Without Law 4 Page 4
“Sometime soon,” I said. “I just want to finish up a couple things here first.”
Just then the library doors opened and Rolly hurried over and took a seat close to me.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Time just got away from me while I was getting ready this morning.”
“It’s okay, we had really just gotten started,” I said.
“We were talking about making a trip to see Betty though,” Tara said with a grin.
“Great, when are we doing that?” Rolly asked.
“Slow down there,” I chuckled. “It’s on our list of things to do, but today you are I are going to build a second shower.”
A high-pitched squeal of delight filled the room, and all eyes turned to look at the platinum blonde woman.
“Sorry,” she said as she put a hand up to cover her mouth. “I guess I just got a little excited.”
“You don’t say,” Anna teased.
“There is nothing wrong with getting excited about hot water,” I said with a smile.
“It will be nice knowing that more than two of us can shower each day,” Paige pointed out.
“I’m okay with that,” Rolly said, “I’ve only gotten to use the thing once since we built it.”
“After today we should all be able to shower a bit more often,” I said. “And after Rolly and I get the shower done, we can all meet for lunch before moving on to our next big project.” I pointed to the first thing listed under the food category on the whiteboard. “The greenhouse.”
“Heck yeah,” Bailey said. “I can’t wait to start growing shit in there.”
“It’s going to be nice to have more variety in what we eat,” Anna agreed.
“It’s also almost the end of spring, and I would rather we have all of our gardening and planting done before summer really hits,” I said.
“That’s a pretty good idea,” Paige said. “Springtime is when they recommend planting a lot of different plants.”
“You know, we could probably get some seeds or starters from Betty,” Rolly chimed in. “I don’t know what we need, but it’s a thought.”
“There are a few things I wouldn’t mind getting seeds for,” Bailey said. “We don’t have a huge selection of herbs and spices right now, and I was thinking that it would be cool if we could grow some of our own teas too.”
“Mmm, fresh peppermint would be amazing,” Paige said.
“Make a list, and we can see what Betty has when we go to trade with her,” I said.
“Will do!” Bailey said with a large smile.
“Once the greenhouse is built and the garden is going, we should be pretty good on veggies, so I was thinking we might look into making a small rabbit hutch,” I suggested. “We wouldn’t do that today, but raising our own source of food would be more reliable than hunting.”
“I don’t know how well I will do taking care of something I am supposed to eat later,” Bailey said.
“Yeah, hunting them is one thing, but I’m, like, not sure if I could kill something I raised,” Tara agreed.
“That’s a while off,” I said, “and we will take care of that once we get there. It might be difficult at first, but you have both done amazing things these past few weeks, and I highly doubt this will be the task that breaks you.”
“Hey, if we managed to find chickens somewhere we could maybe farm eggs,” Paige said.
“I’d bet that Betty has chickens,” Anna said.
“She does,” Rolly was quick to confirm.
“Think you could sweet talk her into giving us a few?” I asked with a smile.
“I can certainly try,” he replied with a grin.
“Good,” I said with a nod. “Well, I think the only thing left to talk about are my defensive plans. I think our new watch rotation is a really good idea, but I want to make sure we are staying sharp so melee and firearms practice are going to be a little more regular.”
“I’m always down for a bit of shooting,” Bailey said.
“Yeah, I could spend all afternoon at the range,” Anna added.
“We have to be careful with how much we shoot,” I said. “We have gathered a lot of ammo but it will run out quickly if we go pop off a few rounds every time we feel like it. Instead we are going to do range time once a week, and we all fire a fixed number of rounds.”
“That sounds a little less fun,” Paige said.
“It makes sense though,” Rolly said. “Not having enough ammo could get us killed if we have to fight again,”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “If we manage to find a large stash of ammo somewhere, then maybe we can spend an afternoon shooting for fun. Until then though we only shoot to defend ourselves or to practice. Understood?”
All the girls nodded and mumbled their agreement. None of them seemed particularly happy about the idea, but I knew they would get over it.
“That’s it for today,” I said. “Let’s finish up breakfast and get to work.”
The group dispersed a few minutes later, and I headed for the shed with Rolly.
“You do a really good job of being tough with the girls when it’s necessary,” Rolly said as we walked. “I appreciate that you don’t give in even when they whine or pout.”
“I just want to be sure that we can survive,” I said with a shrug. “Sometimes that means being tough about things. The girls know that everything I do is to help keep us alive. Hell, a week ago they wouldn’t have blinked if I told them we had to ration ammo.”
“Funny what being in life threatening danger does to one’s perspective,” Rolly chuckled.
“Yeah,” I replied with a grin. “There’s still danger out there though. It’s easy to forget that when you’re not facing down a gang of angry bikers.”
We reached the shed, and I gathered the lumber while Rolly went inside and got the tools.
The handyman came out a moment later with his tool belt strapped on and ready for work. He had a spare hammer in one hand, a bucket full of nails, stables, and hinges in the other.
“Anything else you need to grab from inside?” I asked while I stood there with a small stack of eight foot 2x4s.
“Nope, I got everything shoved into my tool belt,” he said.
I nodded and led the way back towards where our first shower was. We set out the wood, divided the tools between us and went to work. Rolly took the measurements while I used the small hand saw to cut our 2x4s to length.
Again we started with the small base. It was easily one of the more complicated parts of the build due to how much cutting was involved. If we had access to power tools, it would have been an almost trivial task, but we still managed to make good time with what we had.
“So, uh, I was wondering something,” Rolly said as he waited for me to cut the final piece of the base.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Have you put much thought into when we might go back to Betty’s farm?” Rolly asked.
I finished my cut, handed the piece to the handyman, and grinned as I stood up. “I might’ve, yeah. You getting a little anxious to visit your lady?”
“She’s not my lady,” Rolly chuckled. He took a moment to finish the base of the shower before he spoke again. “At least not yet.” He looked up at me and grinned.
“I don’t think you are going to have to try very hard,” I said. “I saw how she looked at you on our first visit.”
“Are you sure you weren’t seeing things?” Rolly asked.
“Oh, come on, I wouldn’t lie to you like that,” I said.
“Not saying you’re lying, but you could have just misinterpreted her looks,” The old man said with a shrug.
“I doubt it,” I said. “Don’t overthink it. You are a good looking dude, and you are polite and easy to talk to.”
Rolly grinned as he picked up some wood and started to work on the first wall. “So when are we going back then?”
“Soon,” I said as I helped him,
“How soon?” he asked.
“I was hoping you might say that,” Rolly replied.
It was hard not to notice the massive grin on the handyman’s face while we worked. Nothing that happened over the next hour could remove that silly grin. Rolly even smashed his thumb with a hammer at one point, but when he looked up his grin was still there.
I was glad that Betty made him happy, and I sincerely hoped that the two of them continued to get on well. Though I wasn’t actually worried about that. It was hard not to like Rolly.
It wasn’t long before the two of us finished the second shower stall. We set up the plumbing the same way as the first one, filled both the five gallon jugs with water, and covered it all in black plastic. The second stall looked a bit nicer than the first. The door was hung a bit straighter, and the plastic was stapled on smoother.
We were getting better at this.
“Nice job,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s not too bad,” Rolly agreed with a nod.
“We shouldn’t have to worry about showers now until winter,” I said.
“I’m already working on some plans for that,” the handyman said. “Might have something for ya by fall.”
I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He was always so full of surprises and ideas. “I look forward to seeing what you come up with.”
He smiled and nodded. “I’m going to get all these tools put away. You can go start lunch if you’d like.”
“You sure you don’t want some help?” I asked.
“Nah, this won’t take me long,” he said.
“Alright, see you in a bit then.” I said before I gave him a wave and headed off towards the fire pit.
I passed by Bailey who was hard at work in the garden. It looked like she had dug several dozen small holes that she filled with seeds. She waved at me as I passed, but then went back to work.
When I got to the pit, I found Anna and Tara around the fire. They both worked to clean multiple fish as they talked, and it didn’t seem like they heard me walking up on them.
“I didn’t actually know I could want it so much until I did it with Tav,” Anna said.
“I know, I kind of always want his cock,” Tara said.
“There’s just something about the way he moves,” the athletic redhead said. She paused for a moment and stared absently at the ground as she bit her lip.
“Careful, don’t get yourself too worked up,” Tara said.
“Sorry,” Anna said as she shook her head. She chuckled and went back to work on the fish. “I just thought about the last time I spent a night with him.”
“I get it,” Tara said, “I think about my nights with him, like, all the time.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, raised an eyebrow and cleared my throat.
Both of the girls looked up suddenly as they realized I was there, and their faces both turned red.
“Um, hey Tav,” Tara said with a small smile.
“How’s it going?” I smirked.
“Not so bad,” Anna said. She busied herself with the fish in front of her in what seemed to be an attempt to play it cool.
“Yeah, we caught a few fish,” Tara said as she held up the one in front of her. “We already have one of them on the fire for lunch.”
“How’s the shower going?” Anna asked.
“I got it done a little bit ago,” I said.
“That’s good,” Tara said.
“I thought you’d be more excited,” I said.
“Oh, um, I am,” the platinum blonde replied. She looked up at me and forced a wide smile.
“Relax,” I said as I took a seat. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Anna groaned and hid her face as she turned a brighter shade of red.
Tara giggled a little, but seemed far less embarressed than her redheaded companion.
“I wish I could tell you we don’t do this often, but…” Tara trailed off and grinned.
“Tara, shush!” Anna exclaimed.
“So, I’m a regular topic then?” I asked with a smile.
“At least parts of you are anyway,” Tara giggled again.
“Oh my god,” Anna muttered. “Stop it.”
“Ah come on, there’s no reason to be embarrassed,” Tara said.
“What are we talking about?” Bailey asked as she walked up. Her jeans were covered in dirt, and she had a trowel tucked into her back pocket.
“Sex with Tav,” Tara said with a smirk.
“Oh,” Bailey said as she too turned red.
“Come on you guys, it’s not like we haven't all been with him,” Tara said as she rolled her eyes.
“It’s okay,” I chuckled. “If talking about it makes them uncomfortable, then we can change the subject.”
“Thank you,” Bailey said as she sat down. “What’s for lunch?”
“Fish,” Anna said. “We had a pretty good haul today and decided to cook up something fresh.”
A few minutes later Anna pulled the nicely cooked fish off the fire and started to serve it up as Rolly joined us. The five of us enjoyed a quick meal before I stood back up and told them it was time to get back to work.
“Rolly, you’re on watch this afternoon,” I said. Then I handed him a plate with a portion of fish for Paige.
“Will do,” he said.
“Tell Paige to meet us out by the greenhouse,” I said.
He nodded and took off.
“Alright, let’s go build a greenhouse,” Anna said.
After a quick stop by the shed, we made our way to the spot I had marked for the project.
Paige waited for us there and ate her small lunch.
“Hey, how was the watch?” Bailey asked the brunette.
“Really boring,” Paige said. “I wish I could take a book up there with me, but I figure that sorta defeats the purpose of being on watch.”
“I think watch is fun,” Anna said, “Nothing has happened yet, but I like the time to myself.”
“I’ll remember that next time I’m handing out duties,” I said. “Right now though we need to get this greenhouse up.”
“Where do we start?” Tara asked as she picked up a hammer.
“We’ll start with the floor again,” I explained. “That will give us a nice level surface to put our walls, so grab all the treated stuff and start measuring out what you need to make a simple frame. After we get the outside frame done, we’ll put in some 2x4 floor joists and then cover the whole thing in plywood. This thing won’t be super fancy but it should be more than functional.”
“As long as it lets me grow plants, I don’t care what it ends up looking like,” Bailey said.
“Then let’s get to work,” I said.
With a few projects under their belts the girls didn’t need to ask me many more questions. They understood the first goal and went to work with the skills they had learned, and a couple hours later we had a ten by twelve platform built up on the ground. It looked pretty good, and the girls were proud of what they had done. Almost all of it had been them too since I spent the majority of the time leveling the spot where he wanted to build this greenhouse.
“What’s next?” Paige asked.
“We put up the walls,” I answered. “It’s just like what we did with the meat shed only larger. I’d stick to eight feet tall walls though. I don’t think we’ll need it any taller than that,”
“Eight feet is more than tall enough,” Bailey said.
We started with the back wall first. It went up quickly since we didn’t need to measure out any windows or door frames. Once it was built and in place, we held it in place with some scrap 2x4s that we nailed to the floor. Then when we were sure it was not going to fall down, we moved on to the side walls.
“Do we need to put any windows in this thing?” Anna asked as she measured out where the studs would go.
“Isn’t the whole thing going to be win
dows?” Tara asked.
“I think we can do without windows,” I said. “My idea is to just cover all the bare framing with that clear plastic. That should turn this whole place into a giant window like Tara was saying.”
“Will that be strong enough?” Paige asked.
“Unless we start getting super heavy winds or huge hail it should be fine,” I replied with a nod.
“We could do two layers of plastic if we have enough of it,” Bailey suggested. “Like, one layer on the outside and another inside.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Anna said.
“If we have the plastic we’ll do that,” I agreed with a nod.
Both the side walls went up fairly quickly, and we braced them the same way we did the back wall. At this point it may not have been necessary but until we had a roof on, I decided not to take any chances.
The front wall was a little more complicated since we had to factor in the door, but our team was able to handle it easily. Once it was in place we added the rafters, and the whole thing started to feel secure.
“So what are we going to do about the roof?” Paige asked.
“I thought we were just going to pull the plastic over the rafters,” Bailey said.
“A flat roof is usually a bad idea,” I said. “Water will just pool up on top of it and degrade the plastic faster.”
“So then wha---” Tara’s question was cut off by a shrill whistle.
My hand went for my gun as I looked around the courtyard. It only took me a moment to notice Rolly waving at us from the top of the dorm building.
“Hey,” The handyman shouted down to us.
“What’s wrong?” I yelled up to him.
“There’s someone on the bridge!” he replied.
“Come on,” I shouted to the others as I sprinted toward Rolly’s tower.
I knew that trouble would pop up sooner or later, but I had not expected it to show up this soon.
Chapter 3
I rushed out onto the roof and jogged over to where Rolly waited. As soon as I reached him, the old man handed me a pair of binoculars. I pressed them to my face and looked out towards the bridge. Ten people were stopped at the edge on bicycles. At this distance it was hard to make out many details.
“How long have they been there?” I asked.