Page 23 of Ashes of Honor

A breathy sound of amusement escaped her. “Naturally.”

“Pansies were heading the same direction as them the entire time,” I continued and we stopped in front of Compound Hall. The Victorian building loomed over us, casting a shadow over her face. “They moved in large herds. Typical behavior at first. That was until he realized thepatternof their movements weren’t right. Organized. When one stopped, they all stopped. If one found food that couldn’t feed the masses, they continued on.Not bothering to stop and prioritize themselves is weird as hell but it lines up with Reina’s theory of migration.”

“What the fuck …”

I couldn’t help the way my lips curled, the expression on my face doing more talking than words could. “Said the same thing. They were everywhere. Thousands at once. More than you would think sustainable. And they ate everything. The OGs, we know they eat animals if they have no other option, but the priority was always human flesh. These guys, they took out entire fields. Cattle. Horses. Sheep. Cities filled with Transient travelers.”

“They blocked off the entire city of Albuquerque. Hal and the kids barely made through with a few other survivors. Thing is, the further away from Covert they got, the more they saw. Then, they came across one of the camps.”

“He’sseenthem? Firsthand? Where are they?” Amaia took a step closer to me, her rapid-fire questions said with a faux smile as citizens passed by us. She offered them a pleasant nod before turning her attention back to me.

“Middle of nowhere,” I said, shoving my hands into the back of my jeans with the shrug of my shoulders. “In between major cities. He said it was about a week’s walk in between.”

The sun crested behind the steep, gabled peaks and ornate spires of Compound Hall. I swallowed down the lump in my throat. I didn’t come here much. Even before Jax died butespeciallysince he had. This was his pride and joy. All the original buildings were. Compound Hall. The Kitchens. The Arena. The places decorated with culture, thought, and care.

I was grateful those places had been spared amid destruction. My two red-haired, freckled boys were gone forever, and I hated one for taking out the other.

“With Luke and Olivia slowing his pace, that’s about what? Two hundred miles?”

I dipped my head in agreement. “Give or take.”

“Did he say the last time he saw one before he arrived?”

“Gallup.” The fact that I had to watch Hal and the kids travel through New Mexico had been a sick joke from the universe. Talk about fucking déjà vu. “I know it’s not what you’re looking for?—”

Amaia reached forward, gripping my hands firmly, a penetrating stare. “No. It’s not, but it’s a good start and I trust that you can help us figure out the rest.”

“Let me guess. You want me to try to get in?”

“Mentally yes, not physically. Ronan knows what all of us look like. My guess is, so do all of his soldiers. If they ‘capture’ anyone on his radar, he’ll know we’re onto something.” Amaia paused, her eyes narrowing in thought. “Scope out their security set up. Ronan’s little toy can’t block out any visions beyond his borders. Team up with someone in our network if you need to. Riley can handle the rest.”

A mischievous smile teased my lips. “I love it when you give me orders. Don’t forget the ‘good girl’ next time.”

She gave me that deadpan stare she’d perfected—equal parts judgment and boredom. The slight glimmer in her eyes betrayed her serious demeanor. She turned, walking away without another word.

Amaia

Idid everything in my power to lock my emotions down before I made my way over to the schoolhouse at the edge of General Living Quarters. It was one of a few but this one in particular called to me. At Riley’s persistence and my family’s backing, this was my best bet on getting advice about moving forward with the children of Monterey Compound.

Three doors down, painted red.The late-spring sun warmed the wood of the door as my hand lay against it to knock. I stepped in uninvited, the knock a simple courtesy. A few dozen teenagers stared back at me in curiosity. Some of their musclesvisibly tensed, their jaws clamped tight at their general standing at the door.

“General Bennett.” Yasmin offered a faux smile. “What a lovely surprise.”

I had no qualms with Yasmin. She didn’t care for me and that alone made her irrelevant outside of her being Riley’s girlfriend and a citizen of The Compound. Being general wasn’t a popularity contest, and I’d forgone the idea of winning over the hearts of my soldiers’ loved ones years ago.

What the fuck are you doing here, is more like the hidden daggers in her eyes. I didn’t want to be here anymore than she wanted me lingering in her doorway. Duties were duties however, and I had obligations from a leadership perspective as much as I did on the battlefield.

Unfortunately for me, my friends had been correct. Delegating and consulting was my best path forward. There was no better way to decide than by gathering facts from the source. I didn’t need to make every decision on my own, not when there were people who understood better than me.

Boots on the ground.That’s what we called the intel soldiers we sent ahead of the masses.

“Ms. Iqbal,” I greeted and closed the door behind me. “Just observing. Please, pretend I’m not here.”

I offered a slight wave toward the kids grinning wide at me as I walked past them toward one of the few empty seats. The classroom was littered with art from what appeared to be different age groups. Remnants from the schools and daycare in the area had been scavenged through and brought here to decorate our schoolhouses. Maps of the world, former presidents, and all the other scholastic bullshit I’d grown up with hung in their respective corners.

Yasmin had a book down on her lap, her eyes trailing me with disdain. “Actually General Bennett, I hear this is your favorite book. Perhaps you could help the class dissect?”

Lord of the Flieswaved at me in her hand. There were only a few copies, but now, with the recent influx, there were roughly 15,000 kids. That was the number of Monterey Compound residents under sixteen who attended school. There would never be enough books for them all, even if our population hadn’t grown to roughly 48,000 since shit hit the fan. Taking that into account, the kids shared resources, often working in groups since we didn’t bother with nonsense like homework.

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