Nayeli yawned as she walked down the subway platform, passing the few people who stood about waiting for the last train. Footsteps echoed from the nearby entrance. A wild-eyed man came flying around the corner and slammed into Nayeli. He stumbled forward, regained his balance, and kept going.

Nayeli frowned as she pushed herself back up and away from the wall. She rubbed her shoulder as she turned to watch him go. Two more sets of footsteps came running. Nayeli turned back toward the entrance just as two cops came into view. She stepped back against the wall as they paused, looking both ways.

There was a popping noise and something whizzed past her ear. Wall tile shattered behind one of the cops. He ducked against the side wall. Two more shots were fired. The other cop cried out in pain and fell backward.

People were screaming and running. Something warm tickled Nayeli’s ear. She brushed it away. When she brought her hand back down, there was blood on her fingers. Nayeli spun toward the shooter, dropping to the ground. The guy who had ran into her only moments before now crouched behind one of the concrete pillars, gun in hand.

The cop crouching by the wall started shooting. Pillar tile splintered at the corners. Nayeli looked back at the cop. A bullet slapped into his shoulder. He sagged back, but then started shooting again. A bullet cracked into his knee. He cried out and almost fell, but caught himself, just missing being hit by a third bullet. More wall tile shattered. 

Nayeli’s eyes grew wide as she realized he had no way to get to cover, no way to protect himself. She looked back at the shooter. He was glaring now, hunched over, his hand shaking as he reloaded. He dropped a couple rounds on the ground and cussed. He wiped his hand against his pants and shoved it into his pocket, pulling out a couple more. Then he slowly raised the gun. His eyes became blank and his hands stopped shaking.

Nayeli’s eyes burned. No. 

As she stood, the concrete and tile surroundings grew brighter and brighter, and whiter and whiter. Images became almost undefined with no color. The shooter froze and covered his eyes. Nayeli walked silently toward him, his image hardly visible with all color bleached out from the brilliancy of the light. She reached out and slammed his hand into the concrete pillar. He let out a shriek and dropped the gun. 

Before the gun hit the ground she had slipped a zip tie around his wrist and wrenched it to his back, grabbed his other wrist, and tied them together. He was now screaming. She punched him in the temple, and he collapsed into a slouch against the pillar. 

Nayeli looked back toward the cops, the light beginning to fade. They were both struggling to rise. She turned quickly and walked the opposite direction, hopping down onto the tracks and disappearing into the tunnel.  

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