Chapter Four
Sleeping in alleys did not appeal to me. In fact, as I watched an extremely furry rat scurry across my path, I almost considered turning myself in (Let me tell you, the thing was huge. Dog sized even). It was fleeting thought, of course, because I wouldn't live long enough to be disgusted by rodents if I was caught. I doubted that eight counts of murder would leave me with just a slap on the wrist. As stupid as I was feeling at that point, I was smart enough to know that the ISSP would think that the death sentence would be going easy on me. Turning myself in, no matter how glamorous a jail cell looked as opposed to an alley, was not an option. So, I tried to sleep, ignoring the tiny scuttling footsteps I heard every so often, and the creepy sensation that there were things crawling on me. I focused on the unbearable cold instead. I would have to find a better place to stay sooner or later, since nights on Neptune were far from tropical. If I didn't die of starvation, I would freeze to death. Oh, Gods, I'm the jackass of the universe right now.
I was lucky the first and second days. The word about my tremendous bounty had not spread as quickly as I thought it would. Or no one had connected me as the guy in the picture. Whatever it was, I didn't care. The longer no one realized I was the one they wanted, the longer I lived. I had been fairly free to walk the streets during the day without much trouble. I stole food to keep me breathing and medication for the blinding pain in my arm. I ran out of both quickly and had to move to another area to steal more. However, I began to overhear talk about my bounty, so I had to stop roaming the streets in the daylight.
Twice I had seen the green haired man strolling down the street nonchalantly, with his questioning eyes and dangerous grace. Something about that man made me uneasy, so every time I spotted him, I ducked behind a car or something of equal concealment. I didn't exactly know what a bounty hunter would look like, I supposed they could look like anyone, but I wasn't going to take any chances. And they way that this man kept showing up, once looking grumpy, the other time whistling, put me on my guard. He did not look like he was native to Neptune, most men on the planet grew facial hair because of the cold, and the fact that I had seen him on the day of the 'accident' heightened my alertness.
As much as I wanted—no needed—a drink, I did not risk going into any bars. The shadiest of places could house the greediest of people. Plus, I had heard that a lot of bounty hunters work at night. It was easy to admit that I had nowhere to go, it was far more difficult to find a way to solve that problem. I didn't know where to look for the things I wanted. I mean, where exactly does one go to look for a shady doctor on Neptune of all places? Was it common knowledge that I somehow missed getting?
"Hey, you!" I froze in my position on top of a dumpster in fear. I was on my way to finding somewhere else to sleep, for the rats were becoming a bit too bold for my taste when the person shouted, scaring my already tired mind into exhaustion. Oh crap, I'm dead! I slowly turned in the direction I had heard the voice.
"Yeah?" I almost gulped, but I had to keep some shred of dignity.
"It's illegal to loiter in this alley. Beat it," an angry looking old man demanded. I sighed, sliding off the dumpster. All the more motivation to find another hiding spot, I supposed.
As I passed the man, his bony hand shot out and grabbed my broken arm. I hollered in pain and instinctively punched him to make him let go. Perhaps I punched him a little too hard. He instantly fell to the ground in an unconscious heap. I stared down at him in disbelief, on the verge of laughing at my constant misfortune. I had just assaulted an old man, while illegally loitering in his alley as I ran from the law. It was so cosmically hysterical. Run you dumbass! The thought squeezed itself between all the other senseless thoughts in my mind and I realized what the scene would look like to a passerby. I ran. Like a bat out of hell, I ran with no destination in mind. All I knew was it was only a matter of time before that man woke up, bringing police and bounty hunters to the area from miles.
"Someone up there must hate me."
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shut up