Without Law 6

by Eric Vall

  “Right,” Tara nodded.

  “You’ll bring the supplies to Paige and Bailey,” Anna said, and she looked at Tara and me. “One of them will run the supplies over to me, and the other will stay for backup.”

  “Then we get the civilians, right?” Bailey asked.

  “Yes,” Anna nodded. “After we get the canner and whatever other supplies we can, Tav and Tara will go talk to the civilians and get them out.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Paige smiled at the redhead.

  “Me too,” I grinned at Anna. “Good job, Major.”

  “Thanks,” she smiled and blushed.

  “I warned you about her getting a big head,” Tara rolled her eyes, but she laughed as well.

  “I think you’re head is big enough for the both of us,” Anna told the blonde with a wry smile.

  “Probably true.” Tara grinned.

  “So are we all ready then?” I asked the group, and they all nodded.

  “We’ll only take our pistols, right?” Tara asked.

  “Yes,” I nodded. “No point in taking our rifles, and we’ll try to use your silenced Rugar, but only if we really, really have to.”

  “I’m excited,” Bailey smiled.

  “I know,” I smiled back at the blonde. “But remember, our priority is the canning machine.”

  “Right,” she nodded, and her smile faded slightly.

  “If push comes to shove, we take it and leave all else,” Anna added, then she grinned at the blonde. “But we’re pretty badass so I think we’ll be fine.”

  “We are pretty badass,” Bailey agreed, and her smile returned.

  I let the girls continue to talk and rest up before the mission, it was important to keep morale up, and I figured a small break before the heist would help them maintain focus. When I figured it was about twelve-thirty, I called my team to action.

  “Okay,” I clapped and stood up. “It’s time to head out.”

  “Great,” Anna grinned, and she stood up too, and the rest of the girls followed.

  I led my team around to the side of the building, and we all took our posts once more, Bailey and I were extra careful because there were two guards talking by the fence near our position. Once we were in place, I could hear their conversation.

  “I don’t even see why we’re out here anymore,” the first guard said.

  “We haven’t had a break out in a while,” the second one agreed.

  “Yeah,” the first one nodded. “And we put the civilians to bed earlier now.”

  “It seems pointless,” the second guy spat. “I’m fuckin tired of being on night shift.”

  “I’ve always hated night shift,” the first guy groaned. “We’re leaving soon anyways, so I don’t see how it matters if these people want to run away.”

  “Less mouths to feed,” the second guy said.

  “Ugh,” the first guy groaned. “Let’s make these rounds before we get shipped up north.”

  “Yeah,” the second guy said, and he started to walk away. “I’ve already done that shit, I’ll go AWOL before I go back up there.”

  “Right,” the first guy nodded, and he continued his rounds as well.

  We watched for a few minutes more, and I could tell the guards were already tired, they were walking even slower than before, they took more breaks to talk to each other, and the guards posted in the towers looked like they were half asleep already.

  “I think it’s time,” I whispered to Bailey, and she nodded.

  I stood up and motioned to my crew, then I headed toward the manhole with my team right behind me.

  “Okay,” I said. “Is everyone ready?”

  “Ready,” Paige nodded.

  “Yup,” Bailey smiled.

  “Aye aye captain,” Anna said.

  “Let’s fuck ‘em up,” Tara grinned.

  “Alright” I said in a serious tone. “We have to be quiet. Don’t use your weapon unless you absolutely have to. And remember that this tunnel will echo, so don’t speak unless necessary.”

  My team nodded, so I pulled the cover from the manhole and crawled in, then I waited for the other girls to follow, and once we were all below except for Anna, I began the walk toward the compound. I could feel Tara’s hand on my belt loop, and I figured that the girls all had a hold of each other, that was something I hadn’t covered, but I was proud of their quick thinking since I opted not to use a lighter or flashlight.

  Once we arrived at the small light that shone through the manhole in the compound I stopped and listened, but I didn’t hear anything, so I motioned for Tara to follow me, and I ascended the short ladder that led to the cover. I listened once more once I was just below the cover, but again, I didn’t hear anything, so I slowly pushed the cover off, and climbed out.

  Tara moved quickly behind me, so I covered the manhole once more, and moved back to the dark corner where Tara waited for me.

  “We’re in,” she whispered.

  “Let’s get over to the commissary,” I told her, and I made my way down the fence line toward the nearest building.

  Two guards crossed paths in front of us, and I put my arm out to pull Tara behind me.

  “We’re off soon right?” the guard on our right called out to the other one.

  “Half an hour,” the other guard called back.

  “Wake me when it’s time,” the first one chuckled.

  “Yeah, right,” the other laughed. “I’ll be out too.”

  After they were out of our direct line of sight I moved toward the commissary building, but quickly pulled back when I saw a guard sitting in front of the next building over. I crouched down, and Tara crouched next to me.

  “There’s a guard outside of the building next to the commissary,” I whispered.

  “Shit,” the blonde said, and her eyes narrowed. “What do we do?”

  “We’re going to go around this building and get to the back of the commissary,” I told her. “Then we’ll carefully make our way to the front.”

  “Got it,” Tara said, and I headed back around the building we were crouched behind.

  We made it to the side of the commissary and up toward the front, so I peeked my head around the corner and saw the guard on duty had his hat pulled over his eyes, and he leaned against the building.

  “He’s tired,” I told Tara in hushed tones.

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “I think I can slip past him.”

  “I’ll go first,” I told her. “Cover me with your silenced pistol.”

  “Okay,” she said, and she crouched down and lifted her pistol to aim at the sleeping guard.

  I slipped around the corner of the building and kept tight against it. Once I was at the door, I opened it and cleared the room quickly before I went back and motioned Tara inside.

  “Let’s find this canner,” Tara grinned at me after I shut the door to the building.

  “Let’s do it, ninja,” I grinned back, and we began to search the large, open space.

  “I’m guessing this was the gym?” Tara whispered.

  “Looks that way,” I said.

  There were tables in rows all the way to the opposite side of the building, but only about half of them were still stocked with supplies, and it was mostly MREs and canned goods.

  “I think I found it,” Tara whispered, and she waved me over to her.

  “That’s it,” I nodded as I inspected the machine. “But there should be one more.”

  “Okay,” Tara said, and she pulled her eyebrows together as she scanned the room, then she pointed to a table across the way. “Over there.”

  “Great,” I whispered. “Go grab it and meet me by the door.”

  “Should we grab anything else?” Tara asked.

  “Not yet,” I shook my head. “We need to get these to the girls, they’re our first priority.”

  “Right,” the platinum blonde nodded, and she picked up the other canning machine and followed me to the door.

  We slipped past the sleeping gu
ard once more, making sure to close the door slowly and silently, then we made our way back to the sewer grate, and I sent Tara down first, and held her canning machine, then I passed it to the girls at the bottom, along with the one I had carried over, and made my way down as well.

  “We’ll take these to Anna,” Paige whispered.

  “Only one of you,” I said. “Carry one at a time and be very quiet, if you were to drop it we could give away our position.”

  “Right,” Bailey nodded.

  “Tara and I will go back up and see what else we can get,” I whispered.

  “I’ll be here,” Bailey said.

  “I’ll be right back,” Paige said, and she started to walk back toward the club.

  I climbed back up the small ladder and waited for Tara, then we went back around the building closest to us, and before Tara could round the corner to head to the commissary, I grabbed her by the back of her vest and pulled her back to me.

  Tara was about to speak, but I put my hand over her mouth and pointed. There was one lone civilian in a striped jumpsuit working in the yard, he was digging a hole, and I wondered why he was out there when he hadn’t been the last time we had passed by.

  “Should we go talk to him?” Tara whispered after she removed my hand from her mouth.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “I think we should.”

  “He’s out in the open,” she said. “How do we get to him?”

  “I don’t think we have to,” I told her, and I pointed to the wagon behind him. “We just have to get to that.”

  “Good thinking,” Tara nodded. “But we’ll have to go all the way around.”

  “Yes,” I nodded. “Just be careful, the guards are still on patrol.”

  “Lead the way,” she said, and she crouched further into the darkness, so I stepped in front of her and made my way along the fence line.

  I saw a guard approach from my left, so I crawled underneath one of the trucks in the yard and pulled Tara down to me. I made sure to steady my breath as the guard walked by, but it was an ominous sight watching his boots take slow steps in front of the vehicle, and I couldn’t hear Tara breathing at all, but her finger was on her trigger, and she was ready to shoot. I didn’t touch her because I didn’t want to startle her, so I waited for the guard to walk past, and I heard Tara release a breath.

  “A bit nerve wracking?” I asked in a whisper.

  “Just a bit,” the platinum blonde replied, and she gave me a smile.

  “Let’s go,” I said, and I rolled out from beneath the vehicle.

  As we crept to the wagon, I thought about the best way to approach the situation, I didn’t want him to scream and alert the guards to our presence, but I wasn’t sure I could trust him to not do just that if I tried to talk to him from behind the wagon. We arrived at the wagon on the opposite side of the civilian that was working, and I waited until the guards crossed one more time, then I turned to Tara.

  “Cover me,” I told her.

  “On it,” she whispered back, and she raised her pistol.

  I crept to the civilian and wrapped my arms around him, then I whispered in his ear.

  “We’re here to help,” I said. “We aren’t soldiers, just don’t make any noise. Nod if you understand.”

  He nodded, and I pulled him behind the wagon, and introduced myself.

  “I’m Tav,” I whispered, and I gestured to my blonde companion. “And this is Tara.”

  “We’re here to help you,” Tara said quickly.

  “Help me?” the man asked, and his brows pinched together. He was a slender young man, and he couldn’t have been above the age of twenty-five, if he was even that old.

  “Yeah,” Tara nodded. “We’re here to bust you out.”

  “Not just you,” I whispered. “All the people that are being kept here, now what’s your name?”

  “Brian,” the young man whispered heatedly. “But we’re not being kept here. We chose to come here.”

  “I know this is a lot to handle,” I told him. “But we know a way in and out of this place.”

  “The sewer,” the young man nodded.

  “You know about the sewer?” Tara asked. “Why haven’t you left?”

  “We’ve seen what happens to the guardsmen that go up north,” the guy said. “I don’t want to try to make it on my own.”

  “There are other people here,” I told him. “You all can work together.”

  “Anybody who wanted to leave has already left,” the guy said.

  “Why would you want to stay?” Tara asked, and her face was one of total confusion. “They’re horrible to you here.”

  “At least I have a place to sleep and food,” the young man said, and he looked down.

  “They’re working you to the bone,” I told him. “You could be hunting and scavenging for yourself.”

  “I don’t know how to do any of that stuff,” the boy said.

  “What about the other people in your group?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Tara nodded. “Are you sure none of them want out?”

  “We’re safer here,” he said. “I told you, whoever wanted to leave already did.”

  “I know you’re scared,” I whispered to the man. “It’s okay to be scared, but I think you’d be better off outside of this camp.”

  “The guardsmen are coming back injured every day,” he said, and his eyes grew wide. “It’s a shitshow out there, I’d rather stay here, and so would everyone else.”

  “We can’t make you leave,” I told him.

  “No,” he shook his head. “I think you should leave though. I’d be in a lot of trouble if anyone saw you, and I’m supposed to be digging.”

  “What are you digging anyways?” Tara asked.

  “One of the soldiers died tonight,” the boy said in a low voice. “I’m just digging a grave.”

  “And you’re sure you don’t want to leave?” Tara asked incredulously, and a bit too loud.

  “I told you no,” the man snapped. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

  He stood up and made his way back to the hole and continued digging, so I turned to Tara to see that she still had a stunned look on her face.

  “What the fuck?” she whispered.

  “We need to get out of here,” I said. “Now.”

  “Do you think he’ll tell them we’re here?” she asked, and her eyes widened.

  “No,” I shook my head. “Not yet at least, but I don’t think he would take kindly to us stealing from them. Once they know the canners are gone, he will squeal.”

  “Oh,” Tara said. “Shit. Yeah, let’s go.”

  We quickly made our way back to the tunnel, and I kept lookout while Tara descended the ladder, but just as I was about to go down one of the guards came around the corner of the building, so I stepped back into the shadows and waited for him to cross. It couldn’t have taken more than thirty seconds for him to walk by, but it felt like an eternity, and after he was out of eyeshot I felt myself release a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

  I crawled back down the ladder of the sewer, put the lid back on, and turned toward where I thought the girls were, though it was far too dark at that point for me to be able to see them.

  “Head back to the club,” I whispered.

  “Is something wrong?” Bailey asked.

  “I’ll explain when we get back,” I said.

  “Okay,” Paige said, and I heard footsteps in the water.

  My team made their way back to the light that shone through from the open manhole Anna guarded, and we took turns climbing the ladder with me going last.

  “What’s going on?” Anna asked.

  “Let’s get in the clubhouse,” I said, and I put the cover back over the manhole. “I’ll explain then.”

  “Okay,” Anna said, but I could hear in her voice that she was concerned.

  Once we were in the club, I lit a candle I had brought with me, and I put it between all of us.

  “What’s going on?” Bai
ley asked, and her confused face was illuminated by the candlelight.

  “We got the canners,” I said. “So we got what we came for.”

  “What about the civilians?” Bailey asked quickly, and I looked to Tara to see that she had her head down.

  “It’s not going to make sense,” I said softly.

  “What do you mean?” the blonde hippie asked, and then she bit her lip.

  “They didn’t want to leave,” Tara said quietly.

  “What do you mean they didn’t want to go?” Paige asked, and she leaned closer to the platinum blonde.

  “We tried,” I said. “We talked to a guy working in the yard, and he refused to come with us.”

  “But--” Bailey started, but then she paused for a moment.

  “They treat them so bad,” Anna said. “I mean, I thought there was a chance they wouldn’t want to leave, but I figured it was pretty slim.”

  “They’re scared, they see the wounded and dead soldiers coming back from up north and they think the whole world has gone to hell,” I said. “And they don’t know how to make it on their own.”

  “Neither did we,” Paige said. “But we learned.”

  “Yes,” I nodded. “But some people don’t want to learn.”

  “They already knew how to get out,” Tara said.

  “What?” Bailey asked with wide eyes.

  “It’s true,” I nodded. “The guy told us about the sewer before we even said anything.”

  “He said everyone who wanted to leave is already gone,” Tara added.

  “Why didn’t you go back for more supplies then?” Paige asked.

  “If they had, the civilian might have given them away,” Anna said.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “Since they’re staying here, I’m guessing they wouldn’t like us stealing from them.”

  “But we still got the canners,” Anna grinned.

  “Yes,” I smiled.

  “So, I guess we’re counting this as a win,” Tara sighed.

  “I know it may not feel like one,” I said softly. “But people who don’t want to take care of themselves, those aren’t the kind of people we want to associate with anyways.”

  “True,” Anna nodded, then she turned to Bailey who sat frowning. “And they know how to get out, so if they wanted to leave they could. We have nothing to feel bad about.”