We all walk down the streets of New York City together, laughing and joking. We were able to get out before anyone came up. The security guard woke us up. Me and Guppy have already dropped off Sam and Chris at their apartments, and are now walking together. "Sorry, I'm working today," Gup says, starting to turn into the general store we work at. "See ya soon, bud." I wave goodbye, but as I turn on my heel he hollers at me. "Will, you be fine walking the rest of the way alone?" I smile and nod. "Yeah sure." But when I turn the corner, I pull up my hood and look down.
As I enter Times Square, I am greeted by an ocean of people. Oh, great. I begin making my way through, dodging around people. I nearly trample a little girl, and she runs crying into her mother's arms.
As I'm walking, the piece of paper Gup gave me from the general store flew out of my hand and down a small alleyway. Without thinking, I run after it. As I bend down to pick it up, I look both ways. The alleyway splits into two. To the left is a dead end with a dumpster and piles of trash, but to the right is a long stretch of concrete between buildings.
I gasp as I see the people at the end. There are two older guys, both fighting each other on the ground. I see blood pooled around them, reflecting the clouds above. There is another guy with a black hoodie trying to drag someone away. The person being dragged is struggling, trying to bite the hand of the man. She turns towards me. She has a dirty cloth tied around her mouth, and a look of unmeasurable fear in her eyes. Her big curly black hair is all in her face, and I can almost make out beads of sweat shining on her forehead. She tries to scream to me, and I think I can hear, "Help!" through the cloth.
Before I can stop myself, I begin running towards her. My joints scream in pain as I run. How will this even work? I run up to the man from behind and tackle him, pushing him headfirst onto the ground. I hear him curse and spit. The two fighting boys don't even notice, continueing to punch each other in a heap on the ground. I grab the girl's hand and pull her up, nearly falling backwards. "Run," I say, taking off the other way. She takes one look back before she runs down the alleyway with me.