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Description
Eric was as low as he could get. He was homeless, broke, and hung-over. His head was pounding and he was keeping it cradled in his arms because it was bright and loud everywhere. He couldn't ever remember his head hurting this badly before, and he'd had a doozey of a hang-over a week ago.

He heard a small crash and looked up just in time to see a girl bend down to pick up her dropped coffee cup, now empty. She had black hair and would've been slightly shorter than Eric, if he'd been standing up. Before he could see anything else about her, he had to hide his eyes again because of his headache. He could hear her dump the cup in the trash and walk away. Her footsteps went past him and then came back and stopped.

Eric wasn't thinking about her anymore though, he was thinking about where he was going to go once he felt better, and how he was going to get there. He didn't really feel like going anywhere, he just felt like dying.

"Are you okay?" Eric heard a soft voice say.

Must be that girl, He thought to himself. Maybe if I just keep my head down and don't answer she'll go away. I hope so; I'm really not in the mood for sympathy. A gun shot to the head would sure be nice.

After a few seconds he heard the girl walking away. He breathed a sigh of relief and went back to thinking about his hang-over and things of that nature. Luckily there weren't any other people around to disturb his morbid thoughts.

Directly adjacent to the building he was sitting against was an alleyway. Only moments after he heard the girl walk away he heard sounds coming from that direction that sounded suspiciously like a struggle.

He stood up and, ignoring his headache as best he could, he walked towards the alley's entrance. He'd always taken important things like this way too calmly. As he got closer to the alley he heard more noises that were definitely because of a struggle.

You know, I really wish there was somebody else who could do this. I mean it's kind of funny, a homeless bum going to rescue somebody from guys who are probably also homeless bums. Aren't there usually people around at this time of the day?

He rounded the corner of the building and saw three men mugging the girl. One was pushing her up against the wall and the other two were going through her purse.

"Hey now, just put her down and everything will go… better." Eric said holding both his hands up, palms out.

All four of them froze. The girl stopped struggling and the men stopped mugging. The men looked at each other and started chuckling. One of them bent down and picked up a long, rusted metal pipe. He was short, with stringy brown hair that was covered by an old grey beanie. He was wearing a baggy hoodie and faded blue jeans.

"Oh come on, can't I just buy you a drink?" Eric tried again to keep things peaceful but as he did so, he also readied himself for the fight. Out of force of habit, he looked around for something to fight with before remembering that he didn't need that kind of thing.

"Shut up and get out of here if you don't want to die," threatened beanie guy. "We were planning on letting the girl go but now that you've decided to be Mr. Hero we're gonna kill both of you."

The girl was still being held against the wall and Eric looked at her with a nonchalant smile.

"Do you come here often?"

She just stared at him.

Beanie guy walked towards Eric while brandishing his rusted pipe.

"You really got a death wish, don't you punk?" He asked Eric.

"Now that you mention it, yes, yes I do."

Two of the thugs converged on him at once, beanie guy and another one with sunglasses.

Eric looked from one to the other and back again. It looked to the thugs as if he was thinking about running, so sunglasses guy circled around to make sure that couldn't happen. Eric smiled again.

Eric slowly crouched down, then quickly lunged at beanie guy. He caught him by surprise and slammed him against the wall, sliding his face against the concrete surface. Sunglasses guy let out a yell and ran at Eric who turned just in time to catch him in the stomach with his fist. The thug fell to the ground with a groan.

Meanwhile, beanie guy had gotten up and threw a punch that landed on Eric's back. He grunted, then turned around and picked beanie guy up by his shirt and threw him against the dumpster, knocking him out. Sunglasses guy was back up but Eric kicked him in the ribs, making him go down.

All this time the girl and the other thug had watched in amazement and hadn't said a word. They just stared, stunned, at what Eric was doing. Finally, the hooligan who had been holding the girl released her so he could help his friends.

Eric saw him coming and ran forward to meet him. Before the man could react Eric grabbed him by the head and slammed it him into the ground. He slowly rose and looked around to see the damage. None of the thugs were getting back up and the girl was still in shock. She stumbled over to her purse that had been dropped on the ground and picked it up, never taking her eyes off her rescuer.

"You okay?" He asked, sounding more concerned than he had before.

He started walking over and she had to stop herself from backing up. Slowly she nodded and said,

"Thank you for saving me." She looked around again before adding, "They… they were going to kill us."

"My name's Eric, by the way. Would you like me to walk you to your car or whatever?'

She thought he looked like a nice enough guy, and he had just saved her life, after all, so she replied,

"My name's Wynter and yes, I'd like it very much if you would walk me to my car. It's not very far from here."

"Alrighty then, let's get started, shall we?"

Wynter managed a shaky smile and followed Eric out of the alley.

"When I saw you sitting over there," she said pointing to where he'd been before, "I thought you were sleeping or something. How'd you know I needed help?"

"I have a hang-over." Eric answered simply.

"Really? Okay, but how exactly did that help you?"

"What? Oh, it didn't help me at all, I was just saying why I looked like I was asleep."

"But… nevermind."

They were in the parking lot and Wynter stopped at an orange Ford truck saying, "Here we are." She said it as if saying goodbye, but she hoped that this mysterious man wouldn't just leave.

"Alright, well, if you feel safe and all then I guess I should say goodbye now. So… goodbye." He was starting to back up, already thinking about lying down in the middle of the road just so somebody could run him over and end his misery when she stopped him.

"Wait, where're you going to go?"

He thought a moment about telling her about his thoughts of suicide, then decided that he'd probably just freak her out. So instead he said, "I'm going home."

"Do you live around here?"

"Ah, you know, I live where my heart is and all that." He gave her a wink and took a step backwards, getting ready to leave.

Wynter realized that he didn't have a home and immediately felt sorry for him. She quickly reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet, prepared to give him some money. He knew what she was about to do, and he appreciated the gesture but he had to say no.

"Please," he said holding up his hand, "I don't need or want your money or anything else you could give me. I'll see ya later."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You saved my life Eric and I have to give you something. I still don't know how you did what you did to those guys back there but—"

"Excellent point! Those guys are still back there so we, as in you, need to call the police. Good luck and like I said, see ya later."

Before she could protest again he was gone.

Description
Eric was as low as he could get. He was homeless, broke, and hung-over. His head was pounding and he was keeping it cradled in his arms because it was bright and loud everywhere. He couldn't ever remember his head hurting this badly before, and he'd had a doozey of a hang-over a week ago.

He heard a small crash and looked up just in time to see a girl bend down to pick up her dropped coffee cup, now empty. She had black hair and would've been slightly shorter than Eric, if he'd been standing up. Before he could see anything else about her, he had to hide his eyes again because of his headache. He could hear her dump the cup in the trash and walk away. Her footsteps went past him and then came back and stopped.

Eric wasn't thinking about her anymore though, he was thinking about where he was going to go once he felt better, and how he was going to get there. He didn't really feel like going anywhere, he just felt like dying.

"Are you okay?" Eric heard a soft voice say.

Must be that girl, He thought to himself. Maybe if I just keep my head down and don't answer she'll go away. I hope so; I'm really not in the mood for sympathy. A gun shot to the head would sure be nice.

After a few seconds he heard the girl walking away. He breathed a sigh of relief and went back to thinking about his hang-over and things of that nature. Luckily there weren't any other people around to disturb his morbid thoughts.

Directly adjacent to the building he was sitting against was an alleyway. Only moments after he heard the girl walk away he heard sounds coming from that direction that sounded suspiciously like a struggle.

He stood up and, ignoring his headache as best he could, he walked towards the alley's entrance. He'd always taken important things like this way too calmly. As he got closer to the alley he heard more noises that were definitely because of a struggle.

You know, I really wish there was somebody else who could do this. I mean it's kind of funny, a homeless bum going to rescue somebody from guys who are probably also homeless bums. Aren't there usually people around at this time of the day?

He rounded the corner of the building and saw three men mugging the girl. One was pushing her up against the wall and the other two were going through her purse.

"Hey now, just put her down and everything will go… better." Eric said holding both his hands up, palms out.

All four of them froze. The girl stopped struggling and the men stopped mugging. The men looked at each other and started chuckling. One of them bent down and picked up a long, rusted metal pipe. He was short, with stringy brown hair that was covered by an old grey beanie. He was wearing a baggy hoodie and faded blue jeans.

"Oh come on, can't I just buy you a drink?" Eric tried again to keep things peaceful but as he did so, he also readied himself for the fight. Out of force of habit, he looked around for something to fight with before remembering that he didn't need that kind of thing.

"Shut up and get out of here if you don't want to die," threatened beanie guy. "We were planning on letting the girl go but now that you've decided to be Mr. Hero we're gonna kill both of you."

The girl was still being held against the wall and Eric looked at her with a nonchalant smile.

"Do you come here often?"

She just stared at him.

Beanie guy walked towards Eric while brandishing his rusted pipe.

"You really got a death wish, don't you punk?" He asked Eric.

"Now that you mention it, yes, yes I do."

Two of the thugs converged on him at once, beanie guy and another one with sunglasses.

Eric looked from one to the other and back again. It looked to the thugs as if he was thinking about running, so sunglasses guy circled around to make sure that couldn't happen. Eric smiled again.

Eric slowly crouched down, then quickly lunged at beanie guy. He caught him by surprise and slammed him against the wall, sliding his face against the concrete surface. Sunglasses guy let out a yell and ran at Eric who turned just in time to catch him in the stomach with his fist. The thug fell to the ground with a groan.

Meanwhile, beanie guy had gotten up and threw a punch that landed on Eric's back. He grunted, then turned around and picked beanie guy up by his shirt and threw him against the dumpster, knocking him out. Sunglasses guy was back up but Eric kicked him in the ribs, making him go down.

All this time the girl and the other thug had watched in amazement and hadn't said a word. They just stared, stunned, at what Eric was doing. Finally, the hooligan who had been holding the girl released her so he could help his friends.

Eric saw him coming and ran forward to meet him. Before the man could react Eric grabbed him by the head and slammed it him into the ground. He slowly rose and looked around to see the damage. None of the thugs were getting back up and the girl was still in shock. She stumbled over to her purse that had been dropped on the ground and picked it up, never taking her eyes off her rescuer.

"You okay?" He asked, sounding more concerned than he had before.

He started walking over and she had to stop herself from backing up. Slowly she nodded and said,

"Thank you for saving me." She looked around again before adding, "They… they were going to kill us."

"My name's Eric, by the way. Would you like me to walk you to your car or whatever?'

She thought he looked like a nice enough guy, and he had just saved her life, after all, so she replied,

"My name's Wynter and yes, I'd like it very much if you would walk me to my car. It's not very far from here."

"Alrighty then, let's get started, shall we?"

Wynter managed a shaky smile and followed Eric out of the alley.

"When I saw you sitting over there," she said pointing to where he'd been before, "I thought you were sleeping or something. How'd you know I needed help?"

"I have a hang-over." Eric answered simply.

"Really? Okay, but how exactly did that help you?"

"What? Oh, it didn't help me at all, I was just saying why I looked like I was asleep."

"But… nevermind."

They were in the parking lot and Wynter stopped at an orange Ford truck saying, "Here we are." She said it as if saying goodbye, but she hoped that this mysterious man wouldn't just leave.

"Alright, well, if you feel safe and all then I guess I should say goodbye now. So… goodbye." He was starting to back up, already thinking about lying down in the middle of the road just so somebody could run him over and end his misery when she stopped him.

"Wait, where're you going to go?"

He thought a moment about telling her about his thoughts of suicide, then decided that he'd probably just freak her out. So instead he said, "I'm going home."

"Do you live around here?"

"Ah, you know, I live where my heart is and all that." He gave her a wink and took a step backwards, getting ready to leave.

Wynter realized that he didn't have a home and immediately felt sorry for him. She quickly reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet, prepared to give him some money. He knew what she was about to do, and he appreciated the gesture but he had to say no.

"Please," he said holding up his hand, "I don't need or want your money or anything else you could give me. I'll see ya later."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You saved my life Eric and I have to give you something. I still don't know how you did what you did to those guys back there but—"

"Excellent point! Those guys are still back there so we, as in you, need to call the police. Good luck and like I said, see ya later."

Before she could protest again he was gone.