As the gunman's finger hovered over the trigger, Luna was trying so hard not to think about dying right then and there. Her heart pounded knowing that the only thing between him and her was a split second of luck. 
 

***
 

Three Hours Earlier 

As the sun started to rise above the city skyline, it casted a bright glow over the desk where Luna was sitting at. She spotted Crow at his usual spot in the headquarters, a faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she waved.

Luna collected herself and stood up. She had clocked into the HQ early as the previous day she offered to help file a lot of paperwork. It was long overdue. Had to be done. The stacks of paper were starting to fill her boss' desk and she imagined there was not even enough space to put a coffee cup down. Apart from filing, she also was on lunch monitor duty. 

There were a few other things on her to-do list for that day too, but one of them and the most important one was organizing lunch for the crew. Lunch monitor duty was fun, but also stressful as she had to pick a place where everyone liked. It was a Friday and she wanted to end the week on a good note.  

Glanced at the clock. Half past nine. Fellow crewmates were starting to come through the door now, and it seemed as though people were in a better mood. Well, it is the weekend tomorrow! Luna tried to quicken the pace, grabbing stacks of paper and taking them to the filing room. There were gray drawers labeled from A to Z. She glanced over, looking for C. 

'Confidential Files', she read as she looked down at the sticky note on the manilla folder. She dared not to open it. Her only job was to file. Luna carefully slid the folder between the cracks of the expanding suspension files. Walked back to her boss' desk where she counted three more stacks of paper to file- whew, almost there. 

As she kept up this pace of grabbing a stack, walking to the filing room and back to grab more, she started to think about what she wanted to do with her time here. Luna wanted to get to know more about the people she would be working with, but she knew that it would take some time. Heck, some of her fellow crew members had kids. She scoffed at the thought of having some of her own. No way. Not yet, at least. 

It hit midday and Luna had already finished filing ages ago and started to think about lunch options. The pizzeria down the street was a go-to. Their stuffed crust pepperoni is a classic, but she did hear about a new ramen place. Luna went over to Crow's door and gently knocked. "Just gonna pick up lunch for us, be right back," she advised. 

Luna headed out, wallet in hand and feeling excited. She was planning to pick up a variety of ramen bowls for everyone, making sure to get everyone's preferred orders in advance. As she walked down the street, she had to turn into a side road which was new for her as she never needed to go into that area before- until now. The address of the ramen restaurant was nested between a laundromat and a small apartment building.  

A red, flashing sign with the words plastered Yoshi Ramen on it, caught her eye instantly. 

Luna's breath got caught in her throat. 

What the fuck? 

She heard the slow, deliberate footsteps behind her of a man she knew. She didn't know  him personally actually, it was just his type of people she knew. The scrape of his shoes coming closer haunted her- she didn't need to turn around to know it was a durden. 

As the durden's  finger hovered over the trigger, Luna was trying so hard not to think about dying right then and there. Her heart pounded knowing that the only thing between him and her was a split second of luck. Luna's fists clenched as she tried to square up to him, but to no avail. She had to be smart and realistic. Her lack of experience in defense fighting put her at a disadvantage. Every part of her wanted to react violently, but as he took one more step towards her, she felt a sudden wave of fear and doubt. 

Without enough skill to back her bravado, she turned on her heel and bolted. Luna ran out of breath once she finally put a distance between her and the durden and could no longer see him. Fuck! She thought. There goes lunch.