Wanted: a Matt and Melissa Story (2015)

5.

Matt noticed that Melissa wasn't behind him. He had expected that she would get caught ever since they left, but not so soon. He searched the entire square for her, 'Well, I'm dead,' he thought to himself, 'More than dead, executed in the most embarrassing way possible. I've got to find her!'

When Matt finally found her, it was after the town curfew. The town curfew was a rule set by the citizens of Magicea, it stated that anyone out after 12 o'clock midnight was sent to The Checker who would cut of a part of their body. It started with the right hand, then the left, the right foot, and then the left. And if you were out past 12 a fifth day, and still alive, you got your head chopped off, no one can live through that.

The streets were dark and there were no street lamps. Melissa was terrified. She had always been protected from thugs, gangs, and other bad things, but she wasn't now. All she had to protect her was a boy she barely knew and her purse. Matt was prepared for anything, but Melissa didn't know that. He always had a gun in his pocket and a knife in an invisible bracelet around his wrist. He was going to protect Melissa even if it cost him his life.

There was a dark figure standing on the other side of the street. He looked like he was in a wheelchair, but he was carrying a large gun. It seemed as if he was pointing the gun at them, so Matt went across the street to check it out.