Justice (31 page)

“So, we give up, let him go? He’s a maniac. He won’t stop here, he’ll do this again and again. He’ll probably come back here for revenge.” Alexis’s face was flushed and she was breathing heavily.
 

“Alexis.” Zach pulled her close. “He’s on his own. He doesn’t have his men. He won’t be able to do anything. We can’t risk our lives for his. He didn’t die, but he is exiled. That’s gotta be something.”

“I don’t like it,” I said, looking at the couple. “I don’t like someone out there like him.”
 

“We don’t have much of a choice,” Zach said. “There’s nothing we can do.”
 

SIXTY-THREE | Is this a dream?

I slept terribly. My night was racked with the worst dreams. In one, I was trapped under water, something pulled at my feet. I was weighed down by my heavy boots and clothing. I awoke with a scream stuck in my throat. It was a common nightmare I had when I was stressed out, blame swim qualifications in Ranger school.
 

There was excitement in the hall, the noise had woken me.
 

“What the hell?” I got off my cot and poked my head out of the little cubby I was assigned to.
 

There were a few people running toward the stairs to the second floor. I followed out of curiosity, hoping it had nothing to do with a certain traitorous biker who was holed up there. Or a fugitive biker who had escaped today.
 

A large group of soldiers and troopers were congregating in the main area. I spotted Romeo and walked over to him.
 

“What’s going on?”
 

“The radios are working. They got the tower up last night and the solar is working now. It was nothing but static all today, but they heard something.”
 

“Come back, this is the 199
th
, out of New Orleans,” a soldier sat at the com system and spoke into the microphone.
 

“199
th
, holy shit, I mean, come in 199
th
,” a tinny voice said over the radio.
 

“199
th
here, identify yourself,” the soldier said.
 

“199
th
, this is Fort Polk, glad to hear you’re back in the game.”
 

The entire room erupted in cheers and laughter. People were hugging each other, and a few of the tough guys and girls were caught wiping at their cheeks, embarrassed.
 

First contact.

There was no going back to bed after that. I knew I would only toss and turn. I was worried about Rebel. I was worried about him being exiled. And now if he was, he would be out there with that sociopath.
Exile was certain death.
I couldn’t think about that.

It was close to six in the morning, so it wasn’t that tough to stay awake. Reid’s trial would start in a few hours. Everyone around me was buzzed with excitement about making contact with the large base in Central Louisiana. Conversation continued between our base and Fort Polk, mostly logistics. They wanted to know what kind of operation we were running.
 

Fort Polk was now a hub for the Gulf South and housed two senators from Texas and the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, who was now technically the governor since the Governor hadn’t been heard from since it all went down. Polk was also in contact with the Capitol, which was now in rural Texas, since the president, who was still alive, had been on a visit down there when shit hit the fan.
 

We learned all this in five minutes. Our world expanded and became a national landscape again.
 

I sat there and listened to it for as long as I could. It was surreal. A President of the United States? A governor? Those terms seemed so outdated, so vintage. I couldn’t process them. It was only a word. I wouldn’t believe it until I could see it. Until I could walk out from behind high walls and feel safe.
 

I didn’t think that was anytime soon. I noticed the guard from Reid’s door had joined the madness, so I slowly slipped away. Romeo noticed where I was going and shook his head, but smiled. He too had heard the rumors, obviously.
 

I slipped into Reid’s room and onto his cot. He didn’t flinch as I gently woke him.
 

“Is this a dream?” he mumbled, but he was too aware of me to be asleep, the faker. He was also too ready as his body covered mine. His mouth trailed a lazy pattern down my neck.
 

I sighed with contentment as I felt his hand at my waistband.

“Yes,” I moaned.
 

SIXTY-FOUR | It's All Over Now

She slipped out right before it was time for my trial. Hopefully no one noticed her. She said she would be fine, no one was paying attention to this room. Something about the radio working now and getting in contact with a base up in Central Louisiana.
 

I got dressed and sat on the edge of my cot to wait it out. It was only a few minutes before there was a knock on my door and Graf came to collect me.
 

“I’m not going to restrain you, don’t make me regret it,” he said gruffly. I didn’t deign to answer him. I had been nothing but compliant this entire time, his stupid words were only said to reinforce his dominance.
 

He led me downstairs and across the open yard. The day was warm, truly warm, not a chill in the air at all. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue and I could go without a jacket and only do shirtsleeves. It felt like it was over seventy degrees. It was one of those days when before the world went to hell, I would have gotten on my bike and driven out of the city just to get on the road and feel the warm air on my skin.
 

I looked up at the sun and blinked from the brightness. My gaze was drawn to the corner of the lot where a few of the biters pushed against the fence.
 

“You better take care of that,” I said. “They build up, they’ll push the fence down.”
 

The fence wobbled under their onslaught. It wasn’t reinforced, they needed to do something about that too.
 

“You need to worry about your own stuff,” Graf responded and led me to the far building that used to be a drug store.
 

The room was nowhere near as packed as it was for Junior’s trial. Hannah was in the front row next to a stoic Alexis and the guy people called Romeo. Felicity was in the second row, sitting with a woman I assumed was her mother. They looked similar. Her hair was still shorn tight to her head and I regretted doing that to her, since it wasn’t necessary.
Bad timing as usual
.
 

Jazz was back and a few other women, including one I recognized. I winced, she wouldn’t have anything good to say about me. I remembered what she had gone through and it wasn’t pretty.
 

I was seated as the guest of honor and the judges filed in.
 

“Reid Gauthier, street name Rebel, you’ve been charged as an accessory to a human trafficking ring, accessory to rape, accessory to murder and assisting known traitors to the United States of America,” Poche said.
 

They were getting more formal now that they had made contact with the chain of command.
 

“Your actions will be judged by this panel. Once a verdict is given, we will sentence you immediately. Do you understand this?”

I nodded.
Yup. Got it.
 

“We are asking for anyone in the crowd to stand up and speak for the accused.”
 

It didn’t take long. A woman in the back stood up. I recognized her as being the woman Eagle had claimed.
 

“I’m Sarah Lake, I was considered Eagle’s property. Rebel escorted me to Eagle who was organizing the stores, or something. They didn’t tell us anything, so I don’t know what he was doing, really. The only thing I knew was that he liked to rape me. Eagle, not Rebel,” she stuttered and I felt terrible for her. I knew what Eagle was capable of.
 

 
“But, Rebel,” she went on, “He took me off base and brought me to one of the houses, because Eagle requested me. He could have let me go, but he delivered me to that sadistic bastard. I asked him to let me go, but he didn’t.” She sat back down gruffly and I frowned at her statement.
 

I had done that.
Guilty
. No excuse.
 

Felicity’s mother stood up. I braced for impact.
 

“I’m Vivian Barrow, this is my niece, Felicity Barrow,” she motioned for Felicity to stand up and ran a hand over the girl’s shaved head. “She’s only fourteen. We were reunited after you took over the base and I was shocked to see her dressed like a boy with her head shaved. When I asked her what had happened, she told me Rebel made her do it. My first thought was that he was some kind of pedophile and liked little boys or something.”
 

Ouch
. I shook my head, I didn’t like where this was going. I was screwed.
Fucked
.
 

“But she told me the story, about how a man had come in and gave her too much attention. Rebel had told her this was a bad place to be pretty and he had made some of the boys shave her head and give her boy clothes to wear. This isn’t a world for pretty girls, was what she said. He saved my niece from my fate. I will be forever grateful to him.”
 

I had been sitting forward in my chair and I sat back with a whoosh of air. Stunned.
 

The aunt sat back down and the woman I was worried about stood up. This was all going so fast. I wanted it to slow down, to delay the inevitable. I looked over at Hannah, our eyes met. She stared at me, nothing but compassion and feeling in her eyes. Our gazes remained locked. And suddenly the stress of this ordeal faded from me. If she could look at me this way, everything would be okay.
 

“I’m Tina, I testified at Eagle’s trial. I was his property too, Eagle’s, not Rebel’s. Rebel was actually the one that brought me in, to the base.” Everyone kind of gasped as one. It was what I was afraid of. Not an accessory. Talk about regret.
 

“It was before the Brandons had killed the National Guardsman, I thought it was a good thing. I thought I was saved. I don’t know if Rebel knew about what was going to happen. I can’t tell you that. He told me I would be safe. I doubt Rebel knew what the bikers planned, though. Eagle always joked about Rebel, how he was – well, he liked to call him names a lot. I never blamed Rebel. I just wanted to say that, I never blamed him. He said it was safe and it was. I would have died out there alone. I lived. I’m alive. It was rough going at first, but I’m alive and that is all that matters.”
 

She sat down and a girl next to her hugged her. I was in shock. I broke my gaze with Hannah and looked over at the woman who had given me too much credit. Sure, I hadn’t known Senior would start forcing the women to have sex, but I should have. I should have known what they planned. I was one of them. But she had spoken for me. I suddenly felt lighter.
I had a chance.