Chapter 5 - The Sanctuary of Stone
The old mining ghost town at Rattlesnake Ridge was a collection of crumbling stone foundations, rusted ore carts, and rusted iron mine shafts swallowed by decades of desert scrub and tumbleweed.
Tank’s bike cut its engine first, rolling smoothly behind the thick stone facade of an abandoned assay office. Elena slammed the Ford’s brakes, throwing gravel in all directions before killing the ignition and leaping out of the cab.
"Lily! Honey, are you okay?" Elena cried, wrenching open the back door and pulling her daughter out into the dusty air.
"I'm okay, Mom!" Lily said, her big blue eyes wide with excitement rather than fear. "Mr. Tank drove really, really fast! It was like a roller coaster!"
Tank chuckled darkly, pulling a heavy M4 carbine from his saddlebag and checking the chamber. "Kid's got steel in her veins, El. Must take after her old man."
Slash jogged up the trail, securing the perimeter with a pair of binoculars. "No sign of them yet on the lower switchbacks, but they're coming. That sedan had high-performance suspension. They'll reach the ridge in less ten minutes."
"Where's Jax?" Elena demanded, grabbing Slash’s arm, her fingers digging into his leather vest. "He didn't... he didn't stay back there alone to fight them, did he?"
"Relax, El," Slash said gently, patting her hand. "Grizz is a survivor. He knows these canyons better than anyone alive. He'll meet us at the old storage bunker on the north ridge."
As if on cue, the deep, unmistakable roar of a modified Harley-Davidson echoed up the canyon walls. Seconds later, Grizz’s chopper vaulted over the crest of the dirt ridge, sliding gracefully to a stop beside the truck.
Grizz killed the engine, hopped off before the wheels had even stopped spinning, and strode directly toward Elena.
"You guys all right?" he asked, his hands coming up to grip her shoulders, his eyes scanning her over for any sign of injury.
"We're fine," Elena breathed, leaning into his touch for a fraction of a second before pulling back, her expression turning fierce. "You're an idiot, Jaxson Miller. You could have gotten yourself killed back there!"
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"Takes more than a couple of corporate suits with plastic badges to put me down," Grizz smirked, though the tension in his jaw remained visible. He turned to Tank and Slash. "Secure the perimeter around the bunker. We're going to use their own tracking tech against them."
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