Without Law 11 Read online

  We were about halfway up the new driveway when Winchester appeared at the side of the truck. He barked playfully and ran ahead of us. Even in the dark he could tell by the sound of the vehicle that it was us, so he led us home.

  We parked the truck, pulled out the overhaul kit, and headed inside. Rolly and Betty were seated in the former dorm common area that had become our living room, but nobody else was around.

  “Hey,” I greeted the two of them.

  “We figured you were the reason Winchester was going crazy wantin’ outside,” Betty laughed as she stood up and gave us each a hug.

  “Guilty,” I chuckled.

  “He’s just bein’ a good boy,” Bailey cooed to the dog, and then she turned to Betty. “Has he been fed yet?”

  “Oh, yes, dear,” Betty answered. “And so has everyone else. Your dinner is on the stove keeping warm, you want it now?”

  Paige said “Yes, please” at the same time that I said “in a minute” and I looked at the brunette and had to laugh. She was one of the tiniest girls I had ever known, but she was always hungry.

  “What’s that in your arms there?” Rolly asked, and he stood up and moved closer. “You found it?”

  “We found it,” I confirmed with a grin.

  “Oh, that’s great,” he said, but his smile faded.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Well, uh, you see,” Rolly started, and he rubbed the back of his neck, “this here kit will fix one of the tractors, but I gave the other one another look over like you requested, and there’s just no way to get it running right now. At least not without a whole new transmission.”

  “Shit,” I breathed.

  That meant we definitely wouldn’t have a tractor to bargain with Brody, and with only one working one for the spring and summer, we’d probably need more help when it came to planting. The tractor could do the tilling for us, but we’d need to plant the seeds ourselves.

  “Sit down for a minute,” Betty said. “You all just got home. Have some wine, and we’ll figure it all out. I’ll go get your dinner.”

  “Thanks, Betty,” I told the sweet, older woman.

  “Of course, dear,” she replied.

  “I hope this thing didn’t cause you too much stress,” Rolly said as he inspected the box of parts.

  “Only some drug addicts,” Tara said with a shrug as she poured herself some wine.

  “Drug addicts?” Rolly asked.

  We recounted our earlier escapades for him, including the part about Bailey taking out a whole jeep full of them alone. He always was proud of our resident hippie girl.

  “You think there are more of them hangin’ around?” the old man asked after we had finished our story.

  “I’m sure there are,” I said. “We’ll need to be extra careful from now on.”

  “Alright,” he agreed with a nod.

  “Now,” Paige said, and she bit her lip. “What are we going to do about the tractors?”

  “Well,” I sighed, “we can keep an eye out for a tractor with a working transmission, or the parts to fix that one, and try to have it done in time for harvest that way we can trade it with Brody for fuel.”

  “Yeah,” Anna said. “And in the meantime we’ll just have to put in more time at the farms.”

  “Yay,” Bailey cheered. “I like gardening.”

  “This is large scale gardening,” Betty chuckled as she brought out a tray of food. “It’s not quite as fun as a small garden.”

  “I’m sure it’s not,” I agreed and then I gave Bailey a soft smile. “But we’ll keep our garden up here as well, so you can have some fun with it.”

  “Paige also found, like, a ton more seed packets today,” Tara said, and she took a sip of her wine.

  “That’s great,” Rolly said. “Now you all go ahead and eat before it gets cold.”

  Betty dished us up plates and we ate quietly while Rolly tinkered with the new parts and Betty read a book.

  The old woman had made venison spaghetti with garlic bread, and it was absolutely delicious. Even with just a few ingredients, she always managed to pull off an amazing meal. The first bite made my mouth water, I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until then.

  I shoveled a few bites into my mouth, then thought about our predicament. Having only one tractor would be a challenge, but it was doable. The only part that really concerned me was the amount of labor our team would have to do. Even with all of us out there planting it would take weeks to fill the field and have it all ready to go. And if we planted things too late, then there was a chance they wouldn’t grow properly. We’d have to figure out a way to maximize our planting.

  I had Betty, Marla, Justin, and Briar each look over some maps of their land that Paige had, and they were able to lay out the best places to plant what, so that part was taken care of. If we assigned groups to each plant and sectioned off the areas, then that could be helpful as well, but we still had a lot of area to cover, and not nearly enough people.

  There was also still the matter of the Millers’ home. After dealing with the cannibals we had found living in there, they didn’t want the place back, and I couldn’t blame them, but that meant that we had to demolish it somehow. The best way would be by fire, but that would be a whole day’s process since we would need to make sure it didn’t spread. That was just another thing to add to our to do list.

  I looked over to Rolly as he went through the box. The old man had put in so much work for us, not just recently, but he worked hard every single day, and without him there was no tractor at all, which meant no harvest and no food. I honestly didn’t know what we’d do without him. Sure, Paige might be able to look at a diagram and figure it out, but Rolly had experience, and it would be a whole lot quicker for him to fix it than for any of the rest of us to try. I was eternally grateful for that man.

  “Thanks,” I told Rolly with a clap on his shoulder.

  “For what?” the old man asked, and he looked at me with surprise.

  “For everything,” I said. “Fixing the tractor, holding down the fort when we were gone, just for all the work you do. I don’t know how we’d get along without you.”

  “I’m just doin’ my part,” he said with a blush.

  “We really do appreciate all you do,” Bailey added with a smile. “And you, too, Betty.”

  “Like Rolly said, we’re just doin’ our parts,” Betty laughed. “Us old folks have to be useful, or you’d kick us out.”

  “Uhh, no fucking way,” Tara snickered. “I was never one to respect my elders, but I really love you both, and I’m super happy you are in our lives.”

  “Awww,” Betty cooed. “Thanks darling. But watch your language.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Tara grinned.

  “I was thinking while we were eating,” Paige said.

  “You’re always thinking,” Tara quipped.

  “How is that a bad thing?” the brunette chuckled.

  “I don’t know,” the platinum blonde responded with a shrug. “It was just funny.”

  “Anyway,” Paige said with an eye roll, “we’ll need a lot of people to get everything planted, probably more than we have here.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” I agreed.

  “So, why don’t we call on some friends.” The brunette grinned.

  “What do you mean?” Anna asked.

  “There’s that women’s group up the way,” Paige said.

  “Right,” Bailey agreed. “We’ve been meaning to go introduce ourselves anyways.”

  “Oh, and those people we met at Port Henry,” Anna added.

  “Yeah, them, too,” Paige said.

  “What about Henry and the kids?” Rolly asked. “I bet they could be of some help.”

  “I’m sure they could,” I said.

  “This all sounds great,” Tara said, “but these people aren’t just going to help us for free. We’ll need to bargain with them somehow.”

  “We can bargain some of the harvest,” I suggested.

  “That’s what I was thinking, too,” Paige said.

  “Will that leave us with enough food?” Tara asked.

  “Definitely,” the brunette replied. “If we have more people, then we’ll be able to plant more, so we can plant extra to give to them. Besides, we were going to have a lot of harvest anyways, so if we can give some of it to them for helping then that’s only fair.”

  “It’s a win-win situation then, it sounds like,” Betty chimed in.

  “There’s still one problem,” Tara said. “The women’s group is the largest of the people we know, and we have no idea if they’ll be willing to help or not. Doesn’t this whole plan kind of hinge on them?”

  “She’s right,” I agreed. “That is the largest group around, but we can go over there tomorrow and make nice. We’ll bring them some guns, ammo, and provisions.”

  “Hopefully that’ll be enough to get them to agree to our deal,” Anna said.

  “We know they have children there, too,” Bailey said. “And Marla already offered to give them all physicals.”

  “Right,” I agreed. “We’ll take Marla with us as well.”

  “Hm,” Betty said, and she pursed her lips.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “It’s an all women’s group, right?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” Paige answered. “At least that’s what it looked like.”

  “Are you sure it’s a good idea for you to go then, Tav?” the old woman asked skeptically. “I don’t mean to call you out, but I’m just not sure you’ll be welcome there.”

  “Oh,” I said with a frown. I hadn’t really thought about that. The idea of sending my girls off alone hadn’t even crossed my mind. “I think you’re probably right, Betty. But I’m not going
to send the girls alone. I will let them do most of the talking, though.”

  “I understand,” the old woman said. “I think that’s a good compromise. Ladies, just don’t allow them to skin him alive.”

  “If anybody’s getting Tav down to his skin it’ll be me,” Tara laughed.

  “I think you misunderstood the meaning of ‘skin him alive,’” Anna chuckled.

  “Wait, like, take his skin off?” the platinum blonde asked, and her face scrunched up in disgust. “Gross.”

  I shook my head at the girls and poured myself a glass of wine. It was a deep red color, though I didn’t look at what it was. It was sweet on my tongue, and after the long day we had, I felt it was well deserved.

  “So this means we’ll need to head back up to Port Henry again,” Bailey said after a few moments.

  “I’m afraid so,” I sighed.

  “Is that a problem?” Betty asked, her face a mask of genuine concern.

  “No,” I chuckled. “It’s not really a problem. We were just gone for so long recently, and it was nice to be home for a while.”

  “Not to mention the druggies out there,” Tara said with an eye roll before she took a drink of her wine.

  “That, too,” I agreed. “We’ll have to be very careful now.”

  “At least we don’t have to go too far tomorrow,” Paige said with a reassuring smile.

  “Right,” I said. “We’ll worry about the women’s group first, and the other groups after that. It’ll be a few days on the road, at least to talk to them.”

  “That’s not too long,” Betty said. “And we’ll be right here when you get back.”

  “I know,” I said with a soft smile. “And I appreciate it.”

  We sat quietly for a few minutes while I finished my glass of wine and thought about our upcoming trip.

  “I think it’s time that we turn in,” Betty said as she stood up.

  “I’m alright with that,” Rolly agreed with a yawn.

  “Let’s get you to bed, old man,” Betty chuckled as they headed up the stairs.

  “I’m with them,” Anna said. “Anybody else coming?”

  “Me,” Paige said.

  “Me too,” Tara added.

  Bailey looked hesitant at first, but she stood up and followed the other girls up the stairs, and Winchester trailed behind.

  “You sure you’re not coming?” Anna called down to me.

  “I’ll be up in a while,” I assured them.

  “Suit yourself,” the redhead said.

  After everyone was gone, I went to the supply closet in the hallway and grabbed a bottle of bourbon and a clean glass. It had been a long day, and that glass of red wine just hadn’t cut it.

  I sat down with a sigh and poured myself a good three fingers before I took a fiery sip that warmed up my belly.

  The booze was good, and I leaned back against the couch and stared out the window to the darkness outside.

  We had been through a lot in the past few weeks, and my girls had handled it well, but there was a lot more to come that I was concerned about. If the women at the commune turned down our offer, then that would definitely put a damper on our plan. And if Henry and the people at Port Henry turned us down, then that would be a few days of travel wasted. I didn’t normally miss cell phones, but damn would one come in handy right about now.

  On top of all of this were the druggies we had encountered recently. I knew there were more of them out there, and that meant that anywhere we went was potentially dangerous. I would have to keep a good eye on the girls while we were out and about. Not only were these druggies dangerous because they were armed and obviously worked for somebody with power, but also the drugs in their systems did something to them to make them even crazier than normal, especially when it came to meth and the like. I thought about that story about the man in Florida who had eaten his friends face off because he did bath salts. I never really saw the appeal. A good bourbon was enough for me.

  I downed the rest of my glass of bourbon, filled the cup once more, and headed upstairs, but then I thought better of it and went back to grab the bottle. The girls were all asleep on the floor of our common room, and I crept past them to my old dorm room. It didn’t get used much except when I needed to get dressed or something, but it was still where I liked to go sometimes to think. I closed the door softly behind me and took a seat on the bed.

  The window was large and open to the sky outside. It was filled with stars and a bright, silver moon that hung low to the horizon. I took another swig of my drink as I stared out the window and thought about the long run of it all. There were still a lot of questions about the North Korean invasion, and now the druggies in the area, and I wondered how much longer we’d be safe at our little haven.

  A small knock sounded on the door, and I got up and quickly pulled the door open.

  “I thought I saw you come in here,” Bailey whispered. She wore a large nightshirt, but I couldn’t tell if she had anything on underneath it, and her hair was tousled from laying on it.

  “Come on in,” I told her and I stepped aside.

  The blonde came in and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

  “Bourbon, huh?” she asked as she held up the bottle.

  “It was a long day,” I chuckled quietly.

  “It was,” she agreed and she opened the bottle and took a swig.

  “Couldn’t sleep?” I asked as I sat down next to her.

  “Not really,” she sighed. “I wasn’t tired earlier, but I figured I’d try to go to bed since the rest of the girls were.”

  “You don’t have to do anything just because they are,” I told her.

  “I know,” she laughed. “But it was getting late. There’s just a lot on my mind.”

  “Like what?” I asked with a soft smile.

  “I guess I’m just bummed we have to leave again so soon,” she sighed. “It seems like we’ve barely been home. And I know we were only gone for a week or so, but it felt like forever.”

  “It did feel like a long time,” I agreed. “I’m not too happy about us having to leave so soon either, but we’ll get through it, and as long as I’m with you girls, I’ll be happy.”

  “Thanks,” she said with a grin, and she took another swig out of the bottle.

  “That really was some nice shooting you did today,” I told her.

  “It was nothing,” she said, but even in the darkness of the room I could see her cheeks flush.

  “It was definitely something,” I said. “I’ve known well-trained men who couldn’t get four kills with three bullets.”

  “Maybe they weren’t as well trained as you thought,” the blonde teased.

  “Ow,” I laughed. “Bailey’s feeling feisty this evening.”

  “Maybe a little,” she said, and she gave me a coy smile that made my pants grow tighter.

  “Where did this attitude come from?” I asked, and then I took a swig of bourbon. “I like it.”

  “I don’t know,” she said and looked down so suddenly I knew my shy hippie girl was back. “I’ve just been trying to not be so reserved lately.”

  “That’s good,” I told her. “You have good ideas, and you should speak up.”

  “Thanks,” she said with a soft smile and then she leaned her head against my shoulder.

  She smelled like flowers and sweat, but it was a delightful combination that brought my heart rate up a few notches. I was incredibly aware of the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra under that shirt, and part of me hoped she wasn’t wearing panties either, but just the thought of that sent a shiver down my spine that I had to suppress with another drink of bourbon.

  “Tav,” she said, and she looked up at me with grayish-blue eyes that reflected the moon outside.

  “Yes?” I asked, my voice heavy with desire.

  “Will you,” she started, but she trailed off and looked down before she glanced back up at me through her eyelashes, “will you kiss me, please?”

  I brought my hand up to her chin and tilted it back so I could look into her blue eyes once more. I felt my breath grow heavier as I stared at her, then I leaned down and kissed her softly, her full, plump lips hesitant under my own.

  The kiss quickly grew more passionate as I placed my hands on her waist and felt the sweet curves of her body. She was so incredibly sexy, and it was like she had absolutely no idea.