To Tim’s surprise, he and Zara made it out of the g**g’s territory without further incident. Tim kept walking for another fifteen minutes, not his usual five, before he finally decided they could get on a bus. Even then, it was as much because his arms were burning from still carrying Zara as because he felt safe.
Zara had been silent the whole time Tim carried her, but as they sat side by side on the near empty bus she reached over and took his hand in both of hers.
“He wasn’t nice,” she said, her voice subdued.
“No. He wasn’t.”
“Thank you for stopping him. He was hurting me. I didn’t like it.”
“I know.”
“What happened to the hot dogs?”
The sudden change of direction made his head spin. “I… I don’t actually know. I had them in my hand. I turned to give you one, but you were
