Hunter (Riders of Apollo #2)

Chapter 33: Julian Atlas

They're using heavy artillery to attack us which is quite amusing considering it's not going to work. Romeo and I have rigged all sorts of fun surprises for that shit. Still I grab Mari and Gem, forcing them to follow me to the new bunker that we fitted for Lexie which is where all the girls will stay throughout the fight.

Bear opens the door and for once Lexie obeys without any argument. Saviour is angry that she can't fight but knows the reasons why so promises to protect all four of them and her unborn baby. I kiss Gem's head and tell her I love her; she says that she loves me too with bright eyes and pink cheeks.

God, she's perfect.

Lexie takes her knowing that I need a minute with Mari. "Be careful." She whispers, her voice breaking slightly as her eyes tear up.

"I love you, baby." I brush her cheek and from the tension in her body I know she thinks this is a goodbye.

"I love you." Her voice is still soft, and I can feel her shaking in my arms, waiting for the other boot to drop. I kiss her, hard and bruising before gently pushing her into the room, watching as the door closes.

The three of us take off to the weapons room, loading up on armour and weapons. We have Runner and Romeo on the roof as sharpshooters who are communicating through the comms to us so that we know what's going on.

"We've got the entire club out here, Prez. They're not backing down; Slasher has brought a bulldozer for the front gates." Romeo's voice is tight as I hear them fire a few more shots off at the attacking forces. There's no point in us moving out until all the traps have gone off, including the small landmines that I planted a few days back.

There are many reasons as to why people couldn't leave the club and that's one of them. Can't afford for them to be blowing themselves up, not only reducing our forces but making the Fire Demons aware of them.

We could call for backup with the Mexicans, Russians or Italians but Bear decides that we've asked enough from them and this is our own shit. We're gonna re-establish our fucking legacy and destroy another MC.

I'm sure we're already in plans for what we will do with their lands. Use their strip clubs, their shitty little cafes and anything opened under their name will be ours and they will be six feet under. I cock my gun and take my place at the rear of the room.

Bear, Reign and Breaker will be the first point of contact, Boulder right behind them and the rest of us scattered about the property ready to take down anything that even looks at us funny. We have the advantage of this being our territory, so we have complete control over the environment.

Bear nods to Mac who turns all the lights off, including the floodlights outside and even the small lights that line the wall surrounding us. We click on our night vision and Romeo and Runner switch to thermal imaging.

Bear leads the first assault out, all three of them shouldering assault rifles and splitting up at the door. "Watch our back Runner, Romeo keep shooting."

"Aye Prez." They say simultaneously as the next set of people - Boulder, Mac and Red - head through the doors. All three have different guns, their specialties I suppose, and they follow their assigned direction.

The shots start and I listen for the signal that allows my group to move out. I've got Forger, Digger and Bones with me and we'll be headed to the back of the property as we have some attackers there. A low whistle rings out and I creep forward, keeping my gun up and ready to shoot, safety off and cocked.

These assholes are rough around the edges and have no sense of technique. They have brute force and ignorance and will continue throwing the grenades over the wall, not realising that they're not hitting anyone. We all move with precision implemented over years of working together, training together and taking advice from each other's experiences.

We split into twos, one set going around one side and we go around the other. Forger rests his hand on my shoulder so that we're aware of each other and we head towards the three bastards that have hopped the wall on this side. I hold back as the first curious idiot wanders over the closest mine which explodes immediately on impact. Thankfully a grenade went off at the same time so that nobody out the front would be suspicious.

The other two idiots though look petrified to move, frozen to their spot as they try and figure out where I've put the bombs. I nod to Forger and we head forward again, I fire a short burst of rounds and take down one of them, trusting Forger to drop the other one. We have mufflers on our guns so that more people will be stupid enough to separate from each other and hop the wall, sneak attacks are always more effective in terms of lives saved rather than time used.

I hear a few puffed shots from around the corner and I catch Digger and Bones standing over four bodies. I step carefully through the minefield, I made sure that everyone else knew where they were as well because they can be kinda stupid sometimes and are likely to do something absolutely ridiculous.

I grin maliciously and back up, hiding behind the crate as five more jump over. They are armed with revolvers or machetes, showing just how hard they were hit when we confiscated their product and burned down their properties. They don't look very nervous considering they just broke into a highly secured building; they finally notice the bodies and start to scurry back.

All four of us converge to drop them as quickly as possible so that they don't alert the others over the wall what is happening. Once they've hit the floor I call up to Romeo, asking how many men we've got left outside. "None left that side."

"Move up here, you four. We're gonna need back up, they're about to break down the gate." Bear's voice is gruff and quiet, strong with determination and leadership.

Ain't no man I'd rather have lead me.

"Aye Prez."