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“Hurry up! Now!”

“Okay All right”

I raisehim know I’m not a threat My body tenses as I reach slowly forto run

But as ertips brush my back pocket, a new noise catches my attention Before I have a chance to process what I heard, three figures step out of the shadows behind er by surprise too, and he doesn’t even have a chance to react before they’re on top of him

Onethe wild slash of the knife before tightening his grip and twisting The round, where one of the other men kicks it away

I stare in stupefied shock as the ins kicking him in the stomach Each brutal kick is met with a cry, and my breath catches as a spray of blood spills from the man’s mouth and onto black concrete

The , or drugsup his systeht back He flails and swings, scra to his feet as he punches and kicks

But he doesn’t stand a fucking chance

The three men finally stop their assault, but not before the tallest one delivers one final blow to the round, and the sound of his skull hitting the concrete turns ain

Oh god, did they just kill him?

One of the dark,hiht Within seconds, another of the three shadows vanishes down the alley, leaving just one man alone with me

He stands with his back to me, and I watch ide eyes as his broad shoulders rise and fall, his breath visible on the air in the chilly fall night He lingers at thehi for

My voice fails ue What the hell do I say?

Thank you? Who are you?

But when the shadowedtoward the alley to follow his friends, it’s only a single word that falls from my lips