Without Law 19, page 1
Eric Vall
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Chapter 1
I looked out to the sea around me. The sun reflected on the water and cast a beautiful white glare that was wonderfully blinding.
A ways out, I could see land, and I knew we were nearly to our destination. If someone had told me three years ago I’d be on my way to Savannah, Georgia to assist the American forces in putting an end to a North Korean invasion, I’d have said they were off their rocker. But, here I was.
My team and I had managed to secure numerous weapons and ammunition to help with the cause, and we’d brought it all down for the rest of the American troops to use as they needed.
I wanted to make sure we didn’t show up empty-handed, and we definitely weren’t. We had plasma weapons the NK troops had designed and implemented, but they probably hadn’t expected us to steal. Plus, we had plenty of our own military grade weapons, and just recently, we’d managed to take possession of a NK MiG.
Moreover, we’d brought a couple hundred men ready and willing to fight in this war, along with a Korean translator. Granted, some of the men were civilians, but they could handle themselves just as well as any other soldier. After all, I’d trained them myself. The rest of the group was made up of trained Navy sailors with a few SEALs mixed in the bunch.
I wasn’t sure what kind of state our boys were in, but we were here to help however they needed us. We’d already managed to take out the NK troops that were in Norfolk, and the ones from Boston on their way south. But, we also had intel there were at least thirty-thousand NK soldiers in this area, and there was no telling how many of our own were left.
America was a super power, but we hadn’t been prepared for the EMP the NKs had sent out almost two years ago, and we certainly hadn’t been prepared for the plasma weapons they brought with them. I didn’t expect anything like that to be implemented for years to come, but the NKs must have been working on them for some time. We’d been a target of theirs for a while, after all.
“Hey,” Bailey greeted me as she made her way over to the railing of the ship where I stood. “Looks like we’re almost there.”
The beautiful blonde hippie girl was absolutely stunning, and the bright sun reflecting off her blonde hair made her even more so. She had mysterious blue-gray eyes, a delicate, upturned nose, soft pink lips, and shoulder length honey blonde hair. She wore a pair of ripped up skinny jeans, her infamous dark green Chuck Taylors, a long sleeve skin-tight gray shirt, and her hip holster with her plasma gun at the ready.
Bailey had the softest demeanor of all the girls, so it was difficult to believe she was our resident deadeye, but her sniping skills were incredible. The blonde shot a grenade mid-air once, and that was a marksmanship feat I’d never seen accomplished even in all my years in the service.
“We should dock in a half hour or so,” I agreed.
“Thank God,” Anna, my redheaded second in command said as she walked over and hung the top half of her body over the railing.
The gorgeous redhead didn’t do well on the water. She had terrible motion sickness, and no matter what we did, she never seemed to get over it, at least not for any length of time. Part of me was surprised she didn’t want to ride with the rest of our group in the Jeeps, but I knew she wanted to be with the girls and me. We’d been together on every mission we’d been on, so thinking of separating for that length of time was difficult.
I liked to have my girls close by. Not only so I could make sure they were always protected, but also because they were incredible on the battlefield, and together, we always won.
I was glad she was here with us, and I knew she’d get over her sickness as soon as we docked.
Anna used to be an aspiring olympic athlete, and her body certainly showed that. She was thin, muscular, and incredibly toned. She was the strongest of the girls both physically and mentally when it came to battle strategies. That was just one of the many reasons she was my second in command. Anna could handle anything I threw her way, on top of being strikingly beautiful.
Her long red hair was pulled back into a thick braid that hung to her waist, like usual, and she had on a pair of dark blue athletic shorts that showed off her sculpted ass and thighs, black sneakers, and a black jogging hoodie that didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination. Her bright emerald green eyes sat above a sprinkling of adorable freckles and pillow soft red lips.
She was beautiful, but at the moment, I was concerned she was going to throw up for the hundredth time on this short boat ride.
Anna wasn’t the only one I was worried about tossing their cookies, though. Tara, the beautiful platinum-blonde was carrying my child, and she had been getting terrible morning sickness for a couple of weeks already. In fact, I’d just left her in the bathroom since she’d yelled at me to go away while she threw up for the second time this morning.
The platinum-blonde was incredibly stunning, but she was also hard headed and bossy, and I loved her all the more for it. Tara was the most blunt of all the girls, and she wasn’t afraid to tell anybody what she thought of them. It was something I greatly admired about her, though it had gotten her into hot water a couple of times before. Still, her give no fucks attitude was part of the reason she’d been able to survive with the other girls before I’d come along.
It was hard to think these women had made it, basically on their own, for an entire winter without any food reserves, water, or power.
Of course, Rolly, our seventy something year old groundskeeper at the college they attended, had been with them, too. I knew the old man had done what he could, but the group certainly hadn’t been doing well before I arrived. I’d immediately gotten them water and food, though, and I’d even been able to convince Bailey, who was still vegan at the time, to eat meat since she desperately needed the protein.
I smiled as I thought about the old man and how he must be doing on campus. I left him in charge when we started the journey south, and I missed the old sonofabitch.
Rolly had become like family, as had his new wife, and really all the civilians we’d taken in over the last year and a half. Once I trained the girls, we’d made it our mission to save anybody we saw in danger or being abused, and there were far too many in a short amount of time. We had just over fifty people on campus before we left, which was not as small a number as it sounded.
Luckily, we had a pretty good setup at Piper College. We had running water, plenty of food stocked up, hunting grounds, and a stream for fishing. Really, we were probably one of the most self-sufficient places in America right now with the mess the EMP had caused, and I was happy to take in whatever civilians needed our help.
Some had stayed behind with Rolly and his wife Betty, but others had chosen to come with us and fight for their country. Of course, they weren’t classically trained, but I’d trained them myself, and I was confident enough in their abilities to put them in battle.
One person who hadn’t come, though, was my beautiful Kimmy. The dark skinned woman had a young boy named Anthony, who I considered my own, and who she didn’t want to leave. I completely understood her reasoning, and while she was an expert at putting electronics back together and an asset to the team, I wouldn’t ever want to put her or Anthony in danger. That didn’t stop me from missing her, though.
“It’s so pretty out right now,” Paige said, and I turned to see her and Tara headed right toward us.
“It’s nice.” I smiled.
The brunette was our navigator and expert in just about anything one could think of. She was pre-med before the EMP hit, and she’d made sure to watch Marla, a civilian who lived with us and also happened to be a licensed nurse practitioner, closely so she could learn all she was able to. She was no surgeon, but she was able to do first aid on small, and even more severe cuts and injuries.
On top of being pre-med, she was also like an encyclopedia of knowledge. Paige had some sort of information on just about everything, and we’d often relied on her strange knowledge base in times of peril.
Today, the beautiful brunette wore a pair of black leggings, hiking boots, and a dark gray Piper College hoodie. Her long chestnut brown hair hung to her waist in huge, sexy waves, and her black, thick-rimmed glasses sat atop her small, dainty nose. Her dark brown eyes shone with the reflection of the sun as she looked at me and smiled.
“It’s hard to think anything is nice after you just vomited your brains out,” Tara said dryly, and she glared out at the ocean.
Even just after being sick, the platinum-blonde looked like a supermodel. Her striking, nearly white hair hung down past her shoulders to her middle back, and her light blue eyes were surrounded by a flurry of thick, dark lashes. I still had no idea when she had time to apply mascara and lip gloss, but she was rarely caught without it, though she looked beautiful either way.
Tara wore a pair of high waisted denim shorts, a black tank top that showed off her ample cleavage, and her hiking boots. The platinum-blonde had been getting quite warm since finding out she was pregnant, so I wasn’t surprised to see she wore the least clothes out of al
I wasn’t mad about it, either. Tara’s hourglass figure and toned arms and legs looked gorgeous in the light of the early afternoon sun, and I couldn’t help but stare at her for a moment to take in every last detail of how she looked right then. She was the mother of my child, and just that knowledge made her appear all the more attractive to me.
“The ginger not helping?” Bailey asked with a frown.
“Not anymore.” Tara shook her head. “But I’m getting really tired of this, so it better start helping again soon.”
“Maybe don’t eat any today, then try again tomorrow,” Bailey suggested.
“I’ll do that.” Tara nodded. “Not that we’ll have much time to eat ginger after we land.”
“Dock,” Paige corrected.
“What?” Tara asked.
“It’s not called landing, it’s called docking,” Paige explained. “Landing is for a plane.”
“You’re really going to correct a pregnant lady?” Tara asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Hey, you don’t look pregnant yet.” Paige shrugged.
“Uh, rude!” Tara laughed, and her mouth fell open before she reached over to playfully smack Paige on the arm.
“Isn’t that a compliment?” Anna asked. “She’s saying you don’t have a big belly. Not yet, anyway.”
“Yeah, but just because I don’t look pregnant doesn’t mean I’m not pregnant,” the platinum-blonde sniffed. “And if I have to suffer through morning sickness and fatigue, you better treat me like I’m pregnant, dammit.”
“Fair enough,” Paige chuckled, and she reached down to rub Tara’s belly.
“What are you doing?” Tara laughed. “You can’t feel anything yet.”
“You said treat you like you’re pregnant,” Paige teased with a grin.
“Oh, my god, get out of here.” Tara shook her head and lightly pushed Paige away.
I couldn’t help but smile as the girls talked about Tara’s pregnancy. I’d always wanted kids, but I never felt I’d found the right person, not until I found the girls at least. They were all incredible, and I would be lucky to have any children with any of them, but I was glad Tara was the first.
The platinum-blonde had shown incredible growth in the time I’d known her, and it was a joy to watch her go from someone who felt they were incapable of anything, to someone who knew they were capable of everything.
I knew Tara was as proud of herself as I was of her, and I was incredibly excited to be taking this new journey with her. I knew she’d make an incredible mother, and I couldn't’ wait to see how perfect our child was. She had said she wanted a little boy, but I didn’t care either way. As long as the baby was healthy and happy, I’d be happy to have it, whatever it might be.
Of course, as soon as I found out she was pregnant, I tried to forbid her from fighting, but she was stubborn, and there was no arguing with Tara. That just meant I would need to do whatever I could to protect her, but I also knew I could count on the other girls to do that, too. As much as they playfully bickered, it was clear they all loved each other.
I reached over and placed my hand on Tara’s belly, then I kissed the top of her head.
“Hey, how come he gets to touch your belly?” Paige joked.
“Is that really a question?” Tara countered with a laugh.
“Oh, so I guess being your sister-wife isn’t enough, huh,” Paige chuckled.
“You did not just call yourself my sister-wife,” Tara said, and she gave Paige a serious look.
“What?” Paige asked. “You didn’t like that show?”
“Nobody liked that show,” Tara said.
“I did.” Paige shrugged. “It was really entertaining. Their dynamic was so strange, but somehow it worked.”
“What’s this show, now?” Anna asked, but she didn’t lift her head up from where it hung over the railing.
“It’s a show about this guy who has a bunch of wives,” Bailey explained.
“They’re polygamists,” Paige added with a nod.
“And you two like this show?” Anna asked, and she turned her head just enough so we could see her raised red eyebrows.
“It’s better than it sounds,” Bailey said.
“Oh, Bails, not you, too,” Tara laughed.
“Guilty pleasure,” Bailey assured her with a grin. “There was so much drama.”
As the girls chatted, our ship navigated up the Savannah River. I had my hand on the plasma gun on my hip just in case we came into any trouble.
There were also civilians manning the larger weapons on deck in case we needed them. The plasma weapons the NK troops had created for their deck were incredible. The smaller guns we had could burn a hole right through someone’s chest easily, but the larger weapons, they could take out a car if they wanted to. They were huge, and the plasma was so volatile just a few drops could cause quite a large explosion.
It wasn’t long before we reached the Savannah port authority, and we pulled our boat into one of the open docks. There were more boats left in the area than I would’ve figured, but then again, anybody who was able to sail probably took whatever boat they could find in the harbor that worked to try and escape from the aftermath of the EMP. I knew many of the modern boats wouldn’t be able to operate after the EMP, but the older boats should have no real issue with it.
Once we docked, I took a quick scan of the area but didn’t see anything right off the bat. I grabbed my walkie-talkie and pulled it up to my mouth.
“Hammer?” I asked. “Hammer, come in.”
A few seconds went by, but I didn’t hear anything back.
“Maybe they’re out of range,” Paige suggested.
“They were in for a longer trip than we were.” Anna nodded.
“You’re probably right,” I said. “We’ll wait for them to arrive before we head out.”
“What should we do in the meantime?” Bailey asked.
“I think we should probably scout the area for a little bit,” I decided.
“Alright,” Tara said. “What exactly are we looking for?”
“Mostly signs the North Korean troops have been here,” I told her.
“Yeah,” Paige agreed. “We already got a lot of weapons and supplies, we don’t really need to get more of those. But it would be good to know if the North Koreans have been in the area.”
“They had to have been, right?” Bailey asked.
“They most likely were at some point.” I nodded. “But I want to see if there are any fresh signs of them.”
“We’re ready whenever you are,” Anna said.
“You just want to get off the boat,” Paige chuckled.
“You’re damn right I do,” Anna laughed. “I’m so sick of this damn thing.”
“Literally,” Paige snickered.
“We’ve been on it for less than a day,” Tara laughed.
“And that’s a half a day too long,” Anna said.
“What about the rest of the civilians?” Bailey asked. “Should we have them stay here?”
“That’s probably a good idea,” I agreed. “I don’t want to send them out if they don’t need to go.”
“It would probably be better to have a smaller group, anyway,” Bailey said with a smile.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I agreed. “Everybody grab your weapons and meet me on the dock in five minutes. I’m going to go tell Minji what we’re doing.”
“Sounds good,” Anna said. “I’ll be there in two.”
I chuckled and shook my head at the redhead, and then I walked up to the command tower where Minji and the other maritime pilots were.
“Hey,” I said as I entered the room.
“Hey,” Minji greeted me with a smile.
The beautiful South Korean wore a pair of dark blue navy camo pants and a gray T-shirt, but even in the simple outfit she was absolutely gorgeous. She had a long thin nose, soft, full lips, and almond shaped dark brown eyes. Her long, nearly black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and she leaned over the command center as if she’d been there the whole time, even though she hadn’t been a maritime pilot before this.
She picked it up quickly, though, and we were lucky enough to have a few other experienced pilots still left with the Navy when we arrived.
“The girls and I are going to go do a scan of the area,” I informed her. “We tried to contact Hammer, but there was no answer. I think he’s still out of range.”
