Without law 9, p.4
Without Law 9, page 4
We had to be particularly careful.
The wolves formed a singular line as they made their way toward the den, and the last two to come through the ravine carried a body with them. There were ten wolves altogether, and a pack that size was no small threat.
“This gets more fucked up by the second,” Anna breathed.
“It’s not great,” I agreed.
We watched as the two wolves brought the torn up body to the center of the clearing. Each wolf came to take their piece, one by one, and in a particular order. The alpha was the first to eat and once he settled in the others followed suit.
“Alright,” I whispered. “Line up your--”
My words were cut off by the crack of Bailey’s rifle.
The alpha went down with a shot between the eyes, and before I was able to take out one Bailey had taken out four others. Anna, Paige, and Tara took aim as well, but Bailey moved so quickly it was hardly a competition.
The small blonde maneuvered her M14 perfectly, hitting each target with precision and fury. The wolves hardly had time to scurry away before each of them was taken out and the small clearing in front of the den was filled with wolf carcasses.
After the last shot had been fired, I looked to Bailey once more. She held her weapon steady, but her breath was fast and hard.
“What?” Bailey asked after we had all stared at her for a good minute.
“Sorry,” Anna said with a shake of her head. “That was just really intense.”
“My bad,” Bailey said with a blush. “I just got really mad, and… I’m so sorry, Tav, I didn’t wait for your signal.”
“It’s alright,” I told her. “You were confident in your abilities and you eliminated the threat.”
“Yeah, you did,” Tara congratulated. “I mean holy fuck Bailey, that was crazy. I don’t think I got one shot in.”
“I know I didn’t,” Paige laughed.
“Me either,” Anna said.
“I did,” I said proudly.
“Oh, shut up,” Tara teased.
“Yeah,” Anna said. “We all know Bailey took out the whole pack.”
“He did get a shot in,” Bailey chuckled.
“Well, shit,” Tara said. “Gettin’ shown up by everybody around here.”
“Not shown up,” I said. “Just schooled.”
“Oh, you think you’re funny,” Tara laughed.
“Well, great,” Anna said. “Now that we’ve killed these things we probably have to eat them too.”
“Oh, no,” Tara pouted. “Tav, please don’t make us eat cannibal wolves.”
“They’re not cannibals,” Paige laughed.
“They’re eating people,” Tara scoffed.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t make them cannibals,” Paige said.
“Well, whatever they are, I don’t want any part in that,” Tara sniffed. “I won’t do it, I won’t cook cannibal wolves for dinner.”
“You don’t have to,” I chuckled. “Their bellies are full of human meat. We don’t want to eat them.”
“Thank God,” Anna said. “Because that was a real concern of mine.”
“I mean, he did make us eat those dogs,” Paige said.
“That was a dark day,” Bailey added.
“You guys know I’m right here, right?” I asked with a raised brow.
“Oh, we know,” Tara said.
“Well,I’m not going to make you eat these wolves,” I laughed. “Give me some credit for that at least.”
“We’ll consider it,” the platinum blonde said with a shrug.
“Can we head back home then?” Bailey asked. “I want to check in on Winchester.”
“Are you going to tell him how you avenged him?” Anna teased.
“Yup,” Bailey said with a serious face.
“You know Tav killed the one that attacked him yesterday, right?” Paige asked.
“It’s the principle of the matter,” Bailey said. “They were all accomplices.”
“Alright,” I chuckled. “Let’s head back home. We’ll check the traps on the way back.”
“Should we do anything with the wolf bodies?” Anna asked as we started to descend the tree.
“No,” I said. “We’ll leave them. No sense in cleaning it up.”
I led the girls back through the woods the way we had come, but just before we were out of the mountainous area I heard a snort, so I held my hand up to silence the giggles that came from behind me.
“What is it?” Anna whispered.
“Bear,” I said seriously, and I crouched down behind a clump of trees.
“Shouldn’t we stand our ground?” Paige asked.
“We need to see what we’re up against,” I said softly. “Now shhh.”
After a long, quiet moment a large black bear made its way into my sights. The beast was huge, but fairly skinny and I figured it had just woken from hibernation. I waited a minute to see if it would charge, but it continued on a few more steps, then turned its large head back to the trees behind it and snorted once more.
Two small cubs came out from the trees in a tousle of childhood play. The cubs were intertwined with each other as they wrestled on the forest floor. The mom growled once, and they split apart. The small cub chose to climb onto mom’s back while the larger one walked alongside her.
“What are we doing?” Anna whispered fervently. “Shouldn’t we shoot?”
“No,” I said with a small voice. “Shh, I’ll explain after they leave.”
We watched the mom and cubs for a moment as the mom found some berries to snack on and the cubs played in the snow. After a few moments the mama bear looked to where we were crouched behind the tree.
Fuck.
She did nothing, simply stared at us, and I turned to see Bailey staring back at the bear with a tear in her eye.
The mom made a loud yawn sound and led her cubs deeper into the forest.
I waited another minute and then stood up.
“I thought Bailey was toast for sure,” Tara joked.
“Why didn’t we shoot?” Anna asked, confused.
“If we took out the mom, then the cubs would never survive,” I said softly.
“We couldn’t do that to them,” Bailey agreed. “They didn’t do us any harm.”
“Right,” I said. “It wouldn’t be fair to the ecosystem. This is their world, we’re just living in it.”
“I don’t know,” Anna laughed. “It seemed like Bailey and that bear had a moment. Maybe they’ve accepted her as one of their own.”
“It’s the least they could do after they attacked her twice,” Paige chuckled.
“I think she knew we didn’t want to hurt her,” Bailey said softly.
“I think so, too,” I said and I put a hand on the blonde’s shoulder.
“Oh my God,” Tara said with an eye roll. “If we’re done killing wolves and saving the Berenstain Bears, then can we go home please? I’m freezing.”
“Alright,” I laughed. “Lead the way.”
“Thank you,” Tara sniffed, and she pushed past me to the front of the group, then looked around and pointed to the left. “This way, right?”
“Yes,” I said. “That way.”
“Hey, Tav,” Paige asked as we walked. “Do you think the bear really knew we were there?”
“Definitely,” I said.
“How can you be so sure?” the brunette asked.
“Bears noses are seven times more sensitive than a dog’s nose,” I explained. “She knew we were there, but she obviously didn’t think we were a threat to her cubs.”
“I swear she looked right at me,” Bailey said with a soft smile.
“Bears are smarter than people give them credit for,” I said.
“I think most animals are,” Bailey said.
“I agree.” I smiled.
“What else is on our agenda for the day?” Anna asked.
“Well, we took care of that threat,” I said. “We’ll finish up the chores, and then I want to make a plan to clean up the bodies near the bridge now that the snow is clearing up.”
“How are we going to clean up the bodies?” Paige asked.
“Burning them might be too much of a beacon,” I said with pursed lips. “So we’ll have to think of some way to get rid of them.”
“I guess we can’t just leave bodies lying around,” Tara sighed.
“No,” I chuckled.
“Yeah, gross,” Anna said.
“We’ll get them taken care of,” I said.
“What about the farms?” Paige asked.
“Yeah,” Bailey added. “Should we check on them?”
“We should,” I agreed. “But we would have to go on foot.”
“I thought the cars only weren’t working because it was so cold,” Tara said.
“The gas is probably all bad by now,” I said. “But we can try.”
“I can look into making our own fuel,” Paige said. “I read an article about it a while ago.”
“There’s the mad scientist again,” Anna laughed.
“I’m not a mad scientist,” Paige protested, but she pushed her glasses further up her nose and it only added to the image of her in a laboratory splicing up Frankenstein’s monster.
“Whatever you say,” Tara teased.
We stopped to check the traps and found four fish on the line, and two rabbits.
“It seems like the wildlife is coming out more now,” Paige said as she held up the fish.
“Springtime is a lot better for hunting than winter,” I agreed.
We made our way back to the campus and found that all the chores had been completed, so we headed inside and found Rolly and Betty with Winchester in the common room.
“Looks like you got a good haul,” Betty said as I sat down in the common area.
“We did,” I agreed. “I need to throw them in the smoker.”
“I can do that,” Rolly said, and he took the fish and rabbits from me and headed toward the laundry room.
“Thanks, Rolly,” I said.
“Yes, thank you,” Bailey said as she sat with Winchester and stroked his fur. “Did he eat anything?”
“A little,” Betty said. “And Marla looked him over again. But he was awake for a while earlier.”
“Good,” Bailey said and she smiled down at the black headed dog.
“Everyone finished up the other chores,” Betty said. “But since you all went into the woods, I figured nobody should check traps until you came back.”
“Wise call,” I told her.
“I’m guessing you guys got those wolves taken care of?” Rolly asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Anna said with a grin. “Bailey did, anyways.”
“Oh?” Betty asked.
“Yeah,” Bailey said. “I kind of got mad and took them out before anybody else could get a shot in. Well, Tav did get one.”
“You took out the whole pack yourself?” Rolly asked with wide eyes.
“Well, Tav got one,” Bailey repeated.
“One out of ten,” I chuckled.
“That’s impressive,” Betty said with a smile.
“It was nothing.” Bailey shrugged. “They hurt Winchester and they were eating people.”
“They were eating people?” Betty asked with surprise.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“What in the world?” Betty asked.
“There were plenty of bodies around,” Rolly said. “That’s an easy meal for a wolf.”
“Right,” Paige agreed. “But it seemed like they had probably started hunting people as well.”
“What makes you think that?” Betty asked.
“Wolves prefer fresh meat,” I explained.
“And once they taste human blood, it’s hard to get them to stop,” Paige added.
“Why is that?” Rolly asked.
“Our blood is extra salty,” Paige said.
“Oh, my.” Betty frowned. “Well, I’m glad you took care of them. We certainly don’t need anybody being hunted down by wolves.”
“No, we don’t,” I laughed.
“Is there anything else you’d like us to do today?” Betty asked.
“Well,” I started. “We were talking on the way back. I think it’s time we start cleaning up the bodies and surveying the area.”
“Okay,” Betty said.
“How can we help?” Rolly asked.
“I’m not sure how we want to dispose of the bodies,” I said with a frown.
“I’m guessing burning them is out of the question,” Betty said.
“Right,” I agreed. “A large fire, or even several small ones could lead someone right to us.”
“Not to mention they’ll all be wet and cold from the snow,” Paige said. “They probably wouldn’t burn that well.”
“It would be a lot of effort to bury ‘em,” Rolly said.
“And if we drag them out to the woods, then there’s a chance we’ll just introduce more animals to our salty blood,” Anna said.
“Ew,” Tara said with a wrinkled nose.
“We also need to check the vehicles,” I said. “But I’m sure all the gas is bad by now.”
“I think you’re probably right about that,” Rolly said. “But we can give it a try.”
“If we don’t have vehicles that will make moving the bodies even more difficult,” Betty said.
“Why don’t we just dump them in the river?” Tara asked with a shrug.
“We could contaminate our water supply,” Paige explained.
“How many bodies do you think are out there?” Bailey asked with a frown.
“At least a hundred,” Anna answered. “Probably more.”
“How on earth are we going to dispose of them,” Betty pondered.
“What about lye?” Rolly asked.
“Theoretically that could work,” Paige said. “But we would need a lot of it.”
“I have a barrel in the shed,” Rolly said.
“You do?” Tara asked with a raised eyebrow. “For what?”
“It’s not just used for dissolving bodies,” Anna laughed. “It’s for cleaning, too.”
“I’ve only seen it used for dissolving bodies,” Tara said.
“What do you think, Tav?” Bailey asked.
“For now it will have to do,” I said. “But we’ll need to either get more or figure out something else later.”
“We can at least get most of the bodies from our side of the bridge,” Rolly said.
“Okay,” I agreed. “And we’ll make sure to check pockets before we douse them. Anything usable we’ll save.”
“About surveying the area,” Betty said. “I’m anxious to hear about my farm.”
“We’ll check it out,” I assured her. “But there might be people there.”
“I know,” Betty sighed. “I just hope it isn’t ransacked too badly.”
“There wasn’t much to take as far as supplies,” Anna said. “If anything somebody probably just stayed there to keep warm.”
“We’ll check it out tomorrow,” I said.
“We can work on the bodies while you run and do that,” Betty offered.
“That would be great,” I agreed.
“Should we go check on the trucks?” Rolly asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s do that before it gets dark.”
“I’ll whip up some lunch,” Betty said.
“Thanks, sweetie,” Rolly said, and he kissed the old woman on the cheek.
“Awwww,” the girls all teased in unison, and then Rolly shot them a glare.
“Let’s go,” I chuckled and clapped the old man on the shoulder.
Rolly and I headed outside to the military vehicles, and I hopped in the first one and turned the key. The engine sputtered but didn’t catch, so I pumped the gas and tried once more. Still nothing.
“We can try putting some gas in it,” Rolly suggested.
“We can try,” I said. “But I’m not sure it will help.”
“I’ll get the can,” Rolly said, and he headed to the shed.
While I waited, I looked around at the courtyard. The grass was poking through the snow, and the trees had begun to grow back their leaves. The day was still cold, but when the sun hit you it was nice and warm. I looked up at the sky and took in the feel of the warmth on my face.
“Alright,” Rolly said as he approached once more and began to fuel the tank. “Let’s give her another try.”
I turned the key once more, and the poor truck tried but ultimately failed once more.
“The gas is bad,” I said with a shake of my head.
“Sorry, boss,” Rolly said with a frown. “I’ll see if there’s anything I can do.”
“It’s alright, Rolly,” I said with a small smile. “I knew it would be bad by spring. Things will be a bit more difficult without a working truck, but we’ll figure it out.”
“Alright,” Rolly agreed. “Maybe Paige and I can come up with something.”
“She did mention something about making our own fuel earlier,” I said.
“If anybody can do it, she can,” Rolly chuckled.
“I think you’re right about that,” I laughed.
I tried the truck one more time with no success.
“Alright,” I said. “I’m calling it. Let’s go see if lunch is ready.”
“Sounds good to me,” Rolly said.
We made the short walk through the slush back to the dorm building. It was warm inside from the wood stove, and the heat felt good on my cold hands.
“So?” Tara asked hopefully.
“It’s a no go,” I said.
“Damn.” The platinum blonde frowned.
“I’ll look into making some fuel,” Paige said.
“That will be a good long term project for you,” I said. “Tomorrow we’ll head to the farms in the morning and take a look around the surrounding area.”
“Alright,” Paige agreed. “I think I’ll go to the library for a while after lunch then.”
“Be my guest,” I told her with a smile.
“I think Winchester is feeling a bit better,” Bailey said, and I looked over to see that the black headed dog had chewed on his deer leg some.
“I’m glad,” I said.
“Does that mean you’re feeling better, too?” Rolly asked with a wide grin.
