From The Ashes (Life After War) (18 page)

No.

“
Women can be fighters here?”

Kyle groaned at the eagerness.
Damn it!
Adrian would put her to use as soon as he could. “Yes.”

Before she could comment, Kyle blurted the first distracting question he thought of. “Does Cesar have a lot of kids?”

Jennifer grew angry. “No. They keep turning up dead. He thinks it’s his men trying to take control, but their mothers made the choice. They’d rather their children were smothered than to have them live as slaves.”

“
Cesar’s the father?”

“
...yes.”

Jennifer didn’t know for sure who the father was, him or the Kelly brothers, but the odds on Cesar were the highest.

Not calling her on the evasion he picked up, Kyle let his thoughts run where they wanted as he stopped by the door of a large camper.

Jennifer protested, reminded of the semi she'd called home for so long. “This isn’t a tent.”

Exhaustion was pulling at Kyle. He opened the door for her and stepped back. “This is my new place–haven’t even slept in it yet. I’ll be in the canvas across from here,” he said, pointing to a large green tent. “Help yourself to anything you need.”

He left before she could protest or thank him, and after a minute, Jennifer climbed inside, closing and locking the door.

She noticed the dome light over the small stove first. They'd had one like that at home–before the war had destroyed her hope. A thick layer of homesickness, of grief, swept over the teenager, crushing her. She sank into a chair and didn’t try to stop the tears that came.

Kyle got a change of clothes and went to the showers, glad no one else was there. All of the women and kids had been checked out by the doctors, cleaned up, fed, and given a place to sleep and wait for their test results. Kyle hoped they were all resting comfortably, but doubted many were. Being freed physically was a lot easier than escaping mental prisons.

Like the graves waiting for him to pay his respects, and the team waiting for comfort on their future as Adrian's top team. Kyle planned to do those things as soon as he'd had some sleep. He would still cover his duties, but his heart was no longer in them. He only wanted one thing now.

Kyle stayed in the water for a few minutes over the time limit, letting the water beat on his tired, sore muscles. His body was ready to sleep for about twelve hours, but his mind was racing. He was going over it, planning it all out, but one thing mattered more than anything else.

What if she doesn’t want me, even after I give my all?

When Angela grilled him, Kyle would say the expected thing–that he would let her go. But he'd known, lying there with Jennifer's big stomach moving against his hip last night, drawing out hidden longings, that it was a promise he wouldn’t be able to keep. If Jennifer couldn’t love him, he would have to leave Safe Haven or ask Adrian to handle it. Come boots or bullets, she wouldn’t ever be held against her will again–not even by him.

9

Marc studied the medical camper through his scope, uneasily waiting for Angela to come out. Kyle and Jennifer had been gone for a while, and Anne too, leaving Sam and Cynthia to restlessly prowl the QZ.

Angela had insisted on stopping in, and with her multiple guards, Marc hadn't argued about leaving her there while he took his shift. He'd expected her to come right back out.

“
Should have known better,” he muttered. Wasn't she in pain? It had only been days since she’d been shot. She shouldn’t even be…

Marc keyed his mic. “Rookie to the medical camper.”

“
I've got it.”

Cynthia sounded like she'd been looking for an excuse to check on Angie. He spotted the reporter a second later, coming around the corner of the camper.

She hadn’t been far away to get here that fast
, he thought, pleased.

The good vibe faded as radios crackled.

“
John to the medical camper! Now!”

Marc was on his feet and running down the hill a second later.

Angela opened her eyes to see several people frowning down at her.

Realizing what had happened, she groaned. “Shit.”

“
Yep.” Adrian delivered the verdict. “You are hereby relieved of
all
duties until cleared by John.”

“
And that's going to be awhile,” John muttered, washing his hands of her blood for the fourth straight day. “You're gonna heal even if it kills you.”

“
Thank you.”

Marc’s gratitude drew agreement from the rest of the worried people in the room. Charlie, Cynthia, and Samantha had refused to leave.

Angela let out a harsh sigh, too weary to fight. Her top stitch had come out again as Kyle left with Jennifer, and she'd tried to replace it herself. She’d passed out during the procedure, and left a bloody mess to walk into.

“
Okay,” she conceded wearily. “You’re the boss.”

Adrian felt the heavy weight of the last months begin to ease, and turned toward the door, thinking he could probably sleep now. “Yes, I am.”

Part Two

Challenge:

A task or situation that tests someone's abilities.

Chapter Six

Near Hutchinson, Kansas

5/27

1

“
Ugh!”

On duty outside, Marc listened to the muffled grunt with a hardened heart. After two weeks, he was handling Angela's pain better. John had just checked her wound and headed for the QZ camper, where they now did the things that required access to heat or water. It was a convenient upgrade that made things go much faster when testing the new arrivals.

“
Uh!”

But, Marc still winced at the second low moan she couldn’t smother while she dressed.

“
Did you take a pill yet?”

Anne's voice sounded strained to Marc. He was sure the nurse wanted something.

“
No.”

“
I think half of one of these now would be all right, then.”

Marc heard the sound of a bottle rattling.

“
If you think it’s okay, that would be nice.”

The edge of submission, of being in agony and knowing relief was finally coming, had Marc knocking back his anger again. He hated it that Angie had been reduced to surrender, that she was hurting and he couldn't help.

“
Spit it out,” Angela's voice demanded weakly.

There was a pause, and then a soft snort. “Brady is mine, not John's or Adrian's. He won't carry tales.”

Marc grinned. So much for eavesdropping.

Anne’s answer was so low that Marc had to replay it to understand what she’d said.

“
Will you help me become an Eagle?”

“
Yes.”

“
The men won’t like it.”

“
No.”

“
It’ll be hard for the camp, too.”

“
Yes.”

“
Do you think I can?”

“
Anne…”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t be, control it.”

Marc heard Anne sigh.

“
I’m not sure about doing this.”

“
I know.”

“
Then why would you…”

“
Because you need to survive. They all do.”

Marc saw John look his way and met the man’s gaze with sympathy. Despite being here all this time, John still didn’t realize how fully Adrian meant the word
we
. It encompassed every living, breathing member of his herd.

Charlie.

It was a thought Marc hadn’t allowed until now, but it was obvious what would happen. Charlie would be in Adrian’s army, too.

“
I already am.”

Charlie came from the shadows, looking much better than he had before they'd defeated the Slavers. Keeping Matt’s betrayals to himself hadn’t been easy.

Marc didn’t scold him for not revealing the duty sooner, only slung an arm around his son's shoulders. “We’ll get through it, boy–together
this
time.”

Charlie closed his eyes, absorbing his father's light, his comfort. Having a dad meant a lot. Before, when he'd had Kenn, he hadn't cared one way or the other. Now that Brady was back, Charlie understood why his mom had grabbed him and refused to let go even at so young an age. Marc was goodness and light, more so than Adrian, and Charlie already knew the difference in that power. Society might need hard, ruthless men–might follow them willingly during times of crisis–but most humans would give unflinching loyalty to those they could trust during peace. Marc would have been that type of leader.

“
How long have you been in Adrian's secret service?” Marc asked casually.

Charlie didn't feel the need to keep hiding it. “Almost since the beginning. He has this way of drawing you in.”

Charlie looked up at his father’s frowning profile, speaking too low to carry. “He wants her–as much as you do.”

Marc winced, arm dropping to his side. Had he really been hoping that only he and Adrian would know? “She’s not interested.”

Charlie wasn't able to get directly into his mom's thoughts–she had them locked against his tinkering and prying–but he'd caught flashes...

“
Would you like proof of how I know?” Marc asked, hoping Angela was still too weak to pick up this conversation. Some parts of her injury were convenient.

The teenager nodded, bracing for a memory, but Marc only leaned down and whispered, “She calls for me in her sleep.”

It was simple, but the heat behind it had the boy recoiling. “Yuck!”

Marc smirked. “That's good information for a man to have about the woman he wants.”

Marc noted a whirl of dust rising near the QZ, and mentally calculated how long before senior Eagles would move closer. That much dust meant more than one or two cars.

Charlie stored the words. “You got anything else like that? Stuff I could use now?”

Marc did not grin, as much as he wanted to. “Sure. Depends on what you’re searching for, though.”

“
There’s no one I like that way, just curious about reading them, like you and...”

Charlie’s head suddenly snapped toward the incoming trucks.

Uneasy, Marc adjusted the volume on his radio. Wanting to know how Angela really was, he'd turned it down when he took up a position outside her tent so that he could listen.

Mitch's frantic voice echoed over the radio. “I'm warning you, we will open fire!”

Marc's free hand went to his holster.

Charlie's pupils grew foggy as he stared at the four trucks now speeding recklessly around the west entrance to the QZ. “Uh-uh. Not good.”

Charlie quickly went that way.

“
Need you!”
Marc called. His worry made the connection easy to find.

Angela came from the tent in concern and nearby camp members surged her way. Aware that she was off-duty, they were demanding more of her attention. Marc quickly took her right.

“
Stop at the tape!” Mitch ordered, sounding completely sober and scared.

Marc was glad to see Adrian duck out of his tent and head toward the QZ–after a fast glance to verify that Angela was protected. She'd heard him, but it was Adrian that Marc had been calling.