[06] Slade (31 page)

******

Slade had already made his way to the safety zone. Searching through the trainees already arrived, he looked for Jill. Sloan stood with arms crossed, leaning against a tree.

“No sign of them?” Slade asked, heading toward him.

“Steve is the only one.” Sloan nodded toward the crude block building. “He’s taking a piss.”

“Damn.” Slade frowned, hating one of theirs failed the initiation. He continued searching the clearing, hoping to spot Jill soon. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the sudden sound of gunshots rang out.

Immediately, all Warriors took cover, their training kicking in. Some knocked confused trainees out of the line of fire. As if in slow motion, Slade watched Steve walk out of the building. Turning, Steve looked at Sloan and Slade lying on the ground. His mouth opened to say something as his body jerked hard; he fell to his knees. His shocked eyes found Slade before he fell face first to the ground.

“Fuck!” Slade army-crawled toward Steve. Grabbing Steve by the back of his jacket, he pulled him beside the building, rolling him over. Steve’s eyes were opened slightly. “Steve, hold on buddy.” Slade ripped his jacket and shirt completely off, seeing the exit wound right above his heart. Rolling him over, he checked the wound on his back.

Jared slid to a stop next to Slade. Seeing Steve, he cursed. “Shit! Is he dead?” Jared looked around, his eyes scanning for danger.

“Not yet, but if I don’t get him to a hospital, he will be.” Slade pressed his fingers to his neck feeling a pulse, weak, but there. “I can’t tell if this hit his heart, but all this blood isn’t a good fucking sign.”

Suddenly, the gunshots stopped. “Let me get a car.” Jared stood, still hunched over. “Keep your fucking head down, Doc. Those are silver bullets.”

“Give me your shirt,” Slade ordered before Jared left. Tearing Steve’s ripped shirt, he pressed his own to the back wound, Steve’s to the front, and Jared’s he wrapped around Steve’s body to hold them in place. Steve’s blood pumped out faster than he could control it. The shirt was soaked already. “Dammit!” Slade pressed harder, applying more pressure.

Hearing her voice, Slade looked to see Duncan stop Jill. Her eyes went from him to Steve. The anguish in her face was more than he could take, forcing him to look away. Thank God, she was unhurt. His need to find her almost overrode his job, which was to save as many lives as possible, but since he knew she was safe, he could focus. He had been afraid to look over the field of fallen Warriors for fear of seeing her among them.

Sloan ran over, a look of worry on his face. “I got the van.” Sloan helped Slade pick up Steve, and Jared ran over to help.

Slade looked up at Jared. “Keep her safe.”

Jared nodded. “You just worry about Steve. I got her.”

Once Steve was loaded in the van, Sloan slammed the door and ran to the driver’s side. “You’re in charge of our group. Keep me updated.”

“I will.” Jared smacked the van as it drove by.

Steve moaned when the van went over bumps, Slade tried to keep him still. “Hang in there.”

“Wasn’t ready to go yet.” Steve’s voice was weak and faint.

“You aren’t going anywhere but to the hospital.” Slade checked Steve’s pulse again, not liking his coloring. “You just fight, you hear me?”

Hissing at the pain, Steve jerked. “Damn, it hurts.”

“As soon as we get somewhere safe, I’ll give you something for the pain,” Slade replied. After a few minutes of silence, Slade figured Steve had passed out since he still had a faint pulse. They hadn’t lost him yet. He was startled when Steve grabbed his wrist.

“Please don’t let me die as the guy who got shot coming out of the pisser.” Steve laughed weakly, then coughed.

“No worries, Steve. Just hold on and you can tell this story however you want.” Slade’s voice was firm.

A sad smile tilted his lips before he swallowed hard. His eyes met Slade’s. “Take care of Jill and Adam. They’re my family, you all are.”

Slade nodded, watching as the life slipped away from Steve. “Goddammit!”

The van stopped. Slade met Sloan’s eyes in the rearview mirror, a silent message passing between the two Warriors.

Jill, along with Adam and Dillon, sat in shocked devastation. Jared walked over, sitting next to them.

“Slade is going to do everything he can for him. He’s a damn good doctor. You know this.” He wrapped his arm around Jill, giving her a squeeze. “As soon as we are given the all clear here, we’ll head to the hospital.”

Nodding, Jill watched numbly. The events and scene around her appeared dreamlike and hazy. She caught her thoughts and grimaced.
No, a nightmare, a horrifying nightmare.
Duncan headed toward them, his face a mask of anger. “They caught two and are bringing them down now.”

Jill, along with Adam and Dillon followed Duncan to where five Warriors dragged two bloodied men to the group, tossing them to the ground. Two of the Warriors pulled them up to their knees.

“We told you everything we know,” one cried, his frightened eyes scanning all the Warriors surrounding them.

The Warrior closest to him knocked him in the back of the head with his foot. “Shut the fuck up.”

“They were hired by a man who works for Mayor Ferguson,” one of the Warriors spoke, directing his response to the older Council member who had been in charge of the initiation. “There were ten all together and the others are being hunted as we speak. They were told they would get a thousand dollars each and a bonus if they got her alive.”

Every eye went to Jill. Anger so raw and deep hit every nerve in Jill’s body. She walked up to the two men, jerking her arm away when Adam tried to stop her. Duncan, Jared, Sid, Damon and Jax stepped up, surrounding her. “What did you just say?” Her voice was low with anger.

“She’s talking to you.” The same Warrior nudged the man again with his boot. “I’d advise you to answer.”

“The guy who hired us doesn’t work for the Mayor, but the Mayor’s fiancée,” the other guy answered, blood dripping from his nose.

“And how do you know this?” Sid asked, taking a step forward, watching the guy closely.

“Dude, you’re going to get us killed,” the first guy cried out. “Just shut up. They can’t kill us. They’re VC Warriors. They have to follow the laws.”

Damon grabbed the man who spoke, lifting him up off his feet. “Look around this field, motherfucker.” Damon shook him. “How many dead Warriors can you count?”

Tension and anger was so thick you could taste it among the Warriors who stared with hatred at the men who had taken down their brothers.

The man’s eyes did scan the area before Damon’s face was back in his. “There is no law for us to follow now.” Damon gave him another hard shake. “So one of you better start talking. If not, you will be the first to die by my hand.”

Jill watched from her position in front of the man still on his knees. She had never seen Damon so angry; it was truly a scary sight. She looked back to the other man. Adam moved up close to her. Reaching out, he wrapped his hand around the man’s throat. “Start talking, motherfucker, or I will snap your neck with a smile.”

“I was asked if I wanted to make some money and told to meet at a house downtown. There were fifteen of us in total. Once we found out what the job was, a few tried to leave, but were stopped.” He swallowed, trying to move his neck away from Adam’s hand, but Adam gripped harder.

“Is he telling the truth?” Sid glanced down at Adam.

“So far.” Adam loosened his grip. “Keep talking.”

“We were told we would each get a thousand for every Warrior killed.” His eyes looked at Jill. “That’s when the Mayor’s fiancée pulled out a picture of you. She said there was a bonus if we got you alive.”

Jill’s mind worked frantically. Frustration wasn’t close to how she felt, knowing Alice had been in her sights just the day before. Taking a step back, she looked at Adam. “Is that true?” Adam nodded, looking away. “I swear, if my friend dies, I will kill you myself.” Jill tried to keep the tears out of her voice.

“If we didn’t listen and do what she said, we were going to die anyway. The bitch is determined to see the VC Council go down and has the backing and information on you guys to do it, from what I can tell.” The man frowned. “I just wanted to get paid, man. That’s all. I don’t have anything against you guys.”

Jill walked backward through the crowd of Warriors as the two men continued to get drilled. Shouts sounded from the right as more Warriors came forward with more men. As soon as Jill was at the back, she turned and ran toward the parking lot. Looking around frantically, she found a car and prayed she could get it started. She spotted Jax heading toward her from the other side of the parking lot.

“Hey?” He walked up to her. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to find a car I can steal so I can go kill a bitch,” Jill sneered, trying different doors, but they were all locked. “Doesn’t anyone trust anyone anymore? Fuck!”

“I may be of some help.” He jiggled keys in front of her face. When Jill tried to grab them, he pulled them away.

“I’ll take you,” Jax smiled, heading toward a black BMW. “Here, you drive.”

Jill climbed in, frowning. “Where’d you get this car?” She looked at him and wondered about the look on his face, but dismissed it. They had all just gone through hell. “And you are seriously going to let me drive a BMW when you wouldn’t let me drive your GT.”

“This isn’t my favorite car,” Jax replied, looking around nervously.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jill put the car in reverse, backing out, but eyeing Jax.

“Just a little shaken up, I guess,” he replied, giving her a sad look. “I just can’t believe what happened. Can you?”

Jill pulled out on the road. “No, I can’t,” she said slowly, knowing something wasn’t right with him, but then again, she felt pretty shaken up too. Her thoughts went to Steve. “Can you call Sloan and see how Steve’s doing?”

“How about you shut the fuck up and drive,” Jax pulled a gun out, pointing it at her temple.

******

It was a somber sight as the dead Warriors were carefully carried off the field. Sid walked toward Adam and the rest, his face grim. “We got a total of six.” He frowned, looking out over the field. “Has anyone heard from Sloan or Slade?”

“Yeah,” Jared nodded, then cleared his throat. “He said he wanted us all at the compound as soon as we were finished.”

“Fuck, does that mean…?” Adam cursed, his mouth turning into a thin line, his chin trembling. “Fuck!”

“We don’t know what that means until we get to the compound.” Sid grabbed the back of Adam’s neck in a comforting hold. “Don’t go thinking shit yet until we hear official news.”

Adam nodded without saying a word for a second, visibly pulling himself together. “He took a paintball for Jill right before this happened. Jumped right in front of her because he felt she deserved it more than him. She was so upset, but of course, being Steve…” Adam choked out, “he made us all laugh saying he had to piss anyway.”

“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Sid put his arm around Adam, and then glanced around. “Where’s Jill?”

Dillon walked up at that point. “I just came back from a search and saw her take off with Jax a few minutes ago.”

“How in the fuck is that possible?” Sid frowned, turning to look at Jax who stood right behind him. “When he’s here?”

Jax stepped forward, grabbing Dillon. “Why would you say something like that?”

Dillon’s eyes popped open wide. “How did you do that?” Dillon actually looked spooked, pushing Jax away, and then looked at Sid. “I swear, I
just
saw him leave with Jill.”

“By the look on your face, you seem to know what the hell is going on.” Sid’s voice was low and dangerous. “So I suggest you tell us what the fuck is going on and where Jill is.”

“It’s my brother.” Jax had a look of panic and rage on his face.

“Are you guys twins?” Dillon asked, still looking spooked.

Jax ignored them. Pulling out his phone, he dialed and put it to his ear. “No, we’re not. Dammit!” He turned to Sid. “Get Lana on the phone. I need to talk to Caroline. Tell them to meet us at the compound.”

“Why?” Sid started dialing.

Looking at Damon, Jax headed toward the compound. “Get as many Warriors as you can to meet us at the compound.”

“Will you tell us what the fuck is going on?” Jared ran toward the parking lot to keep up with Jax.

“That was you getting in the car with her, so if you are not twins, then what the fuck are you?” Dillon glared at Jax. “I know what I saw with my own fucking eyes.”

Jax stopped, turning to look at each of them. “Shifter.” He spun back around. “And we need to find them now.”

******

Slade was just heading out the door, his phone in his hand, trying to get ahold of Jill, yet she wasn’t answering her fucking phone. “Shit!”

Caroline and Lana came running in the door. “Where are they?”

“Who?” Slade asked confused.

“Sid called me and told me to get Caroline and meet them here.” Lana looked worried. “What happened today?”

Before Slade could answer, Jax raced inside followed by a flood of Warriors. Slade’s eyes searched for Jill, not seeing her anywhere. “Where’s Jill ?” Slade grabbed Adam.