Without law 16, p.1
Without Law 16, page 1
ERIC VALL
If you want to get notified of my books the day that they come out, make sure you search for my Facebook fan group and join it. If you don’t join my Facebook page, you’ll never get alerted that the next book is out.
Chapter 1
My foot jammed on the gas as I left the city of Boston behind us. We hadn’t won the war yet, but we’d won the battle at Boston, that was for sure. My team and I had taken out well over a hundred of the NK soldiers, and while that wasn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things, it was enough to get them scared out of their minds.
It was time for us to get back home, though, I didn’t want more of their soldiers coming after us. They’d already tried to take us out, and if Bailey, our resident sniper, hadn’t shot down the plane that they’d sent with her Barrett, then we’d be nothing more than a pile of ashes at the moment.
“Holy shit,” Tara breathed. “That was crazy.”
The beautiful platinum-blonde was in the seat behind me, and in the rearview mirror I watched as she glanced back at the smoke that we raced away from. The black plumes would be visible for miles, and I wondered if anybody was left in the area to see them.
“I honestly wasn’t sure it would go down,” I said. “I knew Bailey would hit it, but I was worried that it would get a shot off before that.”
“Thank God it didn’t,” Bailey, our blonde-haired hippie girl, said. She shook her head, and her short hair shook with it in the most adorable way.
“There’s no way we would have been able to escape a blast from them,” Tara said. “Those plasma weapons are something else.”
Tara was right, the weapons that the NKs had engineered were some of the most deadly that I’d ever seen. My days in the military had given me experience with plenty of different weapons, but these were stranger and far more intense than anything I had previous experience with. The new technology they’d created was powerful, and in all honesty, it terrified me just a little bit. We had managed to steal some of the smaller guns for ourselves, but they had massive tankers full of the chemicals that powered the weapons, not to mention larger guns attached to vehicles and planes.
The Cadets from Westpoint that had met up with us at the fort had been the first to inform us of these weapons. I hadn’t believed them at first when they had said that they saw a shot from an enemy plane turn a full-sized SUV into a pile of dust. Now I’d seen firsthand what these weapons could do, and I knew the Cadets hadn’t been lying.
We originally had met with three of them at the fort, they showed up after we’d put out a signal for people in the area to meet up with us. They were from Westpoint, and they’d been left at the school all alone for well over a year. It was hard to believe that they’d even managed on their own, but they were smart kids, and they’d done well for themselves.
They were also dedicated. They’d insisted on coming with us to Boston and even had the idea to take us to the Watervliet arsenal before we headed into the city. We’d found some good equipment there that we needed to pick up before we headed back home for good. The Cadets had already proven themselves to be quite capable.
There were only two now since one had run into his family in Boston and decided to go with them, but I was happy to have them as part of the team. If we were going to take the NK troops down, then we’d need all the help we could get. They had a lot of soldiers, and while my small team of fierce women warriors were completely capable, it would be a lot easier and take a lot less time if we had help.
“What do you think everyone at home is going to think about the plasma guns?” Bailey asked.
“It’s going to blow their fucking minds,” Tara said.
“I think you’re right,” I chuckled. “I can’t wait to see what Rolly thinks of them.”
“He’s gonna shit himself,” the platinum-blonde laughed. “That’s some futuristic technology that he probably thought he’d never see.”
I had to admit, the thought of watching our seventy something year old friend see a plasma gun for the first time seemed quite humorous. Rolly wasn’t one to be easily impressed, but I had a feeling that one of these guns would make quite the impression.
“Probably just the opposite,” Bailey said. “Back to the Future Part 2 was set in 2015, and they had hover cars in that movie. I think people had some serious delusions about how far technology would come in that time.”
“I don’t know,” Tara said, and she pursed her lips. “Don’t you think somebody has invented hover cars by now? I bet they were just kept away from the general public.”
“Oh, god,” I chuckled. “You’re one of those conspiracy theorists, aren’t you?”
“No,” Tara said indignantly. “I just think there’s some stuff that the government keeps secret from us.”
“Uh-huh,” I said with a smile and an eye roll.
“That definitely qualifies you as a conspiracy theorist,” Bailey said dryly.
“Whatever,” Tara said. “It’s not like I was talking about the Denver airport or anything.”
“That right there is what I mean,” Bailey laughed. “But don’t worry, we all expected this.”
I smiled at the girls’ conversation. We’d just escaped danger, and they were already talking about the most random things. I supposed it was good that they were able to bounce back so quickly. After they’d been on so many missions with me I expected that they were somewhat used to the feeling of adrenaline that came with them, and once it was over they channeled it into conversation. After all, when we were in the car there wasn’t much else to do, and thinking about how we’d just narrowly escaped with our lives would probably be a downer. I definitely didn’t want that.
I kept my foot on the gas pedal as we hurried through the small, suburban outskirts of Boston. The area was deserted and it was made even eerier by the black smoke that I could still see behind us.
“What do you think, Tav?” Bailey asked, and her question drew me out of my own thoughts.
“Think about what?” I asked.
“About my conspiracy theory?” Tara pushed. “You didn’t hear it?”
“Sorta, but I was also kinda zoning out,” I said. “I guess I was--”
My words cut off as we rounded a corner, and I saw a dark vehicle parked at the end of the street.
“Shit,” I breathed.
It was a Korean scouting troop, and we didn’t have time to move at all before they saw us. There were four men standing outside of their vehicle smoking, but as soon as we rounded the corner they looked up. One of them pointed and yelled something, and they all reached for their plasma guns.
The NKs were smart, and they must have radioed all of the scouts that they had out and alerted them that we might be in the area. There was no other reason for the scouts to be outside of the city except to come looking for us. Unfortunately for these assholes, they’d found us.
The soldiers pulled out their plasma guns and started shooting, but I quickly pulled our jeep to the right and tore through someone’s overgrown yard.
Anna, Paige, and the cadets were right behind me, and from my rearview mirror I could see the blue blasts hit the asphalt where we’d just been. If those plasma guns hit our vehicles, then we’d be screwed. They could melt through just about anything, and that included the metal of the body of the jeep, and even the engine. They’d also melt right through us, bone and all.
The first body I’d seen that had been hit by one of the plasma guns had a giant hole burned right into its chest. If we were hit by one of these weapons it might be the end. Paige was a good nurse, but there was nothing anybody could do if someone had a hole burned right through them.
If these assholes managed to hit one of our jeeps it would be a problem, and if they managed to hit one of our bodies it would be an even bigger problem. I hoped that they wouldn’t follow our vehicles and shoot them, but there was no guarantee of that. We needed to take these guys out, and fast.
Once we were far enough away from the road, stuck in someone’s backyard, I shut the engine off and hopped out with my plasma gun ready to go.
Anna cut her engine as well, and we all got out of the vehicles and met in between them.
I could hear that someone was shouting in Korean, and it sounded like the voice was getting louder.
“They’re headed toward us,” I said.
“What’s the plan?” Anna, my redheaded second in command, asked.
We could try and hide behind the jeeps, but that meant that they would most likely receive quite a bit of damage, and I didn’t want that. I glanced around to see what our options were and noticed that the houses in front of us were two storeys.
“Head into the houses,” I said. “Bailey, Paige, you’re with me. Tara, Missy, Michael, go with Anna.”
“Right, let’s go,” Anna said, and she gestured for her team to follow her into the house to our right.
I grabbed Bailey’s Barrett from her and sent her and Paige ahead of me into the house while I kept my plasma gun aimed at the road in case any of the soldiers made it over to us before we got inside.
The house was dirty and clearly hadn’t been lived in for a long time. The place was covered in dust, so much so that it nearly made me sneeze when a cloud of it hit me from the girls’ footsteps. I quickly cleared the first floor before I found the stairs and led the girls up to the second level of the house.
I could still hear yelling from the road, and I knew that the Koreans were on their way. We needed to get into position.
“Check the back yard,” I told Bailey when we got upstairs. “I’ll check the front.”
“Right,” the blonde agreed, and she went into the closest room to the right, while I headed to the left.
The room I came into was a child’s room. A little boy most likely judging from the dinosaur sheets on the small toddler bed and the numerous toy trucks that were scattered across the floor. There was also a sign over the bed that read ‘Liam’ in dark-blue letters.
Paige was right behind me as I led us to the only window in the room. It was large, and it overlooked the street below, but there were no curtains, so I quickly moved to one side and looked out carefully.
Two men were on their way down the street. They wore the dark-green uniform of the Korean soldiers, and they each had their plasma guns in their hands, ready to aim and shoot.
They were nearly to us, and once we had a shot I planned to take it.
“There’s only two over here,” Paige whispered from across the window.
“The other two are probably out in the back,” I said with a nod. “You should go help Bailey.”
“Okay,” the brunette said with a nod, and then she carefully slipped away and out the door.
Anna and her crew were in the house next to ours, but I couldn’t be sure that she had sent someone to look out the back window. She was smart, and her tactics were usually on point, but I didn’t want to risk it and have Bailey be the only one keeping an eye out on the back yard. Granted, the blonde could more than handle herself, but I had her Barrett with me, so she was left with only her plasma gun and her M9 pistol. She was one hell of a shot no matter what she handled, but I knew that she preferred a rifle over a handgun any day.
I watched as the soldiers slowed down and cautiously walked along the center of the street. They glanced around warily with their plasma guns aimed outward. They knew we were somewhere in the area, and they were itching to get us.
I wasn’t sure whether or not they knew what we’d done to their fellow soldiers, but it had been a massacre, and if I was them I wouldn’t have readily volunteered to be the group that tried to stop us. We’d already proven more than once that we were far more capable than they were. It was almost surprising that they hadn’t gotten the hint by now and just given up.
Then again, we were a small group of seven people up against an entire army. This had to not only be frustrating, but also embarrassing for the officers in particular. I knew for a fact that there were more soldiers on their way, and the group that was here would have to report to their senior officers. It wouldn’t be a great feeling to have to say that they’d been defeated by a small, ragtag group of mostly women who had managed to sneak into their camp, steal their supplies before they set them on fire, free all of their captured civilians, and take out not one but three of their planes as well as a dozen other vehicles.
The two soldiers below me looked nervous as they came down the road, and I crouched down by the window and lined up my shot. The plasma guns weren’t only incredibly deadly, but they were extremely quiet, though the blue light from them made it easy to see where they were coming from. I’d need to make sure that I had a shot on both of the men before I fired, otherwise the second of the two could easily fire back. I had Anna and the rest of the group behind me, but I didn’t want to risk one of those blasts coming near myself or anyone on my team. If I could get them both in line for a shot, then that’s what I’d do. There were no second chances when it came to warfare, and I wasn’t about to put anyone at risk to save us a few seconds. We’d get home when we got there, but spending an extra minute to make sure my kill shot was lined up was more than worth it.
I adjusted myself slightly and rammed my knee into a small toy truck that was caught between myself and the wall.
“Fuck,” I breathed before I pushed the thing away and focused back on the men below me.
Just one more second, and they’d be lined up for a shot. They were just below my window, and I carefully and quietly positioned myself so that I had the best angle to get them both within a matter of seconds.
I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger of the plasma gun.
A blue beam shot out and went straight through the window of the room I was in. I pulled the trigger again and hit the guy closest to the house just as he looked up at me.
The blue light caught him right in the face and smoke puffed upward from the blast zone. His face, if it could still be called that, was a mess of red bloody pulp and blackened flesh. His body twitched for a second, what was left of his brain was probably trying hard to figure out what the hell happened in those last few seconds before it shut down from total shock.
He dropped his plasma gun to the ground right before his whole body wobbled and toppled forward.
I adjusted myself slightly to line up my shot for the second guy, but before I could pull the trigger a blue light flashed and landed square in the guy’s chest.
He looked around in a panic before he coughed up blood and fell forward next to his companion.
It had to have been someone in Anna’s group, and my money was on either Tara or Missy. Either way, we were in the clear on this side of the street. The entire shootout had only taken a matter of seconds, which was good because we needed to get back onto the road and away from any other potential threats.
I rushed out of the door into the hallway and slammed directly into Bailey. I bumped the poor girl so hard she nearly fell backward. Luckily, Paige was right there to catch her.
“Jesus,” the blonde breathed as Paige stood her back upright.
“Damn, Tav,” the brunette chuckled.
“Sorry,” I said with a frown. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m alright,” Bailey said with a small smile. “You just startled me more than anything.”
“I understand,” I said. “Did you get the two that were around back?”
“Yeah,” Paige answered. “Someone from Anna’s group got one of them, though.”
“Same for me,” I agreed. “Our side of the street is clear.”
“Ours, too,” Bailey confirmed. “I double checked in case we missed one of the soldiers, but I don’t think we did.”
“Yeah, we should be clear,” Paige said with a nod.
“Alright,” I agreed. “Let’s go meet the others.”
“You two go ahead,” Bailey said. “I swear I’ll be right there, I just want to do something really quick.”
“What is it?” I asked, and my eyebrows pinched together. I couldn’t think of anything that she might need or want to do in this old abandoned house. There wouldn’t be any food left in it at this point, and most anything useful would be gone.
“The room we were in was a little girl’s bedroom,” Bailey said, and she bit her lip. “I just wanted to grab a couple of things for Rosy. We don’t get around a lot of kids toys when we go on runs and stuff, and I just thought I could grab a few things for her. I swear I’ll be quick.”
I couldn’t help the smile that crept onto my face as Bailey spoke. She was obviously flustered because she knew that we were on our way out of the city, and she didn’t want me to be mad about her wasting time.
“Be quick,” I said with a nod.
“Yay!” she squealed. “Thank you, Tav!”
Bailey rushed back into the room that she’d just come from, and I turned to Paige.
“Come with me,” I said.
The brunette looked at me curiously, but she followed me into the room I had just been in.
I quickly dumped out the laundry hamper that was in the corner of the room before I started filling it with toys off the floor. Bailey was right, we weren’t around kids toys very often, but we had several kids back at campus, and more girls than boys. It would only cost a few minutes to fill this hamper with toys, but they would bring a lot of joy to the kids back home. They didn’t have many toys, so this would definitely be a treat for them.
“You’re sweet,” Paige told me with a smile as she tossed trucks and dinosaurs into the basket.
“Bailey’s the sweet one,” I said with a grin. “I just play along.”
“Uh huh, sure,” Paige chuckled.
The jeeps were pretty full in the back since we had a lot of weapons with us, but I figured that we could make some room inside the back seats. The back usually sat three but there was only a need for two at the moment so that open space could be used for the toys.
