The System

Sawyer's heart pounded in his chest as he watched in horror, his mind struggling to process the sudden violence unfolding before him. The unsuspecting biker, caught off guard by the sudden attack, had no chance to react. His body crumpled to the ground, life extinguished in an instant.

Vail's face contorted and twisted with anger. Sawyer's breath caught in his throat as he watched the scene unfold before him, the shock of the violence still reverberating through his veins. His hands trembled at his sides, the reality of the situation sinking in with bone-chilling clarity.

As Vail sprang into action, Sawyer's heart pounded in his chest. With swift precision, Vail drew a throwing knife from his waistband, his movements fluid and purposeful even amidst the chaos. The blade sliced through the air with deadly accuracy, finding its mark in the arm of the biker leader. A pained curse tore from the biker's lips as he clutched his injured arm, his grip on the handlebars faltering as he struggled to maintain control of his bike.

"Let's go!!" With a resounding shout, Vail vaulted onto his bike, the engine growling to life beneath him as he revved the throttle. The urgency in his voice spurred the other bikers into action.

In a flurry of motion, the bar emptied out as the bikers streamed out onto the street. The air crackled with tension as the roar of engines filled the night, the rhythmic thud of tires against asphalt echoing through the empty streets.

"…. Hey… hey..!" The voice of Ezekiel woke Sawyer out of his trance. "Either you ride with us now…. Or go home." The choice is yours Ezekiel said with concern for Sawyer.

Sawyer's gaze flickered between the motionless figure on the ground, the retreating bikers, and Ezekiel standing beside him. Each second felt like an eternity as he grappled with the weight of his decision.

His heart raced in his chest, the adrenaline coursing through his veins. In that moment of clarity, Sawyer understood that his life would never be the same again. The encounter with Ezekiel had irrevocably altered the course of his future.

"I'm with y'all," Sawyer said courageously. The two hopped on Sawyer's bike as they caught up with the main bulk of the group. A few of them who were on 600s and 1000s were going faster than the rest and were acting as the leaders of the group. Four people who had been riding on 600s dropped back behind the escaping bikers, as two who were on 1000s crept up from the side and pushed the three bikers inward.

The one leading them lost control of his front tire as he tried to hard brake, ultimately leading to his fall. A few of the bikes stopped at the end of his roll, but Sawyer, Ezekiel, and Vail kept moving. The other two bikers, feeling cornered, broke away and split off in two separate directions. The one with the knife in his arm was heading towards the busy city streets, while the other was making his way towards the countryside. Vail, Sawyer, and a few others followed the one heading toward the city, while the rest followed the one heading towards the countryside.

Despite only having one working arm, he was weaving through the busy highway. The other bikers kept up well with him. Despite Sawyer only riding a 300, he was handling his bike like those in MotoGP, effortlessly cornering around traffic as the other fellow 300 riders struggled to keep up. Vail led the front of the group, as his 1000 effortlessly kept pace with the bike ahead, while Sawyer's 300 dragged slightly behind.

Before he could make it into the city traffic, the escaped driver, weaving through the increasingly heavy traffic as they inched closer to the city, found himself unable to counter-steer right because of his injured arm. He crashed right into the back of a minivan at speeds of 40 mph, though his helmet protected him. The other bikers put their kickstands down as they rested their bikes.

"…oh my god, bud, you okay?" Ezekiel asked, concerned, as he quickly picked the biker up despite his heavy wounds from the incident. The helmet had protected him from any permanent damage.

The man in the van quickly hopped out and began screaming and pointing towards the biker who had hit him. Vail, who had been smiling since the man got out, calmed him down and resolved the incident quickly. Before the ambulance or police could arrive, they were gone.

They brought the escaped biker back to an old compound and bound him to a single chair placed in the middle of the room. The bikers approached him slowly. The soft and concerned look that was once on their faces was now replaced with pure hatred.

Vail reached towards the back of his waistband and pulled out a larger knife than before, this one stained with rusted blood. "You know what happens to idiots who mess with us…?" Vail said menacingly, his voice low and threatening. His demeanor had completely transformed from the soft-spoken and hesitant man who had spoken to Sawyer earlier. The others, as they approached, also reached to the back of their waistbands, pulling out similar knives. The rider, dazed and concussed from the accident, blurredly looked upwards to see Vail, who now resembled a demon under a fading saint's light.

"…look away," Ezekiel warned Sawyer as he walked towards him. Suddenly, the old compound was filled with the chilling sound of countless stabbing motions. The rhythmic, wet thuds of the knives were unmistakable. Ezekiel, seeing Sawyer's wide-eyed horror, closed his ears and pulled him into an embrace, shielding him from the gruesome reality behind them. Sawyer, who had never known real violence such as this and was still pure in the underworld, had just been tainted irrevocably.

The sounds of his body being hacked by knives echoed through the old compound, each strike reverberating off the crumbling walls. The brutality of the whole thing seemed destined to be contained within those decaying walls, a silent witness to the violence. As the incident ended and Sawyer was finally able to open his ears, the echoes of death still lingered faintly in the air. His heart was practically beating out of his chest. Just then, a blue notification window popped up in his face, reading…

System message: Welcome to the Monarch of the Road system.