A/N: Well, here's the long awaited fourth chapter of 'On The Run' (At least I hope it was long awaited). This is dedicated to purple shimmer for giving me such a short but nice review saying that she loved this story…and also Mystic Fayth for being my beta and complaining so much. (Well excuuuuuuuse me.)
Chapter 4: The Road To A New Home
Two months later:Shimmying down the drainpipe, Li dropped gracefully down onto the ground. The messenger bag she carried contained clothes. Tucked into the waist band of her black jeans were two 9mm handguns and a knife in her combat boots.
Lydecker's men were on her trail and she'd already called Zack's emergency line to inform him. Right now she was heading towards Axle's apartment.
She dashed around the block, dodged past a few drunken men who had been thrown out of a bar, through the narrow alley and thought exasperatedly, two more blocks to go.
A minute later, when she reached Axle's apartment, she climbed up the fire escape of the next building. Zooming in with her enhanced sight, she spotted Axle, zoned out on the couch, the television blaring away.
Taking a running jump, she leapt across the gap, lowered herself carefully from the edge and burst through Axle's top floor apartment window. She tucked into a roll and landed before pulling herself up. The instant she did though, a hand clamped itself around her neck, choking her.
Li kicked out with her legs, desperately trying to draw air into her lungs, but the iron grip on her throat wasn't letting her. Her face was turning purple, when Axle finally got a good look at her face; he let go instantly.
Li dropped onto her knees, gasping for breath.
"Are you alright?" Axle said kneeling by her, "I thought you were an intruder."
"Do I look alright to you?" Li managed to choke out.
"I'm sorry," He said, "But why did you have to break the window? My boss is going to freak."
"Deck's on our trail, we got to go." She stood up. "I've already contacted Zack, he's on his way."
"Right, hold on a sec," He ran into his room.
He came back a moment later holding a backpack and his jacket. Like her, he had a Glock tucked into his waistband.
"We'll have to take the stairwell since I just swung through your window without a rope."
"Right." He grabbed her hand, pulled her out the door and up the stairs. "Where did Zack say he would, meet us?"
"At a secluded park not too far away from here," She answered, taking a running jump and leaping over the gaps in between the buildings followed closely by Axle. "He should be here in approximately 17 minutes."
"17 minutes doesn't sound like an approximate number to me." Axle remarked dubiously. "But by all means, lead the way."
When they got to the park, Zack was already there circling around the park in a black SUV, waiting for them.
"Not too far away my ass," Axle complained to Li, "Anyplace that takes more than one minute to get too is considered far."
"Jeeze! Crack a push up or two sometimes, or Zack will start bugging you about that podgy belly of yours."
"I do not have a podgy belly," They climbed into the car. "I'm in excellent shape right now." Axle said indignantly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Li waved to Zack. "Hey big brother."
"Hey Bro." Axle said to Zack who just grunted in reply….as usual.
"We'll stop at a motel in Santa Maria." Zack glanced backwards at them. "I'll have to split you up, the less contact you maintain, the safer we all are."
"But…"
"No buts, Li." The look he sent her through the rear view mirror stopped her midway through a sentence.
Li pouted, stared out the window and didn't speak for the rest of the journey except to reply in monosyllables when Axle asked a question.
"Here," Zack held out a hand phone to Axle while keeping one hand on the steering wheel. "You know the contact number."
Axle reached out for it, took it and stuffed it into his pocket. He reached forward again, turned on the radio and leaned in his seat. He sighed; this was going to be one long drive.
It was midnight by the time the trio reached Santa Maria, the motel owner hadn't asked any questions once Zack threw down a bunch of hundred dollar bills.
They bunked down at the motel until 0600 hours in the morning, where Zack unceremoniously pulled the blankets off the both of them and forced them to get up. Where on it was another day of driving. They stopped at Shiprock, New Mexico on the second night at another 'dingy, musty, disgusting, unkempt, cheap, motel' as Axle so kindly put it.
On the third day, Zack dropped Li off in front of the social services centre in Santa Fe with two thick wads of cash; one for Li and one for the social services centre.
She hugged Axle then Zack drove off.
Jennifer Parks, that was her new alias, it said so on her identification card, along with the names Sylvia Parks and Gerard Parks below the words 'Parents/Guardian'.
Her new home was well furnished, but nowhere near as comfy as the Fuller house.
Li stayed in the attic which had been converted into a room upon her arrival. This arrangement suited her just fine, since it allowed moderate freedom to her during the night hours when she couldn't sleep.
The family pet, a black and white cat by the name of Socks had taken an instant liking to Li, he'd purred and purred, rubbing his body against Li's legs and leaving black cat hairs on Li's jeans.
The longer Li stayed with them, the worse the way they treated her, and once, when a brownout had happened during a football game, Gerard had come after her and Sylvia. He'd kicked her in the stomach, and threw her against the coffee table.
Li hadn't understood it. Lydecker had never resorted to physical violence whenever the lights went off – which back at Manticore had only happened when it was lights out and time to bunk down –. Li hadn't done anything to stop it, Gerard was her superior and Li had learned early on back in Manticore that you never retaliated unless ordered to by a higher ranking officer. Retaliating had only ever brought her more trouble.
She made up white lies to her teachers in school, never telling them what really happened to her – Gerard had told her not to – back at her foster home. During the day, Li spent most of her time away from the house, hanging out with her classmates, at the park or just walking around Santa Fe.
Her classmates never questioned her about some of the worse injuries she obtained from the beatings; the less serious were usually healed by morning anyway.
Lucy, her classmate also came to school sporting bruises sometimes, and Li figured it was another one of these ordinary's habits. It had never occurred to her that she could stop these beatings by just going back to social services.
Li wouldn't have gone anyway, Zack had wanted her to find a foster family; she'd found one and she wasn't about to disobey her CO's orders, she was a good soldier.
This was what it was like to live a normal life, this was what it was like to have a home. That is, until she met Ryan…
A/N: R&R guys. Tell me what you think and maybe I'll start posting chapters faster since I'm mostly free for the rest of the year.