"Move!" 
                          
            Something jerks my elbow and I pull away, turning to see a scrawny skeleton of a boy staring back at me with bright eyes. After seeing what he just did, I should grab my chips and make a run for it. 
                          
Instead, I let him pull me on top of the dumpster and up the wall of the building, forgetting my food in my daze. When he runs, I follow, daring to look back. The younger girl already has a whole group of friends with her and they're coming fast. I turn back onto to stumble to a stop at the edge of the building. 
                          
"Jump!" he calls, sprinting past me and leaping the gap onto the next roof. 
                          
The people down below frown, looking up at the sky to see who just fly past. Left with little choice, I back up a few steps and take the leap of faith.
                          
            My arms just barely catch the cement edge and my stomach slams into the wall, knocking the air from my lungs. Quickly, the boy drags me up after him and we take off again. My body feels weightless as the adrenaline pumps through my veins. Exhilarating, almost. My jacket flaps around my arms as they pump harder and harder, forcing me to keep up with this mystery boy. This kid knows his stuff. 
                          
"Up," he commands, jerking his head toward the rusted ladder before us. I shake my head, shoving him.
                          
"You first." I expected him to argue, to hit me, or even to leave me behind. Instead, he grins. 
                          
"No."
                          
            The sound of the hooting slum rats catches my ears and I huff. 
                          
"Fine."
                          
            As quickly as I can, I pull myself up the ladder and step onto the crumbling building. When the boy reaches me, he turns back and stomps on the ladder a few times. I frown, watching a particularly large boy sprinting toward it. 
                          
"What are you doing?!" I demand, tugging at his arm. "C'mon!"
                          
            He ignores me, giving a final three kicks before the old metal groans and snaps, sending the ladder to the ground with the chunk of rotting wood it was screwed to. He turns back to scan the skyline with a grin. His eyes are sharp, quick, perceptive. They illuminate like a light bulb and he hurries to the other side of the roof, unfazed when the concrete shifts beneath his feet. Who is this guy? 
                          
I pick my route carefully, stumbling over loose stones and crumbling cement. Hope no one lives here. He stoops down, jerking a thick black cable free and tying it around his narrow waist.
                          
"What-" I start. He tugs it. Testing it. I shake my head, stepping back. The ground shifts beneath my feet and I shudder. "No, that won't hold!"
                          
"Would you rather let them catch you?" he snaps, glancing over his shoulder at me irritably. "It'll get us away. Ain't gonna kill you."
                          
"Yet." 
                          
"Hurry up!" 
                          
"Okay!" 
                          
            I lunge forward, clinging to his shoulders and squeezing my eyes shut. When we start to swing, my stomach churns and I think I might be sick. Before I have time to realize where we're headed, we plummet toward the ground. This is it. 
                          
I land with a soft bounce, opening my eyes to realize I've landed on a smelly stack of old, discarded mattresses. The boy shoves me off his back and I land on my butt, watching him stand and dust his clothes off. 
                          
"How did you-"
                          
"I saw 'em." He grabs my wrist and drags me to my feet. "C'mon; I don't live too far from here."