Jared turned on his heels, leading us to the next building and up a set of stairs. We climbed to the roof, with the mob just behind Bex and Kim. Jared took a few wide strides and then we leapt from that roof to the next. He wanted to continue, but I refused, waiting for Kim. Once they breeched the top of the stairs, I saw hands clamoring over bodies, the shells trampling each other to get at us. Bex was focused, but Kim’s eyes bulged.

“Just hang on to him!” Claire called.

Bex, still running, hugged Kim to him, and when his feet left the roof, he cradled her to his side like a football. His landing was smooth, but Kim had to take a moment we didn’t have to get her bearings. The mob still came at us, most of them falling to the alley below when they tried to make the jump.

My hands flew to my mouth. Children were among those falling to their deaths.

We made the jump four times, and then descended a set of stairs that lead us to another series of corridors.

Jared hunkered down, letting Kim catch her breath. “We’re in the Christian Quarter. The Sepulchre is two klicks away. We’re going to take the west bypass, and make a path. It’s a high traffic area for tourists, with high rock walls on each side, so we’re going to have to mow a path.”

“Copy that,” Ryan said, cocking his rifle.

Jared began to speak again, but a small group of young men shot at us from above. We ran again, dodging shells and bullets. Bex followed up the rear, turning and shooting as he ran. Ryan and Claire were at the front, their rifles against their faces, pointing the barrels in every direction they looked. As many times as I had tried to imagine it, we really were in the middle of a war. The sounds of the AK-47s trading shots and the bullets ricocheting off the walls and roads just made me run faster.

Already exhausted, Kim had trouble keeping up, and Bex kept encouraging her to keep moving. We took cover behind dumpsters and parked cars every few seconds, and the noises around us paused ever so often when we hunkered down, and began sounding like a familiar beat.

Claire and Ryan would reload at nearly the same time, and then we’d start again. Jared would drop a clip and reload as we ran, and Bex did the same. At one point, he pulled a second pistol, turning to lay down more cover fire until Jared yelled for him to keep up. He was next to Kim in less than a second.