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Worse, the surface upon which he walked norned as such Half of it was re him to keep to one side And every three meters or so he had to step over a raised support truss

A new sound caught his ear AThe voices, closer now, responded

"Who’s there? Identify yourself!"

Pruainst the wall and froze The thud had sounded even farther away than the voices, and he knew he’dto the door Maybe Skadz or Sa in from the other side

Ti confidence frouards cauns sweeping the hall before thearb, carried a Sonton pistol like he kne to use it The other, a Gateway regular, had a weapon exactly like the one Pruo bay floor

They heard hiet an effective shot The guards whirled in unison and raised their weapons

Pruer squeezed on the trigger even as they fired

So smacked into his foot A bullet, his mind concluded as he fell He realized the truth before he hit the ground He’d tripped, caught his foot on a blue placard stenciled with a stick-figure man and the word RESTROOM next to it It would have been wall signage had the station been in its norn probably saved his life Bullets sailed over his head Pru on the theory that neither guard would put a second bullet in his back, went liun clattered away

His theory proved accurate Neither h after a brief, shocked silence

"Where the hell did he come from?" one of them said

"Beats me," the other replied "What do we do?"

"What do youthere"

Pru even and slow After the run, the burst of adrenaline, this proved near impossible If they came closer …

"Search him at least Check for a pulse," the first said

Shit He weighed his options even as he heard footsteps co, he decided to try for tiroan

Frouard almost fell himself in surprise He scampered back a step or two "Don’t move!" he shouted

Pruain

"What the heck do we do?" the nearer guard said "There’s no ain"

Pruot the darts Knock hi reverberated down the hallway, loud and deep Pru heavy hit the floor

He rolled and cauards lay prone on the floor The one near Pru to face a third man This one wore a blue jumpsuit and wide, terrified eyes In his hands was a red fire extinguisher

The guard raised his pistol

The newcoun went off

Pruht spark as a bullet hit the ed to fire again, but he was also trying to lean away fro his aihs, and at the moment of impact, he swept his ar followed by a uard full in the face Pru the body in a heels-over-head flip

The guard cried out as he landed

Pruun, which lay two rabbed it, spun about, and saw the overturned guard extending his pistol in a desperate blind-fireshots and took his tiuard’s forehead Blood sprayed along the floor and wall behind thehis weapon, Pruainst the wall and turned to look at the newco," he said

"You shot him," the uisher at him"

The man looked down at his own hands as if he’d never seen the Who are you?"

"I’

"Pru the name seemed to pull Tim out of the well of bloodlust he’d apparently fallen in He blinked and faced Prumble now "Skyler mentioned you I … Are you hurt? They shot you"

"No, I just tripped, though I’d appreciate it if you kept that detail to yourself"

Tim nodded, then drew a deep breath "I have to find Tania"