Ace Of Spades (Complete Raw First Draft, Unedited)

Fourty- One: Chaos

Lucas backed into the wall, fumbling to find the door, and pushed it open, but, he didn't get far.

He turned to drag Jenna through after him, but came face to face with Axe.

I leaped at him, catching him off guard as I dragged him back.  I managed to get between him and Jenna, shoving her away with my shoulder.

I didnt stop to see where she landed, as long as she was out of harm's way as I wrestled with Lucas over the ground for the gun. I got on top, baring down on him, forcing the barrel down and squeezed the trigger.

The sound echoed around the room, and I fell back as Lucas went limp, trying not to gag as the stench of blood hit me.

Axe leaned his hands on his knees, breathing hard while Jenna was hugging her knees, crying.  I crawled towards her, taking her face in my hands, examining her.

"It's okay," I repeated, pulling her into a hug.  "It's over, he can't hurt you anymore."

She gasped, clutching her side, and I looked down at her, concerned, only now realising how badly messed up she was.  I gently wiped the tears from her bruised face, tenderly feeling her ribs beneath my hand through her torn shirt.  The skin was black and blue, and I worried that the bones could be broken.

There were already new bruises forming on her thighs, similar to the ones she'd had when I first met her, and I had to force myself not to crush her to me, knowing what they'd done to her.  I didn't want to hurt her even more than they had.

She sobbed against my shoulder, and I held her there like that, the two of us kneeling on the hard ground, until I heard the sound of other people entering the room.  I slowly pulled away from her, looking up at the Specters, all bloody and beaten, but at least they were alive.

I stood, carefully pulling Jenna to her feet, holding her to me.  I needed to feel her there, beside me, and know nothing was going to take her away again.

"Where's Clyde?"  I asked Axe, looking around at the familiar faces.  "And Ricky and Troy."

"Clyde's got Bonnie and those other girls in one of the cars," Marcus assured me, as everyone began to file out of the room, making their way to the exits.  "The other two are in bad shape.  We gotta get them home ASAP."

I nodded, turning to Jenna.

"Can you walk?" I asked her, carefully touching her side, lowering my hand to her hip when she winced.

"I think so," she answered quietly, sounding out of breath.

I offered to carry her, but she refused, and, slowly, but surely, we made it through the warehouse, to the van.

Chuck had the engine running already, and I climbed into the back along with Boomer and Jack, relieved that Clyde was there, already, unhurt, but he looked stricken.

"She's not waking up," he told me, cradling Bonnie's limp body.

Jenna crawled painfully to them as Chuck started the journey home.  She lifted Bonnie's arm and pointed at the inside of her elbow, glancing up at Clyde.

"Lucas would always inject really flighty, stubborn girls with heroine," she explained.  "They became addicted, so then they were reliant on him, and couldn't leave, until he sold them."

Jack muttered angrily, and Boomer pursed his lips.

"That must have been his plan for Bonnie," he pointed out.

Clyde growled, slamming his fist into the side of the van.  He grimaced, adjusting his grip on Bonnie, pulling her into him more.  Jenna glanced at the hand he'd just used to hit the wall, at the split skin on his knuckles.