Cholo was limping when he arrived at the guardhouse under the river, ignoring the others looking at him curiously. Foxy, the man who had been his best friend for as long as he could remember, was the first to approach him.
"Hey, bro, where were you last night? We had a great time at the bar, you missed a whole lot of crazy-ass shit!" Foxy called, grinning like a loon as he sauntered towards Cholo.
Cholo swallowed dryly and said, "I was-uh…with someone."
Foxy's grin brightened as he assumed Cholo was referring to a prostitute. "Awesome, bro." He said, clapping his hand over Cholo's shoulder and leading him to the unofficial coffee break room.
Cholo sat numbly at the table in a folding chair, brow creased together with pain as his legs continued to ache painfully. "Yeah." He muttered as Foxy set a steaming mug in front of him and sat across from him in another folding chair.
"So, bro, what's up for today?" Foxy asked, folding his hands behind his head and kicking his feet up onto the table.
"Nothing." Cholo replied shortly.
Foxy's eyes narrowed and his grin slowly melted into a concerned frown. "You okay, bro?"
"Sure." Cholo said quietly.
"Man, that chick did a number on ya' last night!" Foxy joked weakly, eyes still focused on Cholo's face.
Cholo didn't reply as he pushed his coffee aside and stood up. "I'll see ya' later then?" Foxy called after him as Cholo soundlessly walked out the door, pulling his jacket closer around him.
"Hey, bro, where are your shoes?" Foxy asked, standing as well and beginning to follow his friend.
"With the chick." Cholo snapped bitterly as he shrugged a gun over his shoulder and toed into an extra pair of boots.
Not bothering to lace up the boots, he turned on his heel and stalked off, emotions boiling up before he could suppress them. Within seconds, Cholo broke into a run and stormed up the stairs, shoving a younger guard out of the way and running full speed into the open air.
Cholo ran long and hard until his legs seemed to be on fire and his lungs felt as if they were about to burst. Gasping for air, Cholo bent over and began dry heaving. Soon he was on his hands and knees, struggling to regain his breath.
He felt dizzy, as if he couldn't control which direction he was looking, and collapsed sideways into the dirt. Closing his eyes, Cholo lay there for a few moments, breathing in shakily.
Suddenly, a concerned voice cut through the air. "Cholo?"
Footsteps echoed towards him, and then someone knelt beside him, tossing a gun to the ground at his side. "Cholo, what the hell happened?"
It was Cholo's superior, Riley Denbo. Cholo let out a soft groan, and he weakly curled up even further into a ball. "Go away." He said half-heartedly.
"Hey, what happened to you?" Riley repeated, cautiously resting a hand upon Cholo's shoulder.
Cholo shrugged that shoulder rather feebly. "Nothing."
"Hey, Riley, who's that?" Another voice asked from a small distance away.
"It's Cholo!" Riley called as footsteps approached behind them.
"Oh. What's wrong with him?" Charlie asked, eyes wide as he fingered his gun.
"I don't know." Riley said quietly as he shifted his weight behind Cholo and gently rolled the other man over.
Sighing shakily, Cholo opened his eyes and gazed up at Riley's worried face. "Hey, Denbo." He greeted hoarsely.
"Hey, Cholo. Are you okay?" Riley asked, eyebrows raised quizzically.
"I'm fine." Cholo muttered, accepting Riley's help and sitting up.
"No you aren't. Why are you lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere?" Riley asked, eyes narrowed stubbornly.
"I'm tired." Cholo lied pathetically, refusing to meet Riley's gaze.
"So you decided to sleep on the middle of the street on the way to the bazaar?" Riley asked sarcastically. "Come on, let's get you inside."
He slipped his arm around Cholo's waist and helped hoist him up onto his feet. Cholo shrugged him off and stood, crossing his arms over his chest in self-defense. "Leave me alone." He snapped, turning and walking away a bit unsteadily.
Cholo closed his eyes against the pain in his legs, which was slowly creeping up to his ass as well. His steps faltered, and he stumbled slightly. "Shit." He hissed under his breath.
Riley was at his side in a flash. He grabbed Cholo by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "Tell me what happened Cholo." He ordered firmly, eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Cholo swallowed, then looked to the ground. "I went to deliver something to Kaufman last night." He began reluctantly. "And…he drugged me…and when I woke up…he…" Cholo trailed off and looked out over the river that he could see in the distance. "Kaufman raped me."
Riley's eyes went wide as saucers. "Kaufman…raped you?" He choked out.
Cholo nodded jerkily, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. "Holy shit." Riley said softly, running his hands through his hair. "Shit, Cholo, I'm so sorry."
Charlie watched them, eyes wide. "Oh, my God."