"Isabel, I need help!"

Sitting cross-legged in the dark, Ally spoke anxiously and whisperingly on the phone. For about a minute, she remained silent, listening to the voice on the other end of the line. Occasionally, she nodded affirmatively, and her dark hair followed the movement of her head. When the voice stopped, Ally fumbled with the back of the phone, removed the cover and then the battery. Then, she pulled the SIM card out forcefully and crushed it into the soil with her heel. She climbed onto the brick wall of the small London garden where she was hiding and, almost invisible in the moonless night, ran like a bullet into the empty street, slowing down only to throw the hollow phone into an open trash bin. A few streets down, she also threw the battery over a tall wall into a garden. Then she heard a sound different from the tapping of her shoes on the pavement. She hid behind a white van parked at the edge of the street and listened, holding her breath. Footsteps. She scanned the quiet neighborhood street with the similar houses in a row and realized it offered her very few hiding spots. She heard her pursuer approaching, running – she didn’t have much time left.