Recluse Protection

Chapter 41

Blinking my eyes slowly, I look around, the cold, harsh rain pelting my form, draws me awake, forces my senses to kickstart again. Get moving, you can't be found, not now. My arm screams it's agony as I shift from the broken limb, fighting a whimper as I move to stand, my legs shaking painfully. Damn falls from two story buildings. I glance up at the hill, the burning building being tamped down by angry shouts of men as they spray water into the fire core. You need someone on your side.

The thought made me sick as only one name popped into my head. No better friend than the person who was frank with you about their distaste. With a grunt, I blink harshly, rubbing the diluted blood from my head as I force my heavy legs to carry me down the side of the mountain. I need to find a phone... The thought runs through my head like a mantra. It's the only thing I can see, the only thing that keeps pushing me forward. Houses with lights on make me pause, their vehicles call to me.

No, you can't steal their vehicle, not when you're bleeding. I might as well just stick a sign on my back screaming come get me. Don't be stupid now. Shaking my head, I clear the idea, throwing it out like the trash, pushing further down the hill. The slow progress continues down the hill, is impeded by trees that always seem to step into my way. I'm a damn ping pong ball. Nothing can stop me, no matter how many times I hit the ground, I can't help but hear Gears voice calling to me. Encouraging me to keep going. Don't give up CC, be stronger than this.

My heart hardens, steels over. He killed Gears. He murdered Bear. He stabbed the club in the back, continuing to play devil's advocate. This ends with me, I refuse to let this man live and thrive in his lies, in his deceit. The anger the swells in the pit of my stomach has me straightening, stiffening my spine, moving on. He won't win, I can't let him. The woods start to thin, the sound of traffic reaches my ears as the sounds of a loud, obnoxious bar meets my ears. Good, I can use this. The rundown bar sits out on the edges of town, heading towards the marina, a good place for low lifes to get their rocks off.

Also a good place for a bloody woman to stroll in without having questions be answered. Everyone knows things happen in this area, no one talks, no one wants their own secrets to be unearthed. My home. The dim parking lot is illuminated by the flickering lights of the bar sign. A man and a woman stand outside, conversing over a cigarette. Perfect for me. The couple continue to talk, ignoring the stumbling man who leaves the joint, getting dragged by a younger woman as she giggles in his ear.

I leave the safe haven of the woods, the concealment no longer being useful to me as I move across the street, pausing to spit blood from my mouth, fighting the round of nausea. My vision blurs for a moment before I shake my head and stand straight. Embrace the pain, live in the pain, breath it. Pain was my world before, it can be my world again, for the night anyways. My breath shutters as I near the couple, the woman pauses cigarette half-way to her mouth, shock takes over her features.

The man turns, his bald head reflecting the green lights, tattoos and piercings covering his exposed skin, his brow arches, watching my skeptically. "I need a phone." I strangle out, my sore throat burning with effort. His eyes trail over my form the woman ruffles around in her bag producing a burner phone, something common in the area. She tosses it to me, making me catch it.

"Break it, I don't want it." I nod and dial one number I can't believe I remembered. This is a sketchy play, but I have nothing better to do.

"Who the hell is this?" Susan bites as she answers the phone making me close my eyes, almost pained with the words that are about to spill from my lips. It'd be easier to go to Cobra.