Monster Slayers MC Book 3

As soon as we got inside, Annalisa ran to the living room to check on Carmella who was happily playing with Simon and Crystal. The children were totally unaware and unaffected by what was going on and it seemed to calm her a bit but I could tell that she was still upset by what had happened today.

That night the whole house was rather subdued as everyone sat around after dinner and chatted quietly. Some men were cleaning and checking their weapons, which is something I had to do as well. Betsy is always kept in prime condition but I have several other guns that I keep for back ups so that I don’t have to stop and reload when under fire but Betsy is by far my first choice. I brought her home with me when I left the service and she was a gun that had saved my life more than once and had never let me down.

When Annalisa said that she was going to put Carmella down for the night, I told her I needed to check my weapons and to make sure my place upstairs was ready for me but then I would join her.

“You have a place upstairs? Where? In the attic? I didn’t realize there is even an attic here. The roof looks flat.” She questioned.

“It is. I have a place on the roof. Would you like to see?” I asked her.

“Sure. Just let me get Carmella put down and then I’ll bring the monitor up with me.” Annalisa said as she stood up with Carmella in her arms and after a quick kiss on my cheek, she left the room.

Dixie asked me “How is she doing? She was a nervous wreck after Rooster sent me that text today. She wanted us to just come home but I told her “what if we get ambushed along the way? We’d have no one to protect us.” and she finally gave in but barely sat still after that. I bet that table we were sitting at has never been cleaner. She must have gone through half the napkin container wiping it down over and over again.”

Nessa had followed behind Annalisa and then Hulk joined us and asked Dixie “Did you get them?”

“You know I did.” She said as she handed me the small gift bag with Annalisa’s ring and then handed Hulk Nessa’s ring. We pulled them out and several members came over and complimented us on our choices. Neither of us told anyone about our day of craft making the boxes to hide the rings in for the proposal. Looks like those plans are going to have to wait now, Damn it! I wanted to do it this Friday night but now, that was out of the question with the house being on lock down.

“Dixie, can you hang on to this for me until later? Annalisa is going to come back down soon and I’m going to show her my rooftop shooting areas.” I told her.

“Sure. Have you decided how you are going to propose?” Dixie asked.

“Well, Hulk and I had agreed to take our ladies out Friday night to a nice restaurant and do it then. We were going to surprise them by putting the rings on or near their plates when they get up to go to the bathroom. Tell me, why do women always go to the bathroom in pairs or groups?” I asked a question that must plague all men.

“Mostly for security reasons but also there’s always someone to pass you toilet paper if your stall is out but you don’t realize it until you’ve already taken care of business.” Dixie grinned at us.

“That makes sense.” I grinned back at her.

Just then Annalisa came back to the table and said “Nessa is spending time with Carmella so I can go with you up to the roof if you are ready?”

I stood up and took her hand and together we walked back upstairs and I showed her the entrance to the rooftop which was a hidden ladder at the back of the linen closet. “How clever.” she said as she followed me up the ladder.

When we reached the top, I opened the hatch and we crawled out onto the roof. I took her hand and led her over to the front corner of the house that overlooked the front gate, the road and a good distance of more than 180° around the property.

“I also have another space in the back corner on the opposite side of the house that allows me or someone else to cover the back side of the house. If we can get to them in time, there are also hunting blinds set up in the trees all around the property that allow us to protect the compound from all directions. Several of the brothers are ex-military and they are good shots but they are not snipers like me.”

“Dixie says she carries a gun too. Will I have to do that too?” Annalisa asked.

“You can if you want to, after you’ve been trained how to use one and are comfortable with it but you don’t have to. I know I would feel better if you at least learn how to use one, just in case.” I told her honestly.

“I want to learn, please. There may be a time, especially after we get our own place, that I might have to defend our home and our children.” Annalisa said and I froze as I looked down at her. “Children? As in plural? Does that mean you are..........”

“Hahahaha! No! No, I’m not pregnant now. I just mean in the future. I do hope to give you a son one day and maybe more? I know we haven’t really talked about it yet but how many kids do you want? Do you even want more kids?” she asked, getting nervous.

“Oh yes! Yes! I do want children with you and as many as God sees fit to grant us! Does this mean you want to become my ole’ lady?” I asked. This was not going down the way I had planned it but right now, I was the happiest man on earth as she nodded her head at me.

The legal marriage proposal could happen as Hulk and I planned it later. Right now, the love of my life was going to be my biker wife and I couldn’t be happier. I picked her up and kissed her hard as I swung her around. “Oh baby, you just made me so happy! I wish I had thought to bring my sleeping bag up here because I would lay you down right now and make love to you under the stars.”

“Oh, I like that idea but I don’t think this asphalt roofing surface would be a very comfortable place for that without it.” She grinned up at me.

Just then Boomer stuck his head up through the hatch and whispered loudly “Get down you two. Circuit has picked up movement on the cameras near Rooster’s place. Looks like they are trying to sneak up on us from behind.”

I instantly grabbed Annalisa’s hand and bent us over as I pulled her back to the hatch. I lowered her down to Boomer who was standing down on the landing and then climbed down.

“Go to Carmella and take her and Nessa down to the safe room in the basement. Make sure you have enough diapers and stuff for her but hurry.” I told her and kissed her hard then followed her back into the hall.

I ran for Betsy and my other guns and told a prospect to follow me with ammo cans. I had preloaded clips for all of my guns in ammo cans stored in the gun room. Another member who was also ex-military by the name of Gunner came in and grabbed his weapons. He asked me “Front or back?”

I told him as I pulled on my kevlar vest and pulled on the straps, “I’ll take the back. Make sure you have your night vision goggles, your vest and a com.”

“Roger that.” He said and together we all left the gun room and then went to Circuit for com’s. We collected them and hurried up to the roof. The prospect was waiting at the top and whispered “They are really bold. I saw a couple of them just past the tree line.” He said and pointed in the direction he had seen movement.

There is a wall that runs about two and a half feet tall around the entire roof so we got down on our hands and knees and crawled into position. We had removed bricks in strategic places that would allow us to get our rifle barrels out so that we could fire without having to stick our heads above the coverage of the wall. The only problem with that was that it limited our range of sight and movement from one side to the other somewhat.

As soon as I got to the corner of the roof, I pulled on my night vision goggles and looked through the hole. The prospect had been right. I spotted at least half a dozen men going from tree to tree as they approached the edge of the tree line.

I put my com in my ear and said “These bastards planned a sneak attack. They weren’t going to give us any chance at all to get our women and children out. Gunner, unless you’ve got movement out front, change to the corner that faces the back. I’ve already spotted six.......no make that nine guys back here.”

I watched them, trying to determine what kind of fire power they were carrying when I spotted one man who looked like he might be carrying a bazooka.

“Damn! Rooster, get the metal shutters in place. These bastards are carrying a bazooka! Gunner, open fire.” I said as I aimed for the man carrying the bazooka. They don’t call me Eagle for nothing. I got him right between the eyes and he dropped like a stone. Every man that ran towards him trying to pick up the weapon, I got them before they could get to the weapon.

As I changed my clip, gun fire started coming at us and I could hear us returning fire. Men were stationed at every window on the second floor all the way around the house.

Thankfully, after Ox and Tango’s funeral a few years ago, we had been keeping the field next to the clubhouse mowed down pretty low so there was no place for anyone to hide out there. Their only cover was the trees which were a good 75 yards or more from the house. The only blind spot for us was the garage where we store mostly parts for fixing the different vehicles and most all of our tools. Losing that building would be a big hit on our budget.

“Gunner. Keep an eye on the garage and behind it. That’s our only blind spot.” I told him.

“Got it covered.” Gunner said back.

“Eagle. We’re sending up two more snipers to cover the front. We’re starting to see activity across the road.” Rooster informed me. He never sent men to join me without letting me know.

The next few minutes were tense because everyone had stopped firing but I kept my scope focused on the bazooka. I picked up a heavier gun that held armor piercing bullets and stuck it out the hole. As soon as I had the bazooka in my scope again, I fired and saw the big gun jump. Another shot and there was a loud explosion as the bazooka exploded. I saw two men fall from the blast from behind trees near it and a few trees caught fire.

“Damn! Rooster. Better contact the fire department. I may have just started a forest fire.” I reported.

“Good shot, Eagle.” Gunner came back over the com. “They won’t be using that against us now.”

Just then, two more of our men showed up on the roof and went to the opposite corners of where Gunner and I were set up. They set up and almost immediately started firing at men across the street.

Gun fire came back at the same time as we started receiving gun fire from the back of the house.

After a couple of minutes of open gun fire from every direction, someone threw a fire bomb at the back of the house right in between me and Turbo who was lying on the corner at the same end of the house as me but where I was facing the back of the property, he was facing the front.

A minute later there was a loud explosion from the front of the house and I heard Boomer swear. “Damn, they are going after our bikes! They are aiming for the gas tanks.”

One after another, our bikes were blowing up! “Damn bastards! They better not blow up my bike!” I heard on the coms over and over again.

“Pay attention you guys! The end of the house is on fire! Don’t let anyone else through or they’ll burn the house right out from under us! Rooster! What’s the ETA for the fire department?” I yelled as the smoke began to come over the top of the wall.

“They should be here in 5 minutes.” Rooster said.

“Get some guys upstairs to throw water at the walls if you have to. The smoke is getting so thick up here I can’t see anything on the end of the house.” I told him.

Just then we heard the fire department and the cops sirens coming down the road and the night sky was lit up with red and blue lights flashing as they raced towards the property.

“Did you warn them they are coming into a war zone?” I asked.

“Yeah, they know.” Rooster answered. “I hate to tell you this but the bikes have caused the front of the house to catch fire as well. If they don’t get it out soon, our only option is going to be the safe room or trying to get out the patio door cause it’s the only exit left.”

“I bet that’s what they are counting on. They want you to run out that door and then they are going to attack in force. There have got to be more men hiding in the woods that we just can’t see yet.” I told him.

“Well I’d rather take my chances on dodging a bullet than burning alive.” Rooster said. “At least the women and children are safe in the safe room.”

“Not if the roof above them caves in. The walls are reinforced but not the ceiling.” I told him.

“Damn, that’s right.” Rooster said. Then I could hear him yelling at men to set up a water brigade. “Throw water at the walls. Keep the fire from burning through. The fire department is almost here!”

“Fire department is here and the cops are taking on the Cobra’s in the front.” Turbo said.

“Here they come through the trees! Gunner! Heads up. I see at least 10 men just above the garage.” I said and suddenly, my PTSD kicked in. I picked up my AR 15, stood up and opened fire. This gun would fire 400 rounds per minute and would cut through most anything or anyone in its path. I swung the gun from the right to the left and men were dropping like flies. When I ran out of ammo, I removed the clip and loaded another but realized that no one was firing anymore. I don’t know how long I stood there listening until I heard a voice say,

“Eagle! Eagle! Stop! It’s over dude! Put your gun down, bro. It’s me, Hunter. Calm down brother. We got them all. Eagle, look at me.” Hunter said. I hadn’t realized that he was standing just a few feet behind me and Hulk was standing behind him.

I looked at them and then back at the trees. Half a dozen trees were on fire and the air was full of smoke. It took me what felt like only a couple of minutes before I came back to the roof and no one dared to touch or approach me until I lowered the gun and turned to Hunter.

“Hunter?” I said.

“Yeah, man. It’s me. Come on. Put it down. Annalisa is asking for you. She’s scared and she needs you right now, Eagle.”

I nodded my head and put the weapon down on the ground. I walked over to them and Hunter looked me deep in the eyes. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah, just went back for a minute there. I’m okay. Did we get the fire under control?” I asked.

“Yeah, the house is damaged and we lost some of it. There’s major smoke damage in just about every room. Hate to tell you this but your room is almost gone. Along with Charlie and Cruise’s room. Most of the damage is on the bottom floors but they also managed to get a few molotov cocktails in the windows so there’s damage everywhere but the fire department has got us all put out now except the trees. They were afraid to get in front of you and your gun. The damage to the house means we’re either going to have to camp out or go to hotels.”

I looked around and saw the fire department was now putting out the trees that were on fire. I realized I had been out of it longer than I thought and I hung my head.

“How long was I out?” I asked Hulk.

“Only about half an hour, maybe 45 minutes.” Hulk said. “Come on, give me your weapons. Annalisa and Carmella need you right now.”

I took a deep breath and unloaded all of my weapons and handed them to him. “Damn, man. You are a walking arsenal.” he joked. “So are we still going to do our double date tomorrow night?” He asked and that thought brought me all the way back, I hope. I nodded then followed him down the hatch hole.

I found Annalisa sitting in the living room with the other women and the children along with Rooster, Cruise, Boomer, Boxer and right behind me was Hunter. Hulk nodded to Rooster who stood up and came over to me.

“You alright man?” Rooster asked.

“Yeah, I’m fully back here. Did we take care of our problem?” I asked.

“Hell yeah. You opened fire with that AK and it was like someone had shot a major dose of raid on a cockroach nest. Cops said they will be back in the morning for the body count. Look, your room took a major hit from the fire. There’s not much left up there so you need to bring Annalisa and Carmella up and come stay with us tonight. Hulk is coming with Nessa as well as Boomer and Kaylee. Charlie and Cruise, Boxer and Tiana are going to go stay with Hunter and Marley.”

“Let me talk to her but I’m pretty sure we’ll be going with you.” I told him and then said “Thanks, Rooster.” I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed then let go and walked over to Annalisa. She was sitting with Carmella asleep on her lap.

I bent down in front of her and prayed she was not going to tell me that she couldn’t do this and wanted to leave. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, we’re fine. Are you alright?” she asked as she reached out and put her hand on my cheek.

“I am now. I love you, Annalisa. I’m sorry this happened but I hope you are still willing to stay with me?” I asked and braced myself for her reply.

“Of course. I accepted you as my man. I’m your ole’ lady now, even if I don’t have my cut yet. I don’t plan on going anywhere you are not. I love you, Jason.” She told me quietly, then leaned forward and kissed me, so softly. “They told me our room burned up but they won’t let me go see if there is anything I can save. I guess we’re going to have to buy all new furniture again. Thankfully, I hadn’t taken the things we bought upstairs yet so at least Carmella and I have things to wear and I got you some t-shirts today but I didn’t buy you any jeans, socks or underwear.”

“Put the baby in the playpen and let’s go see. Okay?” I said. I gave Carmella a quick kiss on her head and then stood up.

Annalisa laid Carmella down next to Crystal in the playpen and then took my hand. We grabbed a couple of flashlights because the power had been cut by the fire department because of the exposed wiring in the walls that had burned and had created live lines that were exposed to the weather. The potential of the house catching fire again was too great to turn the power back on now.

Together we climbed the stairs and walked down the hall. It was kind of obvious that there wasn’t going to be much left as the entire back wall at the end of the hallway was now missing and the entire house reeked of smoke and wet wood from where the fire department had sprayed water on the house to put out the fires. Our door was open and we looked inside and I told her to let me check what was left of the floor before she came in to make sure it was going to support our weight.

We flashed the lights around the room and saw that the back wall, the seating area along with all of Carmella’s furniture and our bed was gone, burned up to ashes. My dresser was also burned and the clothes in the closet reeked of smoke but thankfully the door had been closed so hopefully the clothes could be washed and used again. The bathroom was also gone as it was towards the front of the house whereas the closet was against the wall to the hallway.

Annalisa spotted her suitcase against the back wall and rushed towards it. She unzipped the outer pocket and pulled out all of her drawings. “I had almost forgotten about these and I’m so glad they are alright. Clothes I can replace but a lot of these drawings are from when Carmella was just a baby and I will always cherish them.” She said as she clutched them to her chest.

Annalisa didn’t have much in the way of clothes but we grabbed what we could, hoping they could be washed so that we wouldn’t have to wear the same clothes tomorrow and we left the room.

We returned downstairs and found Dixie and Marley had made sandwiches for everyone and the dining area was full. “The power is going to be out until we can get repairs made but we are going to store all of the meat we bought today at the diner. They have a huge walk-in freezer and refrigerator so they will be able to accommodate it all. We’re going to take as much as we can fit in our fridges to ours and Hunters place but I figured we had better eat up what we can now.

Rooster asked for the “executive staff” to meet in his office. Once everyone was in there, he said “Dixie and I were talking and we both agree that repairs are going to cost us as much if not more than just knocking this place down and rebuilding. We all know that we have added on and added on to this place so many times over the years but if we keep growing, we are going to have to take up more and more land to keep expanding because the foundation of this place can’t take the weight for us to go up. Not only that but the rooms are poorly insulated on the older portions and we need to soundproof the bedrooms as well. It had never occurred to me until Eagle made me realize that our safe room in the basement is okay for an attack from any side but if the fire had made the floors fall in from above, whoever is in that safe room would be crushed and might have been burned alive. When we rebuild, I want that room not only enlarged but made impenetrable from all sides, including the ceiling.

Heating this place in the winter time is outrageous and cooling it in the summer has been a challenge. So with that all said, I propose we knock this place to the ground and start over. Our major problem as I see it is where do we house everyone in the meantime? We don’t have a problem with housing the families with us but what about the rest of our brothers? We can’t ask them to camp out for the months it will take us to build a new club house. Does anyone have any suggestions?”

“What about the garage? It won’t be ideal living conditions but if we add a second floor to it, it would hold most of them if we do bunkbeds. It’s not ideal living conditions but it’s not permanent and it’s definitely better than sleeping on the ground so they are just going to have to deal with it for a while or make their own arrangements.” Boomer said.

“Good idea, Boomer. That garage is a sturdy building and it should fit most of them, if not all of them. Any overflow will just have to stay in town at the hotel. Tomorrow I’ll arrange for POD’s to be delivered to store the things currently in the garage as well as what we can save in the way of furniture and belongings. As soon as we can come up with what lumber we’ll need to do the garage, we’ll get started.

In the meantime, we need to get the food that the women bought today, taken down to the diner and put away before it spoils. Let’s gather up all of the clothing that can be saved and anything else that needs to be washed and take it to the laundromat in town.

Tomorrow is going to be a madhouse between dealing with this and searching the woods for the bodies of the Cobra’s. The police arrived and were part of what was going on so they deemed that we were just protecting our home and families so we are not in any trouble, thank goodness. Dealing with a lawyer right now is one headache I don’t need. It’s going to be bad enough having to deal with the insurance company. This is going to be a nightmare.

Eagle, you and Annalisa, Cruise and Charlie lost the most in the way of personal possessions so you need to make out lists of things that burned up and turn them in for claim. I know you had just spent a bundle on buying all that baby furniture and you also put in those expensive curtains at your own expense so make sure you list them.

So everyone is in agreement that we are going to knock down this place and rebuild?” Rooster asked as he prepared to end the meeting.

“Rooster, who’s bikes were damaged?” I asked.

“I’m not sure exactly who lost them entirely. I haven’t had a chance to go look yet to tell you the truth. That’s something else we need to review and get the records for but we have all that in my office files. The insurance should take care of that too. We pay a heavy premium for coverage and if they refuse to pay up, we’ll be changing companies.” Rooster said. “Go check your machines and let me know if your bike was damaged in any way.”

He dismissed us and we all walked back out to the bar area. As soon as we were all seated, Rooster whistled and called the room to order and once he had everyone’s attention he said. “The fire means we are going to be displaced for a while but the couples with children will be housed with either me and Dixie or Hunter and Marley. The camping gear is all in the garage or the basement so those of you that want to, can camp out in the field or you can go to the hotel in town.

We have decided that we are going to knock down the club house and rebuild it bigger and better with more floors, better insulation and soundproofing as well as redesigning the layout. We realize that we can’t ask all of you to camp out for the months it will take to rebuild this place so we’ve decided that we’re going to use the garage as temporary housing. We’re going to add a second floor to the interior, rent some bunk beds and you guys are going to have to rough it for a while until we can get the new place rebuilt.

If that turns out not to be big enough to house all of you, rooms at the hotel will be paid for by the club but it’s not going to be one man to a room with two queen size beds but at least two men to a room and that’s only available to more senior members. This will be figured on seniority.

Next, if you have items that were damaged due to the fire, I need complete lists of items that need to be claimed to turn into the insurance company. The items themselves will also need to be turned in. That includes your bikes.

Tomorrow we are arranging for POD’s to be delivered so that we can store whatever is salvageable for when we are back up and ready to move back into our new place.

Tonight, we need to get the food in our freezers and refrigerators taken down to the diner and stored in their freezers and fridges. We’re also going to take all the clothes and linens that have a smoke smell down to the laundromat to wash.

“Doc, it looks like you are going to get the new clinic you wanted.” Rooster smiled at Doc.

“That’s good because the old one is gone now. Thankfully I was able to push some of the more expensive equipment into the hallway before the whole room went up. I even managed to save the new beds we just bought.” Doc smiled back at him.

“Okay everyone, let’s get to it. The sooner we get things taken care of the sooner we can get to bed. Those of you not going to the diner or the laundromat, see to getting tents set up in the field. You’ll have to make due with that for a few nights until we can get the garage cleaned out and the second floor built in there. Let’s move men!”

Everyone stood up and some of the men headed down the hall to help gather linens and stuff to go to the laundromat along with their clothes. Others followed Dixie and Marley into the kitchen to start getting the food put back in the boxes they had used to bring the food home from Costco in to carry down to the diner and the rest went to the garage to get the camping equipment.

I walked out to see what kind of damage had been done to the bikes and thankfully mine was unharmed but six bikes on the end were completely destroyed and a few that were parked near them had blistered paint or the seats were damaged. On a couple the rubber grips on the handlebars had melted along with a lot of the wiring and the tires.

Rooster insisted that the women take the kids up to either his place or to Marley and Hunter’s and since they lived farther away, he insisted that Hunter stay with his wife and family. “Dude, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be up most of the night with this. I’ll need you rested and alert tomorrow. Go. I’ve got this here.” Rooster told him and after seeing the women loaded up, he left and took his family home.

I took Nessa, Annalisa and Carmella up to Rooster’s house and saw them settled in and then came back down to see what I could do to help. Everyone worked hard and soon the house was quiet again. The tents were set up in the field, the food was delivered to the diner and there were half a dozen men at the laundromat taking care of the laundry. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my medicine pack and saw I had three more pills left. I was going to have to talk to the pharmacist tomorrow about getting a refill. I always carried a week’s supply on me in a small container that I kept on my keychain in my pocket and now I am thankful that I do but scolded myself for not refilling it since we came back from saving Nessa and finding Annalisa.

I found Hulk, Boomer and Rooster talking on the patio and as soon as they saw me Rooster said “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. Tomorrow I’m going to need to hit the pharmacy. I’ve only got 3 pills left. The rest of it was in my bathroom which doesn’t exist anymore.” I told him.

“You go whenever you are ready.” Rooster told me.

We mounted our bikes and rode up to his place. The women and children were all asleep already and we quietly made our way inside and got ready for bed. I took a fast shower and then crawled in next to Annalisa, pulling her close as I tried to relax. I had not gone that far back into my mental past in a long time and it was playing with my mind but holding Annalisa gave me a sense of peace and it wasn’t long until I was fast asleep and I actually had good dreams of us together, finding a house and of her heavy with my child.