Without Law 12

by Eric Vall

  “Thanks?” Bailey chuckled, unsure how to take the comment.

  “I just mean it sounded like a quote or something,” Paige explained.

  “Oh, well, thanks then,” Bailey said, and she blushed slightly.

  “So,” I said after a moment, “there should be six jeeps coming from the south.”

  “Six opportunities to snag ourselves a snitch,” Anna said with a devious smile.

  “Exactly,” I laughed.

  “We need to pick someone beforehand,” Bailey said. “That way we don’t end up with everyone trying to injure someone.”

  “How about everyone take a kill shot except for Bailey,” I suggested.

  “I don’t know,” Tara said. “I’d prefer to have Bailey on the front lines, no offense to anybody else.”

  “I agree,” Paige said. “I can wound someone.”

  “Alright,” I said. Paige wasn’t the best shot we had in the first place, but as long as she didn’t hit a major artery when trying to wound someone, we’d be alright. And with her background in medicine, I thought she probably had a better understanding of the vascular system than the other girls, so she might be the best one for the job. Besides, we had six opportunities to take someone alive, she could have the first go if she wished.

  We hit the highway that led south out of Burlington, the same road that we took to get home, and I drove for about a mile before I pulled the jeep into the trees on the side of the road to hide it.

  “These guys are sporadic,” I reminded the girls as we got out of the jeep and made our way toward the road. “So we might have to wait a while, or they might come in just a minute. Their schedule is so fucked up we can’t be sure, so just be ready.”

  “Roger that,” Anna said as she loaded the chamber of her rifle.

  We all chose positions on either side of the road and went with our group. Anna, Bailey, and Paige were on one side, and Tara and I were on the other side.

  While we waited we sat and snacked on dried meat and drank some water. The sun was high overhead, and it beat down on us to the point where I felt sweat on my brow. The shade from the trees helped some, but I still pulled a bandana out of my bag and tied it around my head to keep my hair off of my forehead.

  “Nice,” Tara said. “I like the bandana look on you.”

  “I need a haircut,” I chuckled.

  “I like your shaggy hair,” the platinum blonde said with a smile, and she reached out and stroked my hair.

  Just then I heard the familiar sound of a jeep, and Tara and I both quickly jumped into position.

  I crouched down just behind the tree line and looked out to the road. There was only one jeep there, and it was moving fairly slowly. The closer it got, I realized that the men inside were passing around a pipe, which was probably why they were driving so slowly.

  I aimed my rifle right at the driver just as he took a hit from the pipe, and after he blew it out I pulled the trigger.

  His head fell backward first, then forward with the acceleration of the jeep. The man in the passenger seat reached for the wheel first, then someone pulled the parking brake so the jeep came to a screeching halt on the pavement.

  These dumbasses didn’t have their weapons ready or anything, but after the jeep stopped they reached for their M16s and a guy in the back got off a few rounds before I heard Bailey’s rifle crack and saw him go down with a shot through the eye.

  The guy in the passenger’s seat ducked down, so I waited for him to pop back up. The girls could handle the last guy in the back, he’d most likely be our injured one.

  The scraggly looking sonofabitch in the passenger’s seat finally popped his head up to see if it was safe, and I took the shot immediately and got him right in the forehead.

  “Clear?” I called out.

  “Yeah,” Anna said.

  “I think I might have killed him by accident,” Paige called out. “Sorry!”

  I searched the jeep, but I only counted three bodies. There was one unaccounted for, so I grabbed my pistol and headed to the back passenger’s seat. The door was closed, but through the window, I could see a dark haired guy in a stained white T-shirt cowering down on the seat with his rifle across his chest. He had a wound on his shoulder, and when he saw me he tried to raise his weapon but it was clear from his sloppy mannerisms that the wound was on his dominant arm, and he had very little control with the other one.

  “Put it down,” I said, and I pulled back the hammer on my pistol.

  “Oh, I did injure him!” Paige said as she ran up next to me.

  “What the fuck,” the man said through ragged breaths. “Is this a fuckin’ game to you?”

  “Get out of the car,” I said as I opened the door.

  “Fuck you,” the guy spat.

  I’d had enough of assholes lately. Before this dude could blink I snatched him up by the front of his shirt, and he screeched in pain as I yanked him from the jeep and threw him down onto the pavement.

  Chapter 13

  “You’re fuckin’ crazy, man,” the guy breathed, so I put my boot on his chest and pointed my pistol at his face.

  He was clearly hopped up on the shit they had just done in the truck. Even in his injured state, his eyes darted around wildly, and he looked like he barely knew what was happening.

  “What’s in New York?” I asked coolly.

  “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’ about,” he spat.

  “Really?” I asked, and I moved my boot so that it was over the wound on his shoulder, and I pressed down hard. The guy screamed in pain and tried to twist away, but I just put more force down. “Now, what’s in New York?”

  “Okay, okay,” he breathed. “Please don’t fuckin’ kill me, man, I don’t wanna die.”

  I rolled my eyes and pushed harder on his wound.

  “Tell me what the fuck is in New York,” I commanded.

  “Okay, okay,” he gasped. “Our boss lives over there.”

  “Where?” I pushed.

  “Port Kent,” the guy breathed. “Across the lake.”

  “Your boss doesn’t live in Lebanon?” I clarified.

  “What?” the guy breathed. “No, Lebanon is shit.”

  “Where in Port Kent does he live?” I asked.

  “Come on, man,” the guy breathed, “I’m fucking dying right now, get me some help at least.”

  “Where the fuck does he live?” I commanded as I pushed my boot into his wound once more.

  “Fuuuuuck,” he groaned and tried to pull in a ragged breath. “It’s a house back at the edge of Port Kent away from the water. It’s got a big fence around it, you can’t miss it.”

  “How many men are there?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said, so I rolled my eyes and pushed my boot in harder. “Ten, I think! Fuck, can you stop doing that?”

  “Make it easy on yourself and just answer the damn questions,” I growled. It amazed me how some of these guys still tried to play loyal even after they’d started to talk. What the hell was the point, did they really think they’d survive this shit? “How do we get there?”

  “What’s the name of the road?” Paige asked from behind me.

  “I don’t know,” he breathed. “I got there by boat, but there are mountains all around, I don’t even think you can get to it by car.”

  “What’s the house look like?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” he breathed, “it’s a dark blue or something. I told you, it’s got a big ass fence around it, you can’t miss it.”

  “How’d this boss guy get so many men to work for him?” I asked. “What’d he offer you, and where’s he getting his supplies?”

  “Can you just get my pipe?” the guy asked, and he pointed to the jeep. “I just need a fuckin’ hit, man. I’m in so much pain.”

  “Answer the question,” I said, “then I’ll get you your drugs.”

  “Alright,” he breathed. “All I know is that some of the guys worked for him before all this shit
popped off.”

  “Before the EMP hit?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he coughed. “I guess he was some kind of drug lord or some shit. I don’t know where he’s getting the supplies, though, I swear. I only went to his place once to drop off some shit. Most of the guys have never even seen him. Now can I have my fuckin’ pipe?”

  I pulled the trigger on my pistol and put a bullet between the guy’s eyes before I turned back to the girls.

  “Fuck,” Paige said. “So this guy’s been doing this for a while.”

  “Seems like it,” I agreed.

  “You think Brody knew him before this?” Anna asked.

  “It’s possible,” I said. “But now at least we know what the hell is in New York.”

  “So, Brody wants to go after the guy in charge?” Tara asked, but her eyebrows pulled together with confusion. “Why wouldn’t he say that to begin with? That doesn’t seem like something you’d need to hide.”

  “Right,” Paige said, “we’d obviously want to take out the guy in charge, too, so that he can’t rebuild this shitshow.”

  “There’s something else to it,” I said. “Brody was involved with this long before we were.”

  “You think he used to be one of these guys?” Bailey asked with a gesture at the dead men in the jeep.

  “Maybe,” I said. “This guy said that most of the men have never even seen the boss, so I bet a lot of them don’t even know where he stays. Brody already knows, and I doubt he found out from a hostage like we just did.”

  “He’s been to the boss’ house,” Paige said.

  “He must have been high up in the ranks,” Anna added.

  “You think he worked for him before the EMP, too?” Bailey asked.

  “I can’t be sure,” I said. “I don’t know when he got out of the service.”

  “Yeah, I bet it’s pretty hard to be a drug addict in the military,” Tara said.

  “Maybe Brody wasn’t on drugs,” Anna said, “but he could have used his military connections to smuggle them or something.”

  I hated to think about Rangers or any military personnel being corrupt, but I knew better than to be naive about the situation. It was definitely possible that Brody used his position in the military to somehow distribute drugs. He could have also gotten out soon after I did, but I couldn’t be totally sure of anything without records.

  “I’m still wondering how the boss guy got so many guns and so much food and stuff,” Bailey said. “I mean, the guys were well armed and well stocked. I get that he made the drugs, but everything else?”

  “I’m wondering about that myself,” I said. “But we got the information that we needed. We’ll worry about the supplies later, for now, let’s move this jeep out of the road and get the next patrol. The sooner we get back to camp the better.”

  The girls nodded and started to pick up bodies and throw them into the woods before we parked the jeep next to our own.

  We made quick work of the next jeeps, and soon we were headed back to our campsite, each of us in a different vehicle since there was no point in leaving them behind.

  When I pulled up to our campsite I saw Brody and his men around the fire, but I didn’t see the women anywhere. I hopped out of the jeep with my hand on my pistol and my eyes on Brody.

  If he had touched a single--

  Before I could finish the thought, some rustling sounded from the trees, and a second later the five women all appeared.

  “Is everyone okay?” I asked, my eyes still on Brody.

  “We’re fine,” the dirty blonde haired girl said. “We just had to use the bathroom.”

  “Alright,” I agreed. “Brody, you took out all of your patrols?”

  “Of course,” he said, and he gestured to the jeeps that were parked further out onto the golf course.

  “Great,” I said, but I still didn’t like that he had made it back before us. There was no telling what the hell he’d been up to while we had to wait for drugged out patrolmen to get down the fucking road.

  “They just got here a few minutes ago,” one of the women said. “We almost shot them at first.”

  Shame you didn’t, I thought. At least I knew then that Brody’s team hadn’t been there long. The less time they had alone, the better.

  “It’ll be dark soon,” Paige said to the women. “Let’s make some dinner, and we can figure everything out in the morning, is that okay?”

  “Alright,” the dirty blonde haired girl said. “I’m Maggie, by the way.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Paige said, and she introduced everyone.

  Tara started some dinner up as everyone gathered around the fire, and Brody pulled out a bottle of his famously terrible vodka to pass around. I declined but nodded to the girls that they could have some if they wanted. The other women took small sips and nearly gagged, but I couldn’t blame them for wanting something to take their mind off all the bullshit for a period of time.

  It was quiet as we sat around the fire, so I thought I’d get the conversation going. I wanted to see what Brody was going to tell us. He had no idea that we knew about New York and the boss, so I’d have to be delicate with the situation.

  “Did you see the science building on your way here earlier?” I asked Brody.

  “Still smoldering,” he assured me.

  “Right,” I said. “We’ll go through all the supplies in the morning, then. I’m just glad to have the whole thing over.”

  “It’s not over yet, brother,” Brody said, and he looked at me with a devious smile.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, feigning surprise to the best of my ability.

  “Yeah,” Anna added. “We got all the patrols and the guys in the yard.”

  “We haven’t got the boss yet,” Brody said.

  “We figured the boss lived in Lebanon,” Paige said, and she pulled her eyebrows together in fake confusion.

  Damn, the girls were good at this.

  “How do you know we haven’t got the boss yet?” Bailey inquired.

  “Because I know where the boss lives,” Brody said.

  “And you’re just now telling us this?” Tara scoffed.

  “Need to know basis,” Brody said with another of his asshole grins.

  “So where’s this boss?” I asked.

  “Port Kent,” Brody said. “I overheard one of the patrol guys saying they’d just got back from his house.”

  “You overheard that today?” Anna asked.

  “Port Kent is across the state line,” Paige said.

  “Good thing I made that deal with you,” Brody said. “That came in handy, didn’t it.”

  “We’ll take out the boss in the morning,” I said. “I don’t want to keep this fight going any longer than I have to, and we need to use the element of surprise while we have it. We have other concerns to deal with.”

  “You’re a busy man,” Brody laughed. “I’m not surprised. Alright, we’ll head out in the morning.”

  “We’ll get the civilians taken care of first thing,” I said.

  “Whatever you say,” Brody told me with a sarcastic smile. “We’re still in your territory, after all.”

  I felt my jaw set as I stared at the bastard from across the fire. He lied through his teeth. I knew damn well that most of the men who worked for the boss had never even seen him, and there was no way that he would have made the New York deal without prior information. He knew that I understood he was fucking with me, but it didn’t matter. He had gotten what he wanted, soon we’d be on his turf.

  It was clear that there was no trust left on either side, but I was one step ahead of him now. I knew where the boss lived, and I knew how many men guarded his place and what it looked like. Brody wouldn’t be able to lie about much else now, and I’d find out just how he knew the boss whether he liked it or not.

  I may be a man of my word, but if he thought I’d abide by some ridiculous deal and allow him to do whatever the hell he wanted just because we’d shaken hands, he was sore
ly mistaken.

  I didn’t make deals with rapists and drug smugglers, I only pretended to.

  And then I killed them.

  Chapter 14

  The next morning we got up early and went back to the outpost. The science building was still smoldering slightly, though there were no flames. The whole first floor was singed, and it looked like the place could collapse at any minute.

  We had plenty of jeeps now, so we loaded up two with supplies for the women. We gave them M16s, ammo, some canned goods and pots and pans that we found in the cafeteria building, and a couple of drums of fuel that we had found as well.

  Brody wasn’t happy about the amount of stuff that we loaded up for them, but the rest was split between our jeeps, so he didn’t have much to complain about. He’d probably doubled his arsenal in the last few days between Lebanon and here, not that he’d get to keep any of it, but still.

  We had found a decent amount of supplies at the outpost, and there was plenty to go around. These guys had a huge food stockpile, plus some water reserves, and enough ammunition for a small army. It made me wonder still how this boss had managed to get so much food and supplies. Did he raid grocery stores as soon as the EMP hit? He was a drug lord before, according to the man we had captured, so it wasn’t completely in left field to think that he might have owned a grocery store to launder his money, but usually, people like that owned a restaurant or some other business where you didn’t have to worry so much about inventory. There had to be something in the guy’s house to tell me how he’d gotten so well supplied, and I was ready to find it.

  Tara had also managed to find some clean clothes for the women. They were men’s clothes, but we thought that would probably be safer for them anyways, so they changed into the shirts and cargo pants and we packed a few more sets for them.

  “I think you’re ready to go,” I said after both jeeps were packed.

  “Thank you,” the strawberry blonde said, “for everything.”

  “Just take care of yourselves,” I said, and I grabbed her small hands in mine.

  “My sister and I have a spot,” she said after a moment, and she looked up at me with hopeful eyes. “A place we decided to meet up at if we ever got separated.”