Without Law 12

by Eric Vall

  “I appreciate the thought,” I said. “But we’ll be in enemy territory, we’d need radio silence anyways.”

  “I hadn’t thought about that,” she said with a small smile.

  “You sure you’ll be okay here with Anna and Paige?” I asked. I knew I had already asked a couple of times, but I didn’t want her to feel like she had to stay for any reason. Missions were normal to the other girls, but for Kimmy it was a whole new experience, and I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable.

  “I’ll be fine,”she chuckled. “Don’t worry about me, just go out there and get those kids back.”

  “I will,” I said with a soft smile. She looked gorgeous, and more than that she was incredibly caring, and I wanted to reach out and pull her to me. I wanted to press my lips to hers, but instead I wrapped my knuckles on the doorway and left.

  “It’s almost time,” Renee told me when I walked over to her and the rest of the girls.

  “Alright,” I said. “I’m ready.”

  And I was, I was ready to get to work. I was ready to take out Brody and save those children that he kidnapped. More than anything, I was ready to rid the world of a rapist, narcissistic sonofabitch.

  It seemed like it had been so long ago that we first arrived at the refinery, but at the same time it felt like no time had passed. Anna and Paige came over to me and wrapped their arms around my waist.

  “Be careful,” Anna said.

  “I will,” I said, and I kissed her on the forehead, but she tilted her head up and planted her plump, red lips on my mouth.

  “Kick some ass,” Paige said, and she leaned up to kiss me as well.

  I pulled them both in tighter for a moment, then I let them go. They hugged Tara and Bailey too, then we made our way onto the trailer and Tara and Bailey climbed into their drums.

  I did one last scan of the area and saw that Kimmy stood in the doorway of the refinery. She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, but when I locked eyes with her she smiled softly and waved.

  I hopped off of the trailer and walked straight over to her, ignoring Anna and Renee’s questions of where I was going and what was wrong.

  “Tav?” Kimmy asked as I approached. “What are you--”

  I put one arm around her waist and the other on the back of her neck, then I pulled her to me and planted my mouth firmly on hers. Her body was stiff for a second, but then she relaxed against me and wrapped her hands into my hair so she could pull my face even closer to hers. She opened her mouth for me and I slipped my tongue inside. I could feel her body pressed against me with all of its perfect curves, and I wanted to take her right then and there, but I knew I needed to go. Still, I couldn’t leave without kissing her. Every mission I went on there was a risk that I wouldn’t make it back, and I couldn’t take that risk knowing that Kimmy didn’t know how I felt.

  Finally, I pulled my mouth away from hers, and both of our breaths was ragged from adrenaline. I could feel my heart pump heavily in my chest, and I wondered if she could feel it, too.

  “I… uh,” Kimmy stammered, and her cheeks darkened with a blush.

  “Can I do that again when I get back?” I asked with a sly smile.

  “Mhm,” she said, nodded, and then looked down.

  I gave her one last quick kiss, then I marched back over to the trailer. Anna raised an eyebrow at me as I walked by, but I ignored it and made my way to my barrel to climb in.

  Tara stood in her own barrel and stared at me with an incredibly large grin on her face.

  “Not a word,” I told her, then I crouched down into my fuel drum.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Tara snickered.

  “I think it was sweet,” Bailey said.

  “Definitely sweet,” Paige agreed as she and Anna put the lids on our fuel drums.

  I ignored their comments and instead focused on the lasting feel of Kimmy on my lips. She tasted salty and delicious, and I could feel that I had a partial erection just from kissing her, but I pushed the feelings of desire to the back of my mind. I had made it known that I wanted her, and she had accepted, that was all I could do right then, but for now I needed to focus on the task at hand.

  After a moment, we began to move and I could hear the wind around us as we cruised down the highway. Renee didn’t go incredibly fast, which I was grateful for. I was definitely uncomfortable, but not being jostled around at a high speed helped with the comfortability.

  “So,” Tara’s voice came through the metal of the drum after a few minutes on the road.

  “So?” I asked.

  “How was it?” Tara chuckled.

  “Tara!” Bailey said, her voice full of indignation. “Leave him alone, you were all for this.”

  “I still am,” the platinum blonde said. “I’m happy it finally happened, but I just want to know how it was.”

  “It was fine,” I said with an eye roll.

  “Just fine?” Tara tsked. “Kimmy might have to step her game up if she wants to stick around.”

  “I don’t think she wants to stick around us,” Bailey chuckled. “She wants to be with Tav, I don’t think it matters what we think.”

  “What we think totally matters,” Tara scoffed. “We’re like the damn sister wives up in here. You can’t just bring in a new sister wife without our approval.”

  “I thought she had your approval?” I asked, slightly amused by the reference.

  “She does,” Tara said. “But if her kisses are just fine, well, I don’t think she’ll last long, and I don’t want things to get awkward.”

  “You’re too much,” Bailey laughed. “Tav just doesn’t want to go into detail.”

  “I know,” Tara said. “That’s why I’m trying to force him to go into detail by insulting Kimmy’s kisses, only it doesn’t seem to be working. Take the bait, damnit!”

  “I don’t think so,’ I chuckled. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Tara said. “I’ll just have to talk to Kimmy when we get back then and see how she felt about it.”

  “She seems pretty shy,” Bailey pointed out. “I doubt she’ll give you much more than Tav is right now.”

  “I can get her to talk,” Tara said.

  “No torturing Kimmy,” I teased.

  “Oh, phooey,” Tara said, and I could hear the false pout in her voice. “At least just tell us if you’re happy you did it. I think we were all a little sick of feeling the sexual tension between you two.”

  “You were sick of feeling sexual tension?” I chuckled. “Why does that surprise me.”

  “It shouldn’t,” Tara said. “I mean, just fuck and get it over with, am I right, Bailey?”

  “Oh, my god,” Bailey groaned, and I could just imagine her pale face going red from Tara’s comment.

  “Yes,” I said after a few seconds. “I’m happy I did it.”

  “That’s all that matters, then,” Tara said.

  Her question made me really think about what I had just done. Yes, I had kissed Kimmy, which was something I’d wanted to do for quite a while, but I’d also just complicated things further, particularly for Kimmy. The curly haired woman was easily embarrassed, and I wondered if she was concerned about the rest of our community finding out about us. It wasn’t the most usual of relationships, after all. I’d have to have a talk with her when I got back and make sure that she was okay with what had happened.

  I remembered then the way her body had pressed against my own, and I thought that she was probably more than okay with what had happened.

  We rode in silence then, except for the sounds of the jeep and the trailer and the highway, which were oddly soothing. My lid didn’t quite fit, just as Renee had said, and so a small amount of light shone through the top of the fuel drum, but every now and then it went dark as we came across a patch of shade in the road.

  It had been half an hour maybe, though I couldn’t be sure, but my legs had started to cramp, and I desperately wanted to stand up and stretch out my body.
I knew this would be a challenging way to get into the fort, but it was the only way we had, so I just had to push through the pain and focus on the mission.

  I leaned my head against the metal at my back and tried to close my eyes. After a while I felt us slow down, then we came to a total halt and I heard Renee’s voice.

  “Okay,” she said. “Bailey, this is where we let you out.”

  Renee opened all of our lids then, and I watched as Bailey climbed out of her barrel, her sniper rifle slung over her shoulder and her backpack on her back. We were stopped on the side of the road, and I recognized it as the main road that led to the fort, but we were still far enough away that the fort itself wasn’t visible yet. Tara and I took the opportunity to stretch our legs for a minute.

  “Be careful,” I said softly.

  “I will,” she told me with one of her sweet, Bailey smiles. “I’ll see you guys tonight.”

  “Yeah, you will,” Tara said, and she reached over and high fived the other blonde.

  “Head straight that way,” Renee said with a point. “The king’s garden area is about a mile over there, just be careful not to get spotted by anybody on the wall.”

  “I got this,” Bailey said, and she gave us another smile before she disappeared into the trees.

  Once Bailey was dropped off, we got back in our barrels, and Renee put the lids back on our containers, and once again we moved down the road. It was almost showtime, and I was ready.

  I thought about Sophia, the poor girl we saved from bleeding out, and I thought about all the women at the fort who were obviously terrified of the man, including the woman I had seen come into his room the first night we had stayed there. I thought about the women in the caravan from Lebanon that he had killed, then I thought about Henry and Rosy and Donald and how scared all of them must be, and I felt myself become more determined than ever.

  Brody had caused far too much pain, and it was time for his reign of terror to end.

  After a few minutes we came to a stop again, and I heard Renee yell something before we moved slowly forward. We were at the gate.

  It was showtime.

  Chapter 26

  The light disappeared from the top of my barrel, so I figured we were in the courtyard then, probably parked beneath the area where they kept the fuel drums, which Renee had said was covered by a tarp awning.

  We came to a stop, and I waited, my fingers on my knives, ready to do whatever I had to. I heard Renee shout something, then the sounds of the barrels being offloaded came through, and I worried that she wouldn’t have time to talk to her friends before they got to my barrel, but a moment later I heard Renee’s voice whispering to someone.

  I couldn’t hear the other person, so I had no idea what their response was, but at that moment it didn’t matter. We were already in enemy territory, there was no going back at that point, we’d either fight our way out or die trying.

  The sounds of clinking metal and the creaks of the trailer continued for another few minutes, then I felt myself being lifted. There were some grunting sounds, probably from how heavy I was, and I was carried somewhere and set down. It seemed even darker than before somehow, so I readied my pistol and prepared to pop out of the lid at any second.

  Some strange rustling sounds came through the metal canister, and suddenly they grew exceptionally loud as the lid above me was ripped off. I quickly aimed my pistol upward, but I only saw Renee’s face in a dim light.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “You’re fine.”

  “Where’s Tara?” I asked as I stood up.

  “Here,” the platinum blonde said as she rose out of her own fuel drum.

  “This is Lucy,” Renee said with a gesture at the woman who stood next to her.

  “Renee told me what’s going on,” the woman said. “You’ll be safe here until nightfall.”

  Lucy had large eyes set back in a much too skinny face, and she had dark, almost black hair, but it lacked luster, probably from poor nutrition.

  “I’m Tav,” I said. “Thank you for doing this.”

  “Don’t thank me,” Lucy said. “Just take out Brody, he needs to go.”

  “Will do,” I said. “He has two children with him. Do you know where they are?”

  “They’re with Mary,” Lucy said. “They’re in the room next to his, but Mary’s been taking care of them. I bring them their meals.”

  “They’re in good hands, then?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Lucy said. “They were unharmed the last time I saw them.”

  “And when was that?” I asked.

  “At breakfast,” Lucy said, and I nodded. I was relieved to hear that the children were safe, and it was just as Renee had said. She knew Brody well, but I guess you would know someone well after watching them for months, trying to predict their every move so you knew exactly how to react.

  “Thank you,” I told her.

  “We have to get back outside,” Lucy said, and she bit her lip nervously. “But wait here, you’ll be safe, and I’ll come get you once it’s dark out.”

  “We appreciate you doing this,” I said, and she nodded, smiled, and pulled Renee out of the room so it was only Tara and I left in darkness.

  The room itself was small, and lined with shelves that were piled with an assortment of canned goods and other non perishable items. We were in some sort of a supply closet, but because it was on the lower floor of the fort with stone walls and a dirt floor, it was cool, which was a welcome relief from the heat of the barrel.

  I wiped my forehead to rid it of the sweat as I looked around.

  Tara sat on the floor against the wall and carefully opened our backpack, then she pulled out two bottles of water and handed me one.

  I sat down next to her and we each sipped on our water for a minute as we adjusted to our new hideout for the day. After a few minutes Tara pulled out the map that Paige had packed us, along with the descriptions of Brody’s lackeys.

  We each studied the information quietly for some time. I recognized two of the descriptions as a couple of the men that we had gone to Lebanon and Burlington with, but I knew that we’d taken out at least one of them. The other was Alexander, the skinny fellow with long, blonde hair who had gotten sick from looking over the edge of the building on our trip to Lebanon. I hadn’t pegged any of those guys as full out Brody supporters, but I hadn’t talked to them much, either. I trusted Renee’s descriptions, though, so whoever was on this list was considered an enemy.

  There were three other men listed on there. I didn’t bother to look at the names, I just memorized the descriptions. One was a larger man with plenty of tattoos and a shaved head, that seemed easy enough to spot.

  The next was a shorter guy with short brown hair, and along with the physical description Renee had written ‘always wears a red shirt’.

  The list described the last guy as having an average build, medium length blonde hair, terrible teeth, and sporadic behavior. It looked like we might have another tweaker on our hands, which wouldn’t surprise me at all.

  After I had the descriptions memorized, Tara and I went over the plan once more. We traced the map with our fingers and looked for places where we would have a vantage point to see around the corner, or get a jump on whoever might be outside keeping guard.

  “These assholes won’t know what hit them,” Tara whispered after we went over the plan for the third time.

  “You got that right,” I agreed.

  “I would normally hate that they put us in a closet,” Tara said, “but it feels so nice and cool in here.”

  “We’re close to the earth,” I said. “It stays at a constant temperature no matter how hot it is outside.”

  “Right,” she agreed. “That’s why dogs dig holes and lay in them.”

  “It is,” I said, surprised that Tara knew that.

  “Don’t seem so shocked,” she chuckled softly. “I know stuff.”

  “I know you do,” I said, and I kissed her on the forehead.

&n
bsp; We sat and enjoyed the coolness of the room for a while, but I knew we’d been in there for a least a couple hours already, so we needed to eat something.

  I looked through the backpack until I found some power bars that Paige had packed for us, and I passed one to Tara before opening my own. They were strawberry oat flavor, and quite good, though rather chewy. Still, they’d give us a bit of an energy boost. The room was so cool and pleasant it was hard to not get comfortable enough to fall asleep, I’d seen Tara lean back and rest her eyes more than once by that point.

  I had Tara get up and run through some knife drills with me, but that only kept us busy for so long, so I went through the plan again in my head just to keep my mind busy. I had started to grow antsy to get out of the little room we were in and get down to business. Waiting was, unfortunately, part of the mission for the day whether I liked it or not.

  Pacing didn’t seem to help my agitation, but I did it anyways.

  “Can you stop?” Tara whispered. “You’re getting dirt everywhere.”

  It was an exaggeration, but she was right, I needed to remain calm. We’d be able to get on with the mission soon enough.

  Some time later the door to the small room opened and Lucy slid through. She had a towel with her, and she put it at the bottom of the door so no light would shine through, then she clicked on the light above us, and I had to close my eyes against the brightness.

  “Sorry,” she whispered.

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  “It’s almost dark out,” she informed us. “Everyone just had dinner, so they should be going to bed soon.”

  “Perfect,” I agreed. “Thank you, Lucy.”

  “Also,” the woman went on, “everyone but Brody’s main men know what’s going on. Nobody will bother you except those guys.”

  “Are any of Brody’s men out on the wall?” I asked.

  “No,” she said, “they’re all keeping watch on the other side of the fort. Brody hasn’t been out of that room in a couple of days really, so we’ve been running things without him.”