It's been quite a while since I've written the previous chapter but here's the next one!
Everything that happened next seemed to occur in slow motion. The thug standing over me with the GDHC .50 in my face began to squeeze the trigger but was interrupted by the pink mist that had suddenly erupted from the left side of his head. By the time I had finally blinked, he was sprawled out on the ground motionless.
A voice caught my attention. "You okay, playa?" I looked up to see a middle-aged man wearing a flat cap turned backwards, two gold chains and a leather jacket. He helped me to my feet and graciously lent a sturdy shoulder as I tried to limp away from the burning car. I noticed that we were flanked by a brown-haired younger man who was scanning our surroundings with his .44 Shepherd's barrel smoking. I quickly surmised that he was the person to thank but I could help but think, why did they kill that thug before he could do the devil's work?
"Julius, let's move" the younger man said, snapping me out of the trance I was in. The older man helped me up and hurried me away from the car and strewn bulletridden bodies. As I bit my lip from the pain of my knee, the burning car exploded and the shockwave almost knocked us off our feet. I found myself guided to a nearby street corner and sat down on the pavement with my back against the wall.
"That don't look so bad, you should be fine," Julius said, crouching down. He jerked a thumb in the direction of the younger man who wore a sweater and a single gold chain. "That's Troy. You can thank him later." I gave the still-standing Troy a headnod in acknowledgement.
"The Row ain't safe no more, son" Julius continued. "We've got gangs fighting over shit that ain't theirs and with you in the way, they don't care if you're representing or not."
"Julius, this is no time to recruit," Troy interjected. My mind was still racing from the skirmish that had happened prior to their appearance but the word 'recruit' sent me into a tailspin. It was at this point that I spotted that both of them wore purple and black. What had I gotten myself into? Julius then turned his head to glare at Troy.
"We need all the help we can get, son!"
"No, we need to get our asses outta here!"
"In a minute," Julius turned back to me while Troy gave an indignant sigh and resumed scanning our surroundings. Sirens could now be heard in the distance. Julius then lowered his voice.
"Look, the Row's got a problem. Come to the church when you want to be part of the solution."
Satisfied that his point had been delivered, he got up and walked away with Troy in tow. As I watched them round the corner I felt torn. Tonight's events were obviously not a standalone event and next time I could end up in a Stilwater morgue like the rest of the corpses strewn across the street. If I joined with Julius then I would have protection but at what cost? Did they only save my life to use me a a pawn? One thing was for sure, I wouldn't last very long living in a neighbourhood like this unless I made a decision sooner rather than later.
As I limped home to my hovel away from the approaching sirens, I finally made up my mind. Like it or not, I owed Julius and Troy my life and as an outsider I would clearly be on the fringe of whatever they were a part of. Chances were that they'd notice that I was unsuitable for whatever plans they had, whatever they were. I also got the feeling that the police or Ultor would be less than understanding of my predicament. Who else could I turn to but them?