Burn

by Amy Isan

  Rifle is quiet and he hangs his head. He pulls the gun away from me and lowers it to the floor as he crumples to his knees. He drops the gun and holds his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking as he quietly lets it all go. I can't blame him. Everything Surge put him through, and whatever the new crew is putting him through to test his loyalty, must be hell.

  After a few moments, he looks up at me again. He wipes his face and nods. "I don't know what I can do."

  "Just help us. I need to convince the Skeletons that Surge isn't the enemy. That he's just using everyone to fight his battles. If we can band the two crews together, that might be enough to stop Gustavo from doing anything rash. But if we're fighting... we're all fucked."

  "With Zero? Good luck."

  "That's why I need you, Rifle. I need my Ruin Outlaws brother to help me out here." I grab Cassie's hand. "To help us out here..." I pause to try and think. I survey his room, his house in disarray, the empty pizza boxes stacked in a corner, the stale air. The sunlight from the blinds filtering through and making dust dance. "Or Surge will just keep going. He won't be stopped."

  Cassie squeezes my hand and makes my heart race and skin flush with red. She has a power over me I can't explain. Rifle grins a little and relents. "Fuck it. Worse thing that'll happen is we'll all die."

  I crack a smile and slap him on the shoulder, feeling a real camaraderie with him for the second time ever. The first time was when he leveled with me at the bar that one night, telling me I wasn't in California anymore. "That's the spirit."

  "I'll take you to the hideout. This'll be... tricky," Rifle says carefully. "I don't known if she should come."

  "She has to. I told her she wouldn't be left behind anymore. "

  "Rattlesnake..." Rifle says. He pulls his gun from the floor and unloads it. "You were right. I don't know how you knew, but you were right. He wasn't working under any orders. He was doing his own shit. I think Zero blames Rattlesnake for fucking up, but wants to use it as an excuse to fight the Ruin Outlaws."

  "That's pretty... observant."

  "That's all I do, Bomb." Rifle says. "Unless someone pisses me off, I just watch and take it in." He looks at Cassie. "I bet she does the same thing."

  She did mention she didn't like Surge, that she didn't trust him. That she felt something wrong and off about him. I ignored her. I ignored the warnings. I ignored everything. Not anymore. Now I have to face the truth.

  Starting with the leader of the rival MC. The Skeletons.

  Rifle puts his gun away and opens the front closet. He drags a case down and pulls out a pistol from it, the same kind as mine. He holsters it behind his belt and nods toward the front door. "Let's go."

  CHAPTER 4 — CASSIE

  Rifle was inches from taking both of our lives. I could feel it, I'm sure Logan could too. That energy radiating off of him wasn't like anything I've ever felt. Except for when I killed the man on the range that day. My mind was aswirl with only one thought, and that was about protecting Logan. Who would Rifle be protecting? The Skeletons? Himself?

  As I climb on Driver's motorcycle behind Logan, I watch Rifle pull his bike out of the garage and walk it back off the driveway. His pride. He would have been saving his pride.

  The things Logan told me about Rifle weren't wrong, that's for sure. I can't believe Logan didn't even flinch with the gun pointed at his chest. For me, my heart dive bombed into my stomach and I thought I was going to faint the second Rifle tipped the gun's barrel towards me.

  Logan grabbed the gun and protected me. I owe him again, don't I?

  I should stop thinking like this, owing and repaying. Debts and guilt. What good is it? Rifle and Logan both start up their hogs and they blaze to life. Their tones are similar, but offset just enough that it sounds extra meaty. To be honest¸ at this point, I can't believe I'm not deaf from all this riding around on motorcycles constantly.

  With Rifle leading, Logan and I follow him down the street and around the curb until we hit the main road. They both churn through their gears at the same time, burning the tires' rubber on the asphalt with a distinctive smell each time. I turn to look over my shoulder and spot the rubber snakes, but we're already too far away to make them out.

  We ignore the lights. Red lights, green lights, they're all good-to-go, with Rifle and Logan taking turns guarding the other. I can't believe the kind of guts it must take to road guard, but I'm sure it's one of the safest and easiest things an outlaw does in his career. When Tank did it earlier for Surge and Logan, I thought I was going to have a stroke.

  But he was stoic and formidable. If I was in a car and saw someone like Tank blocking the traffic, I wouldn't dare try and circle around him. I squeeze Logan tight as we speed down the roadway and enter the on ramp. Rifle is leading us, and I feel my heart skip as Logan pumps our bike to its maximum speed to catch up to his biker brother. The gears screech and groan with each shudder of the clutch, and the grooves in the highway vibrate the bike in a way that makes it feel unstable. I trust Logan though. Implicitly.

  Still, I've only saved his life once, and he's saved mine multiple times. I have to repay that someday. It's just karma, isn't it? Or is that only if you do bad things? Karmic retribution is what Surge has coming to him... I think. If such a thing exists.

  Like Rifle said, the worst thing that could happen is we die. After everything that's happened the last couple of days, that doesn't even sound like the worst thing that could happen. It sounds like a good middle-ground scenario. I could try and go over all the different variations of how things could go, either with Surge realizing what he's done, or with the Skeletons actually siding with Logan and Rifle, and I just can't imagine it.

  I know that I'll have Logan beside me. He won't leave me alone and scared in a tub, and I won't go back to that state of fear. I swallow spit and feel the handle of my revolver press against my bare skin on my lower back. I've hardened. I'm not the scared dog groomer I was before. Not at all.

  I can't be. I stare at the cars as we pass by them and try to peek into the windows. I catch glimpses of men on their phones and of women with makeup out on their lap. I catch kids wiping boogers on their seats or playing video games. As we pass by one suburban, I stare through the window and see a woman staring back at me. For a split second, I swear she's me. The same hardened and fake 'I'm not scared or impressed,' look I gave Logan.

  I see right through it.

  . . .

  Rifle slows down near an upcoming intersection and pulls his bike into an alleyway. I grip my fingers tight on Logan's leather as he dips his bike to follow him, his handlebars turning the opposite direction and pulling the bike down. Rifle is idling behind a brick building that looks like it was built a couple decades ago, with a single service-door leading into it. Other motorcycles are parked in awkward or strange positions around the back, and Logan and Rifle take the last available spaces. As we pull up alongside Rifle, Logan shuts off his engine and kicks the stand down on the bike.

  Logan and Rifle look to each other, seeking some kind of signal, or maybe communicating something else I don't know about. They both climb off their bikes. With Logan's help, I step down, too. He parked too close to Rifle and screwed up my usual method of essentially falling out of the bike's seat.

  Rifle approaches the metal door and hesitates before he reaches the handle. He looks over his shoulder. "Are you sure you want her to come too?"

  "Yes."

  "I'm gonna get hell for this..." Rifle admits. He chuckles a little as he swings the door open and all three of us stare into the dark bar. We step inside and the air sucks the door shut. As my eyes adjust, I see six men stare back at us, their hands full of poker cards and half of them with cigars in their lips. They look stunned beyond words, like we're all ghosts or something. All except for one of them, a hulking man who immediately stands up. His chair topples over to the ground with a loud bang and he strides across the room right up to Rifle. His vest says ZERO in large letters, with CLUB PRESIDENT underneat
h his name. I resist the urge to shrink behind Logan. I can't let them know I'm scared. That's how you deal with wild dogs, right?

  Zero pushes his finger into Rifle so hard that Rifle nearly falls backward out the door. "What the fuck," Zero says, his voice full of venom, "did you do?" He points to Logan and me, and I narrow my eyes and fight the urge to give in. Zero turns on Logan and outstretches his hand for his throat.

  I feel my body move without my permission. My hands that were previously locked together in a tight wad behind my back suddenly go limp, and I grab my revolver and whip it out and point it right at Zero's head. He's so much taller than me, the angle feels awkward. I'm sure the weight of the revolver will start to fatigue me fast, but what else could I do? He stops his assault on Logan and grins, his eyes turning to gaze down the barrel.

  "This is her, isn't it? The one you told us about?" Zero says, his voice still venomous but somewhat more calm. The five men behind him all stand up from their chairs and throw down their cards. I can't see it, but I can feel it happening. Their guns are out and pointed at all three of us, but I won't waver. Not anymore. Logan stares at me, his look a mixture of shock and horror.

  "I'm her," I answer for Rifle. "We're here on fucking important business... Zero."

  "I can tell," Zero says cooly. He hasn't twitched a muscle, but he also hasn't called for the other men to fire on us either. It might help that Zero is blocking their line of sight to me. "Lower your guns," he says and, for a split second, I think he's talking to me.

  The men behind him all holster their guns and sit back down in their lumpy chairs. They grumble and shrug in a fit of anxiety, but I ignore them. Zero is my target, my focus. I bristle with rage and energy. This is the man who couldn't keep one of his members on a leash. The member who came into my home, terrorized Sara and I. The one that Logan had to kill to save me for the first time. The first man I had to watch die.

  Zero should die just for that, but I have to remain cool, I need to let the men have their talk. If it'll even work.

  "Fucking out with it already, I like having a gun pointed at me about as much as I like using newspaper for toilet paper."

  Rifle shakes his head and nods to Logan. Logan takes up the opportunity to finally clear the air.

  "Look. I killed Rattlesnake, but I hear he wasn't even doing anything for you guys. He was working on his own shit." Logan glances at Rifle for confirmation. "No fucking wonder he gets himself killed barging into my life and threatening my girl." Zero grins, but I can tell there's a glimmer of respect in it. Logan continues, "I killed... we killed one of the Martinez brothers down in Mexico, where Surge told us to go after the Rattlesnake incident."

  "You have my attention."

  "Surge has been manipulating the Martinez brothers to keep our clubs at war. Before I killed Victor, he said that competition was good for business. I'm sure you'd agree, Zero. But it isn't good for keeping your crew alive."

  Logan continues, "Surge is most likely ratting us out to Gustavo right now. I can gather my men from Ruin Outlaws under Surge's nose and pull one on him, but both of our crews are dead meat if we don't unite right now."

  Zero scratches his chin, moving slowly at first until he realizes I'm not going to kill him for tickling his scruff. His eyes move from me to Logan. He still won't tilt his head or move otherwise. "I don't see how it benefits us."

  "We can't be fucking fighting when we have cartel gunmen coming into Phoenix and stirring shit up. It won't be good for either of us."

  Zero chuckles a little. "You got guts kid, barging in here like this. We were just talking about your crew in fact. We're all a little steamed about losing that product, as shitty as it might have been."

  "It doesn't matter, there won't be any more product if you let them come up and kill the Ruin Outlaws."

  "It doesn't sound like they want to kill them, but just you. And the girl. I don't see what's in it for us if we let them do that. Rattlesnake will be avenged in my mind, and maybe Surge will be a little sad over the whole thing, if not dead himself."

  "Do you think they'll really bother to distinguish who belongs to which crew when they get here? Do you think they'll stop at just me when it means avenging the death of Victor Martinez? I don't know if you've met Gustavo Martinez, but he's not a man you fuck with. Surge might have a connection with him, but he certainly doesn't control him."

  Zero is silent as considers the question. He nods and looks at me. "Mind getting that thing out of my face?" I look at Logan, who nods. I pull the gun down and Zero relaxes a bit. "Thanks," he says, with genuine gratitude. He turns to Logan. "You make a good point..." he admits. He pulls out a chair from a nearby table and sits down, before wiping his brow and chest. Logan, Rifle and I remain standing. The rest of the Skeletons don't come off as a pack of wolves anymore, but instead like a bunch of dogs at the pound.

  "I'll sweeten the deal even, Zero, you can have the fifty grand that Surge gave me from our deal."

  Color comes back to Zero's face and he leans forward over his knees, threading his fingers together. He looks at Logan. "Great, where is it?"

  "Out in the desert," Logan says. He pulls out the cellphone and tosses it to Zero, who catches it. "The coordinates on there are a couple miles away from my bike, and the money is in the saddlebags."

  Zero eyes Logan suspiciously, "Seems fishy, why is all your shit out there?"

  "We broke into the US from the border. Ran out of fuel. Do I really need to get into this? Just go there, you'll see."

  Zero laughs. "You're one fucking pain in the ass, kid, you know that?"

  Logan smirks, but tries to restrain himself. Zero continues, "We'll do what we can, whatever that means. As much as I would like to see your crew and you, personally, die, it takes a lot of guts to come into our turf and confront us directly. It's more than I can say Surge ever did." Zero looks up to Rifle. "You brought him here? And this chick? That's been causing all this trouble?"

  "Yes."

  "I'm fuckin' impressed, Rifle. I thought you'd sneak off and never come back after the hazing we gave you last time. Usually the newbies do. Why do you think we have so few members?" Rifle grins a little despite himself, trying to hide his mouth.

  "You're too hard on them?" I ask, "What's the point then?"

  "To make sure we have good men. I'm looking at three good people right now," Zero says. He certainly doesn't come off as the evil villain I expected from Logan's story of the drug drop. Zero looks at Logan again. "Sorry for all the shit in the desert, brother," he says,"I had to make sure the men knew who was in charge."

  Logan smiles a little. "Seriously? You were just putting on a show?"

  "Don't we all?"

  I think about that. I chuckle and put my gun away, feeling the metal slip back under my belt behind me. The metal isn't cold anymore, but almost warm from the death grip I had on the gun the whole time it was pointed at Zero.

  "If you're right about Gustavo Martinez possibly bringing men up from Mexico to deal with you, then we'll do what we can," Zero says. "Consider us your brothers now..." He pauses for a moment and turns to face his men. "From here on, you're all gonna leave Bomb and... Cassie? Alone."

  I nod. "Yes."

  "How are you going to get your men on your side?" one of Zero's men asks. I can't read his name badge from here, but Logan seems to recognize him at least.

  "It'll be easy," Logan flashes a smile. "I was president for a week and brought the men together more than Surge ever did. Rifle's right, he's an old fish gasping for breath, and I'll be able to sway them."

  "What if you can't?" the biker asks, clearly concerned. He might be just pushing Logan to see if he has any buttons or cracks, but Logan doesn't take it that way.

  "I will," Logan says. "But now that I don't have to worry about your crew crawling up my back, I can try and get this all settled."

  "Good," Zero says. "All this shit has been a pain in the ass. Especially with Rattlesnake. The dude was old and growing more useless by t
he day. I probably accidentally sent him on his little extracurricular activity by shouting at him one day. He was loyal as a fucking dog with three legs though."

  Logan nods firmly and turns to us. "Let's get going." There's a few seconds of awkward tension as Rifle turns and opens the door to the bar, blinding us momentarily as we step into the dry heat. Before Logan and Rifle can reach their bikes, I stop in my tracks and ask the question that's hanging in the air.

  "Where?"

  "We have to get the rest of the Ruin Outlaws now," Logan says.

  Rifle shakes his head. "I can't go there. They'll have my head."

  "Just like the Skeletons had mine?" Logan says. "You'll be fine. Fuck, Rifle, half of them still want to bring you back in as a brother." Logan holds up his scarred hand. "You were eager, you can't deny that."

  "Shut up," Rifle says. "I've given up enough of my guts today already, I don't need you dragging everything out at once." He climbs onto his bike and starts it with a rattling howl. Logan and I mount the loaner bike and start it up. Logan steps backward and gets the bike pointed in the right direction, before heading out of the alley and back toward the highway. I turn back to see if Rifle is following us, but he isn't.

  "He is scared, isn't he?" I ask Logan.

  "Yes. I would be too. Surge... is scary enough. He's not even my father."

  "Is that what you really think about him?"

  Logan is silent. Of course Surge isn't his real father but... I'm sure it must be hell to turn your back on someone who essentially idolized you as the son he never had. Especially when he did have a son, right under his nose the whole time. "Rifle will be okay," Logan concludes.

  I'm not too worried about Rifle, I could barely care about him if it came down to it. I just want Logan to be okay.

  This'll be a big move for him, and it could cost him the chance at repairing any damage from his relationship with Surge.

  But didn't Surge really start all this in the first place? Betraying your own brothers and family. What a coward.