Page 77 of Purgatory
Where Cole and Hawk’s bedrooms look out to the lake and beyond, Jax’s bedroom window overlooks the front of the house and the entrance to the estate where pickup trucks are currently overfilling the yard and continuing to funnel in through the gate. Dozens of guys pour out from them with everything from guns to bats to even one guy sporting a fucking samurai sword, of all things. At least half of them are also carrying large sticks that are being lit on fire as they stalk towards the house.
Suddenly, one of the guys outside speaks, his gritty voice full of malice and malcontent. A familiar voice. Too familiar and also impossible.
He’s supposed to be dead...
“We know you’re in there you fucking cunts! And we know you’re the ones that killed my brother, Earl, and his crew. Ain’t no one else around here for miles.”
Not one of us responds to his accusations. I stay as quiet as I can. Even my breathing is sparse, afraid anything might tip off that we’re in here.
The guys are the same, as far as remaining silent. However, a conversation continues between them consisting of minor hand movements. I have no idea what any of it means and I'm too paralyzed to try to decipher the code.
“We know you’re in there! You know, we drove all over hell looking for you last night.” I can hear the light-heartedness to his sing-songed speech and he lets out a faint chuckle that sends chills through my bones. This guy is a fucking psycho and, although we’d never met before, I can tell he’s even worse than his brother, Earl. “Lucky for us, we found you while you were having yourselves a good old-fashioned party. Tell me, was it in memory of my brother and his kin or were you, God forbid, celebrating something after blowing hisgoddamn brains out?”
We still remain silent, barely moving, except now our gazes move to each other's. Mine full of terror and uncertainty, theirs full of grit but with an undercurrent of regret, sorrow and apology. I don’t like their looks one bit. I’ve seen firsthand what Jax had done at the lake house. Their faces should be full of confidence and assuredness.
“Y’all need to get your sorry asses out of that goddamn house in ten minutes or else we burn the motherfucker to the ground with you in it. There’s atonement needed and I’m gonna seek out my righteous vengeance from each of you one way or another.”
The voice carrying from outside is starting to sound more and more like the harbinger of our deaths. Fuck that. Not like this. I didn’t come this far to die at the hands of rapist, hillbilly scum. And especially not after I finally found my happy ending. I know life’s not fair, but seriously? Have we not been through enough already? I mentally give out a grandfuck youwith blazing middle fingers to whatever higher power decided this was our fate.
I move toward the guys, seeking safety in their arms and reassurance in their eyes. They know what to do. They know how to fix this and make it ok...Right? Right. Of course, they do. They’re fucking badasses. Then, once they’re done, we’re going to ride off into the sunset together and that will be that. Done and done.
Hawk pulls me into his arms. His chin resting on my head as Cole and Jax surround me on either side. I can feel the pressure of Hawk’s embrace tightening and Jax’s hand reluctant as he strokes his fingers down my face.
“You’ll be ok, baby girl. We’ll make sure of it.” I see the sincerity in Jax’s eyes but there’s something else that I can’t quite figure out.
“What do you mean? What do we have to do?”
Jax moves to his closet, fishes out a rifle, then turns to his side table and removes his pistol, checking the magazine and reloading. He looks to Hawk and Cole. “Check the hallway.” He tosses them the pistol and Hawk catches it.
They move to the door as a unit and Hawk slowly pries the door open slightly to peak out, aiming the pistol at anyone who might be lurking out there. He turns back around after a few seconds and mutters, “Clear.”
Jax’s shoulders drop a millimeter before he nods and says, “Ok, grab the stashes in your rooms and bring it all back here. Be as quiet as you can. We need to see what we have compared to what we’re up against. Get the gear from the safe downstairs also.”
Cole and Hawk nod and leave the room without a word. Within a few minutes they return with their arms full and I’ve got to say, it’s a whole hell of a lot more than I thought we had in the weapons department. Shit’s fucking intimidating how they can whip up a damn arsenal in less time it takes for me to make coffee. They set everything on the bed and back up, surveying their lot, but I can’t help but notice that something is missing.
“Where’s my bat?” I ask. Surely, they were going to give me something to defend myself with, so where is it? Hawk shakes his head with apology.
“No good. The bastards are in the house. All we have is what we kept upstairs which isn’t much, unfortunately.”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes at that statement. Not much? I can barely see the bed at all anymore. The damn thing is covered in pistols and rifles like they’re having a going out of business sale at the N.R.A, knives like they’re about to open a hibachi, two huge ass machine gun looking things that look like they were taken straight out of a Rambo movie, and somany fucking different types of grenades they could probably operate a float at Mardi Gras and have enough to throw them out at all the parade people like they were booby beads. At least it was better than nothing, I guess.
Sarcasm definitely implied.
“It’s enough. We’re gonna have to fight our way out of here but we have enough to do what we need to do,” Jax says before looking at me, his stoic features lined with regret and sorrow for just a second before a serious mask retakes its place behind his eyes.
It’s enough? I mean, yeah it’s a fuck-ton of weapons and my guys are fucking awesome but with the dozens of guys downstairs cramming into the first floor leaving us no escape? Let’s be honest… shit doesn’t seem all that optimistic. A gun (plus a fucking samurai sword) fight? Four against… who the fuck knows? Who’re we kidding? We're trapped. Sitting ducks just like the ones swimming in the lake.
Wait a second...
“What if we’re able get over to Hawk’s or Cole’s room?Can we climb down and get to the boat? Did you see anyone in the backyard?” I ask.
Hawk nods back. “There were a few wandering around back there. Most are out in the front and a bunch have made it inside, like I said, so we definitely can’t go out the front door and act like it’s date night.” He looks to Jax. “Got a plan, bro? I see the wheels turning.”
Jax is deep in thought. I can just about see his brain actively computing the different variables and success rates of whatever he’s planning. He nods and looks to me.
“Aly, baby, look at me.” I turn to him as he clasps my shoulders in his hands. “You’re not gonna like this, but you need to get away from here. Down to the safe house.” Jax looksto Cole for a second before Cole drops the map we used on supply runs in his hand. I take a quick look at it and see an area circled in red at the very bottom. “This is where the safe house is. The one where I went. It’s fully stocked and right off the lake. The key to get in is behind a false wall to the right side of the entry. Just push on the wall and it will open.” Jax huffs out a frustrated breath. “Time's up, baby.”
I look up at him, confusion covering my face, as he hands me the map.
