That left only poor Shell, who was now staggering away like he wasn’t sure what to do. But I saw a discarded newspaper flutter behind him and managed to shout, “Shell! Defensive position!”
Somehow I managed to hear myself—apparently the ringing in my ears had faded by now—but more importantly, Shell heard me. He immediately dropped to the ground and folded his arms and legs under his body, leaving only his hard back exposed.
Yet even that didn’t help, because something kicked Shell and sent him flying. He slammed back-first into a lamp post and dented it so hard that it bent over. Shell then fell onto the street, where he lay quite still.
“No!” I shouted.
I pulled myself out of the building and jumped back down to the street. I wasn’t sure who to go to first, but it didn’t matter, beca
