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&039;The 220,&039; I answer fro Josh now and we see in the opposite direction to al forward in a straight line &039;The stop&039;s just up here&039;

Our stop is halfway down a one-way street Lizzie ducks into the shelter and I follow Josh is ry

&039;Look, I&039;m sorry I didn&039;t s are difficult at the moment You knohat it&039;s like when&039;

&039;Doesn&039;t matter,&039; she interrupts, obviously not interested in my explanations

I peer down the street as a bus appears I hopefully squint into the distance to make out the nuain

&039;So what did the doctor say?&039;

&039;Nothing much We were in and out in five minutes His head&039;s healed as it should have and there&039;s no lasting dae He&039;ll have a small scar but it&039;ll be hidden by his hair&039;

&039;That&039;s good,&039; I say, looking down at Josh who, someho looks like he&039;s about to fall asleep &039;It&039;s a relief You can never be sure when they hurt the when a sudden staroup of six ure who is desperately trying to get away He&039;s wearing jeans and a white T-shirt which is covered in blood Two of the e past us and almost knock Lizzie over

&039;Watch where you&039;re going you fucking idiots!&039; I shout after thelares atand neither of the sprints into the street and runs immediately into the path of a taxi which blasts its horn and flashes its lights at hies to avoid a collision The man pushes himself away off the bonnet of the taxi and turns and starts to run down the ht delay is his downfall and the group ofdown their prey My heart is in my mouth The rest of the world seems to have stopped still

The nearest of the chasing pack reaches out and le strong yank he pulls the desperate figure backwards He trips over his own feet and falls in a crumpled heap on the dotted white line in thescu Hater scum&039;

They encircle the lone runner and batter him They kick and hit him relentlessly I look at Lizzie and she stares back at me, her eyes ith shock and fear Does she expectinvolved I look around and see that no-one else is doing anything either The traffic has ground to a halt and many of the pedestrians on either side of the road have stopped walking

The beating lasts for less than a minute They surround hi his face, his kidneys, his chest and his bollocks and sta on his head, his kneecaps and his outstretched hands Once the frenzied attack is over thethe twitching body on the ground in full view The wail of approaching sirens shatters the heavy and ominous silence I look back down the road and see that a police h the stationary traffic By the time the police officer reaches the body all but one of the attackers have disappeared into the crowds The one who reround and shouts and screaly at the helpless, brokenafter the others With a bizarre lack of urgency, interest and care the police officer drags the body away froutter before signalling to the traffic to start ain

The world slowly starts to crank itself back into action

Lizzie is holding onto ht that it hurts I can&039;t take my eyes off the dark mound at the side of the road Who was it? What had he done? If he really was a Hater then he deserved everything he got

It see happens

I think back to the television prograht, and then I think about the other attacks I&039;ve seen and those I&039;ve heard about All that bullshit I ca There is so more to this This isn&039;t just paranoia or people exploiting the situation

I feel sick with nerves and fear

Who is it going to happen to next? Me? Lizzie? Harry or one of the kids? Someone at work? It could be anyone