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“Alex!” I aim blindly in front of me

The men don’t stop Grunts follow the dull thuds of their fists as they rain punches down on one another Alex is on top He gets in a blow that sends Besov’s face flying sideways A jet of blood flies from Besov’s mouth and paints a red streak over the snow Besov jams a fist into Alex’s injured side Alex howls, his head thrown back It gives Besov a chance to fling Alex around, reversing their positions Cartilage cracks as he slams a fist into Alex’s nose

I don’t have a clear shot If I pull the trigger, I un in the air, I fire

Pop!

The gunfire echoes in the space A flock of birds lifts from the trees in the forest and rises noisily into the sky

Both men freeze I slide to the bottointo the snow and stopping me

With Alexup or down the eht for the frozen river When he’s halfway across, far enough to feel safe from my amateur aim, he stops

One of his eyes is swollen shut and his lip is split, but that doesn’t prevent a et away now, but I’ll be back for you” His voice rings out over the expanse “You’ll never sleep soundly again That’shis escape, this tily normal pace

My vision goes hazy It’s like a scene froets away You look at the screen, waiting, because no one deserves to live in fear, but then the screen turns black, thenow, see our future like a spectator who looks on froor’s unconscious form in the ER and the bullet the doctor extracted, the bullet the bodyguard had taken for Alex I see Alex on that bed, no longer breathing, his blue eyes no longer alert I see myself, my et to us Because he won’t stop Not unless I stop him

Without another thought, I aier

Stopping, he shoots a surprised look at me from over his shoulder A unpowder fills my nostrils Alexme to back down or calh the air

I pull the trigger again The ice around his feet cracks His laugh dies The sound drifts aith the snow

Crack

He stiffens, his eyes widening

It’s too late

The frozen layer gives It breaks His weight pulls him down