Without Law, page 2
I made my way back to the general store and found the group waiting for me. Some of them were smiling. I assumed that meant good news for me.
“We talked it over,” Anna said. “We do think that maybe we could use the help. If you’re still up for it.”
“Of course,” I said with a smile.
“Don’t make us regret our choice,” Anna added.
I bowed my head and gave the group a smile. At least Bailey and Rolly had a look of relief, and even Anna seemed to soften some. We all shared a moment of silence and then I realized that they were waiting for me to speak.
“Alright, let's see where you are staying and go from there.”
Chapter 2
I walked next to Anna as we made our way up the hill. I brought the motorcycle and jerry can with me since I didn’t want to waste a trip. The road was steep but none of the girls complained. In fact, the walk seemed almost trivial to the group surrounding me. They clearly had taken this route many times before.
“It’s impressive that you have done this well so far,” I said to Anna.
“Thanks. Though I would hardly call hoarding bottles of water and cans of shitty food impressive. Anyone can do that. In the beginning, we even thought it was kind of fun. It wasn’t until we realized we were the only ones left and no one was coming to get us that we started to panic.”
We crested the hill and stood in a small parking lot. Beyond it was a large crescent shaped courtyard with a dried-up fountain in the center. Three large buildings were positioned along the outside edge of the courtyard with their back to the forest. All the buildings had great visibility to both the parking lot and the road. The forest would help to act as a defensive wall from anyone coming at them with a vehicle.
Tara walked up next to me and leaned in close. “That’s where all the, like, offices and classrooms are.” She gestured toward the middle of the three rectangular buildings. “That one on our right is our library.”
“I’m surprised you know that,” Paige said. “I never saw you there.”
“Yeah, you, like, would have had to look up from one of your books to see me,” Tara said as she smirked.
“Hey,” I interrupted. “None of that matters now. We aren’t going to make it through this if we can’t get along. We don’t need to be catty.” I looked to both of them in turn and then to the others. Nothing would get done if we could not get along. Both of them fell silent.
“Sorry,” Paige said, breaking the silence.
“Good,” I commented, “now continue.”
Tara pressed her chest into my arms as she reached around me to point at the one remaining building. Either she was not worried about personal space or she was growing to like me quicker than the rest. “The dorms are in that one. The first floor has our dining hall. We, like, totes keep our food there.”
I nodded. “Good, I am going to need a tour of the interiors. Anything else here that I should know about?”
“Yes, actually,” Rolly said.
I turned to see the older man standing near the back of the group. He waved for me to follow and headed toward the dorm building.
“We'll wait here,” Anna said while she played with her long red braid.
“Yeah, the shed is, like, totes boring,” Tara said.
I nodded and turned to follow Rolly. There, off to the side, was a modest sized shed. Rolly pulled out an enormous keyring and flipped through them for a moment before singling out a bronze colored key. He unlocked the hefty padlock, pulled the door open, and stepped aside so that I could get a good look inside.
“This here is my tool shed,” he said proudly.
From what I could see in the early afternoon light, there were dozens of tools. Anything with a cord would be useless but I made out more than one handsaw, screwdriver, and manual drill. They looked to be in good condition too, for their age.
“Looks like you were prepared,” I said. “Well done.”
Rolly shrugged and closed the door. “Don’t see much use in throwing things away that still have a use to them.”
I looked back out over the courtyard and realized that the well maintained lawn, the vibrant flower beds, and the nicely trimmed treeline must have all been Rolly’s work. Despite his old age the man appeared to be hard working and industrious. “Your skills will be invaluable to us, Rolly. I am glad you stuck around.”
For just a moment he stood there in a stunned silence. “O-Oh,” he stammered. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said as I smiled at him.
“Go on ahead,” he said after another moment. “I’ll catch up in a bit.”
I gave him a nod and headed back to the girls. They had moved from the parking lot and into the courtyard. Bailey and Tara were stretched out on a sunny patch of grass while Paige and Anna sat at the edge of the fountain. The scene looked oddly normal despite the circumstances.
“At least the cold is gone. I did not like trekking down to town in the cold,” Bailey said as she in the grass, her golden nose ring shining in the midday light.
“I don’t know. I kinda liked the snow,” Anna said while she played with her long, tight, red braid.
The platinum blonde model laughed and propped herself up to look at Anna. “You would like the snow. It is just another place for you to, like, compete or whatev’. Don’t think we didn’t see you, like, skiing down the hill.”
“To bad there was no lift to bring you back to the top,” the brunette added with a smirk as she adjusted her glasses.
Anna flipped her the bird but broke into laughter. It was short lived though because as soon as she noticed me approach, she stopped.
“You ready for the grand tour?” she asked.
“I am. Lead the way.”
The women flocked around me and together we headed into the center building. The front doors opened with a click to reveal a long, clean, tiled hallway. The sound of the heavy door as it thudded closed echoed through the empty space.
“We went through here but didn’t really find much,” Bailey said.
“Is there a faculty lounge?” I asked.
“Yeah, but we have been in there before.” Tara nodded. “Though I can show you where it is if you want.”
“Are the rest of us welcome to come along?” Bailey asked as she raised a blonde eyebrow.
“Nope,” Tara laughed. “Just Tav and me. Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back in one piece.”
“You just met him,” Anna scoffed as she rolled her green eyes.
“And I called dibs!” the platinum blonde laughed, and so did the other girls.
I chuckled along with them, and it made me realize how long it had been since I heard the sound of my own laughter.
“Oh come on now, Tav, don’t encourage her,” Paige said.
“It’s too late Paige, he is Tara’s now,” Anna added with a grin. “However, if we are done playing sitcom, we still have stuff to see. Tara will have to get you alone later.”
The tour was dull as it consisted mostly of identically shaped rooms filled with tables and chairs, but it was important we checked everything. The girls had told me there was not much here, but the first time they went through the rooms they didn’t have my eyes. Almost every room had at least one pair of scissors, and each teachers desk held its own treasures.
The furniture would be useful as building materials but it did very little for us now. I pulled two partially full bottles of ibuprofen, and half a dozen magnifying glasses from the offices.
“What good are magnifying glasses?” Bailey asked.
“They are helpful for starting fires. You can focus the sunlight into a single point of intense light,” I said.
“Oh, duh,” Paige said. “I should have thought of that. I used to fry ants with magnifying glasses all the time when I was younger.”
The other three went quiet, and a smile slowly spread across Anna’s face. “Alright, psycho,” she said.
Paige went bright red, and her gaze drifted to the floor.
“Hey, it’s okay. I did it when I was a kid too,” I said.
She didn’t look up, but I saw her hide a faint smile.
“Alright, we have work to do so let's focus up and get it done. Tara, take me to the faculty lounge.”
A couple of minutes later, Tara opened the forest green door leading to our last stop. The building had looked deceptively large from the outside.
“Well, take a look,” Anna said as she and the others filed in behind me. They stood and watched as I started to search the room. The cupboards were devoid of any food, but a large container of salt sat alone on one self. In another I found a large package of coffee filters. For a common household item they had a surprisingly large number of uses. A tin of coffee sat covered in dust in a dark corner of a lower cabinet.
“Do you think that stuff is still good?” Bailey asked.
I turned it over and looked at the printed expiration date. I grinned as I handed it back to those waiting behind me. “It’s only two years past the date. It might not taste like Starbucks, but it won’t kill you or make you sick,” I said.
After another five minutes of searching, and I felt the room could be called clear. They had done a good job of picking the place clean, and the only other thing I found was a thermos. While not a necessity, keeping some water hot for a day was always nice. We returned to the courtyard.
“As we establish ourselves here, we can use the abundance of furniture in the classrooms to help make this place defensible,” I stated.
“Do you really, like, think that is necessary? I mean, we won’t be here forever. My dad will send people or whatev’,” Tara said.
“We have to plan like no one is coming though, Tara. Being prepared is always the better option.” I shot her a smile, but she rolled her eyes.
She followed it up with a sigh and a nod. “That does make, like, some sense I guess.”
“Good, what’s next?” I asked.
“The library?” Paige asked. She was still timid but her speaking up at all had me hopeful that she was growing comfortable with me being here. “There wasn’t much to take from there but it might be a good resource to have.”
“There are tons of reference books. Might help us in areas we are weak,” Bailey said.
“I like where your head’s at. Paige, you can show us around, help us know where to look when we need to find something.”
None of the buildings were particularly far apart. In fact, I had never seen a school campus that was quite so compact. It took us less than a minute to cross the courtyard to what looked like an almost identical building. It was another concrete rectangle with neat square windows dotting all sides.
The front doors were nicer on this building. They were made of deep red hardwood and had gold colored handles. Paige led us inside, past a second set of fine wooden doors, and into the library proper. She explained that there was a hallway that led to a couple of small study rooms on the upper level. Though they were emptier than the classrooms. I made a note of it, but decided there were more important places to look over first.
“Well, here we are,” Paige said.
The library was nice. It was a cavernous space filled with comfortable reading chairs, a couple large tables, small cubicle like desk sections against one of the walls, and many neat rows of books. Each shelf had a plaque on the end with genre, and alphabetical categorization. Tucked behind one bank of shelves was a spiral staircase that led to a balcony containing more books.
A couple more oversized reading chairs sat in the balcony corners. The area overlooked the lower level and was well lit. The windows were arranged in such a way as to allow maximum nature lighting throughout the day. That would make doing research all the easier considering the situation.
“The reference books are all going to be found up here,” Paige said. She ran her hand along the spines of several books and smiled. She appeared comfortable here. As if realizing what she was doing, the brunette stopped suddenly, adjusted her glasses, and cleared her throat. “If you are looking for anything in particular, just let me know. I might be able to help you find it faster than you can yourself.”
“Aw, cool, you’re like our very own librarian,” Bailey said.
Paige smiled and looked sheepishly at the floor.
“Come on, there is one more thing I think might be of use,” she said before heading downstairs again. I followed with the others close behind me.
“Do you really, like, think we will get any use from all these books?” Tara asked.
“The reference books will be invaluable, and even the stories will provide us entertainment,” I replied without turning around.
“My fun is usually, like, more physical,” the platinum blond said as she stared at me and twirled her fingers in her hair.
“Same here,” Anna said as we reached the bottom of the stairs. She went red as she caught the meaning behind Tara’s words. “Shit, that’s not what I meant.”
Tara giggled and bounced past me to where Paige stood waiting. Behind her was a large white board with faded lines of color stained into it. Several markers sat in the track on the bottom of the board and an unopened pack sat on the large table right in front of it.
“Perfect,” I said with a nod. It was something I hadn’t realized I needed until I saw it. I stepped forward and checked the open markers. Two of them were still good, and the package on the table had four more.
“We can use this to write out plans, assign people to tasks, and make sure that we are all on the same page.” I pointed at the board for emphasis.
The women nodded.
“I like it,” the athletic redhead said.
“It feels a bit like school, but I guess I can see how it will be helpful,” Bailey added.
I grinned.
“Though if we flunk this class we die,” Paige said.
“Wow, like, no pressure or anything.” Tara shook her head.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep it simple. We’ll be okay,” I stated. “Though I think it is time to see the dorms and your stores of food and water. I need to know where we stand now so that I can formulate a plan.”
I went to leave but froze as I heard the library door open. I looked to the others and put a finger to my lips as I moved into a crouch. I reached for my knife just as Rolly came into view. I let out a long breath and stood. He had some bottles of water stuffed under one arm.
“Everything okay?” He asked as he noticed my hand on my weapon.
I nodded and let my arm drop to my side. “We were just heading out for the dorms. Everything quiet out there?”
“Yeah. It’s all quiet.” He set the bottles of water on the table. It was a nice gesture but six bottles of water could go a long way.
“How many of these do you have total?” I gestured at the water.
“Oh, I dunno, two, maybe three dozen?”
I frowned. That wasn’t nearly enough. Especially with six of us. I took three of the bottles from the table and stuffed them in my pack with the others.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Anna asked.
“We will go through the water too fast if we all take our own. We will split these three bottles for now. Though don’t guzzle, just drink when you are thirsty,” I ordered.
No one looked happy, and I knew Rolly would need more than the rest of us. “Look, we need to conserve that we have. Especially until we have a way to get more,” I said. I left the three bottles on the table and headed for the courtyard. I knew this change would not be easy, but they would have to adapt or we would fail.
“You’re right,” Anna said as she emerged from the library. She tossed me a half full bottle of water as she got close. “I guess this is the reason we need you around. This is the kind of rule they never would have accepted coming from me even if I thought of it.”
The other three girls filed out behind her but Rolly must have elected to stay behind.
“Let’s finish this up, we still have plenty of daylight left and might be able to get something done before sunset,” I said as I flashed the group a smile. I waved for them to follow and jogged toward the dorm building. I held the door open and watched as the girls caught up. Anna had been right behind me and Paige was only a couple steps behind her. It surprised me to see the most bookish of the lot almost kept pace with her athletic counterpart.
Tara and Bailey could not match the first two women’s pace. They were panting slightly as they arrived at the door.
“Was running really, like, necessary?” Tara asked as she leaned against the doorway and took a deep breath.
Bailey leaned against her and took a minute to catch her breath. She clapped Tara on the back and gave her a warm smile. “Hey, at least when we need to do it, I’ll be right there with you,” the blonde hippie chick said. Her tone was sort like when a mother tried to reassure her child.
“Sorry, we won’t do any more running today,” I said. They shuffled passed me as I made a note of their physical strengths. I was starting to get a sense of what sort of tasks the girls were most obviously suited for. They might not all be Olympic sprinters, but I had worked with less capable people before, and I felt like I would only continue to be impressed by this strange group.
The ground floor was mostly made up of a dining hall and the kitchen facility. We headed for the kitchen first. It was large but all the utilities were electric. There was a large walk-in freezer that was tucked into the back of the kitchen. Anna stopped me as I approached it.
“I wouldn’t open that if I were you,” she said.
“Not useless you have a thing for the stench of rotting meat anyway,” Paige added.
“Thanks for the heads up,” I said, suddenly thankful the seal around the door was intact. It would contain the smell long enough for me to decide if the space, or what was inside, would be of any use.
