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Round Two - Finish It

G rizz

“Grizz!” I heard from somewhere far off in the distance. My eyes were closed, and I didn’t bother trying to open them. The dark was comfortable.

“Grizz!” This was the best sleep I’d gotten in a while, and I didn’t want anyone to ruin it.

“You better check in, motherfucker.” Sabre.

“Yeah,” my voice croaked. It took me a minute to remember what had happened, but as I flipped onto my back, it all came rushing back. “How long was I out?”

“Less than a minute,” Cyph came through the earpiece.

“What the fuck is this shit?” Count sounded angry, and he was usually one of the calmer brothers. “This was a timed attack, but what’s the next round? These men didn’t fight back, and when the SUVs in the front blew, they didn’t run.”

“Are they dead?” Sabre asked.

“Yeah, and so is A. The rest of us have a few scrapes,” Count confirmed.

“What about everyone who followed me from quadrant one?” I was still lying on the ground, staring at the sky, but I needed to know I had lost no one.

Cyph started a roll call, and the pressure in my chest loosened as I listened to each brother check in. We had all survived, though a few, like me, had lost consciousness.

“Is there any activity, Cyph?” Sabre took the lead, but I didn’t expect it to last long, as the military brothers clocked into this situation.

“I see nothing, but now that Grizz said it, it’s too quiet.”

“Grizz said the cartel paid these men,” Op rang loud and clear. “If I had to guess, they were supposed to check and see if they got pushback, and when they did, the cartel triggered the SUVs. They probably sent good men to die for their families.”

“Op! They know our positions—that’s why they blew the cars.” How sounded panicked, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right.

“Anyone severely injured should head back inside to Scrub. The rest of you reset where you currently are. If this was round one, we can’t afford to guess wrong,” Sabre commanded.

I laid on the ground for a few minutes longer before I mounted my bike and hid in the trees.

“I’m not fucking around anymore. There’s a machine gun buried underneath the floorboards in the attic. Don’t get excited, it’s only on loan.” Count chuckled.

“Seriously? I think I just came in my pants.” Christmas had just come early for How, and we heard him running down the stairs from the roof to the attic. “Fucking shit. I love you.”

“You’re a bitch.” Zook laughed at his friend, probably jealous he didn’t get to play with the big gun.

There was a dull roar as we laughed at their antics. It was silly, but it broke the tension enough for us to regroup.

“Are they going to hit us in the same spots?” Zook was back to business.

“I would, considering those sections are potentially weak.” The tree branches swayed as the dirt kicked up. It hadn’t been windy today, so where the fuck was this coming from?

“There’s a fucking drone,” Dead complained. “I bet it has a heat sensor, so they can see where we are.”

“It’s highly illegal to shoot one down,” Op laughed.

“Never stopped you before,” Chef chuckled.

“I got it, pussy.” Cyph’s fingers flew over the keys. “It’s highly illegal to jam the signal in the fucking thing, but you don’t see me complaining. Give me a sec, and it’ll be down.”

The wind immediately died down.

“You’re the one sitting in your room, and you have the nerve to call me a pussy. You wouldn’t say that shit to my face.” Op was hot.

“Yeah, I would,” Cyph said. “Hang on, I got movement.”

Silence settled over the club. The wait was excruciatingly painful.

“Yeah, round two is here. I don’t know how this is going to play out. There are cartel soldiers in camo approaching our fences in quadrant two,” Cyph said. “They look like they have shotguns.”

“If that’s true, don’t get close,” Chef quipped. “Our vests can’t handle a shotgun shell unless it’s buckshot. No matter what, it hurts like a bitch—speaking from experience.”

“Fucking fools. They’re trying to cut the fence with wire cutters, but if we rush them, we might keep them to the outside. That’s not chicken wire out there.” Cyph fed us updates.

“Cyph, check the front gate. We reset in quadrant one, but I feel like someone’s watching us from across the street,” Count came in.

“How the fuck did that happen? It’s like soldiers appeared in every quadrant out of thin air.”

“Headshots,” Sabre said definitively. “We defend what’s ours, and we’ll call the clean-up crew later.”

My gun was in my hand before he finished.

Our communication went silent as we waited for the right moment to attack.

The trees didn’t have a fenced-in area, and if I survived this, it would be one of the first things I upgraded.

Flattening my back against the nearest tree, I crouched, waiting until I heard shuffling creeping towards me.

The first shot rang out somewhere on the property, and I used it as the signal to move. They had denied me a fight in the first round, and I wouldn’t miss out again.

I remained low to the ground, listening to the soldier come closer to me.

The drone had kicked up enough wind that it had knocked some leaves off the trees, and the soldier wasn’t stealthy.

His boots crunched them with every step.

When he was right on top of me, I hit him with a clothesline, following him to the ground.

It was a scramble of limbs, and I didn’t give him enough room to fire his shotgun. However, there wasn’t enough space for me to get a headshot in. The guns went flying as we traded hit for hit. I punched. He tried to lock in some submission move, but neither one of us got the best of the other.

I was trying to rip his head off when I heard my name in my earpiece.

“Don’t move, Grizz.” A shot rang out from above me, and I watched as the soldier hit the ground, dead. It must have been a brother in the deer stands, but I didn’t stop to ask.

I looked for the gun I had thrown in the fight, but as I searched the area, another soldier came running at me. Tucking in behind the tree, I hoped he would run past me, but I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

He fired two shots. The first one I watched hit the tree in front of me, and the second barely clipped the tree I was standing behind.

Ducking, I let the gunshots sounding around me drown out any noise I made as the soldier approached.

Using the tree, I crept around the other side, jumping on his back as I took him down with my weight.

When I hit his arm against the ground, he loosened his grip on the shotgun.

It went flying forward, out of reach of the soldier.

He tried to flip me over his back, but I had at least thirty pounds on him.

Grabbing his hair, I drove his face into the ground repeatedly while sitting on his back.

His nose crunched as his hands waved around, but in this position, he wasn’t able to reach for me.

The extra weight didn’t give him a fair chance.

Yanking his hair in a tight grip, I bent him backwards, waiting for his neck to snap.

The sound didn’t disappoint as he dropped back to the ground. Dead.

I grabbed the shotgun before quickly searching for my gun. Finding it, I put the safety on and slid it into the back of my pants. We probably needed to buy holsters in case something like this ever happened again.

I didn’t see anyone heading my way, but I also didn’t want to move inadvertently out of my sector. Waiting, I listened to various fights going on. The brothers were standing on business, and I was proud to wear the patch.

The action was dying down when, suddenly, there was a loud scream. My body immediately went on high alert.

“Prez!” It had been too high-pitched to determine which brother it was.

“Yeah, baby!” Pretty was excited. “Wreck just bagged a hostage.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Sabre rang out.

“Hang on. Wreck’s a little busy right now,” Pretty answered. “Hey, Twig, are you close to us? We’re in quadrant two, on the right side.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second.”

The chatter died down, and all I heard were the sounds of a scuffle.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Sabre asked if everything was alright. I could tell he hated not knowing what was going on.

“Prez, Diego sent his number one henchman to the party.” Wreck was breathing heavy.

“I recognized him because he has a scar running down the side of his face.” He paused, taking a few deep breaths.

“Twig and I have him detained.” Wreck must have hit the man because the next thing we heard was, “Yeah, motherfucker. Your ass got handed to you.”

“Now, this is some good porn,” Pretty laughed.

“We can use him to lure Diego out into the open,” I said. We wouldn’t get anywhere if we didn’t rein them back in. “I’m a scummy cartel lord who can’t get over a couple of women. Where would I go?”

“No…” Sabre whined. “Diego wasn’t planning on keeping Gerry around for work. He’s going to use him to draw us out of the clubhouse.”

“Where would he take him? The hotel has too many cameras.” This was the first time Pretty had actually said something useful.

“Cyph, start with the clubhouse and search out. Before we chase Diego, we need to know that he’s not here watching us.”

“Yeah, Prez. I’m on it.” We heard him pop open the tab of an energy drink.

“I don’t understand. If the goal was for us to save Gerry, why would he attack us on our home turf?” Op asked, and I hadn’t realized that was the same thing plaguing me.

“Even if we went running to Gerry’s defense, not all of us would leave.” This was the first time Dead had said something. “I haven’t left the clubhouse since the lockdown started.”

“Unless he thinks the brothers who went to jail are going to step up as some sort of payback.” How was still bitter about the holding cell.

“Yeah, but I was with you guys, and there’s no fucking way I would volunteer to save Gerry’s ass.” Slate had a point.

“You’re also older than fuck and took a stupid knife wound protecting Pumpkin.” I couldn’t hold in my laughter, causing the rest of the brothers to let loose for a minute.

“Your Old Lady is going to kill you in your sleep one day, and I’m going to die laughing at your expense. I still threw down when it mattered.”

“Yeah, Slate. You did well…for an old man.” Sabre started the laughter again.

“Fuckers. I’m turning your women against you.” No one believed Slate. He was just blowing off steam.

“I checked our surroundings, but they’re clear. The SUVs are still on fire, but nothing’s heading our way. I can check the highway, but that seems too easy.” Cyph clicked away happily.

“These are cartel fucks. They don’t live by the same honor code we do.” How does Wreck know so much about the cartel?

“Highway’s clear. There are no parked or hidden cars I can see, but I’m using the highway patrol cameras. There are blind spots.”

“I don’t want to chase Diego if we don’t know where we’re going, but this has to end.” Sabre’s phone rang. “It’s an unknown number. Local,” he said.

Sabre must have pulled out his earpiece and placed it near the phone because a thick accident came in, loud and clear.

“I no longer have to do my own dirty work. It’s how men like me remain in power. You wouldn’t understand.”

Sabre laughed, the sound cold as ice. I had only heard it a few times, and it still sent a shiver down my spine. “The Iron Shield is still standing. Why don’t you show yourself? We’ll end this like men instead of the little bitch you are.”

“I’ve got something, or should I say, someone, you need.”

“You can keep Gerry.” I wasn’t the only one who chuckled at that.

“He’s no good to me missing a hand.” Aww, fuck. I wasn’t looking forward to being in the room when the women found out. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath.

“I have someone you may want back.”

“Luto del Alba, Prez,” Wreck supplied.

“Did you hear that, fuckface? I have your right-hand henchman.” Sabre laughed. “You want him back? You show up at my gates.” He let the line go dead. “Alright, do we think he’s actually coming?” Sabre asked the rest of us.

“Yes,” Wreck responded. “The henchman is worth a pretty penny on the black market. We’d have to search, but there’s someone willing to pay. Cartels make enemies.”

“Anyone else?” No one said anything directly, but there was indistinct chatter as the brothers talked amongst themselves into the earpieces.

“Grizz?” Sabre asked me.

“Yeah, Diego’s coming. He has a fascination with the girls, and if I had to guess, he thinks our numbers didn’t survive this attack.” If it had been Sabre, I would have gone for him, and there was no doubt in my mind he would have come for me.

“I think you’re right. Cyph, watch for them. I want to know immediately how many cars he’s bringing.”

“On it.”

“How, will the machine gun spray reach the front gate?” Sabre was plotting, but I had nothing to add until I knew more details.

“No. It will only hit around the middle of the yard. Since it’s on the roof, I lose traction with the height. As long as they come at us from the front, we have enough room for the other two snipers on the roof.”

“Let’s do that while we wait.” Sabre threw out orders. “Berry or Pint—one of you needs to call the clean-up crew. I’ll pay extra for a quick turnaround. The executive team needs to meet me in the front yard. Everyone else stay where you are, but keep vigilant. It’s going to be a long night.”