AllFreeNovel
Share Us
These men have always had my back.
Like I have always had theirs.
We make the trip to the abandoned asylum, which sits on a large block of land. The grass is overgrown and swaying in the late evening breeze. Immediate thoughts of cottonmouth snakes spring to mind as I step out of the van into the long, lush foliage. The fact they’re most active at night, being nocturnal, unsettles my nerves.
I might be a hard man, but snakes and I do not get along.
We’re outside the asylum gates behind some tall brush to hide our entry, but the issue is, Trap may already know we’re here.
I’d be surprised if he didn’t.
We file out, standing behind the vans for cover, with our weapons in check. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a hand-to-hand situation. Being the second-in-charge of an establishment like the Bachelors means I am a little rusty. This shit is what our soldiers are for.
Knowing I have Defiance at my back is all the confidence I need.
Hurricane glances over to the asylum, then back to us. “Keep your eyes peeled. You don’t know if he has booby-trapped the place or how many fuckers are workin’ for him. Cain… keep focused. If a brother needs protectin’, I expect you to help him before zeroin’ in on your target. Do you understand me?”
I get it. Hurricane needs me to back them, not go off half-cocked and focus on killing Trap at the possible expense of one of the brothers. “I hear you. Don’t worry, you guys are saving my ass out here tonight, so I’m not about to put any of you in danger unnecessarily.”
“Right! Let’s move in. Single formation. Keep your fuckin’ eyes peeled. When we get into the asylum, take it room by room in teams of two. Everyone copy?”
“Copy,” we all reply, crouching into the grass so we can’t be seen as we slowly make our way toward the asylum.
The silver moon lights the sky with an ominous glow as darkened gray clouds shroud the sky, making it feel more like a Halloween night than the beginning of spring. Flickers of an ominous orange glow illuminate the windows of the asylum, throwing shadows of the men inside up against the walls as they move around the various rooms. Spiderwebs dangle from the rafters, showing the years of neglect and abandonment.
The hairs on my skin stand on end the closer we inch toward the staircase of the asylum. There’s a hole in the middle where someone or something has dropped through it at some stage.
Hurricane halts us just before the tall grass stops. All of us have guns drawn as faint voices can be heard inside, but we cannot hear what’s being said. He gives the signal to Raid and Hoodoo. They duck out of the grass before us, jogging up the stairs with two stun grenades, and they hurtle them inside the broken windows. Then they kneel on the deck, covering their ears—the rest of us doing the same—as the explosion hits. The simultaneous blasts are so loud it rattles through my entire body.
We have lost the element of surprise.
We need to go now.
While everyone inside is down and out.
“Go, go, go!” Hurricane yells, signaling for us to rush the asylum.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CAIN
Hoodoo and Raid are the first to run inside the building, guns drawn, and they begin shooting.
I rush inside, Hurricane by my side as we team up. We race past a homeless old man, rocking back and forth on the floor, covering his ears, screaming to himself about the war. We ignore him and take off for the stairs. The other brothers rush off in twos in search of Trap and his men.
Gunshots ring out throughout the asylum as Hurricane and I run as fast as we can. The stairs creak and crack with our pace when suddenly, there’s a loud crack, and Hurricane begins to fall through the stairs. I turn to see his body slipping right through the staircase.
“Fuck!” he calls out. His gun drops down the flight of stairs as I turn back, running back down for him as he catches himself at the torso. I bend down, grab him under his armpits, and begin to pull.
“Jesus! You okay?” I ask as he helps me yank him back through.
Finally, he lifts back up, sitting next to the hole, letting out a long breath. His jeans are ripped to shreds, blood smeared all over them. “Fuckin’ hell. Just some cuts. Nothin’ I can’t handle. Let’s keep goin’.”
“Your gun,” I ask.
He grins, dragging another from down the back of his jeans. “So fuckin’ glad that didn’t go off during the fall.”
I place out my hand to help him and hoist him up. He limps for a few steps.
