The leader kept looking at his watch, and a disarming calm settled on him. Ife had seen that look in Ade's eyes before. It was the look of a person whose mind was made up, and impervious to any form of correction or warning concerning a particular subject. He was really going to kill her. Ife could tell. She tensed her hands into fists and got up on one knee. She was laser focused on the gun. Rather than trying to carry the girl out of harm's way, she would try to shove the gun away from her. She looked round. There were 4 gunmen apart from the leader in the room. She tried to strategize a way to beat them, but deep inside, she knew this would be a suicide mission. There was no way she would take all of them down. She breathed in deeply and held it for some seconds. She breathed out. She was okay with dying here.

Suddenly, a guard burst in. "Boss, it looks like some of the officers are moving in on us," he said, out of breath. The leader didn't react. He just cocked the gun.

"Girl, what is your name?"

"A...a...Aisha..."

"Any last words?"

"..."

The gunshot exploded in Ife's ears.