[ WP ] Killing another human now allows you to exchange your remaining lifespan the victim 's . Young people live in fear while the elderly plan their attacks .

“ If you think about it, it really makes no sense, ” Kyle whispered. 
 
 Jean scrunched her eyebrows in bewilderment. “ You ’ re going to go into this now? ” The emotion was understated in her whisper. 
 
 “ So let ’ s go through this together. The rumor says that you will exchange your remaining lifespan with your victim ’ s right? ” 
 
 Jean peeked through the cracks between the wooden crates. She thought she hear footsteps. 
 
 “ Someone near death must have lived longer than could have been possible. That ’ s the only way the rest would even consider to take it seriously right? And I mean, that is one flawed statement. It ought to say that you will take your victim ’ s remaining lifespan while relinquishing your own. I mean, the poor guy ’ s dead right? How would anyone know that he took your potential lifespan? ” 
 
 It actually made sense to Jean. So she shushed him, but he was undaunted. 
 
 “ Then again, how does anyone know that you don ’ t just add your victim ’ s lifespan to your own? How do you know how long someone can live? ” He gasped in genuine surprise. Jean put a frantic finger to her lips, not daring to even shush him anymore. 
 
 “ I ’ m telling you, the governments have known for a year or more. Doctors can estimate the remaining lifespan of their patients who are very sick. This must be how they concluded that the murderer would take the victim ’ s lifespan as their own. There was probably even a fair bit of A-B testing, perhaps with healthy people – like death convicts – shortening their lives by making them murder end-stage cancer patients. My goodness, what a screwed-up world this is. ” 
 
 A dull thud sounded in the distance, like something dropping onto the carpet floor. Could it have been a body? Her eyes yearned to bore holes into Kyle's. 
 
 “ It must have been the wind- ” he began, but she shut him up with her palm against his mouth. That was the best assurance she needed from him. 
 
 And all was silent except for her subsiding pants and pounding heart. 
 
 “ Thank you, though I would very much have preferred your lips instead. ” Without realizing it, the pressure of her palm on his face had softened. She removed it entirely. 
 
 “ You are really getting on my nerves. Are you trying to get us killed? ” 
 
 “ C ’ mon, I ’ m not planning to lose out to a couple of grannies in a tussle. You could benefit from a positive attitude as well. This is where you put that kickboxing training of yours into action. ” 
 
 The only door to the storage room slammed shut decisively, followed closely by a gunshot. They must have blown the doorknob off. 
 
 Jean had each hand on Kyle ’ s and her respective mouths. She needed it to ensure she did not gasp reflexively with every sound. Footsteps were heavy, painfully slow and getting awfully close. 
 
 Kyle pried her hand from his palm with surprising ease. “ Alright alright you got me, ” he called out. 
 
 Jean was about to go ballistic, but he brushed her off and stood to face the direction of the door, his palms held up and open to show he was weaponless. “ Oh it ’ s Grandpa Rick and Granny Joan. I always thought you guys were nice. ” 
 
 “ Shut up, kid. You don ’ t know what this means for us. And tell your friend to stop hiding. We know there ’ s two of you. ” 
 
 Jean cringed. She ’ s going to die young because of this idiot. Maybe she should strangle him herself first. 
 
 “ Hold on, hold on, ” Kyle said. “ You guys remember the ward that I ’ ve been staying at right? Are you sure you want the lifespan of a dying person? ” 
 
 “ Tell your friend to stand up! ” Granny Joan shrieked. 
 
 “ I could, but I won ’ t, ” his voice was exceedingly calm. “ Even if she did, I would shield her from you, because it ’ s the safest for us both. Here ’ s why: the doc told me I had a month left – and that was more than a week ago. That means you ’ re not going to shoot me. ” 
 
 “ We can talk this over, ” Kyle continued, then his voice turned into a snarl. “ But if you come closer I will snap your necks with my bare hands. If you somehow manage to get to her I ’ ll kill you both. I ’ m a dead man. I have nothing to lose. Oh wait, it ’ s actually in my interest to kill you right now. ” 
 
 Naked malice oozed from his voice. Jean shuddered as she glanced up at his frame, standing tall and confident. He was in total control of the situation, she suddenly realized. 
 
 “ Here, I ’ ll show you my medical report. It ’ s true, I ’ m already dead. ” His voice was suddenly light and cheery again. He took a folded slip of paper from the pocket of his jacket, unfolded it and refolded it into a plane. He pinched it between thumb and index finger and then sent it flying. 
 
 The elderly couple was whispering between themselves, barely audible to Jean. Kyle turned back to her and mouthed to her, “ Run. ” 
 
 She did not need another prompt. She eyed the glass window about five meters behind Kyle and a chair that was next to it. She kept her body low in a crawl until she got to the chair. Kyle continued to converse with their would-be murderers in a calm voice. Confident that Kyle was blocking the trajectory of any bullet, Jean stood and threw the chair to smash the glass, before jumping out of the room altogether. 
 
 She threw herself into the bushes and kept running into the cover of the woods. Her escape was deafening in her own ears as she crunched twigs under her feet. She half-expected a gunshot to send her to the forest floor. Then she realized that rapid footsteps were catching up to her. 
 
 “ Don ’ t stop, ” Kyle shouted behind her. A wave of relief washed over her even in her frantic state. 
 
 Soon, he caught up and led the way. After another five minutes or so, they finally stopped and dropped into the same position that they had been in the storage room. They hid behind a tree with dense undergrowth around it, gasping gratefully for air. 
 
 “ Kyle, you ’ re a genius, ” Jean wrapped her arms around him. Only then did she realize that he was in cold sweat. 
 
 “ My bluff worked, ” Kyled managed to say between gasps. He laughed. 
 
 “ What do you mean? ” 
 
 “ Do you remember the mass rapist-murderer in the news a few months ago? ” 
 
 “ Madman Matthew? ” 
 
 “ Yeah exactly, ” Kyle swallowed hard. “ The doc made me kill him yesterday. ” 

