The Doctor

Chapter 9

The sun had already set five minutes ago marking the hour of the awakening of hell. Delta city, or as many people called it "Crime Jungle", had a reputation for being one of the worst cities in the nation – especially at night. It was a city where one had to survive the daily chaos of violence and one was either the predator or the prey. During the day, the city was terrible but at night all hell broke loose. In such a place you can't trust anyone, not even the clerks; although the clerks wouldn't mug you, they would cheat you out of your money. Police often guard everything – stores, skyscrapers, train stations, subways and even the parks. Bloodbaths were a part of everyday life so when most people saw crimes happening, they would just walk past the crime scene and do nothing about it. Street smarts are always necessary in such cities because if one was being attacked, then no one (aside from the police) would come to the rescue in shining armor and a white horse.

Officer Yuri Kovalenko was a Ukrainian native that moved to the United States when he was three years old. He was raised in the peaceful suburbs of Johnston and spoke perfect English with a trace of Ukrainian accent. Although he was one of the best students in the state, he was interested in police work and criminal justice. He was pressured to get a high paying job such as a doctor or lawyer but no, he was interested in other jobs. It was strange to see how society pressures people to get high paying jobs when there are more than enough people with such jobs. Some of his peers told him that he was making a mistake and wasting his brains on such a job but Kovalenko told them that investigators use their brains all the time when solving a case. Although Officer Kovalenko was book smart, he didn't become street smart until he spent years catching criminals in dangerous cities.

As Officer Kovalenko was sitting in his police car, he could hear a frightened female voice somewhere in the streets. He rolled down the car window just a little more to hear better. He was right – there was a spooked woman but he wasn't surprised when he heard a thunderous male voice.

"...lady, if you don't come in the back of this van, I will shoot you and kill you. Even if you scream, no one will come to help you." threatened a short man in a red jacket.

"Here!" sobbed the helpless woman with mascara running down her cheeks "you want my money? Take it! That's what you want isn't it? Take it and go!" The short man grabbed the cash from the woman's trembling hand, grabbed her and carried her over his shoulder.

"FREEZE!" yelled Officer Kovalenko as he stormed into the crime scene "PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

As the guy raised both of his arms in the air, the woman fell off his shoulder and disappeared into the alley behind them. The officer ran to the man while still having his gun pointed at him. As the officer looked around, he saw who else was in the van – a tall, thin man in the front passenger seat.

"All right, both of you put your hands on the hood of the vehicle!" shouted Kovalenko.

Both the short man and the tall man, looking panicked, looked at each other and then the police officer. Suddenly, the short man rammed the police officer into the wall and started running to the vehicle. As the officer got up and massaged his chest, he saw the man climbing in the driver's seat and slamming the door behind him before quickly driving away. The officer was stunned of the man's strength despite his size; regardless, he stumbled back up and sprinted to his police car. Kovalenko fumbled for his keys and stabbed the keys into the ignition; the engine roared and the headlights flashed as the car came to life. He slammed his foot at the accelerator and screeched out of the street.

As he sped on the road, he could see that the dark green van was fifty feet away from him. He sped toward it; he was not going to let them get away. The green van accelerated and was getting farther away; the van was so hard to see in the night because of its dark color. What was so strange about the van was that it had no license plate! He was going to charge them for the missing license plate later; right now, catching the suspected kidnappers was important. What Kovalenko was grateful for was that the street lights provided some kind of illumination and that the lock that locked the back doors was glinting. But why did those guys need a lock for the back doors? Also why were the back doors banging? What could those bastards have in that van?