Page 8 of Alex

“Shit!” I hunker down and go faster. I reach into my pocket as best I can, and try to pull out my phone so I can call for backup. The small cellphone slips out of my hand and onto the ground when they start shooting. “Fuck! You dead motherfuckers!” I roar in frustration but keep focused on the road. Right now, I need to outrun them.

The way back to the clubhouse is completely deserted, with no usual traffic, so it’s just me and them. They’ve got no reason to back off. I reach to my side and pull my weapon out. I can’t afford to aim. I look back for a second and shoot as best I can while keeping the bike on the road.

The four of them easily swerve out of the way and one of them speeds up to get alongside me. He tries to aim his weapon, but I kick his handlebars and get him off balance. He tries to right himself but as he’s trying to do that, I pull off my lid and slam it into his face causing him to fly off his bike. The men behind him don’t react in time so instead of going around, they roll right over their downed comrade.

They continue to pursue me and instead of someone stopping to check on their man they are focused on me. They’re not going to just let me get away.

Another bullet zings by me and I swerve again. More bullets fly in my direction and one hits the side of my bike causing a loud pop followed by a deep grinding sound to erupt in the air. My speed drastically slows. I look around in a panic for a way to defend myself. I have a gun but there are three of them and one of me. No back up and my bike is about to be out of commission.

I look to the side and I see down the hill on the other side of a slow-moving brook is a small patch of woods. I know on the other side is a suburban complex. It’s a few miles but I can run it. I have no choice. There’s a decline I’m sure I can ride down coming up. At the last second, I turn my bike and basically skid down the side of the cliff.

My bike twists and groans but my bitch gets me down safely. If I could promote an inanimate object, I’d give my bike the title of VP, Max would just have to deal with it.

Finally, I make it down to the small rushing water and hop off my bike. It’s still early in the day so It’s not like I can hide in the shadows. I have to run.

The second my bike hits the ground I’m sprinting towards the trees. The water comes up to my thigh and I’m grateful it’s not faster than I thought it was.

“Don’t run now, bitch!” Someone screams out from behind me. When I chance a glance, I see they have followed me down the side of the hill and are still chasing me.

I don’t bother to reply, I need to save my breath.

Reaching down to my side, I look for my gun, but it’s gone. “God dammit!” I bark out at no one in particular. It must have fallen off when I was coming down the side of the cliff.

I make it into the trees and do my very best to stay ahead of them but they’re not giving up. As the trees get more dense it’s harder to see where I’m going. I keep running and they seem to stay right behind me.

The world spins in the opposite direction as I plant my foot and the earth gives way. I slip forward and before I can stop myself the momentum forces my body to roll down a hill I didn’t see. I don’t know how far up it is. I don’t know if there’s a free fall. All I can hope for is I fall unconscious before I die.

Trees and rocks jab into my body and I do my best to stop myself. When I realize I’m going too fast to do that, I just pull my arms up to protect my head.

It feels like forever but shortly after the fall I land with a thud on the ground. I open my eyes and look up through the trees trying to find the sun.

“He fucking fell! Go down that way! No asshole, that way! We’ll catch him before he gets to the town! Hurry the fuck up!” I hear someone scream out in the distance and my mind clears. They’re still fucking coming for me.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” I roll over to my stomach and quickly do an assessment. I don’t know if I fucked myself up from the fall but right now, I need my body to work with me, so I don’t die.

I push up and my arms ache but nothing serious. My eyes stay focused so I’m thinking I don’t have a head injury. As soon as I get up to my knees, I have to slam my hand to my mouth to keep from screaming out. Looking down I see something sticking out of my leg right below my knee.

Fuck, I broke my leg.

I reach down and feel for the bone but instead of a bone I feel wood. Just as I hear branches snapping and something rushing in my direction, I grab hold of the wood and yank. It’s not a large piece but it hurts like a motherfucker coming out. If there’s any splinters still inside of me that’s going to be a fucking problem for a different time.

Using my other leg to push myself up, I start to run again but I’m nowhere near as fast as I should be. They’re going to catch me without a doubt. I need to get somewhere I can lay low. The small suburban complex should be close, but I don’t see any houses.

As quickly as I can, I push my way through the rest of the trees and wade through another small brook only to come through on the other side to see an open field.

“No, no, no!” Searching furiously, I look for somewhere to hide. I came out next to a playing field. On the other side I see a gathering of people. Little kids in neon colors running around kicking a soccer ball and parents on the sidelines screaming at them. Luckily, I’m so far away that they don’t notice me. I can’t hear the Rolling Cobras behind me but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t still looking for me.

I do my best to walk inconspicuously across the field, but I see the kids getting ready to turn back around in my direction. Thankfully, it seems like it's toddlers playing so it’s not moving very fast.

I make it to the other sideline just as they get to the goal and am instantly surrounded by parents trying to keep up with their children. They’ll hide me for a few seconds while I catch my breath.

“Hey, man, are you okay? You look like you need a hospital.” Someone says and just that one comment is enough to get several people to look at me. I don’t need a crowd of people bringing attention to me, I need to hide.

“I’m fine, thanks.” I grit out and walk away from the crowd. There’s a parking lot and I see quite a few cars there. One of them must be open. I don’t really want to steal someone’s car, but I will.

I look back and sure enough, I see three adults coming out from the tree line. These motherfuckers are persistent as fuck.

I’m bleeding, I’m slow and I don’t have anything to protect myself with. I’m fucking screwed.

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