The sharp metallic click of his cane echoes and bounces off crumbling red brick as they carefully pick their way through the burnt skeletal building. A few days ago his heart would have practically shattered at the notion of betraying his friend. Except something had changed.
As he rounded a large chunk of charred wood the sound of movement near a haphazard pile of pallets caught his attention. Then there was a flash of auburn as the young woman he'd once called a friend tried to run toward the only exit. The aging man nodded toward his younger partner, as the latter careful stepped in front of the young ladies way; she would try to move past him, at the same time he'd shift to remain directly in front.
The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion; as the man could do nothing but watch, his former friend attempt to duck under the left arm of her captor, at the same time the man skillfully pivoted on his right foot, and pulled out a syringe. He wrapped his free arm tightly around Elizabeth's torso, and pulled her toward him, at the same time the hand holding the syringe found its way into the base of her neck, and she slumped downward.
The young man looked over his shoulder and smiled wickedly; for the first time he began to regret betraying someone who'd given him nothing but kindness. He started wringing his hands feverishly, refusing to meet the man's calculated gaze, glancing around through the burnt and scattered rubble before mustering the courage to ask,
"What is going to happen now? Will she be hurt?"
The young man shook his head at the questions before uttering something so sinister it almost froze him in his tracks,
"Don't ask questions you don't want the real answers to."
His former friend remained unconscious as he watched the young man lift her roughly from the ground and sling her carelessly over his shoulder. Without a second glance both youths headed back through the only remaining doorway.
He turned away to the sound of car tires coming to a screeching halt outside of the decrepit building, and refused the nagging urge to go after them as he heard them disappear down the waterlogged cobblestone.