Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
They were off with an angry roar of engines.
He could have sworn he saw Mom’s SUV parked at the gas station, but he trusted her and Jack to keep Arden safe. The memory of how Arden had helplessly clutched at his hand added fuel to the fire already burning in Mike’s heart.
He sped up, leading the whole swarm of Smokeys out of town, through a tunnel under the highway, and then down the dusty road pointing between the sandy hills. The sun was on its course toward the horizon as the column of bikers made its way along the winding road, but as they neared the place where those scumbags lived, Mike spotted a flare shot from somewhere nearby.
Kane and a few of the others sped past him before the road turned, on the heels of a truck that drove out from behind a boulder with a roar, leaving clouds of dust in its wake. Something glinted in the air and scattered over the asphalt behind it.
Mike choked, moving to the side of the road. He slowed down just as Kane’s front wheel burst with a loud bang. His vehicle swerved and its back went up, effectively catapulting Kane into the air.
“Fuck!” Mike yelled, fearing that others might meet the same fate, but none of them fell off their bikes despite two more tyres going flat. He jumped off his bike along with Kane’s dad Kurt, eager to help, but the crazy fucker was already picking himself out of the dust.
“Motherfuckers!” Kane yelled, limping their way and pulling a bit of metal out of his skin. Caltrops were scattered over the asphalt, but Mike’s gaze shot up, along a dirt road leading steeply to the top of the nearest hill. He’d been here to secretly meet up with Harlyn more than once and knew that it led to the back of the Jaren compound.
His face tensed. “You make some noise. Draw them away from the farm in the back,” he said and gestured at Axel. He needed some reliable muscle, and with Leo, Zolt, and Jack not present, his brooding brother was the best bet.
“What’s your plan?” Dad asked while some of the others started kicking the rusty caltrops off the road to clear their passage.
Mike ran up to Kane’s fallen bike and grabbed the explosives out of the back with fresh determination. “You just wait and see.”
Axel watched him in silence, a drop of sweat trailing from under his helmet.
“Slow,” Mike told him as he mounted his orange vehicle again. “They can’t know we’re about to squash them.”
A nod from Axel was enough of an answer.
Mike’s bike came back to life, and he led the way along the narrow path uphill, taking care not to come too close to the edge. Dry trees and rocks would hide them from sight, but as they reached the top and saw the compound tucked between the hills, anger flared inside Mike again.
The settlement was a collection of mismatched buildings congregated between a large workshop from the side facing the asphalt road, and a small farm with a pig pen, chickens, and some greenhouses, where the Jarens produced some of their food.
Its remote location, surrounded by the desert and elevated ground was likely why the Jarens hadn’t bothered to build any walls around their property and only had a barricade of concrete blocks and used tyres at the front. Armed men swarmed like bugs behind an old bus, which they used to block the entryway into their front yard, but the back remained unprotected, as Mike expected.
Slowly, they made their way downhill, passing behind bushes and rocks until they reached the strip of cultivated land and two greenhouses. Twin green figures of aliens dressed in rags and straw hats stood in the fields instead of traditional scarecrows. As tall as an average woman, the statues were one of the Jaren’s more expensive products, but they didn’t look too great from up close, with clear mold lines and unsophisticated features. But hey, maybe those two were just prototypes?
With the explosives in hand, two guns, and Axel to flank him, Mike was thirsty for mayhem, but as furious as he was, he didn’t want to harm any innocents, and he’d found out from Harlyn that the Jarens had many children. That was actually when Mike dropped her like a hot potato. They’d been having a bit of fun, and she started talking about their future kids’ names. Who did that?
“What’s the plan?” Axel asked, pulling out his gun as they scooted behind a shed just off the small field.
“We wait for the others to draw their attention,” Mike said to buy himself some time, but Axel was relentless and instantly asked again.
“And then?”
Mike wanted to growl that he wasn’t sure yet, but the moment he caught a whiff of pig shit, the light bulb went on in his brain and his mouth spread into a manic grin.