Page 11 of Chaos & Carnage
Brie glanced purposefully at the bar, to where four leather waistcoats hung from the mouth of an ugly gargoyle suspended high on the wall, laughing down at the punters below it.
“And what purpose does that serve, Brie?”
“Means the fuckers aren’t part of us anymore. Has always been a club rule. You know that. No one fraternises with the Notorious. Not. Ever,” the old man growled.
Indie shook his head.
“What did you want me to do, Indie? Kill them? At one time, I might have slit some throats and dragged them to the deepest part of Chopwell Woods. But I’m too old for that shit now. Let them go.”
“And the Hand?”
“The Hand will have us all fighting amongst ourselves eventually, anyway. I’m not sure I’ve the energy for it this time, Indie. Being patched over doesn’t seem like such a bad option anymore.”
“You really think the Hand will patch you over, Brie?” Indie shook his head, a hint of sadness on his face. “They killed nearly every Angels and Demons member up and down the country. Even the ones who switched sides to them. They’re coming for us, Brie. You, the Vandals and the Kings. They won’t leave any of us alive at the end of it. Not unless we strike back now.”
Brie shook his head, then waved at the women who loitered at the bar in tight leather miniskirts and ridiculously high heels.
“I was sorry to hear about Demon, Indie.”
“He’s not dead, Brie. They didn’t get him.”
“Good. Glad to hear that.” The old man turned to Indie, the stoic mask now sincere, the look of a caring grandad momentarily on his face. “They’ll be back though, Indie. You know that, don’t you?”
Indie nodded, his face suddenly tense.
For the first time, I realised what we were stepping into. There never had been any going back the moment Caleb and I had slipped the King’s colours onto our backs. But maybe there had always been the comfort the Great Biker War of the nineties and noughties was so far behind us it was as extinct as the dinosaurs. And in this club of dinosaurs, I knew we were fighting against our own extinction.
Chapter Six
“You look like shit,” Abbie greeted me.
“Thanks. Nice to see you too.”
“You get any sleep last night?” she asked as we changed the dressings that wrapped around the injured Doberman.
“Some. Would have had more if my flatmate and her boyfriend could have been quieter,” I grumbled, reaching around the brown fur as we carefully wound the bandage round the middle of the dog sedated on the table in front of us.
Abbie flashed me a smile, her warm brown eyes sparkling back at me.
“Look. I owe you a shift for covering for me last night. You need a night off tonight?”
“And who’s going to be on call for emergencies?”
“You can’t be on call every night, Alice. You’re gonna burn out for one, or make a mistake. It’s gotta be Stuart’s turn tonight.”
“He asked me to do it. But said he’d do tomorrow’s shift.”
“Fine. But I’ll do the obs and checks for the patients. You just deal with the vet emergencies. Hopefully, we won’t have any.”
“Hopefully not. Ok. On my count, we’ll lift her down,” I looked at Abbie and waited for the nod of acknowledgement. “One, two, three.”
I inhaled, tensing my arms, bracing my back, my legs shaking a little, not under the weight of the dog but of the complete and utter tiredness that strained in every muscle of my body. I needed to sleep. For a week. Carefully, we slid a sleeping Kinobi back into her kennel, setting her head gently down and making sure the wires protruding from her exhausted, battered body were teased out and lying comfortably where she couldn’t catch them.
“Look, Alice. We’re an hour from closing, and we’ve only weigh-ins and wormers left as appointments. I can do them all. Go home and get some sleep.”
“I can’t. We’re supposed to have a dispensing vet on site.”
“Fine. Go upstairs into the staff room. Then you’re still on site. But just grab an hour at least.”