From The Ashes (Life After War) (62 page)

Doug replayed their moments and saw what he’d been missing. That was what she’d meant when she’d said she wasn’t a whore. If he wanted her, it had to be legal, in front of everyone.

Could he do that? Was that what he wanted?

Not sure, Doug went in the opposite direction. Maybe he’d go find Brady and get his nose broken again. That would be easier to deal with.

4

Matt struggled to pull his head out of the toilet, but the two boys shoving him down were stronger, and he sucked in a breath as his head went under.

Tim yanked him up and then shoved the gagging boy down at his feet. “Don't ever rat someone out again!”

Eric laughed as Matt began to throw up and the two bullies left, locking the door.

Glad they hadn't punched him this time, Matt continued to vomit, but the self-pity he usually felt after a moment like this, was absent. In its place was a knot of hatred that wouldn't ever be untied.

Becky heard the banging as she walked by the port-o-lets that were off-limits because they were over-full.

Thud! Thud!

Becky realized someone was inside the last john and quickly unsnapped the lock that had been put on it by the Eagles. She looked around suddenly, wondering why those on duty hadn't noticed.

She spotted Tucker and Anderson snickering in the shadows and understood as the door slowly swung open. They'd let this happen.

Matt's condition was indescribable, and she was downwind. Becky immediately turned and threw up.

Matt walked toward the shower campers with his hands balled into fists. All thoughts of Cynthia, the newspaper, and his dad were shoved to the rear by his rage. They wouldn't get away with it this time.

Becky waved off Seth's concern as he rushed to her side. “Okay...hang on...
blahhh
...”

Seth caught a whiff of what had caused it and saw Matt. He started to ask the guards what had happened, and then understood as he saw who they were.

“
They're the ones... letting Dale get hurt, too,” Becky forced out, needing the distraction to settle her guts. “Scared to get Adrian's fists... set the new rookies up for it instead.”

Seth understood more than she thought. Those two were also being watched for the way they were hanging out with the younger girls in camp.

“
Adrian should give them a lesson,” Neil stated, coming over from his place on the showers. He'd quickly traced Matt's shit-trail to here.

Becky tried to spit out the taste. “But not by us. Matt's had enough.”

They all looked toward the showers, where people were rushing out, half-clothed and gagging, as Matt went in.

“
I don't know what he has in mind, but anyone who's ever picked on him should be careful.”

Neil scoffed lowly. “You're kidding, right? Matt pay it back?”

Becky wiped her face with the shirt Seth had taken off. “That was a breaking point for him. Matt's gonna change now, and I think maybe they're in danger.”

Seth and Neil took those words to heart, instantly flashed to the mass shootings of the old world.

“
We'll watch him.”

Becky tossed the shirt into the fire-can that would be lit later. “Good.”

She moved toward the medical tent, stomach rockin' rough.

Seth was staring at her in a thoughtful way that had Neil raising a brow. “Everything okay?”

Seth shook his head, mind reeling. “No. She's been lying–to the camp, to Adrian, to all of us.”

Neil frowned. “Who? Becky?”

Seth nodded, watching her hold her stomach as she ducked into the large medical tent. “She's like them, Neil. And...” Seth's face flooded with fear. “She didn't get off with just a rape.”

Neil blanched. “She's late?”

Seth nodded in misery. “Five weeks since he took her. Not one drop of blood.”

Neil thought quickly. “Only a week over. Life is stressful now.”

Seth's voice lowered. “This isn't the first time she's thrown up.”

Neil frowned. He'd seen her getting sick last week after evening Mess, but thought the chili hadn't sat well. It sure hadn't with him. The bed-farts had been awful.

The trooper didn't want to pry, especially since this was the first conversation Seth had held with him in that five weeks. “And how long have you two been...?”

Seth's eyes didn't change from their misery. “Two week after.”

Neil nodded, thinking the moment he'd witnessed on the tent wall hadn’t been their first time. “Might be yours, then.”

Seth hadn't thought of that. “I...”

Neil moved away as that stunning realization sank in. The odds on it were slim, but at least there was a hope.

5

“
I won't do that.”

“
But I don't want one right now,” Becky said firmly. “If ever.”

“
I'm sorry, but it's against my moral code, as well as Adrian's rules. I won't do that,” John stated.

“
I will.”

John and Becky looked up to see Jennifer in the flap.

Dog glanced around her leg to check the tent and then vanished.

John scowled. Despite seeing Becky nearly every day since her attack, he still hadn't gotten into her head. He might be able to do so now, while she was so scared.

“
She's scared because she thinks it's Rick's. Can you tell her differently?”

John hated Jennifer in that moment. “No, but it doesn't change anything. We need babies, and there's a chance that he's not the father.”

Becky listened to their lowly-held argument, stomach settling from the pill John had given her. The positive test was on the tray between them.

“
You have no right to deny her an abortion.”

“
You have no right to offer her one!”

Becky stood up. “It's my choice, right?”

“
I'd like a say in it, too.”

Becky cringed at Seth's voice behind Jennifer.

Instantly uncomfortable, Jennifer stepped aside to let Seth go by.

Not angry, Seth gave the pregnant girl a comforting nod. Jennifer and Becky had become friends. He had no doubt Jennifer would support her keeping the baby if that's what Becky really wanted. Her own impending motherhood was proof of that.

John eased out of the tent to give them privacy, and Jennifer fell in with his angry stride. “I'm not evil, you know.”

John stopped and spun around, meaning to say exactly what he thought about that, and Jennifer cringed back in fear.

The doctor froze. “You're scared of me? I couldn't hurt you if I tried.”

Jennifer couldn't stop the tear that rolled. “I'm sorry I made you mad.”

John watched her waddle away, shocked into understanding that she wasn't nearly as hard as those females had given her credit for, either.

“
I assume you'll make that up to her?”

John nodded at Kyle's curt order. “Yes. I didn't realize she was...”

Kyle supplied the words. “Terrified of males? She is. I'm working on it, but so far, she doesn't respond much to other men.”

John thought of how she'd stepped up to defend Becky's rights, but backed down from Seth. “Adrian can help her, too.”

“
After the birth.”

John shook his head, ashamed for his previous assumptions. He'd known Jennifer was like Angela, but as with the camp, he'd thought she was manipulating Kyle. “Set it up, now. She'll need the strength if her twins don't survive.”

6

“
That's what you want?”

Becky flushed. “Yes.”

Seth understood, even though he didn't agree. “I'll clear it with Adrian.”

Becky shook her head. “I don't want him to try to talk me out of it.”

Seth saw her fear and had to ask again. “You're sure?”

Becky began crying,, and Seth found another box of tissues. Her silence said she wasn't. What did she need?

“
You know I'd stick by you, his or not?”

“
I know. I just don't think I can do it, Seth.” She stepped closer, needing him to know what was in her heart. “If I knew for sure it was yours!”

Seth surrounded her with his big arms. There was no way to know that until the birth, and by then, she would be attached. She was afraid of hating her own child, he realized.

“
I'll talk to Adrian,” Seth repeated, heart still broken for her suffering. “I'll get him to agree.”

A tap on the flap got their attention, but neither of them moved.

Peggy stepped inside with a neutral face. She didn't like Seth, but Becky needed her. John's quick words had made that clear.

“
What?”

Peggy blinked at Seth's snarl. “I want to talk to her–alone.”

Seth looked down to see Becky shaking her head.

“
Later maybe,” he answered.

“
After you've forced her to kill my grandchild?”

Seth growled in angry frustration. “I don't want her to do it either, but that's not our choice to make!”

Peggy stopped, confused. “You want it?”

Seth grunted. Mother-in-laws never changed. “More than you do.”

“
And she doesn't...”

Seth rubbed Becky's shaking shoulder. “She doesn't want to have
Rick's
baby.”

Peggy hadn't realized, had mostly forgotten about the rape in favor of hating Seth and Adrian for keeping her away. “Rick’s?”

“
We don't know.”

Seth's words were sharp, but the mother heard the concern, the plea for her to help change Becky's mind. That's what she'd come here for, but the thought of making Becky have her rapist’s baby was something no mother wanted to face.

Seth motioned toward the chair. “Sit down?”

Peggy went slowly, watching her teenage daughter cling to Seth. Becky wanted to be with him. Seth had been by her side throughout her recovery. He wanted the baby even if it wasn't his. Sinking into the chair, Peggy was forced to accept that she'd been wrong.

Seth slowly guided Becky to the other seat. “I'm going to send someone to cover my post, and then I'll be back. Okay?”

Becky slowly let go of him, face bright red and shiny from her tears.

Seth paused in the flap, looking back. The two females were staring at each other with more true emotions on their faces than he'd ever seen them share. Seth ducked out as Peggy held her arms open, and Becky instantly went to her.

Adrian was near the tent and handled it quickly. “What she chooses. Anne and Angela will handle it if John won't.”

Seth was grateful, but his own need was clear, too.

Adrian sighed. “Freedom, Eagle. It's not always as easy as just letting them fight.”

Seth let his boss see his pain, the only one he would share it with. “I long to be a dad again.”

So do I,
Adrian thought, eyes going to Angela as she moved into the training tent.

He looked back at Seth. “She'll remember how it felt to carry life, even if only for a little while. You'll have the opportunity again, and then, there won't be a ghost to mar it.”

Seth took those words to heart and let them ease some of his fury at the situation. Adrian was right. In time, he would fill Becky with his sons and daughters, and Rick wouldn't be anywhere in that picture.

Adrian motioned toward the showers, where Matt–naked as the day he was born–had just come out and begun drawing attention. “I want him in the Eagles. Can we do that?”

Distracted with a true challenge, Seth grunted thoughtfully. “If he doesn't snap, yes.”

“
That's why he needs to be an Eagle, Seth. If he isn't, that snap might come on this camp, and I'll have Kyle remove him before I let that happen.”

Adrian gave the surprised undercover cop a hard look. “You've saved Becky, given her a chance at a future that shouldn't have existed. Do the same for Matt and let the victory fill your heart when she follows-through. Becky doesn't want to be a mom yet. She wants to be one of us.”

7

“
North looks bad. We only paralleled it for a little while. The mutations and smells are unbelievable. I thought I was watching a bad horror flick from the 1980s.”

Kenn had just gotten his full clearance from John and come to deliver his report in person despite already sending it in on paper.

Adrian sighed. Oklahoma was known for a rich, black soil perfect for raising food, but not any longer. Here, where the birds appeared healthy, the deer were deformed, mutating more with every month’s fresh litter. Since the deer were herbivores, that meant the ground was now contaminated enough to produce poisoned food. They were on the state line right now, and Adrian was glad to be entering another state. He wasn't, however, expecting better conditions.

Adrian swept the camp and then the female Eagles that were headed for the showers. Now surrounded by empty fields instead of rotting plants, Adrian was sure they would start finding starvation. They’d thought the west was bad, and he’d been grateful to find Middle America a bit more intact, but the eastern edge… it was ugly. The death tolls from their battles with Nature had finally leveled off, but what happened when they went into Little Rock might start it all up again. It was a shared thought.