"Friend of yours?" I asked. She backed up and stood behind me. "Guess not."

He was tall and well-built, his frame taking up most of the doorway. I thought maybe I could take him, but he had a gun on me.

I'd be on the ground before I took two steps.

"C'mon Joe, what's going on?"

Behind his hulking frame, I could see the outline of a little fella, short and stocky, trying to look through the gaps, desperate to get in on the action.

"Can I help you fine gentlemen?" I said, stalling for time.

"Where is it?" Said the big fella, not moving from the doorway.

"That's precisely what I'd like to know", I said, "but first I need to know exactly what it is."

"Don't play cute with me", he said.

"It seems that all anyone ever accuses me of these days," I said. "I'm more than just a pretty face, you know."

"We'll see about", he said.

He raised the gun and let off a shot.

She screamed as I grabbed her by the waist, and threw us both into the bedroom.

She landed on the bed, whilst I had to make do with the floor. I jumped up and slammed the door shut. There was no lock.

"Pass me that chair", I said, but she didn't move. "Now", I shouted.

The volume startled her into action and she ran across the room to get the chair by the desk.

I could hear two pairs of footsteps barrelling across the apartment. I could hold this door for a moment, but the second the bullets started flying all bets were off.

"Jam it under the handle", I said. "Make sure it's nice and tight."

She jammed the chair under at an angle, just as one of them, the large guy, I presumed, threw himself at the door. It held firm, but wouldn't for long.

I had the pistol but I didn't fancy getting into a close-range gunfight in a small room. There's no controlling a situation like that.

"What are we going to do?" She asked.

"Don't go to pieces on me now", I said, as I tried to pull open the window, but it wouldn't budge.

"It's jammed shut. I kept telling him to complain to the landlord, but he said he wouldn't do a damn thing."

I looked around for something heavy, as something heavy threw itself against the door.

"Oh, it used to get so dreadfully hot in here sometimes. Some days I thought I would pass out from the heat."

I pulled the pistol from the back of my trousers.

"Stand back", I said and fired two shots into the glass. The pane shattered, and I used the remaining pillow from the bed to knock out the loose shards.

Outside went quiet. Once they realised we weren't shooting at them, I fully expected them to start shooting at us.

"Come on", I said, one leg out the window. She didn't move. "I said, move."

"I'm terribly afraid of heights."

"Well, I'm terribly afraid of bullets, especially when they're being fired at me. So make your choice."

She crossed over to the window, and I swung my other leg out, stepping onto the ledge.

"Come on, just don't look down." I figured we could make it to the next window, and it we were lucky slip inside. What next was anyone's guess.

She took off her shoes and handed them to me. They were heels, cute certainly, but in no way suited for traversing the outside of buildings.

She hesitated and I heard a crack. The chair had given way and the door was open. The big guy was sprawled out, half on the bed, half on the floor, tangled up in what was left of the chair. He looked as if he'd just fallen down the beanstalk.

"They're going out the window", said the little guy. He made a move for the girl, guess he was feeling brave.

She was halfway out the window, and the big guy was getting up. He aimed the pistol at us, so I made an executive decision, grabbing hold of her and throwing us both off the ledge towards the ground.

It was only a storey, but even at that height, you can find yourself in serious trouble, especially with a broken ankle and a couple of armed heavies after you.

She screamed but was quickly cut off when we landed in the bags of garbage underneath us. I'd never been more grateful to live in such a cesspool of a town.

"Oh my god, it's dis-gusting", she said, battling to get out of the bags.

I grabbed her by the arm again, picked her up, and we ran down the side alley, bullets whizzing past us until we were out of sight.

I looked and saw we were in the parking lot. The men were still sat on the steps, apparently unfazed by all the commotion.

"This way", I said and led the way to my car. I heard footsteps and saw the two men charging down the front of the building towards the steel steps.

I went to get my keys, but they weren't there. Checking every pocket, I hoped to god I hadn't lost them in the fall.

They were on the steel steps now, but the men still didn't give a damn. The heavies pushed and kicked at them to make a path, and were soon at the bottom.

I kept searching, but nothing.

"Here", she said, throwing me the keys.

I was curious to know how she got them but now wasn't the time. I unlocked the door and started the engine. She banged on the passenger side window.

"Hold your horses", I said, leaning over to unlock it from the inside. She got in, and before she could even close the door I stepped on the accelerator and sped across the lot, the rear tyres kicking up a storm of dust and gravel.

From behind, I heard the shots, fired more in anger than anything. I swerved just in case, but every bullet seemed to miss the car. She screamed as she tried to hold herself in her seat, screaming louder as we shot out onto the main road, right into oncoming traffic, and kept going as we swerved past one car, then another, cutting across the lanes and somehow louder still as I floored it, speeding down the road, swerving through tightly-packed traffic, making sure to put as much distance between us and them as possible.

Whoever they were.