Angela was impressed with the plumbing, the sinks, and the wash area in the center of two dozen small stalls. The Eagle booth next to the washstands already held a guard and Angela nodded to Brandon.

  Brandon returned the gesture, but didn’t take his attention from their surroundings–especially not while the boss was in sight.

  Angela approved the room quickly, and gave in to the urge to use the facilities.

  The stalls were barely wide enough to be comfortable, but it had allowed a well-constructed wall that could have shelves hung on it.

  And a toilet paper roll, Angela thought, blowing dust from one before gathering what she needed. All these stalls would be outfitted with hooks and racks for people to hang guns and gear on during their pit stop, and hand sanitizer dispensers would be installed.

  Angela acknowledged the sentry as she left, listening to the fans and engines that were running. Some were pulling air, some were delivering air, and some were bringing power. Lanterns would remain a common item for a few more weeks, and then the cave would have full power–much like an apartment building.

  Angela went to the living area and made eye contact with Marc, able to feel his unease that she had gotten out of his sight. As soon as he glanced down at the blueprint, she strolled down to level four. Now that it had been secured, cleaned, and had a guard and cameras, Marc hadn’t given orders for the sentries to stop her. She made her way down the next level, where there was a guard and little else besides their equipment. This would be a compost heap if they could get the right venting system set up. Next to it, where the tunnels were unlit, would be a garden plot and behind that, a small pasture. Angela wanted a load of dirt spread down here, grass seed plants, and then their calmer animals brought down. The lamps and constant temperature would allow the animals to eat and get fat in comfort. She had much the same plan for the garden, except everything would be in pots and planters so they wouldn’t have to be left behind if there was trouble.

  Angela scanned the last tunnel–the one she hadn’t even viewed pictures of yet–but she didn’t enter it. The sentry near the stairs was frowning at her, hand on his radio, and she didn’t want to listen to Marc’s lesson on security. She shined her light into the tunnel, trying to determine the size of the room it held. She still needed a sturdy place to store the gas and water that they were collecting.

  The cavern appeared to be huge, with a high ceiling and a small stream of water trickling down the far wall. Perfect, she thought, shining her light into the other cracks and crevices. We’ll test it and then go from there.

  Angela rotated to leave and an eerie moan sounded. It came from the cavern she’d been scanning and the guard hurried over to take her arm. “Head up.”

  “Don’t go in there yet,” Angela ordered, allowing him to guide her to the stairs.

  “Nope,” Dexter agreed, and was glad when she disappeared up the stairs. It wasn’t safe down here.

  Angela lingered on the third level, enjoying the time alone. She hardly ever was now.

  She spotted a drop-off that should have been covered by now, and took her book out. She spent a moment listing things for this level and then slowly rotated to go up the stairs.

  “Boo!”

  Angela flinched, dropping the book as she scrambled for her gun.

  Marc grabbed her hands. “Damn. Sorry, baby-cakes.”

  Angela let go of the weapon and clutched his arm. She didn’t speak, letting him know he’d really scared her.

  “You’ve been doing so well, honey. I didn’t think.”

  Angela smiled, a bit sadly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Then why does it feel like it?” Marc asked, rubbing her cold shoulders.

  Angela hugged him tightly and they went up to level one together.

  Behind the couple, bright green orbs glowed from the shadows and then vanished.

  Before they reached the next level, two people came down the stairs toward them, and Marc stopped, placing his arm over Angela to make certain there was no chance anyone would be tripped. The rails on these stairs were only the basics down here.

  Tara and Shawn continued by them with words of greeting, but neither of them sounded happy. Tara was starting her job down here today, helping to prepare the next levels. She looked disappointed.

  “Be ready with a new job for her,” Angela said in a discrete whisper, but she didn’t care if the woman heard. Tara wasn’t the type to labor in a dank cave for long, no matter the reason, and Angela was well aware of it. She had Tara pegged now and it wasn’t pretty.

  Chapter Twenty

  Teams and Schemes

  September 20th

  1

  By evening mess, Safe Haven was half transferred, and the good mood made for a calm meal on both sides of the mess. This was likely the last time they would all eat together out here for a long while and many people lingered after they finished. For tonight, all they were going to do was shower and sleep. Some of the dirtier folks had already chosen the shower campers in place of the meal. Li Sing was scheduled to keep the mess open until midnight so that everyone had plenty of time to get a hot meal. The wonderful cook had made pizzas tonight and the herd was enjoying the topping plates he’d made. Build-your-own pizza was fun and it didn’t take long for Donald and Nancy to bring out their guitars to add the twangs and hums of music.

  Angela and her long center table also lingered with the crowd, always surprised that they could have so many people in one place without fights or other problems. Safe Haven truly was a light in this apocalyptic darkness for all of them. For those outside the gates, listening and longing, it was a beacon that would bring in good and bad alike.

  Marc scanned the constantly shifting masses of people, uneasy and proud at the same time. They’d accomplished a lot–before and after Adrian–and they would continue to do so. Angela had an inherent talent for bringing progress and she knew who was best suited for each job. She was fair, smart, and she had more brains here than brawn. It was a good mix of people and Marc lifted his cup to Neil, who had just returned. His team hadn’t encountered any trouble and everyone assumed Kyle’s wreck, the three deaths, Shane’s wreck, and Marc’s lurkers had covered Angela’s prediction and then some. The north had been rough, but they had indeed gotten many things from it.

  Marc spotted Tara and Shawn eating together, and then Missy sitting behind him, humming and happily throwing bacon bits at him. Shawn was pretending not to notice and Tara couldn’t see it from where she was sitting. Marc hid a snicker. That kid would need a firm hand and Shawn wasn’t up to the task.

  Doug came through the crowd to their table and everyone was surprised when he sat his tray down and joined them. When the stares got to him, Doug shrugged. “I need some me time.”

  There were confused looks as conversations continued. Across the mess, Peggy was sitting with Hilda and Tonya, and Marc wondered what was going on there. Tonya said she wanted to have medical skills, but Peggy ignoring Doug was strange–as was Tonya not sitting with Kenn. That man was at the rookie table, waiting for the new teams lists to be posted. Angela had insisted on doing it after dinner so there wouldn’t be any slacking by people who didn’t like their final placement. When Doug finished eating, he would write it out on the board.

  Neil came to the table, but didn’t sit down. “Has anyone seen Samantha?”

  Tension fell over the command table and Neil studied the suddenly uneasy faces in concern. “What is it?”

  “Sam went off mission,” Marc said. “They were attacked and one of the team was taken. Adrian and I had to go get him. We took Samantha along.”

  “And she got hurt?” Neil demanded. “What?”

  “She’s fine,” Angela answered. “But she feels responsible for the man’s injury and she won’t leave his side.”

  “But she’s okay?” Neil didn’t care about the rest until he knew that.

  “Yes,” Angela assured. “But she wants to resign from my team, and she’s demanding a trial so we’ll punish her.”

  Neil was scowling so hard his forehead had almost disappeared. “Are you? Punishing her?”

  “I don’t need to,” Angela replied.

  “Yes, you do,” Neil sent back quickly. He knew Samantha and she wouldn’t let something like this go. “If you punish her, she can move on.”

  And if not, she’ll keep on torturing herself?” Angela asked.

  “Yeah,” Neil confirmed. “She’s hardheaded that way.”

  “I thought so,” Angela remarked. “But I wanted to be sure by talking to you or Jeremy about it first.”

  “Treat her like any other Eagle,” Neil suggested. “The punishments aren’t that harsh, but the embarrassment can be.”

  “I’ll handle it,” Angela promised. “She’s in the medical tent with the doctor.”

  Neil quickly maneuvered through the full mess people, waving to Jeremy, and the two men left the together with Neil speaking worriedly into Jeremy’s ear.

  They went straight to the medical tent and found Samantha asleep on the cot between two men that appeared to have had a very rough time.

  Samantha didn’t wake as Neil went to the doctor and Jeremy waited by the flap to be certain they had privacy.

  The doctor grimaced upon seeing them, but not with the usual hatred that he often expressed for the higher-level Eagles.

  “Good. Get her out of here. I can’t take the crying anymore.”

  Neil held out a hand and the doctor stared in surprise at the old book.

  “I found it at the last run. Thought maybe you could use it.”

  The doctor gaped, dumbfounded, at the pristine manual. “That’s a Forbes Winslow!”

  Acting as if he didn’t care, Neil shrugged. “Saw medical words and thought of you.” Neil went to Samantha before the surprised doctor could form a response.

  “Samantha, honey?”

  Samantha woke quickly and groggily, and immediately surveyed David’s leg.

  She burst into fresh tears and let her men lead her to their tent, where they would care for her.

  The doctor stared, forced to admit that he’d been unkind to people who didn’t deserve it. He may not like some of the procedures here, but these people loved each other as much as anyone could. He’d become convinced of that while listening to Samantha beg David for forgiveness, even while he wasn’t awake to grant it.

  The doctor slowly sat down, forgetting about shutting up for the night, and began to thumb through Obscure Diseases of the Brain and Disorders of the Mind, by Forbes Winslow. He’d always wanted one, but could never afford it.

  2

  Former Eagle Teams

  Kyle: Chris, Daryl, Shawn, Billy, Morgan, Crone, Denny, Theo, Angela

  Neil: Jeremy, Greg, Wade, Ben, Daniel, Jake, Tim, Steven

  Zack: Allan, Donald, Lee, Frank, Ozzie, Brandon, Simon, Pete

  Seth: Jeff, Rusty, Jack, Ryan, Bruce, Tommy, Joey, Robert

  Kevin: Ray, Dexter, Logan, Alex, Francis, Scott, Josh, Whitney

  Marc: Quinn, Shane, Jax, Logan, Paul, Bobby, Howard, Dwayne, George

  Angela: Jennifer, Samantha, Cynthia, Leslie, Rebecca, Tracy, Tonya, Candy, Crista

  Rookie: Tyler, Nathan, Cody, Stanley, Olivia, Pam, Lawrence, Gary, Andrew

  New Teams

  Eagle Special Forces

  Team #1: Kyle, Daryl, Shawn, Morgan, Billy, Shane, Jax

  Team #2: Neil, Jeremy, Greg, Tommy, Wade, Ben, Quinn

  Eagle Level Teams

  Level 6: Zack, Seth, Allan, Donald, Brandon, Jake, Logan, Whitney

  Level 5: Theo, Simon, Tim, Ozzie, Francis, Candy, Gary

  Level 3: Marc, Ray, Josh, Dexter, Bobby, Howard, Scott, Tyler

  Level 1, team #1: Angela, Jennifer, Samantha, Cynthia, Kendle, Rebecca, Tracy

  Level 1, team #2: Cody, Nathan, Stanley, Olivia, Pam, Lawrence, Andrew

  Rookie team #1: Kenn, Joseph, Charlie, Sheila, Conner, Courtney, Julia, Randal

  Rookie team #2: Jonny, Kim, Ian, Eddie, Rod, Molly, Harry, Michael

  Excitement went up as the new teams were posted, and then came the groans and words about their lost men and women. After that came confusion. Angela stood up, getting their attention.

  “I made a lot of changes. Some people are higher than they would have been. Some are lower. For instance, Quinn was with Marc when he went to take on the government, but he obviously wasn’t at the Special Forces level yet. That’s a huge bump.”

  Realizing she was talking about him, Marc’s former teammate grinned widely. “I’ve got no problem with it.”

  “Yeah, you can train him like Marc has us,” Jax called, ecstatic to discover he had also made it onto a Special Forces team.

  “The higher teams took the most losses,” Angela reminded them gravely. “In the spirit that brings us all together, I’ve given you men a few rookies to train as replacements. I’ve chosen the men I thought would fit into your groups. Please come to me if that doesn’t hold true.”

  It was a warning to those who had gained multiple levels to work hard and keep earning what they’d been rewarded with.

  “I’ve switched people around. Candy fits in perfectly with the tinkerers and Tonya has her hands full with the radio and pharmacy. We’re not up to pre-government numbers yet, but that will change as our new arrivals settle in and join up,” Angela informed them.

  “We’ll start lessons in a couple of weeks. I want us fully in the cave first, but until then, get to know each other. I’d like teams to have meals together and spend time in the activity and training tents. This will be an adjustment for everyone, but mostly for our rookies, who have huge shoes to fill. Good luck!”

  There was a small cheer and the meal resumed for some, while others went up to view the board. Angela used the time to scan her highest men and be positive they were okay with her choices. They had to work together or it just wouldn’t work.

  “Hey! Is that Conner’s name?”

  “No way!”

  “What’s he doing on there?”

  “Is he allowed to be a rookie?”

  “Yes,” Marc answered the unhappy people, hoping his support would make it easier for Angie to handle. “His banishment was conditional. If he becomes an Eagle, he won’t be a threat anymore. He’ll have changed and become one of us.”

  There were grumbles, but not as many as Angela had expected and she was grateful to Marc for speaking up. People here respected his opinion, which is why the fly-ridden body outside their gate wasn’t drawing serious protests. If Marc thought something that gruesome was needed, than it was accepted.

  A light shower of flurries began, but Angela didn’t order them under cover. This was a normal storm and they had to get used to the cold. Come winter, they would have to labor in it.

  Angela spotted Daryl and Cynthia having a meal together, but the feel of it wasn’t romantic.

  Angela wasn’t surprised when Cynthia stormed from the mess a minute later. The couple was having issues in their relationship and it wasn’t hard to guess that Adrian was involved. Add in the hormones and tension from her newspaper being released, and the reporter’s frustration was probably understandable.

  Angela turned her attention to the small quarantine zone inside the gate, where two dozen people still waited for a placement. Jayson was among those and Angela didn’t meet his eye as he stood at the fence and studied everything he could view from his location. Tomorrow, Jayson and the other people from Zone A would be blended into the camp, with settling partners.

  “Why did you send me with Marc?”

  Joseph’s question was one Angela had prepared an answer for, but she chose not to go with it, and used the truth instead.

  “You don’t like white people. You don’t trust us, and you have little reason to feel that way. You met Brittani and her group. You saw how they reacted to us-without animosity. I thought you needed that.”

  “So I’m a racist?” he demanded.

  “No, you don’t hate us or wish us ill,” Angela answered. “Which is why you’re on the rookie teams, but you don’t really like us because of the past.” Her tone sharpened. “Let go of that.”

  “Like no one here feels that way about me,” he sneered.

  “That’s true,” she agreed. “And they’ll be taught differently, but you’re going to be an Eagle. You have to comprehend the differences now.”

  “I still feel that way,” he admitted quietly.

  “I understand,” Angela answered. “Time will help. Stick with the Eagles. We need you there.”

  Joseph left her to her thoughts and Angela wondered if that was enough to soothe him. There were actually several reasons why he’d been sent, but his attitude toward other races was definitely the most important. He wasn’t even kind to Li, and that little man was friends with everyone.

  Angela tiredly swept the mess again. Kyle and Neil didn’t seem upset with the names on the board, though Neil looked tired. He’d come to her for a sedative that Samantha could take while pregnant and Angela had told him to try a hot shower and a cup of hot chocolate, then sleep. It had succeeded for two hours and then the evening call for mess had sent Samantha into tears again. She had stumbled to the medical tent, refusing to be swayed. Neil had come for the teams list when she fell asleep on the middle cot again.

  Angela was glad the doctor had already left and Millie had taken his place over the patients on this shift. She was also happy that Neil had come anyway. It showed he still wanted his slot among Safe Haven’s army.

  Jeremy, however, was curiously absent. Angela made a motion to Marc, who sent out his grid.

  He gestured, Front gate.

  Angela went that way. She wasn’t picking up bad vibes, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t be trouble anyway.

  The rest of the camp was deserted and she hurried through the icy wind with her shadows. Marc had insisted on her having two of them after dark.

  The main gate was heavily patrolled by curious men tonight, who wanted to know where they now ranked among the Eagles, and Angela gave them a curt nod that said to pay attention to their job.