Page 24 of Nitro

“It means you’re getting out of here now.”

“No, I can’t leave without the rest of them. I have to stay.” She stands up and tries to fight with me.

“Tink, don’t you see, I’m not making any headway. They don’t trust me like they used to and I refuse to let them force me into doing something like that again. No, you need to get out and you need to find Wire and Shepard. You need to tell them where we are. They need to get to Rooster and kill him before the next Auction which will happen not this Saturday, but the next Saturday. I’m going to be dead by then.”

“No! Nitro, no!”

“Listen, we don’t have time. If this were another time or place, I’d make all the time in the world for you, but right now we don’t have it. That’s what you need to do before they come back and take these girls. Once I’m gone these guys are going to be running wild, there won’t be anyone around to stop them. Shepard needs to get rid of them. I know Wire will help, and your people too, get as many people as you can on that day. It’s their only shot.” I hold her face and she cries as I tell her everything that she needs to know. I wish I could wipe her tears away.

“Okay.” She replies.

“This is going to be tough, but I need you to get in this bag.”

She squints her eyes at me, “Really a little joke? Is that where we are right now?”

“It’s no joke, you’re small enough to fit and they are so fucked up that they may not even notice me walking out with you. Not right away at least.” I shrug and try to lighten the mood.

“I hate you for this.” She rolls her eyes as we stand there and try to work out a way to get her in the bag.

It’s easier than we both imagined.

* * *

“Stay super quiet.” I whisper and walk up the stairs with her little body slung over my shoulder in the bag.

I manage to get out the front door since Zero is supposed to be on watch, but instead he is knocked out on top of the pool table.

I don’t run right away, but the further I get from the front door the more likely it seems that we’re going to make it until a large spotlight shines down on me. I hear Gunny’s voice telling me to stop and I take off running as fast as I can toward the gate. Every step I take I watch in horror as it starts closing. I’m not going to make it.

“Nitro! Don’t you fucking do it!” I hear someone yelling from the clubhouse and I already know who it is. Rooster is up and after me.

I stop running, unzip the bag and Tink pops out. I keep her in front of me in case they start shooting. I reach in my pocket for my bike keys and my gun. There’s no sense in me having them now.

“No, come with me! Please, I can’t do this by myself! Nitro, Please!” She begs me, but I can’t go with her. I push her hard to the gate and she only just slips out as the large heavy wall closes. I fall on my ass and wait for the sound of my bike roaring to life. I want to savor it since it’s the last time I’m ever going to hear it. If there is only one good thing for me to do in this world, I’m happy I was able to get Tink out of here.

“Open the fucking door! Open it back up!” I hear Lefty yelling, but I know it’s going to take them at least five minutes to get those heavy-duty gates opened.

“You traitor! I fucking loved you!” Rooster roars out. I feel him kicking and punching on me, but I don’t pay attention to it. Instead, I just listen for the sound of my bike. Once the rolling thunder erupts in the air, I know my job is done. Rooster hits me again one good time and I let the darkness take me. I hope my brothers, both the Spawns and Wings of Diablo have better luck taking Rooster out than I did. Until then I think I’m just going to sleep for a while.

Tink

Hours, I ride for hours crying and thinking that someone is going to be right on my ass. Before I'd got in the bag, Nitro told me exactly where the Wings of Diablo's nomad clubhouse is. He had said not to go on the normal roads, to take round about ways as often as possible. He did everything he could to get me out except driving me himself. I hate that he had to sacrifice himself for me, but it only makes me respect and want him more. I need to find a way to get back to him and get him out of there. The other girls too. It’s not right that I be the only one to get free. I know that I can’t do it on my own so I’m praying against all hope that the shit that Rage had said wasn’t true. That my family didn’t just give up on me. I hope that I and the rest of the women there are worth everyone rallying and fighting. I’m hoping that Nitro has a family that would truly be by his side even in this fucked up situation.

Finally, in the dead of night I find the address that Nitro gave me. The place doesn’t look like much more than a bar. I see bikes out front and what looks like apartments above it, but I don’t know if this is it. I don’t see anyone at the front, but I can’t wait around and find out if someone is going to come out and greet me. I park Nitro’s bike and run to the back of the building hoping to find a way in. There is a small fire escape that leads right to the upper apartments. If I get picked up for breaking and entering, so be it.

I don’t hesitate for a second to push open the window and slide in.

“Wrong fucking window!” Someone growls out and tears me from the windowsill before I even have the chance to see who it is. I scream and fight, but someone is holding on to me. I think it’s a large man, but I can’t tell who it is.

“Get the hell off me! Let me go now!”

“Roth, who the hell is that? Did someone really just try and break in?” I hear someone laughing, but it’s not a voice I recognize. I did hear him say Roth though … This is the place. I had made it.

“Let me go! Wire! Wire!” I yell out hoping to startle whoever is holding me into letting me go.

“What the fuck … Wire got hookers calling out for him now?”

My heart stops beating in my chest and every brain cell I thought I had explodes. I know that voice. I’d know that voice anywhere.