Page 1 of Hatter

Prologue

Hatter

I stared at my brothers-in-arms, knowing they felt every bit as lost as I did. We’d been through hell together. Even Charlie, who typically had a smile on his face, seemed somber and at loose ends. We’d been following orders for so long, none of us knew what to do with ourselves now that we were civilians.

“I have my inheritance from my grandfather,” Red said. “But it’s just money. It isn’t going to fix everything.”

Marcus rubbed a hand over his head, and the hair that was slowly growing back in. “What’s something we all enjoy?”

“Shooting things?” Charlie asked with a smirk.

“Blowing shit up?” Lee asked.

He had a pen in his hand, flipping and twisting it one way then another. His leg bounced up and down. I’d noticed since we’d been back, his anxiety had shot through the roof. Hell, we all had PTSD -- well, if it still existed as such. The therapist we’d been forced to speak with had called it something else. Never could understand why people had to rename shit.

“What if we got motorcycles?” Marcus asked. “I used to have one back in high school. One hell of a rush.”

Red glanced at Lee. “Or a nice leisurely ride might be calming.”

“All right. So we all splurge on motorcycles,” I said. “Then what?”

Red cracked his neck. “Well, we’re used to being part of a brotherhood. What if we made our own?”

“Like a club?” Marcus asked. “Like that… what was that show?”

“Sons of Anarchy,” Red said. “And not exactly. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to start selling drugs, guns, or women. But we have to start somewhere, right? I could use some of my money to get us a place.”

“Clubhouse,” Lee mumbled.

Red nodded. “Yeah, one of those. Maybe some land. Fence it off to keep people out. It can be our little sanctuary away from the chaos of life.”

“Clubs need names, right?” Marcus asked.

I looked around at my brothers. Even though some of us were still clearly a bit lost, I could see a spark of hope in their eyes. A place away from everyday life, and a bunch of men who were not only somewhat crazy but didn’t feel like we fit anywhere.

“Alice in Wonderland,” I muttered. “What was it called later? Underland?”

“Underland MC,” Red said. “I like it.”

“We’ll need road names.” Marcus shifted his focus to me. “If we’re going with Underland, shouldn’t we keep with the theme?”

“Officer positions too,” Red said.

“It’s not like we have to decide everything right this second,” I said.

Marcus pointed to me. “And you’re the President. You’ve been leading us all these years. Why stop now?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Why did I feel like I’d just been sucked into something that was going to give me a constant headache? “Fine. I’ll be the President.”

It took the rest of the night to come up with a general plan, the first of which was each of us going to buy a bike. My brothers hadn’t looked so excited about anything since we’d returned. I only hoped this idea didn’t end up being a bust. I wasn’t sure I could pull us all back from the precipice again. We’d already come close to losing Lee once since we’d been discharged.

Maybe coming up with names after Wonderland characters wasn’t such a bad idea. After all, we were all crazy, just like the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and pretty much everyone else in Wonderland.

Becoming civilians after so long really did feel a bit like falling down the rabbit hole. Maybe this new reality of ours was much the same as what Alice experienced in the story. I looked around the room at my brothers. Welcome to Underland… where crazy is the new normal.

Chapter One

Hatter

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