Cruz: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 2) by Anna Hackett Read Free Book Online Page B

keep going.”
    Lots of people called out to Cruz. She noted everyone looked at him with respect…and some with a little awe. And many of the women watched him with feminine appreciation…and some, outright hunger.
    Santha’s stomach clenched. How many of them were his regular playmates? How many knew the feel of those hard muscles, had traced those sexy tattoos with their tongues?
    “The school’s through here.”
    His voice snapped her out of her unpleasant thoughts. It was none of her business who he slept with. And if she decided to play with him, well, she only wanted something hard and fast and temporary, so it didn’t matter. She followed him into another tunnel.
    They walked past a few rooms with doors wide open. Inside were bunches of kids of differing ages. In the first, solemn teenagers hunched over tablets. A boy noticed them and waved at Cruz.
    Cruz lifted a hand. “Leo and his girlfriend were living in those train tunnels near the airport. We rescued them after that mission to destroy the raptor comms hub.”
    “Can the base hold many more survivors?”
    They passed the next room. Tiny kids were bouncing around, squealing and giggling. Bright, hand-painted pictures graced the walls. Santha couldn’t help but smile at their simple joy. They didn’t seem worried about an alien apocalypse.
    “We have about a thousand living here, and there’s room yet,” Cruz answered. “A lot of tunnels are still closed up or being used for storage. We stockpile any supplies we’re able to scavenge, and also store any art or valuables we’ve rescued for safekeeping.”
    Santha wondered how many of the humanity’s treasures had been annihilated by the raptors.
    “There’s also a hydroponics garden for growing food, and research areas where the scientist work on projects like power, weaponry and medicine. And just up ahead is geek land, also known as the comp lab. Noah Kim’s our resident genius. He’s responsible for all our comms systems and our drones.”
    “I’ve never seen any of your drones.”
    “They aren’t big enough to be noticeable. After the raptors destroyed all the satellites, we had to find another way to get imaging and intel.” His face turned grim. “We lost a lot of good soldiers in the first few months because of a lack of intel. After the attack, Noah spearheaded the project to adapt small experimental drones to take high-res images and feed them back to base.”
    “Amazing.”
    “Here we are.” Cruz stopped at a door with a sign hanging on it that said, Shh, genius at work .
    She raised a brow. “Humble, is he?”
    “Noah’ll just tell you he’s stating a fact. Guy’s not afraid to tell it how it is.” Cruz pushed open the door.
    Santha stepped inside. “Whoa.” There were bits of electronic…stuff…everywhere. Benches lined one wall and were overflowing with computer parts, tools and wiring. There were a few battered metal desks with huge comp screens on them, and people working hard at them.
    At one desk, a good-looking man wearing glasses looked up. He had some Asian heritage and midnight eyes in a lean face with high cheekbones. They were making genius computer geeks well these days. She didn’t know if he wore his dark hair long by design or he’d just forgotten to get it cut, but he’d tied it back at the base of his neck, giving him a rakish look.
    “Hey, Noah,” Cruz said.
    “Cruz. Who’s your friend?”
    “Santha Kade, this is Noah Kim. He and his team keep the lights on and the power running. Wish you’d do something about the hot water, though. A few hours a day isn’t enough.”
    Noah snorted. “It’s on my list. Along with the five hundred other things we need. Once I can squeeze some more power out of the solar panels, I’ll…” he drifted off and offered Santha a wry grin. “Sorry, I have a bad habit of going into details these grunts never want to hear about.”
    She wandered closer. “Cruz was telling me they’re lucky to have you. You