The Survivors: Book One (70 page)

I’d like say thank you to my editor and the betas, who spent a big part of their year helping me. Don’t know where I’d be without you. I also have an enormous amount of gratitude for the folks over at the Zombie Squad. Doc, Kutter, Razor, Swoop, Lex, and all the rest. You took the time to drill it into my head and I’m in awe of your patience. Honored to have met you, that’s me.

Thanks to the ZS, this edition had footnotes. I’m very curious as to how you liked/hated them. This series is a long one, at least nine books. I have folders and notebooks that are overflowing with the next steps in this journey and I can’t wait to share them with you.

Btw, thank you for the time it took to read all this! If you liked the books, I’d love to hear from you. If you hated the books, I NEED to hear from you. Please leave a review. I check for new ones daily.

Have a wonderful year,

Angela White

http://www.law-angelawhite.com

Extras

Safe Haven

Deleted Scene 1

Deleted Scene 2

DOC Article

Character Bios

Footnotes

 
Safe Haven

 Safe Haven: A place of safety and of light, of duty and honor: 
A Refuge for survivors.

Also: A place of death and darkness, where magic and murder go hand in hand.

Angie and Marc have made it to Safe Haven and her Marine is already on the edge of murder over their romance. Will Adrian be able to stop the bloodshed, or will everything he’s built start to fall?

Reunited

"
He’s here. Kenny’s here!
"

Footsteps crunched behind her, and Angela's hand dropped to her gun as she turned, eyes finding Brady in the barn’s moldy doorway.

Marc snapped his mouth shut on the warning that would have been too late, realizing he knew the Marine now striding determinedly down the middle of the street - and not just from their time together on the base. The cold look of ownership he threw Marc’s way said this was her man. The piper was here and it was time to start paying.

Kenn stopped a few feet away, watching with expectant eyes that wished she’d pull the gun so he could kill them both and claim self-defense to Adrian.

“Kenny?”

The Marine knew the joy spreading across her face wasn’t for him and it faded fast.

“You’re alone.”

Kenn ignored her disappointment as he glared. “I’ve come to get you.”

Her brow wrinkled, and he saw a flare of anger on her pale face that was unexpected. She should be scared.

“Little late for that now,” Angela pointed out, aware of the violence flashing in his eyes, but she stood her ground, able to feel him trying to control himself. Would he end it all right here? Marc was silently telling her just to duck and he’d do the rest, and she didn’t look away from Kenn’s thunderous face, waiting to see who would live and who would die.

Kenn hated her calm confidence and his sarcasm hid a note of unease when she didn’t blink, didn’t move her hand from the gun on her hip.

“So, you have no welcome for me?”

 Angela hesitated. “Of course I do. We’ve been apart a long time.”

The breeze gusted, sending her hair flying wildly, and Kenn was glad to see her wary look as his eyes went there. She wasn’t allowed to have it down in public. It was another transgression to be held accountable for. “Then come show me you’re glad to see me,” he ordered.

Angela stepped into his big arms with a heavy heart. Could she could tolerate, endure a little (six years!) longer, so no one else would get hurt? Could she just give in?

Hand resting on his unsnapped holster, Marc watched from the lonely doorway, unable to believe he hadn’t been able to put her clues together and come up with loud-mouth, sometimes-obnoxious, always-snotty, Lance Corporal Kenn Harrison.

Marc’s stomach was full of white, hot anger and he felt himself preparing for battle, even as the pain of seeing her in someone else's arms flooded his heart. Angie had her man back, and he didn’t seem at all surprised to see them. Had he been spying? Their moment in the bedroom, right after they’d woken, came to mind, and Marc’s gut tightened. What all had Kenn seen? Them in bed together, the kiss…too much.

It implied a lot more than there was, and as their eyes locked over Angie’s tense shoulder, the message was clear:
She’s mine. Go way or I’ll kill you!

Dog’s thick fur began to bristle, golden eyes filling with dislike. When he gave a low growl, Marc put a hand on the big animal’s head. “Me too, boy. Me too.”

Angela regretted the hug the second Kenny crushed her close. She tried to pull away when his head lowered to hers, but he had a hand tangled tightly in her thick curls, holding her still as his tongue invaded, conquered, revolted.

Kenn ground his mouth against hers, as that distinctive, addictive scent of vanilla filled his nose, wondering how much more Brady would allow before stepping in and getting himself killed.

Ah! Not much at all,
Kenn gloated to himself, half turning them to be in the right position as he shoved his tongue deeper. Her Tag-a-long was already moving from his place in the doorway.

Angela picked up the thought and understood he was trying to provoke Marc, catch him off guard. She slammed her boot against Kenn’s ankle, leaning her weight into it as she elbowed him in his flat stomach.

Not expecting her to fight, Kenn grunted, letting go. Angela stayed between the two men, only backing up a little as she tried to remember what she’d learned. He would see right now that things had changed.

“What the hell was that for?” Kenn snarled at her, closing the distance between them.

Her eyes narrowed as the Witch said to provoke him now so they could either kill him or be killed, but be done with it. “You wouldn’t let go.”

Kenn’s voice was savage as he leaned toward her, itching to break her crooked nose again, “And I never will!”

His eyes went to the Marine now standing alertly near her bumper, big black-and-gray dog bristling at his side, then back to her. “You have one minute to tell me what you’re doing with him! Who is Brady to you?”

Kenn grinned harshly at her surprise. “Yeah, I know him! Answer me!”

He was trying to intimidate her, but Angela surprised them all by shoving him with both hands, moving him out of her personal space as she'd learned. “Stop yelling at me!” she blared, catching him off guard again.

She only lowered her voice a little, finger waving. “We can have a normal conversation or we can spill blood right here and now,” she warned coldly. “It’s your choice.”

 It was dangerous to push, but the old Angela, the one who’d battled him early in their relationship, was guiding them through this minefield. When his eyes flicked to Brady again and then Dog, she relaxed a bit. Getting Kenny to think before he acted was the key to surviving the encounter.

Shocked at the words more than her actions, Kenn hated it that he might be outnumbered by the tense Marine edging closer, by the bristling animal at his side that upon closer inspection, appeared to be a wolf, and also by Angela, who had obviously done a lot of changing (reverting) during her trip.

“Fine. We’ll talk,” he sneered sarcastically.

Angela cocked her head as the sun came through the clouds of grit above them as if to back her up. “We’ll start the entire conversation over.”

He grunted and Angela forced a cheery smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Hello, Kenn. Good to see you. How have you been?”

The Marine grinned coolly, instantly recognizing her tactics. He should. He’d used them daily on her. “Never better. Enjoy your trip?”

Kenn felt his rage go up another notch when she nodded, shuttered eyes finding her escort before returning to his angry face.

“Some of it, yes.”

Kenn’s eyes promised payment. “Hope it was worth it.”

Angela continued without hesitation, even though his beefy hands were now clenched into tight fists. “It was. Where’s my boy?”

Kenn said nothing, waiting, wanting to hear her beg. He wasn’t prepared for the hate that filled her face.

“I don’t need you to find him! How do you think I got here?” she ground out through clenched teeth.

Kenn was too pissed to be worried, though he had an idea he might be in a little danger. She’d done more than revert. She was using the power! She'd unlocked it! He had always known she could and the old, thwarted bitterness settled into his stomach like it had never left. Was there a way he could get control of it now? His mind flashed a picture of her son.
Yes. There was.

“That may be, but you do need me to get near him. Charlie’s with my men. They won’t want to kill you, but they will.”

Angela didn’t back down, didn’t look away, and Kenn hated the new knowledge about life and death he read in her eyes. She thought she could handle him and that was bad. How much practice had she gotten? What had she done, been through, to get here?

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Angela stated tonelessly.

Kenn stared at her in shock, unable to believe she would dare to get in his head so openly, so arrogantly. Didn’t she remember what he’d threatened to do if she used it on him?

“Everything has changed, Kenn. You broke our deal when you abandoned me for that group of strangers you’ve been lying to!”

On the edge of control at her veiled threat to reveal his secrets, Kenn was surprised to discover that her disobedience, her betrayal, was worse. He hadn’t thought her hold on him was that strong anymore. “You have six years left! You belong to me!” he hissed violently, moving closer.

Angela, struggling against the fear, fought back. “Not anymore. I want out!”

“No!”

“You don’t own me!”

“How long have you two been sleeping together?”

“We aren’t!”

“Lyin' bitch!”

“You go to Hell!”

Kenn’s hand flinched, and Angela felt herself being brushed aside.

Marc stepped between them, finally eye-to-eye with the man responsible for hurting his Angie over and over. “It’s been a while, Harrison.”

“Not long enough,
Brady
.”

Marc didn’t respond to the accusation in Kenn’s eyes as he waited for one of them (Angela) to get nervous and start talking, but they (she) remained silent and Kenn frowned deeper.

“You’re...traveling together?” he asked finally.

Marc took the lead, big shoulders prepared to take whatever came. “Yes. We were both headed this way, and I couldn’t let her go it alone. She was hard to convince, though,” Marc lied easily. This was indeed a thin line, and he wasn’t the only one walking it. She hadn’t been exaggerating even a little. The LC was deadly with the M16 on his back.

“Well, thanks
buddy
, but I’ve got it from here. You can hit the redline.”

Marc’s grin widened into sharp white teeth as the wolf lingered at his hip, dark fur on his back and tail bushed-out aggressively. “Welcome, pal, but a funny thing happened on the way here. I discovered I want to be with… other people, and I might just stick close for a while.”

Clearly taunting, Angela knew blood was about to flow and stayed out of it, waiting to see if Kenn would force his own death. Brady was eager and while she wasn’t, doing it now, while Kenn was alone, was best if it had to happen.

Marc took a step forward, bringing them to within inches of each other as the wind gusted through the dead corn. “Real close.”

Kenn’s eyes narrowed and his hairy knuckles inched toward the 9mm on his hip. “She has a man, you fucking Jody! Back off!”

Marc snorted, furious blue eyes full of contempt. “If you want to call yourself that.”

“What the hell's that supposed to mean, boot?” Kenn sneered threateningly, lightly-bearded face full of hate.

Marc put them chest to chest without hesitation, “It means she’s not your punching bag anymore! You wanna hit someone, grungeshit, you hit me!”

Kenn didn’t hesitate either, and he swung hard. The hit rocked Marc's head back and then the two men were at each other, trading vicious blows.

“Like that?” Kenn taunted, following the upper cut with a powerful roundhouse.

Marc ducked the blow, landed a nasty knuckle to Kenn’s temple that made the Marine stagger. “Yeah! More!”

Kenn rushed him, head slamming into his gut, and Marc immediately drove his elbow into Kenn’s shoulder blade.

Kenn jerked, grunting as he was rocked off his balance, and they hit the dirt with a hard thud, swinging, wrestling, trying to get the advantage.

Angela waved a hand at Dog to stay back as Marc pushed Kenn off of him with his legs and rolled onto his feet.

Kenn rushed, and Marc ducked again, foot flashing out at the last minute to trip him up.

The blow the jealous man had been throwing glanced off Marc’s wounded arm and Brady kicked him in the ribs as he went down, wound stinging from ripped stitches.

Kenn was on his feet in a blur, hand flying toward his hip, and both of Brady’s guns were out before the furious Marine could pull his own.

“Do it!” Marc goaded, fingers tightening…longing to squeeze. “Make it count. I will.”

Book Three: Safe Haven

Deleted Scene 1

12/21/2012

Granite Mountains Complex

Stunned, Press Secretary Pat Michaels sat in the back of the large, crowded room that was embedded under a dank maze of tunnels. Half a mile beneath a secret military base, the compound was now being overrun with terrified citizens demanding the protection they knew the Essex could (but would not) provide.

The limestone command center was thick with smoke and people, some of them in on the original testing of these weapons. Pat hoped his own punishment would not be as harsh as theirs. After all, they had known firsthand what a horrible thing had been created. It was so powerful, so unstoppable, that the America above them was about to be destroyed and a new, hostile world would take its place.