Julia Welch
"Jacob... Jacob, stop it! Calm down, please!" Julia grabbed ahold of the corner of his jacket, trying to look into his eyes.
Jacob avoided her eyes and looked in the other direction. His hand wrapped in a thin piece of fabric he ripped off of the inside of his jacket. Though the bleeding didn't stop, the fabric was soaked in the deep crimson liquid that continued to drip onto his shoes time to time again.
He was angry, hurt and scared. And Julia saw that. They didn't know where to go, they could only run.
"What do we do now? Do you have any idea?" Jacob asked, his voice cracking slightly.
Julia shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered.
Jacob exhaled a sharp breath. "Well, looks like we're screwed."
He walked over to the side of the alley, they were still a few streets down from the church.
He plopped himself down on the cold wet ground, leaning his head back on the brick building. Julia watched him before she decided to kneel down and take a look at his hand.
"Does it hurt?" She lifted his wrist to notice the drenched fabric. When he didn't say anything, just closed his eyes, she started to unravel the makeshift bandage.
He grimaced in pain, his fingers starting to curl.
"Don't do that, you don't want to irritate the cut, even more, it already looks like it's getting infected."
Jacob opened his eyes to a squint, trying to look at her. "How do you know that?"
"I live with three people who are working in the healthcare unit."
"Ah, yes... how could I forget?"
Julia put his wrist down gently, feeling something shift in her back pocket. Her mind was suddenly preoccupied with the flow of memories.
The money. The convenience store. The 911 call... we can still make it. We're still in the area.
"Why did you do it, Julia?"
Julia looked at him, her thoughts escaping her as she stared at him.
"Why? Why did you have to do it?" He asked again, his voice rough.
"I thought the call would help, at least now the police might be looking for us and we can go back home to safety. Hey, listen, I still have some money. I can run over to that 7/11 and get you something. After, I can ask for the police to take us home and well..."
Jacob let out a heavy sigh. "You didn't get my question."
"What do you mean?"
Jacob shifted himself, trying to pull himself up with his one working hand.
"You followed me into this mess. Why?"
Julia suddenly got frustrated, ignoring his question she continued. "I think my plan will work, we just need to go over to that convenience store, or maybe find something closer."
"For goodness sakes, Julia... just answer the question!"
Julia paused. If I told you the truth... I wouldn't know how you would react. It's not worth it.
Although since he couldn't read her thoughts, she tried making something up.
"You ran off. Ricky said he'd drive you home, remember? I wanted to see where you were going, so I followed you."
It wasn't a complete lie. Her brother did say he would pick them up from the party, but then something happened and Jacob ended up leaving out of anger. Julia realized he was gone only minutes too late and tried scouting him out by tracking his phone. That's when her connection got lost, she ended up in a sketchy part of Rochester and the next thing she knew she was being beaten up by men she didn't even know. Her heart was in the right place, but she wasn't so sure whether she should confess just yet. Especially with everything that was happening to them.
Jacob was silent, he seemed to be scouting out her face for any doubt.
"So that's why you were so mad at me?" He leaned slightly forward.
Irritation started to build up in her, she didn't want him to know just yet. "Yes, Jacob, yes. If it weren't for you I would be back at home living my life perfectly fine."
"Hey, it's not like I wanted to be here either."
"Well maybe if you would've just stayed put like you were supposed to, this would have never happened," she mumbled.
"Are you blaming me now?" He looked at her, his angry eyes now turned to some sort of defensive fury.
She shrugged slowly, folding her cold hands in her sweater, a lump starting to form in her throat. She turned slightly away from him, not wanting him to see the rising tears.
"Is that really the reason?" His voice sounded more gentle, the way it always did when they used to talk.
She nodded her head, still looking down and quickly catching her silent tears.
She could hear him sigh again. "I think we should stick to your plan. It's the best option we have right now."
She nodded, taking out the money from her pocket. All of her frustration blew out, they had to move on.
"Where did you even get that?" He asked.
"The blonde guy gave it to me before we left."
Jacob's eyebrows furrowed. "And you just... took it?"
"Well, yeah, what else was I supposed to do?"
Jacob shook his head. "I wouldn't trust that guy if I were you."
Julia stood up with him, brushing the dirt off of her pants. "How much harm do you think a few dollars can be?"
"I don't know... I just know not to take things from strange guys who are in dangerous gangs, no matter what the object is."
Evidently, Julia didn't know whether her decision to take the money was good or bad at that moment, but she had faith that it might help them get out of this mess and back home.
If only things had been different, Jacob.
~~~
Carmen Yates
"So, you don't know where they are, who they're dealing with or whether they're alive or dead?"
Carmen shook his head. "Not exactly..."
"But you still think your plan is going to work?"
Carmen shrugged, pulling the sweater off of his sweaty skin. He grabbed a bottle and started gulping down the water.
"Things took a bit of a turn. I didn't think Jorge would have the guts in him to actually shoot two people in that poor ol' church."
"It's unfortunate, really. I heard they were both in life-threatening condition... one guy didn't even make it."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, it was all over the news yesterday."
Carmen shook his head, putting the water bottle back down on the little counter in the kitchenette they were standing in.
"What can I tell you... that's life, I guess."
The guy leaned himself against the wall of the tiny room. "So, what now, boss?"
Carmen folded his arms across his broad chest, looking out as some sort of plan started to unravel in his mind.
"I've already gotten Warner taken care of," he grinned, "without Kevin, he's going to be clueless."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, is that Kevin dude the guy that's locked in the closet?"
Carmen stared at him. "Yes... yes, it is. Now pay attention."
The guy put his arm up in surrender. "Alright, alright. So, Jorge's a goner, what now?"
"We need to create a diversion for the CCPA... at least until I get Julia and Jacob back."
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"
Carmen sighed. "I have no idea."
A/N
i know y julia followed jacob fr and u don't so haha.
i also know who carmen was talking too and u don't so hahahA.
i rly got nothing else to say.
just wanted to keep u wondering if I'm ever going to end this story :p
pls don't hate me, I'm going to make sure it all connects in the end :p