Page 34 of Defended By Bam
“They said it’s quiet, but they’re not sure if it’s empty. Let’s roll the bikes to the brush just in case we get company, then head down,” Hammer said.
Securing the bikes out of sight and creeping toward the hidden building sucked me back to reality. Even though it seemed empty, it could be guarded, depending on what was inside. But that was the mission: find out what this place was to the Bloody Scorpions.
The only light we had was the moon, and a few clouds were rolling in. Every few seconds it would grow darker beforeilluminating the way again. The smell of diesel fuel and farm animals was pungent. We finally caught up with Skeeter and Runt at the end of the long dirt driveway.
“No lights, no movement since we’ve been watching.”
Butterbean asked, “See any bikes?”
Skeeter shook his head. “Not unless they’re parked on the backside.”
“What’s that smell?” Froggy asked, wincing.
Looking over, I scanned the area. “Is this a stockyard?” A large but plain building stood straight ahead, and what appeared to be a barn. Several long buildings were set off behind the smaller buildings, likely used to be stalls but there was a lot of damage or wear.
“Sure looks like it,” Butterbean said. He was from the country and he mentioned a farm once or twice. “Don’t look like it’s been used in a while.”
Hammer chimed in. “Breaker looked it up for me. Definitely an old stockyard. Hasn’t been in business since Hurricane Michael. Wiped out half of the grounds and insurance didn’t give ‘em enough to rebuild. The family who ran it lost their home, too. Used to be out there on the property.”
“That’s a damn shame,” Froggy said. “But holy shit, why does it smell so bad?”
“Suck it up and let’s go get a closer look. Keep an eye out for any movement,” Hammer said as he waved everyone to follow him.
The closer we got, the heavier the smell of shit, piss, and hay became. We split up, Skeeter and Runt going into the big building that seemed to be the business space with me and Hammer while Froggy, Butterbean, and the others checked the other buildings.
The inside was dark but there were a few windows. Once our eyes adjusted, we crept around, looking for signs of theScorpions. Walking over to the front counter, I pulled out my cell and tapped the screen to get a little bit of light. “Someone’s been here.”
Hammer came over and I held my phone over the spot where handprints disturbed the dust.
“I doubt it was the owners. Let’s keep looking. There’s gotta be some rooms in this building.
“Hey, Prez, I think I found something,” Runt called from the hallway.
We both headed that way, Hammer stepping inside the room Runt was standing next to.
“Would you look at that,” Hammer said.
I walked in, pulled out my Swiss Army knife, and worked a few nails from the lid of a crate. Holding my phone inside, I said, “These aren’t ours.” Assault rifles lined the long crate.
Hammer told Skeeter and Runt to take a few pics, then secure the lid back. “We don’t need to raise suspicions that anyone was here. Plus, we can’t take any of this with us tonight. I’ll touch base with Jameson to let him know what we found and see if he wants us to come back.”
Leaving the prospects to finish up, I headed back down the hall when I heard the front door. “Hey we’re gonna–”
“What the fuck?” was followed by the unmistakable sound of a safety turning off.
I didn’t have time to think, so I barrelled into the stranger, taking us both down as the shot he tried to take pinged somewhere in the open lobby.
Smashing his gun-wielding hand against the concrete floor several times finally had him drop it, but it was out of reach for us both.
As we struggled on the floor, him landing one hit to each of my two, a man yelled from outside followed by shouts from Butterbean and Froggy.
“Bama!” Hammer shouted.
My fist connected to the asshole's temple, but I didn’t wait and struck again over and over, trying to say, “Check outside.”
The asshole swung back, though, not going down without a fight. We rolled a few times but suddenly he was flung off of me.
Skeeter and Runt were kicking and stomping. I wanted to step in and fuck that dude up, but those two were there for a test, and this was it. Picking up the pistol that he tried to shoot me with, I went to the door to see if they needed help outside.
