Ursala shook her head.“Babe, it wasn’t about a dress or a cake.I just wanted you, nothing else, just you.I loved you all those years ago and I still love you today.I’m not as young as I was back then but this wedding is all I ever wanted.”
Crank smiled slightly.“But every woman deserves a nice wedding.”
“I got everything I ever wanted.You and me, and Reno, we’re together and that’s all I ever wanted.”She closed her eyes and leaned into him.“Now all we have to do is survive what’s coming.”
Crank grinned.“We got that covered, baby.The good Lord wouldn’t let us meet again and finally have our wedding if he was planning to take one of us home.We’re together again and this time we’ll live out the rest of our lives together.”
Ursala kissed him.
Jep’s computer pinged.One ping after another and Jep rushed over to his table.He stared at his screen then he looked up and said, “Incoming and I don’t think he’s friendly.”He turned the screen to the rest of the room and showed them the plane coming toward the top of their mountain.
They all watched the plane as it got closer and closer, then they heard the whine of the engine.As the plane got closer, they finally saw the painting of the screaming Vulture Nita told them about.
When it was finally in range, everyone waited with bated breath as the bottom door opened slowly, but just as the bomb dropped into the shooting range another rocket left its launcher and the skies went white.The following explosion they heard rattled the windows as the plane burst into dust and debris.The backlash of the explosion hit a few minutes later and the whole top of the mountain shook.
Everyone hit the floor and covered their heads as the debris began hitting the ground outside as the whole place rumbled with parts and pieces of the plane as it came down from the skies.
The debris hit several windows and someone inside the clubhouse screamed.
Finally, after ten minutes the air calmed and as the men got back to their feet the dust began to settle.
Titus and Boomer walked toward the windows to look outside.
“Holy shit,” Boomer exclaimed as he viewed the back side of the mountain.Debris and flames were everywhere.Then another blast echoed in the trees as yet another explosion happened there.
Bouncer looked over at Nita and shook his head.“His plane was loaded for Armageddon.He wasn’t just going to put down one bomb, if he’d have gotten close enough, he would wipe us off the map.”
She nodded.“Whoever fired that rocket sure enough saved everyone from a fiery death, that’s for sure.”
“It was Hot Rod,” Jep announced.
She nodded.“That figures.Now, all you have to wait for is the rest of the family.”
“How soon do you think they’ll be here?”Bouncer had to ask.
Jep looked at his screens again and snapped his head up.“About now,” he said as he slid into his chair.He began typing on his computer.“They are just about to the first gate.”
“Ok, pull the gate up,” Titus ordered.“Don’t let them through.”
“Too late, three vehicles got through,” Jep announced.“And these aren’t the normal run of the mill vehicles either.These are all heavy duty.”He looked up and added, “My guess is they’re all bullet proof and they have a load of weapons in their hands.”
Titus walked over and looked at the screen.“Is the second gate ready to go?”
Jep nodded.He flipped a toggle switch and the second gate slammed into place.At the same time metal strips came up out of the ground and the tires popped.They saw the first car swing out and then the second car rammed the first.The third car stopped and everyone got out of the vehicles as they all ran into the woods.
Even from the second gate, it would take them a while to get to the top on foot.As they ran into the woods their faces were captured by the cameras on the side of the road.
Nita hissed then began calling out their names, “That’s Eduardo, there’s Lily and Canto.Oh, and they got Ricardo with them, that’s one of the cousins.”She pointed at the screens.“That’s Eduardo’s brother Miguel and his two sons Juan and Carlos.”Then she paused.“I don’t know those boys,” she told them as two more men fled their vehicle.
Crank looked closer at the screen.“Those are my brothers, Lorance and Brenden.It looks like they joined the enemy for real this time.”
Bouncer looked over at Crank.“You know we can’t give them any quarter, right?They are batting for the wrong team.”
Crank snapped his head up and nodded.“I’m not asking that you do any such thing.They made up their own minds about which side they were on and that means they get no mercy from us.”
Boomer placed his hand on Crank’s shoulder but didn’t say a word.After a minute, he said, “Every man alive makes a choice as to who their family really is.They must learn to live with those choices.Good or bad they must be willing to stand their own ground and lay in the bed they have made.It hurts sometimes but they are full grown men and you can’t tell them what to do anymore.”
Crank sighed heavily.“I never could.I tried to tell them not to go with our dad but they didn’t see that he was doing anything wrong.They wanted all the money and all the little trinkets Dad offered them but they didn’t want the hard work of earning a decent living.So now they’ll live or die with the choices they’ve made.You can’t help those that won’t help themselves.”
