by Eric Vall
“It’s awesome,” Bailey said, and she turned to flash me a grin. “Can I try it out?”
“What’s wrong with the Barrett?” Brody asked. “Now that’s a nice American made gun. Far superior to the Accuracy International.”
“If you’re trying to take out a plane,” Paige chuckled.
“Yeah,” Anna said, “the thing alone weighs half of what Bailey does. It’s a pain in the ass to bring on missions.”
“I didn’t realize that my gift was so bothersome,” Brody said, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“Oh, I love the Barrett, too,” Bailey assured him, “this one is just so much more portable and my size.”
I didn’t think Brody was about to give in. He had lost too many battles for one day, and I doubted that he wanted to lose another, plus one of his favorite weapons. But, I saw the look on Bailey’s face, and I had to do something. She would leave here with that sniper rifle whether Brody liked it or not. I had enough leverage, but I thought I’d try to play nice this time. If I stroked his ego a bit he would probably be happier to comply.
“Could she use it just for the missions?” I asked. “We’ve been looking for a replacement for her M14 but haven’t found something suitable yet. The Barret is great, but you and I both know it’s meant for going through walls, not heads. This would be helpful in the next few days.”
“So you do need a little something from me after all?” Brody asked with a grin, and I couldn’t mask the anger that rose to my face. “Oh, I’m just kiddin’, brother, of course she can use it for the missions. I’ll want it back afterward, though. I’m sure since we’re not blowing up the place we’ll be able to find her a replacement at one of the outposts.”
“Great,” I said, “thanks.”
Bailey jumped up and down and clapped her hands, and it looked like the grin that was plastered on her face was most likely permanent. I smiled back at the blonde, happy that I could help get her what she wanted, and it would be hers regardless of what Brody said. He wasn’t going to get that rifle back, no way, no how.
“I promise I’ll take good care of it,” Bailey gushed, “I’ll even give her a nice cleaning before I bring her back.”
“I’m sure you will, sniper,” Brody said. “See anything else you need in here?”
I took a look around, but didn’t see much else that we needed, but I wouldn’t let him know that.
“We’ll take a box of ammunition,” I said.
“Alright,” Brody agreed.
“And I think we should take the grenade launcher and a couple,” I added. “Just in case.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “That sounds reasonable.”
“We’ll also need a couple more drums of fuel,” I told him. “All this driving around is eating into our reserves.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he said coolly.
“That’ll be it,” I said with a smile.
“Now that business talk is done,” he said. “Let’s celebrate with a drink.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
He already knew I was still irritated with him, there was no sense in denying him this as well. As much as I wanted to piss him off, I knew it was also in our best interests to keep him happy to a certain degree. He was still a soldier, and still a fierce opponent if he wanted to be. We just needed to have things remain peaceful enough to take out the outposts without too much collateral damage.
I started to follow Brody back up the stairs, but Anna raised an eyebrow at me, so I shrugged in return and all the girls followed after me. One drink might settle Brody down and make him feel like he hadn’t lost so much that day. I’d already threatened to not help him, drinking his booze was the least I could do to make it up to him.
“So,” Brody said after we arrived in the dining room and he refilled his own glass and poured some vodka into mine, “what are we going to do about Burlington?”
“I want to do more reconnaissance,” I said at length.
“It amazes me that you need that,” he said. “You’re based right there.”
“We know the area,” Paige said. “But we want to get the shift schedules down. We always do reconnaissance before a mission.”
“She’s right,” I agreed, then I took a drink of the lighter fluid like substance in my cup. “We like to be over prepared.”
“You’ve made that plenty clear,” Brody agreed. “So when will we do this reconnaissance?”
“Let’s focus on taking out Lebanon first,” I said.
“Tomorrow?” he asked.
“Tomorrow,” I agreed. “We’ll meet at the campsite where we met last time.”
“I know it well,” he said.
“You said you’re bringing four men?” Paige asked.
“Yup,” Brody said, and he took a large swig of the clear liquid.
“What can you tell us about them?” Anna asked.
I was proud of my team for asking such pointed questions, and I looked around to each of them. Anna and Paige stared intently at Brody. Tara sat and sipped at her drink, but I could see from her eye movements that she was doing more observing than normal, and Bailey sat and stared at her new rifle that sat leaned up against the chair next to her.
“I trained them,” Brody said. “They’re not as good of fighters as you all, but they’re good enough.”
I wondered if Brody had trained more men since he had seen what my team was capable of. I was sure he felt threatened by them, especially with the minimal number of men on his crew who knew how to even use a gun, but I also wasn’t sure that he trusted any of them enough to train them well.
“How long ago did you train them?” Anna asked.
“What’s with the grilling?” Brody chuckled.
“We just want to know what we’re dealing with,” Tara piped up with an innocent smile. “It’s not easy to trust new people in the group, you know. You put your life in the hands of your team.”
“I know that as well as any of you,” Brody said, “probably better. I assure you, my team is trustworthy.”
I wanted to laugh out loud at the idea that Brody knew what being part of a team meant better than my girls. Even when I had known him as a soldier, he had always been a loose cannon, and loose cannons weren’t exactly known for their teamwork.
My girls were the best team I had ever had the pleasure of being a part of, let alone leading. They cared for each other, had one another’s backs, and were always prepared. They had to be. There were no drills to run to prepare them, it was all real life. They had been trained among real battles and been thrown into the hardships that came with real life war at a young and vulnerable age. None of them had previous training, and yet each of them thrived in their roles, which was more than I could say for plenty of soldiers I had met. It took a lot of work and effort for some people to become good soldiers, but my girls barely had to try, and I was exceedingly proud of them.
“Can we meet them before we leave?” Anna asked after she saw the look on my face. “It’d be nice to acquaint ourselves with them before tomorrow.”
“I don’t see why not,” Brody sighed. “But first, let’s enjoy our drinks.”
“Hear, here,” I said, and I held my cup up.
“Here, here!” Brody echoed with a grin, and he clinked his glass to mine before we both downed the rest of the contents.
I knew a quick drink would cheer him up, and it looked like I hadn’t been wrong. He was in a much better mood than he had been before, and I figured that by the time we left he would feel as if he had won.
I didn’t like to manipulate people like that, but with Brody I didn’t have any other choice. There was a fine line between us being able to work together with some distrust, and us killing each other over some bullshit. We needed to walk that line carefully if we were going to make it through the next few days.
Still, though, it was worth it to get the extra fuel and the new sniper rifle for Bailey. That fuel would come in handy, especially
with how much we had used hauling water to and from the farm. There hadn’t been another way at the time, but it had still depleted our supplies some, and we needed a good reserve to last through the harvest.
The waterline was done now, though, so that would no longer be a problem, and we would save on fuel in the coming months. The barrels that we’d get from Brody would be more than enough to cover the amount that we would use driving to Lebanon and Burlington, with plenty to spare, and I’m sure he knew that, but he wasn’t in a position to argue.
I took another swig of my terrible vodka and set my glass down with a loud clink on the table.
“Let’s meet this team of yours,” I said after our drinks were finished.
“As you wish,” Brody said, and he stood up and headed to the door.
“You think they’re actually trained?” Anna whispered after he had left.
“I think they know how to point and shoot,” I said, “but I don’t know about anything aside from that.”
“We’re going to have to do all the work is what he’s saying,” Tara said.
“I figured that would be the case,” Anna said. “Luckily we’re trained enough to cover these guys.”
“Brody is an asshole, but he’s still got good skills,” I said. “He could have trained them well if he wanted to.”
“But we all know he didn’t want to,” Paige said.
“Right,” I agreed. “Still, hopefully he’ll pick up some of his team’s slack, though I wouldn’t count on it.”
“I’m not counting on him for anything,” Anna said.
“I’m still really upset about everything that happened,” Bailey said softly, “but I am also really excited about being able to use this new rifle for the missions.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s yours now,” Tara chuckled.
“What do you mean?” Bailey asked. “I’m going to give it back after we’re done.”
“No, you’re not,” I told her.
“You mean we’re going to steal it?” Bailey asked with wide eyes.
“Consider it a consolation prize,” I said. “For our troubles.”
Bailey looked down, obviously still slightly uncomfortable with what I had said, but I knew she’d come around. It wasn’t as if she was stealing from orphans, this was an asshole who had killed five women in cold blood. Still, her moral compass always pointed true north, and I knew she found it difficult to go against it, no matter how much of an asshole the person on the receiving end was.
“It’s fine,” Tara told her with an elbow to the side. “You can still give it back if you want to.”
“But you’d be giving it back to Brody,” Paige said. “Just think about that.”
“You’re right,” Bailey said. “I just don’t like the idea of it in general.”
“Alright!” Brody’s voice thundered from the hallway, and we all went quiet before he walked in a moment later with four men trailing behind him.
They were men I had seen around the fort before, but I didn’t think that all of them used to work as guards. Brody said he had lost a couple of men when the druggies attacked the refinery, I guess he had to replace them. Still, none of these men looked ready to take on anybody, least of all an entire outpost of well armed men hyped up on drugs.
“I’m Alexander,” the first man said. He was a tall man with stringy blond hair and he was muscular from working it seemed, but he stood with his head down as if he was afraid to look anyone in the eyes.
The second was a shorter man with piercing green eyes and dark brown hair that hung down his back. He was younger than the others, probably no older than the girls, and I wondered how he’d ended up with Brody. He introduced himself as Roman, but he was just as shy as the first man had been, and he refused to make eye contact with me when I tried.
“Nick,” the third male said. He made eye contact better than the first two, but just barely. His stature was tall and wide, and he looked like he could be a fullback in the NFL. His brown hair was cut short above a babyface that contrasted heavily with the rest of his body. He was a big dude, and I was surprised to see someone so substantial on Brody’s team.
The last guy had dark brown hair cut raggedly around his ears, and he introduced himself as Johnny. He was the shortest of all the men, and scrawny but muscular. It seemed all of the men worked their asses off here, and their muscles proved that, though their demeanor told a story less of work and more of intense labor that they didn’t have a choice in.
“Welcome to the team,” I greeted them. “We’re glad to have you here.”
“They’re glad to be part of it,” Brody said. “But they should really get back to their posts.”
“Wait,” Anna said, “can you guys tell us what you think you’re best at skill wise? It could help us with the plan.”
“The plan is made,” Brody said. “They can handle whatever you throw at them.”
“I’m sure they can,” Anna said, “I just wanted to hear what they thought their best attributes were. For example, mine is leadership and strength.”
“I’m stealthy,” Tara said. “And good with a knife.”
“Navigator and medic,” Paige said with a raised hand.
“I’m the group sniper,” Bailey offered with a small smile.
“Right,” I said. “All of the girls have a niche that they fit into well. We try to accomodate for that when we create plans, so if there’s any information you want to offer about your own skills, we’re open to hearing it.”
Our questions were irritating Brody, I could tell by the vein that popped up on his temple, but I didn’t care. I wanted to see just how well trained these guys were. Brody could brag all he wanted and assure us that it would all be fine, but at the end of the day we were putting our lives on the line with these assholes, and I had no reason to trust any of them. They seemed like nice men, but they were obviously not confident, and there was no reason for me to think that they were trained enough to help take out the outpost without help. I hoped that they would be of some help, but I couldn’t be sure of that, though really, I just wanted to make sure that they wouldn’t get in the way. That would be the main problem.
If it did come to that, then my team would have to take over and basically do the mission on our own. Brody had barely been helpful with the caravan, my team had done most of the work. We’d done all the work at the refinery as well, so I didn’t understand why he wanted to be a part of the mission now. We could easily complete it without him. In fact, I’d prefer to just take the supplies and get it done ourselves. Something seemed off about it, especially his agreement that we do things on the Vermont side my way, but the New York side his way. He was hiding something, and he was somehow more involved with these druggies than he was leading on, though I wasn’t sure how yet.
I thought it was time to share my theory with the girls that the leaders had offered him a position as the new refinery guy. It was the only thing that remotely fit with the way he was acting. He knew something we didn’t, and it wasn’t from scouting.
One of the men opened his mouth to say something, but Brody put his hand out and took a step forward to silence him and show his position all at once.
“They’re capable of whatever you assign to them,” he said. “Now, really, they should be getting back to their posts.”
“Alright,” I said politely. “We look forward to working with you all.”
The men nodded and headed back out of the room, and I eyed Brody carefully. He’d barely let them speak when they had been in there, but again, I wasn’t sure why. Did they know something, too? Or was he afraid that they would reveal how untrained they were? I couldn’t quite figure Brody’s plan out, and that bugged me, but then again, he was a soldier just like I was, and we knew the same tricks to keeping things secret. He was just playing to his strengths, and it was up to me to figure out what he was hiding.
“Now, then,” Brody said after the men had gone, “how about another drink?”
&nb
sp; “Pour me one,” Tara said as she stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” Brody asked.
“The bathroom,” Tara said, and she raised an eyebrow at him.
“Ah,” he said, “do you remember where it’s at?”
“I think I can manage,” Tara told him as she started to walk out of the room.
“That one is fiery,” he chuckled after she’d gone.
“You have no idea,” Anna said, and she held out her hand for Brody to pour her another drink.
“So, how is life up in Burlington?” Brody asked, and he eyed me carefully. “You drove quite a ways to come see me, is everyone else alright up there on their own?”
“All of our people are capable,” I told him as I took a swig of the freshly poured liquor.
“They all have skills of their own, too,” Bailey said with a small smile.
“Oh, really?” Brody asked. “Like what?”
Bailey glanced over to me quickly, then back to Brody. She knew not to reveal too much.
“Well, one of the women is a seamstress,” Bailey said. “That really comes in handy.”
“A lot of the civilians were office workers,” Anna added. “But since the EMP they’ve learned to do various things. Tav teaches everyone to trap and shoot and keep watch.”
“You have someone on watch at all times?” Brody asked. “I’m surprised you haven’t seen me up that way.”
“We only attack people if they’re a threat,” Paige said with a shrug. “Someone probably did see you, they just didn’t think you meant us any harm.”
“Well, they’d be right about that,” Brody said, though his eyes said something different. “Still, though, I’m surprised you don’t check out everyone who comes through there. It’s not easy to tell who means you harm and who doesn’t.”
“We’re well hidden,” Anna said with a fake smile. “If anybody did mean us harm they’d have to find us first, and even if they found us, we’d see them coming a mile away.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a better setup than me, even,” Brody laughed. “All you need is a wall, and we’d be equally matched.”
