Gabriel and Tanya were the first into the bar. Half of the other pack members had gone back to their rooms, and the rest walked closely behind Gabriel. He knew it might only be the offer of a free drink that tempted them to the bar, yet he would try to do all he could to keep them on his side. After all, it’s not every day your alpha tells you that he is, in fact, a human.

Gabriel looked for the barmaid that had served him prior, but he could see no sign of her. It was a young guy who approached and asked for their orders. Gabriel scanned the room from the old, faded mirror. The number of jackets he could see was a lot less, and the drinkers appeared older than when he'd leaned up against the very same bar, only a day before.

“You wanna grab a table mister, and I’ll bring the drinks over,” the young guy said.

“Sure, we’ll be over by the window,” Gabriel replied as he stepped away from the bar and made his way through the half-empty tables. Tanya slid herself next to the window, and Gabriel squeezed himself next to her. The other four pack members took up the next table.

Oliver (who had supported Gabriel from the start), and who everyone called “Ollie” for short, now turned his head. “How’d you find this place Gab?”

“I’ve seen it a few times, yet never paid much attention to it. It was the other day I crossed the parking lot and stepped inside for the first time,” he replied. “We’re safe here, it’s a wolf den.”

“I don’t wanna state the obvio—” Ollie started to say.

Gabriel held his hand up and halted him, mid-sentence. “Yeah, I know, but that doesn’t mean everyone else has to miss out.”

“Sorry, Gab.”

The bartender walked to the tables and handed the bottles to everyone. Gabriel wiped the condensation from his and asked the bartender the curious question he’d been wondering about. “Where is everyone?”

“They’ve all gone for an afternoon drive to the forest. They like to do it on a Monday when there are fewer walkers around. A little more peace to ride and roam where they want.”

“You mean, they’ve gone hunting?”

The bartender smirked and nodded a little. “Yeah. They can’t drink on an empty stomach,” he replied.

“They do know it’s not safe at the moment, don’t they? There are hunters around who are gearing up for a war. It won’t be long before they start to show their faces again,” Gabriel explained.

“Mister, you're sat in the middle of a biker club bar. You think these guys are afraid of a few hunters?” the guy asked.

“Hey kid, what’s your name, anyway?” Gabriel asked.

The guy placed the round tray under his arm. “Sky,” he replied. “Skyler in full, but everyone just calls me Sky.”

“Well Sky, whoever’s in charge, you’ll wanna tell them that these hunters are starting to use silver in their bullets.”

“You're freakin’ kidding me?” Sky answered, shocked. “That shit’s deadly.”

“Damn right it is. You don’t only die, your body burns up and decays in the blink of an eye,” Gabriel explained. “That shit hurts, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And they’ve made it worse than before, somehow. It’s pure, so more brutal.”

“Thanks for tellin’ me mister. I’ll tell them as soon as they get back. They shouldn’t be too long, now.” Sky headed back to the bar.

“Well, he never noticed I was human,” Gabriel said with a grin that covered all of his face.

Tanya turned her back to the window. “Don’t get overconfident, he’s still a kid. Anyone with more years under their belt will smell it straight off.”

Gabriel raised his bottle. He proposed a toast. “To new beginnings!”

The pack raised their beers and responded. “To new beginnings!” they all said, together.

The pack chatted among themselves as music filled the bar from the speakers. It wasn’t as loud as it could be, and Gabriel felt that it would probably change when the pack of bikers returned. Then, things would get a little rowdier. Bikers were generally wild, but mix that with a pack of wolves and everything could kick off in a big way. Gabriel wondered if they’d have a stripper on again. He had no idea how Tanya would react to him if he watched. She did say they weren’t in a relationship, and that they were mutually sharing the benefits.

A roar of thunder vibrated the walls of the bar. Tanya and Gabriel looked out the window. The sky was still bright, and then they saw it. A long chain of Choppers filed into the parking lot and pulled up close to their window. Engines revved, and the windows started to shake. Almost instantly, the roar subsided as the Choppers fell into silence as the riders shut off their engines. Gabriel could see a few were in a state of panic and that a couple of the girls sitting on the pillion seats had their hands pushed into their bodies.

“Something’s wrong,” Gabriel said. Tanya looked out of the window, and then her head snapped to look at the door as the bikers filtered in.

“Hunters, damn fucking hunters were there,” an old guy with a creased face and a long white beard, said. He'd put his arm under a young girl who had her hand pushed against her stomach. “These fucking bullet wounds won’t heal.”

Gabriel watched as Sky ran from the bar with a bottle of whiskey under his arm and a pail full of steaming hot water. He put it onto the floor and pointed to Gabriel. He said something to the older guy with the large beard.

The older guy laid the girl on the table and walked over to Gabriel's small pack. “Sky said you know somethin’ about this shit that’s just gone down,” he said. Gabriel heard the words, but the guy's long, frizzy beard hid his mouth from view.

“Silver. It sounds like you have a couple who’ve been hit by silver,” Gabriel explained. The old guy tugged on his beard.

“What the fuck’s the solution then?” he barked. His eyes fell back to the wounded girl who had been carried into the bar.

Gabriel shook his head at the older guy. “There isn’t any solution. It all depends on how badly they’ve been hit. If it’s shallow and you get it out quick, they might survive, but it’s gonna take days or maybe over a week,” Gabriel explained. “I saw a knife wound, and it was bad as shit, man.”

The older guy nodded at Gabriel and turned his back. He barked across the bar as he started to remove his jacket. Gabriel looked at the patch that was stitched to his denim. Riders of the Night.

“We gotta get those bullets out now. It’s gonna hurt like hell, but it’s better than the alternative,” the older guy yelled. “Sky, get to the pharmacy and buy a box of antibiotics.”

Sky hit the button on the cash register and pulled out some notes. He ran to the door, and Tanya watched him sprint across the parking lot. Her attention was peaked as she heard a scream. Gabriel stood and looked over. He saw a golden glow from a guy who had a large wound in his shoulder. Gabriel walked through the tables; Tanya followed. They stood and watched as a young brunette hung onto the guy’s hand. Agony was plastered all over his face as his shoulder glowed. Orange embers ate away at his skin and spread through his body like wildfire. Scorched flesh started to fall to the floor and then it turned to dust. The guy lifted his head as the glow reached his waist.

“Aaargh, aaaaaaargh,” he screamed out as the fire spread around the top of his leg.

The bar fell into a dead silence as the thud of his boot and half his leg hit the wooden floor. The brunette had her eyes fixed on the bottom half of his body. She never noticed that the screaming had stopped, and she’d been left holding an arm that wasn’t connected to a shoulder.

“He’s a goner,” the old guy yelled. “Hey Cindy! Let go of Kyle’s arm will ya.”

The brunette looked at what she held and screamed. She dropped Kyle’s arm onto the floor and stepped back in pure shock. Everyone watched as his body faded to charred remains that covered the table. His bones stood and then they crumbled and covered the table with a layer of dark, smoldering dust.

“Someone clean that shit up. We gotta take care of these others,” the bearded guy yelled. “Anyone ever removed bullets before?” Everyone stood silently as the bearded guy looked around his pack. “Are you all fucking useless, or shit-scared of this silver?”

“I can do it,” Gabriel said as Tanya tugged on his arm and urged him not to get involved.

“You a doctor?”

“Nah, I was in the forces, and tugged a few bullets in my time,” Gabriel remarked.

“You look a little young for the forces, mister,” the bearded guy said.

“I enlisted straight from school, I only did a couple of tours, and that was it for me,” he replied.

Gabriel lied through his teeth. He’d never set foot on any base. It’d been bullets in the pack he'd pulled; yet they weren’t silver. They were regular bullets.

“Do your best. You gotta try and save my pack.”

Gabriel smiled as he picked up the bottle of whiskey, popped the cap, and took a big swig. He then poured it over his hands to sterilize himself. The door opened and Sky stepped inside, very much out of breath.

“You got pills or capsules?” Gabriel asked.

“Both.”

“Tanya, you know what to do,” Gabriel said as he picked up the forceps and covered them in whiskey.

“Stand back and give me some room.”

The bearded guy yelled at his pack. His words were loud and serious. “Stand back, this guy needs a clear space!”

* * *

Noelle pushed the remote for the garage door. Declan heard the whirring of the motor as the door lifted. The afternoon sunshine crept up the garage door and worked its way up their bodies. Declan stood and looked into the distance, the sky now dimmed by their sunglasses.

Noelle climbed onto her quad and tried to start the engine. She looked at Declan. “It’s dead, dead as a dodo,” she said. “We can take the Yamaha buggy, that’s just as much fun, and we’ll be a little more comfortable.”

“Yeah! If it starts,” Declan replied.

“It will, this was dad’s favorite, he’s always bombing around in this,” Noelle said. “And I’m still driving. I know the land around here.” Declan rolled his eyes at the request. Women and driving; two of his favorite things, individually. But together, they could be an interesting combination, to say the very least.

Noelle climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled on her crash helmet. She fastened the four-point harness as tightly as she could. Declan slipped into the passenger seat and strapped himself in. He put on his helmet. Noelle turned the key and hit the start button. The 1000cc engine roared into life.

“You remember how to drive this?” Declan asked, just as Noelle slammed the buggy into gear and screeched the tires.

The buggy lunged and hit the gravel patch as stones clattered against the side of the house —and Declan's car. Noelle headed to the rear track and made her way down through the paddocks and toward the first patch of trees.

Declan held the book of flowers in his hand. The buggy vibrated as Noelle drove down the fields toward the river. Declan looked to his side and saw a large patch of greenery by a cut-out in the river. He tapped Noelle on her shoulder. She turned her head and nodded, then the buggy dropped two gears as Noelle spun the wheel. She hit the gas and headed to the far corner of the field. Noelle could see the slope in the field where the track was raised.

She grinned to herself as she turned to Declan. “Hang on for your life,” Noelle screamed.

She stepped harder on the gas pedal as the buggy’s rear wheels skidded in the dry grass. Declan dropped the book in his bag and grabbed ahold of the roll cage. The buggy hit the slope. Declan saw the front of the buggy as it pointed skyward. He looked to his side and could see the wide track beneath him.

“Yeehaw,” Noelle screamed as the wheels landed on the far side of the track. The buggy bucked and bounced as Declan watched the suspension vanish in itself. They bounced sideways. Two wheels stuck in the air, then it landed with a thud.

Noelle laughed with a wild fervor as the buggy screamed over toward the first patch of plants. The buggy broadsided as Noelle stamped on the brake pedal. She cut the engine, and the drone in Declan’s ears vanished, and all he heard was running water. He pulled off his shades and grabbed the book from the bag. He walked around the plants and held the photo next to each.

He stopped and turned to Noelle. “Here we go. Plant number one, that was lucky.”

He reached for the rubber gloves and tugged at two of the plants. He folded them and placed them inside a plastic carrier. He flicked the book pages to the second plant and checked the notes Judy had given him.

“Cattle, is there any cattle around here?” he asked.

“Yeah, but to save us an hour, we gotta go through the river,” Noelle replied. “You better wrap that book —and your notes, in plastic.”

Declan wrapped everything up tight and zipped it into the bag. He pulled the harness tight around his chest as Noelle fired up the motor for the second time. The engine revved, and Noelle spun the back end. They roared by the side of the river until a track led into the water.

“Hang on, there’s quite a few bould—,” she started to say as a large wave of water splashed back into the buggy.

Noelle spat out river water as Declan pulled his shades and wiped his face. Noelle handed her shades to Declan as she drove down the bed of the river. The buggy leaned and lurched as the tires hit the boulders Noelle had started to mention. The engine steamed as water evaporated against the hot metal. Left to right, Declan leaned as his body was thrown both ways. Noelle gripped the steering wheel as she pointed the buggy toward the track that led up into the hills.

The buggy emerged from the water and Noelle pulled to a stop. She grinned at Declan as he glared at her through his dark shades. “You're enjoying this a bit too much,” he said. “You want to get your mom and dad back, or what?”

“Of course, but it’s a hell of a rush! If you're good, you can drive back,” Noelle replied with a huge grin. “It gets your adrenaline going, it’s nearly as good as sex… I said… NEARLY.”

Declan laughed as Noelle held her fingers to her lips. As she pulled her hand away and blew Declan a kiss, she stamped on the gas pedal like a true revhead. The buggy weaved as they drove up the steep track to the top of the hill. They pulled to a halt on the hilltop and looked at the vast cattle fields that were laid out before them.

“Here you go. You wanted cattle, so that’s what you have,” she said.

“I think we need to go inside and follow the fence. There won’t be any plants in the middle,” Declan commented. “You know where the gate is?”

“Sure, I do. Who do you think these cows belong to? They’re my dad’s.”

Declan was amazed, and his eyes could see cattle from where they were, to as far as his eyes could see. Noelle pulled next to a gate further down the track. Declan unbuckled himself and walked to the gate.

“There’s a combination lock on here,” he yelled.

“Oh yeah! I forgot, um, one-four-zero-seven,” she yelled.

Declan popped the lock and opened the gate. Noelle drove the buggy into the field as Declan closed the gate. He clambered back into the buggy. “Crap, I’ve still got the lock,” he said.

“It’s okay, keep it. It might come in handy,” Noelle said with a smile.

“I’ve noticed that code is like a date, and it’s in a few days’ time,” Declan said. “How did you know what the code was?”

“That’s easy to remember. That's the date of my birthday.”

Declan’s face looked slightly pale. “Oh, cool.”

“The older you get, the better you get —unless you're a banana.”