“I need you to listen to me very carefully. You don’t know me, but I know you.”

The stranger looked … well, strange, and Thomas couldn’t help but be startled by his sudden appearance. And by what he was saying. And by the way he was saying it. Yes, Thomas was spooked.

He took a step back, but the strange man grabbed his hand and pulled him aside in a nearby street.

“We should go now. Before they arrive.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you! Who are you? What do you want? When are you leaving me alone?”

He looked into the Main Street, carefully like he was suspected someone was looking for him. This man was trouble.

“My name is Gus. I know, ridiculous right? Anyway. I am a part of an organisation that has chosen you to lead them. Now we go, before we get killed.”

“I’m not…”

But before I could finish my sentence, I got pulled back just in time to see the wall beside me explode.

“See, we gotta go. Now! Unless you wanna get shot at and explode in terrible agony.”

I didn’t understand what was happening. But he was right about one thing, I didn’t want to explode. And whoever that man was, it was better to follow him—who had just saved my life—that to wait for whoever was shooting at me or something...

“You are going to explain more, aren’t you?” I tried to speak while running, though I had never run so fast in my life and I was out of breath in seconds. Okay, I had to admit I wasn’t an athlete to begin with. The other one, though, didn’t seem to have any trouble running, turning and watching out behind us, all at the same time.

“If you don’t mind, I would like for us to survive first.” He took out what seemed to be a gigantic gun out of what should have been a too small pocket and shot behind him.

“Yes, sure. Me too. But after?”

“If you still have legs to run and ears to listen when we get out of here, sure.”

That doesn’t seem promising.