He sped ahead of all of the other shadowrunners, showing off his immense speed and agility. He swooped right into the store, throwing his rucksack down to swipe as many items as he could.

  “Get down, man! Don’t move!” The leader quietly whispered to the man at the counter, aiming his clacker straight at his head.

  Leo could not hold on for long, though, starting to feel the strain of this time slow. Just a few more items.

  He went for canned foods, snacks, almost anything in sight.

  While doing so he had to give quick, focused glances to his surroundings, to ensure his safety.

  His head started to feel like fire. The pain was growing and he couldn’t hold onto this slowed time for long. It was like he was suffocating.

  Returning back to ordinary breath, he inhaled deeply, placing his hand on the row of items ahead.

  "Yo, we gotta bounce! Officer out there!" A shadowrunner said with urgency, rushing right back into the store after giving a quick glance outside.

  No.

  Leo’s heart almost dropped upon hearing this. He zipped up his bag and placed it straight back on his back before readjusting the position of his dagger and rugged spinehook in his trousers subconsciously.

  His heart was hoping for otherwise, but his brain was telling him that he might end up using it.

  No!

  This isn’t how this was supposed to go!

  They’d swoop in, get the stuff and leave. He can’t get apprehended by an officer, not now like this! It would ruin his hopes, with a criminal record of shadowrunning, there’d be willing to work with you in society!

  ‘This was so stupid! What the hell was I thinking!’ Leo thought, pulling his hoodie at its neck to let some cooler air in to flow over his torso, that was getting uncomfortably hot from his stress.

  "Officer? Nah, ain't supposed to be no officers here this time, Eduardo! We scoped dat out before we dropped in!" The leader rebutted with confidence, still keeping eyes on the man at the counter.

  "I dunno, but he comin' this way—fast! We sure as hell can't stay put!" Eduardo replied, now even more alarmed than before.

  There was a brief silence, but Eduardo couldn’t stay quiet. He was clearly young. Around Leo’s height but even skinnier than him.

  His legs were already trembling at just the sight of this supposed officer.

  “Come on, let’s g-,”

  BANG!

  Blood sprayed out Eduardo’s back as he fell away, grunting in pain. Along with that, screams were heard in the streets as the shadowrunners all rushed out into the open.

  Leo had to take a look of what was there, to get an idea of what he was facing.

  “Damn maggots.” A deep, hoarse voice commented.

  A 6’4, athletically built man stood before them, holding a smoking pistol in his hand. In the other, was a firm-looking black baton.

  He had eyes of remorselessness. Disdain. It was clear that he wasn’t looking for a quick, smooth arrest. He was going to take out his contempt with brutality.

  Leo, out of reflex, slowed time and could feel everything slow, including the man ahead of him. He wanted to stay behind and run, but that wouldn’t be a way to win. This man had a gun, he could easily shoot him at range.

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  These kids would lose their livelihoods, or possibly even their lives. He was the only one with the power to fight!

  ‘What am I even doing?!’ He thought to himself, as his body almost moved on its own.

  Charging ahead with superhuman speed, he managed to fluster this officer. Cocking back hist fist as far back as he could, he shot it out with immense power and a shout.

  Landing the strike straight onto his sternum, he shattered not just this bone but others in the ribcage, the punch also had enough force to throw the man straight off his feet. It felt like it was coming from someone twice his size, and he was sent rolling away, grunting in pain.

  “Run, now!” Leo shouted,

  Even with the man on the floor, he clearly had expertise. Even with a broken chest, and on the ground, he revealed his pistol and began to fire at this awkward angle.

  POW! POW! POW!

  Shots fired across the street, leaving trails of smoke as the bullets whizzed through the air. One managed to catch Eduardo in the leg, leaving him to tumble to the ground.

  “NO! Eduardo!” Sandro called out with intense emotion, watching him try and crawl forwards.

  The others couldn’t stop for him, though.

  POW!

  Another bullet was fired at Eduardo, this time in his chest. His movements came to a complete stop. Others were fired at the crew, leaving others to tumble and fall, 3 were taken down, with the other 2 being apprehended.

  Leo, Sandro and the other two shadowrunners were the only others able to evade the incoming gunfire and escape.

  Rushing straight back to the right floor with the strategic use of a dodgy yo-yo, they arrived back at the correct floor, all with almost motionless, open eyes. Dropping what supplies they managed to scavenge, Sandro fell straight onto the bed in this cube, with sharp, hollow breaths.

  Leo simply fell into a wall, sliding down it to place his hands on his head.

  “F*CK MAN! We scoped dis out proper—ain’t supposed ta be a single officer ‘round dat area. We checked it ova ‘n ova, so who da hell was dat guy!” he called out, with fury.

  No. Pulling back his hands, he could see the sweat already on them. This was not going to end well.

  The old man rushed into the scene, from the bathroom beside Leo and with great alarm.

  “What’s happened, boys?!” He asked, with great concern in his eyes.

  He looked around at them with hasty glances, almost in search of some other faces.

  “Four o' y'all? Was seven, nah? Where da other three at?!” He asked, swinging his head around so energetically that his body swayed around to follow in each turn.

  The question was met with silence. A thick, tense, suffocating silence. They gave each other brief glances, with Leo wiping his face again before inhaling deeply.

  “Gone. Got taken back there. There was an officer, I managed to get him down, but he still shot from the ground as we ran. Got 3 of us.” He forced out, before his eyes lifelessly looked to the floor.

  After hearing this, the man seemed to almost stumble and fall onto a chair beside him. His eyes fell low, with him rubbing his hand through his greyed hair.

  His face initially showed sadness, but this slowly bubbled up into anger. Fury.

  "Why they always gotta clamp down on us?! Ain’t our fault we gotta run like dis jus' ta live! No food out here, no water neither—what they expect us ta do?!" He roared, with veins appearing on his neck from his anger.

  "Can't we get back at dem for dis? Nobody dies in a shadowrun—sure, you might get 30 long years, but you don’t get killed right on da spot. That gotta be illegal."

  "Not in da stack, it ain't. Down here, anythin' goes—why would they back folks like we? Dem see us as dogs, just fodder to squeeze coin from. Don’t they all just want we dead anyway?" The man replied.

  Nobody could give a reply to that, what he said was totally right. No matter what they’d try and say, their words would fall on deaf ears. Nobody would listen to people of their class. All they could do was try and carry on, as if that had never happened.

  Seconds of silence passed, but these seconds turned into minutes. Every party, running through what had happened, too overwhelmed by it all.

  Leo, though, looked down to his right fist. It felt like this situation was meant to mean something else to him. The only reason they were all here was because of him.

  No, not him. This power.

  His ability to slow time. What would he do with this power? Could it be his way out of here?

  “It wasn’t a total bust, though. We snagged some gear—water, food, enough to keep us movin’ for a bit.” Sandro commented, wiping the tears in his eyes.

  His voice sounded weaker and quieter than what Leo was used to as well.

  They all opened their bags to reveal a decent amount of food. Leo had taken the most by far. His bag was almost overflowing with foods. Confectionery, crisps, but also canned foods and other things. It certainly wasn’t a total failure.

  The group split what they needed based on their needs. Leo was given the smallest share, which he was happy about. It wasn’t like he had a whole family to feed, but they gave him more than what he thought he needed for practically saving them.

  It was at the grace of Leo that the other 3 managed to keep their lives.

  The run leader said his goodbyes, departing, with Sandro just ahead of Leo as they prepared to leave.

  “Hope ta see you in da cage again, Leo.” Sandro commented.

  “Of course.” Leo replied, giving a respectful nod back to him.