Time was against them in the present moment.
They had not anticipated that the very person they saved would be the one to turn on them by reporting everything to the very people who had been targeting them.
It was obvious how things would turn out moving forward in many ways.
They would have to decide very quickly whether to forgive such a person on the spot or not forgive them.
Even if forgiveness was not something they had to consider, they still needed to make the decision on whether such a person was worth taking a risk for.
If trust had been broken once, then it would be possible for it to be broken again.
There was no helping someone who did not wish to be helped.
Rather than doing something that could help such a person, it could end up being a wasted effort.
It was quite possible that such a person would end up being an obstacle more than anything.
Despite having some idea about what awaited such a person, the situation did not make the decision easy for them.
Their escape would be slowed, while that person could end up doing something that could slow them down further or result in them getting caught.
They could not have anyone interfering in such a manner, so it was not a risk worth taking.
Their efforts to save the day had been in vain and had put them in great danger.
The only thing they could take from the situation was the knowledge that they had gained from the thugs.
Springer moved closer to the window to peek outside as he searched for anyone who was approaching or hanging around.
He did not spot anyone after trying out a couple of other places to look, so he turned back to everyone. "Alright... we are out of here. We are sorry but... Gasser. I will leave this matter to you."
Gasser seemed to understand the intentions of Springer right away. "Got it."
Three of them hurried to the door, leaving Gasser behind.
It was not that they were abandoning him, but it was that they were going out first to check out the surroundings and to try to secure a viable escape route.
They would be the ones to step out first to take on the risk that was likely to come very soon or was already there waiting for them.
The moment that the three of them were standing outside the door and looked around the surroundings to check things out, there was a noise that came from inside.
A shriek came from within moments before Gasser caught up to them.
Just a moment earlier, when he had been left alone with the victim who had betrayed them, he had considered the reason for the decision that had been made.
He would be the one to do the job in place of the others, who would be securing the way out.
It could be understood that the victim would not be brought along with them.
The betrayal had already sealed their fate in a way making it all the more difficult to try to save them, even if they wanted to do so.
The outcome was already determined.
The backup for the thugs would soon arrive, and they would find out what had taken place there.
Leaving the victim there would do them no good, which was why they wished to save them from such a fate.
Blame would likely fall onto them during such a time.
It was possible that those arriving would think that they were behind it or were cooperating with vigilantes.
Unless the statements of the thugs helped to prove that possibility to be incorrect, then the response to that would not be good.
They may have been the ones to make the report to have the backup arrive, but that did not excuse them from being remotely involved with what had transpired.
What made it worse was how they already had a bad situation awaiting them.
They still owed money and had to give up their home, along with a lot more.
Their situation would only get much worse if a tiny amount of suspicion fell onto them.
That was why they could not be left alone to appear untouched and unaffected by what had happened.
When it came to avoiding suspicion for something happening, the usual approach was to take a beating or to be affected negatively in some way.
A method for police working undercover or moles within organisations usually used similar methods where they would be roughed up or suffer a big loss just to show that they put up an effort to stop what happened and to show that they did not let it happen.
If they showed that they put themselves on the line to try to stop something from happening, then it would be more difficult to suspect them.
Similar situations could happen during raids, as the undercover cops or insider informants would end up being arrested along with those who were caught in the middle of a crime.
Such methods were effective for staging the kind of show of loyalty to one side while hiding away the possibility that they could be working with others.
If it looked like they were on bad terms with others and were being targeted in the same manner, then it would be less likely that any encounters with them would be seen as being suspicious in ways that showed how they were cooperating with such people.