Page 68 of The Ghost of Rage's War

Officers were flooding into their designated zone. They’d be heading for an office building which was empty and had been set up as a command centre for the RCPD. All cops would check in with Ramirez before heading to their allocated area.

Chief Andrew Howser

“Ramirez checked in and on route,” Horton called out. Howser nodded his acknowledgement. His gut was twisted. They didn’t have enough defenders and knew it. This promised a difficult battle. They were at least outnumbered five to one, and even then, that was a rough figure.

Axel announced that Rage had assembled in their zone and was hurrying people off the roads. Howser added an arrest threat to anyone remaining on the streets in the next ten minutes other than the deputised allies. One by one, the leaders of the zones were calling in.

Willow and the FBI agents had called in. Delta Force was next, then Hawthorne’s PI, followed by The Juno Group. Hellfire, and Unwanted Bastards had just confirmed when he got a surprise.

Howser glanced up as there was a commotion, andhis eyes widened as the National Guard marched in.

“I’m Major General Winslow. I’ve got five hundred men here, Chief. We’ve been waiting on orders and have received diddly shit. I’m making the call. Where do you need us?”

“You’re a welcome sight, Major General. We need a ring of guys surrounding the hospital and around the burn clinic. Both are remaining open for the wounded. They need to be protected.”

“This is Captain Fisher. He is in charge of communications. Tell him where you want the men, and he’ll command them,” the Major General said.

“Thank you. Horton, speak to Captain Fisher,” Chief Howser ordered.

“Ellesworth is also sending three hundred men. Both Ellsworth and the National Guard have sent medical personnel to the hospital. We couldn’t act before because we’d no legal right. Now we know Venomous Fangs are moving and are classed as a home-grown terrorist cell, we can act. Court martials be damned!” Winslow hissed.

“Could Ellsworth head here on the east of I-90, Captain Fisher? We need a heavy show of force there. And we’ll put two hundred and fifty on this west side of the I-90 and the rest of them here? That will allow me to free up three teams and I can reinforce elsewhere. There weren’t enough men to hold certain routes, and they were weakly defended. Especially if there was a major attack on those areas,” Howser said, pointing at the map.

Captain Fisher nodded and began barking ordersinto a radio.

Howser felt his gut unclench. Another eight hundred men and women would ease up the pressure his teams were under. He quickly got to delegating where the extra manpower be sent.

There’d been some weak areas where defences were minimal. Not anymore.

Ramirez

His people had all checked in. Some in uniform having been on duty, and others in plain clothes. It didn’t matter. They all wore bullet-proof vests and were just outside a residential area. They had blocked the main road with their police vehicles, forcing any attacker to come in on foot. In the distance, he could hear the roar of bikes. The officers were all hidden behind cars, inside buildings and on roofs.

“Got eyes on them,” Nando informed him on the second radio he carried. Ramirez had one designated for headquarters and one for commanding his team. That meant the headquarters one would be kept clear.

“How many?” Ramirez asked from where he crouched behind a car.

“Too many to count, Ramirez. We’re looking at one fifty, maybe,” Nando replied.

Ramirez nodded. Out of one hundred and twenty-five officers, he had ninety-eight with him. The others were sick, on maternity leave, or taking vacation.Ramirez didn’t mind those odds; his guys were trained.

But his gut was twisting. This was a major route into the city centre. Fury wouldn’t be so stupid to only throw one hundred and fifty men at it. No, this was the first wave.

“Everyone, ready. I’ll warn them, and if they keep coming, we’ll open fire,” Ramirez said.

Radio silence greeted him. His people were too well-trained to fill the air up with needless chatter.

Ramirez rose when the bikes stopped. He picked up a megaphone and spoke into it.

“This is Detective Ramirez of the RCPD. We are aware of your mission. Drop your weapons, turn around, and leave peacefully. Should you attack, we are ordered to use lethal force in defence of our city,” Ramirez said.

His words fell on the Fangs in front of him. There was easily nearly three hundred there. Nando had fallen quite a bit short. Fuckin’ idiot.

“I repeat, we will open fire and defend. Drop your weapons and depart peacefully,” Ramirez called.

“Bastard pig,” a biker yelled, and laughter rose.

Ramirez’s eyes grew wide as he saw a Fang walk forward.

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