From The Ashes (Life After War) (43 page)

The shadows on the tent caught his attention and held it. On the floor, one hard body was lowering itself on top of a barely rounded second form. Neil realized which canvas it was–Seth had crossed the comfort line–and waited for his usual righteous anger to spew out.

So did Kyle.

The top shadow hesitated, head shaking. The one on the bottom arched a young body that either of the men watching would have taken right then. The man visibly shuddered, but didn't make any other movement.

“
She's using sex to handle her repressed anger,” Neil stated, throat only allowing curt words. What had he done to her?

Kyle didn't tell him that Becky hadn't been repressing her anger. There were tray servers and duty men with the bruises to prove that. Neil had missed all the shows while following Seth's instructions to stay away.

“
She'll become an Eagle if we leave them alone.”

“
And probably a camp whore not long after,” Neil protested. He'd seen the pattern repeat itself again and again.

The top shadow thrust and a short cry was cut off.

The bottom shadow wiped away tears and held on, clearly refusing to let him stop.

“
She’ll be stronger for it, one of the first eight ruthless rookies Angela accepts,” Kyle stated, not acknowledging the revulsion or the jealousy he felt from watching the tent.

Neil paused in his automatic urge to interfere. “Is it fair, Becky getting that in exchange for being hurt?”

Neil wanted his conscience wiped clean, and Kyle couldn’t do it.

“
No. Nothing we ever do will equal the debt owed to her. She was sacrificed.”

Neil had known before he’d asked, but hearing the words was another form of the punishment he knew he’d be dealing to himself for years to come. “I'll support whatever she
wants
. He's dead to me.”

Kyle got a few feet away before looking back. “Just Seth?”

Neil's face tightened. “Will it make any difference in your plans?”

Kyle let out a defeated sigh. “No.”

Neil gestured angrily. “Then what does it matter?”

Kyle was tired of keeping the pain to himself. “It matters because we used to be tight, you jackass.”

Neil scowled. “Hey, you're the one who...”

“
Who what?”

Neil stopped the fight before it could go further. “Convince me, Kyle. Do that and we're all good.”

Kyle reluctantly moved back to where Neil was standing. He didn't want to let anyone in, but now that it was common knowledge that he wanted Jennifer, he needed a friend more than ever.

5

Drowsing pridefully inside the medical camper, John suddenly stiffened.

He gestured at Anne with wide, dismayed eyes. “Get your gun–right now!”

Also nearby, Charlie slowed, looking around. What was that noise?

The Eagles in the shadows did the same. They couldn't hear anything, but watching Charlie and Angela was instinct now.

Hearing sharper, Dog nudged the teenager toward the nearby trees.
“Stay low.”

Not arguing, Charlie did as he was instructed.

“
Eekkk...”

The noise was lost in the sound of gunfire. And then a scream echoed.

Charlie started to stand and Dog pushed on him, forcing the boy down further.
“Be still!”

Charlie struggled against Dog’s weight. “Let me up. I have to help!”

“
It’s young blood they’ve come for!”

Dog shoved hard, and knocked Charlie down so that he could curl onto the teenager’s chest and keep him there.

Marc nailed the plates as they were thrown, now on round three with all the shooters tied.

Crash! Crash!

“
That's a draw again, folks!”

Billy's voice was nearly swallowed by the crowd groaning and laughing, paying up on bets and making new ones. It was clear the three Marines were evenly matched, but Angela thought maybe Adrian had said something to Brady that calmed him down. That hard glaze was gone, a thoughtful concern now in its place when their eyes met.

Angela wasn't sure what had caused the flip, but she was a bit disappointed. She liked Marc's inner man. He knew how to handle her fears–he didn’t coddle her.

Marc holstered the Colt after reloading, and moved toward Adrian. “A new challenge?”

As if fate had taken the words personally, radios crackled.

“
Boss, we need you at the com truck. No rush.”

“
Copy.” Adrian looked toward Angela, who began searching, and then to Kenn, who quickly headed through the crowd.

“
We're calling this one a draw, folks. Which means Brady defended his title. That's a pass.”

Adrian moved through the celebrating, grumbling, slightly tense herd with Eagles on his heels.

The mob now quieter, the odd noise came again and was heard across camp.

Eeekkkkk…

The sound was one of nails on a chalkboard. It sent ice into veins.

Danger to the herd!

Crimson unease traveled the camp.

Samantha wiped both sweaty hands down her pants and brought them back up with a gun in each. That having two was better, more fulfilling somehow, was something Samantha had come to accept. She moved quickly to Angela's flank and saw Cynthia do the same with Adrian.

Eeeekkk!

“
What is it, Boss?” Zack asked.

“
Uninvited guests,” Adrian answered, struggling for a plan.

Eeekkkkk…

In the eerie stillness of the apocalyptic Kansas sky, a new sound echoed–one that Safe Haven’s people knew all too well.

Wings.

The Eagles immediately pulled their air horns and began blindly blasting them toward the sky as the colony got closer, but it was already too late.

The bat colony swarmed down over Safe Haven like a river, washing through the camp in a panicked flurry of razor-sharp wings and hungry fangs. Their food source had also changed.

“
Get to the Mess
,” Angela sent, causing radios to spark across the camp, but it was hard to hear over the blare of the air horns and the screaming.

Adrian reached Angela as she braced and began firing using both hands. He put his back to her, Brady coming to form the pyramid, and they blasted through the bats they could safely hit without striking anyone in the crossfire.

It wasn’t nearly enough.

“
Where’s the caller?” Marc shouted, shooting in a pattern he hoped would detour the rest of the colony getting set to swarm down. The screams were telling the other bats food was down here.

“
Our tent!”

They went that way, aware of air horns dying, people falling under numerous winged rodents, and the angry crimson bubble rippling over the entire camp.

“
Why isn’t it protecting us?” Marc yelled, steering them into the main camp. He stopped in shock at the sight of the front of the colony zeroing in on them.

The trio hit the ground as the bats swarmed. Side by side, they rolled onto their backs and continued to fire, reload and do it again, but it was like dipping water from a flooded ship with a spoon.

“
Bring the shield up!” Adrian ordered.

“
No!” Marc still wouldn’t sacrifice her for the rest.

Angela began to gather herself, terrified of being exposed.

The colony began to retreat without warning, sweeping up into the air in a long black tunnel of wings and screeching cries.

“
Where are they going?”

“
Is it over?”

Angela rolled to her feet, running for their tent. Brady stayed on her heels, searching the injured for their son as they went.

Adrian grabbed two Eagles running by. “Get the spotlights on and people blowing horns in the vehicles! Get help!”

Lee and Kevin rushed off, jerking other men with them.

Adrian saw another running form, but didn’t try to get the mobster’s attention. Kyle was trying to make it to the livestock area, where Jennifer was helping the vet. The sounds from that area were loud, but the barking of the dogs was louder.

Above them, the shield flashed deeper crimson, lined in black wings as the colony circled to come in for another blast.

Eekkk!

6

Kyle hit the livestock area as the colony zoomed down, spotting Jennifer huddled under the Vet’s metal table as he stood in front of it, waving a torch.

Kyle dropped to the ground, crawling. Bats slammed into his shoulders, his side, clawing and shrieking as he fought to get to her. Ahead of him, the bats were swarming Chris, wings ripping into his exposed skin.

Kyle jerked the air horn from his belt and activated it as he reached the vet who was covered.

The bats flinched away at the noise, and Kyle shoved the Chris toward the semi.

The horn gave a last, weak blast, and Kyle crawled to the crying girl, sliding his big body around her exposed skin.

Jennifer shook uncontrollably, face buried against Kyle’s arm and side as he protected her. Cramped up, she felt the first contraction coming and groaned against Kyle’s arm.
Not again!

Jennifer shifted, taking the pressure off, and it receded.

“
Stay calm and don’t trigger your labor.”

John’s words came to her, and she concentrated on the sound of Kyle’s fast heartbeat as she relaxed her body. Kyle would keep the danger away, and she would keep herself from giving birth.

7

Whhooooo!

Angela spun the Caller harder, already knowing it wasn’t going to be enough. There was too much noise to detour the colony.

Whhhoooooo!

The blast knocked a large portion of the incoming line apart, sending corpses and stunned threats sliding into tents and corners, but the rest kept coming.

Angela threw herself to the ground as the colony flew over them, dropping the Caller in favor of her gun.

Next to her, Marc sensed the ambush coming and ripped free of his coat in time to wrap it over both of them and roll.

Marc took the brunt of the hit in the shoulder as the second half of the colony flew in low and hard. Bats bounced of him, flying, scattering across the area with screams of merciless hunger and endless misery.

They stayed down until the sound of the wings began to draw upward, then they were on their feet and Angela was bringing up the shield.

A small group of trapped bats slammed into the shield near them and fell to the earth with crushed skulls and shattered wings.

Above the camp, the colony circled, preparing for another strike. The lead scouts sent radar and came back with a barrier, but it was too late to stop the incoming rush of blood-crazed bats. They slammed into the barrier like a bomb blast.

More than half of the colony hit the shield around Safe Haven, shaking the ground it was resting on. Those closest to its edges were thrown to the dirt as the dome shifted sideways from the force of the impact, but it held.

Angela swayed as the sound of dropping corpses and splattering guts.

Denied their newly discovered food source, the screeching colony regrouped to circle the camp and send sonar. At the first sign of weakness, they would swarm down.

Adrian’s mind told him it was really happening. The shield was a solid, crimson wall of protection that wouldn’t even let the sight of the sky through. On the other side, the bats were still there, waiting restlessly to be fed. As soon as the camp began to realize what it was, Angela would be in danger. They would all assume it was her doing.

Marc grabbed Adrian’s arm, leaning close. “We built it–the Eagles. Get that spreading now!”

Before the leader could respond, another shout ripped into their minds.

Mom!

Marc put a hand on her arm. “I’ll go. If he was hurt, Dog would be calling.”

Angela agreed, knowing Adrian needed her help. All around them were injured camp members.

“
It’s like Nature’s feeding on us, when she get hungry.”

Adrian’s answer was chilling. “No. She’s making rounds of the dwindling herd of mankind, taking out as many as she can during each blow. We aren’t the only ones suffering her wrath.”

Angela shared a helpless look with the leader, and then they cleared their expressions, gathered their priorities, and began helping their people recover. It was hard work, done while listening to the remaining bat colony circling above and screeching in hungry dissatisfaction.

Kenn appeared at his side, Tonya in tow. “They’re not going away.”

Adrian waved Zack off to work on the list, and Kenn got his notebook out, ready to take down the solution he was sure Adrian already had in mind.

Adrian was struggling.
The sight of those bodies!

“
Ready, Boss.”

The bats were flying down for another round of sonar, the clicks and high-pitched cries sending shudders through the survivors.