She propped me against a cabinet and appraised my condition. “Yikes, you’re really pale,” she said, leaning back quickly to look down the hall and then righting herself to reload her firearm.

“I feel pale, thanks,” I mumbled, my eyes feeling heavy.

“Hurry up, Jared,” she muttered, wiping my bangs from my eyes. I noticed, then, that I was sweating, my wet hair matting against my brow.

The gunshots were quieting down outside, with only sporadic shots fired every minute or so. I began to shiver and Claire frowned, concerned with my diminishing state.

The waitress was curled up in a corner across from us. She looked at me with wide, terrified eyes, noticing my leg.

“It’s getting quiet,” I mumbled.

“That’s because Jared has taken care of most of the people shooting at us,” Claire said with a contrived smile.

“Where is Jared? Why isn’t he back, yet?” I struggled for breath.

“He’s coming. Just hang on, Nina,” she said, distracted as she checked the hall once again.

I needed a more specific time frame. Worried about how much longer I would have to fight to hang on, the question fell short. I looked around the room and it began to blur and spin.

“You’re losing too much blood. We have to move,” Claire said, pulling me to the doorway. She peered out quickly before leaning back to speak to the waitress, asking her something in Japanese. The woman pointed and nodded, whimpering back an answer.

Claire smiled at me. “There’s a back door. We’ll pick Jared up on the way…let’s go.”

“I’ll be right behind you,” I deadpanned.

With her rifle in one hand, she tossed me over her shoulder with the other. As if I weighed nothing, she carried me down the hall, took a turn, and then stopped for less than a second before issuing a damaging blow with her foot to a heavy steel door.

I could feel the night air cooling the warm blood on my leg, and I breathed a sigh of relief that we had finally escaped into the alley. We had almost made it to the street when Claire froze and lowered me to the ground.

“Rookie mistake, Claire Bear,” Grahm said, pointing his gun. His nose was still taped from where she’d shattered it with her elbow.

“Awfully brave of you to come alone,” she smiled.

I had seen Claire’s smug expression before, but this time it was different. She had an edge of fear in her eyes. She knew that I was running out of time.

Grahm turned to me. “I told you I’d see you soon, Nina. Looks like I’m not even going to have to waste a bullet…you look pretty close to death’s door. Such a waste, too,” he said, clicking his tongue in disapproval. “I was looking forward to spending some time with you.”