Justice by Gillian Zane

curved into a smirk when he made eye contact with me. He was here to check in on me.  

    “How ya doing, man?” he asked with insincerity.  

    “Bored,” I said.  

    “Yeah, shit detail, didn’t know what else to do with you. You gotta shoot straight or this is where you’ll stay,” he said and grinned. He liked that I was here. He was a cruel one. I didn’t know who was worse, him or Junior.  

    “I don’t know what else I could have done, Eagle. I didn’t help those chicks get out and I never did anything but protect this place, same thing I’m doing now.” I shook my head.  

    “Don’t play stupid with me, Rebel. You always think you’re so smart, trying to get one over on all of us. Junior and me, though– we got your number.   We know your heart ain’t with the Clan. We can see it every time you talk, every move you make. Until we know you put the Clan first, above all else, you’re not gonna be trusted. You’re lucky he didn’t strip ya, I would’ve.”  

    “I do put the Clan first,” I lied.  

    “See, I don’t believe you,” he shrugged. “It’s like when I used to tell bitches I loved them just to bag them, pretty words, nothing behind it.”  

    “Well, I don’t know what you want from me, Eagle. Just tell me what Junior wants and I’ll handle it. I’m here, aren’t I? How else can I prove it?”

    “Like you handled that beating? Or how you handled that back-up before the biters took over?” He brought up something from our teen years, when I was asked to run back-up for a drug deal with another club. I had refused. I had gotten my college acceptance papers and I didn’t want to risk my future. They had discussed stripping me then, but my father had intervened with the argument that the club did need college graduates. He told them I was going to be a lawyer so I could handle their legal issues. They beat me anyway. Bad. I was lucky I finished high school. I spent the remainder of my senior year in the hospital.  

    I had nothing to say to Eagle and he nodded in understanding. Refusing your brothers was akin to being a traitor. There was no grey with this group, only black and white.  

    “Like I was saying, you don’t put the Clan first, you look out for one thing, and that’s your pretty little ass,” he laughed and slapped me hard on the back, putting a bit more force into it than he needed to.  

    “Speaking of pretty little asses, that one looks like she should be in the rotation,” he said and pointed to Felicity. My stomach sank.  

    “She’s too young. Senior said none under seventeen,” I stated firmly. “She’s only twelve,” I lied again.  

    “She’s don’t look twelve,” he leered. “Maybe I’ll make Junior change the rule.”  

    “They got plenty of experienced women in the back, Eagle. Why you want one that’ll lay there and cry?” I tried to sound reasonable.  

    “Yeah, you’re right.” He looked over my shoulder again and I cringed.  

    “Really, let me know if there is anything I can do. I’m not as selfish as you guys think,” I said changing the subject.  

    “Sure.” He cocked his head and looked at me again, probably trying to get a read on whether I was serious. Satisfied, he grunted and turned and left, motioning for the civilian to follow him out.  

    As soon as the door closed, I went to find a pair of scissors.  

NINE | Fuck Yeah

    We had an early morning reveille at four a.m. No bugle. We were treated to Zach screaming at the top of his lungs, “Fall out, assholes!”  

    I was used to early morning drills, so I was down and dressed in minutes. I stood by Zach’s side and urged everyone on, donning my drill sergeant persona. It was growing on me.  

    “Y’all suck,” Alexis said as she walked past us, a large pack on her back and an M4 in front of her.  

    “You look fucking sexy with that rifle,” Zach said and grabbed her, planting a kiss on her roughly.  

    “Get a room,” I grumbled