Sprinkles of raindrops fell in loose sheets straight down. The drops were barely perceptible and tingled the skin slightly wherever they touched.

In the alley, the bikers rolled over the getaway vehicles they'd jacked for Mackie and me.

“This is what you got us?”

“What? You don’t like em?” Rigger asked. We needed a car, you shitbag. Mackie looked at me as if he knew what I was thinking.

“We needed a car," he said as diplomatically as possible.

“So? What’s the difference? These are fast too.” Mackie knew where this was headed. Arguing with a ganger was a sure way to get killed, or worse. They might take something off you just for fun.

“Let me talk to my boy for a minute. Let us figure this thing out.”

“What? What’s the problem here, Mackie?”

“Nada, amigo. Just give us a minute. Have to change some plans up. Technical stuff.” Mackie put his arm around my shoulders and leaned close, guiding me down the alley. His grip was stiff.

He was uncomfortable. That was both disconcerting and a relief. He wasn't completely nuts after all.

But now what? Admitting a weakness to these fuckers was a big deal. Telling them I couldn't drive a bike was a suicide pitch. Just like with everything gangers do, they were more likely to kill you than figure something else out.

“How we feeling Sleeper?” Mackie asked as he pulled me to an empty part of the alley

“Mack. I told you to tell em we needed a car,” I said, annoyed.

“I did. Fucking morons.” We were robbing a bank tonight and I was the getaway driver. All I needed was a car. Everything depended on it. I could out drive any patrol unit with my eyes closed… in a fucking car.

"Well, amigo. You think you can fake your way through this?"

"No way, Mackie. I know you can ride, but I can't out race a cop on one of those things. I don't even know if I can keep it upright."

"Shit," he said, putting his hand on his hip. It was his nervous tick. I could tell his mind was running as he shot a glimpse back at the bikers.

“What now?” I asked.

“Well, there's only one thing we can do. We try and pull one off the street.”

"A random car? No, no, no. That's too risky. And, what do we tell them? I can't admit I can't drive a bike. They'll chop me to bits."

"Oh, come on. They won't do nothing. They need us."

“Fuck that. I say we duck out of this. Get the hell out of here. This thing has stunk since the beginning.”

“No way, Sleeper. It’s a bad time to pussy out. Too much is already in motion.” They wouldn’t just let us leave anyway. We'd have to run. Feeling like a wolf with his paw stuck in a trap, anxiety closed in on me.

“I told you I didn’t want to mess with gangers. I told you they were gonna fuck us. You’re in with them. Not me. If I want to walk, I’m gonna.” He gripped me by my jacket collar, tightly, with both hands.

Jerking me close, he said, “Don’t even pretend to say that. They hear you, and you’re fucking dead. Just calm down, Sleeper." He let me loose and straightened my collar. "It’ll be alright. We’ll hotstick a car on the way there.”

Stolen novel; please report.

An improvised car theft in the middle of a job was a terrible idea. All it took was a wary eye and a phone call and we would be hunted down like dogs. Shit, if a cop happened to wander by at the wrong time we'd be shot on sight. I wanted to walk away from this so bad, but I knew he was right. Unless I shot my way out, there wasn’t much to do but go along.

“Hey!” Rigger cut in, walking up behind us. He was annoyed. “What the fuck are we doing here? Quit jerkin off and let’s do this thing.”

“Change of plans, Rigger. We needed a car cus my boy here doesn’t know how to drive a twin wheeler. You’re gonna have to take us to the point. We’ll jack a car ourselves when we get there.” Rigger didn’t seem to care too much about the change of plans. Instead, he laughed.

“Can’t drive a motorbike. What kind of fucking pussy–”

“I never said I couldn’t drive it. I said, I’m not driving it,” I lied, fire in my voice.

Rigger hated me. Mackie might've been right that they wouldn't touch me until after the job, but I needed to gain some respect from him. Or else, he'd have someone knife me in the back the first chance they got. My approach may not have been the way to do it though, as a flash of anger sparked in his eyes. It died quickly.

“We need a car," I continued. "It’s what I know best, and it keeps our faces covered, yeah? We’ll be the ones running anyway. A bike would give away our builds, our heights, what we're wearing... And it sticks out in Lowdown.” I balanced the spite in my voice with patient explanation for the dull-brained Gang leader. One wrong word and I’d be missing an ear or eye afterwards.

Rigger didn't care for my explanation. He looked at Mackie who shrugged and said, "He's the driver."

The tension was getting to me. We were surrounded by killers, people who put out cigarettes on babies. I never did jobs with gangers. Never. Then again, no job this big had ever come across my path. With it, I’d be a couple of big steps closer to my goal. Stay calm. Breathe.

“Alright, quit fucking whining," he said finally. "Della! Mofo! Come here.” Two gangers, one big beefy woman with arms like pistons and a deep flat face covered in scars, and the other a skinny man, strong but strung out and scowling, approached from the end of the alley. The man's head was shaved poorly, cut up and bruised. A biker junky.

“These two are gonna ride bitch with ya,” he laughed. “Run em around the streets of Lowdown for a fast car. Then you can ditch em.”

“What the fuck, Rigger? It took us all night to get those fucking bikes!” The woman with the trophies around her neck shouted, tossing her hands in the air.

“Change of plans. The getaway driver doesn’t drive motorbikes,” he mocked, chuckling as he walked to his chopper. Some of the others sniggered and jeered. Mackie gave me a concerned look as we walked down the alley after him.

“What are they pussies?” Someone said behind my back. I could feel the hairs on my neck stand up. At any moment, they could choose to cut my throat and there wasn’t much I could do about it.

The two bikes were waiting for us at the end of the alley. Della, the big woman, was on one and Mofo on the other. Both bikes were two-seaters. As we approached Della eyed Mackie, patting the seat behind her with an ugly smile. He hopped on her bike. She'd taken an interest in him apparently.

Shit. That meant I was stuck with Mofo, riding bitch with a strung out gangster. I could tell he didn’t like me as much as I didn't like him. Mackie, on the other hand, wrapped his arms around the woman, to her delight, as he took his seat. This prompted Mofo to turn to me.

“Don’t put your fucking hands on me,” he said, eyes burning red from some unknown drug. Without another word, he started up his bike. The roar deafened my ears, accentuated by the reverb of the alley. The whole neighborhood rumbled.

I sat as far back against the seat as I could, making sure nothing of mine was remotely close to touching the junkie. I could feel the other bikers laughing, at me and at Mofo. He was losing standing just having me on his bike. If he could, I knew he would knife me in the belly. I'd have to make sure I was never alone with him in the future.

“Alright, fuckers. Let’s make it loud!” Rigger shouted at the top of his lungs, revving up his bike with a kick. His hog shook the windows of nearby apartment buildings. The gang followed suit, and their engines broke into the night, waking whatever neighborhood remained in this destitute part of town.

We rode off in tandem, bikers shouting and hollering with wicked delight. No doubt poor Lowdowners were shaking in their homes, praying we weren't coming for them. These broke down neighborhoods were the borderlands between Lowdowns and Warzone. On nights much like tonight, gangers would appear out of the blue, riding in with weapons and fire, causing havoc as they pleased. Buildings were looted, burned down, or blown up. Things were stolen, and people killed. Men, women, and children were dragged away as slaves if they were caught outside.

I felt for these people. I knew all too well the wrath of the biker gangs. And now, I was riding with them.

Without any more delay, we were off towards the heart of Lowdowns.