Without Law 8

by Eric Vall

  “Thank you,” Tara sniffed. “It’s nice to be appreciated for my genius from time to time.”

  “Good Lord,” Paige said with an eye roll.

  “I don’t think I’d push it any farther,” I mock whispered to Tara.

  “I got what I needed,” she whispered back with a grin.

  “You guys know I can hear you, right?” Paige asked with a raised brow.

  “And she says I’m not wise,” Tara said, and we all laughed.

  I continued on down the road, and we passed the bikers’ hideout where I had caused so much mayhem that night I went out on my own. I smiled as I looked at the fucked up town as we drove through. There were charred buildings around, broken down bikes, and more than a few bodies still littering the streets.

  If I could fuck up a whole town of bikers in one night, I was sure I could do just about anything, including save a little boy that needed IV fluid.

  “It’s just a few more miles up ahead,” Paige said, and she pointed in front of us.

  “Alright,” I said with a nod. “We’re going to go in hot.”

  “Is there any other way?” Tara asked with a wicked grin, and she flipped her hair.

  “How long have you been saving that one?” Paige laughed.

  “For-ev-arrr,” Tara laughed.

  “Alright,” I chuckled. “I’m serious. We need to be in and out as quickly as possible. We don’t know how Frank’s condition is progressing, and the Guard are on the move as we speak.”

  “It’s pretty dark,” Paige said, and she pursed her lips. “Do you think the Guard is still out right now?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But we can’t risk it either way. I know it’s dark, but it’s still early in the day, the days are just shorter now.”

  “Right,” the brunette said. “In and out.”

  “Let’s do it,” Tara said with a grin.

  I looked over at my girls and smiled at them both. Frank was going to be just fine, that’s what I had to keep telling myself.

  I wouldn’t let that little boy die. Not if I could help it.

  Chapter 5

  I pulled up to the small town that Paige had directed us to. It was eerily quiet when I stopped the truck, only the sound of the rain on the windshield broke through the silence, and without any street lights to illuminate the town it was strangely dark and uncomfortable.

  “This place gives me the creeps,” Tara said, and her mouth twisted into an uncomfortable frown.

  “Everything gives you the creeps,” Paige said, but her voice was flat as she stared out at the small town.

  “You’re creeped out too,” Tara said. “Just admit it.”

  “This place does have a certain vibe…” I said, and I looked around the empty town.

  “Even Tav thinks this place is weird,” the platinum blonde said, and she gestured to me.

  “I think it’s just the darkness,” Paige said with a small shrug that didn’t come across as nonchalant as I thought she meant it to.

  “That and the fact that I haven’t heard a single sound since we’ve been here,” Tara said, and she shivered. “Silence freaks me out.”

  “You’re the ninja of the group,” Paige chuckled. “How can silence freak you out?”

  “I don’t mind being quiet,” the platinum blonde said. “But when everything else is quiet, that’s when it gets spooky.”

  “Let’s get over to the hospital,” I said. “We’ll try to make this quick.”

  “Alright,” Paige said with a nod. “It’s just across the street there.”

  The brunette pointed to a small building with a red plus sign on it.

  “That place is tiny,” Tara said with wide eyes. “Are you sure it’s not an urgent care or something?”

  “It’s technically a hospital,” Paige said, and she pursed her lips. “And the closest other one is in Burlington.”

  “Well,” the platinum blonde said with a shrug. “Let’s give it a try.”

  “Let’s try to be a bit more hopeful,” I chuckled. “Maybe since it’s so small nobody even noticed it.”

  “It’s our only option right now,” Paige agreed.

  “Alright,” I said. “Have your weapons ready, let’s clear the place first.”

  “What’s our order?” Paige asked.

  “I’ll go in first to the left,” I said. “Paige you’re behind me to the right, and Tara will come up the middle.”

  “Got it,” the platinum blonde said, and she pulled her pistol out from her holster.

  “Yup,” Paige said, and she pulled her own pistol out as well.

  “Let’s go,” I said with a grin, and I pulled out my side arm, hopped out of the truck, and ran across the street toward the small hospital building.

  The girls were close behind me, and I didn’t stop to brief them, I simply gestured inside. I tried the glass door and found it unlocked, so I stepped in and flanked left, and Paige followed to the right.

  Tara came up the middle as instructed, and we cleared each room before settling back into the lobby.

  “I can’t believe this place is only one floor,” Tara said as she looked around at the rubbish that littered the hallways.

  “Yeah,” Paige said with a nod. “And they left the door unlocked.”

  “It looks like people have already been here,” I said, and I looked around once more.

  “You think?” Tara said sarcastically, and she gestured to the flipped over chairs in the lobby, and the empty pill bottles on the floor.

  “Still,” I said. “I think most people would have been looking for meds, not IV bags. There’s a chance there’s still some here.”

  “If there are any they’d probably be in a supply closet,” Paige said.

  “I didn’t see one when we cleared the place,” Tara said, and her brows pinched together.

  “Neither did I,” I said, and I pursed my lips. “Let’s split up. But keep your weapon drawn, if we didn’t see the supply closet we could have missed an area.”

  “Okay,” the platinum blonde said, and she headed down the hallway to our left.

  “I’ll take right,” Paige said, and she headed down the opposite hallway.

  That left me to look down the center hallway, so I walked down with my pistol drawn in search of a supply room of some sort.

  All I found were empty patient rooms with beds at all sorts of strange angles as if somebody had been in a rush and pushed them out of the way of the door. The rooms had a strange smell, like old bleach and decay, and it made my nose burn as I rechecked each closet and bathroom attached to the rooms.

  “Over here,” Paige called.

  “What did you find?” I asked as I headed back down the hallway.

  “I think we’re fucked,” she sighed as I made my way to where she stood in front of an open door at the end of the hallway.

  “What?” Tara asked as she joined us.

  “This was the supply closet,” Paige said, and she closed the door to show us the sign on the front.

  “We cleared it without even reading it,” Tara said, and she sighed deeply.

  “It’s empty,” Paige said, and she opened the door once more for Tara and I to look in.

  The closet had nothing left but a few bandages and gauze pads that must have fallen out when somebody ransacked the place.

  “Fuck,” I cursed, and I pushed a hand through my hair.

  “Did you guys find anything?” Paige asked hopefully.

  “Nothing down my end,” I said with a shake of my head.

  “Mine neither,” Tara said.

  “Let’s take one more look around,” I said firmly. “Look in every drawer, cabinet, whatever.”

  “Alright,” Paige said with a fervent nod. “Maybe somebody stashed something away.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” I said.

  We all worked quickly to go through the hospital once more, but when we met back at the front desk all we had found were some needles, latex gloves in a size large, m
edical tape, and gauze pads.

  “Fuck,” I said, and I bit my lip.

  “You said the next closest hospital is in Burlington?” Tara asked.

  “Yeah,” Paige said with a sad nod. “But going around the long way would take so much extra time.”

  “What about a vet’s office?” the platinum blonde asked. “I remember when I was a kid my dog Toodles got sick, and we had to take him to the vet, and they had him hooked up to a little IV thing when I went to visit him.”

  “Paige?” I asked, and I looked over to the brunette.

  “It’s possible they would have some,” Paige said with a surprised look. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before.”

  “Would it be the same stuff as what we need?” I asked.

  “It should be,” Paige said with a nod.

  “Is there a vets office nearby?” I asked.

  “Let me see,” the brunette said, and she set her backpack down, pulled out a map, and scooted some trash out of the way to set it on the floor. “It looks like there’s one across town.”

  “Let’s go,” I said with a grin.

  “Oh, my God,” Paige said as she put the map away, stood up, and kissed Tara dramatically on her forehead. “You are a genius!”

  “I know,” the platinum blonde said with a smile.

  “Come on,” I laughed. “We don’t have time to waste.”

  I stepped out into the rain just as thunder cracked overhead, and I sprinted back to the truck with the girls behind me.

  “Fuck, it’s cold out there,” Tara said with a shiver.

  “Paige, which direction do I need to go?” I asked as I fired up the truck.

  “Head straight,” the brunette said as she pulled out the map once more. “The town isn’t big, it’s about eight blocks down.”

  “Alright,” I said with a nod, and the truck lurched forward as I pressed on the gas.

  I hurried across the small town until I saw the veterinary hospital sign to my left, then I pulled the truck over and cut off the engine. Once again, the rain sounded on the windshield, but this time I was too hopeful to think about the eerie silence that surrounded this abandoned town.

  “Ready?” I asked, and I looked over to the girls.

  “Ready,” they said in unison, and they both had their sidearms drawn already.

  “Same order as last time,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  I hopped out of the truck and ran over to the front of the building, and the girls were right on my tail as I reached the entrance. I hadn’t seen any broken windows, so I figured the front door would most likely be open like it had been at the hospital. The EMP must have caused a huge panic, especially when people were told to evacuate up to the Burlington camp, so I wasn’t surprised that local businesses had been left untouched.

  I put my finger to my lips, and the girls nodded, then I reached for the door handle, but I had barely pulled it open when I heard a crash from inside.

  The girls looked at me with wide eyes, and I slowly closed the door once again, and led them to the side of the building.

  “There’s somebody in there,” Paige whispered once we were pressed against the side of the building under the cover of the roof.

  “Maybe it’s an animal,” Tara said, and she accidentally leaned forward so the rain coming off the roof splashed on the top of her head. “Shit.”

  “Any animal left alone in there would be dead by now,” I said with a shake of my head.

  “Oh,” Paige said with sad, wide eyes.

  “Sorry,” I said with a small smile. “It’s true though.”

  “He’s right,” Tara said with a nod. “It has to be a person.”

  “There’s a window down there,” Paige said, and she pointed behind me. “Maybe we can see.”

  “Good idea,” I whispered. “Stay close and stay low.”

  The girls nodded, and I led us to the window and crouched down in front of it so just my eyes were above the window sill. The girls crouched next to me, and my eyes narrowed as I watched the strangeness occuring inside.

  There were three people in view, two men and one woman. They all had on ratty clothes, but they weren’t wet so they had probably been there awhile. Each of them looked sickly thin and pale, with scabs on their faces and necks.

  “There has to be another bottle in here!” one of the men yelled, and he flipped over a chair.

  “Do you think they’re sick?” Tara whispered.

  “I’m not sure,” I said, but I doubted that they were sick with anything but withdrawal.

  “They could be looking for medicine too,” the platinum blonde said.

  “I don’t think so,” I said as we watched the frail group inside trash the place in search of whatever it was they were looking for.

  “I found one!” the woman yelled, and she crawled up from under the front desk with a small vial clutched in her thin hands.

  “Good job, Roni,” one of the men said, and he snatched the vial away from her.

  “I should get first go,” the woman said. “Since I’m the one who found it.”

  “I’ll get first go since I’m the one cookin’ it,” the man snapped. “You can go second.”

  “Fuck you guys,” the third guy said, but they all sat down on the floor, and the man with the vial pulled out a spoon and a lighter.

  “Still think they’re looking for medicine?” Paige whispered sarcastically to Tara.

  “What are they doing?” the platinum blonde whispered back, and she turned to look at me with wide eyes.

  “I don’t know what they have,” I said, and I shook my head. “But whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

  I led the girls back to the side of the building, and the rain came down off the roof right in front of our faces once more.

  “Should we wait for them to be done?” Tara asked.

  “Why would we wait?” Paige asked with shock.

  “I don’t know,” Tara said with a shrug. “Maybe it will, like, make them fall asleep or something.”

  “If it’s a kind of amphetamine it will do the opposite,” the brunette warned.

  “What do you mean the opposite?” Tara asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Did you ever see that news thing about the guy in Florida who ate the other guys face off?” Paige asked dryly.

  “What the fuck?” Tara said with wide eyes.

  “I’m guessing not then,” Paige chuckled softly.

  “He literally ate someone’s face off?” the platinum blonde asked with shock, and she looked back and forth between Paige and I.

  “I’m afraid so,” I said as I tried to stifle a laugh at her outrage.

  “Well, fuck,” Tara breathed. “We need to get in there and fuck those people up. I can’t get my face eaten off.”

  “Alright,” I said seriously. “We need to save Frank, so let’s get in there and take them out.”

  “Same positions as before?” Paige asked.

  “Yes,” I said with a nod. “And there could be more than the three, so be on the lookout.”

  “Okay,” Paige said.

  “Let’s get these face eating assholes,” Tara said with narrowed eyes.

  “I mean, that was only one instance,” Paige said, but Tara narrowed her eyes harder at her, and she backpedaled. “I mean, uh, yeah, let’s get these face eaters.”

  “Right,” the platinum blonde said with a nod.

  “Okay,” I said with a laugh. “Let’s go.”

  I led my small team back to the front entrance, and gave them one last look over before I opened the door. They both had their weapons in hand, but pointed at the ground, and each of them had a hard look of determination I had grown accustomed to seeing on them before battle.

  I nodded at the girls and they nodded back at me, then I opened the door quickly and flanked left. Paige followed to my right, and Tara up the middle.

  “It’s my turn!” I heard the woman yell and then I motioned to the girls to walk forward.
/>   “I’m not done with my part!” one of the men yelled back, and it was followed by the sounds of a struggle.

  As we rounded the corner we saw the three drug addicts in a battle for their fix. The man was on the ground holding the rusty spoon, trying to get the powder on it into his nose through a cut off straw while the woman was on top of him, attempting to pull the spoon toward her. The last man was trying to get the last drops of liquid out of the vial and rub it on his gums.

  We watched for a moment as the strange fight continued, and the girls turned to look at me with grimaces on their faces. I shook my head and raised my pistol, and the girls followed suit.

  Each of us fired off a round, I took the man on the floor, Tara had the woman on top of him, and Paige took out the third guy. Each of them went down with a head shot, and the guy on the floor’s face dropped so the straw went directly up his nose, but I’m sure much farther than he had originally intended.

  My ears rang from the sound of Paige and my pistols, and I shook my head to try and recalibrate myself.

  “It was like they didn’t even notice us,” Tara said as she stared at the bodies.

  “Let’s see what they were fighting over,” Paige said with amusement as she walked over to the third guy and took the vial out of his hand.

  “What is it?” Tara asked, and she moved over to the brunette to look at the bottle.

  “Ketamine,” Paige said, and she gave me smirk.

  “What does that mean?” Tara asked, and she looked over to me. “What is it?”

  “It’s known on the street as special K,” I said.

  “Like the cereal?” the platinum blonde asked with a raised brow.

  “Yeah,” I chuckled. “Like the cereal.”

  “What does it do?” Tara asked.

  “It’s an anesthetic of sorts,” Paige explained. “They used it in Vietnam for surgeries.”

  “Why would somebody want that?” the platinum blonde asked with confusion.

  “If you boil it, it becomes a white powder,” I said. “You snort the powder, and it makes you hallucinate.”

  “They call it a K hole,” Paige said, and she shook her head.

  “Gross,” Tara said. “Also, how do you know that shit? I didn’t take you for a party girl.”

  “I read about it in Party Monster,” Paige chuckled. “In the 90s people used to use it at clubs.”