Rivals 🌈 ✔

72 - Prey

Chibs' jaws were cramped from the constant clenching of his molars. Every time he moved, the pain flared up violently—sometimes so violently that he almost collapsed to the ground while even continuing to breathe was a huge effort. Seconds after Juice shot him, he'd used his belt to tie off his thigh. His medical background had come in handy for him, but at the same time, he also knew that the belt was not enough. The blood was no longer gushing out at such speeds that he would be dead within half an hour, but he wouldn't last for hours either. He was already noticing that it was harder to keep his thoughts together; sometimes they were so futile he could barely keep up with them. He was sure he had already lost his consciousness for a few minutes.

By now, he had crawled a little away from where he had been shot. The fence was already in sight. However, he was not so naïve that he could tell himself that he would be fine once he got off this property. This dump was in the middle of nowhere. Until the sun came up, no one would come here.

But he wasn't going to give up either. He turned forward again; on hands and one knee, he crawled further, his injured leg dragging behind him. At first, he'd tried to move forward while standing, but after crashing to the ground two times he had refrained from doing so. It caused more damage to his body than giving him any benefit.

Oh Juice... Never had he thought that one of his own brothers would be his undoing. Worst of all, he couldn't even hate him for it. Even more; he partly blamed himself for this fiasco. He should have been stricter with the boy. He had more or less given the two lads his blessing and if he had not, Juice might have been less blinded. Juice had also relied on his judgment and Chibs had been wrong. Although... It was not that he didn't believe that Raine didn't love Juice, but he'd put the club first. Maybe he'd never befriended Juice under false pretenses, but he'd used Juice to inflict massive damage on the Sons.

The thought of what awaited his brothers made him cold inside. War with the Mayans was inevitable —even though they needed allies now that the IRA was pissed. They needed to mobilize the other charters... and if he was honest, it displeased him that Clay had not yet ordered them to do so. They should have taken into account that Raine wouldn't tell them anything; they should've called for reinforcements already. The IRA wouldn't wait long to show their anger. 

Panting, Chibs squeezed his eyes shut. His arms trembled from holding up his weight. Dying on his own in a dump was not exactly how he had envisioned his final moments... So onward. He contracted his sore muscles and crawled further.

He was only a few feet from the fence when he heard the rumble of bikes. Chibs tried to suppress the hope that flared up in his chest. It might as well be a hallucination. He had already lost so much blood... Maybe it wasn't his brothers coming at all, but death. Hope could be devastating, which was why he didn't want to give in to it.  At the same time, he couldn't stop it either. He was human, after all. He clung to his life. And it was not that crazy if his brothers came to find out what had happened to him, right? They'd probably called him and were suspicious since he wasn't answering. He never ignored a call, as befitted a loyal club member.

The roar of the engines continued. Chibs raised his head to look ahead. Headlights came closer. His vision was blurred; he could not determine how many there were. Nor did it matter. Panting, he lowered himself to the ground; they would find him soon enough.

Chibs heard the engines being turned off one by one. Voices sounded—voices that made his shoulders tense. The voices were different from those of his brothers, there was a Spanish undertone.

The world seemed to spin as he raised his head again.

The Sons hadn't come. The Mayans had.

Something cold crept into his body, making a chilly hatred flow through his veins.

Juice leaving him to die was one thing. But that he had allowed the Mayans to finish the job... that was the worst kind of betrayal he could think of.

Shadows came closer. The new emotions gave Chibs the strength to sit upright so that he didn't look like a meek sheep. He leaned against the remains of a closet and did his best to kick the fear into a distant corner of his mind. 

It was Alvarez who stood still in front of him. Disdainfully, the Mayan president looked down on him. "Dying among the dirt?" A dark threat was intertwined with his words. "You would think one would have more respect for his brother than condemning someone he loves to that."

"Juice has... made... his choices," he muttered wearily.

"Not only Juice." Alvarez walked further forward until his shoes almost touched Chibs' exhausted and bleeding body. "And that while someone framed you..." The man moved his hand to his hip and took the safety of his gun. "None of my men had anything to do with that robbery. However, that does not change the fact that your club tortured one of my men. That he is still fighting for his life now is mere luck." There was a click. "Luck that you won't take away from him."

Chibs closed his eyes. He wished he could resign himself to his death, but all sorts of thoughts raced through his head. So close to his inevitable death, Alvarez had no reason to lie. And...

His thoughts were cut off by the arrival of more bikes.

People were yelling in the distance.

Chibs was still waiting for the bullet, but instead, Alvarez cursed. Instead of gunning him down, the man grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to his feet. Chibs cried out in pain. The Mayan did not care, brutally holding him upright as he held his gun to Chibs' head.

Chibs' leg lacked any strength, but Alvarez kept him upright as he dragged him towards the fence.

"Let's see if they think your life's worth anything."

. . .

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