Chapter 2

Eight hours later….

Feet pounded on the pavement, running as fast as his legs could carry him as he ran down the street and into the alleyway. Heart throbbing inside his chest, lungs pumping to support what felt like a lack of oxygen. A lot can happen in an eight-hour work period, at least a lot DID happen for Lazarus. His head was still trying to wrap around the events that took place since he walked up to the back window of the principal’s office at Tilden High.

               Lazarus ducked suddenly as the sound of a gunshot rung through the alley and a bullet whizzed past his head. Heavy footsteps chasing after him, not looking back but judging from the tromp Lazarus could tell it was at least three men that were chasing him, and it wasn’t the police. He didn’t have to look behind to know who was after him, their threats and gests told him that it was a batch of the Southside Wings that were after his hide again. Lazarus hated it had to resolve to this, especially after telling them so many times he wanted no part of it. But now it was too late, because he saw something that couldn’t be unseen and now he knew too much about what was going down. There were rules that followed those that knew too much information. You either were with the program, or you were not, and if you are not then, often you would find your new permanent residence under six feet of dirt, but that is ONLY if you were that lucky. Most cases however your body would be dispatched like a bag of garbage and promptly dumped into the city dumpster for the truck to pick you up, or you could just disappear in a river or sewage system and not show up on the surface again for weeks if ever. Of course the quickest way to get things done around here was to just get gunned down where you stood and everyone could care less where your body was put afterward… just as long as you were no longer breathing. 

               More shots fired, and Lazarus dodged around a sharp corner, a bullet burying itself into the wall just beyond the spot where he stood a moment before. Up ahead was a dead end, a concrete wall which cut off the alleyway. Lazarus did not slow his pace however as he ran up to the wall and ran up it in such a way that allowed his to grab the edge and haul himself up. Instead of flipping himself over the wall, Lazarus used the momentum to reach up even higher and grab onto the fire escape ladder which he began to ascend. The footsteps below came to a halt, a couple of curse words were let loose at him. Before any more shots could be fired, the sound of a police siren entered the alleyway, a few more curse words and then an exchange of gunshots. Lazarus did not stay to watch the action. Using the skills he has learned and obtain with eleven years of parkour, he in just a few moments made it all the way up to the rooftops to make his escape.

               Dashing across and leaping over a gap to make it to the otherside, landing a tuck-and-roll before straightening up to prepare back into a full on dash when he heard his name called. “LAZARUS!” Halting suddenly, he twisted around and saw Cody standing there looking at him. He was just as limber as Lazarus and was also easily able to make it up to the top after him. Stepping forward and still on the other side, Cody looked at Lazarus. They exchanged eye-contact, there was a light nod from Cody and Lazarus nodded back before whipping around and sprinting off. Lazarus dropped off the rooftop into a clear alley where he then pulled up his hoodie, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked out onto the sidewalk as if nothing whatsoever had been going on. Lazarus’ mind however could not wrap around what he had just witnessed earlier that day. Did they really do that? Was there a war really coming?

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good tale so far. You create city life and city decisions. You made the words feel real. I liked the thoughts and the escape in the chapter. Thank you Carthage for sharing the excellent chapter.
Coyote

[Carthage Thorne| The Wildcard]

One of my biggest inspirations comes from films in all honesty, I love watching them and seeing how they play out and this is how my stories come out in the end too.