ings. His look was disoriented, confused, and a little scared. Then he looked over at Net and at the man sitting at the curb, and without notice, dropped the gun and the man's belongings, and walked away without saying another word. "Hey, Rick, where are you goin', man?! Rick?!! Rick!!!" "Looks like your friend just found out a little about himself. Maybe this wasn't the kind of life for him after all." Net walked over to where Rick had dropped the gun and picked it up. "Say nighty-night, dude! Told you your time would come, didn't I?" "And don't tell me, you're a man of your word, huh?" "What do you think, butt-hole?!!" Walking fast down the street and picking up speed with each passing step, Rick began to sweat profusely, as if he had just woken out of a bad dream, a nightmare. This life, this environment, it WAS a nightmare. The time was now to get out. Not tomorrow, not the day after, but now. And just as he was walking along with his head spinning with all these thoughts, he heard a shot in the background and it made him jump, as if it was the first time he'd ever heard a gunshot. His reaction was like those war vets that suffer from shell shock that jump at any sudden, loud bang, like the backfire from a passing car. Obviously he'd heard gunshots before, but this one was the first one that startled him. He'd never been scared of gunfire before. But this one, this one blast that he'd just heard scared him to death. It was a sound he'd never want to hear again! Without noticing that he'd started to run, Rick raced forward, faster and faster, wanting to out run this life and leave it behind forever....
