Without Law 18 Eric Vall (reading well TXT) 📖

too heavy for her, though, and she nearly fell over when she tried to pick up the box.

“Give me that,” I ordered as I reached over and placed my hands underneath the box to take it from her.

“Sorry,” Paige breathed as she relinquished control of the box. “I think I got a little carried away.”

“You don’t say,” Tara laughed.

“Oh, whatever.” Paige glared at the platinum-blonde.

“Are we going to shoot one of those now?” Anna asked as we all rushed back out the door and started toward the skysweeper gazebo.

“That’s the plan.” I nodded. We needed to know if this machine worked, otherwise there was no point to spend the time to haul it over to the attack point. I’d sacrifice one of these shells to make sure the device was working properly.

“Do you think the NK troops will be able to see it if we set one off?” Bailey asked.

“No.” I shook my head as I walked. “I don’t think we need to worry about that. They’re still a decent ways away at this point.”

“Besides, we’re even further away than we were last time,” Paige pointed out.

“And if they did happen to see by some chance, they would probably assume it was the American resistance,” I added.

“You think so?” Bailey asked.

“I mean, they wouldn’t be wrong,” Anna laughed.

“You know what I mean,” I chuckled. “They’d think it was the Americans attacking again.”

“You’re probably right,” the redhead said.

“I don’t think we need to worry about it, though,” I said. “We still have some time before they’re close enough to see it, and we need to make sure this damn weapon works.”

As I rushed over to the Skysweepers, I looked up at the sun and calculated how long we’d been on base. From what I could tell, it had only been about twenty to thirty minutes, though it felt like much longer.

It would take another ten at least for us to test the weapon, and then another ten to get it on the trailer, and that was being generous. Plus, we still had to deliver it to the attack point.

At the bare minimum, by the time we got this thing into position, we’d only have three hours left before the NK troops showed up. Give or take a few minutes, of course, but we all needed to be in position at least half an hour before the clock was up. If the Boston troops were early I didn’t want to give them any possible reason to suspect that something was off. We all needed to be hidden long before they arrived.

Finally, I reached the gazebo and set the box of shells down.

“So, we just load one in here?” Anna asked with a gesture at the barrel of the gun.

“No, it’ll go in here,” Paige said, and she pointed at a spot near the control panel.

“Let’s get this baby loaded, then,” Tara said with a grin.

“Will it shoot even if there isn’t a target for it to lock onto?” Bailey asked, and her blonde eyebrows pinched together.

“Hm.” I pursed my lips. “I hadn’t thought about that, but it should.”

Paige quickly grabbed one of the shells and pushed it into the ammunition breach, then she glanced back at me and nodded.

“Alright,” I said. “Everybody get behind me.”

The girls all crowded around me, but before I could push the button I felt Bailey’s hand on my shoulder.

“Is it safe to do this in the gazebo?” she asked.

“Oh, she has a point.” Paige frowned. “Will it hit the top?”

“I don’t think so.” I shook my head. The gazebo was tall enough to cover the weapons and still have room above, so I didn’t think it would be an issue. “Ready?”

“Fire!” Anna exclaimed with a smile.

“Aye, aye,” I said, and I pushed the firing button. The machine adjusted itself so the barrel lifted higher in the air, but it didn’t fire.

“Shit,” Tara breathed.

“Hit it again,” Paige said.

“You really think that’s going to--” Tara started.

“Hit. It. Again.” Paige said with a glare.

“Alright.” I nodded and pushed the button.

The gun jolted slightly, and a used shell flew out next to us as the gun fired up into the air. My ears were rocked for a second, and I squeezed my eyes shut against the noise, but when I opened them, I caught a glimpse of the dark smoke in the sky above us.

The girls were all quiet for a second, then an eruption of excited squeals hit my ears.

“It works!” Paige screamed.

“It fucking works!” Anna yelled back, and they grabbed onto each other’s hands and jumped up and down.

I shook my head.

It fucking worked.

Chapter 10

“Holy shit.” I grinned.

“Thank god, right,” Tara laughed. “I was starting to think we’d come all this way for nothing.”

“So was I,” I agreed.

“We do still have one problem,” Paige said, and she pursed her lips.

“What is it?” I asked, and my eyes narrowed on the brunette.

“We have to figure out how to haul it,” she said.

“Right,” I sighed.

“They’re on wheels.” Anna shrugged. “It can’t be too hard.”

“These things weigh a lot,” I told her.

“At least we only have to move one of them now,” the redhead pointed out.

“That’s true,” I agreed, and I walked around the machine. It was on wheels, and at the front appeared to be a tow hitch system just like the howitzer so it could be easily moved. It looked like we would be able to attach it to the jeep, which was good news for us.

“What do you think?” Paige asked as I circled back around to her and the girls.

“It looks like we can attach it to the jeep,” I said.

“That’s great.” Bailey smiled. “Easy peasy.”

“Then