“So, when are we doing this? When are we taking the fuckers out?” I asked.
“There isn’t a ‘we’ in this, Lex, you’re staying here and letting us handle it,” Blake said.
“Don’t even start with your caveman bullshit. If anyone deserves a little payback, it’s me. I’ve already taken out their leader…that’s more than you two.” He looked pissed, but I didn’t care. I was tired of him looking at me like I was a victim. The word RAPE emblazoned on my forehead like a pathetic beacon of victimhood. I was pretty sure that they didn’t believe me when I said nothing had happened. It was in the way they looked at me, the way they had first touched me. It had started to wear off yesterday. I thought it was completely gone this morning, but now those looks were back.
“Alexis, I know you killed their leader, but this is going to require a tactical assault and we’ve been trained,” Zach said, but my look cut him off.
“You can’t cut me out of this, Zach. I’ll stay out of the way of any tactical shit, but I’m going in and I’m going to make sure a bullet lodges itself in Junior’s brain. I need this.”
They both looked skeptical, but I could tell they were going to let me come with them. Right before I had to blackmail them with no sex for a week, Tammi stepped up and slapped her hand on the desk.
“I say the more skilled shots we have with us the better, and now you have to fill me in on Junior.” I could have hugged her.
“Oh, y’all better sit down. I got a few things to tell you about this place.”
It was time to get a couple of things off my chest.
“And where is Martinez? Shouldn’t he be in on this?”
ZACH
How do you respond to that? We all just sort of turned and looked at her. No one spoke, Poche looked confused. Alexis wasn’t stupid, she caught on quick.
“What happened to him?”
“We lost him when we were running surveillance at the school,” Blake said.
“Biker or zombie?” she asked straight-up.
“Zombie,” I said.
“We lost the leader of the National Guard group too,” Tammi added, like this was some sort of condolence.
“There were just too many of them, we were almost out, he got bit, it could have been avoided,” Blake said and my guilt made it out to be an accusation, even though I knew he wasn’t directing it at me. It still hurt.
“He died trying to get me out,” Alexis said quietly, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
“Even if you weren’t captured by the gang, we would have gone in. We came out this way to recruit your group in an effort to take them down with help. We would have gone in no matter what. We would have run surveillance at the school. The Major would have led everyone into the gym, just like he did on that mission. There would have been casualties. Martinez’s death seems pointless and tragic, but we will take Lakeview and we will eradicate the scum that has set up shop there. We’ll free the ones they’re holding hostage and Martinez’s sacrifice will be for that cause. He was a soldier and he died in pursuit of the promotion of freedom. He was a hero and he died a hero,” Tammi said and I was surprised to find that her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She really meant what she said. She believed in this mission. She didn’t want Lakeview for its strategic positioning. Her goal was to free the women and children and eradicate the gang.
Alexis wasn’t holding back her tears and I went to her side, pulling her to her feet and wrapping my arms around her.
“His last thoughts were of you and getting you out,” I whispered and a sob escaped her lips.
“Just when things seem right, when I find a moment of happiness, it gets ripped away from me,” she hiccupped.
“I know, Lex, I know. We wanted to tell you, but it just got away from us. We didn’t know how to bring it up.”
Blake stood to the side of us. A few times he reached out, but put his hand back down. I knew he wanted to join us, reassure Lex, but we were unsure about people’s impressions and what they would think. I personally didn’t give a fuck, but this wasn't the time to assert our lifestyle.
It was a conversation for later.
“I need a moment,” Lex said, pulling from my arms and making a beeline for the hallway.
“Why don’t we go see what Bubba cooked up for lunch.” I held the door open as everyone filed out, playing host, but only wanting to go to Lex.
BLAKE
I found her in my old office, sitting on the floor wiping at her eyes. I sat down next to her and didn’t say a thing.
“You shouldn’t have risked coming to get me,” she said softly.
“And I shouldn’t have left. We could place the blame anywhere, baby.”
“I know, but, hell…Martinez, I just, he was the best of us.”
“It usually is, Lex, it’s never the asshole, it’s never the skater. It’s always the best of us that throws himself on the IED or takes one in the head from the fucking sniper because he was hanging back to make sure everyone made it inside. Which is what Martinez was doing, he was making sure all of us got safe. He was the last one out, as usual, and he got bit. I can’t say anything that would make it better, all I can hope is that he’s found peace. Whatever that may be.” I took her hand in mine. Her skin was soft, but a light layer of moisture clung to her, like she had broken out in a sweat. I felt a momentary panic and sucked in a breath.
“Lex, are you feeling okay, why are you sweating?” I looked into her face and noticed a thin line of sweat clung to her upper lip.
“I’m fine, I was doing push-ups and then I gave up and sat in the corner when it didn't do anything to stop the crazy thoughts.” She made a halfhearted noise, somewhere between a laugh or a sob, I couldn’t tell.
“My baby.” I pulled her into a hug and she crawled into my lap. When she began to shake as the tears came again, all I could do was whisper over and over again, “It’ll be okay.” Even though I wasn’t completely sure it would be. Because, deep in the back of my mind rang the question, who would be next? When we went back into Lakeview, who would it be? Baby? Me? Zach? Or worse, Lex? Because chances were, it was going to be someone and I didn’t want to take that chance. But we had to. We didn’t have much choice, it was them or us.
ALEXIS
I wouldn’t say I was better, but after a while I was ready to join humanity. I got the cry out, now it was time to pull up the big girl panties, pick up my gun and get this shit done.
Blake held on to me as we made our way down to the cafeteria. I had to swat at him to stop hovering when he all but offered to eat the food for me. I sat down with the group, Baby and another new face joined us, another female…I’m sure Mar…shit, well I'm sure the guys loved the influx of estrogen into the compound.
“Heather Murphey,” she introduced herself and held out her hand and even though she was dressed in sweats, I could tell immediately she was a grunt like the rest of them.
“Murphey was in basic with me,” Baby said between mouthfuls, “Small fucking world, right, Lex?”
“Small world,” I said, looking at Heather and thinking that must have been some group of women. Heather wasn’t as stunning as Baby, but she wasn’t bad looking. She was as tall as me and had a little more weight to her, all muscle of course. She had honey brown hair and striking amber eyes that drew you in.
“You were with the National Guard?” I asked.
“Yeah, I went Guard after a couple of tours. They promised I wouldn’t go in again, then this shit happens.” She shrugged and began shoveling food in her mouth in typical military fashion. I had gotten accustomed to watching people feed themselves this way, especially around this group, but it was a bit unsettling. They never stopped to breathe or taste. It’s a little fascinating, how they can put that much food in their mouths, swallow, talk and chew in only a few minutes. And then get up and run a few miles.
Crazy.
“I hate to do this to you, Alexis,” Tammi cut in, sitting down next to Heather, her plate now empty. “But, can you fill us in on your time with the gang? Anything you can tell us about their habits, their movements?”
“Where do I start? Shit.” I was talking to myself out loud, trying to get priorities straight in my head, but Tammi thought I was actually asking for prompting or clarification.
“Anything that you think will help,” she said, cop-voice in full effect.
“They run on four-hour shifts and they change them out at the typical times, noon, four, eight, which you might expect. Between shifts, they are not expected to stay sober, even the ones that are running guard duty. But that might have changed with Junior in power. Even though I don’t see him laying down the law that quickly, there were a lot of men loyal to his father and they did things like his father. They would push back if he tried to cut back on the drug usage and alcohol.”
I had all of their attention. Ivan sat down at our table and the rest of the grunts pushed in closer.
“They cook the meth outside and I didn’t see where it’s refined, but I’m assuming they have a trailer or storage shed or something. The civilians, what they call cagers or citizens, do all of the cooking and refining. They run guards on the men that aren’t allowed in the main area, but from what I can tell, it’s lax and the men are kept in check because of the women and children. They keep the women and children separated. The women are kept in the main building because of necessity and easy access to the bikers. If we went in through the main building, we would have to evacuate the women quickly, maybe through an access point in the back, or through the roof. It’s not that stable there. Most of the guns are kept in the front area, which is going to be where the main firefight will be, unless you stage some kind of distraction. I really think that might be the best bet. If we go in through the main building, they could potentially take the women hostage…or we could try and evacuate the women first to get rid of that obstacle. Then we could cut down on a lot of casualties. I suggest going through the roof.”
“That’s smart. Why do you think the roof?” Tammi asked.
“They’ve already compromised the structure when they cut some kind of hole in the roof to make for a chimney. We could easily widen it and get them out that way, or find a back exit that I didn’t notice. They had to have something there to take deliveries. It’s probably boarded up or closed off, but it might be easy to breach.”
“This is sounding better and better,” Ivan said to Blake. “They really don’t have a very organized operation. It’ll be like taking candy from a baby.”
“Don’t be too eager,” Zach said. He pushed his chair back and folded his arms over his chest, shaking his head in disagreement. “They are still very well armed and they don’t have anything to lose. We can’t get too cocky about our chances. If we do, they’ll roll right over us.”
“You’re right, Zach, and Junior, the leader, he’s prior service. I don’t know what branch or what training, but he’s straight-laced and organized, his men might not be. Who knows who he had in the wings to help him gain control,” I added.
“He’s Army, did one combat tour, dishonorable discharge. Don’t know his MOS though,” Tammi said.
“Well, he’s dangerous. A sociopath, I wouldn’t underestimate him.” I didn’t think they would, but now they couldn’t say I didn’t warn them.
They questioned me for another hour and I tried to answer their questions to the best of my ability. Some things I knew, some things I had no clue about. I had never seen the children, or where they stored the supplies, but I assumed those were under tighter guard. When they were done, their questions answered, all assured me they were better informed now and had a good idea about what to expect for this raid.
They left with a feeling that this group could be taken down with minimal impact. Our side had nearly thirty skilled soldiers and officers and the Southern Clan had drug addicts and drunks who could fire a semi-competent shot. There was really no contest. The goal was to have minimal casualties on both sides. They were intent on getting them to surrender and deciding their fate when guns weren’t in hand.
Ivan thought it best to wait for optimal conditions and a full moon would be the best time to engage, so there would be more night illumination. The full moon wasn’t for another few weeks, so we had time to plan.
Tammi and Ivan would go back to their FOB and brief their group and we would all convene in five days to start planning. It was all very military and precise. I was actually kind of excited. The Clan had what was coming for them and we were just the people to dish it out.
An hour later, we gathered in the cafeteria to present the basics to the compound. The group pressed around us, faces grim. In the months that we had lived together on this tiny stretch of marsh we had become a family. We were now dealing with the loss of one of our members and an enemy that threatened the rest of us.