Alex
“Alex, they’re leaving,” Tammi yells out to me from the bar.
“Ok, thanks,” I say, stepping out of the back office.
I head up to the front in a quick jog to give my personal comforts to Zeva before she’s rushed off. It's not the moment for me to be sappy; I’ll make sure to take her out for drinks myself later. I step back in and survey the club. It’s a moderately busy evening that I can be satisfied with. There’s a little more business to handle in the back though. We have a delivery heading out for the club, and this one is big.
“You doin alright?” I say to Tammi.
She smirks at me, her eyes crinkling with wizened wrinkles. I didn’t really need to ask. She’s been handling the Honeypot for more years than I’ve been with the Order myself. I have more trust in her than most people I’ve met.
I take one more moment to enjoy the scenery of dancers in various states of undress, people enjoying themselves with drinks in hand, and impressive décor before stepping back into the office. I close the door behind me and the music dulls, just enough to concentrate. I stare at the table in front of me, recounting the boxes hiding various drugs in various ways. Stuffed bears, clothing, and other various innocuous measures we’ve come up with to create a very strange looking display. I shrug and begin to package up the boxes, making various nondescript marks on my paperwork as I do.
I let my thoughts drift back to Zeva during the monotonous work. I never thought I’d be okay with sharing a girl, but I've never had such a brotherly bond with Wade and Jason before. And there’s something about Zeva that just quells something inside us. We each have a beast within us; that’s for sure. She has faced down our beasts in many ways and seems excited to do so again. There’s no fazing her is there?
I hear a few bikes outside over the music. It must be a few of the guys who had a little too much to drink and are getting a little rowdy on their bikes. Normally I’d let them have their fun but we’ve been getting a few too many complaints to handle under the table so I head out to the front to see exactly what all the commotion is about.
As I step past the bar a customer I’d seen inside minutes ago comes through the door clutching his arm. I see blood running through his fingers and instinctively reach for the gun on my side. My first assumption is that Cole sent a few of his new boys and they got a little big for their britches, but that thought is dashed immediately as bullets suddenly rain through the front door behind the guy. A few clip him in the back and he falls to the ground.
“GET DOWN!” I yell to the entire bar and everyone begins screaming. “Stone! Get the girls in the back! Tammi, get the Stick!”
We were low on security today; one of the guys called out sick and Wade and Jason are with Zeva. Stone and Johnny are the only two guys besides me. I duck behind the bar next to Tammi.
“You okay?” I yell over the shots pummelling the front of the building.
“Yeah. What the fuck is happening?” Tammi yells back.
I barely muster a shrug before I hear the front door get kicked open. I peek over the counter and immediately fire shots at the doorway, but whoever kicked it through was still around the corner. Tammi and I wait carefully, our guns pointed at the door. My heart is beating in my ears as I draw all my focus.
Johnny creeps slowly toward the door. I try to signal to him but he’s only paying attention to the unknown assailants. A small black metal sphere rolls in. Johnny sees it and his eyes grow wide. He dives backwards behind an overturned table, just barely making cover before the grenade explodes. Shrapnel flies all over the restaurant, peppering the walls, tables, and bar with hot metal.
My ears are ringing as I peek over the side of the bar at Johnny. I can’t hear much, but I can see him clutching his leg. He must've been clipped by the explosion. Fuck… Before I have any time to react two figures follow their explosion through the doorway. I peek from my shadowed position to get a good look at them while motioning to Tammi to stay down.
The man on the left blinks as his eyes adjust. He has a red beard and a bald head, and is wearing a ripped sleeve leather jacket with the Iron Legion insignia on it. He’s wielding a Colt rifle, the weapon that’s been barraging my club. I hold my reflex to find a better opportunity as the other man steps in. The second one has a bandana over his head and long brown hair disguising most of his features, aside from the matching leather jacket to his comrade’s. In his hands is a sawed off shotgun; not something I care to meet the business end of.
As the two men scan the floor for any signs of movement I nod to Tammi, then tilt my head over to the other side of the bar for her to head that direction. I poise myself at the ready for any sign of distraction or opening against them.
“Oi hey! I know not everybody is dead here! Come on out!” the first man shouts, then fires his rifle into the ceiling in front of him. Plaster rains down, met with clicking from his gun. Thankfully he wasted most of his rounds on the outside of the building; his gun is empty. He laughs and pulls out a large pistol.
Assuming safety I see Johnny rush out, firing his gun at the first man. Two bullets connect with the man’s leg and he drops to the ground immediately. The second man whips towards him and catches a full shotgun blast to his stomach. Johnny is down for good.
“Now!” I yell to Tammi, and she fires her own blast from her shotgun, Stick. She hits the second man square on and fells him immediately. I point my gun at the man on the ground, but not before he fires directly into Tammi’s arm. I shoot my full clip into him and drop to the ground with a deep sigh.
“You alright Tammi?” I say. No response. Was it that bad of a hit?
I jump up and rush to her side. She’s in shock. I call an ambulance, then ring up Wade.
War—it has started.
Fuck.