Revelation by Kyle West Read Free Book Online Page B

weeks – maybe days. The Great Blight is preparing its next move.”
    Michael nodded. “If I go to Boss Dragon personally about this, he might be persuaded. He’s mediated such meetings before. We can take you inside the city to meet him.”
    Makara frowned. “I don’t like that idea. I’d rather he come out to meet me.”
    “That won’t happen,” Michael said.
    Makara sighed. “We’ll figure this out. What gangs are there in the city?”
    “Well,” Michael said, “The Dragons are only one of six. There are the Kings, the Reds, the Sworn, the Diamonds, and the Suns.”
    “And now, the Angels,” I said.
    “And if you count the Exiles and the Raiders, that makes nine total,” Anna said.
    No one said anything, pausing to the think of the repercussions of having nine violent gangs around one another.
    “This is going to be a bloodbath, isn’t it?” I asked.
    “Let’s go,” Makara said.
    With that command, everyone moved to Odin.

Chapter 6
    After ferrying the last of the bikes across the gorge, we flew in a straight line northwest. The beginning of the city’s outskirts passed below, a maze of crumbling, gray buildings, houses, and roads scattered with rubble. In the distance rose dozens of skyscrapers, shadows against the darkening sky – the remains of the Vegas strip. Those lights had been out for thirty years, now. The buildings, roads, and city lay before us in a sprawled grid, completely empty save for abandoned vehicles and debris that cluttered the streets. The entire city had stopped in one moment, frozen in time, left to rot – to be buried in dust.
    Makara landed Odin north of a large interstate interchange, right in the center of a cleared highway. Dust shifted on the smooth concrete, covering mangled green road signs with red sand. Dilapidated buildings and department stores lined both sides of the highway, their broken windows, lack of paint, and bare appearance reminding me of skeletons. Graffiti coated the buildings’ sides, florid letters in colors of purple, green, and red. The sun appeared as a red blotch to the west through the dust, sinking behind a tall skyscraper.
    Ahead and to the north lay what Michael referred to as the Sunset Gate. A mountain of rubble rose before us, walling out the abandoned outskirts of town and sheltering what remained of Vegas itself – the tall buildings of the Strip, to our northeast, along with its surrounding blocks. The gate was a massive wooden construction, similar to the one I had seen guarding Raider Bluff. To open, it would slide to the side, its large wheels on a track. The gate guarded the northbound side of the highway, while rubble completely blocked off the southbound lanes. On either side of the gate rose wooden towers, where turrets had been set up. Men stood there, watching us.
    We stepped off the ship. In the distance, we heard the rumble of the Exiles’ engines approaching. While we waited for them to arrive, the sun fell, covering the land in darkness.
    Michael stood off a way, speaking on his radio. He was trying to figure out when, or if, we could come inside the walls.
    The Exiles pulled up in a collective roar of engines, and parked their bikes along the overpass’s railing. One by one, the bikes were shut off, and the men began setting up camp. As tents went up and a bonfire was built, I marveled at their efficiency. I just wondered where they had kept all these supplies.
    I noticed that some of the men spoke together in groups and looked off toward the south. A short way out from the overpass were a couple hundred tents, in the midst of which burned dozens of separate fires. It was the Raiders’ camp. Surrounding the whole thing was a crude, wooden fence that had been raised in a hurry.
    Makara, too, stared off in that direction. For the first time in three months, she was going to see Char.
    When our own fire was lit, Michael turned from his position and approached us.
    “They’re not sending anyone out tonight,” he