My head lifted, and I hollered Rev’s name as a bullet hit him in the left shoulder, knocking him onto his ass. He almost toppled out of the truck.
Void shocked the shit near outta me when he pulled out a gun and began firing back, hollering for me to drop low.
Something nicked the side of my upper arm, and I felt a sting, followed by a warm, wet trickle down my elbow.
Blood.
Chapter 7 Void
“Get the fuck down!” I shouted at Diesel as his arm got grazed by a bullet. Blood soaked into the material of his jacket, dripping from his elbow as he cradled it against his chest. “We need to get Becca out of here! Now!”
He looked stricken. Pissed. Nearly unhinged. “Rev is hit!”
I knew. I fucking saw him go down beside Becca in the truck bed. I couldn’t do shit to stop this attack, but I could help Rev and Becca once I climbed in with them. “I’m gonna hop in the back and get the cover over us. Move!”
He nodded, already crouching low before he rushed to the driver’s side door and hauled himself into the seat. The door slammed shut seconds before another bullet lodged in the panel. He had left the engine running, which saved us precious time.
I threw myself into the back of the truck, pulling the tailgate up and reaching for the cover. The only thought in my head was protecting us from more bullets and the relentless weather. I felt something bite into my neck and then a sting, but I couldn’t risk leaving us exposed.
Once I had the cover in place, I crawled to Becca, ignoring the wet, sticky feel of the skin on my neck. I was injured, but it wasn’t critical. I could wait to triage myself. Rev and Becca needed help first.
I had never been this fucking scared in my life, pushing my fingers to Becca’s carotid artery to check for her pulse. For a few seconds, I couldn’t find it. When I finally did, it held steady even if she remained unconscious. A breath released from my chest as I rolled onto my back, wedged against the side of the truck. I’d leave her in the middle, so my body and Rev’s shielded her further.
I thought I could hear the ping of additional bullets hitting the frame around us as Diesel pulled away from the crash site. We jostled against one another as the uneven ground, due to heavy snow and ice accumulation, made smooth travel impossible. I cursed as Becca moaned.
Rev wasn’t moving. He didn’t wake up to speak or yell at us to slow down. I heard his shallow breathing, so I knew he wasn’t dead, but I was concerned. It was dark beneath the cover, not enough light to assess anyone by sight. All I could do was check for his pulse as I tried not to squish Becca beneath me.
I knew I needed to get pressure on his wound, but it proved almost impossible. I managed to wedge a blanket against the truck and pushed his shoulder against it, not liking the amount of blood I could feel soaked into the fabric of his clothes. He was losing too much. He groaned with the pain as we jerked to the side, then straightened. The truck must be sliding all over the road.
My fingers were slick with sweat or blood. Maybe both. I wiped them on my jeans and then reached into my pocket for my phone. As silly as it seemed, I dialed Diesel’s number.
“Hey,” he answered on the first ring. “You okay back there?”
“Hell no. We’re jostling all over the fucking place.”
“Yeah. Not much I can do about that.”
“Where are we heading? Because we can’t take Becca to the clubhouse or home. Too risky.”
“I was just thinking the same thing. Far as I can tell, there’s no one on our ass.”
“Yet,” I clarified. We weren’t safe until I knew for sure and could track through my laptop.
“Right. You got a plan?”
I did. “I’m going to give you an address. It’s a few miles away, but I think we can make it.” We’d have to make it becausethere weren’t any other options. The hospital was too far, and we needed shelter—a place to hide from whoever shot at us.
“I’ll get us there. Tell me.”
I rattled it off from memory, not needing to double-check that I was right. People called me paranoid because I was a conspiracy theorist and a hoarder. If they saw as much shit as I did online and in my cameras, they’d be fucking scared and paranoid too. I was a prepper. That meant I had several safe houses on private property with no links to the club or any members. Not even Becca.
More than that, I was prepared for something like this, apocalypse or not. All the locations were stocked with food, water, weapons, medical supplies, and enough to survive for six months without ever having to leave. That meant we had time to figure out who came after Becca, help her recover, and plan a way to take those motherfuckers out.
“Are they stable back there?”
Diesel sounded fairly calm considering he was shot, losing blood, and driving wounded people to a safe house while he tried not to kill us during a snowstorm. Kudos to him.
“As best as I can do. It’s fucking dark back here. I can’t see shit. Just trying to keep pressure on Rev’s shoulder and prevent Becca from sliding all over the bed.”
