[center][h2][color=A52A2A]Vincent Cawler[/color][/h2][/center]

Vincent hung back for a moment, letting some of the rest of them dash past him to ensure their safety. Or at least give them a head start. Vincent was sure that out of all the others present he could take the most punishment, while a solitary strike with those batons would likely incapacitate most everyone else. He gave the staggered Shax a good hard kick right as it started to regain itself then hurried off after the others.

Hot on the heels of Dakota, Vincent followed his hesitant savior closely, acting as something of an usher to spur Dakota to keep running. He knew, he gets it. Running is hard when you're not built for it. Running when someone wants you dead adds a delightful touch of panic to it. Having someone there to push you, whether you're running for the exercise of because not doing so will get you killed, is a great motivator, especially when that someone is much taller and put between you and the thing you're running from.

Vincent had to stick his arm out every so often to push Dakota ahead, trying his best to avoid a collision and keeping their speed up. It seems this kid's instincts weren't so good at keeping his adrenaline up. But at least Dakota was making his way towards the extremely out-of-place club - lots of distractions, poor lighting, big crowd full of people they could blend in with. It would've been Vincent's first choice. He almost felt a little bit proud, despite the fact that the two still didn't know each other's names.

And then Dakota did the worst thing you could do while being chased: he stopped. Vincent barreled past him, a split second before he realized, long enough for Vincent to lose track of where he was going and ending up slamming into one of the pens. His forehead bounced off a solid bit of metal, making a low ring echo off between the rows. Grimacing, Vincent hurriedly ducked into the same corner as Dakota.

"Idiot..." he muttered, staring past Dakota at the 'distraction' that he set up. Movies and TV shows made it seem like being clever in a chase was the best option, diverting your pursuers to follow the wrong path, but more often than not they're as intent on catching you as you are in escaping. Taking even a second too long to set up a misdirection would be the end of it. It was better to just keep running and use the environment to your advantage, but it wasn't like Vincent had the time to lecture Dakota about it.

And there already was that whole spiel about it earlier.

Luckily, or perhaps through pure divine intervention, the guards fell for it, turning off towards the opposite way quick enough that they missed the pair. Letting out a breath he was holding, Vincent continued behind Dakota, keeping his shoulders stooped and neck low. "That could've gotten us killed," he whispered to Dakota, his voice finally settling into his naturally deep timbre.