The informant ran impossibly faster than you had expected. Sure his long legs just about doubled your stride but you considered yourself pretty quick. Your job demanded it of you. But your employer whom you had only seen sedentary ran quickly just in front of you not showing signs of tiring or looking back. Trying to not let your paranoia distract you, you searched for the street sign that would signal the beginning of your act. Your new escapee companion must have saw it before you because he grabbed your hand to bring you closer to him without slowing. A few more strides and you saw the turn off.

    Stepping onto the populated street, you matched your pace to your employers now manageable strides. He flipped his hood up as he leaned towards you while still scanning your surroundings.

    “We’ll walk this way until the donut shop on Calico. Someone will be there to pick us up. Until then keep your head down and if we’re stopped, let me do the talking. If I say run, run. We can meet up at Calico, but do not approach the man waiting there, he will shoot. He’s expecting both of us but mostly me, he knows my face.” You didn’t respond as he straightened back to his full height, only staring forward head tilted slightly down. Your eyes still scanned about, trying not to let your heavy breathing bring any unwanted attention.

    ‘How was he not winded? Since when did the weasel have any endurance?’

    He looked relaxed, at least if you didn’t stare at him for too long. The lines around his eyes showed his underlying stress. His shoulders moved with his gait but the tension could still be detected. He glanced at you out of the corner of his eye, raising a single eyebrow. He was teasing you. He had caught you staring. Nice to know he hadn’t given up on getting on your nerves, even in such a stressful situation. You looked straight ahead again.

    “If I had known that all it would take for you to admire my heroic figure was to drag you out your apartment window after being shot at, I would have manufactured some scenario years ago. Enjoying the view of your savior?” His amused whisper sounded right next to your ear, almost making you jump.

    “We’re not safe yet. And I have a feeling you’re the reason I’m in this mess anyways so I wouldn’t exactly call you my hero.” you rolled your eyes. The man leaned his arm around your shoulders heavily, weighing you down.

    “Head down. You’re right, we’re not safe yet. And you didn’t bring a damn hoodie, so you’re vulnerable.” He hissed frustratedly at you. You tried to follow his instructions while catching a glance at his face. He had obviously seen something that set him off. “They don’t know your face yet, let’s try to keep it that way.” he continued softer, hurrying our pace along just slightly. “There’s a man following us on the other side of the street, make sure to keep your face down and angled away from him. We’re almost there.”

    You couldn’t tell why he felt the need to walk you through the goings on. The only idea you had was that he was talking off his own nerves. But to think that he was that shaken up was farfetched even in light of the day’s events so far. Maybe it wasn’t that unlikely, he was obviously more stressed than you had ever seen him. Like a wire ready to snap. But you didn’t want to t