Justice (17 page)

“That’s not going to work,” I said, shaking my head. “I know you trust him, but I don’t. He can’t just wander around.”
 

“I’m fine, I’ll be fine.” Rebel said and he gave Melinda a reassuring smile and stood. Melinda handed him a sweat shirt she had been holding on to and he pulled it over his worn tee.
 

Melinda didn’t look assured but moved out of his way when he walked forward to meet me.
 

“The stores are kept off base. Did your group round up the men that were on lookout?” he asked.
 

“We got the ones that were stationed at the floodgates,” I responded.
 

“No, they would have been in houses on Canal, West End and Harrison.” We were walking out of the infirmary tent when something hit him hard from the side.
 

“You fucking traitor!” It was one of the other bikers, his face a mess of cuts and scratches. His hands were zip tied in front of him, but that didn’t deter him from landing on top of Rebel and trying to strangle him.
 

A trooper had been escorting him into the infirmary as we were coming out and he obviously didn’t have him under control.
 

“You were working with them, weren’t you? You piece of shit! You’ve always been trash!” The big man was straddling Rebel and choking him with his tied hands. Rebel managed to get from underneath him and get him into a chokehold, but the guy had to have a buck on him. He was so big and round, Rebel couldn’t wrap his legs around him to push him off. They were both swinging at each other like mad men, until Rebel finally landed one that pushed the man back.
 

I got behind the big man, giving an exasperated look to the trooper who looked startled and unable to move.
 

“They broke the window and tried to get out. He was bleeding all over the place, I had to bring him to the infirmary!” he defended himself.
 

When they both fell back in my direction, knocking over a chair and some boxes, I managed to slip my arm over the attacker’s neck and put enough pressure on his windpipe to get him to release Rebel, but it turned the biker’s attention on me and he began to fight, hard.
 

He slammed me back and we rolled on the floor. I saw stars as my head hit something. I pulled my knees up and kicked out, getting back on my feet before he could get on top of me. I was quick, but it wasn’t necessary. Rebel was at the biker’s throat and had him in a hold I had only seen in the Octagon. He had his legs wrapped around the biker’s torso and his arm locked around his neck in a weird parody of a reverse hug.
 

The biker’s eyes were bulging out and Rebel didn’t look like he was breaking a sweat. This would be the time when a ref would break them up or someone would tap out. The biker lost consciousness and slumped to the floor and Rebel finally released his hold and pushed himself from underneath the big man.
 

“Nice takedown,” I said and held out my hand.
 

He gripped my palm and used it to get up. “Thanks,” he responded.

“I guess we should start treating you like an informant, if you’re really going to help us, even if it is only to get coffee. We shouldn’t be talking about these things in the open.” I looked at the trooper who was staring at the unconscious biker. Probably trying to figure out how he was going to get him into the infirmary now.
 

“What do the police do with informants?” I asked the trooper.
 

“We protect them,” he shrugged and tried to pull the big man by his arm. All it did was lift his shirt up and expose his gelatinous belly.
Gross
.

“I don’t think you’re that good of an informant,” I said to Rebel.
 

“Coffee is only one of my secrets.” He smiled and gave me that interested look again. I didn’t smile back.

“We’ll see.”
 

THIRTY-FOUR | Coffee and Hope

“So, you didn’t round up any of the lookouts?” I asked once we were out of the infirmary and away from being overheard by anyone.
 

“No, y’all had men in houses, on lookout? We had no clue,” she said, her forehead was crinkled in concentration and I couldn’t help noticing how even that tiny movement made her look young and appealing. I tried to force that train of thought away, but it had taken root. She had managed to wash off the dirt from her cheek and it left her flushed and bright eyed. In a different life, in a different time, I would have been panting after her, begging her for a date. But now I would be lucky if she didn’t kill me.
 

“Yeah, there would have been one or two in each house, depending on the time. Do you know how many of the brothers you took down?”

“Nineteen dead, fifteen in custody.”
 

“That leaves six missing,” I said without hesitation.
 

“There were forty of you?”
 

“Yeah, forty.”
 

“Shit, we got mixed numbers from the civilians and females. No one could give us a specific number.”
 

“We were never all together in a room for anyone to count heads. You’d only know that if you were a brother.”
 

“So these six missing would be the lookouts?”

“It makes sense, three houses, what time did you attack, it was about two in the morning, right?”

“Yeah,” I agreed.
 

“I used to be a lookout. We had a shift change at midnight, but Junior could have changed things up after his father died. He was paranoid. He might have increased the lookout spots or made it two man teams. Anything.”
 

“Or we have three that escaped and three that saw us coming and did nothing.”
 

“I would have run if I was them,” I shrugged.
 

“I would run if I saw us coming too,” she laughed, but her eyes didn’t reflect her humor. She was obviously disturbed by the thought of a few of us getting away.
 

“Where’s this food store?” She changed the subject. “I’m assuming from this line of questioning that it’s not on base?”
 

“No, we keep food stores in the lookout points that way they would be under constant guard and kept off base in case we were overrun.”

“How did they keep the lookouts from pilfering?” she asked.
 

“They had one brother in charge of inventory, and if he noticed something missing the lookout was the first to be blamed. If it happened we were docked food creds, or reassigned to a new job. It didn’t happen often, most of the issues were with the liquor. Senior finally began storing it with the drugs, which was also under constant guard.”
 

“Smart,” she said thoughtfully. She looked around the room and not seeing what she wanted began leading me to the office area. “Keep close, don’t say anything and look docile.” She looked back at me and grimaced.
 

“I can look docile,” I said and shrugged.
 

“Just ‘cause you ditched your leather doesn’t make you look less like a biker. Jesus, you’re a mess.” She looked me up and down and shook her head.
 

I scratched at my beard. It had gotten a little long. But it was the new trend in apocalypse chic. We were low on hot water and sharp blades in this world. Much easier to let it grow than give yourself a fresh shave each week. It was itchy, but I hadn’t given it much thought until she looked at me that way.
 

“Don’t say anything,” she hissed. “And walk in front of me. I don’t want you at my back.” She motioned for me to go up the steps in front of her. We were entering the office area that the soldiers and troopers were using as a makeshift living area.
 

“Second floor,” she said when we got to the first landing and I pushed the door open. We entered what used to be a lobby area. A large table had been placed in the middle and maps of the area were spread out. Radio equipment lined the wall, but they sat dead and untouched, now beginning to collect dust. The room smelled ripe with sweat and mold from the lack of ventilation.
 

Three men and a woman sat around the table talking animatedly and another man and woman were in a heated discussion in the corner. I recognized the woman in the corner as the female that had been claimed as Senior’s property. Her bruises had faded and she was holding herself with confidence, dressed in the same gear as Hannah, battle ready and in control. So unlike the last time I had seen her, broken and only dressed in lingerie. She looked much better this way.
 

She was talking to an older man dressed in fatigues and he looked exasperated with their conversation. But she looked like she was enjoying herself.
 

Everyone looked our way when I pushed the door open.
 

“What is this?” the older guy asked. I recognized his voice from the medical tent.
 

“Hey Baby!” The brunette walked over to us, looking at me curiously.
 

“Lex,” Hannah said with a little hitch in her voice as if she was forcing herself to stay calm.
 

I wonder what that’s about?

THIRTY-FIVE | Up and Running

The group stared at me like I was from outer space.
 

Yes, I was defending one of the bikers. Shoot me.
 

Lex was giving me a weird look. She looked constipated. She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Rebel with Blake following on her heels.
 

“What are you asking us?” she said under her breath.
 

“He told me we’re missing six of the bikers and they have food storage stashed at three locations around Lakeview. I’m thinking they have at least one biker at each location. I want to go in and get that food– and coffee. He’s going to help. He and Melinda thought I was sleeping, she was about to help him escape, he stayed. He wants to help. That about sums it up.” I shrugged, not really knowing if I trusted him, but my gut told me he was legit and I had come to trust my instincts.
 

“Why would he betray his
brothers
for us?” she asked.
 

“One of them jumped him on our way out. From what I can tell, there’s a lot of animosity there. Something must have happened. We can always ask him.”
 

“I don’t trust him,” Blake said looking at the biker who stood near the door looking at anything but us.
 

“My gut says he’s an asset.” I voiced what I was thinking.

“You’re gut says he’s hot,” Lex laughed.
 

“You think he’s hot?” Blake asked with a scowl on his face.
Great job, Lex
.
 

“For a biker. He’s got that tattooed, bad boy thing kicking. I can see why Baby wants to go on a little adventure with him.”
 

“I don’t think he’s hot, shit,” I said a little loud and my cheeks flamed red when I saw Rebel’s head shoot up and look at me.
 

“What the hell is going on?” Zach walked over and he didn’t look pleased. I couldn’t blame him; it was like we had reverted back to high school.
 

“Baby wants to go round up some more bikers with Rebel,” Lex said plainly. Which wasn’t exactly what I had planned. I was thinking Rebel could tell us where the lookouts were located and we could go out on our own. Bringing him with me was not a good idea. He would only get in the way.