From The Ashes (Life After War) (69 page)

By 10 pm, they had made it more than a mile in, Adrian leading them through the destruction that was unlike anywhere else they’d been. Not a single building stood, most of them appearing as if the ground had been lifted up to spill them violently off their foundations.

Mile after mile of heartbreaking sights littered the view in every direction, of every dark intersection they came to. Those were only identifiable by the lack of concrete cinders. Even with the medical salve under their noses, the stench was awful. The worst of it was around the corner from the grocery store they’d cleared. A truck full of Christmas fruitcakes were rotting, and the sickly-sweet mildew sent each one of them a flash of the carnage at the rest stop.

They had to drive over cracks, sometimes having to put metal plates down to drive across. Adrian didn’t hesitate, though, never asked her or the Eagles which way. He took them straight to the park.

The team stared in surprise at the clear and undamaged city block that stood before them. The businesses and homes on either side of the street–parking meters and telephone poles still standing–were dusty, neglected, abandoned, but whole and normal. The convoy crossed into the area with expressions of surprise and longing.

The small city park still had green trees, playground equipment, and picnic tables with little, ash-filled grills. Adrian’s mind went to his childhood as they pulled up in front of it. He and his mother had spent a lot of time here, long afternoons waiting for that fancy black car to pick him up.

He keyed his mic. “Team Two, perimeter. Team One, Point.”

Angela missed being with Kyle’s team, but that wasn’t her job tonight. When Adrian lit a smoke and pulled his hood up before stepping out into the dank, chilly night air, she sent her mind back to the search. She had a good idea of how many, and she was getting their anger, their hate clearly, but she didn’t have their leader's location yet. She pushed harder, forcing her mind through the thick levels of darkness and was rewarded with a light in the shadowy distance as a door swung open. One of them was dreaming, and that was her line in. She didn't see Adrian wave two men over to guard each door of the truck she was in, but felt it anyway.

7

Surrounded by molding trees that blocked the view of even the dark skyline of Little Rock, the
pristine
park gave off an unreliable feeling of seclusion and safety. Staring at it, Adrian’s mind took him to one of his most vivid memories of his mother.

“
The car’s coming. Be good now, Adrian.”

“
Yes, mother.”

Her arms were long and smooth, hard enough to hurt when she squeezed. “Ouch, Mommy!”

Her soft chuckle floated down. “We’ll have to toughen you up, now that they’ve let you out.”

A long black car pulled up in front of them, and the hated driver rushed to open the passenger door. “Mr. Milton sends his regards.”

His mother blushed furiously and guided him into the car. “Mind your manners, now. They don’t take just any student into this school.”

“
Yes, mother.”

He slid into the cool car, noting the man on the opposite bench and the shining gun he wore.

Adrian politely acknowledged his father’s personal guard, as his mother leaned down to buckle him in.

“
You’re only five Adrian, but you’re not like other kids. You know that by now, don’t you?”

He took it all in with that intent, nothing-else-allowed mindset that the scientists had found so fascinating. He absorbed one thing at a time, fully, until his understanding of it was exhausted.

“
Yes, mother.”

“
And do you understand why?”

Adrian glanced over at his father’s man, noticing the interest in not only the conversation, but also in his mother. “No.”

Satisfied, she kissed his cheek and her silken blonde hair brushed his hand. “Keep it that way. Such information is not for the likes of you.”

“
Yes, mother.”

I’ve been chasing it ever since,
Adrian thought, coming back from the past in a quick snap.

She’d intentionally triggered his genetic need to challenge the destiny that had been set, to discover why he was odd. The classes and forms of training he’d received as a child had created the man, but the mind that drove him was given by his mother. Once she’d gotten him back from the Lab, nothing had come between them. She’d made sure that he had everything he needed for this very place in time. Until her murder when he was eleven, they’d been inseparable.

“
Will you tell a bit more?” Angela yawned as she joined him, estimating it had to be around midnight. Even with the extra light Kevin's tam had brought, it was shadowy. The full moon above them gave them a baleful glow, covered in layers of an unnatural orange fog that made Angela think of nuclear tests and Stephen King stories where monsters came out of the mist.

“
If you tell me something.” Adrian's answer was low enough to make her come closer.

Angela stopped within a foot of him, rubbing her chilly shoulders. “What do you want to know?”

Adrian’s hands slid into his pockets. “When she died, I was sent to a school in Arizona. I escaped.”

“
Escaped?”

Adrian thought of the high-towered school and the guards, and the hundreds of other children like him. “They were gathering us. It was killing me not to know why. If she hadn’t triggered that, I would have stayed.”

“
Because for the first time in your life you were with others like yourself?” she guessed.

“
Yes. It hurt to leave them behind.”

Angela waited, hoping she wouldn’t have to ask again, that he trusted her enough to share a few more of his own ghosts. He was so good at healing others and so bad at doing it for himself.

“
I was given a clue during a visit from my father. He explained that he was a descendant of powerful old blood, that he and his line were destined to lead.”

“
What was it you were being brought together to do?”

Adrian’s answer was haunting. “We were trained as weapons to keep his… my bloodline in power. They kept a stock of us.”

“
What did they have you do?”

Adrian’s response revealed a layer of his personal torment. “Can’t you guess? Children make perfect assassins. No one ever suspects the eleven-year-old standing out in plain sight, or the twelve-year-old in the shade of a brick alleyway. Or the fifteen-year-old in the hotel kitchen.”

“
I thought you escaped!” she exclaimed, almost brought to tears at the images of the things he’d been forced to do.

“
Which time?” Adrian spun into the darkness, clearly done.

He was almost out of view before she remembered their deal. “What was it that you wanted me to tell you?”

Adrian stopped. He needed to know. “Would you trade my Eagles for another child?”

“
Yes,” she gasped, thrown back into her nightmare. The death of her baby was something she didn’t think she’d ever fully recover from.

“
Brady will give that to you.”

“
Yes.”

When she didn't add more, just stood there staring back with that tempting blush, Adrian couldn't stop himself. “Are you working on it? Ten months is a long time for your team to be without a leader.”

Angela was both embarrassed and angry at the personal questions. “I haven't asked for it.”

It was amazing how quickly he felt better knowing that. The noises and shadows were Brady slowly working his way up to the finale. Adrian applauded the brilliant strategy even as he loathed it.

Adrian went to his truck. Once inside the cold interior, he flipped on the CB. Marc knew better than to break radio silence, but Adrian could at least let them know everything was okay. He had no doubt some of the camp would be listening by now, worried and giving Brady shit because he wasn’t their true Guardian.

“
This is Eagle. We're still clearing. Everything is 5-by.”

The static cleared immediately with a brief sound of a small crowd cheering in relief.

Following instinct, Adrian adjusted the second set to a less-used frequency. It was a shipping channel he’d taught a special boy to use a long time ago.

“
This is Eagle. We are in the city. Hang on. We’re coming.”

He didn’t hang up the mic, instinctively knowing there would be a response.

“
You have to hurry!”

It was a low whisper, and Adrian keyed the mic, not recognizing the voice. “Be ready. It will happen fast.”

“
But you don’t even know where we are!” the child moaned.

Adrian’s answer was hard, sure. “Be ready. We’re close, and we make a lot of noise.”

There was no answer, and he switched it off, knowing others were likely monitoring the channels. If the hunters got to them first, there was no way it would end well.

8

The starving thin boy stared at the large group with longing and fury. His dad was finally here.

Conner pulled his ragged clothes closer, ignoring the cold, and the nasty muck soaking into his duct-taped shoes. Desperate, his intent stare never left the large group of new people.

Even if Conner hadn't recognized the man from pictures, he could have picked out the leader by the way he cared for his people and by the respect he was given. It was almost a dream for the teenager, seeing that walk, and those blue eyes that matched his own so perfectly.

Conner swayed lightly on his feet, almost unable to believe. It was the men with him who convinced the boy. There was no mistaking that style of protection. His father had finally come!

Instead of relief he could now allow himself to feel, or even anger at how long it had taken, there was only fear in Conner’s mind. His knowledge of Adrian was vague, shadowy pictures from his mother's words before life had blown up, and the Major's cruel revelations.

Conner was terrified of making the wrong choice and getting his kids killed, but his heart was already yearning to be a protected member of his father's camp instead of leading his own.

9

“
Is it working?”

“
Yes.”

Embry came to glance over his team leader's shoulder, as if he didn't believe him.

Hudson didn't get offended. They were all wired that way–the Major's men liked knowing things for themselves.

The scouts watched the new people on the screen that was static-layered, but at least working. It was one of a dozen tracking devices they were using to keep tabs on those living here. There wasn't a lot of technology left that worked, but what did, the Major was great at ferreting out.

They'd known where Conner and the kids were almost since the beginning, but the Major didn't need that gifted, marked child for anything but bait. The government reward for his father was a large one.

The younger–and dumber–of the two bounty hunters stood up. “Come on. Let's go.”

Hudson sneered at Embry’s eagerness. “The Major said not to go without him.”

“
But now is the perfect time!” Embry whined. “They're settling down. We'll catch them off guard.”

Hudson, so named because of his birth near the infamous waterway, offered one more warning. “The Major has a plan, Embry. I'd be careful about stepping on his toes.”

“
I want to go in now,” the younger guard insisted, scratching at his head.

Like all of the Major's crew, he and Embry were bald under the black bandanas, skin-tones burnt to the same shade from the harsh environment they toiled in. They could have been brothers but for the hatred that existed between them.

Hudson gave him a curt glare. “Go on, then. I’ve wanted Lenore for a while. With you dead, I’m next for her.”

Embry’s expression darkened, mouth opening for a brief second before snapping shut.

Hudson laughed at him, but the sound was deep with loathing in place of amusement. “What you’ll do is report to the Major.”

Embry paled. “Me?”

“
Yes, you. You’re the one who wants to move in ahead of schedule. Get lost.”

Embry gave a stiff salute, hoping the Major wouldn’t kill him when he suggested attacking now.

Embry turned around, entire body wary. “You really want my woman?”

Hudson’s expression was cold, devoid of empathy. “Yes.”

Embry spun toward the hill, and Hudson went back to observing the green dots on the screen. He was already sure the Major wouldn’t kill Embry unless he got out of line. They needed all the men they could get for this hit.

“
We’re ready,” he muttered.

As the world fell apart, Hudson and the rest of the Major’s team had been sent out to collect Adrian Mitchel. And the Major, who'd hated other races long before the end came, never went back without his man. They would have this bounty wrapped up in the next few days, maybe even hours.

But instead of going to the last bunker holding, Hudson thought Garret might keep the gifted pair for a while. He might hand them over after he'd taken his pound of flesh–if they survived. Hudson wasn't sure the standing reward would be enough to keep either of them alive. Adrian was at the top of the Major's most hated list, and rightly so. When the shit went down, Mitchel had struck back twice as hard and taken the Major's wife. He'd returned her–pregnant, six months later. That kind of hatred was impossible to ease with gold, promotions, and guns. It required blood.