The Road Sharks Read Online Free Page B

back there another ten feet, by where the brush ends. Hit ‘em from there, an’ I’ll be impressed. Not that I think there’s a bat’s chance in hell ya could do it.”
    “Fuck you. Watch dis,” replied the ever eloquent Benny.
    Lester moved to the side and looked up at Eli. “Sadly, boy, this is gonna have to be the end o’ our fun. Me an’ Ben got a meetin’ to make with the Sharks down near LaPine. But I do want ta thank yas for comin’ after us and steppin’ in our bear trap. It saved us a whole lotta time and worry that you might catch us when we wasn’t prepared.”  
    “Fuck you, Lester,” Eli rasped out.
    “That’s whatcha get when ya try to be Mister Boy Scout. Bye, Eli!” Lester smiled an awful smile. “Give ‘im yer best shot, Ben!”
    Eli looked from Lester back to Benny.  
    Benny was gone.  
    The spear he had been about to throw lay in the dust, and its owner was nowhere to be seen. Lester’s mouth dropped open, and he moved toward the last known location of his friend.  
    He wasn’t watching his captive and Eli wasn’t one to let an opportunity pass. Pain bursting through his hands and feet, he braced himself, reached up with his free hand and pulled. The spike holding his remaining hand came loose with a loud shriek and Eli fell from his perch to the dusty ground.
    “What the fuckin’ hell?” Lester snarled turning back to his now free captive. “I dunno what you did to Ben, but youse gonna get a spear up yer ass for yer trouble!”
    Eli had just reached his feet, when a wave of dizziness took him. For all his advanced abilities, he barely avoided being skewered, grabbing the spear as his attacker missed. Normally he would have turned Lester into goulash by now, but he had used the last of his strength pulling out the spike. The spear was ripped out of Eli’s hand and he stumbled. His enemy raised the crude weapon to finish the kill.
    Then Lester’s eyes grew very wide. He stood a moment, looking vaguely confused and then fell face first into the dust. His body lay twitching, and Eli saw a very large, very crude-looking knife sticking out of one of his assailant’s kidneys. He pulled it out of the still shuddering soon-to-be corpse, and noticed it seemed to be a crude version of a design he had seen before. It looked like it had been hand hammered on a forge, and sharpened with files and stones.
    “That is mine.” He looked up. The wolf woman was standing a mere three feet from him.
    “How in the hell do you do that?” he asked, the faintness of his own voice surprising him. “Here, you might want to wipe the blood off on ol’ Lester’s shirt there…”
    “I have already soiled a good blade with his blood. I have no interest in touching him further.” She walked over and began cleaning the blade with dry grass.
    Eli watched her for a moment. She moved with the fluid grace of an athlete but she was standing oddly, at a forty-five degree angle.
    No… wait… I’m standing at a forty-five degree…
    The dusty ground came up and slapped him in the face.

CHAPTER EIGHT
Try Again
****
    “All right, Porter,” Axyl had said, “I think the problem was that you didn’t have enough backup last time. I’m sending seven more guys with you this time.”
    Porter snorted, looking back at the “soldiers” Axe Man had provided. This bunch wasn’t any of the smarter guys in the Road Sharks. It was just some of the more stupid (and expendable) dumb asses, just like before, only more of ‘em. At least Axyl personally made it clear to them they had to keep quiet and out of sight of the farm compound. The problem was that called for stealth, and stealth called for subtlety. Most of this bunch was about as subtle as a thumb in the eye.
    “Oh, one more thing, Port,” Axyl told him, a big shit-eating grin on his face, “we need to have a map and some drawings made.”
    Porter’s belly clenched. He knew where Axyl was going with it before he saw the kid coming, pushing papers and