Without Law 20, page 1
Eric Vall
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Chapter 1
“So, when you say end this once and for all, you mean, like, this will be the last battle?” Tara, the beautiful platinum-blonde covert expert, asked, and she cocked her hip to the side and put her hand on it.
“That’s what I mean.” I smiled and nodded. “We’re going to take down these North Korean fuckers for good.”
“Oh, thank god,” Tara groaned, and she threw her head back with exasperation. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.”
“Have you?” I asked.
“Totally.” She nodded. “I’m ready to win this.”
“Me, too,” Anna, my gorgeous redheaded second in command, said. “Now, what’s our plan here?”
“Yeah, we definitely need one of those,” Paige, the bookish brunette, said, and she pushed her glasses further up on the bridge of her nose.
I thought about what had just happened. My girls were right, we definitely needed a plan, the problem was, we didn’t have a lot of information to go off of right now.
My ragtag team of American soldiers and civilians had just stolen the NK MiGs right out from under their noses then bombarded their main base of operations. I hadn’t expected them to retaliate so incredibly soon, but two of our boys had just shown up from their patrol and said they heard some NK troops over the radio talking about a plan to go on the offensive and take down us Americans. Granted, the guy admitted his Korean wasn’t the greatest, but he was sure of what he heard, and I didn’t doubt it for a second.
I knew they’d come for us and that our attack on their base wouldn’t be the last battle of this war, but I had to admit, I thought it would take them at least a couple of days to get back on their feet.
These fuckers were ready to go, though, and I was ready for them. It didn’t matter how little time we had, I was going to make the most of it, and that meant doing whatever I could to prepare my troops for battle.
There was bound to be an all-out brawl at some point during this war, and it seemed now was the time for it. We’d managed to avoid anything like that so far in an effort to preserve our forces since the NK troops outnumbered us, but now we’d taken out a good portion of their men on their main base, and we’d stolen all their air support. Not to mention, our attack on their base camp would have left them without much firepower. The troops on patrol would have their weapons, but we’d taken out all the ones on base, so it was a much more even fight now than it had been when this all started.
The plasma the NK troops possessed had given them an astonishing head start in this war, and they’d used it well. Now, it was our time, though, and we were going to use the fire power we’d stolen from them to make sure we took out every last soldier.
I didn’t care about the rules of war anymore, these assholes certainly didn’t. I knew for a fact they’d purposefully killed civilians on more than one occasion, and I had no mercy for full-grown men who attacked women, children, and defenseless citizens. They’d turned my country upside down and used the plasma they’d found to level entire cities, so I wasn’t too keen on the idea of sparing a single one of their lives. They were all guilty as far as I was concerned.
“We need to know how long we have, don’t we?” Bailey, the petite blonde sniper, asked, and she pulled her plump pink bottom lip between her teeth.
“That’s a good point,” Anna sighed. “We don’t exactly know how long we have until their troops get here.”
“They don’t know exactly where we’re at, either, right?” Paige asked. “They know the general area we’re in, but they don’t know where our base is.”
“Not that I’m aware of,” General Lopez, the leader of the last American resistance group, said, and he pushed a hand through his thick dark hair.
“No matter how much time we have, we need to get prepared,” I said. “Do we have a current tally of our supplies?”
“Yes.” Paige nodded. “I made sure it got done while we were in Birmingham getting the MiGs.”
“Perfect,” I told her. “We still only have about ten-thousand men, but we took out a good portion of the NK soldiers in our attack, so we shouldn’t be outnumbered by much anymore, if at all.”
“I guess that puts us on a pretty level playing field,” Tara said. “But we also have the MiGs, can’t we just go bomb the shit out of these assholes like we did the last guys?”
“I doubt it.” Anna shook her head.
“Why do you say that?” Tara asked. “It should be easy, right? Can’t we just fly the MiGs over there?”
“They’re probably scattered about still,” Paige said.
“Right,” Bailey agreed. “They said they were all meeting up to attack, right?”
“True.” Tara nodded.
“It’s more than that, though,” Anna explained. “They know we have the MiGs now.”
“What difference does that make?” Paige asked.
“They’re no doubt going to break out the anti-aircraft weapons,” I said. “Or at the very least, they’re going to have some of their plasma cannons on standby to try and take down any aircraft that flies overhead.”
“Shit, you’re right,” Tara breathed.
“It’d be much too dangerous to send the pilots over there now,” I added.
“They’d get shot out of the sky, or worse.” Anna nodded. “It’s not only dangerous for them, but it’s risky for us. We could lose the MiGs. We’ve got to be smart about this, especially since they know about our attack in Douglasville.”
“They’re pissed, and they’re going to do whatever they can to take us down now,” I said. “Up until this point, they might not have felt like they were winning, but they definitely thought they were ahead.”
“Now they know we’re in the lead,” Anna said.
“The only way we kept them at bay so long was with our own anti-aircraft guns,” the General added. “Otherwise the MiGs would have taken us down long before now.”
“Right,” I agreed. “They’ve been stalling, and they definitely didn’t expect the blitz attack we just gave them.”
“We can’t attack them like we did the larger group,” Paige said. “So, what do we do?”
“You said you heard them over the radio, right?” I asked the young soldiers who’d delivered the message.
“That’s right.” He nodded. “My Korean is far from fluent, but I understand more than I speak, and they definitely knew about the Douglasville attack, and I specifically heard the word offensive.”
“Minji,” I said, and I turned to the beautiful Korean woman next to me. “I need you listening to that radio in case they start communicating again.”
“You got it.” She nodded, and her beautiful black hair shook slightly with the movement of her head.
“Everyone else, we need to sober up and get everything prepared for battle,” I instructed. “I want all the vehicles filled with as many weapons as they can fit, as well as a couple days’ supply of food and water. We don’t know how long we might be out in the field, and it’s better to be prepared.”
“You really think this battle could take days?” Tara asked.
“Or that we’ll have time to eat?” Paige added with a raised eyebrow.
“There’s no telling. “I shook my head. “Just because the NK troops said they’re going on the offensive doesn’t mean they’re going to be stupid about it,” I said. “They’ve proven up until this point they aren’t dumb when it comes to battle strategy.”
“I guess that’s true,” Bailey said, and she bit her lip again. “That seems like a long time, though.”
“I imagine most of that would be a standoff,” I said. “And that’s if it comes to that. I doubt they’re going to run headfirst into battle, no matter how much I might like them to.”
“You think they’ll try and lure us all to one area just to have us sit there for days?” Anna asked, and her red eyebrows pinched together with confusion.
“Not exactly.” I shook my head. “But I’m not sure they’re going to try and attack right away. They’re going to want to come up with a plan, and if we try to attack them, they’ll fall back, if they try to attack us, we’ll fall back. It’s a way of protecting your men in battle, and it can really drag things on.”
“Geez,” Tara scoffed. “I’ve gotten used to our pretty quick battles, this one sounds suuuuuper long.”
“It’s an all-out war with tens of thousands of men,” the General said, and he cocked his head to the side and looked at the platinum-blonde. “It’s bound to be a little longer than a battle amongst just a few soldiers.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Tara shrugged.
“Battles in the old days would go on for weeks,” Paige said matter of factly. “I guess this one isn’t so different even though technology has changed a lot.”
“Given the circumstances that makes sense.” Bailey nodded. “The plasma is so explosive, neither group wants to drop a huge bomb when it’d be impossible to escape the blast zone.”
“Not to mention they don’t even have air
“Right,” the blonde agreed.
“So, we can’t just bomb the shit out of them like I suggested,” Tara said. “I get it. What else do we got?”
“We don’t even know where they’re meeting up right now,” Anna reminded us.
“We don’t.” I shook my head. “We need more information. Our best bet at this point is to wait for them to communicate again, and in the meantime we’ll get ready for battle.”
“Alright,” Paige agreed. “I’ll look over the maps and see if there’s anywhere I think they might use as a meeting spot.”
“Thank you, Paige,” I said.
“I’ll finish getting everyone dished up with dinner,” Tara said. “No sense in not eating. Besides, some of these dudes are clearly drunk.”
“Fair enough.” I smiled.
Our celebration of the day’s victory had been interrupted by the news of the NK troops moving in, so I wasn’t surprised a few of the guys were a little worse for wear. After all, it’d been a while since they’d had anything to drink. Honestly, I was surprised the General sobered up as quickly as he had. Just a little while ago he seemed to be quite intoxicated, and I was inwardly laughing my ass off.
That moment had passed, though, and things had once again gotten serious. There was never a dull moment in my world, not since I’d come out of the woods just under two years ago and found everything completely changed by the EMP the NKs had initially dropped on our great nation. My days had been spent rebuilding the campus for the girls and I, and fighting, though it was more the latter than the former lately.
We had everything on campus set up well by this point, and we’d left plenty of civilians behind to take care of everything. I did miss Rolly, and Betty, and Winchester, but I knew they’d be just fine without us.
Rolly had been with the girls even before I’d gotten there, and we’d found Betty living on one of the farms nearby. The two of them had gotten married this past spring, and even though we all knew Winchester was Bailey’s dog, Rolly was a close second for him, and Betty snuck him treats when she thought nobody was looking, so I was sure he was happy as a clam at the moment.
Regardless of their current situation, they were better off than we were. We really needed more information about this blitz attack the NKs were planning before we could counter it. Unfortunately, there was no guarantee we’d get any more information at all. We might just have to make do with the knowledge we had already.
I watched as everyone milled around and got back to work. A lot of the soldiers and civilians lined up to get food, others retrieved some water, no doubt in an effort to sober up, and others still, made their way back to their camps while they discussed what was going on.
Tara found her place near the food once again, and she dished up bowls for the soldiers as they formed a neat line. The platinum-blonde was absolutely beautiful in her tight jean shorts, black tank top, and hiking boots. She had her hair pulled up into a ponytail, and a few flyaways framed her face and accentuated her model-like features. She really was stunning, with almond-shaped light-brown eyes, high cheekbones, full, pouty lips, and a sharp chin. Even in our dire situation, a smile came over my face as I glanced down to her stomach and reminded myself she was carrying my child. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do about the current situation with the NKs, but I knew Tara was going to make a wonderful mother, and I knew I was going to do whatever it took to protect her and our unborn child.
Anna, Paige, and Bailey were sitting near the fire looking over the maps Paige had pulled out. The bookish brunette was an expert navigator, even better than myself, and I knew if anybody could find where the NK troops were most likely to meet up, it would be her. The brunette sat cross-legged with the maps laid out in front of her, and she pointed and traced lines with her fingers as she explained things to her friends. Her long chestnut-brown hair was pulled up into its usual messy bun with some loose strands around her face, and she absentmindedly pushed her thick, dark-rimmed glasses further up on the bridge of her dainty nose as she spoke. Her dark brown eyes looked back and forth over the map as she worried her plump bottom lip with her top teeth and answered questions from Anna and Bailey.
The two of them weren’t nearly as good at navigation as Paige was, though they each had special skills of their own. Still, I knew they were probably only there looking at the maps because they were at a loss for what to do right now, and I had to admit, I was a little bit as well. The news of this attack had been sudden, and we needed more information to truly formulate a counter strategy.
I knew Anna was already working on that strategy by the way she narrowed her eyes on the map and put her hand over her mouth. The redheaded beauty was my second in command for a reason. She was by far the most naturally adept at battle maneuvers and war strategy, and her instincts were usually spot on. She’d even had some ideas I hadn’t thought of, and they’d always worked. Her long red hair hung down around her face instead of being in its usual thick braid, and her toned body was tense as she crouched down next to Paige. At one point, Anna was a serious collegiate athlete, and her body still showed that side of her. Not only was she the tallest of the girls, but she was also the strongest and the most well-rounded athletically. If I needed someone to run for a mission, that someone was no doubt going to be Anna. I relied on the redhead for a lot of things, and that was only one of them.
Bailey, my beautiful blonde hippie girl, sat cross-legged next to her friends and chewed on her fingernails while she watched them look over the map. The blonde was the smallest of the girls, weighing in at probably just over a hundred pounds, and she was also, arguably, one of the most badass. All the other girls had their skills, but Bailey’s was a skill that could be put to the test right then and there, and she’d nail it every time. As our resident sniper, she’d taken out plenty of assholes in her time, but more than that, she was able to hit any target I’d ever given her, no matter how small or how far away. Hell, she’d somehow managed to shoot a grenade in mid-air as it hurtled toward us, and if that wasn’t a complete badass move, I didn’t know what was.
The blonde continued to chew on her fingers and the inside of her cheek nervously as she looked around the camp and observed the happenings around her. She was always the quiet, sweet girl, and her positive energy was something I wouldn’t trade for the world. Even being near her gave me a better sense of calm, and I felt myself relax slightly and start to take in everything around us as she was doing.
A tap on my shoulder pulled me out of my thoughts, and I turned to see the General just behind me.
“Tav,” he said. “May I speak with you?”
“Yes, sir.” I nodded and looked over to where Minji sat a few feet away with the radio next to her. “Come get me if you hear anything, please.”
“Of course.” Minji smiled, turned slightly red, and looked away.
It had only been a short while before that the two of us, along with Bailey and Anna, had been having some intimate time in the woods. The Korean woman was new to my group of lovers, but she was just as beautiful, intelligent, and self-sufficient as the rest of them. She was an excellent translator, and she wasn’t too bad in a fight, either. She and Tara had sparred not long after we’d met back in Virginia, and that was a fight I’d pay to watch again.
Minji had beautiful dark eyes covered by short, thick lashes, and perfectly shaped eyebrows. Her long, delicate nose led down to full, plump lips and a small rounded chin. She had long dark hair that hung around her shoulders and breasts, and she was a petite but well-toned soldier who could hold her own.
She was easily embarassed, especially after the first time we’d had sex, and she’d been quite eager. Part of me was happy to see that embarrassment because at least that meant something was still normal at the moment.
I nodded to Minji again and allowed the General to pull me toward the building. He didn’t lead me inside, instead, he stopped near the door, pulled out a cigar, and lit it right there.
The dark-haired man took in a drag off the smelly stick and blew smoke out his nose.
“I didn’t peg you for a smoker, sir,” I said and felt my face pull into a grimace at the scent of the tobacco.
“Only very rarely,” he assured me.
