Alleyway

John was curled up in an empty alleyway. He lay there with bitter tears in his eyes. It had all been for nothing! That day spent hunting the whole city in search for his lost son had been fruitless. Oh how he longed to die! But he couldn't. Not yet. He wanted to find his son first. He needed to find his son first. He needed to tell the boy that everything he said had only been out of anger and that none of it was true...

Oh, this was all his fault! If he had kept his trap shut, his son might have never run away. His little buddy, his beloved son. That child might still be with him had his anger not gotten the best of him. John clutched his head miserably and let out a longing moan before shutting his eyes tightly. He didn't care how dangerous it was to sleep in an empty alleyway in the less that desirable part of the city, he just needed a place to get away from it all. He needed peace and quiet just for a moment and home was too painful a place to go to. This alleyway would have to do.

A siren shrieking in the distance cut John's ears like a knife. So much for peace and quiet. John rolled over in annoyance and looked out of the alleyway in order to see what was causing the ruckus. It looked like a young lady was on the run from the law and judging by the way she was clutching at her purse, she was being chased for theft. Once upon a time, John might've tried to stop her. Now, he didn't care. That woman could've killed all the cops chasing her and he wouldn't have batted an eye. Grief had taken his willpower to do almost anything. Instead, John turned back to his alleyway with the intent of going back to grieving when the lady decided to hide in his alleyway. Of all places! John had the worst luck!

The lady entered his alleyway and ran in and out of it several times in order to throw off the cops. As mad as John was at this rude interruption, he had to admit that this lady was smart. Managing to lose the cops was no easy feat, especially given the fact that she was doing it by herself on foot. At last, however, the lady lost the game. One burly cop had managed to keep up with her as she weaved in and out of every ally she could find. The cop finally cut her off as she tried to double back one more time. He grabbed her roughly and shoved her to the ground before he began to kick her violently. John flinched slightly at the sight. Police brutality was far from rare in this city and this lady probably deserved the beating, but John still hated seeing it. There was just something so sick and inhumane about a cop mercilessly beating the crap out of someone, criminal or not. It wasn't a fair fight and the lady hadn't ever gone after a cop herself so it wasn't like this was retribution.

At last, something in John snapped. He rolled out from under the dumpster and carefully exited the alleyway. As soon as he was out, he ran over to an old building that used to hold a flower shop. Now it was just a crumbling pile of brick with half of its windows blown out. The other half of the windows were still intact, though, and that was just what John needed. Scooping up a piece of broken pipe, John smashed three windows in one blow before he started to scream like a madman. It was quite the sight and it was enough to attract the attention of the big cop. So, his plan to free the woman had succeeded but now the cop would be after him. It was time to go!

John was suddenly flying down the streets as the sound of massive footsteps followed him close behind. But then he heard a deep yell and the footsteps stopped. John didn't dare turn around, though, and he kept on going. At least until a face poked itself out of one of the other alleyways. It was the woman's.

"Over here!" she cried, reaching out for him. John wasn't even going to ask how she'd managed to get ahead of him. Instead, he took her offered arm and let her pull him into their new alleyway. Once he was safely with her behind a dumpster, they both realized how out of breath they were.

"Thanks," John panted. He dared to peek out of the alley and was just in time to see the burly cop getting up. John could see his huge shadow rubbing its rear end. So, on top of getting in front of him, this lady had also somehow managed to trip him. Nice.