She cried, tears mingling with the blood on her face and the dew on the grass. She’d fought and fought, but no fight remained. There were too many of them. This was the fourth, she thought, forcing himself where he had no business. His motion scraped her bare skin against whatever they’d thrown her over. “Help. Please.” she screamed in the silence of her mind.

---

He’d shared in the chase, he got his share of the prize. So what if his mates had greased the passage? The mingling was what made them close.

---

Jeremy and I didn’t ask questions. There were about ten of them. Some had clearly already raped the woman they’d pinned to a knocked-over bin, the rest were clearly eagerly anticipating their turn.

I started with a roundhouse to the face of the guy on top of her. I heard ribs crack as Jeremy took one with a side-kick, already aiming a punch at another’s face. Cartilage ground under the heel of my palm and I kicked another in the throat.

As I reached for my phone, I heard “We’ll get you!”