Adrian's Eagles: Book Four (Life After War) (29 page)

They ignored Zack’s protests, moving around him to unpack the gear. The tension grew when Kenn stepped into the tent a minute later.

Kenn had been around the side, listening the whole time, but his blank face indicated otherwise and Zack got the hint to stay back by the lack of eye contact. He would make his report later.

“What’s being set up in here?” Kenn asked tonelessly, studying his clipboard. He already knew by the size of the crates they were opening, but he’d wanted to make sure Angela wasn’t in here celebrating.

“Field Trip day,” Neil answered, waving at the smaller beams and mats being unloaded.

The Marine checked it off his list and moved back out of the tent after a fast look around. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone except Marc and that was only for the briefest glare. As he let the flap drop behind him, the real hatred was visible to those on duty. Kenn’s face said he was planning something Adrian wouldn’t like.

7

By 2 am, there was a camp of silence, the new arrivals settled and waiting for word on Missa, who had survived the operation, but only by a thread. The Eagles were also settling for the night and Adrian was making rounds of the
Qz
, listening to their thoughts on the mission.
 
He wasn’t disappointed and he moved toward her newest hiding place with a feeling of peace that was rare for him.

Angela looked down with a smile, holding out the smoldering joint. “I thought you’d be by.”

She sounds like John
, Adrian thought, taking the weed without touching her. She was in the shadows of the medical tent, reclined in the fork of a low tree. He watched her, thinking about how each day now started with a fast search for her, then normal rounds. It was so different… so excitingly miserable.

Angela was walled-in by her experience, the guilt-relieving rescue fully under her evaluation now, and Adrian let her go over it while he waited.

“They wouldn’t have come if I hadn’t been there. What about the next run?”

Adrian was impressed again. He had been expecting a complaint or doubt about her actions, not the future. “We’ve had to face it a few times, leave people behind. The War has caused trust to be given only under dire circumstances.”

Angela’s tone was adamant. “I’d go on them all!”

“It’s not our duty to save them all. You told me that.”

Angela sighed, hating it. “I know, but what can we do about it?”

He could hear the very real pain in her voice and he answered with his own emotions clear. “Keep trying and keep losing those who won’t trust.”

Angela’s heart clenched. So many!

Knowing there was finally someone who felt it the way he did, had Adrian turning to her with more openness than he ever gave the others. “It’s them I see at night,” his voice lowered into despair. “Sometimes I send the Eagles back anyway.”

“And they’re dead?”

“Always.” He drew air into a chest that felt like it was made of lead. “Their ghosts haunt me. They say I should have dragged them back here against their will. Most of them would have stayed.”

Angela was already shaking her head. “But you didn’t because you believe in freedom too strongly.”

She stubbed out the roach on the tree and the Witch was awful to hear and yet right, too.
“Those people wouldn’t have survived anyway, be it here or alone. Fear rules them, not Change. Those who are here deserve to be.”

Picking up the observation, Adrian shelved his true feelings. “Yes
, they
do.”

He moved toward the Com truck with a lighter step and Angela realized it was true. They would save as many as they could.
And that number would increase
, she thought with a smile. Now that she was in his Army.

The guilt began to fade, letting the successes rise again and her smile became a grin. He’d known exactly what she needed - a moment of personal trust. America’s survival meant more to him than a successful leadership. It was everything he was now. If this camp fell, Adrian would likely join the other relics of the old world.

Her instant scowl at the thought had guards in the area sweeping for trouble. Learning to watch her like an alarm was already starting to come naturally to them.

Adrian’s death couldn’t be allowed to happen and Angela vowed to do whatever she could to stop his fall
. “Even when his secret comes out?”
the Witch asked ominously.

“Yes. If he falls, we all fall.”

The Demon’s tone was curious.
“Such a fast bond with this man. Perhaps that should be examined as well.”
Those whispered words were ignored.

8

“You look as tired as we feel.”

Aware of the dawn coming and still in the shadows of the medical tent, Angela didn’t open her eyes. She had mentioned to Charlie that she’d been officially accepted into the Eagles, and instead of the support she’d sort of assumed she’d have, he had blown up at her and stomped off. She’d spent the hour since, rethinking, making sure she had the strength to do this.

“Have a seat.”

The two Eagles took up places in nearby branches, exchanging glances.

“He knew it was there. I didn’t save his life.”

Neither of them spoke. Adrian knowing didn’t matter. It had happened in front of the Eagles. That did.

“How much will this change?”

“A lot,” Neil admitted, settling back carefully. Using trees for cover was something they’d been doing for a while, but as seats or guard spots, had only begun recently, when two of their camp members had started climbing them for privacy and unknowingly rubbed it off on everyone else.

“The camp will be converted, minus a few.”

“The Eagles, too, the ones who understand Adrian’s dream,” Kyle stated.

Angela sighed tiredly. “But not enough, right?”

“No.” Kyle’s tone wasn’t firm. “It will buy some time, weeks if we’re careful with it, and then they’ll call his bluff.”

“He’s not bluffing,” Neil stated. “And it’ll cost him everything if you can’t keep up.”

There was a thick silence and they could feel her determination not to let that happen.

“Work me hard?”

They both nodded and Neil met her eye with a sincerity she understood to be an apology. “Sometimes, if the people are… determined enough, Adrian will give… special lessons.”

“Didn’t he agree to give me that?”

“No. He agreed to treat you like one of the men.”

“Good.”

Kyle leaned closer, his branch almost even with hers. “There are other lessons that go on here, out of the camp’s view. You know that.”

“Like my Kai lesson that has Brady so pissed.”

Neil grimaced, thinking the Wolfman would be even more upset when he found out they’d given her this new information. “Exactly, except Adrian’s lessons usually handle a direct problem the person has.”

“Or a fear.” Kyle hinted.

Her face lit up. “How does a person go about that? Just ask?”

“It has to be suggested by senior level men.”

Angela’s interest was replaced with bitter exhaustion. “And will it be if I want it? Have I proven enough or is there some other trick you guys want?”

Kyle and Neil both laughed, much to her surprise, and her eyes narrowed.

“That’s part of why, too. Not even Seth had that much fire,” Kyle pointed out, talking to Neil.

“I agree.”

“It’s unanimous then.” Kyle met her eye. “Yes.”

Understanding they were razzing her like a rookie, Angela immediately set out to please them so they really would talk to Adrian. “I’m restless when I get off third shift duty. When you can, will you both schedule me an extra hour then? Help me catch up?”

Surprised, they both gave short nods and silence.

She dropped from the tree, trying to hide her soreness. “Thank you. Good night.”

She moved out of sight and Kyle lit a smoke. He tossed it to Neil before repeating the motion for himself, and took a deep drag of the menthol before speaking. What she needed was someone who would hit her. “Kenn.”

Neil’s face was upset. “We can’t let that happen. If he ever does it again, for any reason, this camp will change. We’ll lose everything we’ve worked for.”

Kyle frowned at the note of self-preservation, but let it pass in order to get an answer and not an argument. “What if she can win?”

Neil snorted, mouth opening, but he stopped, not sure what to say. She was good for a female. Marc had gotten the basics down with her and she was quick on the pick-up. Being able to read what was coming was an amazing ability all the Eagles wished they had. Too bad she couldn’t share… “I don’t know,” he said finally.

Kyle was encouraged. He’d expected a set denial. “You’ll think on it?”

“Yes. If she could back Kenn down in front of the camp, the way would be clear for her and the others Adrian wants.”

“Others we need. There’s too many sheep. We’ll lose a cut and that’ll kill him. We have a long way to go in this new world and we need more fighters for the battles that are coming.”

Neil’s tone was reluctant. “We need more like her…”

“And for Brady to get on board.”

“He’ll miss her first course workout before we go; he’s scheduled for duty over the opposite end of camp.”

“He’s smart to separate them for it,” Kyle stated, meaning Adrian.

Neil looked around the darkness. Clear. “I’ll let Brady know where you’re taking her for the sets, but I doubt it will matter. When he sees her afterward, he’ll blow up like her boy did.”

“Yeah. Wish those three grunts would grow up.”

Kenn overheard the comment as he went by them, but made his feet keep going. He was headed to meet Tonya outside the camp’s taped perimeter and he wanted that conversation more than he wanted to pay the Mobster back for the insult, but it was close.
Later
, the Marine told himself.

Finding the sloppy setup not far into the darkness, Kenn tapped lightly on the tent flap, ducking inside at the call and the first hour of their time was spent in an amazing wash of pleasure and pain.

As they lounged on her bedroll in the aftermath, Tonya’s voice rose and fell, telling him everything she’d seen and heard over the last few days. She was quite the able spy and he had no problem using her as such now that he knew her for what she
 
was… an evil genius with an Adrian blind spot.

“That’s most of the gossip. Nothing unusual among the camp, but the guards will keep talking about it, so I’m sure the sheep will know soon.”

Tonya sat up carefully, sore and sated. “Neil’s team made some schedule change with that blonde woman, and the new guy, Rick, might be following her around. He’s slick, so I’m not sure.”

Kenn stored both of those and waited. Once the redhead got rolling, she made connections fast.

“Hilda said the new women, the nuns, all think Angela’s in charge! Can you imagine?”

“Yes,” Kenn stated sarcastically, beefy hands clenching. “Yes, I can.”

Tonya winced, patting his hand. “The men won’t stand for it, you know that. They don’t want any woman in the Eagles, no matter how good she shoots.”

“But they will, once he lets her show what she can do.”

“You think he’ll take that risk?”

“I know it. He’s already planning the steps in which to reveal it so the sheep will accept it, too.”

Tonya gasped. “Tell the camp? They’d kill her!”

“Not if they love her first,” Kenn answered reluctantly, facing his own demons with the words. “If she gets them to like her, helps them like he has, they’ll accept it. Especially if they find out she might have… saved him tonight. Heroes are what they live for now.”

“And they have that in Adrian,” she realized, voice horrified. “But they don’t have the female equivalent.”

Kenn’s tone was bitter, thinking of the warning that had gotten the cutting crew out of sight. The stories were currently flying through the levels. “They didn’t.”

Tonya suggested something she knew he was capable of. “Then you need to make them aware of the fact that she’s a female, weak. If she flunks out in her first days, it’ll be a long time until they’ll let another woman try.”

“I have some things planned.”

Tonya grinned. “Are they bad? Tell me!”

Chapter Nine

April 13
^th
, 2013

SD National Grasslands

1

“I think I understand now.”

Adrian looked at the teenager over the engine they were filling with fluids. “Understand what?”

Charlie motioned to a pair of shepherd pups that Matt was walking by on short leads. “Why my job matters.”

“Tell me.”

“Because they’re a… warning, an alarm.” The boy’s voice lowered. “You knew from the dogs that someone had messed with the water.”

“And?”

“They’re a tool. Without knowing how to handle them, you wouldn’t have known when they were acting different and we might have lost people.”

Adrian was pleased and a bit surprised the teenager had gotten it right. “Very good. Now, I have an important question. Do you trust me?”

“Absolutely.”

“And if I asked you to… do things? Things the rest of them can’t?”

Charlie’s face betrayed his youth, but his tone was even enough. “I’d say yes, with conditions.”

“So, you don’t trust me.”

“I don’t trust them! If they ever found out…”

Adrian shrugged lightly. “I’m not asking yet, but your awareness made the question necessary.”

Charlie was relieved. “I’m loyal too. If my mom hadn’t… made it here, I’d be your Seer.”

Watching shadows not made by his army move behind the dead corn, Adrian pushed their conversation into the direction he needed. “You’ve got her courage, and your dad’s. It takes a lot of guts to stay someplace you’re not wanted.”

Charlie recovered quickly from the knowledge that Adrian knew about Marc, shrugging. “She wants him. He won’t leave with an invitation like that hanging.”

Adrian’s sigh was resigned. “Yes, she does. What about you?”

The teenager tensed and Dog moved from his place in the dim sun to heel at Charlie’s ankle. “I don’t even know him.”

There was silence for a minute and then Adrian put a hand on the boy’s arm. “Maybe you should correct that. He got her here alive and made her stronger. We both owe him a large debt.”

Adrian turned away, heading for the next stop on his rounds – Angela’s first training set in public. “Let me know. I’ll arrange some down time.”

“Ready?”

Angela nodded at Daryl’s lowly spoken question. It was her first official session with them as a team and Angela could feel their tension threatening to ignite her own bubbling emotions. Today’s workout would be overseen by Kenn, against the schedule Adrian had planned for her. The others didn’t know yet that her Marine had switched shifts.

The men walking through the dim light of dawn around her felt her pause instinctively as Kenn came into sight. Determined to succeed, Angela steeled herself, and moved forward.

“He’s not on til tomorrow,” Chris stated angrily.

“He knows I’m off then. He switched with Jeff or Lee, not sure which.”

“I’ll find out,” Kyle threatened.

Angela shrugged, flashing a hard smile. “Don’t do that. I’ll earn my place here with him as well. He can’t see me as anything else yet. When I can match him in the cage, then that will change.”

There was a thoughtful silence instead of the immediate protest she would have gotten from any of the other levels. Kyle looked at his team, seeing his own thoughts mirrored on their faces. More than just the appreciation for her good reflexes and aim, they had seen her give Adrian exactly what he wanted. Being able to get the Nuns to join them was something that had taken their Leader’s coming depression and turned it into happiness. For that, these nine men were now firmly in her corner. “We’ll help you with it.”

Grateful, Angela gave them all a quick glance, sharing her goal. “I hate how this feels. I want to never be afraid of him again.”

There were immediate offers for personal, private training and she accepted each one gracefully. She didn’t see Adrian watching her subtle manipulations, but she felt those observant eyes following their progress. She also knew when he realized who would be the training guard today and understood he had a hard time making himself turn away instead of interrupting. Adrian had to play fair, but Kenn didn’t and he wouldn’t.

“Course is set. Rookie goes first.”

Kenn’s gloating call had Angela waving Kyle’s protest back. “I have to be the one to do this.” Trembling lightly, she stepped to the front of the line and started her first run as an Eagle in Adrian’s army.

“
Ugg
!”

Losing her grip on the slick cord, Angela hit the jagged-edged rocks under the rope with a second surprised grunt, but managed to keep from the groan, or even tears, that her Marine had been hoping for at the pain. She picked herself up, not bothering to wipe at the layer of the dust she was coated in.

Required to repeat it until she got through it, the Eagles in line around her also swallowed their unhappiness, knowing special treatment would not get her accepted with the other levels who were currently training in the field next to them. Or at least they had been, until she’d stepped to the front of the line. Now, even the instructors were watching Angela’s first attempts.

“Go.”

Kenn’s voice was a hard smirk and Angela knelt down instead of starting the run again. She’d fallen twice from the slick ropes she was supposed to swing on, and she wasn’t about to hit those rocks a third time. She ignored the stares and mutters of the small crowd of camp-goers who had lined up near the far side of the tape to watch, shoving large handfuls of the dusty earth into both her jacket pockets. When she stood up, her team was grinning and Kenn’s face had tightened, both recognizing that she’d found a solution on her own.

Angela used her dirt-coated hands to get a better grip on the greased ropes and while it wasn’t easy to dip her hands into her pockets between swings, she was able to finish the course on her third attempt.

“Pass.”

It was given grudgingly, but it couldn’t be taken back, and it counted. The Level Six men watched Angela move toward Kenn with a swagger as she hit her feet, and each of them tensed to come to her aide if it was needed.

Sure of how far Kenn could be pushed in public, Angela took her time dumping the dirt out of her pockets onto the ground at his boots. As she did it, her eyes burned into his. When her pockets were empty, she gave him a hard grin, ignoring the blood trickling down the back of her leg from one of the falls.

“You can’t make me quit. If you waste your time trying, you’ll lose everything you’ve built. I’ll see to it.”

She spun away before his anger could get out of control and Kyle’s Eagles laughed at his furious face, impressed yet again.

2

 
“Lovely.”

Sam swallowed a second groan as she reread her schedule. Babysitting? She didn’t even like kids.
That she knew of,
Sam amended. She hadn’t been around many and they intimidated her a little. What was she supposed to do with them?

Determined not to whine, she got a mug of tea from the crowded Mess and headed for the children’s area. Still feeling awkward, Sam only gave a short nod or smile to those who called greetings.

When she saw which team of Eagles was waiting at the campers, she tripped, sloshing steaming liquid over her injured hand. “Damn it!”

Jeremy turned to frown at whoever was cursing so close to the kid’s area, but exchanged the reprimand for a smile of welcome instead. He had personally asked Adrian to assign the blonde woman here today. One of Adrian’s simplest tools to test new people was to put them around the elderly or the kids. It never failed to reveal their true nature.

“We’re waiting on a few others and then we’ll head out.”

A bit surprised the guard was talking to her - she’d thought they were strictly protection - Sam moved closer. “Where to?”

“It’s field trip day. This time, we’re hitting the town.”

Confused, but not wanting to seem clueless, she waited patiently and was glad of Jeremy lingering by her when Neil came through the shadows a minute later. As soon as he spotted them, there were instant questions lurking in those beautiful green eyes, hard ones she didn’t want to answer.

“There they are.”

Sam turned at Jeremy’s words and braced herself for a long shift. Walking next to Anne and Peggy, Cynthia was asking Little Becky’s mom things she didn’t want to reveal, Sam assumed, seeing the redhead’s face tighten. Didn’t the reporter realize she was trying to pry information from a convert? Even if Peggy knew something about Adrian, she wouldn’t tell.

“Hey, Neil.”

“Ms. Kelly.”

“Peggy.”

Neil flushed at the tone. It said, when you marry my daughter, you’ll call me mom. He flicked a fast glance toward Samantha. Did she know? The camper door opened as she stared back and the excited voices of young children drew their attention away from the sparks.

“All right everyone. Each chaperone will be responsible for two children. The kids get to pick.”

Sam sighed resignedly, eyeing the sticky-faced offspring with trepidation. Some days were hell.

It took a while for Anne and Peggy to get the kids settled with their chaperones and Sam tried to not make eye contact with the man waiting as patiently near the camper door. She envied Neil’s coolness in the face of battle.

Sam smiled uneasily when a girl with short brown spikes pointed her way. The child appeared to be about 8 and was sporting a signature-covered cast on her wrist. Next to her was another girl of about the same age. This one was so thin that Sam’s heart clenched. Both girls moved her way with giggles.

Each one wanted her hand and Sam reluctantly surrendered her tea to let them hold onto her. Sticky and warm, she waited restlessly with them as everyone got set, trying not to get caught staring at Neil. She’d been happy to see the Trooper refuse Little Becky, but the idea that he was willing had to have come from somewhere.

“What’s your name?” The kids were waiting, thin girl’s face hopeful, and the Storm Tracker put her thoughts away.

“Sam.”

They both giggled. “That’s a boy’s name!”

Not offended, she grinned back at short-spikes girl.
 
“I’ve heard that.”

“Why do you have a boy’s name?”

 
“Is it a
shortner
?”

Confused by the garbled word, Sam shrugged. “My mom wanted a girl, Samantha. My dad wanted a boy, Sam. This way, they both got their wish.”

They laughed harder. “That’s silly.”

Sam nodded, thinking until they made it here, there probably hadn’t been much for them to smile about. She saw Neil get chosen by two very energetic boys who seemed to be the same age group as her charges. The kids were bouncing, excited, and she realized field trip day must be something rarely done. The rest of the time, Adrian probably kept them isolated for their safety, and these moments out of the camper area were special.

The lives of these kids had been turned around too, and Sam felt the need to give them a good day if she could. They were War orphans and the bond she suddenly felt was something she wouldn’t tell anyone about, but it was there just the same. She’d lost her roots too, along with everything else she had leaned on for stability, sanity. Her grip tightened a bit. They deserved a fun day and she would be proud to give it to them.

“Everyone ready?”

There was a loud cheer. “Yeah!”

“All right, a quick reminder to the chaperones about the wild dog sightings. Keep your kids close,” Peggy warned. “Okay, our first stop is… Safe Haven’s secret hideout!”

This cheer was twice as loud and Sam let the girls lead her through the sprawling camp of slowly waking refugees. They were right behind Peggy and her group of five tweens and Sam didn’t envy the redheaded woman her sulky 12 year-old charges as she listened to them complain about someone’s snoring.

The line moved slowly across the camp, drawing attention from those already up. Everyone waved. Kids roaming the streets before the War were a sight to be frowned upon or ignored for their poverty. Here, children were rare and welcome, no matter their condition.