Hell Fire MC

Chapter Two

“No one cares, man!” Murphy yelled over to Axel as they rode behind Linc.

“Yeah, you do! You know you wanna see it,” Axel yelled back from his red, classic Harley Softtail.

His friend shook his head, one hand on the handlebars of his custom Chopper.

“I really don’t,” he insisted. “I don’t wanna see you stand on the seat like Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider. Because then you’ll die, and I’ll be stuck explaining to the cops why, and it’ll be really embarrassing for both of us.”

Ahead of them, Linc chuckled, just able to make out their conversation over the roar of his engine. Then, suddenly, Axel’s bike started to sputter and miss.

“I thought you said we needed to tune up the bikes,” Murphy yelled over.

“I did,” Axel said with a shrug. He checked all of his gauges and couldn’t see anything wrong.

“We’d better stop at the next town,” Linc called over his shoulder, and slowed down so Axel could catch up with him. He hoped it wasn’t anything too serious. They only had a week for this trip.

A few miles up the road was a small village. They’d been climbing in elevation all day, and the village sat in the foothills of a mountain range with nothing but trees to see up ahead. They pulled over at the first gas station, an old Mom & Pop type place, and hoped there was a mechanic who knew something about motorcycles.

“Better dig out the heavy jackets, boys,” Linc said. “Looks like it’s gonna get cooler from here.”

He took off his helmet and ran a had through his dusty brown hair before walking into the convenience store. While he was gone to get snacks, and tend to his “not so young anymore” bladder, Murphy and Axel looked for someone who could help with the bike.

“Man, how come we never rode this way before?” Murphy asked. “It’s beautiful out here.”

Axel glanced over at the mountain road ahead and shrugged. Something about the forest made him uneasy. Not that he’d ever admit it to the other guys.

Luckily, the problem with Axel’s bike turned out to be a simple fix. If they’d been at home, he would have done it himself. It took a couple of hours, though, which meant they had a lot less daylight by the time they got back on the bikes and rode out of town.

The air cooled fast as the altitude continued to climb, and they were glad they’d brought their heavy leathers. The trees got bigger, too, and the road started to wind through the mountains. For once, they were all quiet, taking in the scenery and atmosphere. Even Axel forgot about his apprehension and looked around at the forest.

As night fell, the sky turning the dark blue of twilight, the guys started to realize just how rural the mountain was. They’d passed a few houses set back in the trees, but there hadn’t been an actual town since they’d stopped to fix Axel’s Softtail.

“Were you planning on camping?” Axel asked Linc as stars started to appear in the sky.

“Very funny,” their President answered. “You two were the ones who wanted to get off the beaten path.”

“Yeah, well, I was thinking small town USA,” Murphy said, “not Alaska.”

Beside him, Axel snorted, though no one else could see or hear it.

“What are you complaining about?” Linc asked. “You live in the woods.”

“The woods, not a national park.”

Linc sighed. “Alright, let’s find a place to pull over and see where we are.”

The guys drove on for a while until they finally found an overgrown dirt road leading into the woods. They couldn’t see any lights or other signs of habitation, but figured it was as good a place as any to stop.

They put down their kickstands and dug out their phones.

“s**t!” Murphy hissed. “My battery’s almost dead.”

“And I’m not getting any service up here,” Axel added.

“Yeah, me neither,” Linc said.

“Dammit, I can’t find my charger, either!” Murphy exclaimed.

“Look, there’s gotta be a town up this road eventually,” Linc insisted. “We’ll buy a charger, find a motel, and sleep all day tomorrow if we have to.”

The guys got back on the bikes and hit the road again. A chill wind began to blow, and despite their heavier clothes, they could feel it. The further up the mountain they went, the taller and thicker the trees got, too, until they seemed to block out the full moon.

They rode on, the headlights on their motorcycles the only light for miles around. The roar of their engines sounded unnatural in the setting, and before long, even their headlights didn’t seem to give off much light.

Axel’s apprehension returned, but he tried to joke his way out of it. He got a couple of weak chuckles out of his friends, but he could tell they weren’t really in the mood.

Then, as a winding curve loomed ahead of them, he spotted a shadow on the side of the road. At first, he thought it was just a dark spot in the trees, but then he saw it move. It stepped closer to the road as the edge of their headlights drew nearer.

“Hey, guys!” he shouted. “I think there’s someone else lost out here.”

“What?” Murphy called back. “There ain’t nobody out here.”

“Yeah, up ahead. There’s someone standing by the side of the road.”

“Enough with the jokes,” Linc grumbled.

“I mean it,” Axel insisted. “Look, he’s just ahead of us.”

Murphy and Linc looked into the forest as they rode by, but didn’t see anything but blackness.

“Maybe you saw an animal running through the trees,” Murphy suggested.

“Nah, I swear it was on two legs,” Axel replied. “I’m gonna go back and look for it.”

“Seriously?” Linc said in disbelief. “Axel!”

He and Murphy slowed to a stop and glanced back to see their friend turn his bike around in the middle of the road and ride back to the curve.

“Axel,” Murphy growled, exasperated.

“Well, we might as well go get him,” Linc sighed.

“Hey, buddy, you need a ride?” Axel joked into the woods.

His friends shook their heads as they turned their own bikes around, and then suddenly, something leaped out of the woods.

“Jesus Christ, what is that thing?” Murphy cried out.

“I don’t know,” Linc admitted, fear in his voice too. Then he started up his bike and roared back toward Axel.

Their friend screamed, and as they got closer, they could see that whatever had come out of the woods had him in its mouth and was trying to carry him off. Their engines startled it, though, and it dropped Axel, who hit the pavement hard.

Even over the bikes’ engines, Linc could hear Murphy’s scared shout. He understood the feeling. His head swam at the impossibility of what he was seeing.

Though the creature had let Axel go, it hadn’t run away, and as the bikers closed in on it, it reared up and let out a vicious growl. Murphy and Linc slowed to a stop, not sure what to do. Then suddenly, loud music came blaring from Murphy’s bike, and he jumped off, shouting and waving at the creature.

Linc doubted his friend was all that intimidating, but the music seemed to have an effect. With every drum smash and guitar riff, the creature shook its head until it finally growled again and ran into the woods.