Sam knelt next to their bike, their hands buried into the engine as they maintained it. The ratchet clicked and wound as they fitted the final plate; standing back, they grinned and wiped the grease from their hands onto a rag. The engine shined through the patches of rust as Sam’s smile shined through the filth on their face.
The echoes of engines surrounded Sam as a vehicle approached; they started to panic and grabbed the lead pipe from the holster of their bike. Gripping it in their hands, they juggled it lightly as they went back to the end of the alley they were in.
“Come on, bring it. I can do this. You are mine.” They started to mutter at speed under their breath, until the noises of the engines became so loud that their fear set in and they started to scream. “I ain’t afraid of no skids, come get this torque and let me paint the ally with your brains.”
They started to run forward even before they could see what was coming, screaming. They raised their pipe over their head until two bikes pulled the corner with the same paint patterns on their bikes as Sam’s.
Sam slammed their pipe to the ground and started to howl as the two bikes circled them and parked.
“You assholes, you were supposed to message me when you were close. I was ready to bash you off your bikes. Thought you might have been the White Scars.”
“Oh, little baby Sam, scared by a couple of bikes coming down the alley.” Alex said in a patronizing tone.
Riley looked to Alex with shock in their eye, stepping backward away from Sam.
“You wanna try that shit with me, Alex? Don’t forget who I am, don’t forget what I am.” Sam raised the end of the lead pipe to rest under Alex’s chin. “Say it, and remember why you shouldn’t talk to me like that.”
Alex felt a wave of regret crash over themselves and churn down into their stomach.
“The Reaper of the 108,” Alex said, swallowing heavily.
“That’s right, so don’t dare to test me again. Know your place, or next…” Sam stopped as the alarms on their watches all went off at once.
“Midnight!” Riley screamed to distract the mood. “Let’s ride; we got a date with a supply run.”
Riley jumped onto their bike and revved the engine until Sam lowered their pipe and allowed Alex to do the same. Sam flicked their hand forward to signal the other two to head off while they hopped onto their own bike. Watching the other bike off, they pulled out a small vial from in their jacket, sniffing the vapors from it. Their pupils dilated, and they felt their whole body vibrate even before they cranked the engine.
The other two were already making their way down the main highway and chatting through their helmet comms.
“You can’t talk like that to Sam, I told you. If you are going to be in this gang, you show them respect. Or you will just be another soul claimed.” Riley yelled.
“You didn’t tell me Sam was fucking insane; I don’t know if I can handle being a part of this. I joined to make sure I never had to face Sam on the streets.”
“No backing out now; I told you, you join; there is no turning back. Sam will kill you; you are stuck.”
Alex gripped his handlebars tighter and started to breathe faster.
“Fuck.”
But even through the comms, Riley could not hear Alex complain as Sam roared down the middle of them with an engine that made the other two bikes sound like toys. Their eyes were plastered open with tears streaming off them. Taking the lead, Sam took them through the back streets of the city until they arrived at a service road that took them onto the 108 motorway. The cars on the road moved out the way as they saw the wild look of Sam approaching from behind. They weaved down the motorway hunting for the truck they were looking for.
Riley sped up as they watched a car cut off Sam; Alex was confused but sped up as well to follow. Sam looked at the car with disgust on their face; they pulled up next to the driver and stared into the window. Inside, a large man looked out his window and pulled the finger to them and swerved slightly to try and scare Sam, but they didn’t even flinch. Instead, they pulled their lead pipe from their holster, clicking down a driving lock, they leaped from their bike.
Landing on the bonnet of the car, the man sped up to roll them off, but Sam had a firm grip on the top opening of the bonnet with one hand, then started swinging the pipe with the other. The front windshield quickly became a spiderweb that could not be seen through, and the car started to swerve even more and slam on the brakes. Meanwhile, Riley pulled up next to Sam’s bike, which was locked, driving straight, and steered it away with one hand.
“Get next to the car Alex; Sam needs a dismount.” Riley screamed.
Alex lowered their head and shot forward as fast as they could; pulling up next to the slowing car, they passed the driver’s window right as they pulled out a small pistol from their glove box.
“Gun!” Alex screamed.
Sam got to their feet as if they were suddenly on solid ground and rolled onto the roof of the car right as three rounds blasted their way through the front windshield. Alex sparked up a smoke bomb and tossed it through the driver’s open window. The homemade bomb spun violently through the cab of the car, smashing parts of the dash and colliding with the driver several times, distracting them from shooting. Alex matched speed and pulled in as close as they could so Sam could step onto the back of Alex’s bike. Pulling away, Sam grabbed a handful of crook nails and tossed them behind, puncturing three of the driver’s tires and skidding them into a nearby barrier. Speeding up, they caught up with Riley and Sam’s bike. Sam slotted their pipe back into the holster before hopping across and turning off the drive lock. They howled into the night and sped off on one wheel down the motorway, Riley followed suit, and Alex joined in the howl but did not attempt to drive like the other two.
“There’s the Monolith.” Sam screamed
The other two looked forward to seeing a large black truck driving down the motorway at speed, honking its horn, and swerving lanes around traffic.
“The Predators are already there.” Alex shouted as they pulled up next to Sam.
Riley pulled up to the other side with a fire bomb in hand.
“Looks like we got some fun before our reward.”
Sam howled again and snatched the bomb from Riley; the three of them drove right behind the truck with their weapons in hand.
The predator’s iconic black bikes blended into the road from afar, but up close, they were as easy to see as any other gang.
“Reapers!”
One of the Predators yelled as they were cutting the locks on the back of the Monolith truck. The small squad of bikers on the road turned back just in time to see an incendiary flying through the air, colliding with the guy on the back of the truck. Fire erupted from the container and engulfed the person on the back of the truck; their body fell and rolled under the tire of an ally, tipping them over and turning them both into corpses. The other four members of Predators all pulled out their weapons and slammed on their brakes to get level with Sam.
But just as they broke, Sam activated their nitro and rocketed faster than the bike could go without, pushing the bike to its limits to tailgate the Monolith truck as Alex and Riley came by with two more bombs, torching the rest of the Predators from their bikes. The Reapers all howled in victory as those who had opposed them now bounced dead on the motorway.
Sam locked the driver on their bike again and jumped onto the back of the truck, simply opening the already cracked door of the truck. The truck swerved again. Sam watched as their bike was tipped and rolled down the motorway. They waved goodbye and beckoned for the other two to get closer.
“Get up here, you idiots. We are getting out of here.” Sam yelled at them as they approached.
Sam disappeared into the truck, and the other two struggled to get close to the wild moving truck. Riley stood on their bike and was about to step off as the truck bounced. They lost their grip and kicked their own bike over as they attempted to jump. They barely managed to grab onto the bottom locking mechanism of the wide swinging door. Alex panicked and drove closer to help, but the truck swerved the other way, and the door swung back towards the back of the truck. The door collided with Alex’s head and tossed them to the road.
“Shit, Alex!” Riley screamed as they struggled to maintain their hold on the door.
They could feel their fingers starting to slip as the door closed enough for them to plant their feet on the back step of the truck. They managed to claw their way inside as the door flung back open again, slamming hard into the back of another vehicle on the road. Riley rested themselves against the locked door and looked out to see if they could see Alex, but their eyes were drawn to the fast-approaching red and blue lights of the police.
“Sam, the truck must have called the cops. They are here earlier than we thought.” They said as a lump started to grow in their throat from the sadness of losing a friend.
“Sam?” They repeated, turning to be blinded by a set of powerful headlights.
“The cops don’t matter; we have this now.” Sam yelled over the overwhelming roar of a new engine.
“Oh god, why wasn’t this under guard?”
