Page 72 of Powerless
At my side, Hades barked and licked his lips. I never trained him to respond to anything I said. He just seemed to know how to add dramatic effect to my threats. Whoever the weasel was just had to be squirming now.
"To the rest of you, thetrueSteel Demons," I stroked Hades' head, "Jandro told me how quickly you all came to our aid on the dirt bikes, assisted Mariposa with the wounded, and cleaned up the wreckage outside. You did me and the patch proud."
"We deserve a party," Jandro cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, earning laughs and murmurs of agreement from the others.
"Fine, handle it." I waved a hand at him. "I assume we have steaks and charcoal leftover from last time. Actually, that brings up another point of business."
The murmurs died down again for me to speak. "Our business with General Tash has obviously ended," I said. "As he was the biggest trade partner we had, Gunner is out securing new trade deals as we speak. We are well-stocked for the time being, but there may be a transition period where we'll have to ration goods."
"In addition," Jandro jumped in after a nod from me, "we have a surplus of firearms and other weapons from the Sandia outpost's armory which we fully intend to use. Once we eliminate Tash's bitch, we'll reach out to the MCs we're allied with and pool resources." He drummed his hands on the table. "We're going to war, fellas."
The whole room fell into stunned silence.
"Uh," Big G lazily raised a hand. "Which MCs are we allied with?"
"Iron Soldiers, Phantom Kings, and Dark Brotherhood, to name a few," I answered. "Gunner has his contacts, I have a few of my own."
A gentle knock came to the door.
"Ah, perfect timing." I stood from my seat and went for the door while everyone looked bewildered.
Hades trotted happily beside me, knowing exactly who it was. If we hadn't thrown anyone for a loop yet, a woman in church was certainly about to.
Twenty-Six
MARIPOSA
Reaper opened the door with sly grin, a sign he was up to something. I just couldn’t be sure what.
“Hey, sugar,” he greeted me, low and husky. “Come on in.”
No less than fifteen pairs of eyes stared at me as I followed him to the head of the table. And none looked more terrified of my female presence than Shadow.
Jandro just smirked and winked at me. He had to be in on the same joke as Reaper.
“This is Mariposa, if you haven’t met her already,” Reaper’s hand skimmed along my lower back, a clear sign of possessiveness. “She’s the club medic and wanted to implement some new things for our health. Go ahead, Mari.” He leaned against the back wall and folded his arms, giving me the proverbial spotlight.
“Uh hi, everyone,” I said uneasily. “So the first thing I would like to introduce is regular vaccinations, especially for children. Many diseases have been on the rise since the Collapse, most of which are preventable with a vaccine. It’ll be the best thing for your immune system if you go out and possibly encounter a disease while on a ride.”
“How do you take a vaccine?” someone asked.
“With an injection,” I answered. “Sometimes a series of injections over several months, depending on the type of vaccination.”
“What if you’re scared of needles?”
“You have twice as many tattoos as anyone, Python, shut the fuck up,” Jandro yelled across the room. “Go on, Mari. Ignore them.”
“The second thing I would like to introduce is blood donations,” I said. “I would like to keep stock of the four main blood types in case someone is so badly injured that they’ll need a transfusion.” I raised a hand. “This is all on a volunteer basis, of course. If you don’t want to get vaccinated or donate blood, no one will force you. But the vaccines will only help you, and giving blood can mean the difference between life and death for you or your fellow Demons.”
I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. “Any questions?”
“Where do we sign up?” Jandro grinned up at me from the table.
I couldn’t help but smile back. “Anyone interested can meet me in my office. I can get you on a vaccination schedule and determine blood types with a simple test. Once I have a catalog of volunteers’ blood types, I’ll start taking donations.”
A bunch of blank stares met my eyes and I swallowed another dry lump of unease. Had I completely gone over everyone's heads? Or were they still stuck on the fact that a woman entered their sacred club meeting?
Reaper came up behind me and gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
