Monday

"Have a good night, Oliver," Jake said, waving to me as he walked by my office.

"Good night," I mumbled in return, more focused on finishing the assignment that was due before I left.

I hated days like this. Days where I was given tasks that were clearly impossible to finish by the end of my shift, but where the boss still insisted I had them on her desk anyways before she came in in the morning. 3 p.m. turned quickly into 7 p.m. and I hurriedly straightened up the papers on her desk. I might just have enough time to grab something for dinner at a store before it closed. I locked her door behind me and pulled my coat over my shoulder. Shivering when the winter air hit my exposed face, I made my way towards the convenience store near by. What a freaking day to forget my winter boots, hm? This far into the season, you'd think it was habit by now.

"Oh, hiya, Ollie!" my dear friend and cashier, Sasha, greeted with a wave as I entered the warmed store.

I took a moment to appreciate the hot air blowing at the entrance and called a greeting, "Good evening, Sash. Love the hair do tonight."

Sasha was here almost every night and always had something different going on with her curly locks. Like I was talking the halls of my own home, it didn't take long for me to find the canned food aisle and I grabbed some tomato soup and crackers. A typical dinner for me nowadays.

"You're running late today, huh?" Sasha inquired, ringing up my items for the night.

I nodded, pulling my scarf closer to my face. "Ms. Juniper basically had me running laps all day," I grumbled. "Finished the last assessment not half an hour ago."

"Oh boy. Well, be careful walking home, okay? And stop taking that stupid short cut," she chided. "I swear it doesn't get to your place any quicker than taking the well lit roads."

"I beg to differ," I laughed, paying her and grabbing my bag. "Besides, any chance to avoid people is better."

"Still, just be careful, okay? There's been more and more attacks happening lately. I think it's that new drug going around," she pondered.

"You, too, Sash," I responded, waving to her as I left. "Gnight!"

I barely heard her reply before I was too far away. Well lit or not, there wasn't a lot of people out and about at this time of night, anyways. I wasn't too worried about muggings or anything like that, but the warning didn't fall on deaf ears. I had this morning's news report of yet another fatal home invasion in the back of my head and I shivered with dread. I tread carefully around ice patches and other obstacles, paying more attention to the ground than anything else as I made my way through a back alley. A noise froze me in my tracks and I slowly looked up and around. Nothing. Perhaps a cat? It was a shuffling sound, like that of feet trying to get a bearing. No, it was just a cat skittering away, probably startled by my presence. Shaking my head, I continued onward through the alley. It wasn't particularly long, but it felt doubly long tonight with that stupid warning hanging around my head.

A shift of movement on my left and, before I had time to react, I was up against a wall, my bag having had dropped to the ground. I grunted, my attacker's hand against my throat and the other holding something sharp to my side.

"Scream and I'll gut ya," he snarled.

This man wasn't very big, at least no bigger than myself, but his strength was incredible and frightening. Was he on drugs? Or was he just holding onto an adrenaline rush? Either way, my eyes swam with the pain as he bit into my shoulder. What the hell?! I fought against him, hoping I'd be able to move away at least from the knife, but there was no such luck. Fortunately, my attacker suddenly stopped what he was doing and turned to look back up the alley. Silhouetted by the lamp lights outside the alley was a rather tall man wearing a long coat and a hat. He stood silently, almost assessing the situation.

"The fuck you want?" snapped the attacker, tightening his hold on my neck.

The newcomer chuckled lowly and held up his arm. It took a second for me to realize what he was holding was a gun that could clearly do a lot of damage. I whimpered, hoping it wasn't meant for myself or that I wasn't caught in the crossfire.

The attacker threw me at the taller man, probably hoping to distract him, and I grunted in pain, feeling my wrist bend wrong. I covered my ears a little too late from the first gun shot and cringed again when another shot rang out. I heard a thump and slowly uncovered my ears, opening my eyes to see the taller man had moved over to the now fallen man. I sat up quickly, heart thumping in my chest. What the hell? I mean, I was glad I was saved, but was this guy a cop or something? I tensed when I saw the savior turn to look at me. After what seemed like hours of him just staring, he finally made his way over, picking up my grocery bag on the way.

He extended his arm and I flinched, thinking he was going to attack me, too. After a moment, I looked back over at him and he was still there, patiently holding out a hand. I hesitantly took it and he helped me back up.

"You should go to the hospital," he commented, a clear grin on his face, highlighted from the lamp posts.

"Th-thank you," I sputtered, accepting the bag when he handed it to me.

My head was spinning. This was so surreal. What just happened? Who was this guy? Who was that other guy? I saw the grin shrink somewhat on the tall man's face before my vision completely faded and I felt my world go sideways.