by Eric Vall
Anna raised an eyebrow at me, and I knew what she was thinking. He had called me brother, so that was a good sign, but I couldn’t be sure that this crazy asshole wouldn’t attack someone that he considered a brother. I had no idea what he’d been up to since I last saw him in the years before the EMP hit.
“Yeah,” I said with feigned awkwardness. “I came to see how you were feeling.”
“My injuries are fine,” Brody said, and he crossed his arms on his wide chest. “But that’s not why you’re here, is it?”
“No,” I sighed. “I came to--”
“Nawww,” Brody said with a grin.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s fine,” Brody said.
“Okay?” I said as I raised an eyebrow.
“No need to apologize, brother,” Brody chuckled. “Tensions were running high. I knew you’d be upset at first. I didn’t expect the beating, but I should have. Either way, I knew you’d come to see my point of view soon enough.”
“Yeah,” I said with a slow nod, and I turned to see Anna flash me a look with wide eyes that said ‘what the fuck is wrong with him?’
“Now that you understand why I had to do it, there’s really no need to apologize,” he reiterated. “So, we are good.”
The fact that he thought that I understood why he had killed those women filled me with so much rage that I contemplated pulling my pistol right then and taking the shot. Instead, I took a deep breath and forced my fist to unclench so I could keep up the appearance that he actually knew what was going on. He was delusional to think I would ever support killing innocent civilians, especially women, but if the delusion helped get this over with quicker, then I guess I couldn’t complain.
“I appreciate that,” I said slowly.
“Now, call off your bitches,” Brody said. “And come on in here.”
“Don’t call them that.” I felt my jaw set as his use of the word “bitches” in reference to my girls, and I started to hear my blood pump though my chest.
“It’s fine,” Anna cleared her throat and rested her hand on my arm.
“Naw, Tav is right,” Brody sighed. “I shouldn’t have said that. Now I’ll apologize. Okay? Come on, Tav, let’s be brothers again.”
“Fine.” I held up my hand to give them the signal that things were going well.
“It will take them a minute to get here,” I said.
“Open the gate,” Brody instructed his men, and the large doors slid open a few seconds later.
Brody disappeared from the wall, but Anna and I waited outside the doors for Paige, Bailey, and Tara.
“Good to see you, brother,” Brody said as he came out of the doors and wrapped me up in a hug.
Every fiber of my being wanted to pull out my pistol and shoot him in the face, but instead I gave him two swift pats on the back before I pulled myself away.
“Nice to see you again, Brody,” Anna said in a strangely monotone voice that I realized was meant to hide her anger. I knew the redhead wasn’t happy about this situation, either. None of the girls were.
But soon we’d be rid of the asshole. We just had to bide our time.
“You as well,” Brody told her with a smile, and I realized he probably didn’t even know her name.
“Listen,” I said, keeping my voice as calm as possible, “there’s another reason why we came here today.”
“You want to talk about Lebanon,” Brody said with a nod.
“Yes,” I agreed.
“I figured as much,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for you to come help me. We have to get this cartel out of here, they’re causing trouble for both of us.”
“Have you had another attack?” Anna asked.
“Not yet,” Brody said. “I think they’re scared after what we did to the caravan a few days ago.”
“But you think they’ll come back?” Anna clarified.
“Definitely,” Brody agreed. “Their operation can’t function without it, so there’s no way they’ll leave the refinery alone.”
I turned to see the girls come out of their hiding spots, and they made their way toward us while Anna and Brody talked. It was nice to let her take over for a minute, I needed a breath of fresh air after the conversation I had just had with this asshole. I wanted to punch him more than ever. It was one thing for him to think that he was right to kill those women, I couldn’t control how he justified his actions, but just the idea that he would think I was ever okay with it bugged the hell out of me.
Anybody who truly knew me would never think I could allow such a heinous thing to happen on my watch.
“Come on in,” Brody said once the other girls reached us, and he turned and headed inside the gates.
“You okay?” Bailey mouthed to me, and I nodded and gave her a smile before I led the girls inside after Brody.
We followed him to the dining room that we’d been in a few times before, and Brody got us all glasses and set down a plate of smoked fish and crackers.
“Eat up,” Brody said, and he poured us each a glass of the terrible homemade vodka he’d served us before.
“I think I’ll hold off on the alcohol,” I said as I put my hand over the top of my glass to stop him, “at least until we discuss Lebanon.”
“Suit yourself,” he said, but he poured himself a glass regardless, and took a large swig.
“As you said,” I started, “these guys are causing trouble for both of us. We need to take them out as quickly as possible.”
“Agreed,” he said. “So tell me, what do you need?”
“What makes you think we need anything?” Anna asked, and she tilted her head to eye Brody carefully.
“I assume we’ll need to work together to take care of this,” Brody said nonchalantly. “I need your manpower and skills, and I assume you’ll need some things from me. Ammo and guns and such. You’ve seen some of what I have available here, after all.”
“What we really need is a plan to take care of these assholes,” I said seriously. “The Lebanon outpost is well manned, and these guys are almost militarily organized.”
“Almost,” Brody repeated.
“Right,” Paige agreed. “We need a way to take out the whole place quickly, otherwise we’re in for quite a fight.”
“They have enough firepower to take us on,” Anna said with a nod.
“If we wait until the patrols leave for the day, then there will be less people at the actual camp,” Bailey suggested.
“Good idea, sniper,” Brody said with a grin before he took another swig of his drink. “We could always blow the place up.”
“I was thinking the same,” Tara said, but I shot her a look, and her eyes widened before she mouthed ‘sorry’.
I felt my jaw set, but I forced myself to lick my lips so that I appeared less angry than I was. There were civilians in that camp, and he and I both knew it. He may think I understood his reasoning, but I was not about to let him kill more civilians on my watch. We needed some of his supplies, but killing more innocent women was not part of the plan. I quickly came up with a response that I knew Brody could get behind.
“They have a lot of ammo and guns in there,” I said. “It would be a waste to blow them up.”
“There’re jeeps in there, too,” Paige pointed out, “and probably some fuel still.”
“Besides,” Anna said, “we don’t want to create a fire that we can’t control.”
“So we’ll wait for the patrols to leave,” I said. “Then we’ll attack.”
“Here,” Paige said as she pulled a map out of her backpack. “I brought a map for us to look over.”
“Does it have the guard posts on there?” Anna asked.
“Yup,” Paige agreed.
“Okay,” the redhead said slowly as she looked at the map. “What if we took out the guard towers first?”
“Those guys looked pretty vigilant,” Bailey said. “It won’t be easy to sneak up on them.”
“That’s true,” I agreed. “B
rody, what do you think?”
“Your team is well trained,” he said with a small, forced looking smile. “I think they can handle themselves.”
“I have no doubt about it,” I said, and I felt my chin lift slightly in defiance. “So, it’s settled, we’ll each take one of the guard towers first and take out the man inside.”
“We could leave the guys in there so it looks like they’re still on watch,” Tara suggested.
“Perfect,” I agreed.
“I’d like to stay in the tower,” Bailey piped up. “It gives me a good view of the place.”
“Good idea,” I said. “Pick which tower you want first.”
Bailey picked the tower she wanted, and everyone else followed. There were twelve of them, and Brody said he would bring four men, so we would have ten people total. I wasn’t sure that I trusted his men to take the guard tower guys out quietly, but I’d keep an eye on them when we were there, and I knew Bailey could get up into the tower easily, and if anyone was in trouble she could help out.
“We could throw some grenades into the barracks,” Brody suggested, but I knew that was where the women civilians were kept, and I had to put my foot down.
“We can’t use explosives,” I said.
“There wouldn’t be a fire with grenades,” he replied.
“There’s civilians in there,” I said sternly, and everything seemed to get quiet.
“I thought you understood what we had to do,” Brody said, and his eyes narrowed in on me.
“I understand why you did what you did,” I lied, “but I can’t condone killing more women. They’ve been through enough.”
“They’re traitors,” Brody protested. “We’ve seen it before.”
Once again, he referred to times of war when women would assist with, or more often be forced into, suicide bombings. Maybe it had given him a sense of distrust of women, but that was no excuse for killing innocent civilians here. This wasn’t the same shit that we’d seen years before, it was a case of prisoners and sex slaves being freed.
“This is different,” I told him. “These women don’t want to harm anyone.”
“How do you know?” Brody asked, and he leaned in closer to me.
“They’ve been raped repeatedly for one,” Tara said, and Brody’s head whipped around toward the platinum blonde.
“And how do you know that?” he asked.
“Why else would they keep them?” Anna asked.
“It’s obvious,” Tara agreed.
“All that means is that they’re traumatized,” Brody said. “Trauma can cause crazy reactions. They could easily turn on us.”
“There’d be no need for that,” Bailey protested. “We’re going to save them, why would they want to hurt us?”
“We can debate this all day,” I said before Brody could open his mouth once more. “But it’s a deal breaker for us.”
“A deal breaker, huh?” Brody asked, and he leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow at me.
“Absolutely,” I said and then matched his body language and held his gaze.
“These guys are as much of a problem for you as they are for me,” Brody said. “We need to take care of them together.”
“I don’t see it that way,” I said with a slight smile.
“And how do you see it, brother?” he asked, and I saw his jaw set in anger.
“You said earlier that you need my team,” I pointed out, since I knew full well that I hadn’t admitted to needing anything from him, so he had no reason to think that I did. He knew my team and what they were capable of, and he knew that they were his only chance at taking out the outposts. His men weren’t trained for this kind of task, and he couldn’t handle it all on his own.
“I did,” he said slowly. “And you need my resources.”
“I never said that,” I said calmly. “You know my team, and you’ve seen what they can do. We could take out these outposts ourselves if we wanted to.”
“Why don’t you, then?” he asked, and I knew he was growing even angrier, but I didn’t care. He needed us, and I wouldn’t allow him to kill any more civilians.
“We don’t need to,” I said.
“They’re causing trouble for you, too,” Brody said.
“Not as much as they are to you,” I said. “They don’t want my team, they want your refinery.”
“So you’d let them take it over?” Brody asked. “You’d let this drug cartel have an unlimited supply of fuel? It’d only be a matter of time before they came after you as well. They don’t care who you are, they just want to run this area.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” I said. “But the fact of the matter still stands. You need us to take out this group, we don’t need you. So, either you play by my rules, or no dice. And my number one rule is that we don’t kill innocent civilians, especially women. These assholes don’t even know that we exist, but they know about you, and it’s your refinery they’re after.”
I glanced over to see Anna smile down at the table, which brought a small smile to my own lips.
“I see,” Brody said, and he considered me carefully.
I gave him a moment to think about my offer, but I maintained eye contact with him. I wouldn’t allow him to think that we needed him in any way, because we didn’t, and I had meant what I said. I knew that he was aware that we didn’t live in Burlington, but he had no idea where our true home was, and it wasn’t found easily. Besides, he’d be on my turf, then.
He was right, I didn’t want to allow the drug cartel assholes to get the refinery, but I had taken it from them once without Brody’s help, and I could easily do it again. But this wasn’t about the actuality of the situation, this was about the fact that I would be in charge whether Brody liked it or not, and I hoped that the threat of not helping him would be enough to make him realize just how much he needed my team.
“So,” I said cooly, “do we have a deal?”
Chapter 6
“Alright,” Brody said after a long minute.
“Great,” I said.
“On one condition,” he said carefully.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to be making demands,” I said with a raised eyebrow.
“I know, I know,” he said, and he held up his hands in a show of surrender. “But I don’t think you’ll oppose this one.”
“What’s the condition?” I asked, curious as to what manipulation he was trying to pull.
“Going forward with our partnership, anything that happens in Vermont we do your way,” he said with a nod, “but, anything that happens outside the border, we do my way. You got your kingdom, and I’ve got mine.”
As far as I knew the only outposts were in Lebanon and Burlington, which meant that they both fell into Vermont territory. There was something that Brody knew that he wasn’t sharing, but I knew that he wouldn’t give it up if I asked. That would ruin his little plan. It didn’t matter, though. I wasn’t going to let him kill civilians no matter where we were at.
This only added to my theory that the leaders had offered him a place among the pack. He had insider information somehow, and I was going to find out what it was and how he got it.
The girls eyed me with concern, but I kept my poker face on.
“Deal,” I said.
“Perfect,” he replied with a wide grin as he held his hand out for me to shake.
I slowly placed my hand in his, and squeezed too hard for comfort as I stared him in the eyes. We may have been working together to get rid of the outposts, but both of us knew that we weren’t on the terms that we had been before he had killed those women. Nothing could change that, and though we played nice for the time being it was obvious that the trust that had once been a given because of our history was no longer there.
“I guess it’s settled then,” Brody said with a smile.
“I suppose so,” I agreed.
“Since you’re here, let me show you the arsenal,” he said. “Maybe you can find somethi
ng useful for the mission.”
“Alright,” I agreed. Part of me was surprised that he was generous enough to offer, but I also knew that I had made it clear that we had the upper hand here. He did need us, and he knew it. It was in his best interest to keep us happy at the moment, and if that meant getting to pick out weapons from his assortment of playthings, then I was happy to go along with his scheme.
Brody downed the rest of his vodka, then he stood up and headed out of the hallway and down the stairs into the courtyard. There was a door in the wall with a large lock on it, and he pulled a key necklace off and opened the thing. I was not surprised to see that he didn’t trust his men enough to even have the weapons area open to them. He didn’t trust any of his people, even the ones that he had given basic training to.
“Here it is,” he said with a smile as he pulled the door open for us to take a look inside.
The place was well stocked with rifles, pistols, and ammunition. There were also a few rounds for the Howitzer, three more Barretts, five grenade launchers, and a small stockpile of grenades to go in them. There were a few random rifles as well, and even some knives and swords.
“Looks well stocked,” Anna said as she poked her head in. “Where’d you get all this stuff?”
“Oh, you know,” Brody said. “Here and there.”
“Right,” the redhead said with a nod that said she didn’t buy his bullshit for one second.
“What’s that?” Bailey asked, and she pushed past Anna toward a rifle that sat against the far wall.
“Spotted the Accuracy International, eh,” Brody said. “I’d expect nothing less from a deadeye.”
“What is it, Bailey?” Anna asked, and she made sure to put emphasis on her name.
“It’s gorgeous,” Bailey said as she ran her finger down the barrel of the rifle.
The rifle really was beautiful. It looked like it was carved out of a single piece of steel, and had a high-tech design that looked a bit futuristic. I’d heard of these rifles before, since they could be configured to shoot different caliber long-range ammo, but I’d never used one myself.
“It’s a great weapon,” Brody said. “One of my favorites, even though it’s made overseas.”
