Free Crumbs by Miha Mazzini

me from the right. I arrived quite a bit before him. He slipped back a good few times. He wouldn’t let go of the metal pipe.
    Slowly, with my arms spread wide, I slid down to the girl.
    She looked at me with hatred.
    â€˜Give,’ I said.
    Reached with my hand.
    She spat at it. And then again at my face. The distance between us allowed only a spray to dampen my skin. I wiped my hand on the paper and my face on my sleeve.
    Half sitting, half lying, I looked at her calmly.
    The guard had finally managed to get to the top. He was crawling on the ridge. His face was a terrifying red mask. The veins on his forehead stood out in knots. He was wheezing. He was slowly approaching the right spot for the descent towards the girl, using the pipe for support.
    I looked at the sister. She didn’t move.
    The girl heard the wheezing and the dull thuds of the pipe against the paper. She twisted her neck in vain. She didn’t want to ask me what was happening.
    I sat there waiting.
    The guard wheezed into her visual field. With my arms spread out and the calm smile of a talk-show host, I introduced the guest on today’s show.
    She saw him.
    He was crawling nearer. He didn’t want to descend too early miss his aim.
    He was looking only at her.
    He wanted to kill.
    To taste blood.
    The girl tried to take off. Forgot about the trapped leg.
    She displaced a few sheets of paper and gave up.
    She looked at me. She was in no doubt. The guard was going to beat the shit out of her. There would be nothing left of her. She’d suffer for all those who’d escaped him.
    â€˜Give,’ I said.
    I reached out.
    She didn’t spit. With a terrible hatred – her eyes bulging with terror – she screamed, ‘No!!!!!!’
    I moved my hand away.
    â€˜If you give me the magazine I’ll save you.’
    I calmly added the sentence that cleared her eyes. Changed her expression to that of mistrust.
    The guard descended and missed.
    The avalanche took him past us towards the left. Almost down to the bottom.
    She looked me in the eyes. Took the risk. What else could she do?
    She took the magazine from its hiding place.
    A short moment of hesitation. Reached out with herhand.
    I took the magazine and Nastassja went under my T-shirt.
    The girl watched me with fear.
    The guard started climbing again. In a small arc towards us.
    The girl’s leg was trapped under the back wheel arch.
    I started pulling the paper from under her.
    I had the magazine and could have left. Indeed, I did think of that possibility for a moment. But only for a moment.
    The foot wasn’t hurt. The chassis kept sinking and pressing the foot into the paper.
    I tried to rock the chassis.
    But I couldn’t find any support.
    The whole thing was probably supported by a bale of compressed paper. I didn’t have enough time to dig my way to it.
    I was beginning to panic. I didn’t know how near the guard was.
    It seemed to me he was right behind me, growling into my ear. I kept looking towards the front part of the chassis.
    With all my strength I tried to lift the back part. The girl was frantically pulling paper from under her foot.
    I pushed up but was knocked back down onto the paper.
    The guard couldn’t be heard.
    I stopped and looked around. Everything was frozen.
    Blood was pumping in my ears.
    Where the fuck is he?
    A crow cawed in the woods.
    First, I saw a hand grab the front of the chassis.
    A moment later a body leaped up.
    Screaming, he struck with the pipe.
    The girl screamed.
    He was too short. He was bent over the car.
    The blow had dented the metal. I was covered with flakes of paint from the car and fragments of glass that had been left in the window frame.
    He tried to climb on top of the car. Roaring, he kept hitting out with his right hand.
    Because of his weight the back of the car lifted.
    With all my strength I pushed it up.
    It threw me on my ass.
    The girl crawled away on all fours at an incredible