Adrian responded gravely. “And it’s also exactly right. It’s their future that will be gone if we lose. And if they fight with us, they’ll care about that future when it comes time to rebuild it.”

  Kenn couldn’t understand how something so wrong could also be right, but didn’t say anything else. Even when he’d been beating his wife or scheming against someone, he’d known it was wrong. How could this be okay?

  “It isn’t, you douche,” Charlie responded, but without anger. His glimpses into Kenn’s dark mind had explained a lot. “It’s what keeps us alive, gives us a chance.”

  “And some of us need this release,” Becky added, calmer now.

  “What happens after the war, little girl?” Adrian asked. “When the killing has to stop?”

  Becky stilled, thinking hard, and she finally turned to them with a voice like the dead.

  “I probably won’t be here then,” she stated emotionlessly. “That’s someone else’s problem.”

  Adrian and Kenn pulled a face, but Charlie understood what she meant. They had the same plans for the future, the same instructions to follow, and they would, no matter what. The only way the soldiers would go past Angela’s second ring of death was if they thought half of her army was made up of children. And it was.

  Chapter Ten

  1

  Jennifer woke to a mild pounding in her head and a faint stinging in her arm. She opened her lids to darkness and then memories came flooding in. She’d done her job. She was in hands of the enemy.

  “She’s awake.”

  The voice was hard and cold, yet eager for the torture to begin, and Jennifer sucked in a tight breath to calm herself. They’d known this would be the worst part. If she could get through this, she would be okay.

  “Remove the blindfold. Not the gag.”

  Jennifer realized she hadn’t been able to feel the gag or recognize the blindfold and felt a tremor of panic. Was she drugged?

  “While you were out we gave you a mild sedative.”

  That hard voice again, controlled and ruthless, and excited by his job. Great, Jennifer thought, blinking to clear the fog.

  “Will it make me tell the truth?” she asked, seeing shadows moving, but not in clarity.

  “It’ll let you last longer.”

  Jennifer swallowed. “She made me come in. I told her I couldn’t do it.”

  “I don’t believe you, my sweetling.”

  That tone was dangerous, Jennifer realized. When her captor’s voice became compassionate, pain was coming.

  “I’m sorry—,”

  The punch to her gut drove the contents out and she puked harshly, struggling to breathe.

  “Please,” she gasped out. “Had a baby!”

  The second hit took all the air from her lungs and Jennifer sagged against her bonds, face turning purple.

  “That’s enough for the moment.”

  Donner came from the shadows, unimpressed with the spy sent to kill him. “You’re a decoy? From what?”

  Jennifer, who still hadn’t gotten a lungful of air, passed out.

  “Make sure she comes around,” Donner instructed. “No more damage until I’m ready for it.”

  “Yes, sir,” Louis answered, and slapped Jennifer on the back.

  Her lungs expanded as she gasped in air and her color slowly returned to normal.

  Louis settled into a chair in the shadows as Donner left, leering at the naked girl hanging from ropes around dusty shed beams. She belonged to the Major right now. When Donner traded up, Louis would be there to have his turn. All these sessions would be foreplay, like in Canada.

  Jennifer swam through the fog slowly, tending her injuries, strengthening her determination. Conner would come soon and then they would teach these men not to underestimate people based on age. The young were often more dangerous than their elders because they lacked a fear of death.

  Her stomach throbbed from the punches and Jennifer stayed in the fog as long as she could. They’d estimated she would have to tough out at least two interrogation sessions and maybe three before Conner could get to her. If it reached three, things were bound to get uglier than she could tolerate, and Angela had told her to destroy them all.

  When Jennifer had asked why the descendants simply didn’t do that anyway and end the war, Angela’s answer had been haunting.

  “Because we’ll tip the balance again and become hunted creatures by both sides. No one can ever know how powerful we really are.”

  “But so many of them will die,” Jennifer had protested, “Wouldn’t it be better for the descendants to sacrifice themselves instead?”

  “No. There would never be peace after that. Humans will force us to fight for them, to destroy their neighbors, and we will become corrupt.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Imagine two
towns. One member fights with someone from the neighboring town and wins. In retaliation, that neighboring townsman kills the son of the first man. As the first man’s neighbor, wouldn’t you go to war to eliminate such a person?”

  Jennifer hadn’t been sure and Angela had finished it off.

  “Imagine now that both towns are at each other’s throats over water rights or land for grazing and farming, and someone uses a descendant’s powers. Even for protection, you now have an entirely new war, one where magic is the weapon and domination becomes the goal.”

  It was a bleak picture and Jennifer had agreed that letting the descendants go willy-nilly with their gifts was a bad idea.

  “I know you can hear me.”

  The cold, eager voice brought Jennifer back to her own reality and she grunted in hatred, but didn’t give him words. She was still savoring her breaths.

  “You should tell him everything you know and beg to be his whore. He might not hurt you as much that way.”

  Jennifer already understood what drove Louis. She’d spent enough time with a psychopath to recognize one and she let herself cry, but still didn’t talk to him. He might get the chance to rape her that he longing for. She’d known that could happen coming in, but it didn’t stop the terror or the longing to kill him instead.

  2

  Donner left the shed to find Philips waiting for him. The rest of the convoy was settling in for the night. Campfires and tents were being worked on for a half mile in every direction.

  “We’re missing a scouting team and a spotter set.”

  Donner motioned for the cook to bring him his tray and sat down on a stump to eat. “So?”

  Philips was confused. “Do you want us to go search for them?” he asked.

  “No. They’re dead,” Donner announced. “Or AWOL, and either way, we don’t split our forces to search for missing men.”

  “Yes, sir,” Philips answered, going to tell their teams that more men had been lost under Donner’s command.

  Louis, who had followed Donner, asked his boss, “Is that wise, sir?”

  “No, but I need them to understand that I won’t go searching for them. They’ll stick closer that way.”

  “What about the girl?”

  “What about her?” Donner snapped. “Got a soft spot?”

  “The men want her when you’re done, is all.”

  “She won’t be passed around. She’s bait.”

  “Sir?”

  Donner waved him away, and ate his REM. Jennifer was put here for a reason and after he discovered what that was, Donner intended to use her to draw out the man she’d screamed for. When descendants chose a protector, it was almost always someone in a position of power and that was what he needed to bring this Safe Haven to its knees. They thought they were clever, but he knew what made the good ones tick and how to use it against them. They didn’t stand a chance.

  Philips motioned his driver to get them moving and the young man did, not quite smirking.

  “What’s the joke, private?” Philips barked.

  “Nothing, sir,” the man answered. “Just happy to be moving,”

  Philips frowned. “I though Donavan had this post.”

  His driver shrugged. “Couldn’t find him at roll call. Captain Louis assigned me.”

  Philips made a mental note to verify that and then resumed studying his conversation with the Major.

  His driver watched him in the mirror, blue eyes flashing excitedly.

  3

  Sam adjusted the sight on her rifle, loving the feel of power that came with the motion. At some point during this hell, she would get to fire this weapon at live men and make them dead.

  The enemy camp was unfurling below her, one of a few Angela had assumed would spring up, and Sam watched the tiny men flit to and fro on their chores, unaware that she could take any of them out with a single short jerk.

  Sam removed her finger from the trigger it had been absently caressing.

  She knew she wasn’t supposed to enjoy her role. Causing death was awful, and yet, she couldn’t wait for it to start. To her mind, the coming men were Melvin and Henry, Caesar, and more politicians who would destroy the world all over again. She’d do anything to keep that from happening, to ensure that Angela’s dream was birthed here.

  It was fascinating to watch the insulated aluminum rooms get setup by the soldiers. They unloaded and ‘unfolded’ the portable military shelters in less than twenty minutes. It would have been faster if not for them being dropped in the center of the road so they had to be dragged into the correct position. The fold out shelters weren’t bullet-proof, though, and Sam wasn’t worried. The rifle she was using would pierce that frame like a hot knife through butter.

  Samantha surveyed the camp, marking down times for things like meals and shift changes. She would pass the information when she got her next resupply. She expected it to be Neil or Jeremy by then. Word would have spread among the senior Eagles on the locations of their women. Angela had also counted on that and Sam was sure she’d have company before too long. Right now, she didn’t want any. Being alone for the start of this was right.

  You’re not alone.

  Samantha chose to make sure her sights were lined up, rather than to respond. It was odd to suddenly have a voice in her head after all these years, reading her memories and thoughts.

  The scope’s optics gave her a detailed view and Samantha kept the crosshairs on that larger center tent, sure that’s where the boss would be. She didn’t have a name for her target or even a rank, no photo to work from or even a hint of who he was, but Sam would know her target when he appeared. No matter how organized, a leader had to come out of cover eventually to do normal governing.

  “You should have picked our side,” Sam whispered roughly. “You brought this on yourselves.”

  4

  Zack tossed the last shovel of dirt onto the mound. They would be finished with this site in the next half hour and then they could head for Safe Haven, showers, and their tents. Today had been just exhausting as yesterday had.

  Zack thought about the future moment that would take place here, but didn’t smile even though his team was currently joking about it. This had once been a depot and Angela was counting on Donner coming here to supply his army. When they arrived, they would find more than bags and bullets.

  “We good here?” Kevin asked. “I’m sending an update.”

  Zack wiped pungent sweat from his face. “All set on the packages. We’re adding the ribbons.”

  Kevin grinned tiredly. “You guys are doing good work. Four sites in one day should be a record.”

  “With Kenn out there somewhere doing the same?” Zack snorted. “Bet he has in twice as much.”

  Kevin shrugged, still chuckling. “Kenn’s no one here now. You know that, Zackie.”

  Zack growled, pretending to be upset about the name, but the truth was that he adored being accepted enough for someone to do that. He had good friends here. Zackie loves Safe Haven, he thought, smiling a little. “Come on. Let’s get to camp.”

  “Heads up!”

  All of them looked to the guard, who was perched on the edge of a nearby cliff to have a clear vantage point. He was motioning frantically and Zack didn’t need to decipher it to know what was happening. “Get them out of here!”

  Kevin shouted orders, helping to grab loose parts and pieces, as an exodus of the area began. Kevin was glad their clothes were black-eagle gear-and blended perfectly with the gray, white, and black landscape around them, but didn’t relax as he lingered to translate the message from their spotter. His voice said as much as his words. “Forty soldiers. Five minutes!”

  Zack hurried his group as quick as he could; casting anxious glances at the single access road that came into this area. They would have a few second of viewing the enemy before the soldiers would be able to see them as well, but if they cut it that close, their vehicles might be heard.

  Zack scanned and saw fresh mounds that ha
d been dug recently, and groaned. There was no way anyone would believe this area was untouched.

  Zack spotted a shed and a small garage on the edge of the property and ran to them, hoping for a tool they hadn’t thought to bring along.

  Two shiny rakes gleamed as soon as he opened the door and Kevin joined him in scouring the area. They started at one side and zig-zagged furiously, darting around workers and ducking equipment being removed.

  “How long?” Zack called, tossing debris around like wind would have.

  “Any second now,” Kevin called, throwing his rake into the last truck. “We’ve got it. Let’s go!”

  Zack grabbed a hand to be pulled into the truck bed and he crouched, sweeping the area as they sped away.

  “Stop!”

  Zack jumped out and snapped a long branch to run back and erase their tire track. He dove into the truck bed as the sound of engines swelled and their driver eased on the gas to get them out of sight.

  A minute later, they were also out of hearing distance, but none of them celebrated. The soldiers were coming for Safe Haven now and all the groups like themselves were in danger.

  “We’ll tell her,” Kevin offered, also worried.

  Zack nodded, but didn’t respond. Angela had known it would be like this. That was why she had guards and spotters on the groups, to give them time to get out of the way, but Zack didn’t think all of her groups would be so lucky. His had cut it close, a minute from ruining everything, and they were one of the more organized, trained teams out here. It wouldn’t go as well for the others if they were surprised this way.

  “We’re far enough,” Kevin said, motioning for the driver to stop. He waved at two of their companions. “Get word to Angela. I can’t send a message with the enemy so close.”

  One of the men, a faster, quieter Eagle, climbed from the truck and vanished.

  “Go find out if they camped there. We’ll be a few miles ahead.”

  Another man slipped into the trees and headed back the way they’d come.