Adrian's Eagles: Book Four (Life After War) (66 page)

Jeremy’s voice from the perimeter had them both turning.

“We tried every one of them when it went down. They’re all dead.”

“Like he was supposed to be,” Angela muttered, turning toward the ambulance Adrian was climbing into. “Get us back to Safe Haven, Brady, fast. Something’s happening there.”

2

They knew there was trouble as soon as Kevin came into view. Waiting outside the tape, the Level Two Eagle went straight to Adrian as he stepped from the ambulance under heavy guard.

“We’re having trouble and I can’t get a run on it. Posts are short,
people
not being guarded.”

“Fires, fights?”

Kevin ran his eyes over Kenn’s sheet-covered body being brought out on a stretcher.” Yeah. Zack blew his top when he found out Kenn’s dead.”

“He’s not,” Angela stated, directing them toward John. “Might feel like he is when he wakes up, though.”

The guard surprised them with a tight smile. “Good. Maybe that’ll cool things down. They were turning out tents for proof a few minutes ago and accusing camp members. I sent my team, but we’re not enough to quell it.”

As they moved under the tape, Angela was nearly overwhelmed by the difference in the atmosphere of Safe Haven. Even after the earthquake, when they had all been thrown into shock, orders were followed, posts were covered. Now, the waves of fear and unrest rolled over the dim camp like thunder and the golden bubble that usually greeted them was gone.

Angela picked up on the worst vibes. “They’re at the Mess. Zack, Allan, Lee. A dozen camp members, too.”

“Kenn’s boys.”

“They think he’s dead. Be careful.”

Adrian didn’t tell her it was the other way around. He moved faster and uneasy Eagles fell in behind them without being called.

Roughly a dozen men made up the small mob, standing with their hands balled or guns already in their grip. They had Seth’s weary Eagles cornered at the Mess table they’d just settled down at.

“Who did it?”

“Are you covering for Brady? Did he kill him?”

Angela tensed at the words, but didn’t take her attention off the dangerous scene in front of her. From all appearances, the work Adrian had done to bring these people together had been destroyed, and she waited to see if she could help him fix it.

“
Gonna
tell you one more time to back off and then blood’s going to flow, Jeff. You know I won’t take this.”

Seth’s Eagles were tired, worried, and in no mood to put up with undue shit, even from a teammate.

“You’re
gonna
tell us!”

“Who was it?”

Adrian moved up behind the group with no signs of fear. “Who the runs this camp?”

His furious bellow cut through it all, making the mob spin around.

Frank, one of Zack’s men, raised his gun instinctively and Angela beat Neil to the place between it and Adrian.

Recognizing them, Frank lowered the weapon and Adrian stepped around his guards like it hadn’t happened. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

His tone was almost casual now and Zack shook his head. “We thought you…”

“You call this thinking?”

The Eagle flushed and his supporters tried to step back only to be the ones now cornered when Seth’s team stood up and blocked their flanks.

“We heard you were near dead and Kenn already was.”

“Do dead men talk?”

Everyone looked over to see Kenn limp under the Mess canopy, supported by Alex.

Adrian’s voice carried in the loud silence that followed. “Is this how you would react? Like panicked animals?” His voice went up in tone and down with the weight of his disappointment, his frustration with them. “These are our friends, our family. How dare you!”

Zack and the now-ashamed men shrank back at Adrian’s anger and he surveyed the group, fighting with himself over the choices that would now have to be made. Despite their flaws, he still needed Kenn’s boys, too.

“Clean up
my
camp. Each one of you who took part. Fix what you broke, apologize to everyone you upset or pissed off. And strip those Eagle jackets. You’re suspended until the moral board votes.”

There was dead silence for a minute. Angela felt them considering a take-over and was glad when each man, Zack included, immediately decided to suffer their punishment instead. They were smart enough to know they couldn’t do what the blond leader could. It was part of why he’d chosen them.

Needing to be sure everyone understood this wouldn’t be tolerated, Adrian delivered a final threat that they all knew was genuine.

“Get out of line before I’m ready to take you back and you’ll pack your shit and get out.”

There was a sudden flurry of activity as the men moved to do what they were told and the air filled with short, painful conversations.

Adrian perched stiffly on the corner of his center table, appearing angry to the rest, but she didn’t think it was true. It felt like he was hurting. From his injuries or their near betrayal, she wasn’t sure.

Unlike Kenn, who was proud people were falling apart at the thought of him not being around. She turned to the Marine. “Should you be here?”

Kenn kept his head aimed toward Adrian, betraying none of the pain he was still feeling through John’s shot. “No choice. He needed me.”

She stiffened at the ring of truth. “He would have gotten them under control.”

“As fast and as painless?”

Angela sighed, conceding the point. “No, probably not.”

Kenn met Adrian’s eye. “User error?”

“Yes. Tell them we did something wrong. None of us were tow drivers before the War and we’re learning from our mistakes.”

Neil had joined Seth’s Eagles and Angela tensed as a small group of “rioters” approached the table. Neither Kenn nor Adrian reacted and she tried to follow their lead

Neil held both hands out. “I did it! Arrest me.”

There was a round of snickers at the contempt-laced tone and Zack flushed.

“We’re sorry, you know? Got carried away.”

Seth studied him for a minute, and then shrugged. “Hell, I understand what drove you. We need them.” The redhead wasn’t sure that was true of Kenn, but knew better than to say so. “Someone forgot to lock down the tow bar and the weight snapped the rope. It all went over too fast for us to do anything.”

Zack muttered another apology before quickly leaving and Cynthia stepped closer now that the chaos seemed to be over.

“Can I get an interview?”

Seth didn’t hesitate, grinning at the reporter in surprised pleasure. “We’ll be in your new newspaper?”

Cynthia preened under the longing tone and squeezed in across from him without waiting to be invited. “That depends on your story. Start from the beginning.”

Angela saw Adrian’s subtle hand in that and stopped herself from protesting. He’d been expecting this reaction from his sheep and Seth had known, helped him cover it before it became a problem. Who was she to be giving advice to a man that smart?

“
I only knew to set it up because of your warnings. Don’t doubt your place with me, with them.”

Angela followed his eyes around, seeing that other than Zack and the suspended men, the Eagles had gone back to their posts and duties, leaving her as Adrian’s open guard.
“In their minds, you saved my life… again. Without being able to hear and bringing the rope, that whole hillside would have gone over and taken us with it. They understand you’re meant to be in this spot now.”

Angela flushed, dropping her head to keep anyone from seeing her pleasure, her pride, at his silent words.
“
So, we’re here for a while?”

Adrian shook his head at her question, recognizing her use of distraction to stop the spark. “We leave in the morning as scheduled. To do anything different would cause more unrest. We’re back to using apocalypse roads for now.”

“And you’ll go back out with them, if we don’t find the clues this time. Keep putting your own life at risk.”

“You saw what it came to and how fast. They aren’t ready.”

Her tone was grim, “Our time’s about up for getting them ready. The Slavers are coming soon, and this time they’ll have this camp or die trying.”

Adrian shook his head. “They’re already here, just picking the right moment.”

“I can feel their hatred.”

Adrian nodded, hand resting lightly on his gun. “Let them come. After all the hell they’ve caused,
my
army can’t wait to make them pay.”

“And when the camp finds out?”

“It will be too late for them to run. They’ll have no choice, but to stand and fight.”

He waited for her to protest what might be a mass murder, but Angela couldn’t. A future without Adrian would be as dark as if they lost the coming battle. Without society, these sheep would be picked off, one by one, until America was nothing, but a graveyard. Better to make a stand together and die trying than to perish alone, in cowardice.

Satisfied she was on the same page, Adrian turned to Kenn. “You good for fifteen and a slow walk around?”

The Marine answered cheerfully, “Drugs ‘r
workin
’ good now, Boss. Probably okay for twice that.”

“Stubborn-assed men,” Angela muttered.

Kenn motioned at her, moving carefully. “Yeah, like
we’re
the only ones.”

He shot it back lightly and Angela smiled, surprised.

Adrian saw their easy banter was having a calming effect already and gestured at Angela. “Come along?”

She agreed right away. The invite made it easier, but she would have trailed him anyway. That was part of her job. “You know it.”

3

 
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember anything after starting my shift.”

Kyle’s head weighed so much it took a real effort to lift. “Same here. None of us do.”

Chosen to be the guards on the cleared area, all of them had gone on duty at three a.m., but never made it out of camp.

“I remember packing for the trip because we were set to be there all day, but it’s like walking through the fog. I’m missing details.” Daryl’s face was green.

“I knew something was wrong and tried to go report it, but I felt so bad! I couldn’t find my set.” Billy remembered not to groan when his stomach cramped, but couldn’t stop the grimace.

Kyle snorted, tan skin much paler than any of them were used to seeing. “At least they found you guys in your tents. I thought a shower would help. God knows how long the cold water was beating on me.”

“What was it?”

“Yeah, do we have something? I don’t feel so funny now, just like I have a hangover.”

“You were drugged.”

Adrian stepped into the second medical tent, followed by Kenn and Angela. She moved quickly to check them over even though John had already declared them out of danger. They were her team mates.

“We have some questions.”

“I’m sorry, boss.” Kyle’s voice was full of frustration. “None of us remember.”

“We need to know where each of you were before going on duty.”

“The Mess.”

“Bonfire... Mess before that.”

“Same here.”

“We always hit the Mess first and then spend a couple hours by the bonfire before we go out on third shift duty,” Daryl stated and couldn’t stop a flinch as pain shot through his head.
No more talking. Okay
.

Adrian looked at Kenn, who opened his notebook with fingers that weren’t quite steady.

“Hilda on second, until midnight. Maria on third. Assistants were Mike and Timmy on second and Cynthia on third.”

“None of them are the type.” Angela said. “Or that smart, frankly. Whoever it was, they did this as a test, to see if it would work or be noticed.”

“
They
is exactly right.” Adrian informed them. “One person doesn’t do all this on their own. We’re now searching for at least two moles, but maybe even three.”

“Then maybe it’s time we dug them out,” Marc stated as he ducked into the tent and wasn’t surprised by all the shaking heads.

“How about a new plan, then?” he asked bitterly. “‘Cause this one isn’t working.”

Adrian gave him a sharp response. “But it’s your plan, grunt.”

Marc met his eye, finally admitting to all of them how much behind-the-scenes work he’d been doing. “And I’m telling you it’s too dangerous now. None of it went the way we needed it to.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Marc raised a brow. “You thought this would happen?”

“Your plan was good, but a bit simple. It didn’t account for the reactions of the camp.”

“Because they’ve never been my priority,” Marc muttered, recognizing the dooming flaw.

“You tried to keep them out of it, but you also didn’t count on her. Now, we’ll do it my way.”

Marc gave in with bitterness they all felt. “Can’t be any worse than mine.”