I nod back.
Then he’s gone. Tearing out through what’s left of the gate, heading toward the highway that’ll take him to Bonnie and Ghost. The sound of his engine fades into the distance.
Jackal crosses his arms. “How bad is Ghost really?”
I turn to face him. “Bad enough that we need to end this war before we lose anyone else.”
“Agreed.” Jackal looks around at the gathered brothers. His chapter mixed with ours. Maybe thirty men total who can still fight. “So let’s end it.”
We move into the meeting room. The one that’s still got bullet holes in the walls and broken glass on the floor.
Brothers file in behind us. Some of Jackal’s men I don’t know. Some of ours who’ve been here since before I earned my patch.
Jackal takes the head of the table. I take the seat to his right. Barnes sits to his left despite his busted arm.
“Alright,” Jackal says, looking around the table. “Someone tell me everything about the Savage Legion compound. Layout, numbers, defenses. Everything.”
Barnes pulls out a map. Spreads it across the table. “Their clubhouse is here.” He points. “About forty miles east. Main building, garage, and a couple of outbuildings. They’ve got maybe thirty, forty members total.”
“Had,” I correct. “We killed twenty of them an hour ago.”
“Right. So they’re down to twenty or less.” Barnes traces the perimeter of their compound on the map. “Single fence line. One main entrance. Back exit here.”
“Guards?” Jackal asks.
“Usually two at the gate. Maybe one or two on patrol.” Barnes looks up. “But after what just happened, they’ll be on high alert. Expecting retaliation.”
Jackal leans back. “Let them expect it. Won’t help them.”
One of Jackal’s men—big guy with a shaved head and a scar running down his cheek—speaks up. “What’s the play? Hit them fast and hard? Or siege?”
“Neither.” I lean forward. “We surround them. Trap them inside their own compound. Then we burn it to the ground.”
Silence falls over the table.
Then someone says, “That’s brutal.”
“They tried to do the same to us.” I look around at every face. “They came here to kill us. To burn our home. To wipe us out. We’re returning the favor.”
“I’m in,” Barnes says immediately.
“Same,” says Rodriguez from across the table.
One by one, the brothers nod, agreement spreading around the room.
Jackal watches this happen. Then he says, “We leave in one hour. Gear up. Bring everything you’ve got. We’re not leaving anyone alive.”
Brothers start to stand. Start to move.
That’s when someone speaks up from the back. A voice I don’t immediately recognize.
“Wait.”
We all turn.
It’s one of the newer members. Patched in maybe six months ago. Name’s Connor or Cameron or something. Young. Early twenties.
“Where’s Ash?” he asks. “Where’s the president? Shouldn’t he be leading this?”
