The Survivors: Book One

He quickly hit a button to give them silence, holding his arm up for her to see, and Angela controlled her flinch, but not her widening eyes at the sudden movement.

"Different sound for each breach tells how many intruders. Red button turns it off, green arms it."

She looked at him with curious, smoky eyes. "You learn that in the Corps?"

"That and a few other things."

"Like what?" she asked, watching his eyes fall to her lips, before he turned away.

"Survival stuff mostly. I was always good at planning for trouble. It'll come in handier now, I suspect."

He sounded wide-awake and she frowned. "Aren't you tired?"

"I'm a Marine, Honey. This is par for the course," he stated matter-of-factly, but didn't tell her he'd only gotten a short snooze before their escape from the fire. His mind had been too busy racing to really sleep, and he'd taken a pill after they stopped for lunch.

They were quiet for a minute, looking, listening. No lights or noises in the darkness around them. No insects or rodents in the brush, and she shivered. The whole world was dying. Would they too? Shaking off the morbid thoughts, Angela followed him back into the warmth of their den.

When he took off his coat, thick arms flexing, her gaze was drawn to his muscular body.

"I grew up, didn't I?" he grinned at her, and she nodded, eyes unreadable.

"Yes," Angela slid into her blankets and ducked her head to her bag, thinking it was all going to be so much harder than she'd first thought. She tossed the black case toward his feet and hid a worried look, but still watched for anger from making him jump. "Light the big one, will ya?"

Marc grinned, leaning against an end table as he fired it up. His gun belts were under his pillow, boots nearby, and the sweet pot curled thickly around them as they smoked all of it without speaking. There was a tension between them that they both disliked, but for Angela, it was a step down from what she'd lived with every day.

"In the morning, before we leave, I'd like to start showing you how to use that gun." Come daylight, they would have to start watching for the twins.

She was unbraiding long curls that he longed to touch. "Okay. Will you tell me about some of your missions another night?" she asked, smothering another yawn.

"You mean about the places I've come through since the War?"