Chapter 4
As the soldier went to see what made that sound, Heero crept up behind him. The specials officer didn't even know what was coming as he continued to spout off insult after insult. Heero pointed his gun at the man resolutely, the advantage now in his favor.
He pulled the trigger.
It was an easy kill. One shot to the back of the head was all it took.
The soldier, known as Thomas, fell like a tree.
Not without possibly revealing with all the noise where Heero was hiding, however. Other pursuers were probably on there way as he stood there.
Heero nervously ran to the front of the store and looked around. Taking deep breaths, his eyes trailed over the whole of the room. Nothing was out of place, if one could define a dead soldier sprawled in the middle of one of the aisles and a smashed-in door not out of place. All that could be heard was the rain's drumming and his own winded panting. Still, there was tension hanging heavily around him. It was quiet…just too quiet. Was he found out? Did someone hear the gunshot?
Suddenly, a crack formed in one of the three big storm windows, resulting in spider web-like splinters materializing in the glass. The webs began to spread out as another crack formed, making a snapping sound.
On impulse, Heero ducked, then had just enough time to cover his head as two of the storm windows he was behind exploded from the onslaught of bullets. Shards of glass flew every which way as the noise of the glass shattering blended in with the rain's rhythmatic beating. Heero crouched low, arms covering his head and midsection, as glass showered onto the tile floor and into nearby aisles. His eyes squeezed shut, he could feel some of the debris cutting into the flesh on his arms and back, but it was nothing serious.
As soon as he felt it was safe, Heero jumped up from his bent position and leaped out of the store. He ran down the street, not looking back. He could hear one window shattering after another as he passed by store after store. Alarms were going off everywhere. From the angle he was being shot at, the soldier had to be on the other side of the street.
'Another one's already on to me!' Heero knew he needed a fast cover or he would be found the next day dead on the street corner with nothing but a fake ID as his only proof of existence. He strained his eyes for any sign of a place where he could hide himself, or at least somewhere where he could rest for a few minutes. He was starting to tire more, now. This incident shouldn't even be happening!
Suddenly, it hit him. He turned back to those apartments, and looked at the twisting staircase. He noticed that the second and third-story back doors connected to the ground by means of that winding metal stairway.
Perfect. And not a moment too soon.
Heero heard shouts as he ran for the staircase, beginning to climb them quickly, yet carefully not to make much noise. Although it was raining hard, an OZ soldier close by could still make out the clattering of feet on stairs from the pattering of rain.
He reached the top of the second story case and smirked to himself as he sat down, his knees up to his chest. No OZ soldier would find him here.
Checking one more time over the stairwell to make sure no OZ specials were in sight, he now allowed himself to somewhat relax. He leaned his head back against the wall, breathless for air. Groaning from breathing in too deeply, he clutched his side and gazed closely at the wound. It looked ugly and quite grotesque with all the blood seeping out of his meager "tourniquet."
He squeezed his eyes shut tightly as the pain continued to throb consistently, and now wished he could have taken those soldiers all out at once. Still, his better instincts told him that would be foolish; one would have at least gotten to him before he killed them all.
And yet…if he knew it would have caused him this much trouble…
His wet bangs plastered to his head from the continued downpour, Heero peeked out for a second to see if the soldiers discovered his hiding place.
His heart leaped in his chest. He heard noise coming from beneath the staircase. It was the sloshing of feet walking through a puddle.
Heero ducked back into his spot, and looked at the gun he was still holding. Maybe, in spite of everything, he could kill them after all. One by one…
Slowly, Heero moved towards the side of the ledge he was seated on, and peered down. There was an OZ soldier, Brown by name, and to Heero he was almost begging to die.
Wanting to fulfill that request, Heero pointed his gun at the oblivious soldier and aimed.
Frowning in frustration, Heero couldn't aim for a direct kill. The soldier kept either moving around or talking on his com link…his movements were just too sporadic for Heero to get a worthy shot at him.
"Yeah. yeah. I can't seem to get in contact with Thomas, but the kid is right around the apartment buildings. I saw him and chased him to this area. ...yeah. You'd better come quick if you want to get a shot at him..."
By then he was out of range.
Deriding himself, Heero descended the stairwell. Waiting was wasting for people like him. He hated just sitting around; what was he thinking? He had a mission to complete, and delaying wasn't an option. Besides, the soldiers weren't just going to give up and go home when they couldn't find him.
He needed to shake these guys now. That soldier dying was necessary in the completion of his mission. He was required to eliminate all obstacles; that soldier was but an impediment in the line of carrying out his objective.
He only wished he had planned out his next move instead of jumping headfirst into another problem.
"HEY!" Heero heard. It was the soldier he saw before, Brown, but now with a gun trained on him. "Stop! Come over here, ya little punk, and you won't get hurt!"
Obviously not believing him, Heero broke into a sprint, turning a corner and out of the soldier's line of view.
Heero needed to find somewhere where he could think of another strategy, and quickly. He couldn't think properly while he was somebody's target. Plus, there were no more hiding places he could think of that were safe. He mentally kicked himself for blowing that apartment spot.
His savior unexpectedly came in the form of an alley. Heero skidded to a halt, and hid behind an old dumpster. Then sensing it was still too easy of a spot, he crawled beneath it.
He just fit.
The alley he was hiding in was small enough where the width of it could only fit three grown men side-by-side, but the dumpster was big enough to completely conceal him.
He was lying in high grass that visibly hadn't been cut in a long time. And whatever died inside or under the dumpster smelled quite malodorous. Heero didn't care; as long as it hid him – that was all that mattered.
Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from moaning as he unintentionally put too much pressure on his bad side, Heero gradually rolled to his stomach; that way he would take the weight off his side, and it would allow him to partially see from underneath the dumpster if anyone was coming his way.
He abruptly jumped as he heard unexpected voices; they were too close for Heero's comfort.
"Search everything!" It was the voice of that drunk, Walker. "He's gotta be here somewhere. Hic!" And he was evidently still as intoxicated as ever. "I'll check in the next alley."
Heero held his breath and made himself as flat as possible when he heard footsteps coming closer to where he hid. He felt something with more than six legs crawling past his face as he silently lay there. Perspiration began to form on his brow when he saw two feet standing right in front of him.
Whatever was crawling underneath the dumpster began to inch up Heero's cheek, but still the boy made no movement. He inwardly sighed as another of its friends joined. It wasn't uncommon for little critters to come out at night and eat the dead flesh of whatever pathetic thing crawled beneath the dumpster to die in the feeble "safety" of the tall grass. Was Heero going to be one of these pathetic things as well? Was he already one?
Still holding his breath, Heero waited to see what would happen.
Author Note: I swear I am having too much fun writing this story. Did anyone recognize the line from Naruto anywhere?
