Without Law 18 by Eric Vall (most difficult books to read .txt) 📗

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, and I turned around to look at the brunette.

“The people we helped out yesterday,” she said. “Don’t you think it was pretty amazing they survived this long?”

“Oh.” I nodded. “Yeah, they were in pretty bad shape, but I was impressed they’d managed to survive for so long, especially in some dingy gas station.”

“I imagine there are a lot of people like that out there,” Minji said with a frown.

“I would think so,” I agreed.

“A lot of people probably don’t really know how to defend themselves or survive on their own,” Paige said. “It’s probably easier to try and hide.”

“I don’t think most people know how to survive without modern luxuries,” Minji agreed.

“I know I wouldn’t have been able to survive much longer if Tav hadn’t come along,” Paige said, and she shot me a small smile. “We weren’t doing great when we met you.”

“Not great,” I chuckled. “I’ll agree with that. But you were still surviving, and that’s impressive in and of itself. Four college girls and the groundskeeper all lasting through a bitter Vermont winter without electricity? I’d say that’s worth being proud of.”

“Definitely,” Minji said with a smile, and she looked at Paige and cocked her head. “It’s strange to think you were just a college student when this started. You have so much knowledge, and so much experience with battle already. You and the other girls are more seasoned than a lot of the men who are here, aside from the SEALs of course.”

“Oh, thank you,” Paige said, and she blushed slightly and looked down. “I was pre-med, but it took me a while to decide on my degree. I guess all that reading up on other subjects worked out.”

“I’d say so,” Minji chuckled.

I always knew my girls were impressive, but most people didn’t outright say it. I wasn’t sure if they were intimidated by them, or if they just felt like it was odd to recognize four small, beautiful girls for being total badasses. Either way, the girls didn’t get the recognition I felt they deserved a lot of the time, so it was nice to hear Minji compliment Paige.

“Oh, I saw you grabbed my maps earlier,” Paige said after a few minutes of quiet where she and Minji got back to work.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I just wanted to look over the places we saw the other day again.”

“You haven’t decided on a place?” she asked, and her eyebrows pinched together.

“I have,” I said. “The last place we saw. The small peninsula. It’s our best bet.”

“A peninsula certainly sounds like a good bet,” Minji said. “We only have to surround them on one side, then.”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “I’m going to go over the plan with Hammer and some of the SEALs later.”

“I’m sure he’d appreciate that.” Minji smiled.

It felt like the past couple of days had flown by. We’d been busy searching the area for the best place to try and attack the Boston troops, getting the ship ready and the weapons counted, and half the time I’d been focused on Tara and the pregnancy.

“So, that’s the final tally on the smaller tanks,” Paige said. “We have fourteen.”

“Fourteen?” I asked, and my eyes widened slightly.

“Yup,” she nodded.

“Fourteen smaller ones,” Minji said. “And three of the larger ones, though they’re not that much larger, maybe double the size.”

“That’s quite a bit larger when it comes to plasma,” I laughed.

“I suppose you’re right,” Minji chuckled. “I still can’t believe the NK troops figured out how to make plasma weapons. It’s like something out of an HBO special.”

“That’s what we thought, too,” Paige said. “I mean, I figured it was possible, but I didn’t think it would be anytime soon.”

“Me, either.” Minji shook her head. “They must have been planning this attack for years.”

“Oh, yeah,” Paige said, and her brown eyebrows pulled together. “You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“I can’t imagine how long it took them to create this stuff,” Minji said. “But they’ve had a grudge against us for a long time, so I can only imagine it was created with this specific use in mind.”

Minji made a good point. I hadn’t considered that the NKs had made the plasma strictly as a way to attack the U.S., but it made sense. We were a superpower as far as countries went, and we had a reputation for having plenty of firepower. They knew if they tried to come at us with regular guns, they’d get slaughtered. They had to figure out a way to attack us that would actually work, and that meant they had to develop a weapon we couldn’t combat.

Or at least, a weapon they thought we couldn’t combat.

The plasma weapons were strong, but American resilience was stronger, and they’d underestimated just how hard we’d fight for our country.

They may have taken most of the U.S. at this point, but we were still fighting back, and to me, that said something.

“I wonder if--” Paige started, but Hammer’s voice came through my walkie and cut her off.

“Tav, come in,” Hammer said, and his voice was deep and urgent.

“What is it?” I asked as I brought the walkie up to my mouth.

The girls must have detected Hammer’s tone as well, because both of them stopped talking completely, and they stared at me with serious and focused eyes.

“You need to get up here right now,” he said. “Someone’s trying to contact the ship.”

Paige’s eyes caught mine, and they were as round as saucers.

This could be the communication we’d been waiting for.

“We’re on our way,” I said with a nod, and I hung the walkie back on my hip.

It was time to play the impersonation game.

Chapter 7

“It must be the Boston troops,” Paige said as she quickly set