Without Law 19, page 5
“Yeah.” Bailey nodded, and I saw her chest rise and fall heavily. I knew she was thinking about the young girl we’d seen a while ago.
We’d come across an entire family who’d been killed by the NK troops. From the burn marks on their chests, there was no denying it was them, and those assholes had left the family to rot on the side of the road. The worst part was the young girl who couldn’t have been more than four or five years old.
I didn’t care if they were following orders or not, killing a child was something only a monster could do, and Hammer was right, it took a lot of audacity for these bastards to beg for their own lives after they’d taken so many.
I wasn’t a man who killed for the hell of it, I killed to protect myself, my family, and my country. These assholes had no excuse for what they’d done, and as far as I was concerned, every last one of them deserved to pay for the crimes of their military.
I glanced over to Tara and I couldn’t help the tightness that immediately took over my chest. That beautiful woman was one of the reasons I’d grown so cold recently.
I couldn’t allow anything to go wrong. I had no room for errors or misjudgments, not with Tara pregnant with my child.
And even though the platinum-blonde was still more than capable of taking care of herself in battle, I would do everything within my power to make sure she didn’t have to lift a finger, even though she insisted on participating regardless.
“Alright,” I said with a clap and looked up at the sun. “If we leave now, we should be able to make it to Atlanta before nightfall.”
“Right.” Paige nodded.
“Everyone be careful,” I said. “Let’s go.”
“Should we go through the vehicles?” Bailey asked. “See if there are any orders we can find?”
“Hm.” I pursed my lips. “We still need to gather the weapons and get them back on the trailer. Why don’t we go through the vehicles and let the civilians put everything away?”
“Good idea.” Anna nodded. “I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary, and we only have three or four hours until it gets dark.”
“Right,” I agreed. “We’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
“What?” the redhead asked.
“Kill two birds with one stone,” I repeated. “It’s a common phrase.”
“Yeah, it means to accomplish two things at the same time,” Paige explained.
“I get what it means,” Anna said, and she looked down. “I just always thought it was something else.”
“Oh, here we go again,” Tara chuckled.
Anna never seemed to know what common phrases actually were, it was as if she’d heard them once as a kid and stuck with what she thought her parents said.
“What did you think it was?” Bailey pushed.
“I don’t want to say.” The redhead blushed. “It’s stupid.”
“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Tara snickered. “Come on, you have to tell us.”
“Pllleaaaasseee,” Paige added with a grin.
“Oh, alright.” Anna threw her head back and rolled her eyes. “I thought it was cook two buns with one stove.”
“What?” Paige asked.
Tara didn’t say anything, she just doubled over in laughter to the point where she was nearly hyperventilating.
“I mean, I can kind of see how you might have thought that,” Bailey said, but her strained smile told me she was trying very hard to stifle a laugh.
“Do you, Bailey, do you?” Anna asked, and she put her hand on her hip and glared at the blonde.
“Okay, no, I don’t,” Bailey chuckled. “I’m sorry, Anna.”
“Whatever.” The redhead shrugged. “I’m used to it at this point.”
“You really should be,” Tara laughed and wiped a tear from her eye as she stood up.
“It’s not that funny,” Minji said with an amused smile.
“Believe me, it is,” Tara said.
“She’s right,” Anna sighed and shrugged. “This isn’t the first time I’ve done this.”
“I see,” Minji chuckled. “You all will have to tell me about it sometime.”
“Deal,” Tara chimed in. “I’m always down to tell those stories.”
“Of course, you are.” Anna rolled her eyes and walked toward one of the vehicles to start going through it. “Come on, if you’re going to laugh at me at least work while you do it.”
“Fair enough.” Tara grinned and bounded over toward one of the smaller vehicles nearby, but after a couple of steps she stopped abruptly and put her hand over her mouth.
The platinum-blonde ran over to the side of the road and threw up with incredible volume, and I couldn’t help but cringe slightly at the sound.
“Geez.” Bailey frowned. “I hope she’s okay, that must feel awful.”
“Serves her right if you ask me.” Anna crossed her arms and cocked her hip out the side as she watched her platinum-blonde friend lose her lunch.
“You’re gross,” Paige chuckled. “Stop watching her.”
“Yeah, it is pretty gross.” Anna smiled. “But it somehow makes me feel better.”
The girls all dispersed then and started to search the vehicles, but I made my way over to Tara and waited until she finished before I approached her and gently laid my hand on her shoulder.
“Ugh, will this never end,” she groaned as she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.
“It will,” I assured her, and I spun her around so I could smile at her. “And you look beautiful.”
“I look terrible,” she pouted, and even freshly after vomiting, she was stunning. Her hair reflected the yellow of the sun, and her pouty lips looked incredibly kissable, though I would hold off on that for the moment.
Instead, I leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” she sighed, and she wrapped her arms around my waist and held onto me. “Just a little pukey.”
“That was obvious,” I chuckled and kissed the top of her blonde head once more.
“Okay,” she said, and she pulled away from me and gave her whole body a quick shake. “Let’s do this.”
“I’d tell you you could sit this one out, but I’m afraid you’ll smack me if I do,” I said.
“Damn right.” She flashed me a toothy grin, then she headed toward one of the vehicles. “Come on.”
I shook my head and helped her to go through one of the smaller NK vehicles. There was nothing of true value inside, save for the plasma weapons, so we grabbed those. Otherwise, I found a lighter and several cartons of cigarettes, which was pretty normal for the NKs. They were never lacking when it came to smokes, and I felt my face pull into a grimace as I took in the ever present scent of the cigarettes.
“Oh, hey,” Tara said, and she held out a piece of paper splattered in blood. “Think you could use this?”
The paper wasn’t official, and the notes looked to be handwritten, but there was no harm in seeing what it said.
“Hey, Minji,” I called out to the beautiful Korean woman.
“What’s up?” she asked as she made her way over to me.
“Take a look at this, will you,” I said, and I handed her the paper.
“Sure,” she agreed, but her nose wrinkled slightly at the bloody stationary.
“What’s it say?” Tara asked as she walked around the vehicle toward us.
“It’s notes about the mission.” Minji’s eyebrows pinched together, and she brought the paper closer to her face. “Their handwriting is messy as hell, but it says Freedom Park, and there’s some directions on how to get there. It seems the soldier was telling the truth.”
“I knew he was.” I nodded. “He didn’t care about his squadron anymore, he only cared about himself, and he thought we might let him go if he told us the truth.”
“Should we keep it?” Tara asked, and she looked at the paper and pursed her lips. “It’s a little icky.”
“It’s just some blood,” I chuckled. “As long as you don’t touch it with an open wound, you’ll be fine. But yeah, we’re going to take it with us. It will be good to show our fellow Americans what we just intercepted.”
“Okay.” Tara wrinkled her nose. “But you have to hold onto it.”
“Deal,” I laughed and took the note back from Minji.
The girls and I finished searching the vehicles, and by the time we were done the civilians had put away all of our weapons and ammunition.
Finally, it was time to get back on the road.
At this rate, we’d reach Freedom Park a little bit before dark, but there was no turning back now. Besides, I really didn’t want to set up camp anywhere around here, not with how many people we had in our group and how prevalent the NK presence was in this area. That was a recipe for disaster.
We all loaded up into the jeeps again, and I took Paige’s directions and pulled onto the highway. I kept a good pace, but I made sure not to go too fast since I wanted Ben and the MiG he was hauling to be able to keep up this time.
“So, how many American soldiers do you think are left?” Anna asked after we’d been driving for a while.
“There’s no telling.” I shook my head.
“The soldier in Yorktown said there were thirty-thousand NK troops,” Paige reminded us. “But I suppose the Americans could have taken some of them out, too, right?”
“It’s possible.” I nodded. “I’m not sure how likely, but it’s possible. I would imagine there are less of our men left than there are of the NK troops.”
“Well, they’ve managed to stop the NK soldiers from spreading even more at this point,” Tara said. “So, maybe there’s more of them than you think.”
“I hope there is.” I smiled.
I didn’t want to bring the girls’ spirits down, but I didn’t think we were about to find a large amount of soldiers waiting for us to simply bring supplies and kick some NK ass. I had a feeling this was going to be a lot more complicated than that.
The NK army seemed to have new weapons all the time. I’d never seen that larger vehicle we took out before, and I could only imagine they had more of them, along with other surprise weapons ready to fire at all of our heads.
Our boys had managed to hold the Appalachian foothills, that was clear, but I didn’t know how much longer they could hold out. The NKs were bastards, but they weren’t stupid, and I’d seen firsthand what they were capable of.
We just had to wait and see what we were working with, and that anticipation didn’t make the drive go any faster. It seemed like forever until we made it to the outskirts of Atlanta, and the sun sunk low in the sky. Everything was cast in a light orange glow from the impending dusk, and while it was beautiful, it was also eerie as hell.
Even the outskirts of Atlanta were trashed like a preschool before Christmas break. There were broken down vehicles, trash, plenty of overgrown foliage, and bodies littered the streets in all different stages of decomposition.
If the city limits looked like this, I could only imagine how the actual city looked. Atlanta was massive, and I was sure the EMP strike had set everyone on edge quickly, and if they hadn’t fled after that, the NK invasion had probably sent everyone running for the hills. And that meant citizens would be looking for anything they could get their hands on that might help them travel. I could only imagine the fights that ensued over supplies and food.
The only redeeming factor was the amount of NK soldiers I saw dead along the streets. Our boys were definitely in the area, and it looked like they’d managed to take out more than one squadron.
“Turn right here,” Paige instructed me, and I slowed down and pulled onto an older-looking road surrounded by trees.
“Is this it?” Anna asked, and she moved her head side to side to scan the area.
“Yeah, we’re here,” Paige said. “The actual parking lot is up a ways, though, so we should be able to sneak up on the other NK troops that are here.”
“Good call,” I told her.
“Uh, we might want to backpedal on that,” Anna said, and she pointed ahead of us.
“Shit,” I breathed.
Just around the corner were four smaller vehicles and another larger APC just like the one we’d taken out in Augusta.
I quickly pulled the jeep to the side of the road, parked it, and pulled out my MP5.
I took aim at the driver’s seat of one of the vehicles, but the soldier was slumped against the seat, and the windshield was cracked from where a bullet had already gone through it.
“Um, what the fuck is happening?” Tara whispered.
“We’re not the first to arrive,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Paige asked, and I saw her brown eyes widen in my rearview mirror. “Who else is here?”
“That’s the million dollar question,” I said, and I licked my lips and looked around.
We definitely weren’t alone.
Chapter 4
“Who do you think it is?” Tara asked. “I mean, they killed the NKs, so they’ve got to be on our side, right?”
“I would hope so.” I nodded. “My gut says it’s our boys that are here, but if they just took out these assholes, they might be on edge. We need to treat the situation very carefully.”
“You don’t think they’d try to shoot us, do you?” Paige asked, and her mouth fell open slightly.
“I think they would if they thought we were a threat,” I said.
“We are showing up to their meeting place,” Anna said. “I can see how that might come off a little worrisome.”
“Well, shit,” Paige cursed, and she sat back in the seat. “So, what do we do?”
“Do you think they’ve spotted us, yet?” Bailey asked.
“I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “We haven’t gone around the corner yet, and if they were here waiting for the other troops to arrive, I don’t think they’d hide anywhere we’d be able to easily spot them, either.”
“Right, they’re probably somewhere on the other side of the NK troops they already took out.” Anna nodded. “That way they had something between them and the other troops on their way.”
“Exactly,” I agreed.
“If they haven’t spotted us, then don’t we kind of have all the power here?” Tara asked.
“What do you mean?” Bailey asked.
“We can either reveal ourselves, or we can try to make contact.” Tara shrugged. “But we can’t sit here and wait for them to spot us.”
“Tara’s right,” I agreed. “It’s best to act quickly.”
“I say you try and call out to them,” Bailey suggested.
“You always want to call out to people,” Tara chuckled. “But this time, I’m with you.”
“I think that’s best,” I said, and I pulled my walkie from my hip. “Hammer, come in.”
“Right behind you,” the SEAL answered almost immediately.
“The NK troops are already dead,” I told him.
“No shit,” he said. “You think our boys are here?”
“I think so.” I nodded. “I’m going to try and make contact.”
“Roger that,” he agreed. “I’m here to back you up if you need it.”
“Thanks.” I smiled and hung the walkie back on my hip.
“What do you need us to do?” Anna asked.
“Bailey, you got your Barrett set up?” I asked.
“Right here,” the blonde said, and she groaned as she pulled the large gun up from the floorboard of the backseat. “I keep it together when we travel now. After everything with the MiGs and all.”
“Yeah, and it’s a real inconvenience,” Tara said with a small glare.
“Just trying to protect you and your unborn child,” Bailey said, and she cocked her head to the side and smiled.
“Damn, Bailey’s got attitude today,” the platinum-blonde laughed. “I like it.”
“Okay, I want you to set up here,” I told Bailey. “Just keep a lookout for anyone. I don’t think you’ll need to use your weapon, and it will be a last resort if you do, but if someone is about to fire on us you let me know, and I’ll give you the signal.”
“Right.” The blonde nodded and set the Barrett across the center console so she could look through its sight and keep an eye on the area.
I nodded to the girls, then I opened my door and stepped out.
“Hello!” I called. “My name is Tav. Are you all part of the American resistance?”
The sound of crickets filled the air, but nobody replied to my question.
“Try something else,” Paige whispered.
“Hello!” I yelled louder this time. “Is anybody here?”
Once again, nothing.
“Tell them who you are,” Anna suggested.
I shook my head at the idea, but I knew she was right. If I wanted to get their attention, I had to give them something to pay attention to.
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” I bellowed. “My name is Connor Tavish, I served with the 3rd Battalion 75th Rangers out of Fort Benning, Georgia. I’ve seen battle in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sierra Leone. Currently, I’m leading the Vermont Militia, and I’ve brought troops to assist you in the fight against the NKs. Now, do I have your attention yet, gentlemen?”
I looked over at the girls, and they all had eyes as big as saucers as they looked me up and down.
“Get it, Tav,” Tara said, and she smiled and winked at me.
“Damn, that was… commanding,” Anna said, and she bit her lip and scanned the length of my body with hungry eyes.
I smiled and shook my head, but then I turned back to where the NK troops were dead in their vehicles. I still didn’t see any of the Americans, but after a few seconds, someone called back to me.
“You say you’re leading the Vermont Militia,” a man with a thick Georgia accent yelled. “So, what are you doin’ all the way down here?”
I didn’t like the skepticism in his voice, but I also wasn’t going to try and argue with him. These guys had obviously been through a lot, and I didn’t want to make anything worse. It was up to me to treat the situation delicately.
“Bailey, find a good vantage point,” I said in a low voice.
