Noah’s words made my heart skip a beat. I froze with the damp cotton still in my hand, halfway into the trashcan. The extremely quiet house added more weight to his question.I turned slowly and looked at him. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but his face was turned toward me, waiting for an answer. The bright glow of the lamp made the purple and yellow bruise marks on his cheeks darker.His lip was cut with scabs and he looked smaller as he crouched on the couch with his knees tucked under the blanket I gave him.I put the cotton on the tray and sat on the edge of the coffee table. I stayed close enough to offer him help, but also kept a distance to give him personal space.I leaned forward and the sore pain from the stitch in my shoulder throbbed, like it was reminding me to choose my next words carefully."No," I said. My voice sounded scratchy, like I hadn't spoken in a long time. "I’m not working for them.”When he opened his eyes, they were red and bloodshot. But they were still

“Brother, can I ask you something?”Noah’s voice was calm, but I knew him too well, his questions always carried weight.“Of course,” I said, shifting my stance so the gun at my waist wasn’t the first thing his eyes landed on.He leaned his elbows on the railing and looked out at the street. The environment was still quiet, with only the occasional chirping of birds.“Are we… safe now? I know you did it to protect me, but does that guarantee they won't come for us again?” he asked.What he said really got to me.I stayed quiet for a second. I walked over to him and looked out at the street, but everything looked fine, totally normal, and that’s what worried me."No," I finally told him.He looked at me, not with surprise, but with tiredness.“I knew you’d say that,” he said quietly.I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. I wasn’t ready for this conversation yet. I wanted to wait and find a nice way to say it, but there was no easy way to tell him his life was already falling apart.

The impact from the bullets made me fall to my knees, it hadn't hit a Vital spot, but I was losing blood, I ignored the pain before it slowed me down and pushed myself to my feet, I stayed steady for a few seconds then moved quickly to the side and bullets pierced through the spot I had been.That confirmed it, they were using thermal glasses to track me and I had to adapt quickly.I rolled and came to a stop beside the kitchen counter. I turned on the gas and let it flow, then moved away and crouched by the corner with a lighter in my hand. From the corner of my eye, I spotted the man advancing toward me.He didn't open fire, maybe he thought I was finished, that I had bled out and was ready to give up.When he was close enough, I pressed the lighter and threw it at him.The room was in flames for a second, the man fired at the spot where I had been, then shot at another random spot, the flames had disrupted his thermal lenses.I leaned out and put two bullets into his head, and he d

The explosion went off behind me and the force of the blast threw me forward.I landed on the ground with my stomach first and the impact made me cough up blood, for a second the whole world went silent and the only thing I could hear was ringing in my ears.I ignored the sharp stabbing pain in my ribs, and rolled over, then pushed myself up to my knees. When I tried to stand, my legs shook so hard I almost fell, but I managed to steady myself.I quickly looked around in search of someone. Noah, but he was gone.Smoke rose from the window, and debris fell scattering everywhere. I squinted through the mess to keep my eyes open, but my vision was blurry. I decided to search for Noah, but when I tried walking, I had to limp, my right leg was numb and aching badly, but I kept moving. I pressed my back against the wall and stayed low, then I looked towards the parking lot.To my surprise, the vans were still together, which meant the other hitmen were still around. And they could be any

I took off my shirt, and Noah kneeled in front of me. He opened the silver first aid box and took out the bandages, gauze, and antiseptic bottles, placing them on the dirty floor.He moved too quickly and grabbed some cotton. Without thinking, he poured a lot of hydrogen peroxide straight onto the cotton pad.Then he pressed it onto the torn skin on my chest.I hissed in pain and squeezed my teeth together. It burned instantly, feeling like someone had poured liquid fire into my wound."Easy, Noah," I managed to say. "You're going to burn me alive at this rate."He stopped immediately and looked up at me with innocent, sorry eyes. "Sorry. I thought using more would be better, right?"I laughed through the pain, but it turned into a cough. "Yes, it works, but not when it's burning me alive. Here, give it to me." I reached out my hand.He hesitated, his eyes full of pity. Then he handed me the soaked cotton pad. I took it carefully and dabbed it lightly around the edges first, letting t