Without Law 12

by Eric Vall

  My feet hit the ground, and I ran back to the alley that I had been in before, and, just as I got there, I heard the roar of a jeep engine, so I hid behind an old dumpster that was back there.

  The sound came and went, so I retrieved my rifle from the rubbish and peered around the corner once more. Everyone else should have been in place by then, so it was time to take out the patrolmen. I had the two by the gate.

  The goal once again was to take them out quietly, but there was no guarantee that could be done. I had told the girls that if they needed to they should shoot, but to try to find a way to take them out with knives first. The sooner we let off a shot, the sooner the entire compound would be aware of our presence, and that meant they could hide and fire back at us. They knew this place far better than we did, so that was the last thing that I wanted.

  The two men on guard at the gate had finished smoking out of their pipe, but now they had cigarettes going and they talked to one another, their mouths moving too fast to be comfortable, and their movements jerky and strange.

  Now was the time. I needed to make my move.

  I ran to the building that was caddy corner to the front gate, then I made my way around the back of it and came out the side furthest from the gate so that I had a wide arc to get over to the men. Once I was in position, I waited for the two men’s conversation to get more heated, then I grabbed my tanto blade in one hand, and my karambit in the other and ran toward the men, careful to keep my footsteps as quiet as possible.

  “Oh, shit,” one of the two men said as he looked over and saw me coming.

  By then it was too late, I was just a few feet away from them, and they fumbled to pull their rifles off their backs. One still had his cigarette in his hand, and the other had his in his mouth.

  When they realized they were too slow to get their weapons out in time, then they started to back up, but it all happened too quickly for them. For me, everything had gone slow motion again, and as they tried to back away from me I took my final steps toward them and thrust the knives under their chins and into their skulls.

  Both of the men went deadweight at the ends of my blades, and I set them down slowly and yanked my knives out from their heads, then I wiped the blades on their pants before I started to dig through their pockets.

  Once again, the only thing I found was spare ammo. We’d pick over the bodies later, but I thought there could be something useful in there so there was no harm in checking.

  I took the ammo, then propped the two men up against the fence and hid behind their bodies as I pulled out my binoculars to check on the girls.

  I scanned the perimeter as best I could considering the position I was in, but what I saw was hopeful. Anna’s guy was down, though the redhead was nowhere to be seen. Tara had her guy down as well, and she had him on the ground as she looked around to be sure she was in the clear. Paige took her man down, though it looked a bit messy. We had been working on her knife skills, but she still wasn’t as natural with a blade as Tara was.

  I didn’t see Brody anywhere, though the two men in his section were down. Alexander had taken out his guy, and so had Nick and Johnny, but Roman, the youngest guy in the group looked like he had sustained an injury. The guard was down, but Roman sat next to him and clutched at his forearm.

  Shit.

  I looked around until I found Bailey’s guard tower, and after I did it wasn’t long before I caught her attention. I flipped my thumb up and down, and she looked around, then gave me a thumbs up.

  That meant that everyone had eliminated their targets, though Roman was still injured. The rest of the group would be headed toward the front gate since the fence was well fortified and it would be difficult to get inside any other way. I moved to our meeting point, which was the building that was caddy corner to the gate, and waited for the others.

  Anna was the first to arrive, of course, and she made her way over to me.

  “Everyone good?” she asked.

  “Roman, one of Brody’s guys has been injured,” I said.

  “How?” she asked. “I didn’t hear any guns go off. You think they fought back with a knife.”

  “I’m not sure,” I said. “But if he doesn’t get here soon I’ll have to send Paige to bandage him up.”

  “Alright,” Anna agreed.

  “Hey,” Tara said as she and Paige joined us. Alexander was with them as well.

  “Paige,” I said, “Roman is injured. If he doesn’t show up, then we’ll have to go find him.”

  “Fuck,” the brunette breathed, “did you see what it was?”

  “I don’t know,” I told her, “I just saw him clutching his forearm.”

  “Roman’s hurt,” Johnny said, and I turned to see him and Roman come down the alley with Brody right behind them.

  “Bring him here,” Paige instructed.

  Johnny set Roman against the building, and the poor guy hissed in pain as Paige tried to pull his hand back.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “The asshole stabbed me with his pipe,” he said.

  “What?” Paige asked.

  “How did that happen?” Anna asked.

  “I tried to sneak up on him,” Roman explained through ragged breaths, “but I guess he heard me, and he turned around at the last second. I managed to get his gun away from him, but we fell to the ground and then he pulled out some pipe thing and stabbed me. I pulled a chunk of glass out of my fuckin’ arm.”

  “The pipe must have broken when you guys fell,” Tara said.

  “It doesn’t look to be bleeding too badly,” Brody said, “we really need to get this going.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Paige said, and she pried Roman’s hand away from his arm.

  “Well, doc?” Brody asked, a look of superiority on his face.

  “He needs stitches,” Paige said. “But I can bandage it for now. Will you be alright to continue?”

  “Yeah,” Roman said. “I get to use my gun now, right?”

  “Right,” Anna agreed.

  “Make it quick, doc,” Brody said. “We need to get this show on the road.”

  Brody was right, we only had a set amount of time until patrols started to come back, but his man was the one who was injured, any decent human being would spare five minutes to get him patched up.

  I kept a lookout while Paige bandaged up the young man. He was clearly the youngest out of all the men, and he looked like he was even younger than the girls, so he had to be in his late teens or early twenties. I felt bad that he had gotten roped into this, but he had done well, all things considered, and it could have been a lot worse than it was.

  Once Roman was bandaged, then it was time to take out the men inside the perimeter. Bailey would handle the two jeeps while we went inside, then she would be extra backup in case we needed it.

  “All done,” Paige said after a few moments.

  “Great,” Anna said, “let’s go.”

  “Follow me,” I said, and I peered around the corner to double check the perimeter.

  Nobody was there, and with the patrols gone and the perimeter guards taken out, the inside of the place looked pretty dead. I saw a few men outside drinking, but none otherwise. They had to be in the buildings. The barracks was the most likely place, but we would have to go building by building just to be sure.

  I led my team to the front gate, and moved the men I had stood up there earlier, then I opened the gate as quietly as possible and let everyone in. Brody’s team flanked to the nearest building on the left, while my team flanked to the right.

  Once everyone was in position, I leaned out and readied my shot on one of men who was drinking in the yard.

  My rifle went off with a bang, a loud signal that all hell had broken loose among the quiet of the morning.

  The guy fell backwards, and his buddy reached for his pistol, but Brody was quicker than he was, and he was soon on the ground as well.

  I heard the roar of a jeep engine as they accelerated, b
ut then Bailey’s rifle cracked and the sound of a crash filled the air.

  Damn, that girl was good.

  The commotion did exactly what I expected it to do, and men started to run out from the barracks, their guns aimed and ready as they shouted curse words and looked around to try and see what the hell was happening.

  Once there was a large group of them out in the open, I let off a round, and my whole team did the same. Men went down left and right, but still some got away and ran toward the jeeps that still remained in the yard.

  “Five of them got behind the jeeps,” Anna said.

  Just then a couple of guys popped up from behind one of the vehicles and let out a spray of bullets in our direction.

  “Fuck,” Tara spat.

  Bailey’s rifle sounded several more times, then it went quiet and I took that to mean that the patrol jeeps were out of the equation.

  I looked around quickly and got the idea to go around the back of the building so I could get a better angle on the men behind the jeep.

  “Cover me,” I said.

  “I’m coming with,” Tara said as she finished reloading her pistol.

  “Alright,” I agreed, and I turned to Anna and Paige. “Give us some cover fire, we just need you to distract them so we can come around from the side.”

  “On it,” my redheaded second in command agreed.

  “Ready?” I asked Tara.

  “Ready,” she told me.

  I raised my pistol and held it out and down toward the ground as I led the platinum blonde down the side of the building to the back. Once we were at the corner I gave her a nod before I quickly spun out to be sure the place was clear.

  We made our way down the length of the building, then I crouched down and peered around the corner. The side of the jeep was totally visible, and we had a good view of the men that were hidden there.

  “I have a view,” I told Tara. “But there’s five of them, and they’re all in a line, this won’t be easy.”

  “I didn’t expect it to be,” she told me. “Let’s get these fuckers.”

  Anna and Paige had laid down cover fire to distract them, but they stopped then, and the men behind the jeep readied their M16s to fire back.

  “Now,” I said and I rolled out to the side and began to fire.

  Tara stepped out with me, and the first guy went down easily. He was an older guy, with a gray ponytail and a leather vest on, and his large body fell backward onto the men behind him.

  They struggled to push their friend off, but while they were down it was impossible for them to get a shot off, so Tara and I took a few steps closer as we continued to fire.

  I took another one down with a shot to the head, then Tara got another as well, but I didn’t see the final two. They must have gone around to the back of the jeep.

  “Shit,” I cursed, “take cover.”

  Just then, though, Bailey’s rifle went off, and I looked to see her give us a thumbs up.

  “Is that all of them?” Tara asked.

  “Not exactly,” I said. “We still need to clear out the buildings.”

  “Right,” the platinum blonde agreed.

  We made our way back to Anna and Paige, then I called over to Brody. His group was closest to the barracks, and our group was closest to the arsenal and the building where the women were held, something that had not happened by accident. I didn’t trust Brody to clear that building for one second.

  “Brody,” I called out. “Clear the barracks, we’ll take this building here.”

  “Whatever you say,” he called back, then he gestured for his team to follow him into the building.

  “Do those guys know how to clear?” Anna asked.

  “I have no idea,” I said, “but we need to find the women before Brody does.”

  “Right,” Tara said, “let’s go.”

  We made our way around the building to the front doors. There was a large piece of wood shoved through the door handles, so I didn’t think there were any men inside, that must be how they kept the women in.

  “That’s fucked up,” Paige whispered.

  I ripped the piece of wood out and opened the doors.

  The girls were quiet as we made our way down a long hallway. I hadn’t paid too much attention to what the building had been before it was a slave cell for women, but as we walked through it I realized that it must have been a bank before. It was large, though, and as we walked to the back and past offices you could see how disgusting and terrible of a place it was.

  The druggies had cleared out the offices and moved beds in there, but they were filthy and looked like they’d never actually been used to sleep on. If the women didn’t sleep in those beds, then there was only one use for them.

  I shut my eyes for a second to collect myself, then I continued on down the hallway.

  “I bet the women are in the vault room,” Paige said.

  “Vault room?” Anna asked.

  “Or the safety deposit box room,” Paige said. “I don’t know what this bank has, but those would be the best places to keep someone.”

  “There,” Anna said, and she pointed to our right. “That door says safety deposit.”

  “Let’s go,” I said as I led the girls over to it.

  I stopped for a second to listen once we got there. I didn’t hear any sounds from inside, but something told me that Paige was right, this was the room that the women were in.

  I readied my pistol, then I yanked the door open and aimed the firearm. A panicked series of screams and gasps sounded, and I immediately lowered my weapon, but it was too late, a few of the women had begun to sob uncontrollably.

  “Hey, hey,” I said as I holstered my pistol, “it’s okay, we’re not here to hurt you.”

  “What do you want?” a voice asked, but it was very dark in the room, so it was hard to tell where it came from.

  “Why don’t you all come out here?” Paige suggested. “It’s lighter and more open.”

  “Who are you?” the same voice asked.

  “My name is Tav,” I said, “this is my team. We’re here to rescue you.”

  “Is this true?” the voice asked, and I knew the question wasn’t directed to me.

  “It’s true,” Tara said. “We’re here to help.”

  “We’ve taken care of the men who held you here,” Anna said.

  “Please,” Paige said, “if you come out I can look you over and treat any wounds.”

  I took a few steps back and let the girls get in front of me. I thought it would make it easier for the women in the room to feel comfortable.

  It was quiet for a moment, but then I heard the sounds of movement, and the women started to come out of the dark room into the hallway where we stood.

  They were clearly underfed, and some of them didn’t even have a full set of clothes on, just a bra and panties. I guess these assholes didn’t figure they needed it, but I didn’t want to make them uncomfortable so I turned my head away as they walked by.

  All of them were filthy, they probably hadn’t had a shower since the day they arrived in this hellhole. I thought about the shit that Brody put his women through and wondered if the same things had gone on here. Were they on birth control, did the men use condoms, or was it more of the same abortion concoctions that were administered improperly? It could be even worse, but I didn’t want to think about that. These women had obviously already been through a lot, and I didn’t want the image of them getting punched in the stomach to stick in my mind.

  “Anybody who’s injured, please follow me over here,” Paige said as she headed to a corner of the room.

  “They look awful,” Anna said as she came over to me.

  “It’s so fucked up,” Tara seethed.

  “I know,” I agreed. “But they’re safe now. We can’t change what happened to them, but we can stop it from happening again.”

  “Sometimes it’s hard to understand how people can be so cruel,” Tara said.

  “You sound like Bai
ley,” Anna said with a small smile.

  “Maybe she’s onto something,” the platinum blonde said. “We’re surrounded by such good people that it's crazy to think people like this actually exist. Apocalypse or not.”

  “These types of people have always existed,” I said. “They just hid before the EMP hit. Now there’s no reason for them to hide.”

  “It’s true,” Anna said. “These guys are rapists and pigs, but they’ve been around since the dawn of time. It’s sick.”

  I knew that I couldn’t sympathize with these women the way that they could. As a man, I didn’t have to worry nearly as much about the things that they had to as women, and while I hoped that nothing as atrocious had ever happened to my girls, I knew the statistics. Even in the military there had been an issue with rapes, and depending on the offender, some of them got off virtually scot-free just because of their position. It was repulsive to see such an abuse of power. I also remembered the story that Tara had told me about what happened to her friends, and how torn up she was over it. I tried to protect my girls from any sort of abuse, but seeing other women go through it had to be traumatizing for them as well.

  I saw the feelings that flashed across their faces as they looked at the women we had rescued. It was easy to tell that they pitied them, but there was something else, it was almost as if they knew that it could have been them. And sometimes it almost looked like they wished they could trade places with them. I couldn’t begin to understand how it must have made them feel, all I could do was protect them as fiercely as possibly and be there for them when things like this happened.

  Soon enough we’d get the women back home, and I hoped the girls would feel better then. They could sleep well knowing that they had saved them from people who wanted nothing more than to hurt them. People who treated them as if they were less than human.

  It didn’t seem like much compared to everything else, but it was something to be proud of.

  “They’re okay for now,” Paige said as she returned to the group.

  “How many are there?” I asked. I had been distracted with Tara and Anna and hadn’t gotten a headcount.