Lawless

by Jai Williams

  “This guy is fuckin’ annoying me. Let’s just do it the old-fashioned way,” said Captain Harris with frustration.

  “What, with whips and chains?” replied Ted.

  “We oughta step back,” said Dean as he looked at Ronnie, so Ronnie and Dean stepped back, leaving Captain Harris alone with Ted.

  “What, are things about to get too hectic for you guys?” said Ted, looking at Ronnie and Dean.

  Captain Harris put a knuckle duster on each hand. “You don’t want to mess with a man who’s seen too many of his friends and family die by the hands of fucked cunts like yourself,” he said while still putting the knuckle dusters on.

  “Hey-hey-hey, what’s with the language, man. We can tone it down a bit, like instead of fuck we can say shit and instead of cunt we can say…” replied Ted, faking an offended look on his face, and before Ted could slip in another word Captain Harris smacked his left fist across Ted’s face, splattering blood across the floor.

  “Ow…what I was going to say until you interrupted me was that, instead of cunt we can say…” said Ted as he pulled his head up. Captain Harris swung his right fist across Ted’s face before Ted could finish his sentence.

  “Instead of cunt, we can say bitch, ok?” said Ted, spitting blood out with an angry look.

  “Yeah, ok bitch,” replied Captain Harris. Captain Harris threw a left uppercut, forcing the chair Ted was on to fall backward, smacking Ted’s back of his head in the process. “Wow, that was…wow, just a-a powerful uppercut,” said Ted in pain.

  Captain Harris pulled the chair up. “Now tell me, where in the fuck is Dwayne?” he asked as he held his fist right at Ted’s face with rage.

  “You know what loyalty is?” asked Ted, not caring at all about Captain Harris hurting him.

  Captain Harris gave Ted a mad look.

  “Loyalty is,” said Ted, and Captain Harris smashed his right fist into Ted’s nose, forcing blood to come dripping out.

  “Wow, ow…ow, looks like someone’s mad,” replied Ted in pain, shaking his head.

  “What is this, amusing to you? Do you get off on pain? Do you not care if you die?” asked Captain Harris.

  “You know what’s actually funny? It’s that you guys have no idea how fucked you are. You think you can beat me till I tell you where he is, but you’re wrong because you’re nothing compared to Dwayne. Dwayne is a monster; he’s a scary-ass guy; he would make Satan himself shit his pants and the one thing he hates his men doing, is ratting him out. So no, I will not tell you where Dwayne the fuckin’ monster is,” replied Ted with a serious look.

  Stan walked out with a baseball bat and swung it across Ted’s head, knocking him out.

  “What the fuck was that, Stan?” said Captain Harris in anger.

  “Satan,” replied Stan with a smile.

  “What?” replied Captain Harris with a confused look.

  “Satan. You know, hell,” replied Stan, thinking that Captain Harris or anyone else would understand the clue.

  “Yeah, get to the point,” replied Captain Harris, still confused.

  “Remember what this sick fuck named his torture room? Hell’s cage, and he had a whole theme about hell with everything else involved in it,” replied Stan.

  “So, what he gave us a clue?” asked Captain Harris.

  “Yeah, without him ever realizing it. I mean, he could have said anything else but he said Satan so there’s got to be something hidden away in his torture chamber that will help us locate Dwayne,” replied Stan.

  “Way to go, Stan, you clever motherfucker, but you didn’t have to kill him because he could’ve still been helpful,” said Captain Harris.

  Stan checked if Ted had a pulse and he did; it was just a slow pulse though. “Yeah, there’s a pulse. It’s slow but yeah, he’s still alive,” he said.

  Captain Harris pulled off the knuckle dusters from his hands and put them back in his pocket. His hands were bleeding due to the bashing. “Okay men, so here’s the plan: me and some of you are going to go back to the shitty little town we picked this bastard up from, and check out if what Stan says is true, and for the men who aren’t coming with me, you will stay here and take turns watching over this pile of crap, ok. Do we understand?” he said clearly so all the soldiers could hear.

  “Yes sir,” replied all the soldiers.

  “Okay now, Stan, Roger, Bruce, Alan and Jackson, you’re coming with me and everyone else, you’ll stay here,” said Captain Harris.

  Ronnie walked up to Captain Harris. “What about me, sir?” he asked.

  “What about you?” asked Captain Harris.

  “Why am I not coming with you?” asked Ronnie.

  “Well, because you’re not as well trained as me and my men are,” replied Captain Harris, truthfully.

  “But what about back in that town – you know bang, boom, blah. I killed all those men in that building and rescued you guys,” replied Ronnie with confidence that Captain Harris would change his mind.

  “Yes, and me and my men will be forever grateful for that but I need you here training for when we do meet Dwayne,” replied Captain Harris.

  “What do you mean training?” asked Ronnie.

  “I mean that you need to learn some combat because not all fights are fought with guns. You need to learn how to strike your opponent and how to counter their attacks,” replied Captain Harris.

  Captain Harris signalled Dean to come over to him, “Dean here will help you train and when I come back I want you to show me some moves you’ve learned,” he said.

  “I will train him well, sir,” said Dean.

  Captain Harris and his soldiers he was going with, started to pack a truck with weapons, ammo and any other essentials they needed for their journey. A few minutes later, they had everything they needed and they drove off out of the base.

  “Okay Ronnie, let’s grab a bite to eat and then we’ll train,” said Dean, so they headed towards the dining tent. Dave joined them and they all grabbed a plate of food each. Ronnie saw Finn waving to him with Alice, John and the three kids beside him, so Ronnie walked over and sat on the opposite side of him with Dean and Dave.

  “Hey Ronnie, where have you been?” asked Finn with a smile. “Hank’s funeral, then Dean told me a great story about Hank and I watched the Captain beat out information from that asshole who was going to kill you,” replied Ronnie.

  Alice heard what Ronnie said, “What? Finn, you never told me that you were close to death,” she said with an upset and shocked look on her face.

  “It never came up and I didn’t want to worry you,” replied Finn.

  “Who cares if it never came up? You tell me these things,” replied Alice.

  “Okay, I’m sorry,” replied Finn.

  “Oh, Dean and Dave, this is Finn. Finn, this is Dean and Dave,” said Ronnie. Dean and Dave said hello to Finn and Finn said it back.

  “So, what happened? What did that psychopath say?” asked Finn.

  “Not much, but he did give us a lead,” replied Ronnie.

  “A lead to what?” asked Finn with curiosity.

  “Well, the mission is classified so I can’t say anything, sorry,” replied Ronnie.

  “Oh well, that’s okay. I understand,” replied Finn respecting what Ronnie said.

  Ronnie looked over at John. “Hey John, how are you felling?” he asked with concern.

  “Let’s see, I had my pinkie toe cut off and shoved in my mouth, which I had to eat, so I would say no, I’m not okay but after seeing that Alice was fine, I felt better. Thanks a bunch, actually thanks a lot; I don’t know how I can thank you for rescuing me,” replied John, trying to think of a way to thank Ronnie.

  “It’s ok, you being alive, is thanks enough,” replied Ronnie with a smile.

  “I can’t take all the credit for rescuing you guys; Dave did the same amount of rescuing as I did – actually, he did more,” said Ronnie.

  Dave looked over at Ronnie. “Well, I think you killed two more bad guys th
an I did,” replied Dave.

  “No, I’m not talking about that; I’m talking about when you saw me on the side of the road and picked me up, saving me from those men chasing me,” replied Ronnie.

  “Oh right, I forgot,” replied Dave.

  “Well, thank you too for rescuing me and John,” said Finn as he looked to Dave with a smile. Ronnie, Dean and Dave finished their meals.

  “Okay Ronnie, let’s go train now. Oh Dave, you can join us too if you want,” said Dean.

  Finn looked at Ronnie, who stood up. “What are you training for?” he asked him.

  “Oh, the Captain thought it would be helpful to learn hand to hand combat,” replied Ronnie.

  “Can I join you? I think it would be quite helpful if I knew how to defend myself next time I come face to face with someone who wants to kill me,” replied Finn.

  Ronnie looked at Dean. “Well, what do you think?” he asked him.

  “Yeah, you can join. Just remember there’s no bitching and whining when you get hit,” said Dean.

  “Yeah, I know,” replied Finn. Finn kissed Alice on her cheek, stood up and followed Ronnie, Dean and Dave out of the tent.

  They headed over to the training grounds where they saw men, women and children training on the courses as well as exercising and doing combat training.

  “Why are there children training?” asked Finn.

  “The new world is dangerous; it’s unsafe for kids so when we find new kids we give them the choice to train to become a soldier or to help around this place and many of them choose not to train at first, but after the Captain’s speech about survival and fighting, the kids change their minds. Some of them have lost their family and they decided straight away that they wanted to train so that they would be ready to go out and search for their family, like Hank did,” replied Dean.

  “I don’t know what the kids, me and Alice are looking after would say,” replied Finn.

  “They can’t be forced, but everyone who is capable of working has to help around here, whether it’s cooking, cleaning or protecting this place,” replied Dean.

  “I’ve been hiding and running my whole life and although that was effective, I can’t be doing that for the rest of my life. I need to learn how to protect myself, Alice and those kids,” said Finn.

  “Well, let’s get started then,” replied Dean.

  Ronnie, Dave and Finn stood a couple of feet away from Dean on the grass, away from the training courses.

  “Okay guys, what I’m going to teach you first is how to punch, which sounds stupid, but you need to learn the right way to throw a punch,” said Dean.

  “Well Dean, not to tell you how to do your job, but we all know how to punch and kick, so let’s get to the good stuff,” said Ronnie.

  “You think you’re good?” asked Dean.

  “I’ve taught myself over years how to fight by reading fighting tutorial books, so I know stuff,” replied Ronnie with confidence.

  “Show us what you know,” said Dean.

  “What, fight you?” asked Ronnie with a surprised look.

  “Yeah,” replied Dean with a smile.

  Ronnie stepped over to Dean and the others watched.

  “Ok now, I don’t know the complete complicated shit so…” said Ronnie and before Ronnie could get another word in Dean punched Ronnie across the face.

  “Okay, so that’s how it is, huh?” said Ronnie as he put his hand where he got punched.

  “Yeah, that’s how it is,” replied Dean. Ronnie swung his fist at Dean, which Dean dodged. Dean laughed and swung his fist at Ronnie which Ronnie countered.

  “Okay, you know how to counter – that’s good. Now counter this,” said Dean. Dean started continuously swinging fist after fist at Ronnie’s face which Ronnie kept countering and dodging until he dodged one of Dean’s punches and quickly hit Dean back right on his face. Dean stepped backwards, rubbing the area on his face that Ronnie hit.

  “Impressive,” he said with an impressed look on his face.

  “Yeah well, the teacher becomes the teacher,” replied Ronnie with a smile.

  “Isn’t it, the student becomes the teacher,” replied Dean.

  “No, because I’m my own teacher; I taught myself,” said Ronnie with confidence.

  “So how did you practice fighting?” asked Dean.

  “I used those fighting dummies,” replied Ronnie.

  “Nice,” replied Dean.

  “Okay, you can step back and…Dave you’re up next,” said Dean as he pointed to Dave.

  “What, because I win?” replied Ronnie with a smile.

  Ronnie stepped back and Dave stepped forward a couple of feet away from Dean.

  “Okay, I’m nowhere near as good as Ronnie, so let’s slow it down a bit,” he said.

  “Okay, what you’re going to do is, when I come at you with my fist, I want you to counter my punches by pushing my fist away or grabbing it. You could also dodge and if you want, put your arms up in front of your face and block my punches,” said Dean.

  “Got it,” replied Dave. Dean threw one of his fists at Dave’s face and Dave, with both of his open hands, pushed Dean’s fist so it went away from his face.

  “Nice. Let’s go again,” said Dean. Dean swung his other fist at Dave and Dave this time, moved his head out of the way and dodged the punch, Dean kept punching and Dave countered, blocked and dodged them apart from one punch that Dean just got by. Dave stepped back next to Ronnie and Finn stepped forward.

  “Okay, you’re going to do the same thing Dave just did,” said Dean.

  “Okay,” replied Finn. Dean swung his fist at Finn but Finn was a bit too slow and he got hit.

  “Sorry man, but you’ve got to make sure that you dodge it quickly, because your enemy is not going to go easy on you,” said Dean.

  “Yeah, I got it. I just need to be quicker,” replied Finn. Dean swung his fist at Finn again and this time Finn dodged it.

  They trained for an hour or so.

  “Okay, that’s enough of that for today; let’s head over to the gun range and see how good you guys are with a gun,” said Dean. They all headed over to the gun range and when they got there, Dean gave Ronnie, Dave and Finn an assault rifle each with one mag and earmuffs. He told them all to go to a separate bench and wait for him to give them further instructions. Dean headed over to Ronnie first.

  “Okay, so you know how to shoot, I mean you saved the Captain and the soldier’s lives so you obviously had to shoot some men down,” he said.

  “Yeah, I know how to shoot,” replied Ronnie confidently.

  “Okay, put those earmuffs on and aim at the target and shoot,” replied Dean. Dean walked away from Ronnie and Ronnie put on the earmuffs and aimed down the sight of the gun and shot at the target’s head. Dean headed over to Dave and told him the same thing. Dave put on his earmuffs and aimed down the sight of the gun and shot at the target’s chest. Dean walked over to Finn.

  “Have you used a gun before?” he asked.

  “I’ve held a handgun before but I’ve never pulled the trigger so you can say that I haven’t used a gun before,” replied Finn.

  “Okay, hold the gun up high to your chest with the stock of the gun, which is the back part, to your shoulder so it’s pressed up against it. Then put one of your hands at the bottom of the front of the gun and have your other hand holding the handle with your pointing finger ready to pull the trigger, but don’t pull it yet. And now look through the sight of the gun and aim at the target in front of you and fire. But before you do that, put your earmuffs on,” said Dean. Dean stood back and Finn put the earmuffs on and got back into the position he was holding the gun and he shot the gun and hit the chest part of the target. Dean walked over and tapped Finn on the shoulder and Finn took the earmuffs off his head. “Nice shot for your first time,” he said.

  “Thanks,” replied Finn.

  Dean stepped back. “Ronnie, Dave and Finn,” he said. They all put their guns on the bench in front of them a
nd took off their earmuffs and turned around to listen to Dean.

  “Okay, you guys are going to practice shooting for a couple more minutes and then I’ll show you where you will be sleeping,” he said.

  “I’ve already been shown where to sleep,” replied Finn.

  “Okay then, I’ll just show Ronnie and Dave,” replied Dean. They turned around and continued shooting for about ten minutes or so. Ronnie and Dave followed Dean and Finn headed back to Alice. Dean, Ronnie and Dave headed to the front left long skinny tent and entered. They were shown a bunk bed to the left-hand side of the tent.

  “This where you guys will sleep,” said Dean.

  “I’ve got the top,” said Dave quickly.

  “I don’t care; I’m just happy to have a bed to sleep in instead of the ground,” replied Ronnie. Dave climbed up to the top so he could lie down on the bed and Ronnie did the same on his bed.

  “Okay guys, dinner is ready whenever you want it,” said Dean.

  “Already?” said Ronnie.

  “Yes, you can grab food any time of the day; just make sure you have a maximum of three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, ok? I’ll see you guys later,” said Dean. Ronnie and Dave both said bye to Dean and Dean left the tent. Ronnie and Dave slept for a couple of hours and when they awoke it was night time. When they woke up they felt hungry, so they headed to the dining tent to grab some food. They entered the tent and there were a couple of other people eating so they weren’t the only ones eating late. They headed up to the food counter.

  “What can I get you gentlemen?” asked the woman behind the counter.

  “Just ah, steak and some veggies, thanks, if you have that,” replied Ronnie, so the woman put a big steak on a plate and put vegetables on the side and handed it to Ronnie.

  “Thank you,” said Ronnie politely.

  The woman looked at Dave. “Now what about you?” she asked.

  “I’ll have the same, thank you,” said Dave with a smile, so she gave him a plate with a steak and vegetables also. “Thank you,” said Dave.

  Ronnie and Dave headed over to a table by themselves and sat and ate. A few minutes later, they heard the gate of the base open and heard a truck enter so they headed out of the tent, leaving their food behind, and ran over to the truck and saw Stan and Roger hop out of the truck.