One Life (Phan)

9 (Dan)

"Dan."

I open my eyes, a little groggy, but mostly sore. Naki's green eyes seem to glow, inches from my face.

"Let's go."

I sit up, my back cracking. "What?"

"It's nearly dawn. We need to go if we want to catch the bus early."

We've been staying at the soup kitchen for two days. They gave us plain food, but I was grateful. I had to be.

I sat up. "Do bus drivers get up this early?"

Naki nodded in the dark. If it weren't for her eyes, I probably would have missed the movement. "Let's go."

The cold air hit me in a blast. I blink my eyes to keep them from watering. I want to go back inside, where it's warm and food is a guarantee.

I follow Naki in the dawn, barely making out her thin figure. I see her breath pressing against the air and spiraling upwards in a fog. I see mine do the same.

I shove my frozen fingers into the pockets of my filthy coat. I focus on the cold of the morning, of following Naki, as to not let my mind drift back to Phil.

Naki stops abruptly, as another figure confronts her. What?

Her scream suddenly pierces the night air, making me jump out of my sleepiness. The figure has grabbed Naki, and panic shoots through me.

"H-hey!" I shout, and before I know what I'm doing, I jump towards the figure. Naki is still screaming, but her words start to become more intelligible.

"Gun! Dan, he has a gun!"

I stop in my actions, my fist pulled back. The figure is a burly man. His lips pull over his teeth as he smiles evilly.

"Make one move, and I shoot your friend," he moves a black object from his side up to Naki's head. She bursts into tears, closing her bright eyes.

I freeze, my breath catching in my throat. I'd never been in this sitution, because I'd never try to travel at night.

"Now," the man says calmly, moving his eyes to Naki greedily. "I want your money, not your life."

"W-we d-on't hav-ve any money," I stutter, my hand still in the air. I'm afraid to even lower it, in fear of losing Naki.

"Then I kill her."

I panic, trying to figure out how to not have Naki's head be blown to pieces in front of me. I slowly lower my hand and pull out my Oyster card, along with Naki's

"T-this has a l-little less th-than £200, and this one has about 30," I move my hand up and show it to him. He raises his eyebrow and presses the gun a little harder to Naki's temple. She moans, but stops crying.

"N-o! No, wait," I dig into my jean pockets and pull out my credit card. "H-here! This is all we have! I swear!" I feel tears of fear catch in my throat, but I ignore them and shove the cards in front of me.

The man grabs the cards, and pulls the gun away from Naki. She runs to me, collapsing in my arms. She starts to sob, and I grip her as her shoulder shakes.

The man runs off into the night. After two minutes, the only sound is the occasional car passing by the lone street we're on, and Naki's muffled crying.

As soon as the moment passes, I feel myself start to shake. What are we going to do?

Naki eventually stops and pulls away from my embrace. She wraps her arms around herself. By now, it's lighter outside, and people are starting to turn on lights in their houses. The sleepy part of the city starts to awaken.

Naki looks at me, her stare hardening. "That was a stupid thing to do."

I look at her incredulously. "Would you rather let him blow your brains out?"

"But that's our Oyster card! You should've gone for the credit card first! He would've been satisfied with that!"

"Are you really yelling at me for this?"

She opens her mouth to fire something else, but then looks down in shame. Her green eyes search the concrete for an answer. "I'm sorry," she says, looking up.

I sigh, letting the anger run away from my gut. "Let's go," I say, grabbing her wrist. At first, she pulls back, but she lets it stay there. I ignore the glittery feeling in my stomach, and we make our way to the subway station.