By the time Andrea and Victor got out of the house there was no time for introductions. It wouldn’t take long until their absence was noticed. Without sparing a second to look back, they left the site with Gem in the lead. Andrea had been guiding them on their way to the group home but now when Gem knew where they were and how to get back, she naturally took the command. 

  “Mom, who is she?” Victor asked as he tagged along.

  “She’s a friend, I’ll explain it later,” Andrea said a little out of breath, trying to keep up with Gem's pace.

  “Get back,” Gem hissed and gestured to them to take a sharp right. 

  Since Gem was walking at the front, she was the first one to peek around every new corner to check if somebody that would interfere with their path was there. When they reached the halfway point, the pub that Andrea visited earlier that day, they had seen about ten patrolling officers. That was twice as many as they had seen on their way to get to the group home. Stuck at an intersection, hiding behind a corner of a building, Gem tried to think about the best way out. There were patrolling droids to their left and their right as well as one in front of them. The only clear way was the one that they had come from. Although, there was nothing that stopped the officers to change positions, so the three could very well be surrounded. 

  “Okay, we have to move forward. I will distract the bot and when you get the chance, run as fast as you can and wait on me at the next intersection,” Gem said as she pulled out one of her guns.

  “Awesome.” Victor gaped with amazement. He had seen guns before but nothing like this one. This one looked like something from the future, it maybe had something to do with the sleek design or perhaps the very polished material.

  Andrea pursed her lips into a smile and nodded a few times as to say; Yes, this is my son, a gun fanatic. 

  BANG. Gem fired her gun at the droid that was about the height of a man as this particular model was supposed to fit in somewhat with their human colleagues. The bullet only did a little bit of damage but certainly got the officer droid's attention. 

  “Stand down. Drop your weapon,” the droid commanded. 

  Gem was walking towards the droid, ready to fire another bullet. 

  Bang.

  “Go, go,” Andrea said to Victor as the second bullet was fired.

  They ran past the droid and the shabby pub towards the end of the block and as planned, the droid was fully occupied with its blue attacker. With fast and heavy breaths Andrea pulled her son behind the corner of the building as they had reached the next intersection. She leaned against the wall, her heart beating fast and her lungs felt like they were burning.

  “Mom!” Victor tugged at Andrea’s sleeve.

  “Freeze, curfew violators,” a droid, coming up on their left, commanded.