Adrian's Eagles: Book Four (Life After War) by Angela White Page B

that and not a return of the pneumonia she’d been battling when he’d found her.
    Luke steered them around a huge, vine-covered Miro tree and stopped, using his arm to wipe at his forehead.
    “Are you feeding me now?” Kendle joked, shifting her pack from her shoulders to the ground.
    “Some bread and water and then you’re back on the road.”
    She laughed, the noise echoing off the thick pad of treetops above them. They ate a small meal in the shade of an enormous Piñon tree that had more branches than she could count. Obviously old, she wondered what stories it might tell about those who had come this way before them. Some of its bark was petrified, and near the top of her head, Kendle could see lines that seemed like carvings. She spent a few minutes examining them while they finished eating.
    The markings were rough, old, and she strained to see. What name was that? It started with an A, but that was all she could make out. The rest of the lines weren’t in any order that she could see, not even forming a picture, and she wondered if it was an ancient map. Maybe to a pirate treasure? That was the old world , Kendle told herself sharply. Fame and fortune weren’t worth shit now.
    “Did you say something?”
    Kendle shook her head; still busy trying to banish that part of herself that had sent her into films and the spotlight. “No, why?”
    “Thought I heard…engines?”
    They both waited in silence, listening hard, but there was only the jungle – chattering monkeys and chirping birds.
    Luke laughed it off, gathering their mess. “Hearing things again.”
    Kendle raised a brow. “Again?”
    Luke’s shrug looked embarrassed. “I was doing…rounds of the cabin last night and thought I heard footsteps.” He grinned. “I’m old, it happens.”
    Kendle smiled, but she wasn’t fooled by the joke. He was worried.
    Luke handed her backpack over. “Let’s roll.”
    She snapped a smart salute, eyes lightening. “Yes, sir!”
     
     
    3
    The excitement of the trip began to wear off for Kendle as the day warmed and sweat started rolling down her back. Skin covered for protection, the heat was thick, smothering, and she was very glad to see the sun glare finally start to fade behind the tree tops. Soon, it would cool off.
    Luke passed a canteen of water back and she sipped at it lightly, stomach unhappy with the heat and walking. None of their hikes had lasted more than a couple hours and she was feeling tired, something she recognized as a side effect of the radiation or whatever she’d been blasted with. It hit her hard when it came and she swayed a bit, steps no longer light and careful.
    Luke knew she needed a break, but he wanted to reach the creek before dark and he tugged gently on the rope until she was at his side. He slid an arm around her and kept them moving, feeling her relieved body melt against his. Damn, she was hot.
    “Maybe we should make camp around here and go on in the morning,” he suggested and wasn’t surprised when she disagreed.
    “I’m fine. The sun will go down and I’ll get a second wind.”
    “We’ll be at the creek in another hour. We’ll camp there and get our supplies in the morning.”
    Kendle was too uncomfortable to insist. She’d made good progress, but it was clear she had a way to go before she would be really healthy again.
    The day got warmer as they wound through the jungle, following a faint path that Luke kept track of. The tracks he saw were old, mostly animals, and it made him feel better to know they were the first ones to come through here in a while. Much like when he had been Whacker in Vietnam.
    “Do you smell that?”
    Luke inhaled deeply. “No. What?”
    Kendle sniffed again, sure it was strong enough for him to pick up too. “Sort of like…oil or gas fumes.”
    Luke didn’t know if there was anything in the air or not. He wasn’t picking up much beyond the plants and animals around them. “People here have stashes. It’s probably a