Chapter 6: Park Playdate

Kid and Michelle take a breather in an empty park.

After running for what felt like hours, the two finally stopped to take a breath. The pavement below their sore feet was lined with thick walls on either side, both equally submerged in vulgar, yet vastly creative graffiti. They ducked into a crevice brutally carved into the left wall to rest. At the very least, Kid and Michelle were drenched in shadows, and not as exposed.

The night was still now. Nothing except for their exhausted breaths, and sometimes the sounds of random speeding cars in the distance.

“Anyone you know?” Michelle spoke softly.

Kid was bent down, his hands on his knees. “What?” he raised his eyebrows, perplexed.

She tilted her head in the direction of the tagged wall behind them. “None of 'em really stand out. Most likely posers having a bit of fun,” he finally said after staring at the wall for a few minutes.

“And if it's not?” her eyes didn't break contact with the never changing wall.

“Then we're marching right into the arms of a bunch of guys who want me dead,” there was a hint of humor in his voice, very well hidden, however.

“What about The Wretched?” she asked, brushing his comment off.

“Don't worry about them. I'm pretty sure their turf is a little farther that way,” he pointed a finger to the west. “We should be able to avoid going near them.”

“I hope so.”

Yeah, me too, he thought.

He straightened up and leaned against the freezing cement. Michelle forced her eyes to peel away from the potential warnings that swam around the wall in surprisingly vibrant colors. “Your arm, how bad is it?”

He instinctively placed his hand over it, as if he was trying to protect it. “I don't know. I kinda don't wanna look,” he said, even though he was already beginning to slowly, and carefully, very carefully, slide his sleeve up.

The wound was pretty deep, but he couldn't tell exactly how deep through all of the caked on blood. Michelle let out a small gasp when she saw the ugly mess. “Don't worry, looks a lot worse than it is,” Kid lied.

“We need something to bandage it up with, or you'll bleed out right here.”

“It'll stop bleeding soon enough, it's really not that bad. Let's just keep going, we can't have much farther to go.”

It was somehow obvious he was in quite a bit of pain, even though he wouldn't admit it if it meant stopping the world from ending. Michelle couldn't help but admire his strength, even if it was a bit reckless running around with two big punctures in his arm.

Kid moved away from the wall, and started down the road once more, Michelle close behind.

Making their way down a one way street, they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw a couple of flashing lights a little further ahead. “Maybe we can find another way around,” Kid suggested.

“I don't think there is another way around. I think we'll just have to wait them out. We could use a break anyway,” Michelle said authoritatively.

It didn't take much more than that to make Kid relent.

Beside them, a dirt path led to a small park, complete with a jungle gym, swing set, and slide that was combined with all sorts of other fun things for children. The pair followed the path and climbed up to the slide. They plopped down in the dark and shuddered when their bodies pressed up against the freezing cold plastic.

Something caught Michelle's attention as she crossed her legs under her. Near the bottom of her shin, a pretty big hole had appeared in her pants. “Aw, that fence must have tore a hole,” she said, sticking a finger through it. She looked at Kid's arm, then back to the fresh tear. Without missing a beat, she used the hole to rip the bottom part of the pant leg off. “Here,” she said, handing him the mostly uneven strip of fabric.

He gladly took it while eying her newly deformed pants. “Nice.”

“I'm going to assume you're talking about my quick thinking, not the fact that I'm permanently flashing ankle.”

“It's definitely one of those,” he said as he wrapped the strip around his wound and tied it off the best he could.

“This takes me back,” Michelle said through a shiver.

“What, you've been here before?” Kid asked, positioning himself to face her.

“No, but I used to go to one just like this. With my mom,” her head dropped, her eyes focused intently on the blue plastic under her legs.

“Must have been fun,” Kid replied, choosing to let his gaze rise to stars above them.

“Sometimes. Did you ever do anything like that when you were little?”

“No. I mean, I've been to parks, just not with anyone I ever particularly liked. Usually just the opposite, actually.”

“Until now, right?” Michelle asked, smiling.

Kid chuckled. “Right,” he said, for once choosing to drop the sarcasm.

Just then, the sirens shut off, and they could hear the vehicles they belonged to drive off. “Well, I guess that's our cue,” she said, moving to stand up.

“Let's wait for a few more minutes, just in case. Don't wanna walk right into the arms of some cops that decided to stay behind.”

“Sounds good to me, my bones feel ready to crumble inside of my body.”

After resting longer than Kid had actually planned, they forced themselves to get up and head back on track.

Stepping off of the trail, they were relieved to see that whatever cops were there before had all left. Everything in the area seemed pretty quiet, leaving Kid hoping they had taken care of whatever they were there for.

In the distance, they could make out a tower that marked a construction site further ahead. “I wonder if that'll be safe enough to pass through,” Michelle said.

“Doubtful. I'm sure going through there would be a deathtrap.”

“Well, it's got to be better than a junkyard, right?”

“You got me there,” Kid sighed.

Author's Note

Chapter 6. Hope you enjoy, any feedback of any kind is greatly appreciated, as it helps me improve, and lets me know my story has possibly entertained, or even wasted your time. (hopefully that's not the case though)