This part is dedicated to rachelukah for always impatiently anticipating every new update.
"Waiting for you to update..." She said once, "The thing is vexing. 🙅"

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"Run!"

"Huh?" Jake was lost, but quickly understood when he looked and saw what Melanie and Paul had seen through the window. "Oh shit!"

Ryan's mob was already dashing across the street like a herd of buffaloes, stampeding anything in their quick way and it gave Paul an intense sensation like he was stuck in a room of a collapsing concrete building. The image was such that he would be stuck under a heap of concrete debris in a matter of seconds, dead or dying, unless he could sprint like a mad deer.

Without saying a word after Melanie had yelled "Run!" He did quite sprint like a mad deer, leaned backwards because his legs moved faster and faster as if with the intentions of leaving the rest of his body behind. His eyes were widened with disbelief that he was in this sort of situation and his heart thumped crazily from so much adrenaline that when he pushed the back door of the restaurant instead of pulling, the door still bulged like it was how it was meant to go.

Jake and Melanie followed behind quickly and since the mob was coming for them through the entrance of the restaurant, they headed with Paul, for a back door, passing across the counter and into the restaurant's kitchen.

"Hey!" The man who took their order shouted when he saw Paul breeze by, -and yes, his adrenaline speed produced skirt-lifting breeze.

Melanie and Jake was making it pass the counter-to-kitchen door when the man's voice and glare startled Jake for a moment and he took his eyes off his way and did not see the pregnant tired lady he tried to pick up earlier carrying used plates to a dishwasher. He crashed into her and they both fell to the ground after staggering and spinning like vehicles driven off a cliff. They crouched on the floor shielding their heads from the raining cutlery they sent flying up with the collision. Right next to Jake's head, a large knife stabbed into the floor and dangled side to side before it dampened to a stop.

Jake's eyes grew wide as he imagined the knife go through his skull. "Whoa!" He exclaimed and felt hands grabbing and pulling him up by his shirt.

"Get the hell up." Melanie yelled at him as she pulled him up and Paul who had made it out the back door returned to help.

"That's it." The huge man whose pregnant wife was knocked to the ground yelled. He picked up a kneading roller and matched towards Jake like a Goliath.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Jake said with a pleading face as he staggered to his feet, raising surrendering hands.

The man stopped to pick up his groaning wife when Paul breezed by again when he returned to slam his entire weight into the kitchen door, holding it shut just in time, at the very moment one of the mob members was about to run in after them. Paul groaned and pushed with all his might, holding on like the last pillar of this collapsing building he was in and it was then that he pulled everyone's attention to a big man's hand that pushed like hulk, gunning to pry into the kitchen with intense determination. Paul groaned like someone who fought with a bull and was loosing the fight. He felt more persons pushing in against him when he heard Melanie call him.

He struggled but managed to see Melanie pull out the knife that stabbed into the floor and made to throw it his way. At first, he thought that Melanie wanted him to catch it and use it or something. Is she crazy? He thought, but then he noticed her aiming, so he let go of the door and fell to the floor holding his head to protect it from flying knives and then the next thing he heard was a loud manly cry. He looked and saw the knife stab into the door through the man's hand that pushed the door, tearing through the skin between his finger bones. "Jesus!" Paul shouted in shock and Jake ran and flew at the door, knocking the guy and anyone else back behind the door. Then he shut and bolted it close.

"Come on!" He said to Paul breathlessly and snapped his fingers and Paul could not believe his eyes. He stood to his feet and took some seconds to consider the blood-dripping knife that stabbed solidly into the door. He considered Melanie as well and could not decide if to feel impressed by or if to fear her with trembling respect. He shook his head and pulled out the knife, with the thought that they may still need it, before he dashed out following Melanie and Jake.

They emerged through the back door into a surprisingly filthy narrow alley. They slammed the big metal door shut and Melanie handed Paul a rusted wrench she found lying at a corner, with which Paul used to cross the door handles, sealing it shut.

"Come on! Come on!" Melanie said and they moved quickly through the alley between brick buildings, set side by side one another with network of narrow passageways in between them. They did not know which way they were going. They simply took random turns instinctively and the more they moved, the more lost they got, swallowed into the belly of the estate.

They reached a corner shortly, where they felt a little safe and temporary shielded by walls and turns. They stopped and panted to catch their breath. The rush was intense and Paul who had undergone not only a physical sprint but also a psychological one leaned on a wall, breathing heavily. In his eyes were full of despair and regret and the desperate wish to turn back the hands of time.

Melanie and Jake on the other hand was in a completely different state of mind. Jake was squatting and panting heavily when he looked up and saw Melanie's face. On it was a subtle clue that suggested that she was sort of enjoying this. She stood tall with hands on her hips, breathing, when Jake straitened up and held out his fist. "That knife throw..." He said and struggled to catch his breath. "That was bad-ass."

Melanie bumped her fist against his and smiled widely. "I know, right?" She said and it was no longer a secret that she enjoyed adrenaline rush.

"What . . . Wha-What?" Paul stammered in disbelief. His eyes were wild and mad. He stood straight and walked towards them pointing to their fists. "What the hell was that?" He looked to their faces and searched for answers. "A fist bump? Wha- I don't . . . a fist bump?" He put his hands on his head. "I don't get it. Why are you smiling?" He asked Melanie. " what ah . . . Are you guy's crazy? They were going to kill us. We - they . . . Is this a joke? Is it a stupid american prank? Are there like camera or..."

Melanie and Jake exchanged glances and turned back to Paul. "Hey!" Melanie cut him off and spoke with a look that was beginning to consider him odd for panicking so easily. "No one's going to hurt us."

"What are you talking about?" Paul asked and wanted to shake the both of them into reality. "They..."

"Relax, Paul." Jake cut him off and blurted. "We are Americans and we are in America. People can't just..." He stopped when he noticed the incredulous eyes Paul set on him. It caused him to self-consciously realize the error in what he said. "Oh!" He exclaimed.

"I'm not American." Paul said and moved closer to Jake, staring intently, down at him.

"Yea . . . I know."

"So . . . what are you saying?"

"Paul..." Melanie called his attention. "You're overreacting." She said and regretted it as soon as Paul transferred the intense glare to her.

"I'm overreacting?" Paul was visibly offended. He looked really angry and he moved closer to Melanie. Melanie turned her gaze to the ground and stared at a squeezed Pepsi can. "You don't really know me, right? You don't what I've got at stake. You don't know how hard I've worked for the opportunity I have now. You don't know shit about me . . . and until you do, keep . . . your . . . opinion to . . . yourself." He placed intense stresses on each word. "Okay?"

Melanie felt a deep instinct to cry. It was not like her to be hurt by mere words, but somehow Paul had similar effect on her like her late brother did. He was the only person that could make her feel guilty and talk her into tears. She clenched her teeth and stared intensely at that innocent, oblivious Pepsi can.

"Hey!" Jake touched Paul and got his attention. "She doesn't know okay? Even I don't really know . . . but we understand that we don't understand what you've got at stake but you have to understand that too and not get so upset, okay? Please. We are sorry."

Paul nodded. "I'm sorry." He and Melanie wanted to apologize and they coincidentally said it at the same time and this made them stare at each other for a moment and then exchange their usual shy smile. Paul's heart melted and he could not stay upset.

"I don't get why I yell at you. It's not right." He said. "Please. Forgive me."

"Oh blah blah mushy mush." Melanie said and waved it off. "I'm a big girl. It doesn't get to me one bit." She lied and let out a nervous giggle. "It's not like I'm going to cry like a little girl or something." Her voice was a bit shrill and Paul suspected something he could not place a finger on.

"Don't worry Paul." Jake said and patted him. "We just need to..." He stopped and his words stuck to his throat, when he heard a loud bang. He stood shocked for a moment, before his eyes became frantic. "What was that?" He asked and the silence that followed his question tormented him. He wished, then, that someone would tell him that he was overreacting.

"Uh-oh!" Melanie exclaimed.

Jake cursed and they still stood there in disbelief when they heard the second bang that jerked their feet to life and they knew without doubts that the bangs came from a gun.

Chills ran through Paul's spine and for the first time, he hated being right.

Shouts and other things indicated that the mob were no longer held behind a wrench-bolted door. Jake cursed and they began again to run, and deeper, they lost themselves within the estate.

The area was scanty with people but clustered with goods, warehouse rodents and cats. Paul suspected that the estate was of warehouses and other facilities like the restaurant and was hardly or ever used as a residence. Most of the structures were plain concrete walls, no windows, plumbing or balconies and most had only big metal doors that could not be penetrated, even if someone rammed a car at it. And sadly, that meant that there was no hiding place for them.

Like dazed cockroaches, they scurried through the alleys, praying for even the smallest cover. Somewhere to hide, for a chance to escape this. Melanie was really scared this time. Although that fear had lurked somewhere at the back of her mind since she broke that Ryan's face, but it completely took over her this time and guided her sprint. She regretted being so reckless.

Her fear tripled and she realized what Paul must have felt like when they turned into an alley that led to a dead end. Her eyes grew twice wider and her chest rose and fell, heaving heavy breath and yet she felt as if she was suffocating. The ground was moving under her feet and it became a little difficult for her to stand steady. "Oh my God!" She muttered as she gazed upon the walls at her left, right and front and a painful migraine shot through her head. She spun to go back, but stopped at the thought that the men was coming that way. She felt trapped. They were trapped and she imagined being tied up and thrown into a narrow shark tank. The alley was this narrow tank, and she feared that the sharks could smell her from around the corner and were swimming right for her.

She turned to a steal roll up door in the wall by the right and desperately tried to pull it open even though a big padlock conspicuously held it to the ground. She pulled and pulled desperately with all her strength and at that moment, a feeling overwhelmed her, a feeling she thought she had overcome, the feeling that she was just a helpless little girl powerless to do anything to change her unfortunate situation, surpressed completely under beastly men's dominance and allowed only, to cry and throw tantrum. And it was then that a tear began to roll down her cheek. She continued to pull at that door, even though she knew that no amount of adrenaline could tear it open, but within her she fought to win a greater war. I would not just give up, She said. I will not curl up and cry like a helpless little girl.

Paul grabbed her from behind her, picking her up, literary. He and Jake had called her a couple of times before that, until when they realized that she could not hear them . . . that her thoughts were not with them; so Paul decided to pick her up. He carried her a short distance back the way they came, before he dropped her and she moved with them.

They heard voices and footsteps of the mob members and knew that they were close. Not far from the dead end wall, Paul had found a corner that lead into another dead end, but in it was a big green trash can by the wall, big enough to contain two horses. Jake opened the high top covers and before Melanie could blink, Paul picked her up again like she was made of feathers and threw her into the trash can, in which she fell on piles of pinching cans. She did not mind though and really did not mind at all when Paul climbed in after her and collapsed on top of her. She did not mind . . . at all.

Jake covered the trash can after himself and curled awkwardly beside Melanie and Paul; legs high up above him. Paul was too tired to adjust and they didn't want to make any noise, so he just laid there on top of Melanie and struggled to catch his breath. Melanie could feel his heart thumping against hers and his breath on her shoulder and she was so thankful to have had him literary pick her out of the dark waters her mind was lost in.

They stayed motionless and quiet and just listened. The yells and footsteps grew louder and as it did, their heartbeats rose in rhythm, until the footsteps stopped.

"This is a dead end." They heard one voice yell angrily amidst pants.

"I know!" Another retorted. "I can fucking see it."

"Where the hell did they go?"

"They could have climbed . . . no it's too high."

"Then where the hell did they disappear to." He yelled angrily. "They don't have wings."

"Why the hell are you yelling at me?"

The three tried to hold even their breaths, because the men that yelled were not more than five yards away from them.

One yelled a frustrated curse and sounded really disappointed. Paul wondered why they had so much determination.

"How could we have lost them? We- we must have missed something." The voice continued. "We have to trace back and regroup with the others."

"Okay." The other said and they began to walk.

A mischievous smile crept into Melanie's lips, celebrating having felt and survived this intense rush. It's over. She told herself and repeated and it really would have been over if only she had remembered before time that her mother always called her on phone everyday by 3pm to find out what she would like to have for dinner.

It really would have been over, but her phone began to ring in her pocket.

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Hi, dear awesome reader, hope your day is/was as eventful as Paul, Melanie and Jake's (although not as unlucky.)
I'm happy that you have enjoyed my work enough to read up to this part. Thank you.

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