Without Law 9, page 26
“There’s only five of them,” Tara said. “If we can just get a line on them, then this should be easy.”
“We need to lure them over here, though,” Paige said.
“We need an eye on them first,” I said. “Wait here.”
I shot out into the road, but I heard the girls’ whispered protests and I felt their arms as they tried to grab me and pull me back.
There were bodies everywhere, and several were piled together up toward the bridge.
I sprinted to the bodies, fell to the ground behind them, and pulled out first my rifle, then my binoculars.
The bridge veered upward which made it difficult to see, but I managed to spot the top half of the soldiers, along with one civilian head that still appeared to be alive.
They had barely moved, it seemed, and I figured this asshole soldier in charge liked to take his time when he tortured his victims.
I had seen enough. I hopped up and ran back over to the trees and the girls.
“I got eyes on them,” I said.
“What do we need to do?” Bailey asked quickly.
“I want you to get up in that tree,” I told the blonde. “Paige and Anna, you’re on the right side of the bridge in the pedestrian walk area. Tara and I will be on the left. Stay low and stay behind the guard rails that are there.”
“Do we have to wait for you to shoot?” Bailey asked.
“We’ll wait for you,” I told Bailey. “Take out whoever is in the middle. Tara and I will get the two on the left, Anna and Paige, you get the two on the right.”
“Got it,” Anna said with a hard nod.
“And Bailey,” I said. “I want you ready to shoot in case anybody misses for some reason.”
“Of course,” the blonde said.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Bailey, Anna, and Paige took off through the trees toward the right side of the bridge.
“Come on,” I told Tara. “We’re going to cross the road then make our way over there.”
“Lead the way,” the platinum blonde said.
I took a quick look down the bridge, then took off to the other side of the road. I heard Tara’s footsteps behind me, so I kept going and once I crossed the road, I crouched low and headed toward the bridge.
I looked across the way to see that Anna and Paige had made it to the pedestrian walk and were crouched low behind the guard rails.
Tara and I made it to our side, and I paused as I scanned the trees for Bailey.
“I don’t see her,” Tara whispered.
I narrowed my eyes and looked closely until I spotted the dark green of Bailey’s Converse.
“Got her,” I said. “Get ready.”
We crept further up the bridge with our weapons ready for murder.
“I’ll take the far left,” Tara whispered behind me.
“Alright,” I agreed.
I looked to see that Anna and Paige kept pace with us as we got as close as possible to the Guardsmen. Finally, we had a clear shot. Unfortunately the civilian looked to be barely alive.
He was bloody and one of the guardsmen held him up while the head soldier made long cuts down his torso.
“Jesus,” Tara whispered.
“This guy is sadistic as fuck,” I whispered back.
Bailey’s rifle cracked and the alpha soldier went down with a shot to the temple. Blood splattered on the pavement and the civilian in front of him.
“What the--” one of the Guards started to say, but their words were cut short by my rifle as I put a round into their forehead.
I heard either Anna or Paige’s rifle crack as one of them took out the guy furthest right. He went down with a shot to the neck that left him gurgling on the ground while he clutched at his throat.
Another crack of Bailey’s rifle took out the last guy on the right side, just as Tara took out the last one on the left.
It had all gone so quickly that none of the so-called soldiers had had an opportunity to respond.
“We clear?” Anna asked.
“Clear,” I said.
Paige took off toward the civilian that was left, and she pulled out her med kit as she ran.
“I don’t think that guy is going to make it,” Tara said as she and I stood up.
“I agree,” I said. “But Paige has to try, you know that.”
“Yeah,” the platinum blonde sighed. “I know.”
Anna, Tara, and I met in the middle of the road.
“Bailey?” I called. “Do you need help?”
“Almost down,” the blonde called back.
“I’ll wait for her here,” I said. “You two can go help Paige.”
“Oh, I’m waiting for Bailey,” Anna said with a glare. “She’s got some explaining to do.”
“What’s that look for?” Tara laughed.
“She didn’t even let me get a shot off!” the redhead huffed.
“I noticed that she took somebody’s target,” I chuckled.
“Yeah,” Anna groaned, and she put her hands on her hips. “Mine.”
“Alright,” I said. “Tara, why don’t you go help Paige?”
“And miss this?” the platinum blonde asked with a raised brow. “I don’t think so.”
I rolled my eyes at the girls.
“Hey,” Bailey yelled as she ran over to us.
“Hey,” Anna growled.
“Oooh,” Tara snickered. “Here it comes.”
“What’s going on?” Bailey asked with a frown.
“You know what you did,” Anna cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow.
“What did I do?” my innocent blonde hippie asked.
“You stole her target,” I said softly.
“Oh,” Bailey said. “I’m sorry, I thought you guys were having trouble over there. I was just trying to help.”
“You didn’t give me time to get a round off!” Anna exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air.
“I’m really sorry,” Bailey said. “How can I make it up to you?”
“Hmmm,” the redhead purred as she wiggled her eyebrows at the pretty hippie. “I’ll have to figure something out.”
“A little help here!” Paige shouted.
“Let’s go,” I commanded, and we all took off toward Paige.
When we reached the brunette, it was clear that the civilian wasn’t going to make it. He was bloody as all hell and bleeding from numerous cuts that covered his chest.
“Paige,” I said softly.
“I can stitch him up,” the brunette said, and the man below her groaned.
“I don’t think you can save him,” Anna whispered, and she put her hand on the brunette’s shoulder.
Even with as skilled of a nurse as Paige was, this man was far beyond basic medical practices. He obviously needed a surgeon, and that was one thing we just didn’t have access to.
“I can,” Paige said, and I thought I heard her begin to cry.
The civilian below her let out a cough that spewed blood onto the pavement, then he turned his head to the side and with one final exhale he was gone.
“I’m sorry,” I told Paige. “You tried. We were just too late.”
“He didn’t deserve to die like that, though,” the brunette said.
“You’re right,” I agreed.
“You tried,” Bailey said to her friend.
“I know,” Paige sighed, and she stood up and wiped her tears. “I’m just sad that we didn’t get here in time.”
“We got the fucks that did it, though,” Tara said.
“Yeah,” Paige chuckled. “We did do that.”
I pulled Paige into a hug, and all the other girls wrapped their arms around us as well. As satisfying as it had been to take out the asshole soldiers who had tortured this guy, it hadn’t taken away from the sorrow of his demise. Paige was right, they hadn’t deserved to die like that. These people had surrendered, and those asshole Guard guys had taken advantage of that.
Nothing pissed me off more than a soldier with a power complex.
“Alright,” I said after the long hug was over. “Let’s look around for some supplies while we’re here.”
“Good idea,” Anna agreed.
The bridge was incredibly tall to accommodate the boats that would pass underneath it and had to be about half a mile across from what I could tell. The day had grown even hotter as the sun sat directly above us and oozed heat. I knew I was sweating under my sweater, and I regretted not taking it off when I had thought about it earlier.
The bridge itself was littered with bodies, more so than the area surrounding it where we had come from, and I wondered if the Vermont Guard had tried to prevent New York citizens from getting across.
Were the civilians who had just been brutally murdered New Yorkers, or maybe Canadians?
Either way, the fight was over, now it was time to see if there was anything useful around.
There were plenty of civilians and Guard members alike on the bridge, and the pavement was tinted a red color from the blood that had soaked it during battle, both ours and the ones before it.
The girls each chose a body and went through pockets to pick up guns, ammo, knives, lighters, and anything else they thought would be useful. I watched them work for a moment and smiled to myself at their efficiency, then I grabbed the body nearest to me and began to go through their pockets as well.
“Hey!” Bailey shouted after a few moments.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a med kit,” the blonde said with a smile.
“Whoa,” Paige said as she looked at the kit. “This is way nicer than the one I have.”
“Well, it’s yours now,” Bailey said, and she handed her the kit.
“Thanks,” Paige said with a grin.
“I found some weird thing,” Tara said with pulled together eyebrows. “But I think it’s working.”
“What do you mean it’s working?” Paige asked, and she snatched the device from Tara’s hands.
“Hey,” the platinum blonde scoffed.
“Sorry,” the brunette said, but she didn’t pull her eyes away from the device.
“What is it?” Anna asked.
“It’s a GPS unit,” I said as I looked over Paige’s shoulder.
“And Tara’s right,” Paige breathed. “It’s working.”
“How is that possible?” Bailey asked.
“Maybe it’s like what happened with the hillbillies,” Tara said. “They replaced the little things inside of it.”
“Yeah,” Paige said. “The components.”
“However it’s working,” I said. “That’s a valuable find.”
“Yeah, it is,” the brunette said with a grin. “Good job, Tara.”
“I‘m pretty awesome,” the platinum blonde said with a smug look.
“Let’s get back to going through pockets,” I said. “We still want to get to the fort before it’s dark.”
We gathered a few more weapons and some small supplies, but nothing as useful as the GPS Tara had found.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s head back.”
We walked down the way we had come until we reached the little buildings off to our right.
“Should we check in the buildings?” Anna asked.
“Okay,” I agreed. “But let’s make it quick.”
We made our way to the small building. I was surprised to find that it was unlocked, but we cleared it easily and there was no sign anyone had been there. The dust was piled up and it didn’t look like anything was missing from the supplies that were laid out.
“This just looks like candle making supplies,” Tara said as we looked around the small cabin.
“It’s probably one of the museum exhibits,” Paige said.
“Let’s clear the larger building too,” I said. “Then we’ll head back to the boat.”
“I’m surprised this place was unlocked,” Bailey said. “Don’t museums typically have pretty good security?”
“Yeah,” Paige said with pursed lips. “But this is a really small museum, it’s not the Smithsonian.”
“I guess that’s true,” the blonde agreed. “And in the panic of the EMP they could have just forgotten to lock it up when they left.”
“Or somebody could have come back to get supplies,” Anna said with a shrug.
“What do you mean?” Paige asked.
“If I worked at a museum, and an EMP hit and I didn’t have power I would definitely go get a bunch of candles and whatever else I could take,” the redhead said.
“I guess that’s not a bad idea,” the brunette agreed. “I just hate to steal from a museum.”
“Museums don’t really matter at a time like this,” I said. “It’s about survival.”
“I know,” Paige sighed. “But there are artifacts in there.”
“Everything’s an artifact at some point,” Tara said with a shrug.
“I guess that’s true,” the brunette laughed.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s clear the place.”
We made it to the front door, and I pulled the handle but it didn’t budge.
“Should we check for a back door?” Anna whispered.
“Yeah,” I agreed and I led my team around to the back.
We found an employee entrance, but when I pulled on it that door didn’t open either.
“New plan,” I chuckled softly. “Let’s peek in through the windows and make sure nobody is in there, then we’ll head to the boat.”
“Alright,” Bailey agreed.
I sent the girls in different directions and I took the back wall which included the dock that led down toward the lake.
“Hey!” Paige called. “I didn’t realize there was a dock down there.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I said. “All clear up there?”
“All clear!” Anna called, so I headed back up to the road.
The little museum was strange, it almost looked like an old farm house with its large deck and two stories. I hadn’t seen many exhibits through the windows, only some furniture and things, but I wondered what was in there, though I figured it was probably best to leave it alone. Paige was right, there were artifacts in there, and if it had gone this long without being broken into I didn’t want to be the one to bust open a window and allow everyone passing by to loot the place.
“I’m a little sad that we didn’t get to go into the museum,” Paige said as we walked back toward the road.
“I was curious, too,” I admitted. “But I was just thinking it’s probably for the best that it’s locked.”
“You’re right.” The brunette nodded.
“Let’s get going,” I said. “We’re still trying to reach the fort before nightfall.”
I led the girls back through the woods, over the bodies, and down to our boat.
“We have some decent wind now,” Paige said as she gave us a push away from shore. “We should be at the fort in no time.”
“Good,” I said. “It’s already getting late.”
We all took our positions and got the boat on track for the fort. Paige assisted us, but I noticed that we required less direction than we had the day before and I was proud of how quickly my team had picked up sailing.
“Not to be that guy,” Paige said once we were at an even pace. “But is anybody else ready for lunch?”
“I think that’s probably a good idea,” I said.
We all pulled out some crackers and smoked meat from our bags and sat in a circle to eat our lunch. It had been a long day already, and we hadn’t made it to the fort yet. I had a feeling that when we got there, we would find something similar to what we had found at the bridge.
It was hard to believe that a fight like the one on the bridge had gone on so close to home, but I was sure that battles like that had taken place everywhere across the United States. It was often difficult to deal with a crisis of this magnitude, and though I liked to believe that the military did its best when it came to situations like that, I knew they often failed those who they were bound to protect.
If more Guard guys had taken over the fort, then we definitely would have a problem on our hands. I would make sure that we hung back and scoped out the area before we got too close, but I knew that there was a high possibility of us running into somebody there, and I doubted they would be kind.
The sun shone above us and the breeze blew against us as we sailed along at a much quicker pace than we had been earlier. The girls chatted while I ate my crackers and smoked meat quietly and planned out our defense strategy in case we needed one.
I had a feeling we might.
Chapter 17
By the time lunch was over I had come up with a plan for when we got close to the fort.
The plan I had come up with was simple enough: we would hang back and scan the area with our binoculars before we got too close. I didn’t want to be within firing distance in case there were people there, and I hoped we might be able to find a place that would give us some cover, but looking out at the land I wasn’t sure that would be possible.
The shores on either side of us weren’t very lush. There were a few trees here and there, and quite a bit of grass, along with bodies of people who didn’t survive the winter and a couple small houses and shops, but there wasn’t much in the way of staying hidden.
I could only hope that our odds of laying low improved the closer we got to the fort.
We had been sailing for hours already, and I could feel the sweat on my brow from the long day. It had been hot, though the wind helped cool me down some, but I needed to make sure everyone was up to speed.
“Alright,” I called the girls’ attention. “Let’s go over our plan.”
“Okay,” Anna agreed, and she leaned forward a bit.
“What’s our plan?” Bailey asked.
“We’re going to hang back,” I said. “And try to see through our binoculars before we approach the area.”
“I figured that’s what you’d want to do,” Paige agreed with a nod.
“And what happens if we see someone?” Tara asked.
“We’ll assess the situation,” I said. “If we’re outmanned, or if they’ve got us on firepower, then we’ll retreat.”
“How are we going to retreat in a boat?” Bailey asked.
