by Sara Crest
“He’s going to take me back” I heard Hannah say on the verge of tears. “He’ll take me back and I’ll never be free ever again…”
“He’s not even going to touch you” I said trying to reassure her.
I saw him look away from me as he scanned our crowd, then his eyes fell on Hannah. He lit up when he saw her, I could see a level of confusion and anger growing on his face as he looked at her up and down. God I wanted to gun him down right then and there, it pained me that I had to hold myself back not only for the safety of my brothers but the safety of Hannah. Edgar was bad but I knew this fucker was worse, like Hannah said Donnelly wanted to use her for his own pleasure, Edgar was the only thing that kept him from getting what wanted. If he took Hannah from me things would be worse than they ever were for her, and part of me believe that these cops were corrupt enough to let him do it.
The chief of police started slowly walking towards us, each step hit against the hard pavement and rang out like a metronome. He had a stoic look on his face, as if he was tired of us and ready to end it all right now.
“He’s gonna take me I just know it” Hannah said, repeating it to herself over and over like a mantra.
“You’ll be alright Hannah I promise you that” I told her. I wanted to turn and calm her down but this was a game of intimidation, if I turned away from these cops it would be a display of weakness.
I felt her let go of my hand as she sprinted towards a nearby street, running away as fast as she could.
I wanted to call out to her, but I knew that it would be better if she was far away from here, problem was she was a young girl in a town she’s never been in before. She would get lost in no time and I would have no idea how to find her.
“I’m getting sick and tired of you boys” the chief announced as he stood in front of all of us with his arms crossed.
I slowly made my way through the crowd of Desert Vultures, my brothers began to move into places of cover behind their bikes, parked cars, and anything else they could find. More and more this was starting to look like the beginning of a shootout, not the way I wanted to kickstart my presidency. I made my way forward until I was face to face with the chief of police, he looked like he was just itching to put us all down.
“Who the hell are you?” he said eyeing me up and down, he had a thick Texan accent that cut through the air.
I glanced over to Donnelly before looking back at the chief. “All you need to know is I’m tired of the special treatment your department is giving to a certain motorcycle club. You stay out of our business and let us sort things out with the Scorched Satans and we won’t have a problem.”
“But we do have a problem, the Scorched Satans are just a friendly motorcycle club, built by some friends for recreation. You’re impeding their entertainment and threatening their lives on a regular basis, we intervene on behalf of them because they’re nothing more than law abiding-”
“Bullshit” I blurted out. “They’ve killed my friends, my brothers. They’ve shot at me personally and killed our former president. They’re paying you off aren’t they.”
The chief chuckled “you living in some kind of fantasy world son? I ain't never take a damn bribe in my life.”
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and felt my heart skip a beat.
“They fucking brought the SWAT team!” I heard someone call out.
I immediately grabbed the chief, turning him towards the other officers and putting my gun to his head and keeping my arm firmly around his neck.. I had no intention of shooting the man, but if they brought SWAT with them then this situation really did just turn to shit. I was at least relieved to know that Hannah was probably 5 blocks away by now.
I turned to look at where I saw the movement to see half a dozen men in all black police gear with rifles pointed straight at us, they were trying to get the jump on us, probably were gonna take me out if I didn’t grab the chief.
“Alright this is how I want this to go down!” I called out as I pressed the barrel of my gun to the chief’s head. “One by one you’re gonna let my men walk out of here and we’re gonna forget all about this incident! Alright?”
“Axel are you crazy?” I heard Mason call out from behind me. “We can take them, just give us a chance.”
“I’m not having any brothers die today when I have the power to make sure we all get out of here alive.”
Just then a single shot rang out. I turned to look at my brothers, assuming one of them had taken it, but instead I saw all of them in cover.
I felt the chief go limp in my arm, I looked at the cops to see one of them had taken the shot. I let go of the chief and he fell dead onto the ground, they shot him square in the chest, was he aiming for me and missed? Did he try and shoot through the chief in an attempt to hit me as well?
As the chief lay there sprawled out on the ground I saw a small tattoo on his arm I didn’t notice before, two horns right on his upper forearm in his inner elbow.
Before I got a chance to get a better look at it the police started firing, bullets hit the ground around me as I rushed to take cover behind the same car as Mason.
I watched as my brothers began firing back, seeing two of them get hit in the shoulder and arm and watching them fall to the ground in pain.
This was my fault.
I ran my fingers through my hair and pulled myself together, I had to be a leader, I had to get us out of here.
“Mason, the chief had a tattoo of two horns on his arm, do you have any idea what that means?”
A bullet went through the car window above us, causing it to shatter over our heads. We put our arms up to shield ourselves from the falling glass.
“Two horns? That’s the fucking Scorched Satans initiate tattoo! You sure that’s what he had?”
“I’m positive” I called out to him as the gunshots got louder. “I didn’t get a good look but I know horns when I see them.”
“Maybe he wasn’t really the chief? Maybe the Satans gave the cops a few extra bodies to help try and bully us into submission?”
“All I know is we gotta get the brothers out of here, we’re sitting ducks! Get as many of the brothers as you can to start firing on the cops all at once to give the others a chance to escape!”
Mason put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye “I won’t let you down, I promise.”
He ran crouched down from the car towards where more of our brothers were as I peeked out to look at the police firing at us.
God I hoped Hannah didn’t hear these gun shots, she must be worried to death about me right now, I hope she’s safe. I had to get everyone out of here and make sure she was protected, who knows what kind of trouble she could get herself into with fuckers like these cops crawling around.
My brothers began working together to fire back as at least a dozen of them hopped on their bikes and rode out of there while they could, each one that fled was like a burden being lifted from my shoulders.
Some of the police ran into their now bullet hole ridden cars, chasing after the ones who fled. I looked to see Wyatt breaking into a nearby car parked on a street corner as bullets whizzed by his head, after some initial frustration he was able to hotwire it and get it running. The men who were injured were dragged into the back of the car and Wyatt wasted no time in speeding off.
The whole thing was like a goddamn warzone.
Only Mason and a few of my my brothers remained, holding their ground nearby me as they fired onto the police force that was now only half of what it once was. I looked out and saw that Donnelly was still there, I had to take a shot at him. I stood up and took my stance, firing three shots at him only to have them all just barely miss him.
He was too far for me, I always was a below average shot. Besides with the way that he looked at me I wanted to make this more personal, I had to make sure that he knew what he did. I had to get that fucker one on one, I just had to figure out a way too.
“Hey Mason! That fucker on the
right end it the guy that killed Zeke! Got any idea on how to break him off from the other cops?”
Mason looked out over the car he was hiding behind, trying to pick out Donnelly.
“The red haired fuck?” he called out as a bullet took out the headlight of the car he was using.
“Yeah that’s the one!”
Mason pulled down the brother next to him who was still shooting at the cops. He reached into the brother’s backpack and pulled out a bottle of vodka and a rag.
“I don’t got the accuracy to hit him with it, but I can get it close and it should be enough to scare him off! You only got one shot at this Axel, make Zeke proud!”
He stuffed the rag into the bottle of vodka, he took the cigarette out of the mouth of another club brother nearby and used it to light the tip of the cloth. Soon the whole rag was in flames and in his hand he held a deadly molotov cocktail.
He stood up and stepped back, pulling his arm back before launching the cocktail as hard as he could towards the police.
Several of the officers dove out of the way as the cocktail hit one of the cars and exploded against its windshield, sending flames in every direction and causing the pigs to scatter afraid. It made me disgusted how goddamn soft they were.
I watched as Donnelly got cut off from the rest of the cops by the flames and like the cowardly bastard he was he dropped his gun and ran off, separating himself further from anyone that could help him.
“I owe you one Mason!” I called out as I slid across the hood of the car I was using for cover and ran after Donnelly. The other cops were too busy dealing with the spreading fire to shoot at me as I bolted across the street and tried to chase down that bastard.
I could see him fleeing the scene, not even aware that I was hot on his tail. I couldn’t believe that I was finally about to get him back, more than two years and it was all leading up to this moment.
Yet as I chased the man who took my friend from me all I could think about was how I should be looking for Hannah, about how she was wandering the streets all alone and I was off seeking revenge for a fallen friend.
My brain was conflicted, but as I put one leg in front of the other as fast as I could I realized I was already making my choice.
25
(Hannah)
I heard gunshots ringing out from the other side of town, I turned into an alleyway and leaned against a dumpster as I tried to catch my breath.
I had ran at least a mile away from what was going on and it was only just now did I stop muttering “he’s going to take me back.”
All I could think about now was whether or not Axel was even alive, I had no way to contact him and no way to know if he was ok. I was lost in this town completely alone, it was like I was back to square one all over again.
“Please be ok, please be ok” I muttered to myself as I anxiously twirled my hair in between my fingers. If they took Axel away from me I knew that would be my final straw, I wouldn’t be able to handle that loss.
Just then one of the doors in the alley opened and a large man with a beard stepped out.
I quickly backed up to the chain link fence in the alley, grabbing a beer bottle from off the ground and breaking it off against the wall, holding it in front of me in order to defend myself. I don’t know what came over me, but I felt ready to defend myself for any reason.
“Whoa whoa whoa easy there little lady” the man said holding his hands up. He was holding a bag of garbage in one hand and looked at me with fear, I never had someone afraid of me before, it made me feel awful.
He set the trash down but kept his hands in the air, how did I know if I could trust him? I didn’t know who he was? So far the only man in my life to ever treat me with any ounce of love or care was Axel and I didn’t even know if he was alive now.
Oh god please be alive. I was trying to keep myself together but just thinking about the possibility that Axel being gone made me feel like just curling up into a ball in that alleyway and giving up.
The man saw the look on my face and slowly put his hands down. I looked into his eyes and saw that he had no intention of hurting me, I was so used to being on the defensive that around strange men I just didn’t know how to react or respond.
“Are you alright?” he asked me, flinching when he heard some of the gunshots in the distance.
I leaned against the chain link fence and dropped the broken bottle onto the ground. I didn’t even know how to respond to him, how else do you tell someone that the gunshots they were hearing were directed at the only man in your life to ever give a damn.
“Look I don’t like the sound of those gunshots, you should come inside” he said opening the door for me and extending a friendly hand.
I was hesitant, I didn’t know who this man was but I did hear the sounds of people inside. I didn’t want to just stay in this alleyway all day, I took a deep breath and took a chance, walking past his extended arm and into the building.
It was an older restaurant, not run down but definitely rustic, at the bar two men were playing cards with the bartender. They turned to me in surprise, one of them took out the cigar he was smoking so he could speak to me.
“Sorry sweetheart we’re closed right now, but we’re running some specials tomorrow if you want to come back.”
“It’s ok guys she’s with me” said the bearded man who let me.
“What we’re allowed to invite girlfriends to our after work game?” the bartender asked as he looked down at his cards in frustration.
“Actually I’m not his-”
“She’s just a new friend” the bearded man replied, interrupting me. He turned to me and gave me a half smile and a discrete wink “from out of town right?”
“Yeah whatever Arnie, just invite whoever you want to our games without telling us, I love it when people show up unannounced it just makes my fucking day” one of the men said as he put the cigar back in his mouth. From his clothes I could tell he was the cook, I wondered why they closed so early I mean it was only evening. There was still sun out. Maybe it was because of what was going on outside.
“Yeah let me just go ahead and throw her back out with all the bullets flying” Arnie replied annoyed. I felt a little confused inside, he had no reason to keep me here or to defend me in front of his friends yet he did so anyway. Did he want something from me?
“Fucking Vultures… why can’t they just all lay down and die?” the cook said as he put a few of his chips onto the middle of the bar counter.
The sentence immediately filled me with anger, I couldn’t help but feel like if Axel really did pass away from the gun fight I would have no choice but to blame the cook for wishing death on him.
“They’re not all bad” I blurted out of anger, clenching my fists.
“Last I checked you’re new in town” the chef said, taking his cigar out and pointing it straight at me. “You don’t know how much of a fucking burden those crotch rocket riding degenerates are to this town and to this business.”
“They don’t ride crotch rockets they ride choppers, you know that” the bartender said chuckling.
“Yeah yeah whatever, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t lay down and die…”
“Take that back!” I yelled out causing all four of the men to look at me bewildered.
“Whoah Arnie, looks like your new girlfriend is cheating on you with a Vulture. Better drop her quick before they come after you” the chef said trying hard to stifle his laughter.
“Well… maybe I do have friends who are a part of the Desert Vultures. Maybe I do see the good in some of the men who are a part of that club.”
“Club? Darling that ain’t no club it’s a fucking gang” the chef blurted out as he folded his hand of cards.
“You’re not really friends with them are you?” Arnie asked in disappointment. So what was he only nice to me because he thought he could get something out of me? Was he just like all the others?
I didn’t reply, I didn’t even know if my tie to the
club was severed with the sounds of those bullets. I felt just as alone as I did when Edgar’s car ran out of gas on the side of the road.
“Maybe you should get out of here” the Chef said staring straight at me. “I don’t want half a dozen of those guys busting in here and thinking we kidnapped you or some shit. I’ve got enough worries in my life to deal with any bullshit baggage you might have.”
“What’s so bad about them?” I asked as I crossed my arms defensively. “What’s so bad about them that you’d actually wish harm on them? That you’d kick me out of your bar in fear?”
The chef was silent as he took a long drag of his cigar.
“I don’t even need to wish death on them, it already sounds like someone is taking my wish into their own hands” he said chuckling.
I looked at all the men, I could feel anger beginning to take over me as I clenched my fists harder and tighter. I wanted to punch that chef right in his face, I wanted to hurt him for ever wishing harm on the only person who had ever cared about me. But I couldn’t bring myself to cause another person harm.
I looked up at Arnie and smiled “thank you for inviting me in.” I wanted to say more but I guess there really was nothing else to say.
I turned and headed for the exit, my steps echoing in the empty restaurant as I finally reached the door and headed outside.
What’s the point of being free when so many around you are unwilling to give even the slightest bit of help without anything in return? I wasn’t asking for a handout, I just wanted to see if I could make a connection with someone that wasn’t Axel. All those men did was judge me because of the Desert Vultures and kick me out onto the streets fully knowing that the gun fight could spill over at any moment.
