Swallowing Mayhem (8 page)

I wasn’t sure about that.

“Loyal citizens that don’t want
to give up
their
slaves are going to
fight us and we have the actual government with their security in the buildings
that we finally have blueprints for. Those are our obstacles. We are going to
fucking plow right through them.”

“Yeah!”
Chaos threw a
fist in the air.

“After Tage’s brush with the law,
he’s with us permanently. We have the Amazon MC run by Deviant’s sister.”

Well, that was unexpected. I read
in his file that his sister was deceased.

“The Underground MC
run
by Justice.”

I winced. Would he ever forgive
me?

“They’re getting together
tonight. We’re going to blow up a section of construction to create a wall, a
barrier. This will form the front lines. We have weapons, men to fight, the
will to change the way our species lives! The war is going to begin and it’s going
to start in two hours.”

Well, fuck me.

Chapter Eleven

The front lines were going to be
at the edge of the city and I learned from Mayhem that we were going to work our
way out. Street by street, building by building. We were going to gain
supporters, free women, release slaves, and take the enemy down. That wouldn’t
happen overnight but day-by-day the MC’s would get stronger while the
government whittled away. Most of their resources were at the landing strip,
the opposite side of our front lines. We all cleaned out the clubhouse, taking
what we couldn’t part with. It would be too dangerous to live here once the
fight started. Friends of the club were told to either hunker down or drive out
with us. I rode on the back of Mayhem’s bike. His black hair was tied behind
his head, the helmet he wore
untied
under
his chin. They all wore cuts, me too, but mine said prospect. I held on to
Mayhem’s hips, pressing against his back. Not for the sexual aspect but for
comfort. Knowing he was here made that nervous flutter in my stomach
fade
away.

We drove two-by-two down the
street. The tails we were supposed to have
were
knocked out in their hover cars. I made sure they weren’t killed. I didn’t know
the guys so they might very well be on our side just stuck as a peacekeeper because
it was all they knew.
Just like I had been.

I couldn’t help but think about
how drastically my life changed as the wind whipped against my skin. I had a
male lover. I was against the peacekeepers. I wounded
Day-Si
and killed Arnet. That was the first time I took a life.
Everything was spinning so fast and so wide that I thought I’d fly right over
the edge and smash into the ground. Mayhem stopped that. He was like an anchor,
a guide in the darkness. I held him tighter, placing my cheek against his back.
The cut was smooth under my skin.

The turns were easy to traverse
with the sunset and the city bunking down for the night. No one knew what was
about to happen. No one knew that this would be the day to go down in history.
It made me smile against Mayhem’s back. We arrived at the Southern construction
site. It wasn’t far from Harley’s story. He could be our hidden man and still
supply us with goods. Mayhem told me that as we were leaving. This site was lit
up as we eased behind a nearby building. The hovering spotlights were focused
on the dark side. The peacekeepers had no idea to keep watch
on
the city.

Outlaw, Whip, and Grim took the
right side of the construction site. Chaos,
Deviant,
and Mayhem took the left. The prospect was in charge of watching the bikes. Tage
had a gun in his hand which was scarier than the battle we were about to start.
I sure the hell hoped I didn’t take friendly fire. I frowned at him. He stood
next to me with Beau on the other side of me. “You know how to fire that?” I
asked as I took the safety off my laser gun.

Tage frowned. “I may not be able
to perform fisticuffs as proficient as you
men,
but Deviant has taught me himself. My use of laser guns has improved under his
tutelage.”

“What the fuck he
say
?” Beau asked.

I snorted. I was stuck
between
the rich guy and the former prison
member. This should be good. The three of us were ducked behind a hover car.
When the fight started, we were in charge of the runoff. Surely, not everyone
would go all out fighting with the
Outlaws
.
Those that ran or tried to get help would face us. God help us. I aimed at the
middle section of the construction site. We were
in
the road, the city dark behind us. The Amazons were taking up
further
down. When someone got off a call for
backup, which would most definitely happen with the technology we had, they’d
watch our ass. Of course, eighty percent of the peacekeeper forces were at the
opposite side of the city waiting for the Outlaws to strike the landing strip.
I
grinned
and then aimed.

I calmed my breathing and pushed
Mayhem from my mind. I couldn’t think of him out there in the middle of the
fight without worrying and that would split my focus. “Don’t think about our
men,
” I said quietly. The night was near silent
as if it were holding its breath. The wind stopped. The stars twinkled. Shadows
loomed as the city slept.
Everyone but us.
“Take a few
deep breaths. When you run out of ammo
announce
it,
then get down to reload.” I don’t know why I took the lead. Maybe because Tage
was too innocent for this fight and Beau was a prison fighter. They didn’t know
that
wind
didn’t
affect
laser bullets or that if you shot someone between the eyes,
the laser swells up and can actually make the
person’s
head explode.
Something to do with the laser’s power
structure in a small area.
The things you learn in peacekeeper training.
“We can do this.” I took a deep breath. “We can win.”
Another
breath.

Then gunshots went off.

I flinched.
Fuck
! All three of us aimed as the shots went off frequently.
Shouts filled the area. A few lights went on in buildings. I heard returning
fire. I think it was louder, closer to us so it had to be the peacekeepers. Our
guys weren’t close enough
yet.
“Breathe,”
I whispered.

Tage gave a swallow so loud I
heard it.

Beau was calm. Then I noticed
that he was shifting his weight from foot to foot while he squatted behind the
car.

I blew out a breath so slow that
it was almost like holding one in. Then I saw movement. I aimed, following the
shadow until a man in a black peacekeeper uniform appeared. I fired, striking
him in the neck.

“
Head
shots
,” Beau said.

“I shot his carotid,” I mumbled,
keeping watch. The guy would bleed out right there. He was probably already
unconscious. More shots sounded, they were getting closer, louder,
more
frequent. I steadied my nerves. Then more peacekeepers
came running from the battle. Three emerged. I shot one in the chest, Beau
missed his, and Tage shot both his and Beau’s. We glanced at him.

Tage smiled. “We did not participate
in intercourse every time he visited. Deviant truly trained me well for this
battle assignment.”

“What?” Beau asked, aiming again.

“He said after Deviant fucked him
they practiced shooting,” I quipped, talking louder than I should have.

Beau chuckled. “Deviant’s so big
enough I wouldn’t be able to walk
afterward,
let alone shoot straight.”

Another man approached. I shot
him in the stomach and Beau got him in the leg. Tage had the kill shot.
Again.
The son of a bitch was going to make me look bad. I
smiled. Good for him. The lights in the construction site dimmed. One or two went
out. I wondered how long it would take as shots rang out into the night. Would
the guys be done soon? Would the other peacekeepers show before we were able to
set everything up? The questions were another distraction. I aimed, staring
into the growing darkness. The construction site was hard to see now. Most of
the lights were out, either shot or smashed, who knew.

It was Prospect that came running
around the corner. “We got Amazons down!” he yelled.

“Fuck,” I blurted, hunching down
as I ran toward him. “Watch that street.”

“I got
it,
” Tage said and went back to aiming.

“And for fuck’s sake don’t get
shot,” I muttered as I ran down the street.
If
they got shot, their lovers would probably kill me, then Mayhem would kill them
and we’d lose too many good fighters. Plus, I wanted to
fucking
live
. I ran fast down the street where
the gunshots were growing louder. I had thought it was the battle at the site
but apparently, not all the peacekeepers were at the landing strip. Some of
them were here and they were about to overrun the Amazon MC.

Chapter Twelve

There were four Amazons behind a
hover car, two were on the ground with blood seeping out from underneath. One
was tending to them. I had a moment to yell at Prospect to help them then
leaped
toward the others as gunshots rang out.
I landed a few feet away and a blonde woman grabbed my shoulder, half dragging
me so I was fully covered.
“How many?”

Her eyes were as blue as
Deviant’s
. “Five left but
they're
damn good.”

We had limited time. Once the
Outlaw’s and the Underground MC finished clearing the construction site, they
were going to blow up the nearest two buildings so that they created a wall as
our front lines. We had to do that before more peacekeepers came by. I had no
doubt word of our firefight was already all over the radio. It’d take maybe half
an hour to get here. I used a squat walk to get to the end of the hover car. A
few Amazons shot but didn’t hit anyone. I heard more blasts from the construction
site,
but it seemed like that battle was
quieting down. All we had to do was knock these guys out of the fight and then
join the others for the big boom. I peeked over the car, took a glance, and
ducked when someone fired at me. The five peacekeepers were hiding behind a
hover car that was smoking. We couldn’t blow them
up,
they didn’t use fuel like in the olden days. That meant I had to get up close
and personal to get these fuckers out of their hiding
hole
.
“I’m going to draw them out. Shoot if you can.”

The blonde nodded.

Looks like even as an outlaw I
was playing
hero
. I grabbed one of the
women’s guns. She was too shaken to help anyway. I took a deep breath then made
a run for the next hover car. It was parked on the street and I made it as gunshots
rang out. I heard the
pings
as they
landed too fucking close. I stretched my back quickly, making sure I was limber
enough not to cramp up. Too bad there
wasn’t any cameras
around here. This was either going to be epic or my last chance to do something
good for the club. I held one gun in each hand and stood. I ran to the nearest
car, taking shots as I went. I knocked out all the car windows as I ducked.

They returned fire.

I was closer. A few feet and I’d
be at their heels. “Fuck.” I sputtered the word then stood. I took two shots,
one from each gun as I started to run toward them. It was like the world slowed
down around me. The shadows grew the closer I got. The air smelled like sweat
and blood. Glass crunched under my feet and then I slammed into the hover car
they hid behind. The panel
creaked
. I was
on the other side of them and one came charging around the corner.
Idiot.
I shot him before he could even see me. Then I lay flat
on my stomach, trying not to get stabbed by
glass,
and aimed at the peacekeepers feet. The three remaining men scattered. Two
jumped back so I couldn’t get the right angle. The third ran for it. One of the
Amazons took him out.

“Peacekeepers!
Put your
weapons down.”

I said the only thing that popped
into
my
head. “Suck my dick!” Mayhem
would have been proud. Actually, he probably would have just grunted. I almost
laughed at the thought. Then I gripped the guns tightly and
leaped
over the back of the car toward them.
One was startled enough to freeze. I shot him in the chest and rolled so I
landed without breaking anything. The other guy shot twice, both way too
fucking close. I jerked to my knees. We were facing each other, guns lifting
like some old western movie from Earth days. I saw his fingers squeeze the
trigger at the same time mine did. Well, fuck, this wasn’t going to end well.

But it did.
Kind
of.

Both our weapons clicked empty. I
smiled and it wasn’t entire happy, more satanic. I dropped both guns and
leaped
at the peacekeeper. He fell back with me
on top. His dark helmet fell off and I got to see his face. No one I knew. That
meant the fight was on.

He aimed for my
face,
but I was fast enough to shift to the
right. His fist deflected
across
my
shoulder.
Painful but not crippling.
I grabbed
handfuls of
shirt
, rolling and bringing
him with me. When he was on top, I jammed my knee between his legs. The guy
moved so I missed his junk. I punched him in the face. He grabbed one of my
hands,
but being on the bottom had its
advantages. I slid my leg around his waist, squeezing and digging my heel into
his back. The guy winced, tried punching me. That’s hard to do when a heel is
grounding into your spine. I moved my head, his fist slammed into the hard
ground. I could see his scrapped up knuckles bleeding as he pulled back. He
jerked all his weight right and we rolled again. My legs got trapped underneath
him. He grabbed one
wrist,
but I clocked
him in the face with my free elbow. Blood sprayed across my arm and his face.
Nose
broken
, maybe.
I
gave him credit because he didn’t hesitate at the pain he must have been
feeling. Instead, he jerked his head back at the same time he hit me in the
hip. That ache radiated up my body until I hissed out a breath.

“Traitor!” he screamed at me.

He didn’t
have
to fucking yell. I wrenched my arm free and sat up. My legs
were still trapped under him, his weight making my ankles twist
at
an awkward angle. I punched him in the
stomach, which made him wrench upward. It was enough to jerk my legs free. I
tumbled
backward, landing on my ass at his feet.
Shit, this fight wasn’t going as well as I’d hoped. It was taking too long to
subdue the fucker. He kicked at me and I lay back to avoid it. Then he rolled
to the left. I went right, spinning so I was on my knees and facing him and the
gun he was now holding. I swallowed hard, staring at the gun with one thought.
I wanted to
fucking
live
!
I surged upward as he fired. The shot grazed my
shoulder,
but I slammed into him before he could take another shot. I grabbed his face,
some ear, some cheek, some hair. Anything I could hold and slammed his head
into the ground. The gun came up and I leaned heavily on his arm with my knee
so the shots were fired
across
the ground
and not at me. I pulled his head up and then slammed it back down again. The
gun fell out of his hand. I kept going. There was no way I was going to give up
now. I was so close to winning the fight, so close to surviving.
One.
Two.
Three hits and his body went
still beneath me. Blood was pooling underneath him. I was gasping when I let go
of him. My body ran on pure adrenaline.

Then the guy I shot in the chest
sat up.

Fuck
you all!
I ducked as he aimed, one hand holding his wound and the other his weapon. Then
his fucking head just exploded. There was a pop and then boom, nothing left of
the guy’s face. I sat up as the blonde came around the car, her gun still
aimed.

“You going to
stare at me all day or get the hell up?”

I smiled, standing, shaky on my
legs. I ran from the gore. My shoulder was
starting
to sting enough where I winced with each movement. We ran from the scene toward
the bikes. The women took to one side of the building. I saw Tage and Beau
running toward us. There were three buildings
between
the construction site and us. The last one was the one that they planned to
blow up. We all hid in the alcove between the two buildings as a loud roar
ripped through the night. It was followed by the ground rumbling. Glass
shattered, falling to the ground as the first building began to crumble. It
fell to the left, stretching across the expanse of
road
in twisted metal and dust clouding the air. The other building
began to fall to the right. The edge of the city was effectively cut off as
both buildings filled the end of the road. Dust several feet high began to rise
and whoosh toward us. The sound was incredible.
This thick
rumble.
I ducked, covered my face as the dust cloud hit. It was warm,
stuffy. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I heard more explosions
going off as I
stayed
hunched and blind
to the world around me. They were building a long line of debris. Long enough
so the peacekeepers would have a hard time going around it. It would extend
past the city limits.

When the explosions stopped going
off, I heard the high-pitched sirens. They didn’t sound far enough away. I
opened my eyes, blinking furiously at the grit and sand. Most of us were
covered
in
a layer of red dirt as I
looked around. “On the bikes,” I yelled. We filled them all up. I took
Mayhem’s
. The blonde jumped on behind me. We
took off in a roar of sound toward the sixteen-foot wall. There was a small
patch of flat land between the fallen buildings. Beau rode over it first, disappearing
behind the mound of dirt. I waved the others on so I could get
in
last, keeping an eye on the road. Then I
sped up between the gaps in the buildings and tried to keep us upright as we
skidded to a stop. The club was there. They had the Underground MC members
climbing the side of the downed building as lookouts. The Amazons were jumping
off, splitting up to watch the side of our dam. I saw Outlaw giving orders.
Justice was next to him, yelling at other guys.

I hopped off the bike after the
blonde and
stared
at our front line.
You’d think two buildings on their side with guys at the top holding guns would
be impressive. But what was
breathtaking
was the darkness of Mars and all the people coming out of it. The shadows
parted to reveal dozens of groups. Some were setting up makeshift
medic
areas. Others were joining the men on the
wall. Another set
were
getting boxes of
weapons. There were no big weapons that could break our line. Those resources
were too precious to waste on war weapons. Especially considering the
government didn’t know it was at war.

“The fuck happened to you?” It
was Mayhem.

I turned around to see a cigar in
his mouth, his clothes mussed with dust, and slightly singed at the rim.
“Made myself some new friends.”

Mayhem grunted.

The sirens were louder. I heard
shots ring out. Mayhem growled, sucking on his cigar as he ran. I was surprised
when Justice spared me an angry glare and then moved to a projection machine.
He hit the button and I saw a glimpse of it through the gap. The peacekeepers
had pulled their cars to block the road, not that we were going anywhere.
Justice’s holograph appeared. One idiot
shot
at it before the others pushed him away.

“I am Justice of the Underground
MC.”

“Put down your weapons, surrender,”
one of the peacekeepers yelled.

Yeah, good plan. I rolled my
eyes. We took down two
buildings,
but
we’d give up because you told us to.

“We will stand by your laws no
longer. Our world will know war. Mars will be the battleground
of
a new fight for equality. We will not accept
slavery. We will not be chained. There will be no more masters. You can join
our fight or die in our path. The choice is yours.” The holograph ended. “Did
it transmit?”

Whip nodded. The screen in his
hands moved too fast for me to follow as he touched it. “Yes. It was sent to
every station and holograph screen in the whole city.”

“Well, fuck me, we did it.”
Mayhem actually grinned.

“Now what?”
I asked, unsure
if we started fighting the peacekeepers out front or not.

“We go to war, Torrin, we go to
war,” Outlaw said. For the first time since I met him, he didn’t appear exhausted.
The president of the Outlaw MC looked hopeful.

Everyone was on a schedule for
wall duty.
Every
foot of our dam had an armed
man. The side of our front lines was now lined with hover cars. We were near a
large cave that led underground in case the fight started to turn on us. It was
also a spot to rest, eat,
take
a moment to realize we
fucking went down in the history books today. The Outlaw MC was up on wall duty
with the Amazons. I was sitting
on
the
building, staring down at the sheer amount we were up against. Dozens of
peacekeeper cars were in front of us. They made their own barrier, their own
guards,
their
own resistance against us.
Wexmen
went on the holograph screens a few
minutes ago. He condemned our outrageous act of violence and deemed us beyond lawbreakers.
We were to be shot on sight. Nice guy. He also said that the government would
not negotiate with such abundant atrocities. Apparently, he knew a lot of big
words. He declared the MC’s the enemy and put the city in a state of civil war.
Looks like Justice and Outlaw got what they wanted.

The declaration also had slaves
fighting back, those not yet freed rose up. Some won and were trying to get to
us. Others perished trying to be free. We had about a dozen black men arrive.
They were welcomed with open arms. A few women also made their way here. Not as
many. I think that would change though. Suddenly a whole new world was opening
up for them. Life was about more than chains and punishment. I knew that now. I
could see with new eyes. And when the sun came up, it was the dawn of a new
day. It
shone
on
the violence from the night before but the glass in the street
looked like glitter from up here. The city was abuzz with activity. It wasn’t a
win,
but it was a
fucking
start. Now we’d keep the peacekeepers busy and find a way
to get to the government building. We’d take down Wexmen and whoever believed
in his corrupt ways.