Chapter 3
John continued running until he was out of breath. He hunched over and planted his hands on his knees resting there for a moment, attempting to catch his breath.
When he had recuperate a fair amount he realized that he had run a good distance. He looked up at the street sign of the cross that he now stood at.
"Seventh x Main" the sign read.
'Well, I minus well walk.' John thought. 'I'm close enough...'
...
John walked the rest of the way to work. His work day went by pretty uneventfully with the exception of having to explain to his manager why he was almost an hour late and having to tell his boss why he didn't have his document to turn into him.
His day was now officially over and john was exhausted. He walked from his office building with his coat in hand and his tie loose and hanging from his neck. He shuffled over to the bus stop just a short distance from his job.
It was now six thirty at night and the sun was well on its way below the horizon now. After seven minutes of waiting the bus pulled up and John stepped up on the bus and paid his fare.
When the bus finally came to his stop he bid adue to the driver and hopped off. He yawned as he walked towards his apartment. He decided to take a shortcut down a near by ally that cut across two streets and led up to the side of his apartment building.
He entered the ally and continued on towards the direction of his apartment. As he moved he heard another set of foot steps behind him.
He looked around him; checking behind him, but he saw nothing. There was no sign of anyone, but the footsteps persisted.
John stopped and turned around to see if someone was following him. But again he saw nothing, no one. So he turned back around. When he did he found a gun leveled at him. He looked beyond the gun to see a man in a ski mask holding the gun.
John dropped his coat and quickly put his hands in the air. "Empty your pockets!" The man demanded in a husky voice. "I'm sorry... I'll do whatever you want..." John pleaded. "Look! I don't want to hurt you. But I will! Just give me what you have."
John slowly went into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet handing it over to the man.
"Your other pockets!" The demands continued
John did as he was told and handed the man the change he had in his pocket.
"Your watch!" The man continued.
John winced, but obeyed and unlatched his watch and slid it off his wrist and handed it over.
"Your shoes!" The man said pocketing his loot and gesturing his gun towards John's feet. "You want my-" John began. "Take them off!" The man yelled pressing the gun to John's head again, cutting off his question.
John did as he was told and bent down to untie and take off his shoes.
The man began rocking on the balls of his feet and shifting his eyes back and forth. As John pulled off his second shoe the man in the ski mask snatched the shoes from him and looks John directly in his eyes.
"You will turn around and count to one thousand." The man said cocking his gun. "Okay, okay. Whatever you say..." John said turning around.
John heard the man's feet bang against the ground as he ran. John heard something fly through the air and make contact, like something had been shot or thrown. He instinctively ducked, dropping to his knees covering his head with his hands. As he did this he saw a blonde woman dressed in a one piece, fishnet stockings, knee high boots, and a leather jacket step out of the shadows.
She looked at John and pressed her finger to her lips in a gesture of silence. She then pressed her hands to her ears and pointed to him.
John did as she gestured and the woman nodded, smiling. The woman walked past him and gently patted his shoulder. She stepped behind him and John had no idea what was going on but could hear a struggle going on behind him. He felt the woman step a few feet past him and stop short.
A second later John heard an ear shattering sound like feed back from a microphone to close to a receiver and a screeching cat in pain. He clutched his ears and pressed his hands as close to them as he possible could to block out the terrible sound. Even as he did this the sound was ear-splitting.
After that John heard nothing but ringing. He released his hold on his ears, and turned around to see the man with the ski mask on the ground writhing in pain. He surveyed the scene and saw his wallet and watch pinned to the wall with a green arrow.
Ears still ringing John saw a man in a green hooded costume scale the building adjacent of them and run away, out of sight. John went and yanked out the arrow skewering his wallet to the wall. Exasperated he examined it seeing that the arrow had gone the center of it and all it contents. He took note of the arrow and saw that his watch was hanging there unharmed.
'I'm just glad my watch is okay.' He thought as he slipped it on his wrist securing it.
John started his way towards his apartment and as he did he felt the gravel of the ally dig into his shoeless feet Though he wore sock the rough terrain hurt his feet. He went a little ways stepping over the man in ski mask who now lay on the ground unconscious.
He took two more steps and the leather clad blonde woman stepped out of the shadows. She stepped in front of him holding his shoes. John saw the woman's lips move and her body language made it apparent that she was speaking but due to the now constant ringing in his ears he heard none of what she was saying. He shook his head trying to tell her he couldn't understand; not knowing if he himself was speaking or not.
The woman smiled and her shoulders shook as if she was giggling. But she handed John his shoes and disappeared back into the shadows. He stepped into them and pocketed his wallet and gathered up the rest of his belongings from the ally ground. As he did he noticed the man, his robber was gone. He looked around again, and again he saw nothing.
John scurried to his apartment building. He entered the building and hurried up to the elevator, banging the up button. He waited and when it the doors opened he stepped in and pressed the button for his floor.
John felt the elevator move upward as he slumped against the wall bracing himself happy to have made it home in one piece.