Sons of Flame MC - Redemption (9 page)

"Where do you think you're going?" Eli bellowed from behind her.

"I need to pee! I'm not just gonna do it right here at the side of the road! What if someone comes by?"

His eyes narrowed.

"Tess, we're on the run from Very Bad Men. If they catch us...well, you don't even wanna think about what'll happen to you. There's no traffic for miles around, I swear to you, and I have absolutely no interest in watching you take a piss. You can trust me on that."

Tess was tempted to be awkward and stubborn, but he was right. She let out a deep sigh. She must have done something wrong in a past life, she was sure of it. First getting locked in a smelly old workshop overnight, and now having to squat at the side of the road.

Eli let out another sound of frustration, and then made a show of turning his head away.

Tess quickly did what needed to be done, and then went back to the bike. She settled back into her position behind Eli, and after checking that she was safely in place, the bike roared back into life again and he tore away with a squeal of burning rubber.

What had begun as something exciting soon turned into absolute, utter monotony. Tess' romantic notions of the desert were dashed when they crested each small bump in the road, only to reveal another empty horizon, devoid of life entirely. Where the roar of the bike had at first sent a thrill through her, now there were only cramps in her thighs and sweat on her behind.

Those afternoons spent at her desk in her air-conditioned offices got ever more appealing as the miles and the hours passed.

Eventually, Tess closed her eyes and rested her head on Eli's shoulders. He could hate her all he wanted, but she needed some sleep. It was difficult, but eventually she somehow managed to drift off into a sort of sleep, uneasy and filled with dark dreams.

In one, the Sons caught up with them, overtaking Eli's bike on the road and then surrounding them. They snarled like jackals as they encircled them, their faces blank with black holes where features should have been. These horrific creatures howled and gibbered as they came ever closer, and Tess cowered behind Eli. Closer, closer, it was inevitable, they were on her now and she could smell their stench, could see their sharp, gleaming teeth -

Tess jerked awake with an involuntary cry of panic that Eli must have heard. He craned his head to check on her, concern in his eyes.

"What is it? Are you OK?"

Tess wiped the sleep from her eyes, and just nodded.

"It's nothing. Bad dream."

The sun was high in the sky now - they'd left in the early morning, and Tess guessed that it was after midday already. When were they going to stop?

As if in answer to her silent question, Eli spoke again.

"We're going to have to stop soon. Need gas, and water. There's a little town a couple miles up ahead. You can use the bathroom again if you want. But we'll only have a few minutes - Tex and the Sons are gonna know that we'll probably have to stop here."

Tess shivered, the horrible imagery from her dream rising back into her thoughts.

"OK. I'll be quick."

It wasn't long before she could make out a building, shimmering in the heat on the horizon. As they got closer, it formed into a little gas station. As they pulled in, Tess wrinkled her nose. Somehow she'd been expecting a big, bustling rest stop, with an air-conditioned convenience store, well-appointed bathrooms. But this looked like something out of a teen slasher movie. A dilapidated old wooden building squatted behind some rinky dink gas pumps, and the only person present was a toothless old man wearing greasy, stained overalls.

Eli stopped the bike in front of the pump and nodded to the old man.

"Fill 'er up."

The guy slowly eased himself to his feet and ambled over to the pump.

"Listen," Eli began. "In a little while, some guys are gonna pull in here. Probably ten to twenty, bikers. Rough guys, rougher than me. They're gonna need fuel just like us, and they're gonna ask you if you've seen us."

He fished around in his wallet and withdrew a small handful of bills.

"This is yours if you do one thing for me."

The old man eyed the money hungrily.

"OK," he drawled. "What do you want me to say? Want me to tell them I never saw you?"

"No," Eli said. "They'll know you're lying, and that would be trouble for you."

He took a breath, considering.

"I want you to tell them that you saw us go that way."

Eli pointed off to a T-junction a little further along the road.

"That's it?"

The guy looked dubious, as if there had to be some catch, some extra condition.

"That's it," Eli said. "Just try to make it convincing."

The old man shrugged.

"Do my best."

Eli finished pumping the gas and handed over the bundle of bills, which the old man wasted no time in counting and then stuffing into his overalls. Beckoning to Tess, Eli climbed back onto the bike. She hopped on easily, her fear making her much more nimble than she had been that morning. Eli wasted no time in gunning the bike and pulling away at breakneck speed. Tess glanced behind her - the plume of dust was bigger and closer now, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that no bikes were in view yet. Hopefully Eli's ruse would work.

Eli turned left at the junction, back onto yet another endless straight road. Tess leaned forward and spoke into his ear.

"Is that it? Can we get away from them now, maybe stop and rest for a little while?"

Her heart sank when Eli just laughed wearily.

"The road loops back around and rejoins the main one before long. It’ll buy us a little time though, at least.”

He was silent for a few moments, before speaking again.

"It'll take them a while to get refueled there, with so many of them. That'll buy us some time too. So, when all's said and done, we're in a better spot now than we were before."

Tess took some small solace in his words, though fear still gripped her. She would have to trust that Eli knew what he was doing. Without him, she would be helpless, and she knew it. It was a feeling that she didn't often have, and she didn't like it one little bit.

She grimaced as another bead of sweat crawled its way between her shoulder blades, then hunched down and settled in for the ride.

*****

Eli

E
li was bone-tired. He could barely keep his eyes open, and it was a struggle to focus on the road. He'd had only a couple of hours sleep the previous night, and riding all day with a passenger on the back and in the taxing heat had really taken it out of him. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and looked around him. The sun was just starting to set, a brilliant crimson glow that set the sky on fire.

Under normal circumstances he'd take the chance to have a rest, to stop and admire the beauty of the view. But here, today, these weren't normal circumstances. Tex didn't care if Eli was tired, if he was hungry. He'd chase him down like a dog no matter what.

But still. They couldn't just keep going forever. The two of them were going to have to find a place to rest for the night, and soon. The temperature would start to drop once night fell, and Tess didn't have appropriate clothing. She was still dressed in the same pantsuit that she'd obviously turned up in the previous day. He craned his neck to take a glance at her. She was barely conscious - sunburned, slumped down, eyes glassy. She couldn't keep this pace for much longer.

Eli gritted his teeth. If only she hadn't been there, this would all have been so much simpler. He could've spent the night out in the desert, far away from where they could be found. But Tess complicated things. They'd need to find a motel or something for the night. She needed a change of clothes, some food.

Eli's stomach rumbled as he suddenly realized that neither of them had eaten all day.

A sign came looming up from the rapidly encroaching darkness.

"Little Hope. Population 543. 10 miles."

Eli had never heard of the place, certainly never been there. Little towns like these dotted the desert haphazardly. Some were old mining towns, some were completely abandoned. He just hoped Little Hope had somewhere they could spend the night.

He turned to speak to Tess, to give her probably the only good news she would have heard all day.

"We'll stop up here; find a little motel or something to spend the night. It's a risk, but one we'll just have to take. We'll bank on Tex being forced to stop too. He'll know we won't be able to get too far away."

Tess just nodded in resigned silence, seemingly barely even able to summon the energy for that.

Shit. She really doesn't look good.

Eli sped up, and it was only a couple of minutes before Little Hope came into view. It looked to be exactly as he'd imagined. A sad, worn-out little town, dry and sandblasted. But Eli's heart lifted as he spotted a neon sign glaring.

High Desert Motel. 1 Mile

They passed boarded up houses and stores - the roads were almost devoid of traffic, and there was little to no human activity. But still, that sign had been lit. The motel had to be open.

He spied the turn off and gently eased the bike into the parking lot of the High Desert Motel, a collection of dusty, low-roofed buildings that had definitely seen better days. But, the light in the front office was on, and the parking lot was practically empty. Perfect for their needs.

When he stopped the bike, Tess stepped off and stood still, staring into the middle distance. She swayed as if she was drunk, and looked just about ready to pass out from exhaustion and hunger.

"Tess, wait here with the bike for a couple minutes. I'll get us a room, then go and find something to eat."

He went to the door to the reception and pushed it open. The decor was about thirty years out of date, and what little furniture was there was tatty and ragged. Last year's calendar was on the wall, its pages yellowing and crumpled, and a little fan desultorily pushed warm air from one side of the room to another.

Eli approached the front desk and rang the little bell that sat on it. No response the first time, so he rang it again, harder this time.

"All right, all right," came a wheeze from the back room. "I'm comin', jeez."

A middle-aged woman appeared after a few moments, eyes heavy with sleep, jowls hanging. She eyed Eli up warily, her eyes lingering on his biker's jacket.

"What can I do for ya?"

Eli rolled his eyes.

"A room. For the night."

The woman's eyes drifted over Eli's shoulder to where Tess stood outside, and then back to Eli. A knowing grin crossed her ugly features.

"Alright. Twenty-five bucks. No drugs, no animals."

Eli fished out the bills and slapped them down on the counter, then snatched the keys out of the woman's hand. As he turned to leave, she wheezed in laughter.

"Y'all have a nice night."

Eli didn't bother responding as he walked back out into the rapidly-cooling night air.

"C'mon," he murmured gently to Tess. "I got us a place, just over here."

He lifted the suitcase and then took her arm, leading her over to the room. He unlocked it and flicked on the lights. It was unremarkable in every way, but at least it looked relatively clean. Tess stumbled over to the bed and collapsed on it immediately. Eli set the suitcase down and looked at her for a few moments. Her face was flushed with sunburn, her hair was a wild, greasy tangle, and she looked as if she'd aged a year since he last saw her.

But, for all that, she was still beautiful. Somehow even more beautiful, in a strange way, because she'd endured the day's ordeal with practically no complaints and no fuss.

She's stronger than I gave her credit for.

Shaking his head, he pulled the door closed behind him and went back to the bike, wheeling it over to the parking spot in front of the room without starting the engine. He debated leaving it there, but if the Sons happened to drive past, they'd spot it immediately. After a couple of minutes of scouting around, he discovered that it was relatively simple to wheel the bike behind the building. It would take longer to get there if they needed to leave in a hurry, but there wasn't much other choice.

Once that was done, Eli patted his pockets and pulled out his wallet. After paying off that old gas station owner earlier in the day, and now the room, he wasn't left with much cash. Enough for food tonight, maybe tomorrow too. After that, he was going to be reliant on Tess.

His stomach rumbled again. He'd go and get food soon, but he decided to sit down first, just for a little while.

There was a battered old armchair next to the bed, and he sank into it with a deep sigh. His thighs ached and his fingers were stiff from gripping the handlebars on the bike the whole day.

Just a couple minutes, to rest my eyes. I'll deal with everything else after that
.

*****

E
li jerked awake with a sharp intake of breath, looking around himself in befuddlement. It only took a few moments for everything to come flooding back. He silently reproached himself for falling asleep without even locking the door to the hotel room. Tess was still sleeping exactly where she'd collapsed on the bed, her breathing steady and even.

Eli stood, grimacing at the stiffness in his back and neck from the uncomfortable chair, then checked his watch. Almost 3am. He went to the window and pulled the curtains back. It was deadly silent outside, not a living thing in sight. The front office was still lit up, but he couldn't see anyone in there. Eli figured that he'd probably slept for three to four hours, and that would have to be enough. He wanted to be out of here before first light, to give them as much headway on Tex as possible. He didn't know where they would have stopped for the night, be he doubted they were far away.

Stretching and yawning, Eli opened the motel room door and stepped out into the chilly night. Even after a whole lifetime spent living in the desert, he was always surprised at how cold it could get in the dead of night. He needed to find a 24 hour convenience store - somewhere he could get something to eat, maybe a change of clothes for Tess.