Without Law 3

by Eric Vall

  We pulled back into town about five minutes later. The rest of the bodies had been stripped and piled up for transport.

  “You guys find a good spot to burn these guys?” Rolly asked as we stepped out of the truck.

  “Yeah, up the road,” I said.

  “Well I think we gathered up the last of the guys here in town,” Paige said.

  “We found tons of stuff on these guys,” Tara said.

  “Yeah, they had lots of ammo,” Bailey said. “Maybe we can get in some more time at the range soon.”

  “Yeah, we need to stay sharp even when there isn’t any immediate danger,” I said. Then I started to load the bodies into the back of the truck.

  The girls quickly stepped in to help me, and a couple of minutes later we had all of the bikers packed into the blood covered truck bed.

  “Do we all have to go along to burn these guys?” Bailey asked as she pulled off the gore stained gloves.

  “No, you girls head back up to the campus and get cleaned up,” I said. “Rolly and I can take it from here.” I turned to the handyman. “If you’re okay with that anyway.”

  “Of course,” he said with a nod. “Burning these dead idiots up won’t bother me much.”

  “That's what I thought,” I said with a grin.

  The girls said goodbye, and wandered their way up the hill while Rolly and I headed back to where the rest of the bodies were.

  We pushed them all out of the back, moved the truck a safe distance away, dosed the pile in lighter fluid taken from the shed, and used a zippo to start the fire.

  Rolly and I stood there a moment as the bodies started to go up in flames. The air filled with the horrid stench of burning hair and cooking flesh.

  “That’s worse than I thought it would be,” Rolly said as he placed a hand over his mouth.

  “Yeah, it’s not a fun smell,” I agreed. “Let’s get out of here. We don’t have to watch this.”

  The old man nodded and followed me back to the truck. I had one last look at the funeral pyre and was glad this was over. I was not naïve enough to think that they were the only dangerous group we would ever encounter, but at least they would no longer be a threat to us or the surrounding area. We could sleep a little easier at night knowing all that was left of them was a burned pile of bones.

  Neither of us spoke as we made our way back to the others. The events of the morning left us feeling a bit more somber than we had upon waking up. However, as we rolled up the hill our mood lightened as we saw the girls.

  Anna, Paige, Bailey, and Tara were spread out on the courtyard lawn with their faces to the sky. They all laughed and chatted among themselves until they noticed us pull up.

  Behind them was our pile of loot. Based on the ATV sitting nearby, I guessed the girls had hauled it up here with the little trailer.

  “Nice to see you again,” Anna called out to us. “Want to come join us on the grass?”

  “Yeah, it’s a nice day for a little sunbathing,” Bailey said.

  “I even, like, have some tanning lotion if you want it,” Tara added.

  “Tempting offer, but I think I might want to go clean up first,” I replied with a grin.

  “Well hurry up then,” Paige said.

  Rolly and I looked at each other and laughed. It felt good to laugh after the chaos of the previous day.

  “I don’t suppose you girls left any warm water in the showers did you?” I asked.

  “Nope, sorry,” Bailey said.

  “Yeah, it was tough enough just making the water last for four people,” Anna said.

  “We had to share,” Tara grinned.

  “It’s true, Tara and I had to fit into that small space together,” Paige said.

  “I’m sad I couldn’t see that,” I said with a smirk.

  “We could do it again sometime,” Tara purred.

  “I’m not sure Tav would be able to fit in there with us though,” Paige said.

  “He’s used to squeezing into tight spaces,” Tara purred.

  “True,” Paige laughed. “If it’s wet enough, we can make him fit.”

  “Okay… I am starting to think that their shower was more exciting than ours,” Anna said with a raised eyebrow as she looked at her blonde haired hippie friend.

  “Don’t worry, it wasn’t as exciting as you’re imagining,” Paige chuckled.

  “Yeah, but maybe next time it will be,” Tara purred as she winked at me.

  “Not that this isn’t entertaining, but I really want to go get cleaned up,” Rolly said as he placed an arm on my shoulder. “I’m going to go get a bath in.”

  “I won’t be far behind you,” I said as he headed off towards the dorm. “Will you guys be good here for a little while?”

  “We just spent the morning cleaning up after the last people who thought they could mess with us, so I think we’ll be fine,” Anna said with a smirk.

  “Fair point,” I chuckled. “Alright, enjoy the afternoon then. I’ll be back soon enough.”

  “Hurry back,” Tara said.

  “Yeah, we have to celebrate our win at some point,” Paige said.

  “Don’t worry, there is still lots of time left today,” I said.

  “Well go on then,” Bailey said. “The sooner you leave, the sooner you can come back to us.”

  “Yeah, get your ass moving,” Anna teased.

  “Alright, I’m going,” I chuckled. Then I went up to my room, grabbed some fresh clothes and toiletries, and headed for the stream. I took my time on the walk to enjoy the peace of the forest, and once I got to the stream, I met up with Rolly. Then I took a nice long bath and spent a while giving myself a thorough scrub. It felt good to wash away the grime of the dead, and even the chilly water felt nice after the mornings work.

  I stepped out of the stream refreshed, gathered my dirty clothes, and headed back to the girls.

  We spent the afternoon together and drank in celebration of our victory. Once the sun started to set Tara volunteered to make dinner. The rest of us offered to help, but she insisted that she do it alone. She said that it was her way to thank the rest of us for all we had done.

  Despite our newfound safety, we still didn’t drink too hard, but when Tara came to us and said that dinner was ready we all had a nice buzz going. We all met around the fire as Tara started to cut up a large slab of deer. She also had a large pot with some sort of soup prepared from canned veggies and stewed meat.

  “So what do you think is going to happen now?” Paige asked as she settled in with her plate of meat and a bowl of soup.

  “I think we are going to eat,” Rolly said with a smile.

  “You know what I mean.” Paige rolled her eyes.

  “That’s a good question,” Anna said. “We were so focused on the bikers and our defenses that I feel kinda lost knowing we are done with that.”

  “There is still lots to do,” I said. “We don’t need an enemy to stay prepared.”

  “No, of course not,” Paige said. “It would be dumb for us to get lazy now.”

  “Still doesn’t answer the question of what we are going to do next,” Tara said before she took a spoonful of soup. A wide smile spread across her face, and she let out a content moan.

  “Well, we need to set up trade with Betty,” I said.

  “We should probably do that soon,” Rolly said. “She was kind enough to send some stuff back with us when we didn’t have anything to give her.”

  “We’ll pay her back,” I said.

  “I know,” Rolly said. “I just think we should do it soon.”

  “A little eager to get back there are you?” Anna asked with a smile.

  “Maybe,” Rolly muttered as he looked intently into his soup.

  “Aww, watching you get all shy is just so damn cute,” Tara said.

  “Hey, be nice,” I warned gently.

  “I am!” Tara insisted. “I want him to be happy. He’s so cute!”

  “It’s just always kind of fun to see older peo
ple deal with relationship stuff,” Bailey said.

  “Exactly,” Tara added with a nod.

  “Well there isn’t much of a relationship there yet,” Rolly said. “Our first meeting started a bit rough, and we couldn’t stick around long.”

  “Don’t worry, I am pretty sure she likes you,” I said. “You can find out for yourself when we go back.”

  “We should probably bring along some of the guns we got off the bikers,” Rolly said.

  “That’s what I was thinking,” I said. “We certainly have enough extra hardware now.”

  “Plus, nothing speaks to a girl like firepower,” Anna said with a smile.

  “Well I don’t know about that,” Rolly said. “I know I’m old fashioned, but I am pretty sure flowers are still popular.”

  “Aw, man, that’s so sweet,” Tara said.

  “Yeah, how come you never get us flowers, Tav?” Paige teased.

  “I got you all guns and taught you how to use them. Isn’t that kinda like flowers?” I gave the girls a silly smile.

  “Not really, but I guess I’ll take it,” Anna said.

  “Plus, that’s not all I plan to get you guys,” I said. “I’m going to get a water tank for you soon.”

  “That’s true, you do often get us practical gifts,” Bailey said.

  “I suppose you did, like, help us make a shower,” Tara added.

  “We can forgive you for forgetting the flowers then,” Paige teased.

  “Much appreciated,” I chuckled. “Though it’s pretty clear that one shower isn’t enough.”

  “We realized that one pretty fast,” Paige said.

  “Then we should get a second stall built soon,” I said. “They don’t take that long, and we have all the stuff needed to do it.”

  “That would be nice,” Rolly said. “I haven't gotten to try it out yet, and I would really like a hot shower. Especially after today. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we have the stream, but that water still isn’t warm.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that,” Bailey said. “We have been hogging the shower lately.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll sort that problem out soon,” I said. “We should have a bit more free time to get all our projects done now.”

  “Where do we stand on our water purification stuff?” Paige asked.

  “Betty has a nice large tank for us up at her farm,” I said. “After we get that we can pull some nice big hot water heaters from town and get a system in place.”

  “What about the greenhouse?” Bailey asked.

  “No reason we can’t get that done soon too,” I said.

  “Maybe we could get some seeds or starters from Betty,” Anna said. “That would help kickstart our greenhouse and garden.”

  “Oh shit!” Bailey said. “I forgot about the garden.”

  “Hey, it’s alright,” I smiled. “This last week has been a little busy, but all of our projects are still there.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Bailey said.

  “It’s okay, we had a busy week,” I replied.

  “That’s an understatement,” Paige chuckled.

  “Kinda feels weird just going back to what we were doing before yesterday,” Anna said.

  “I get that,” Tara said. “At least we know our training paid off.”

  “Hell yeah it did,” Paige said with a grin.

  “You guys kicked some serious ass,” I said.

  “Fuck yeah,” Bailey cheered.

  “Well here’s to you guys,” Rolly said as he set down his empty plate and pulled out what little bourbon he had left.

  “No, here’s to us,” I said as I picked up a bottle of whiskey. “You helped too, old man.”

  The girls grabbed a bottle, or a cup of their chosen mixed drink, and joined us in a toast.

  “To our victory,” Anna cheered.

  We all loudly echoed her words, and then simultaneously took a drink.

  “You know, our home is safe, at least for now, so why don’t we worry about what the future holds tomorrow,” I suggested.

  “You’re right,” Paige agreed. “We worked hard and deserve a night off.”

  “Yeah, let’s party,” Tara said.

  With that all talk of future plans, and worries about what came next, were put aside. Instead we spent the rest of the night enjoying each others’ company, listening to Tara play the piano, and just reveling in the fact that we were all still alive.

  There was no doubt in my mind that more trouble would find us. When it did, we would have to be ready, but those were worries for another day. So I let myself relax and enjoy all that we had fought to protect, because there was no point in surviving if we could not stop to enjoy all we had accomplished now and again.

  Tomorrow, there would be more work.

  End of book 3

  End Notes

  Thank you for reading Without Law 3. If you enjoyed the book, please leave me a nice review here. Reviews really help attract readers to new series, so if you think others should read this, the best way to let them know is by leaving a positive review.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Eric Vall