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He just felt numb and cold and sick. He had barely gotten behind the rock before he was hit. There was no sense in running any farther. This was it. With his good leg he pushed himself up so that he could see over the rock and leveled his gun at the nearest guard. The guard tried to hit him first, but Jack was faster. A little red dot appeared on the man's head, and he fell backwards, his gun discharging into the air. As luck would have it, when Jack was taking aim, the other guard had been looking down, trying not to trip over a tree root. He didn't get a chance to fire back until Jack was back behind the rock.

There had been five guards initially. Jack had been able to kill two of them before he was forced to run. Now there was just the one left. Jack didn't really like killing. Like he always said, he was a people person. He'd much rather be working sales than logistics, but sometimes a businessman needs to do something he doesn't like. And sometimes a businessman needs to take risks. Like taking cargo through Colatra. It was a big risk, but it meant he could shave a lot of time off his trip from Kasno to Burilla. And time is money.

There was one guard left to kill, and then he had to deal with his cargo. Jack was a slave trader. He had been capturing, transporting and selling slaves since he was old enough to look like a legitimate merchant. After the guards had seen the slaves in the back of his truck, they had left the door open and there was a possibility some of the slaves had slipped their chains and escaped. There was even a slim chance that one of them might have found a weapon. But Jack would deal with that later. One kill at a time.

He checked his ammo clip. It was empty. He cursed it. One bullet. That's all he would have needed. Just one. One shot would have been enough for the last guard. These guards were stupid. They had been stupid enough to search his truck, they had been stupid enough to try to arrest him, and they had been stupid enough to give chase when he fled. It didn't even matter now if they caught him or not. It would still have been better for four of the five if they had just let him go. Maybe this last one will be turned into a hero, Jack thought. Maybe that will make up for the lost lives of those other fools.

There was nothing left for him to do. He had no bullets and only two limbs. He sat back, closed his eyes and waited. He felt dizzy. He didn't know how long he sat with his eyes closed, but he opened them when he felt cold steel against his cheek. He looked up into the eyes of the last guard. He was a very young man, and he was pressing a rifle into Jack's cheek. His face reminded Jack of someone he once knew, but Jack ignored that. The young man met Jack's gaze evenly. Jack could see the rage and the fear in his eyes.

"You are under arrest by the government of Colatra for the crime of slave trading." The young man's voice trembled slightly, and Jack could feel the vibrations from his shaking hands carry down the rifle barrel. "You will come with me peacefully and will stand trial in a court of law for your crimes."

"He's just a boy," thought Jack.