Learning to Walk at Night

He remembered the gun pointed at his back. The way every camera had turned him into a monster. Then he unlocked the door. Inside was Maria Sanchez, bruised and bloodied, the delivery girl from last night. She had been kept as a hostage-witness, forced to swallow everything she had seen. "It's you," she whispered, shaking so badly she could barely stand. "You're that..." "Don't talk," Ethan said, catching her by the arm. "Can you run?" "Yeah." They burst out through the hidden door and gunfire ripped behind them. Not street thugs. Trained men. Helios Guard had arrived. Ethan shoved Maria toward the stairwell and turned to block the hall. The corridor was so narrow it felt like a blade. Bullets punched into pipes and detonated steam and water.