Without law 11, p.22
Without Law 11, page 22
“Yeah,” I agreed as I moved my binoculars over to watch them, “but we’ve only seen jeeps out on patrol, and those are military trucks.”
“I haven’t seen a patrol unit that had a military truck in it,” Paige said. “Not yet at least.”
“That seems like overkill,” Anna added.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “I don’t think they’re heading out on patrol.”
“Where could they be going, then?” Bailey asked.
“Maybe they’re sending a group up to Burlington to get drugs or something?” Paige suggested.
“I think I know where they’re going,” Brody said grimly.
“You think they’re headed to the refinery?” Anna asked.
“I’m sure of it,” he said. “They wouldn’t send military trucks out to scout or patrol. That has to be where they’re going.”
“That’s possible,” I said, “but we don’t have any evidence that that’s where they’re headed right now.”
“If it is, then they’ll take that road,” Brody said, and he pointed down to one of the roads that led out of town. “That’s the quickest way to the refinery.”
“They’re not leaving right this second,” I said. “If you’re right, then it’ll be helpful to see what exactly we’re up against.”
We watched as they continued to load up the vehicles with some boxes, ammo, and extra firearms. These guys were definitely about to head out on a mission, and my gut told me that Brody was right that they were headed toward the refinery. Even if they had other places to try to take over, the refinery would be the biggest issue they had right then, without it they would eventually run out of fuel, and then their whole operation would be fucked. It made sense that they wanted it back sooner rather than later.
I watched as the second military truck was loaded with supplies and men, but nothing had been put in the third truck yet, and I watched it curiously.
“Are they only bringing the two?” Bailey asked.
“No,” I said, “they wouldn’t have brought the third out if they didn’t plan on using it.”
“What the hell are they going to put in it, then?” Anna asked. “A fuckin’ cannon?”
“More like a howitzer like Brody has,” Paige said.
“Shit,” Anna said.
“I don’t think they have a howitzer,” I said, “or we would have seen it by now. Besides, that would be a bitch to move.”
“Everyone else seems ready to go,” Tara said. “What are they waiting on?”
I scanned the area with my binoculars, and after a moment I saw what they waited on. A few men led a group of women out of one of the buildings.
“Shit,” I cursed, and I felt my jaw tense.
The women had rope around their arms, and they were all tied together. The man pulled them along, and when one of them fell into the dirt he pulled the rope again, so the others had to lift her up so they could keep going.
“Oh, fuck no,” Tara said.
“Is that what they were waiting for?” Bailey asked. “But why? Why would they bring them?”
Several reasons popped into my head, and the first was that if they were trying to trade with Brody, then those women could be a bargaining chip. I hated the idea of it, but it was possible, though I didn’t have any evidence of it yet. The second reason I thought of was that these assholes planned to stay a while after they took back the refinery, and those women were there for their own personal enjoyment. No matter the reason, I wasn’t about to let this shit slide.
And if they had those five women in there, then there were probably more that would be left in Lebanon.
The man shoved the women into the back of the third vehicle, then knocked on it twice. The trucks took off, and I waited to see which direction they would go.
“They’re going to go to the refinery,” Brody said. “I can just feel it.”
“Why would they bring the women with them, though?” Bailey asked.
“Probably as their own personal play things,” Paige said, and the disgust in her voice was all I could hear.
“They probably have more in there, too,” Tara said.
“That was my thought as well,” I said. “But right now we need to get those women out of there. We’ll come back for the rest. If they head to the refinery, how do we cut them off?”
“Hang on,” Paige said, and she pulled her maps out of her bag. “There’s a couple of routes they could take, but probably Highway 4.”
“That’s the road I was telling you,” Brody said with a point.
“Great,” I said. “And is there a way we could cut them off?”
“Uh,” the brunette said as she looked over the small lines on the map. “Yes, it looks like there’s a back road that we could take.”
“Keep that handy,” I told her. “We may need it. If they head to the refinery, then we’ll take that back road and cut them off.”
I held my breath as I watched the trucks go through the gate, then turn through the city until they finally took the road that Brody had gestured to before.
“Fuck,” I said. “Let’s go.”
I quickly crawled over to the door with my team right behind me, and as soon I was inside I started to rush down the stairs.
“The road they took?” Anna asked. “Is it highway 4?”
“Yeah,” Paige answered.
“There’s a ski lodge over there,” Anna said. “The road is really narrow through that gorge, if we can get there before them then we might be able to cut them off.”
“Good idea, a tight gorge is the best place for an ambush,” Paige said. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“We should’ve pulled the jeep up over here,” Tara said as we ran.
Since we had taken the main road into town, it wasn’t as long of a trip back to the jeep, and the running didn’t hurt, either, so we made it back to the alcove in about ten minutes.
“Get in,” I shouted as we came up on the jeep.
I hopped into the driver's seat and Brody took the passenger while the girls hopped in the back.
“Paige,” I said, “where do I go?”
The brunette already had her maps out, and she bit her lip as she looked down at them, then she quickly looked up and pointed down the road back toward home.
“That way,” she shouted.
I peeled out of the alcove and dirt and gravel flew behind us as I whipped the jeep onto the main road and took off.
“How long of a drive is it?” Anna asked.
“It’s about an hour,” Paige said. “But if we speed, we should be able to get there before they do.”
“Let’s count on that,” I said as I pushed down harder on the gas pedal.
The roads were winding and didn’t have marked signs as we went along, and Paige gave me directions every now and then.
“Anna,” I said after a while. “You know this place?”
“Yeah,” she said, “I used to go there all the time in winter.”
“And you said the road is pretty narrow there?” I asked.
“We could block it easily,” she assured me.
“What’s our plan when we get there?” Brody asked.
“We’re going to make sure that we have cover first off,” I said. “If we have time we’ll try to block the road, but if not we need to make sure that we have good angles to take out anyone on the road.”
“There’s plenty of trees around there,” Anna said. “Cover shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Once these guys are out of the picture, won’t they send more?” Bailey asked.
“Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe they’ll learn to not fuck with us. Either way, since they brought the women I think they’re planning on staying for a while.”
“That’s good, then,” Anna said. “That gives us more time to prepare the refinery.”
“What have you done to fortify it?” Bailey asked Brody.
“I’ve been out scouting,” he said, “I haven’t had time to implement extra measures of protection.”
“We’ll need to do that right away,” I said, “but first off we need to save those women that are stuck in that truck. Brody, where’s your vehicle?”
“It’s a few miles down past your campsite,” he said.
“That’s too far,” I said. “Hop in with us, you can come get yours after this is over.”
“Thanks, brother,” Brody said.
I couldn’t even fathom what those women had been through. It absolutely broke me up to think about the way that the world had gone after the EMP. Men who kept women as slaves were no men at all in my book. The idea made me sick, and it reminded me of when I first met the girls and Rolly, and how they had been cornered by those bikers. They were going to kill Rolly and take the girls, they had said as much, and the thought still made my blood boil.
Now they were strong women who knew how to protect themselves, and I tried to make sure that all the women on campus at least knew how to use a gun, but still, they’d had to suffer so much before that.
I shook my head as I drove to push the thought away. I needed a clear head to take out these assholes.
The back road that Paige had taken us on was surrounded by trees and rock walls, and the road twisted and curved around so I had to constantly slow down and speed up.
I was antsy to get there before the caravan. If we stood any chance of taking them out, it was by getting the jump on them. We could try to take them out on the road, but with three of them and one of us, the odds weren’t good, even with our skills, they had too many men and too much firepower. There were at least eight men in each of the first two trucks, and four in the last one, and we had watched them load up plenty of ammo and weapons.
I took another sharp turn, and my tires squealed from the speed, but I just kept on going. The girls were quiet in the back, and I knew they were focused on what they had to do.
I looked over at Brody, and his face seemed determined, but something about his demeanor was off to me. All of my girls were pissed, but they were making an attempt to remain calm so they had a clear head. Brody, though, it seemed like he was busy thinking about other things instead of focusing on what we were about to do.
I didn’t know if he really had just been out of the game for too long, or what, but he needed to find his game face, and fast. If we were about to go into battle with him, then I needed him focused. I had meant what I said earlier, I wouldn’t have him putting my girls in danger, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take him out if I felt that he was about to. I didn’t want it to come to that, but my girls were more important than anything.
“You okay?” I asked Brody.
“Hm?” he asked. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“Turn up here,” Paige said. “We should be there in a minute.”
“Time to rock and roll, motherfuckers,” Brody said with a grin and a clap of his hands.
For his sake, I hoped he was ready.
Chapter 16
“There,” Anna said with a point. “On your right!”
The ski resort sat off to the side of the road, hidden behind some trees. The main road was out in front of it, and a large mountain was on the other side.
I pulled the jeep around to the back of the resort and hopped out.
“Alright,” I said. “Everybody remember that there are civilians in the last truck.”
“Right,” Anna agreed.
“We need to be especially careful not to hit them,” I said.
Brody made a sort of scoffing sound then, but I ignored him. Whatever thoughts he had about trying to keep civilians out of harm's way versus taking your shot when you had it, well, those weren’t thoughts I needed to hear right then. I might just take a shot at him if he tried to excuse firing at innocent civilians.
“We got it,” Tara told me with a nod.
“Bailey, let’s put together your Barrett again,” I said as I pushed Brody out of my mind and focused on the situation at hand.
“Got it,” she agreed.
“We’ll find somewhere for you to set up,” I said, “and if you can take down their trucks, then please do so.”
“I will,” she said. “But I’ll have my M14 handy, too.”
“Great,” I told her. “Anna, Paige, you’re on the right hand side.”
“Got it,” the redhead said.
“Tara, you’re with me on the left hand side,” I said.
“Okay,” the platinum blonde agreed as she checked the magazine in her rifle.
“Do we have time to block the road?” Anna asked.
“I don’t want to risk it,” I said. “And we can’t block it with our jeep. We’ll have to take them out the old fashioned way.”
“Roger that,” the redhead said with a nod.
“Where do you want me?” Brody asked with a cocky smile.
I thought for a moment. I knew he didn’t really want me to tell him where to go, but I couldn’t have him get in the way of my team since he was too much of a liability as it was.
“Wherever you want to go,” I told him. “Just stay out of everyone else’s shot.”
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” he said with a wicked grin.
I didn’t like going into battle with people I didn’t trust, and I especially didn’t like that my girls were part of it, but I had to trust him, at least until he did something to put someone in danger.
“Let’s get going,” I said. “Bailey, I’ll help you set up the Barrett, everyone else find your posts.”
I grabbed the Barrett case from the back of the jeep and headed to the front of the ski resort.
“Where do you want to be?” I asked my sniper.
“Top window up there,” she said as she pointed to the resort.
“Let’s go,” I said.
The place seemed intact, and I figured nobody had really come through here since the EMP hit. The windows were still there, and the door was locked, but it was mostly made of glass so I used the barrel of my rifle to break it open and we stepped inside.
I led Bailey up the stairs until we reached the top floor of the resort. It was a swanky room, with couches and a fireplace, and the whole front wall was made of glass so you could look out and see the mountain across the street.
Bailey and I quickly put together the large .50 cal rifle, and set it up so she had a good shot at the road.
“You’re okay up here by yourself?” I asked.
“Definitely,” she told me. “Go take your post.”
“Alright,” I said, “you know what to do if you get into trouble.”
“I got it,” she assured me, “now go. We don’t know how much time we have left.”
I nodded and rushed back down the stairs. I knew Bailey was right, and I knew she was capable, but I still hated to leave her on her own. That was the curse of a sniper, though, you most often worked alone unless you were lucky enough to have a spotter.
I made my way back outside and looked around, but I didn’t see anybody.
“Reveal your locations,” I called out, and everybody stood up.
Paige was over to the right of the building behind a bunch of trees, and I looked it over quickly to make sure she had enough cover. Anna was a hundred feet away from Paige and further up toward the road behind a boulder so she had a shot that would hit the front of their vehicles. And Tara was to the left of the building behind some trees, but she would have a good shot on whoever came around the curve.
They had done well, so I told them to get back to their stations, and I went to take my place. I headed over toward Tara, but I went further out than she did, and up closer to the road. I wanted to be able to take out any of the guys who tried to jump from the back of the truck. There were at least eight in each vehicle, so we had a decent fight on our hands, and we knew they were well armed.
I realized once I was in my spot that Brody hadn’t revealed himself.
Shit.
I wanted to know where he was. Partially because I didn’t trust him, and partially because I needed to know where everyone on my team was in order to know if they were put in danger or under fire. I didn’t want to risk calling out to him now, and even if I did there was no guarantee he’d reveal where he was, he hadn’t the first time.
The girls had chosen good hiding spots, and since we had the element of surprise, I figured the fight should go fairly quickly, but they also had a truck filled with innocent women, and we had to make sure that we kept them out of harm's way. I wouldn’t put it past these bastards to use them as shields, either. I’d seen it before, these women were expendable to them, and they didn’t care whether they lived or died, they would sacrifice them in a heartbeat to save their own asses.
The more I thought about it the angrier I got, and I had to take a deep breath to steady myself. I needed a level head.
I waited patiently as I crouched against a rock with my rifle at the ready.
Where were they?
Our trip had taken at least forty five minutes, though I had sped the whole time, and I had to wonder if we had missed them. Was it possible that they already came through?
If so, then we were fucked, and we were wasting time by sitting there waiting to attack. I’d give it ten more minutes, then we’d have to leave. We couldn’t miss these guys, and if they got ahead of us then we were already at a disadvantage. We needed the element of surprise, and unless there was a quicker way to the refinery from here, which I didn’t figure there was, then we’d end up having to try to take them out on the road, which would be a bitch and a half.
I watched the sun as I counted down the minutes, but after six passed I heard the unmistakable sound of an engine.
They were coming. We hadn’t missed them.
Thank god. I breathed a sigh of relief and readied my rifle once more.
If the roads we had taken were any indication of these, then they were winding and steep as all hell. Even the curves by the resort were pretty sharp, and with how large the vehicles were they would have to slow down significantly to get around them safely.
These guys also didn’t know that we were waiting for them, so there was the possibility that they had taken their time and had gone slow. They may have even ran into somebody and stopped to take them out before they continued on this way.
