Taming Lucca: Red Devils M.C. (5 page)

“Wait. If you ever need anything, and you see one of the boys tell them that you’re a friend of Lisa
, Slims old lady and they should bring you to her. Okay.” Molly shook her head although she didn’t understand the old lady comment it made no since to her Lisa was only a few years older than Molly. As she exited she heard an angry shout “Hey, what are you doing take your hands off me.”

“Sorry again mate. You can’t enter an employee only area. Safety.” Molly smiled as she began walking faster. “Hey the Slumie went out that way.”

“Well I didn’t see her did you Pretty Boy?”

“Nope.” Came the flat reply before the voices faded in the distance as she hurried around
another stall, and mixed with the crowds of people shopping a smile still attached to her lips.

Her hand ran over her sweaty brow she’d been walking in the woods along the road for two days.
She was hot and exhausted. The sun was beating down on her fiercely. She decided to take another rest, and sat down on the grass close to the road sign she’d just read. It said Lakeville Thirteen miles which put her about three hundred miles away from the Blue Bandits. Shoot. It was going to take weeks to get to their town. She’d only gone about thirty miles in the last two days. She sighed with disappointment. She really thought she’d gone farther than thirty miles.

She pulled the water out of her backpack
with another defeated sigh, and drank a large gulp. Lying back in the grass she was grateful for the small breeze that cooled sweat on her skin cooling her down. She should really move away from the road it was never very long before a biker or car came by. She was still too fearful of the bikers to look at their leather vests to see if they were Blue Bandits when they roared by as she hid in the woods. The cars that passed could be filled with murders or thieves. She didn’t know who she could trust so she hid and trusted no one.

The loud rumble started. Crap. She jumped up grabbing the pack from beside her and ran towards the trees about three feet away. She prayed that they wouldn’t see her before she got to the forest to hide. She was almost there the roar was much louder she ran faster. Her backpack bouncing around things clanking together she hoped nothing broke. Gritting her teeth sprinting into the forest at last she continued if they had seen her she needed to find somewhere to hide. She was searching in front of her for somewhere to hide
when she heard what sounded like water. Running headlong over the thick brush she didn’t see the root until she was already falling. As she went down her ankle twisted moaning in pain at the horrible wretch she lay there stunned for several minutes. Her hands and knees stung, but her ankle was throbbing painfully by the time she was able to sit up. Thankfully she heard the roar beginning to fade away so she must not have been seen by any of the bikers.

Attempting
to stand, she winced in pain as she tried to put weight on her ankle. Shit, that hurt. She sat down taking off her right shoe to find her ankle was already swelling. She lay back in the grass beneath her thinking that maybe she’d take a nap, and then try again. She closed her eyes propping her foot on the root that had caused the problem in the first place.

When she
woke an hour later she looked at her ankle. The swelling had gotten much worse while she rested. Now her ankle was almost three sizes bigger than the other one. Great, Molly thought, as she again tried to put weight on her ankle. Crying out with pain she almost fell back down catching herself on a tree nearby. Shit, she needed to get the swelling down somehow. Hearing the water again, she looked towards the sound seeing the small creek a few feet away she knew it was her best chance.

There had to be something she could use as a crutch s
he searched the ground finding a long stick close by so she picked it up. She checked its strength, and when she didn’t break it by putting most of her weight on it she used it to head slowly toward the water. The trip took almost twenty minutes, and she stumbled into about ten trees, scrapping her hands even more than they already were. When she was at the water’s edge she rested her ankle in the stream. It wasn’t cold, but at least it was cool enough that it might help some. She watched as fish swam in the shallows it was a shame that the water was likely poisoned so she couldn’t catch them for dinner.

It would be nice to have something o
ther than ration cubes to eat, but the storms that had raged sixty years ago hadn’t only taken half the world’s land mass with them into the ocean. It had also unleashed something they now referred to as water poison. It wasn’t really a poison so much as a parasite that killed very quickly. It traveled the blood stream to the heart causing massive heart attacks.

You had to drink the little buggers or they couldn’t get into the body in large enough
quantities to harm a person. If the tiny things made it to their victim’s heart they were dead, for most people this was about forty-five minutes. Even sixty years later, they had only found a way to kill them in the body if they hadn’t made it to their victim’s heart.

The cities now filtered all the water
, which was pumped into buildings, and homes even in the Slums had fresh water. She knew that towns outside the wall had to filter their water too, because nobody wanted to die of water poisoning. Although the fish and some animals that hadn’t died out from drinking the water filled with poison had found a way to live in harmony with the parasite, no human had ever been known to survive it after the forty-five minute mark. It really was too bad she couldn’t eat them she sighed. 

She lay back on the grass
allowing the cool water to sooth her ankle staring up at the trees that swayed back and forth above her. She watched the shadows they cast for a long time before finally falling into a fitful sleep. Molly awakened to a bird screeching near the rock she was lying beside. It was only a foot away, and she observed it hopping on the rock while calling out to another bird somewhere in the forest who answered. It was red, and had what looked like a mohawk on its head with a bright orange beak. It was truly a fascinating site, birds were rare in the city they saw a few seagulls, but even those were not common. She lay watching until the bird took off flying away in a beautiful display of color.

Sitting up she checked
on the swelling in her ankle she wasn’t sure, but felt that it had gone down a bit. Deciding that it hadn’t gone down enough for her to try walking yet she knew she’d have to stay here for the rest of the day. Maybe even the next day too she thought ruefully glaring at her ankle. She was really upset with herself for falling. If she’d only paid more attention sighing she opened her backpack, might as well eat some of the ration cubes, since she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

W
hen she pulled out the cubes, she noticed that the bottom of her backpack was wet. Very wet. Oh no, she thought with growing distress, not the water please she begged. She pulled out everything finding two of the water bottles had been broken during her fall. She only had one left that was full, as well as the half empty one that she’d been drinking earlier.

The ration cubes were
n’t wet thankfully, but the map and her spare clothes were soaked. She used the rock nearby to lay out the clothes to dry.  Laying the map under a rock setting in a patch of sunlight near her legs she untied the bed roll, and spread it out. Scooting over on to it taking out a book, the man who sold her the backpack was using it as a wedge for his table she’d given him an extra credit for it, now laying down with her leg propped up she was grateful she had bought it from the man.

******************

Molly shifted her pack the pack on her shoulder with an irritated huff. The last sign had read Fifteen miles to Devil Falls. She’d already spent two days at the clearing by the river now she was still six miles from the town of Devils Falls and she had just drank the last of the water two hours ago. She would have to stop to fill the two water bottles. She could see a diner called Devils beside the road about twenty feet up the road. It didn’t take long for her to reach it, but she hung back in the trees watching for about an hour.

She wanted to see who was using the diner to be sure that she didn’t run into the bikers that had roared by a few hours ago. She’d been hearing more and more bikes going by in the last few hours
, which worried her, she might be getting closer to their home base, she thought with a gulp of fear. As she waited watching she suddenly realized it didn’t matter, she was already parched, and without water there wasn’t a much of a choice. It was get more water or die from dehydration. She would have to take her chances, she thought standing and gathering her pack she walked towards the small diner.

Entering the small diner Molly was
relieved to see that hardly anyone was there. There were two men with grey hair at the counter with their backs to the door. One was very over weight, the other was lean and looked to be in good shape neither turned to see who’d come into the diner. The waitress behind the counter filling salt shakers glanced up and stared for a moment before she said.

“You can sit anywhere, Darling. Menus are at the
tables just yell when you’re ready to order.” She then stared at Molly for a moment making her nervous.

The larger man noticed the woman staring and turned to glance at her then nudged the thinner man. Who turned to stare at her. When he did Molly’s heart squeezed a bit in her chest. The man looked a lot like her father
, well if her father had longer hair and a tattoo covering the back of his neck. The man’s stare was piercing and, he didn’t look very friendly. She was worried, why was he still watching she wondered. She saw the sign for the bathroom and, she headed towards the back with a quicker stride trying not to show how nervous the man was making her. “I just wanted to barrow your bathroom. Then I’ll be going.”

“Sure thing Darling. Let me know if you change your mind.” The woman went back to filling the salt shakers.
She was almost to the door when she glanced back to see if the man was still watching her. He’d turned around completely and she saw to her dismay that he wore a Red Devil tee shirt. She also saw a cell phone in his hand which worried her even more. Shit she thought entering the bathroom and locking the door. She looked into the mirror and almost sighed in relief when she saw herself. No wonder they had been staring at her, she had dirt smudged across her left cheek and her hair looked matted in places. Well next time she got kicked out of a town she would make sure she had a comb, she thought with a silent laugh. Taking off her backpack she realized that her shirt was ripped quite badly and a  gaping hole was present near her left hip, and her jeans had green stains where she’d fallen two days ago.

She certainly was a sight, so that man had probably been calling someone to tell them about the homeless woman he’d seen today. She pulled the last pair of jeans out of the bag
, then dug deeper to find a blue shirt, then she changed her clothes. Washing her hair as best she could in the sink. Taking time to wash her face and  arms. She tore a strip off the shirt so that she could braid her hair. Taking out the three water bottles she filled one then drank about half while filling the second and third bottles. Refilling the first bottle she set it down then checked the map after Devil falls was a thirty-eight mile walk to the next town she’d have to carefully ration the water. Walking sucked. She wished forty credits could have bought a car. Laughing at her own joke she put everything except the hair tie she’d made from her ripped shirt and one of the three bottles of water into her backpack then braided her hair quickly. Picking up the bottle with another quick swig. She opened the bathroom door stopping dead outside the door.

While she’d been in the bathroom the diner had filled with five men in leather vests and jeans or leather pants. Th
e one closest to her was talking with his back to her, and his vest had a Red Devil with pointy ears and a flaming red pitchfork. Her heart began to pound drowning out there words, and she swallowed nervously. About to dart back into the bathroom she heard the light click of the door behind her, and all the men turned to look at her. Damn. The man who had his back to her caught her attention. He walked until he stood close enough for her to reach out to touch his bare golden abs. Tall, sexy was all her brain processed as she stared, a little shocked that those thoughts were in her head. It wasn’t shocking because she didn’t like men. It was because she normally had to know a man really well in order to think that way about him. Yet staring at this stranger wearing only a Red Devil vest and tight jeans she was already thinking about how sexy he was. The man had to be over six feet tall and for her five three frame that was tall. He bent slightly to catch her eyes, and smiled a devilish smile. “Hey, I’m up here sweet.”

Again she was shocked by her own
behavior her heart pounding, she looked at the man’s face to see a ruggedly handsome man with a day’s worth of stubble. A scar ran below the left side of his jaw, and his brown hair hung to just above his shoulders. His arms were thick, his biceps were almost as big as her thighs. It had taken almost six months for Luzen to get her to even notice him as a man, of course now she thought of him as that pompous ape who’d believe anything if it had tits.

“Now that’
s better, beauty,” He said with a hit of amusement Duck said you were a little homeless looking. Wanna stay at my home? I can be real sweet.” He said and the men surrounding him laughed.

“No.” Molly
squeaked. The man stood straighter and his face darkened as he glared at her with distaste.

“Have you got a better offer? Or you just planning to stay homeless?” He asked his voice cold.

“I w-was just leaving. I don’t want any trouble.” Molly said her voice was shaky and her hands trembled. Fear was getting the better of her. Carl’s warnings were ringing in her head, Don’t trust the other bikers with were you’re going Molly, he’d said as he’d walked her to the sentencing, if there rivals they could try to hurt you thinking they’d hurt the club. After that dire warning she was feeling a little dizzy the fear had her heart pumping so fast she might pass out. She clutched the water bottle to her chest the man’s piercing green eyes followed. She needed to get out of here she made to dart around the man. Another man she hadn’t seen sitting at the counter jerked to his feet moving into her path to stop her.

“No, no little sheep not gonna get away that easy.” He was even taller than the first man and looked to be bigger than Slim, the man from the market, had been. Slim was slight and almost short
compared to this man. This man could double as a mountain. He had raven black hair and brown eyes with a thick beard that hung to his chest. He was wearing a tee shirt under his vest and jeans with leather chaps and the boots all the men were wearing.

“Please.” She begged.

“Aw…so sweet. You beg so sweet little girl. Would you beg like that when I was fucking you?” He asked reaching out to grab her. She stepped quickly back running into a hard male body. Hands landed on her hips and a sharp voice said “No, Tank.” For a moment the man in front of her held his hands near her waist as he gazed over her head at the first man who held her hips in a tight grip, Then the moment seem to pass and the man dropped his hands then sat back down at the counter leaning back as if he had not a care in the world. Molly felt strange and a little dizzy. She knew that the achy hot feeling in the pit of her stomach was desire for the man holding her, but the puffy almost dizzy feeling wasn’t the room seemed to be spinning slightly. She leaned heavily into the man behind her as the world swayed a bit and the man at the counter looking at her sat up watching her blinking.

“Where did you get that water.” He suddenly demanded.

Molly blinked again and swayed in the man who held her arms. The room was out of focus
, and no matter how much she blinked it didn’t seem to be helping. The chest behind her rumbled as the man spoke in what sounded like a roar, but maybe that was the roaring in her ears.

“You didn’t fill that bottle in the fucking bathroom did you?”

Molly turned her head trying to look at the man who was speaking so harshly to tell him that of course she had what the hell did he care water was free, but all that came out were garbled sounds as the world around her darkened then the water bottle fell from her nerveless fingers rolling across the floor. She realize she was fainting from all the excitement. “Fuck. Fuck. Baby don’t pass out you have to tell us how long ago you drank that shit.” She could hear him yelling she opened her eyes seeing him hovering over her. So sexy she thought again. “Seckey” was what she said in a blurred version of the word she was thinking. If she wasn’t passing out she would have blushed at that slip of the tongue.

“Baby
, tell me how long. Fuck, we can’t take her to doc on the bike.” She couldn’t tell him she was passing out didn’t he know that? She thought.

“
Take my cage, Bone.” A gruff male voice that crackled with age said.

She could feel hard arms wrapped around her and she was being carried at a jarring rate
. The man holding her yelled “Tank, get the keys from Duck, and hurry the hell up.” She knew it was him because she could feel the vibrations of the words as the came out. It was weird that she was still aware even though she was unable to talk or move. She couldn’t figure out why she was feeling so strange. Her head was still spinning even though she was not moving as if she were on a tilt a whirl. The hard arms holding her gripped her tighter and she felt the chest that pressed against her.

A few moments later she felt herself shifted into someone else’s arms, she didn’t like that this man didn’t hold her close as the first man had, then just as quickly as she thought this she was grabbed back by the first man. She could hear fading sounds as if her ears were working for a moment then fading. She could only hear the roaring sounds for a moment. A slamming of a truck door the next, and tires squealing as she was jostled and a sexy male voice was begging her to stay with him.