novelraw Chapter 342: That’ll Buff Out
Chapter 342: That’ll Buff Out
"Sera," Zubair said without heat, like he actually needed to remind Lachlan that Alice was not Sera’s name.
"Alice... Sera," Lachlan said under his breath, then rolled the window up the rest of the way when a branch clawed at his face. "I think both names fit."
The muddy track curved south and then east.
The Hummer slid once before Zubair managed to straighten it.
The trees thinned, and ahead, beyond a line of hay bales gone to rot, an old service lane reconnected to the highway.
Zubair aimed for it.
The rearview showed two bikes still up and chasing. They were far back but not so far that it seemed like they were giving up.
The flatbed started across the bridge too, slow and steady, a moving wall. The riders on the bridge shoulders kept pace with it like escorts.
"They won’t follow across the cut," Alexei advised. "They’ll radio up the line if they can."
"Then up the line is where the trouble is," Elias returned.
"Always is," Lachlan interjected cheerfully.
"Check left horizon," Zubair said, breaking through the banter.
They all did. A water tower stood against the pale sky with SAINTS painted down the side in white.
The top ring had tires bolted on it like a crown. A small joke. Or a warning.
It was hard to say.
"I am going to take a stab in the dark and say that these bikers call themselves The Saints," Sera chuckled shaking her head as she put her palm to the dash again.
She could feel a faint buzz through the glove box, the vibration from the road.
The Hummer told her useful facts. It had no opinion, and she liked that about it.
The tower meant eyes, and eyes meant doors.
And putting her anywhere near doors right now was like putting a kid in a control room and told not to press the buttons.
She wanted them open.
"Fuel at forty percent," Elias warned, his voice low.
"It will be fine," Zubair replied, never taking his eyes off the road. "We need twenty to clear the grid before we can refuel. I don’t see these men giving us a break long enough to top up the tank."
"Grid?" Lachlan asked.
"There are choke points every fifteen minutes," Zubair sighed like Lachlan had just as a stupid question. "Look at the map. Bridge, water tower, junction. They’ll have a pattern. They have fewer men than ground. So, they use ground as men."
Sera leaned closer to the glass and looked at the junction ahead.
Two lanes met there by a shuttered feed store. Dark windows. A chain across the gravel lot. A dead bulldozer with a blue tarp half off it.
She smelled diesel through the vents. Fresh. Not from them.
"They staged something there," she said.
Elias followed her gaze. "Yes."
Alexei slid the rifle’s bolt a fraction and back. A habit. "What do we want to do? Through or around?"
"Through," Sera stated.
Zubair nodded once. "Through."
Lachlan looked at the ceiling like he was checking for leaks. "We could flash them. Short and sweet. No fireworks. ’Hello. Goodbye.’"
"No lightning on open ground," Zubair grumbled, sounding more and more like a tired, disgruntled teacher than a team leader. Then again, with Lachlan on the team, it wouldn’t be that far off. "Not unless we have to."
"I like ’have to,’" Lachlan smiled nodding his head frantically.
"I know," Zubair replied.
They reached the service lane.
It was rough but passable. Zubair took it fast, and the Hummer jumped twice and then climbed onto the highway again.
The empty feed store sat a hundred meters down, off to the right. The chain across the lot was loose now.
Fresh tracks cut the gravel in curved bites. The bulldozer’s tarp was tight on one side, ripped on the other.
Someone had been under it recently.
"Eyes on the roof," Alexei grunted.
Two figures lay prone along the feed store’s roofline. Scoped rifles. Good angles. Not flashy... not like the General’s men.
It was clear that these men knew what they were doing.
Another bike sat inside the shadow of the loading bay like a dog waiting to be called. A second flatbed hid behind the building with its cab pointed out.
"Zubair," Elias warned. He didn’t need to finish the thought.
"See it," Zubair replied. He didn’t slow.
The roof rifles didn’t shoot. They were waiting for a cue.
The cue would be the flatbed or a spike belt or a driver stepping in front to force a stop.
Sera opened the center console and pulled out a short pry bar they kept there.
Cheap.
Useful.
She set it across her knees. She looked at the loading bay shadow and imagined the line they wanted. Her heartbeat was steady. She was not excited. She was interested.
"Spikes," Elias said softly. He pointed with two fingers at the dark strip just past the junction. It was half-buried in slush. The heads of the bolts shone wet.
"Copy," Zubair nodded. He moved one lane left.
The flatbed behind the store revved. It shot forward into the lot mouth to block that lane. The driver leaned on the horn and yelled. His face was pale. He thought noise helped.
"Now?" Lachlan asked.
"Now," Zubair said.
He floored it. The Hummer lunged forward. At the last second he cut right, not left, and aimed not for the open lane but at the low curb of the feed store lot beside the chain.
The bumper hit the curb and hopped it.
The chain snapped off one post and whipped into the air. The two roof rifles fired in the same breath—clean cracks. One round hit the windshield and spidered the outer layer. The other punched the hood and ricocheted.
"Glass is fine," Elias said.
"Fine," Zubair agreed.
The Hummer shot diagonally across the lot toward the loading bay shadow.
The bike inside that shadow leapt forward to block. The rider misjudged the angle, but Zubair didn’t give him time to fix it.
He swung the wheel a hair left and clipped the bike with the Hummer’s front corner. The bike slid under and out.
The rider somersaulted over the hood, hit the windshield, and rolled off into the gravel. He didn’t get up either.
Lachlan hissed between his teeth. Not pity. Pressure release. "That’ll buff out...I think."
"Stop talking," Alexei sighted, pinching the bridged of his nose like he was getting a headache.
Sera leaned hard to the right and pointed at the pallet stack near the bay. "There."