“Connor, help!”
Flora.
In the wake of the gunfire I heard her voice and it cleared my head immediately. I felt like I had just woken up.
Already rising to my feet, pushed myself into a run and prayed I reached them in time. “Get her to the boat!”
A massive alligator had slithered out of the waterline, looking for an easy feast. It waddled toward them both. The beast's low hiss had turned into a full, guttural bellow when it neared. Its long, wicked mouth revealed dozens of razor-sharp teeth.
Despite Claudine's best efforts, she couldn't drag Flora away fast enough. The gator quickly closed the gap. Finally, well within biting distance, it lunged at the easiest target.
Flora.
My heavy boot came down on the reptile's upper jaw, closing it only inches from Flora's already wounded leg. The gator thrashed, shaking me off easily, then lunged again. There was so much blood pouring down my face from the scratches that I had trouble tracking the beast.
I had to throw myself on top of it and hope to land on something that wasn't teeth. Fortunately, I hit its back and was able to close its mouth with my hands. The sting in my eyes made it so I had to do everything almost entirely by feel.
I punched its eyes repeatedly. It bellowed and thrashed, but this time, I refused to let go. This thing was a killer?
So was I.
It finally started to retreat, and I knew that any fight the beast had left was gone. It had mistaken us for easy prey. No doubt Tully had been feeding it unwelcome company for some time.
I jumped off of it, watching as it crawled towards the water. Looking back to Flora, I could see that her bleeding wasn't as bad as I initially thought. As long as we could get that bullet out of her, she'd be fine.
“Fucking hell.” I knelt down to catch my breath and stripped off my belt. “Is everyone still whole?”
“I think so,” Flora said, wincing. I walked over, tying off her leg with the belt to halt some of the bleeding. Seeing her in this much pain renewed my anger at Lucky. I picked her up and carried her to the boat.
“How bad is it?” she asked, her chest flaring. She was clearly in pain, but trying not to show it.
My anger melted away, the time for that had passed. “I don't recommend we go dancing for at least a few days.” I enjoyed her helpless smile. “But when you're ready, I'll let you pick the place this time.”
“Those dumpsters will always hold a special place in my heart,” she chuckled grimly. Even now, covered in blood and pale, Flora was beautiful.
I gently laid Flora into the boat, then helped Claudine in. Lucky's fanboat was top of the line. It looked like it could hold about fifteen people and had one elevated seat, obviously for the driver, which was placed just before a massive caged-in engine and fan.
Sitting in the driver's seat, I turned the boat on and grabbed the one stick that was probably used for steering. Then, I hoped for the best.
“Do you know what you're doing?” Flora shouted over the extremely loud engine.
“I've got this,” I shouted back. “Hold on.” I looked behind me, expecting to throw it in reverse like a car and back out into the water. Instead, we jolted forward awkwardly at the mansion.
“Ronin?” Flora regarded me with a growing amount of worry. Claudine grabbed her sister and laid them both on the boat's floor. It was good thinking; if we hit something, they would be less likely to be thrown into the gator infested waters.
Donning a steadfast, confident facade, I began again. Once I learned how the steering lever worked, I quickly got the hang of everything else. I managed to bring us into a big U-turn and get us out onto the water.
I had no idea if Tully's thugs were shooting at us, but I sure as hell wasn't sticking around to find out. The fanboat was the loudest and least inconspicuous thing I'd ever operated, and I’d just driven a dump truck.
After a few minutes, we were on the river and the estate had drifted out of view. The grassy water was a little choppy and the controls were way too sensitive, but it didn't slow me down that much.
Soon, I saw the distinctive outlines of motorcycles and other boats in the setting sun, along with about thirty to forty people in an adjacent field. We'd reached the Steel Veins rendezvous point. The danger was finally over.
Looking closer at Flora, I saw that she was looking too pale, even for her. She was struggling to stay awake.
“We need the club doc over here. Now!” I roared, scanning the crowd for the doctor. I could see his tent halfway up the field. It'd be faster if I just brought her to him, so I hopped down and picked up Flora.
Jumping onto the bank, I ran her through the throng of rescued girls and bikers that milled about in various stages of distress.
The grizzled, clean-shaven old biker looked at me over glasses that hung halfway down his nose. “What'ya got, son?” He quickly sprayed and cleaned the plastic folding table, disinfecting it.