From The Ashes (Life After War) (49 page)

Angela refused to finish the thought, noting the guards on the parking area were getting them ready to roll. It was a late travel day, something a lot of them had come to enjoy. An easy wake up where they could do what they wanted until around noon and then not having to wait in Mess lines when they made camp was great. Each vehicle was being loaded with a basket, and now, thanks to Li Sing’s generosity, people even received their favorites when they were available. It also saved on water, something no one else had realized yet. Adrian was so smart it was scary.

Angela swept the camp one last time, hesitating. The breeze was strong this morning and had a hint of burnt rot that made her stomach twist. The layers of grit never really went away, but there were days it was so thin that most of them forgot it was there. In brief, wonderful moments, they were getting their country back.

On one side of camp, rookie jackets flashed proudly through the games and tents in service, a third of them female. Most of the camp was already packed, people starting to load into their assigned vehicles. The only classes still going on were Marc’s and Doug’s. That gentle giant was working with Matt. The boy was currently learning how to load a pistol, his father viewing in drunken pride from the edge of the area. Mitch was allowed to drink during his off duty times and made sure not to miss even one of those moments.

Thanks to her punishment, Matt was now getting what Mitch had wanted all along. Thanks to Cynthia, so was Matt. It was clear that he was developing a crush on the reporter.

Angela thought it was harmless. When Cynthia realized what was happening, she would shut him down, and that would be the end of it. Until then, he was working extra hard for her attention, and no one was interfering. They all wanted Matt to make peace with the things eating him up inside, but that didn’t mean Adrian wasn’t already deciding where he would be useful. Now, it was drawing sketches for Cynthia’s paper. Later, it might be more detailed images, like blueprints.

Or Presidential symbols
, Angela thought, picking out the official tryout meeting notice for her team on the board. Without the alcohol and with a hard daily schedule that included showers and good food, Matt's face was clearing up. He wasn’t using the wash they’d given him yet, but once he did, Angela was sure his skin would clear the rest of the way and allow Matt to feel more normal. It would also help lessen the bullying that kids inevitably did to each other. That was another of the problems with society that Adrian would try to conquer in time.

Matt dry-fired clumsily, and Angela saw Mitch’s pride ease and the love he felt for his son come forward. It was his only redeeming quality, other than his skill on the radio. The black jacket Mitch was wearing was a bad copy of Eagle gear, as was the tool belt he had recently added. The drunk didn’t have the heart to dry out and go through the levels like the rest of them, but he sure liked it when the new arrivals mistook him for a guard. The Eagles loathed it, but no one had interfered there yet, either. Everyone knew Adrian was about to hit Mitch and make it hurt. Most of the levels and quite a few of the camp members were looking forward to it.

8

“
You look like you're not having a good day.”

Charlie shrugged but didn't answer, and Adrian took up a place next to the teenager along the rail they were using for part of their perimeter.

“
I've got a minute if you'd like to talk.”

Charlie had been lingering, hoping he might get this type of opening. Adrian seemed to sense when someone needed a private moment.

“
Something going on I should know about?”

“
Nothing bad,” Charlie informed him quickly. “I heard something and now it’s stuck in my mind.”

Instantly worried, Adrian took a quick look around to verify that only their personal shadows would be able to hear. “What was it?”

Charlie’s timbre became a low, intimate draw that was shocking.

“
I offer no future, no claims, only the right here and now.”

Adrian gaped at hearing his own passionately spoken words, but Charlie went on, stuck in the repetition of his mind.

“
Tomorrow, it never happened, but tonight, no one else exists. You’ll feel me forever.”

The teenager stared up at his stunned idol, exposing boyhood curiosity. “How?”

Adrian hesitated, and Charlie pushed on. “I know about sex, but it’s like a chore for them, right?”

Adrian snorted through his misery. “Where’d you hear that?”

Charlie flushed, looking down. “Around the showers.”

“
Listening to the hens cluck?”

Charlie was torn between guilt and that edge of youthful discovery. “I don’t want them to talk about me that way!”

Realizing the teenager was having his first moment of male anxiety, Adrian leaned back and handed out a valuable piece of advice.

“
You have to be good to them. That means all the little things you’re already picking up, but also, romance.”

Charlie was clearly confused, and Adrian concurred. “I know, but it’s the way they work. I use words because most men don’t. It gives me an advantage.”

“
Why don’t you …”

“
Ask them outright to satisfy my needs?”

Charlie leered as much he thought was acceptable. “Sorta like a perk of leadership!”

“
Not unless I want to claim them,” Adrian scoffed. “I have to be careful where I take relief. So will you.”

Charlie was pleasantly surprised to be having such an adult conversation, and it gave him the courage to seek the information he wanted most. “What makes it so that they’ll never forget?”

Adrian pushed away from the rail, refusing to let his mind go where it wanted as he spotted Angela striding confidently across the camp. “Physical pleasure, combined with consideration and respect.”

“
Physical pleasure?”

Adrian turned toward his dusty camp. “That’s all you get from me, boy. These questions can be answered by the careful observations that you’re already making… and by talking to your dad. He certainly knows what he's doing.”

Twenty minutes later, Adrian rolled his convoy out. As he did so, the feeling of not doing it for much longer stung him like drops of acid. Two weeks from Arkansas. Fourteen days left to lead.

Chapter Fourteen

Outside Bixby, Oklahoma

6/15

1

“
Thanks for agreeing to help me out with this. The list has really grown.”

Jeff, who had no clue how he was going to deliver, glanced around uneasily. “Show them the basics, and then stand there and take a beating, right?”

“
For now, yes.”

“
And it’s just five minutes, right?”

“
Five each, yes.”

Jeff swallowed. To show them the basic positions, he would have to touch the females on Neil’s list. Jeff had picked up Kai as quickly as Seth, and he was being trained to take some of the load as the camp’s second instructor. Now that females had been in the Eagles for a bit and the camp had adjusted to seeing them training as hard as the men, lessons were being offered to the camp members who had passed Doug’s self-defense class.

“
There they are.”

Jeff turned to see eight females in full Eagle gear running towards the tent. Wrapped in tight black, titties bounced, asses shook, thighs rippled, and male heartbeats tripled in the space of a second.

“
Oh, Holy Shit!”

Neil would have echoed Jeff’s expletive if he’d had the breath. Samantha running toward him was erotic enough to make his nuts suddenly drop in anticipation.

“
Neil, man, damn. I’m, uh, it’s been a while, buddy. I’m not sure I can do this and remain… professional.”

The trooper grimaced as his growing flesh brushed the sharp edge of his pants. “Almost a year for me.”

Jeff’s voice was oddly soft. “A bit longer on my end. I’m a widower. Three years before the War.”

Neil glanced down and spotted the shiny ring on Jeff’s hand. He’d never noticed before that it was a wedding band, and the distraction had blood returning to the head he needed it in. “I didn’t know that.”

Jeff shrugged, expression darkening slightly. “Everyone in Safe Haven has a story.”

Neil heard the females hit their target and begin wrestling for whatever it was that Doug had declared as their totem. “After this, we’ll both be ready for a beer and some male conversation. My tent once Adrian’s done snickering over the report that I’ll be too screwed up to write?”

Jeff welcomed the gesture of friendship. “I’ll be there.”

Samantha noticed Neil and Jeff joking and had the same reaction as the rest of the females around her. She stared. They were both attractive men with high places here, and there was enough need in this group of women to light up a city block.

Samantha smirked as the males started picking up on the vibes, sentences stopping mid-speech, expressions growing dazed. Being single had its perks. She was free to let these two men be driven crazy–by her, as well–without all of the drama that came with a relationship.

As she lounged in the shade, cooling off and waiting to be called into the small tent, Sam admit ted the truth. She could handle it with Neil because she knew he’d do anything she wanted for even a moment of her time. It wasn’t something she planned to exploit, but he had to understand the terms. She didn’t want to be a couple. She was an Eagle who would pick a relief source
… or two
, Samantha thought, spotting Jeremy as he and a few of the rookies went into the gardening area to help pull weeds. Moving at a brisk pace, Jeremy's thick arms called sweetly.

Need took her by surprise, and Sam couldn’t help the heated stare. He had a beautiful body, and those tank tops he’d changed to definitely suited him.

As he climbed into the semi, the laptop-toting genius turned and caught her staring.

Jeremy stumbled at the warmth he read there.

He caught himself before he could smile in welcome, remembering the problem. She wanted him and Neil.
Will she get her way?
Jeremy asked himself, vanishing into the coolness of the first garden truck without acknowledging her silent call.

As soon as he was out of sight, Jeremy’s shoulders slumped. Not if he could help it. He didn’t want to be a friend with benefits. Neither did Neil, but this time, it wasn’t going to matter. In the future, they might both have what they wanted so desperately, and have nothing at all, at the same time. It was heartbreaking.

2

Blond and gray, Jeff felt his heart thump heavily in his chest as one of the waiting rookie females gave him a bright smile.
Damn
. She was a brunette. He liked those.

Crista saw that she’d finally caught Jeff’s attention. He was the reason she’d signed up for the Eagles, though not why she’d chosen to stay. Crista had joined Safe Haven in Nebraska, and been eyeing Jeff since their first argument outside the supply trucks. She hadn’t known the rules yet and had forgotten to sign for what she’d taken. When he insisted, she’d told him to sign it himself, that her hands were full. He had, muttering about rude Barbie dolls with more legs than manners.

Being classified that way, especially considering the stiff competition in this camp, had gotten Crista’s attention.
Does he still see me like that?

She moved closer, being sure to flip her hair and arch her chest.

Jeff’s head swiveled her way as if drawn by a leash, and she grinned.
Sweet!

Jeff tried not to look down her gaping shirt as the rookie stopped in front of him.

“
Sorry I told you off.”

Jeff, who had forgotten about the brief encounter, frowned absently. “I probably deserved it.”

Crista flipped her head, sending beautiful shards of heat into his eyes as he narrowed in on her hair.

Not above using her God-given assets, Crista quickly ripped the ponytail holder off and shook. Her action drew several male heads her way–Jeff wasn’t the only one who had a thing for brunettes–and Crista took her time stroking her fingers through.

When she finally stopped, Jeff was standing inches away with an intense look on his face.