I am pulling Xifeng with me, and we find bridge connecting to another house, and we are walking fast over it.

“Uzo, please slow down,” Xifeng is whispering to me. I am wanting her to not be speaking at all. We cannot be slowing down now. Bridge is bending too far beneath our weight.

We arrive at another platform and we run to another bridge, but it is just plank of wood and Xifeng slips, and the only thing that is keeping her from falling in water with small Enyemaka is my hand wrapped around her wrist. Bridge is bending beneath me and almost snapping. Creaking, creaking, and creaking. I am swinging Xifeng back and forth.

“Wait, wait,” Xifeng is hissing, scared.

But I am ignoring her as I use all my strength to throw her onto next platform as plank is snapping beneath me and I am falling into water with loud splash.

Lights are moving over me like circles, and at first I am thinking this is moonlight, then I am realizing there are too many circles and it is police on boats, and I am staying underwater hoping Xifeng is not looking over ledge trying to find me.

When the circles pass, I swim up and poke my head above water.

They are stopped at the house where Xifeng is crouched. They will be finding her.

I swim fast, and when I get to the stilts holding up the house’s platform, I climb. Xifeng is hiding at the back of the house, and when she is seeing me dripping with lagoon water, she is nearly making sound but I am putting my hand over her mouth and telling her shush.

Then I am going around house and finding first police, and I am seeing the skin of his neck where it is showing beneath his helmet, and I am not knowing why this is important or what it means but I am fast fast putting my fingers there hard, and he is crumpling like he is losing his legs.

I drag him back to where Xifeng is sitting, and I am taking his gun and I am feeling good with gun in my pants again. Then I am taking Xifeng and saying, “Climb on my back.”

And she is doing this, then I am sliding over the edge of the platform but hanging by my fingertips. And like this, I am moving along the edge of the platform, and when I need to, I am moving to underside of platform and clinging to it while Xifeng is having her arms and legs wrapped around me.

Like this, we move from house to house, platform to platform, until we get to Third Mainland Bridge and I am climbing over and we are blending into crowd again.