Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 76881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Crank's doing his best to keep his wheels on the road. The van's heavier, but the bike trailer is throwing off the balance. He veers hard to the left and the trailer hops sideways on one wheel, but luckily lands flat.
I fire a couple more shots towards the driver’s side of the following car, trying to throw it off. The side mirror and windshield shatter, giving me a brief flash of a snarling face before it swerves through the right lane, over the shoulder and into a ditch.
Maybe we can make it outta here after all.
We’re driving parallel to the highway on a local road dotted with infrequent gas stations and run down stripmalls. If we can lose these fuckers and get back up there, maybe we can—
A second car slams into the back of the trailer, fishtailing the back of the van. This time there's no recovery for Crank. He manages to straighten out, but only by letting it go the way it wants, which is off the side of the road. The van clips the side of a sign, and the shriek of metal on metal makes my hair stand on end. The van barrels straight into the empty parking lot of an abandoned truck stop with a billboard advertising gas, food, porn and free coffee. The trailer bounces off a concrete barrier on the way in, making me wince. I follow. If anything happens to that bike, Crank’s gonna be out for blood.
Instead of slowing down, the van speeds up. What the hell?
Crank aims straight at a pair of double doors on the front of the building and rams them hard enough to send the van partway into the building. A little ahead, Savage pulls in through the exit to the parking lot. To her credit, Paige isn’t screaming, but that might just be because she’s too freaked out. We dump our bikes around the side and Savage keeps Paige between his body and the side of the building as we stay low and rush to check on Crank. Every second with no cover feels like an eternity.
The van door is open and there’s glass everywhere. “Crank!”
“In here!”
We round the front of the van just in time to see one of Eddy’s guys coming around the other side. He raises his gun, but he’s slow as fuck. By the time he has his hand up, he’s already dead. The body stands for a second with a neat little hole right in his forehead before collapsing backwards into the wall. Idiot. If you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing, stay home.
Paige screams, and Savage is quick to slap a hand over her mouth. “Save it for later,” he snarls.
She whimpers, but nods.
Crank's crouched down just inside the store, holding his head in his hands. He pulls one away and there’s blood on his fingers, but he’s conscious and breathing.
“How you doing, man? Pop any leaks?” I keep looking behind to catch any more of those fuckers sneaking up on us. “That was one of Eddy’s. There were what, six of them at the diner?”
Savage nods. “Yeah. But I have a feeling he went for backup.”
Crank blinks as he raises his head to look around. There's a solid gash on his forehead, dripping blood into his eyes. He wipes it away with his hand, making himself look like a fucking wildman. “I’m good. Head’s going to be fucking pounding tomorrow, though.”
I glance out of the ruined entrance. The rest of our tails are waiting outside, regrouping.
“You good to run? We gotta get the fuck outta the van and inside.”
His clouded eyes sharpen as I watch. “Fuck. Paige and Savage?”
“We’re okay,” Paige answers in a shaky voice.
“Alright, come on. Get farther in because they’re not gonna sit out there forever.” Savage has drawn his iron and points deeper into the store with it. “If we’re lucky, we can pick them off as they come in.”
I put my hand on Crank’s shoulder as he tries to stand and wobbles a little the first time. He brushes off the help. “If they fucked up my bike I’m going to murder every fucking one of them. And if they’re already dead, I’m going to Frankenstein them together and murder them again.”
“I know, buddy. Come on.”
Fully inside the store, it takes a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Dust hangs heavy in the air, but the shelves around us are still full. It looks like the owner just gave up and left one day.
“Damn.”
Dildos. Dildos everywhere.
11
PAIGE
I keep as low behind the counter as I can, crouched deeper than any YouTube yoga video ever managed to get me. “What’s happening?” I whisper. “Do you think it’s the bounty?”
Poe shakes his head. “It’s the same crew that tried to grab you after work. I’m sure they’ll grab you if they get the chance, but I think this might be more about revenge for us showing them up. If they were just trying to steal you back, I think they’d’ve been a little more careful with slinging lead our way.”