Page 4 of Nitro

I try to open my mouth, but the gag reminds me that I’m still in this horrible place. I feel the cloth with my tongue so I know they haven’t changed them out to our feeding gags. They never come in here to wake us up. Something must be wrong.

My legs have gone numb from laying on the hard floor, but my captors don’t give me any leeway. The one with the blond spiky hair kicks me in my thigh when I don’t get up fast enough. I grunt out and a few of the girls try to rush over to help me.

“Mmmph!” I stare at the girls letting them know that they need to stay back. I don’t know what’s going on, but I can take a foot to my thigh better than I can take one of them being killed.

I push myself up to my knees then as quick as possible I stand on my feet. It’s much harder to do with my arms tied down to my sides.

Everyone else gets up from the floor as well. There is no clock where we are kept, but my internal clock is telling me that it’s way too early to be up.

The man in front of us I’ve seen with Bull quite a few times, but I don’t know his name. He’s just another asshole, but he’s the one that seems to be in charge right now.

“Ladies, I want you to hear me and hear me well. I will say this once and if you do anything besides what I’m about to tell you I will make sure to leave you here in this basement to rot with no water and no food for the rest of your lives. No one will come to help you and no one will ever find you.” Asshole passes his gaze over each one of us before he starts talking again. “I’m going to take the gags off and the cuffs, one at a time. You will cross your hands in front of your bodies and not say a word. If you understand, nod.” I nod right away. I would follow his simple instructions if it meant that I wouldn’t be left behind. A small spark of hope tries to burn inside me. For a second, I think maybe Bull has grown tired of waiting for someone to come for us. Maybe he’s tired of keeping us prisoner. I squash that down right away. There has never been any captor who just gets tired of holding their hostage. That shit doesn’t happen. If we are being moved it’s because he’s getting ready to kill us or because someone else has taken us off his hands.

Either way I have to go along with the ride. I’m too weak to fight back and too fucking stubborn to just die. One way or another I’m going to make it through this and I’m going to make sure that the rest of these girls do to.

Nitro

Finding ways to sneak out of the clubhouse without Rooster catching on to where I’m going is getting harder, but luckily, he trusts me. I'd told him that I was going to check on a few locals that might have information on where some of the missing Spawn of Chaos recruits would be. Over the years there have been dozens of people who try out to become Spawns, but never see it through since they don’t have what it takes. This life isn’t for everyone.

Instead, I’m sneaking into a mausoleum at a graveyard to meet up with Shepard.

I pull my bike into a space and quickly walk towards the large stone building. I don’t pull my weapon, but I keep my hand on it just in case. I can’t be too safe now a days.

“I was about to get worried about you brother. I’ve been waiting for over an hour.” Shepard steps out of the dark corner.

“Well next time I have to lie my way out of the sights of a fucking mad man I’ll be sure to take into consideration how long you have to wait.” I give him a tight smile, but he doesn’t return it.

“Nitro, did you forget who you’re talking to?” Shepard squints his eyes at me and walks closer.

“No, I didn’t forget. Did you?” I reply and have to bite my tongue to keep from saying anything more. I may be wearing this fucked up Purged kutte, but the Spawns of Chaos is my real home and Shepard is my real president. If there is anyone that I’m bound to show the utmost respect, it’s him.

“Nitro, no one forgot. I didn’t forget about you. We’re all working on this together.” He says trying to calm me down.

“Really because it feels like I’m the only one in the line of fire here. You don’t fucking understand the shit that I have to go through in order to make sure Rooster doesn’t fucking suspect me.”

“Nitro, I told you this wasn’t going to be easy; you know how crazy—“

“He has us killing kids, Shepard. Little kids that aren’t a threat in the least, because they are witnesses. Has the fucking club members running around like crazed animals with a prison mentality. Dog eat dog. The strongest takes what they want and the weakest gets beat to death. He’s talking about fucking getting into auctioning. I don’t know what more you want me to do, but I know I can’t take much more of this. I’m not on speaking terms with the law, but this isn’t me.” I drop my head too ashamed to look my president in his eyes, “I just want to come home Shepard. Let’s find a different way to draw Rooster out. There’s got to be another way”

Shepard grabs the back of my head, the same way Rooster had the day before, but where Rooster would try to squeeze the life out of me Shepard comforts me. “Brother, I can’t tell you what your sacrifice means to the club. You can’t be repaid. I promise you if there was a way for us to bring Rooster down without doing this then I would do it in a heartbeat, but we can’t. Rooster is as slippery as they fucking come and he knows that we are looking for him. If he gets even a whiff that we may be getting close to him, he disappears without a trace. We need you inside keeping tabs on what’s going on. We need you inside letting us know all the fucked up shit that he’s doing. So, when it’s finally time for us to take him down, we can take down all the bullshit that he’s done right along with him. I know it feels like you’re alone, I promise that you’re not.” He lets go of me and steps back.

I take a breath and try to compose myself. “Do the guys still think I’m a traitor?”

“Yeah, it has to be that way Nitro, I’m sorry.” Shepard shrugs.

When Shepard had sent me on this secret mission, he made it seem like I'd left the club. He said it was because he wanted everyone to think that I was really on Rooster’s side that way if it did leak, they would corroborate the story. The problem with that is now I couldn’t call on any of them if I am in a jam. Shepard may say that I’m not alone, but I am.

“So, what do you know about this auction shit? I haven’t heard anything about him starting this up on his own. I know he was trying to work with Yemen, but with Yemen in jail there is no way for him to move the women.” Shepard leans against one of the stone statues.

“That’s what I thought, but apparently he is using all his connections to start his own little side hustle. With Yemen going away it left a lot of people holding the bag, some more literally than others. Rooster thinks he’s going to be able to move the women and become a powerhouse, in that regard.

I’m sure he’s still going to be working through his mafia and underground connections, but for at least the next few weeks I think he is going to be focusing on getting this auction bullshit off the ground.” I turn to the doorway, watching my back, just in case.

“I thought you said that you guys had an underground clubhouse. How is he going to guarantee a good product down there?”

“Bro, I haven’t the slightest idea, but you know Rooster, he can always pull some shit out of his ass and get it done when he needs to. I’m just telling you what he said.” I shrug and push my hands into my pockets.

“Alright, I hear you. You need to get back. Make sure you keep your head on right and don’t get caught up. We need you. Your brothers need you.“ Shepard says making sure to keep eye contact with me.

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