From The Ashes (Life After War) (19 page)

Marc slid a gentle arm around Angela's waist. “Easy, folks. Let her breathe,” he cautioned.

Eager to find out what had pulled their son, the couple deflected the crowd as quickly as they could, both casting anxious glances toward the now over-guarded Zone. The sense of trouble coming was clear.

2

The QZ was now a permanent fixture in the back corner of the camp–outfitted with a shower and bathrooms, a supply truck, and three extra guards that moved closer as the new people neared. Off-duty Eagles also picked up on the unease, and a full complement of men waited in that deadly V formation as the trucks finally stopped at the tape in a wide spray of gravel and dust.

Charlie went straight to Adrian’s right, not waiting to be called over. While his mom recovered, this was his job. It hadn't been made official, but the teenager knew where his place was.

The scruffy newcomers got out of the trucks with their hands near weapons and wolfish leers slanted across their sore-riddled mouths.

“
Well ain’t this a sight!” the largest among them exclaimed, hands resting on double holsters. “It's gonna be a good day, Badger!”

The men getting out of their dusty trucks around him cackled at the reference to the old world, at his scornful joke.

“
Told ya I saw a lot of lights last night,” one of the other six men–Badger–exclaimed eagerly, mouth crawling with scurvy. His hand twitched restlessly as he waited, but his eyes stayed on his boss.

The man in charge broke away from his group, strolling toward Kyle, who was in the front of the V, gun in hand.

“
I’m sure glad to find a group this size,” the man leered, sharp glance going over what he could see of the camp. “Thought there wasn't any survivors 'round here that we hadn't supplied yet!”

The traders wore guns that Kyle guessed had seen a fair amount of use from the way they were slung low and ready. These were killers.
But you're not trained
, he observed, seeing how the men left themselves open as they swaggered closer.
Not like me and mine are.

“
This is a military refugee camp. State your business!” Kyle ordered, tone dangerously unfriendly.

“
We're merchants,” the big man sauntered closer, thick rings flashing in the dim sunlight. “We roam the wastelands and offer things that men need–for the right price, of course.”

“
Things like what?” Kyle asked coldly, waiting for the kill-order he felt coming. Adrian hadn't sent Charlie out of the area and that meant the boy was picking something up. Blood was about to spill.

“
The future. You guys don't have one without owning at least a few of what we're selling.”

Kyle saw Charlie’s lips start moving, telling Adrian what it was that the men were guilty of, and the icy chill of battle came down over the QZ.

Until he knows when to keep the match from the fuse, there won't be any mercy while Charlie's on the watch,
Kyle thought, ready to react
. These men were dead the instant he felt them.

Kyle helped things along. “What are you selling?”

3

Adrian studied the traders as Kyle listened to the list of supplies the men said they could lay their hands on. It was all wrong and Adrian hadn't needed the teenager at his side to verify it. He would use the boy, though.

Adrian leaned closer. “They sell people, right?”

Charlie’s words were full of disgust and anger as he searched. “Yes. Didn’t bring them along–don’t always deliver, either.”

“
We can get a whole silo of corn or a barn of tobacco, but not both in one visit.”

Kyle and the trader continued to barter as Adrian found Angela nearby. When he raised a mental brow, she gave a reluctant agreement, watching from the tape with Brady and Dog. Consent or not, Charlie was already looking through their evil.

“
Stay close,”
Angela sent.
“This feels hinky.”

Given permission, Adrian entered Charlie's mind.
“I need you to figure out where they’re holding the hostages, and then the Eagles will kill them.”

Instead of the fear or revulsion he and Angela were both half-expecting, Charlie’s surprised expression changed to eagerness.

“
I don't hide it as well as my mom. You'll have to distract them so I can search for the kids.”

Adrian’s hiss of fury was covered by the sound of arrogant footsteps on the gravel as the other traders flanked their leader. They were selling kids!

“
Yeah, we have three locations for water towers, but like with the silo stuff, only one big purchase at a time. And you'll have to pay, of course.”

Adrian felt the inevitable coming and didn't fight it. This was his job. He asked the last question that mattered.
“Weapons or women? What do they want?”

The teenager's mouth twisted as he began breaking through deeper mental barriers.
“Their females are in trouble...”

Charlie shoved harder.

The man he was reading became aware of him, but it was too late to stop.
“They came...”

“
I'll kill them all, boy. Tell him to give me what I came for!”

Charlie flinched back in stunned panic. That wasn't Adrian thrusting an order into his mind. The trader... he knew! He was... he...

Seeing the panic of youth, Adrian put a hand on Charlie's shoulder. The calming blast of energy allowed him to speak.

“
A doctor. They came for our doctor!”

Adrian drew his gun, stepping in front of the un-vested teenager. Around them, the Eagles took up the same stance.

“
Damn you!” Exposed, the leader of the traders spun toward Charlie, arm out to grab him.

Adrian shot the man in the head and his Eagles opened fire. He shoved Charlie down as the man's partners tried to return the favor.

“
There are more of them!” Charlie shouted, crawling to where Adrian's kicks to his leg were directing.

A second group of traders emerged from under tarps in the beds of the trucks, shooting and shouting in abandon. This group ran into the QZ like they'd been in it before, firing wildly at the Eagles and camp members in view. They found cover behind a tent, a camper, and the water trucks.

“
Intruder alert!” Mitch screamed from the nearby com truck. “All off-duty Eagles to the QZ!”

Radios and alarms blared across Safe Haven, interwoven with shouts and gunfire. Under that, was the sound of furiously running feet thudding across the dusty Kansas ground.

4

Kyle fired in fury, breaking the formation as he advanced into the QZ. There was only one tent there–his–and two of the traders were using it for protection. No longer shooting, they were without their leader and looking for an escape. They hadn't counted on anyone fighting back despite Safe Haven's visible security.

Kyle walked straight at the two men, picking out what he needed–a leg exposed, the side of a shoulder he could hit, and those amazing golden eyes lying at the bottom of the flap.

She's clear. Fire!

Two heavy thuds echoed as the men fell and Kyle slung his arm out, taking down the center pole. The canvas collapsed, clearing his line of sight.

Fire!

Kyle pulled the trigger an instant quicker, slug catching the man by the medical camper in the arm. The trader's bullet slammed through the edge of Kyle's boot and flew out the other side.

Kyle barely noticed the lucky miss, busy putting another round into the man–his chest this time.

The trader dropped to the ground in a bloody sprawl and Kyle fired again, rage demanding it. This shot went into his skull.

Around him, Kyle's team was picking off the wounded.

The mobster turned, training in control.

Left?
Clear
!

Right?
Clear!

Adrian and the others?
Clear!

Anyone left to kill?

Kyle searched.

The influx of Eagles was more than the traders had been prepared for. Hoping to do a quick shoot and snatch from the QZ that they'd probably studied for the last week, the attackers were now pinned down behind the water truck instead.

John was watching from under the shower camper, along with Anne and Charlie. Adrian stood in front of them, firing quick slugs that kept the remaining infiltrators pinned down from that side.

The other side of the water truck suddenly exploded with shouts.

“
Hands up!”

“
Drop 'em!”

“
Surrender or die!”

Bang!

“
Open fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kyle nodded in satisfaction. Neil and his team would make sure there were no survivors, and they would do it in full view of the camp.
The time for hiding how good we are is over,
he thought. If the people living here in safety didn't like the protection that was provided, they were able to leave–mostly because of how lethal Adrian had taught his army to be. Death was always the price required for freedom.

Satisfied that the QZ was clear, Kyle motioned his team forward to take care of the cleanup.

“
Wear the gloves,” he instructed.

Before he joined them in the nasty chore, Kyle found Jennifer's wide gaze. She was still on the ground, waiting.

Kyle turned to his duty instead of responding to her silent call.
She'll be fine without me. She'll be fine without me.

Jennifer watched him walk away with wide eyes and stomach cramps. She wasn't in labor–just dropped to her knees too fast and pinched something–but her mind was in chaos. She'd come to depend on him so much in just two weeks... and he was every bit the killer that Cesar had been.

Kyle didn't look back, and Jennifer didn't send out a second wave of need, but it was a struggle. What if he woke up during the time they were apart? What if he realized what a burden she would be?

Jennifer dropped her head.
I'll be fine without him. I'll be fine without him.

5

Adrian jerked a hand toward the panicking camp. “Shut off the alarms and sing to the herd!”

Kenn rushed off.

Neil came from the second battlefield behind the heavily leaking water truck, soaked and splattered in hard dirt chips that were melting into muddy furrows. “Double the watch and do a full perimeter check–inside and out,” he ordered of his team. “On the way, organize a catch-and-carry for whatever water's left here.”

“
Why did you do that?” Charlie asked from Adrian's feet.

Adrian ignored the worried parents, answering their child instead. “Because of Rick, I can't take the chance.”

Charlie didn’t open his eyes yet, even though John and Anne were being helped out from under the camper. Still frozen, the teenager was trying to handle the newest emotion to grace his hormones–bloodlust. He wanted to be shooting, drawing it himself. “What about the kids they're holding? I didn't have enough time to get a location.”

Adrian’s heart squeezed into a hard knot, but he forced his mouth to provide the answer that was expected. “Your mom will help me find them when she’s stronger.”

“
And if she can’t?”

“
Then I carry that guilt, not you.”

It was enough now, while youth and shock had him distracted, but Adrian knew a more detailed answer had to be in place for next time.

Charlie’s young gaze opened, flicked over the bloody bodies. He slowly crawled out and stood up. “They’re not all dead. I might still be able...”

Not asking Angela this time, Adrian moved aside. “You follow orders, or go no further in my army–ever.”

Adrian stayed close, gun in hand, as Charlie walked onto the battlefield without responding.

One of the traders–Badger–was lying on his side near the supply truck, blood pooling under him from wounds in his stomach. He'd clearly been hoping to play dead and crawl away.

The heavily bearded slaver flinched at the crunch of boot steps, hand coming up. “Don’t!”

“
Tell us where they are!” Charlie demanded, hoping the location was the first thing the trader would think of. His death was close.

The man’s face was ugly with sores and fear, but there was no remorse. “Fuck off, freak!”

Adrian started to use his gun.

Charlie knelt down in the line of fire. “I can heal you.”

Adrian put a hand out to jerk Charlie back, but Angela stopped him with two words. “
He’s lying.”

Impressed and absolutely horrified, Adrian dropped his hand and made sure only the closest Eagles would witness whatever happened.

Frustrated by the man's panicked, painful thoughts, Charlie let his inner demon bleed through for the first time, blue eyes turning deep crimson. “Your life for theirs. Where?”

The man sucked in a lungful of air through the terror and the agony. “Outside Wichita. Kids like... you, locked in a boarding school.”