Gangs Aren't My Style (A Black Death Novel)

Chapter 29 - The Unlikeliest of Friends

Gangs Aren't My Style

Book I of the Black Death Trilogy

PART TWO: Memories That Don't Seem To Fade

Chapter 29 - The Unlikeliest Of Friends

Ally poked at the new tattoo on her side, her lips thinned into a flat line. Her brother had returned to the base late two nights before and had been exceedingly paranoid since. Now, the words 'Protected by James Carter' stared up at her tauntingly from their position beneath the gang tattoo she had been given in her first week at the base.

Ally winced when she found a sore spot. To be honest though, the entire area surrounding the fresh ink throbbed. She dropped her head back to the bed, groaning.

Like always, however, she was not afforded any lasting peace. A gunshot sounded from out in the hallway, echoing down to her room. Ally shot from her bed.

Her feet pounded on the tiled floor as she ran in the shot's direction, her blood pumping in her ear. In her haste, Ally rounded the corner sharply and threw herself off balance. Her foot caught on an unseen obstacle, and she was sent lurching forward. A hand caught her elbow, steadying her.

She felt sick. A bloodied hand was strewn across the floor beside her. Ally dared not follow the limb up to its owner.

She turned into the arms of her brother, shielding her eyes. But it was too late to forget what she had seen. A woman appearing to be only a few years older than her lay dead on the floor, never to breath again. The bullet hole in her forehead left little to the imagination and her face was nearly unrecognizable through the destruction of the close-range shot. One of her brother's men stood near the wreckage. He still held his gun in hand.

Ally could only force out on single word through her disbelief. "Why?"

James' eyes softened as he watched her but he did not try to sugarcoat the truth. "She refused to cooperate. It is within a member's prerogative to punish his personal slave in any way of his choosing, even with death."

"So you condone the murder of innocent women now, brother?" She spat out the last word viciously.

James sighed, knowing that each of his men were waiting to see how he was going to react; how he was going to respond to her. "Come on," he commanded with a shake of his head. "We will discuss this in private."

Ally reeled at the idea. "No!" she exclaimed, planting her feet firmly so that he would have trouble dragging her away. "We will discuss this now!"

He growled then, a low and menacing sound that would have had any other woman shaking in her boots, but she did not lower her challenging gaze. James dug his fingers into her upper arm and towed her along as he moved further away from the crowd.

"I do not wish for anyone to be hurt but that is just how things are done here," he finally conceded when they entered her room. His shoulders slumped when Ally tugged away from him roughly.

"That could have been me!" she yelled at him, her eyes spitting fire. "Do you not understand that? The only thing that saved me from a likewise fate was the simple fact that I was born your sister."

His reply was level-headed. "But it wasn't you. You were born my sister and nothing will change that. You will always have my protection."

Ally nodded, even though she was not ready to drop the subject. At that moment, she only wanted to forget. Forget all she had seen, forget the abuse she had been dealt at the hand of her brother's gang, forget everything.

James gave her a forced smile, recognizing her consent for what it was, and left her alone with her thoughts. However, Ally found that she did not wish to think. Thinking meant remembering and remembering meant reliving the misery of her past. She was ready for neither.

Ally ran. Her feet pounded across the floor and her footsteps rang out through the nearly empty hallway. She did not think, instead let each booming stride drown out the turmoil of her mind.

She slammed into the shoulder of an unsuspecting man but she did not slow. Angry shouts periodically filled the hallways as she forced her way through but Ally barely heard them passed the deafening roar of each beat of her heart. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The door was in front of her now, it's meager width taunting her. Only inches separated her from the outside world.

Ally tugged on the doorknob desperately, willing it to turn under her fingertips, but it remained firm. She cried out, hitting balled fists against the wooden barrier with desperation, but still it did not budge.

"Please," she pleaded pathetically, sliding down the smooth wood. Ally collapsed to her knees, still hitting one weak fist against the unyielding barrier. "Please."

A hand landed on her shoulder and she snapped. Every muscle in her body tensed. A tight fist swung into the jaw of the man behind her with a sudden power that only terror could supply.

The man groaned in pain and Ally leapt away from him, backing down the hall. Every fight or flight instinct in her was primed and ready, but he did not pursue her.

"Have mercy," he hissed, rising from his stoop. "You sure pack a harsh punch."

She refused to participate in whatever game he was playing. "Stay away from me."

He raised his hands innocently. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Ally was not convinced. "Only because I will not let you."

Something seemed to click in his mind then and he looked at her sympathetically. "Did one of the men already try something with you?"

She tensed and hurriedly replied, "No!"

Her reaction was proof enough for him.

"I apologize for whoever hurt you," he said, "and promise on my honor that I will not do the same."

Ally had just begun to relax, seeing the truth in his eyes, when another man turned the corner. "Hey Damon, James wants to know if you've seen..." He paused. He eyes settled on Ally with a predatory grin as he finished, "his sister."

A muscle in Damon's jaw ticked when Ally tensed. "Is he the one who hurt you?" He looked to her as if for confirmation but there was no doubt in the way he staged the question. He knew the answer to be yes.

She nodded and the newcomer sputtered out his denial but Damon was already turning on him, fists tight. Hard knuckles plowed into the man's jaw, effectively silencing him.

The man stumbled back in shock, but quickly regained his balance and cursed aloud before lunging at Damon. They exchanged a blur of blows, so frenzied that Ally lost sight of whose arm was whose as well as of who was winning. She need not have worried over this though because in the space of the next few minutes, Damon somehow managed to bring the man's head down onto his knee, knocking him unconscious. The man fell to the floor, blood gushing out of his head and onto the tiled floor.

Ally gasped in shock, both at the quick defeat and at the sudden realization that she man she had never met had actually stood up for her. Then, a smile slowly spread across her face.

"I think we just might become good friends." And it was true, because any man who would stick up for her, even to the point of beating someone senseless, was a comrade of hers.