Axel: Chapter 32

Watching my brothers packing every weapon you can imagine. I have to feel pride that they are doing this for my woman, their Presidents Ol’ Lady.

Silver walks over to me, dressed in black, the same as the rest of us. ‘Pres, we’re all ready. The vans are out on the back road. We just have to pile in.’

Nodding, I turn to the room, ‘Brothers, listen up.’

Shouting loud enough to get everyone’s attention, ‘Y’all know what we have to do, you make sure you come back safely. Mia will never forgive you if you get yourselves killed. We go in, wipe out the trash, burn it to the ground and get out.’

Buzz steps next to me. ‘Chaos is lead at the shack, don’t ignore him. You do everything he tells you when he tells you. Sharp and your men go with Axel.’

We all walk out the back of the clubhouse, down to the back of the property, where the two vans are waiting. Slapping my brothers on the back as they load up, I look at Buzz. For the first time, he will not be with me on a rumble like this.

Buzz nods, letting me know he understands and feels it too. We’ve always had each other’s back and to not have it feels wrong, but it’s necessary.

Arriving at the mansion, the van’s panel door slides open and we all get out, thankful as we were packed in like sardines.

Target comes out of the shadows and nods towards the mansion. ‘I think they’ve got more men here tonight. I’m waiting for Chaos to update about his situation. When I take out the man on the gate, make sure you keep it down, go to the positions you were told and we’ll hit quick and clean.’

Target taps his ear to let me know he’s all wired and I tap mine back. Looking around, my brothers let me know they’re all set, too.

Nodding, Target takes off, quiet as can be. We spread out, moving slowly, watching for anything out of the ordinary. When we’re at the point where we wait for the signal, we all squat down in the shadow of the trees and bushes.

Drag leans over and whispers, ‘It feels okay Pres, I don’t have any tingles or warning itches. What about you?’

‘No, I’m not getting anything either. Keep your eyes open and on high alert, anyway.’ I whisper back.

In my ear I hear Target, ‘All clear, move forward, watch for the three that are patrolling the perimeter of the property.’

Turning, I motion for Fox, Rock and Dice to come to me. When they are squatting in front of me I murmur, ‘Three patrolling the perimeter, get one each, take them out, quietly, then come inside.’

Getting a nod from each, they fade into the shadows of the trees around the property and I move forward to where Target’s waiting to enter the front of the building through a window that’s always left open, good for us they don’t have first class security.

Target flicks two fingers and two of the brothers peel away to the left, leaving Target, myself and Drag to climb through the window into this run-down mansion.

Lucky for us, the moon is giving us quite enough light to see without using flashlights; we don’t want to give any sign we’re here until we have to.

Climbing through the window, I step as lightly as I can towards the door on the opposite side of the room.

Drag is behind me and as we reach the door, Target whispers, ‘Lock and load brothers, from this point you just take out anyone that steps in our path.’

Target opens the door slowly and checks the hallway beyond. No one is in sight from what I can see, and we all slide through the door, keeping near the wall.

Checking out as best I can, Target points to the staircase, and I nod, tiptoeing forward. As we reach the bottom of the staircase, a shot outside rings loud and clear. We all duck to the side of the stairs and wait to see if anyone appears.

A light comes on from one of the upstairs rooms and someone storms down the stairs to the front door. Target indicates we wait, so we stay quiet, leaning on the wall, and he takes out a Bowie knife and slips away from us.

Three or four minutes pass and we hear a scuffle before a gurgle and all quiet once more. A scraping noise is the next we hear before we see Target dragging someone to a chair against the wall. He throws him into the chair and props him as though he is sleeping, then tips his hand at us and indicates we go up the stairs.

Holding my weapon out in front of me, I take one step at a time, pressing down slowly in case the stair creaks as I step on it.

Drag and Target are steadily moving forward. Just as we reach the top, a door opens, and a man steps out in front of us. Before I can move, Drag has shot the sucker between the eyes, then all hell breaks loose.

Rushing to the top, the three of us move together, one taking the lead while the others watch the rear, halfway down the hallway another door flies open and bullets are flying around, I throw myself down and as I fall I twist and shoot someone who had come up behind us.

The main door downstairs is smashed open and our brothers rush in, weapons drawn and ready to rumble.

Downstairs, doors slam open and Fox, Rock and Dice fire at anything that moves, taking out anyone that is fool enough to enter.

A door at the end of the hallway opens and we see Bloom step out, but as we would expect, he turns and slams the door behind him.

Target runs full out and slams into the door, splintering it, but it holds. Shit, he’s fast because as quick as he hits it, he’s on the floor waiting for any bullets to pass over him.

Drag stays near the wall and is on one side of the door while I am on the other, Target is still on the floor but now on his belly, with his weapon pointing at the door.

We can hear cursing and banging coming from the bedroom, and I’m not waiting any longer. I step away from the door, then smash my foot straight through it, dodging a bullet that flies past my shoulder.

Drag can see through a gap in the shattered door and before I can speak, he takes a shot and, looking at me with a grin; we hear a thud as a body hits the floor.

Standing, Target shakes his head at us both, then pushes his way into the bedroom, ‘You got him Drag, come on in, no-one here going to worry us now.’

Walking into the bedroom, Bloom’s body is laying on the floor with a bullet hole straight through his temple. I lift an eyebrow at Drag, letting him know I’m impressed.

‘He turned at the last minute Pres or it would have been between his eyes.’ chuckling Drag walks over and kicks Bloom. ‘That was for Mia motherfucker.’

Target laughs and we turn to get the hell out of here. The sounds of gunfire have ceased and I pray all my brothers are safe. We had left four outside and three now downstairs plus us three, so I know we need ten live brothers.

‘Did you think there would be more men here, Target?’ I ask because I thought it would be an all out war, but it didn’t take us long to take them out.

‘I’m waiting to hear from Chaos as I don’t think they were all here either, Pres.’ Target responds, looking at his cellphone, waiting for the ping of a message.

Walking down the staircase, Fox turns to me. ‘We got five Pres, but I thought we would have more. I wonder if they all went over to the shack?’

Target’s cellphone pings and he looks at his message, ‘Pres, something’s not right, there was only four at the shack. With the numbers we’ve got, there are six missing.’

‘Back to the van, fire this shit up Dice, then let’s get back to the clubhouse.’ I say, but I’m worried. Where the fuck are the others and why weren’t they not at either location.

As we’re climbing into the van, Drag shouts, ‘Back to the clubhouse now, it’s under attack.’

Walking down to the kitchen, I find Shar talking to Jig while they sit drinking a hot chocolate by the looks of it.

‘Oh, can I have a hot chocolate, Shar? You make the best.’ I ask, smiling at her as I know she’ll make me one.

‘Sit your ass down and I’ll make you one.’ Shar takes a pan and fills it with milk, then places it on the stove to heat through.

Before anything else can be said, Brad runs through shouting, ‘Get upstairs, we’ve been breached, I think they’ve shot Fizz, he’s down.’

Jig shoots to his feet, and opens a cupboard, taking out a box, handing Brad a weapon, pushing us through into the common room and behind the bar. ‘Stay down and quiet.’

Shar and I look at each other with shock and fear in our eyes. Jig is at the other end of the bar, kneeled down at the ready.

I remember that Axel told me under the bar itself is a loose board and weapons are there as an emergency, so I crawl where he’d shown me the board and I wiggle it until I can lift it free.

Taking out the weapons, I hand one to Shar, who grabs a clip and loads it up, then she does the same to another, handing it to me.

Jig whispers to give him another loaded weapon ready, as he doesn’t have any spare clips. As I pass him the weapon, the door to the clubhouse flies open and we hear some fucker shout, ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are.’

I lift an eyebrow and look at Jig, who shakes his head and rolls his eyes as if to say what a fucking asshole.

‘Where shall we start?’ someone says and we can hear them walking around the common room.

Listening, I’m trying to work out how many there are and I hold up four fingers to Jig. He shrugs, he’s not sure, then I get nearer and whisper, ‘Where’s Brad?’

‘Quiet Mia.’ He whispers back to me and before I can say anything a man steps into the end of the bar and looks straight at us and grins, but before we can do anything a shot’s fired and he falls to the floor.

My head whips around and I see Shar blow heat from the end of her weapon as though she’s a fucking gunslinger.

Throwing myself to the floor as they fire bullets into the bar front, bottles and glassware are raining down on us. I throw my hands over my head and I feel shards of glass digging into my hands and arms.

Jig throws himself out at the end of the bar, firing. Shar jumps up firing and I scramble to my feet and come face to face over the bar with an asshole. Lifting my gun, I slam the gun barrel to his forehead and pull the trigger. The sight is so horrendous I turn around and bring up the meal we had earlier.

I hear more shots fired and then silence. Standing, I look over the bar and see Brad standing in the clubhouse doorway with a look of hatred on his face as he’s checking out the downed men.

Jig stands and walks over to each of the men, checking for a pulse, six of them and all dead. I should feel bad, but I don’t care. They deserved what they got.

‘Brad, is Fizz okay?’ I shout and he turns around and runs to the gatehouse.

Shar walks over to Jig and looks up at him, ‘Okay Jig, so what do we do with this lot?’ and she points at the dead bodies.

‘We’ll get rid of them, Shar. Are you both okay?’ he responds, grinning at the look on our faces. I’m not sure we look good. I got splattered with glass, so now I have some minor cuts I need to get cleaned out.

Brad walks through the door half carrying Fizz and we rush over to help him get Fizz settled in a chair. I look at his head and he has a nasty gash on the back of it. I’m sure he’ll need stitches.

Hearing squeals of vehicles, we all point our weapons at the door and relax when Axel and our men walk through. Axel runs over to me and grabs me into his arms, then looks me over to make sure they have not shot me.

‘I’m okay Axel, just got some minor cuts from glass falling on me.’ Shar steps in front of us, ‘Come on, let me help you get this glass out.’ Giving Axel a quick kiss, I follow Shar to the kitchen.

After this, the night is a blur, men taking out bodies, talking, laughing, cursing, drinking and thankful we are all alive and well.

Turning to Axel, I frown and ask, ‘Axel, where are Bubbles and Brandy?’

‘I don’t know, I’ve not seen them.’ Axel shouts to Buzz, ‘Buzz, can you check where Bubbles and Brandy are? They should be here somewhere.’

‘Sure Pres.’ and he disappears down the hall.

Sharp walks over to us and sits in front of us. ‘Well Axel, we’re not hanging about. We’re going home. I’m pleased we got the bastard, and it’s done with. Mia, I’m sorry we didn’t support you when we should have and I hope one day you can forgive us.’

Nodding to him, I say nothing, as I’m not sure I know what to say at all.

‘Thanks for going with us Sharp.’ Axel states and then stands, giving him a handshake and leading him to the main door and out to the compound.

Buzz walks back through with a grim look on his face, ‘Where’s Pres?’ he asks me and I nod at the door, ‘He’s just seeing Sharp off.’

Nodding, he sits across from me and asks if anyone checked out the cuts for me. When I say yes, Shar did it for me. He shakes his head. ‘We need a medic and a cook.’

I raise my eyebrows at him, but before I can respond, Axel’s back and lifts me onto his lap, wrapping me in his arms.

‘Did you find them, Buzz?’ Axel asks.

‘Oh, yeah, they were hiding under their beds.’ Buzz snarls, ‘When I asked why they didn’t come and help, they just started crying, so I walked out. We need to get rid of them both, a real waste of time. No one taps them anyway.’

I grin, then laugh, which has Axel and Buzz raising eyebrows at me questioningly, ‘Well, whores that nobody has sex with, what does that say?’

Shaking their heads, they both laugh and Shar sits next to me and she must have heard as she says, ‘Too much cockadoodle-doing Mia.’ and we all burst out laughing.