From The Ashes (Life After War) (2 page)

Remembering the birds in Utah, Neil hit the air horn on his belt, and the closest bugs immediately recoiled.

“
Use the horns!” Neil shouted, his keeping the cicadas away from Adrian. That man didn't look up, or stop what he was doing.

The other Eagles blew their air horns, and it began to overpower the chaos. The cicadas reluctantly retreated under the combined noise, but only as far as the treetops and low sky above them.

“
We need to go!” Seth shouted, dragging dazed men toward the door.

“
Not done yet!” Kyle answered, hand starting to go numb from holding pressure on the pulsing wound. Closing the hole required shoving the glowing metal over a small portion of her skin at a time, until it burnt it closed. The reek of flesh cooking grew stronger, and Angela's teeth sank into Kyle’s arm, broke the skin.

“
How long, Boss?” he asked, barely feeling the pain of her clamped jaw.

“
Three more on this side.”

Angela shuddered under Adrian’s merciless hands.

“
I’m out!” Neil tossed the empty air horn away.

“
Same here!” Zack called.

Without enough noise to repel them, the insects immediately began swarming back down.

Angela’s fingers dug into Jeremy’s wrist. “The… caller. Aahhh!”

Her body went rigid, and fresh blood pulsed from under Kyle’s hand. He tightened his hold and began to pray, something he hadn't done since he was a child.

Jeremy cut the caller from Angela’s belt and thrust it into Neil’s grip.

“
Get her bag!” Adrian ordered.

Neil handled the caller like he’d seen her do during the wolf mission, and it lunged to life, trembling eagerly. He swung it hard and high.

“
Buu buu buu buu…”

Absorbing Angela’s pain, the caller sent out a low base of thundering vibrations instead of the high-pitched howl they were expecting.

“
Duu duu duu…
duu
!”

The deeper noise rolled upward and slammed into the oncoming cicadas like a tornado.

It blew the neat formation apart, and the cicadas began to fall, pelting the Eagles. When they hit the ground, they didn't fly back up, but lay there–stunned.

“
Pressure!” Adrian snapped, reaching for the next lighter. He didn't care about the bugs, only the woman dying in Kyle's arms.

The caller went dark as Neil stopped swinging, and he looked down in time to watch Adrian shove the next glowing lighter against Angela’s back.

Her teeth snapped together, body arching. Tears spilled over her cheeks in small rivulets, and the knuckles on Jeremy’s wrist turned white from her grip. Her breath hissed out in a low groan that wanted to be a scream as Adrian finally pulled back, and Neil knew he would never forget this moment. Her pain was his.

Angela’s body sagged, and Adrian threw the gory lighter away in fury. He tore another patch from his shirt and helped lean her against his knee this time. He nodded at Kyle, cloth ready. “Lift.”

The mobster raised his hand and blanched as fresh blood poured over her chest in crimson ripples.

Adrian shoved the material into the hole and put Kyle’s palm over it. “I need more heat!”

Billy dropped the black bag at Adrian’s feet, then opened it. “Boss.”

Adrian saw the carefully packaged pouches of blood and allowed himself a small measure of hope. Each was labeled with a name.

“
Neil has Point!” Adrian passed the duty to the trooper without considering–he needed his mind on Angela. If she slipped, he would break the rules and offer his life for hers. He was already lending his strength, but there was little else he could do. His gifts weren't like hers.

Jeremy motioned half a dozen men forward for perimeter duty, and then went to help Neil, who was grimly gathering more lighters.

Adrian slapped the blood bag into Kyle’s free hand. “Hold it up.”

The liquid was rushing into Angela seconds later, and Kyle squeezed the middle of the bag to move it faster. His harsh breathing mirrored hers as they waited in frustration for the lighters, batting away dying cicadas still dropping from the drizzling sky.

3

“
We need John,” Seth stated the obvious, gun still in hand.

“
Can we roll?” Neil asked, bringing the glowing, sizzling lighters in a charred hubcap.

“
No.” Adrian grabbed one. “Check-in.”

Angela’s whimper faded to unconsciousness.

“
All clear.”

“
Daniel’s dead. Frank, too,” Billy reported in a carefully controlled timbre. Both men had been next to him when they started moving in, but not when they reached the street. Sure he had been heard, Billy went to cover a gap in their perimeter.

“
Bag’s almost empty, Boss.” Kyle felt her start to shiver. “Someone give us cover!”

Zack and a few others hurried to help, stripping off their jackets.

Glad that she wasn’t feeling anything now, Adrian dumped half of a pack of white powder into the small corner he’d left unburned. He quickly shoved the gauze back in and placed Kyle’s hand back over the wound. “Five minutes for the clotting agent to work.”

Kyle shifted against the brick wall. “Slide her over.”

They carefully placed her in his arms, and the closest Eagles covered them with their jackets.

Adrian dug through the doctors’ bag, found more labeled bottles. He gave her a generous dose of antibiotics and switched to the last pouch of blood with her name on it.

“
Boss…” Kyle’s fear was heavy.

“
Stand your ground.”

Neil and Jeremy were moving through the wreckage-using silencers on survivors to keep from triggering the remaining cicadas clicking unhappily above them.

Adrian made a curt motion to the trooper.
How many?

It was returned with the same worried expression.
Not enough–short by fifty.

Adrian’s gut twisted. Along the way, some of the Slavers had split off from the main group. Maybe they’d been deserting, but more likely, they’d been sent back to attack Safe Haven.

As Adrian had the thought, headlights glared off the trees, engines swelling…
Catching up
, he realized.

Overhead, the storm rumbled once in low warning before drenching them again.

“
Get inside! Everyone inside!” Adrian shouted.

There was a fast run to the door, but it was Kyle, with Angela's bloody body in his arms, who went through first.

Adrian lined them up at the shattered windows again, set to hand out more of what they’d already dealt. “On my mark…”

Headlights flashed dimly against the glare of fires, and those inside the rest stop held still as the remaining Mexicans came in on foot to examine the scene.

“
I want to hear them scream!” Adrian’s order was a low snarl of fury.

The Eagles understood what that would cause and agreed, waiting for his call.

The Mexicans found their dead leader quickly.

“
Por aquí!”

“
It’s Cesar!”

“
Está muerto?”

“
Si.”

“
Check inside.”

As the enemy moved closer, Adrian made the call. “Now!”

The Eagles opened fire. Bullets went through hands, knees, and nuts in a blaring volley.

“
Aahhhh!”

Cicadas exploded from the thickets of trees in a hungry frenzy, and swarmed downward. Without a way to repel the insects, the wounded Slavers were helpless against the sheer numbers.

Listening to it was rough for Adrian’s army… until they looked to the back corner, where Kyle was holding Angela. The complete dejection of their highest Eagle was far worse than the sounds of evil men being conquered. They kept firing.

Realizing that Adrian was still inside the rest stop, the surviving Slavers that were able to flee did so. In their panic, most overlooked the razor-wire and met the same fate as their comrades.

The Eagles waited in frustrated revulsion for the carnage to end, but they also enjoyed it. The first battle had moved so fast that few of them had a clear memory of it–survival was often that way. This second fight was slower, clearer to the Eagles–it was justice for every person the guerillas had hurt during their rampage through the United States.

4

“
We gotta call Brady,” Seth stated as the noises outside fell to only the occasional cry. The odor of blood, of death, hung heavily in the room.

“
I’m sure he’s already rollin’,” Adrian said. He’d felt it–the moment her life became a part of fate’s swinging scales–and was sure Brady had, too. The sulfur scents of the Witch and the smoky vanilla that was Angie had been replaced with a dry heat so thin that it was like a fog in his mind.

Adrian went to her, snapping on his light.

“
Let’s see.”

Kyle slowly lifted his hand.

No fresh blood appeared, and both men were eased a bit. They carefully added another layer of gauze, and then only taped it over three corners of the wound. It would allow her body pressure to adjust and keep her breathing even.

As they finished, Adrian had the restless men make a bed with dusty cushions from the lounge area, freeing Kyle. The mobster joined his team, covered in Angela’s blood.

Adrian swept what remained of his confident army. They were battered and bleeding themselves, with curt gestures and unsatisfied demeanors that demanded he fix it. He did the best he could with short words.

“
She’s doing her duty, even now. Do yours.”

Adrian’s confidence never faltered and it flipped them back into his soldiers. They got to work and tried not to stare at the woman lying deathly still behind them. Outside, the bugs fed unopposed.

“
Can’t stay here. It’ll draw predators.” Neil was eager to be gone.

“
We’re not movin’ her.” Kyle wasn't willing to take the risk.

“
We’ll be fighting Nature next.”

“
Ammo count?”

“
We went through about half of what we brought.”

“
We’re staying,” Kyle chose. He pointed at Zack. “Collect and load our fallen men. Take a crew.”

Kyle gestured four Eagles to take sentry duty and sent two more for sniper watch.

While they were outside, the Eagles swept the newest battle scene for wounded or hiding Slavers and found none. The cicadas had done a good job.

Zack took a moment to look around, a bit stunned by the devastation. Cars, trees, and the ground were splattered in dark red–even the puddles appeared to be filled with blood instead of rain. Smoke rolled thickly along the battlefield like early morning fog, covering the bodies... and then uncovering them to reveal gruesome details. It was amazing–in both good and bad ways–that they'd become so lethal under Adrian's leadership.

Zack headed for the bodies of their fallen men, full of confusion and anger. He got another dose of reality as he helped to load their fallen men into body bags and then into the rear of one of their trucks. He could be the one about to go six feet under. How had it come to this? Why were these men dead?

Inside the rest stop, more than a few of the Eagles were silently asking the same thing. It was hard to think about all the hell the Slavers had caused in comparison to the total devastation Adrian's army had wreaked in only a few hours.

“
It’ll be days before our camp gets word. Will they hold?” Kyle asked, trying to wipe a layer of blood from his hands.

Chain-smoking by the bullet-ridden door, Adrian’s response was hard. “They’ll have to. We're not finished.”

“
How long before Cesar’s camp realizes he isn’t coming back? How long before they attack Safe Haven without him?” Jeremy asked worriedly.

“
Three, four days at the most.” Adrian ground out his smoke under his boot. “Brady and Kenn have plans to delay it and buy us time.”

Neil was studying the map and quickly spoke up as the tension grew. “There’s a warehouse, a country club, and a manufacturing plant, all within a mile.

“
The country club,” Adrian chose, going to the back of the room. He was unable to stand leaving her alone, even though she was unconscious. “Dope it out. And someone cover those windows. It’ll get cold without the glass.”

“
Will she still want to be an Eagle?” Allan wondered.

The lowly-muttered question got immediate attention.

“
It's not up to her,” Jeremy retorted harshly. “One gunshot wound is enough!”

With nothing to do but wait and watch Angela's shallow breathing, most of the Eagles wore expressions that said it had been wrong of Adrian to let her join.

Adrian answered it this time. “She won’t quit. We will have female Eagles, and sometimes, they'll get hurt. It's how things work in this world.”

Leaning against a wall nearby, Cynthia was covered in shock and fallout, aware that she now looked like one of them, as well. She stated what the Eagles were all thinking. “You’re a cold, hard son of a bitch, Adrian Mitchel.”