//------------------------------//
// PROLOGUE: THE ACCIDENT 
// Story: Brothers to the end 
// by gingercolt 
//------------------------------//

I knew that this was a bad idea from the start. Sure, James had assured me that this plan was full proof, simple. He would collect the package from one of his friends, and then we would drive it over to midtown, where a ‘client’ would be waiting for us in the Greco meatpacking plant. So far, so good. James was inside the building right now, but he’d been in there for a long time, and I’m starting to get worried. While he’s in there, I’m out here by the car, in case anything should go wrong and we need a quick getaway, much like last time. Right now however, I’m thinking about what got us here.

Me and James didn’t exactly win the jackpot in terms of upbringing. My dad left me, James and our mum when I was just 9; James was 13, so he felt like he had to be the protective, fatherly figure, by taking care of me. Well, now I’m 16 and he’s 20, but nothing’s changed, he still feels he needs to look over my shoulder. But hey, I wouldn’t have it any way. Like, when I was 14, coming home from a party, I was attacked by one of the gang members from the other side of town, they hated our neighbourhood. At that moment, I feared for my life, because the guy had a knife and he looked at me like I was Satan or something. As I closed my eyes waiting for the end, James came out of nowhere and being a big guy, wrenched the knife from the guys hand and knocked him out cold with a swift blow to the temple. Turns out James had been trailing me in his car on his way home from work, and seeing what had happened rushed to my aid.

It’s been an hour now and I’m freaking out. He said he be at the most ten minutes. Alright, 5 more minutes, then I’m calling the cops. With that my eardrums were assaulted by the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. “JAMES!” I rush towards the front door only to be met with the sight of James bursting out from the other side. 

“Don’t say anything, just run to the car and drive, don’t look back!” he screams at me, his face flustered and sweaty. We bundle in quickly and I manage to pull away and set off roaring down the road. My palms begin sweating and I start shaking.

“What the hell happened in there?” I scream.

“It went wrong, I was ambushed.” James replies quietly. “It was the gang that have been on our necks for ages, their boss even turned up. Turns out the package I was delivering had been stolen from them, and as soon as I got in there I was attacked from behind. They smashed my phone so I couldn’t call for help.”

Still trembling I reply “then how did you escape.”


“It wasn’t easy. Once they had found the package they couldn’t afford to let me live, but my executioner turned out to be the friend that I got the package off of in the first place.”

Puzzled I stare at him from the driver’s seat” then why didn’t he deliver it instead of going through the trouble of getting someone else?”

“The boss wanted somebody to pay for taking it from him and send a message to those who plan to ever steal from him that he can’t be pushed around.” His voice is hard and steady.

“You still haven’t explained how you got out?” now I am getting impatient.

“Did you hear a gunshot before I came running out?” he asks me.

I simply nod in response.

“My so called friend couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger and he must have felt regret for getting me pulled into this crap. So anyway, he was taking so long to do it that another member came to do it instead, but when he came to take the gun my friend fired, the bullet him him point blank in the chest. Everyone in the room was stunned; the guy who was shot hit the floor with a thud and began gasping for air. I used this to my advantage, by getting the hell out of there.”

I can’t bring myself to say anything, possibly due to shock. Both of us are silent for what seems like forever until the silence is broken by the ring of a gunshot. The bullet hits the side mirror, shattering it into millions of gleaming pieces.
“Shit, they’ve followed me!” James yells in surprise and anger. “Alright listen closely Mark, let me take the wheel and get yourself out of here, they haven’t got anything against you.

Strangely, I reply in my calmest voice yet. “No, we’re in this together, I knew what the risks were but I still went ahead with it. Anyway, what would I do without you?” Bullets begin peppering the car. From the rear view mirror I can see only 1 car following us, so maybe I can shake it. The tyres squeal as I make a sharp left turning towards the Helmsley Bridge.
James is yelling now. “You do realise you could die tonight!”

Calmly I say “I realise I could have died 2 years ago, and I accepted it, but at least now I will be going out with my brother by my side.” We’re travelling down the bridge now, still with the car in hot pursuit. “Remember that promise we made when we were little?”

James simply replies with a “yes.”

“Brothers to the end” I say smiling. Just then, as I finish my sentence, a bullet finds our rear wheel, sending the car spinning and crashing over the bridge into the abyss below. The last thing I hear is a series of sickening crunches, and then everything goes black.