The Window Of Corruption

Olivia

I stopped in my tracks and tried to decipher where the screaming was coming from. I heard it again and turned around and started quickly walking, almost running to where the noise was being projected from. I ran down some stairs and entered a dark and grimy underpass, the walls were painted with graffiti and the floor was littered with cigarette buds. I looked ahead and about halfway through the underpass I noticed a struggle between a woman and a large, muscular bald man.

It seemed I couldn't walk five metres in this place without witnessing a crime being committed! The man looked dangerous and for a moment I thought about just walking away, I wouldn't be proud of it, but at least I'd stay alive. However it was too late as I made eye contact with the woman and she screamed, begging for help. The man realised someone was there and turned around to look at me.

"Hey! Get out of here! Now!" He yelled and then continued to shout profanities at me. I now knew what I had to do,

"Let her go" I spoke, trying to speak in a reasonable manner and remain calm, I felt like running away yet also at the same time wanted to just continually pound him in the face. He let go of his victim to face me,

"I'm gonna count to three and if you're still stood there I'm going to kill you!" He threatened, meanwhile I turned my attention to the woman, who was paralysed with fear, and I spoke directly to her,

"Hey, get out of here and call the police." I tried to speak in a soothing voice, after a few seconds she processed what I had said and attempted to flee but the man turned back around and grabbed her arm, clutching it with one of his gigantic hands.

"You're goin' nowhere" He spat, clearly getting more and more aggravated, I started walking towards the man, ready for a fight and while I was walking towards him I was trying to foresee his attacks and how I would counter them. In ten seconds I was just about in reaching distance for him, he still had hold of the woman who, now seeming to have gained confidence from my presence was trying to break free of his grasp and was punching and kicking him but to little effect. She was small and the man must have been at least six foot four inches tall.

The man pushed his victim to the side and she landed heavily on the ground, he came to face me directly.
"Listen I don't want to fight you but you-" my attempt to reason with him was cut short by a blow to my face. I stumbled backwards, shocked but not surprised by his attack, his next punch came down on the back of my head and I hit the floor but was soon grabbed by the man and pulled upwards before being tackled into the underpass wall. The man was a lot stronger than me and had much further reach but I wasn't going to go down easy.

I quickly pushed back from the man and ran into an area with more space to move, sure he had more reach but that can also be a disadvantage. He went in for a swing with his left hand and I ducked easily, he went for another swing with his right hand and I ducked again, he then tried a jab for my face with his right hand, luckily I was ready and I grabbed his wrist with my right hand while I thrust my left hand upwards on his elbow until I heard a satisfying crack. He yelped in pain and clutched his arm and fell to his knees while cradling his broken arm with his remaining good one. I approached him until I was stood over him, he tried to fend himself with a backhand but I grabbed his wrist and jolted my knee into his jaw, he spat blood and completely collapsed to the ground. He was beaten.

I wiped my face with my sleeve, trying to get rid of the blood, my lip had been cut and one of my eyes was partially closed and throbbing. I looked around and watching me was the woman who had been attacked. I started walking towards her, for a second she looked fearful and I thought she was going to run away but then she started cautiously walking towards me.

"Are you alright?" she asked, smiling at me.

"I should be asking you that, he didn't..?" I asked, implying about his attempted rape.