A/N: Sorry for the super-long delay, anyway, enjoy the CH.
Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider or any of its characters.
CH. 3: Adidas
For the next hour Alan ran. He ran the fastest, and the furthest he had his whole life. It was cold out, and he shivered the whole time. He didn't remember much of what he saw in that hour, but one memory remained in his mind. It was about 45 minutes into his run, and he was exhausted. He was running on the sidewalk, when suddenly, a wonderful aroma came to his nose, like nothing he had ever smelled before. He stopped running and turned to see a bakery. The baker had just taken a loaf of bread out of the oven, and it smelled wonderful. For the next five minutes Alan stood outside the bakery, trying to find the courage to ask for some bread. When he finally asked the baker if he could please have a piece, he refused. Alan kept on running and thought- no fair.
15 minutes later, he came to a stop. He was too tired to go on, and he knew it. Just then he heard laughter coming from a side alley, and he went to investigate. The alley was dark, but Alan could just make out the backs of a bunch of thugs, cackling weirdly. "What a loser" one of them said," too scared to talk". Alan crept closer, and saw that they were standing around an old man, who was slumped against the wall. "Enough talk", said one of the thugs, who seemed to be the leader. "Let's take the money and get out of here". Alan knew he had to do something, he knew what it felt like to be bullied. So he ran forwards and jumped onto one of the men's backs, knocking him onto the floor. But then he was grabbed by the arms and dragged to his feet. The lead thug approached him with a knife, and said: "we'll make this little rascal pay". Alan had begun to say his prayers when an arm appeared around the mans neck, took the knife from his hand, and stuck the thug in the gut. Then all hell broke lose. The two thugs holding his arms let go of him and charged the old man, who dispatched them with a knee in the stomach and a punch in the face. And then, Alan found himself running alongside the man, running until he couldn't run anymore, and collapsing on the floor.
Alan woke up a few hours later, lying on a scratchy cot, with the face of the man above him. He sat up, and saw that the old man had a long white beard and large eyebrows. He was wearing a red cap, ripped jeans, and a dirty adidas tee-shirt. "Where am I"? asked Alan. "You are in my shack" said the man. As Alan looked around, he saw that he really was in some kind of rundown garage. "Thanks for saving me" said Alan. The man nodded, and said: "Will you stay? I mean live with me, I'll teach martial arts, and mathematics and all that, I'm really in need of a companion. " Sure", said Alan, I can always leave, but now I need a place to stay he thought." I'm Alan, what's your name"? he asked. "N ice to meet you Alan, as for my name, what do you think it is"? Alan thought for a moment, and then, remembering the mans tee-shirt, he said: "Adidas". "Adidas it is", said the man, and smiled.