In The Shadows

Chapter Thirteen

This chapter is dedicated to @avadel because of all of your amazing feedback on this chapter!! Thank you for all of your help!!

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My heart tugged at my feet, begging and pleading with them to turn around. I felt a twinge of guilt for leaving Irine but knew I had to remain focused and concentrated on the task at hand. My gun remained up and ready for the smallest movement as I made my way down the stairs and out the exit. I chose the door on the opposite side of the building from where James and Sam had fallen since it was the closest side to the banner.

When I cracked the door open, the alleyway was empty of any sounds or movement, with the exception of the trash hiccuping down the road. I took the chance to sneak out the door and dart from the side to the back alley where the metal trash cans lay scattered. My heart hammered with the paranoia of some trainee finding me, so I kept myself alert as I searched for the supplies I needed to pull my plan together. I collected two lids and rummaged through each of the contents to search for some string or binding material to securely hold the lids around me. But nothing.

Voices slithered down the alley, and I grabbed the lids in a panic, ducking down behind one of the larger trash bins. The voices bounced closer, accompanied with the slaps of their pounding feet along the pavement. I watched their backs as they jogged past me. They wheezed as they ran, their conversation spiking up and down in between each labored breath. I could hear the swish of the girl's ponytail, the whisper of their uniforms as the friction rubbed the material together, and - I looked down and grinned - the miniscule scratch of her shoelace against the ground.

As soon as the two trainees passed, I unlaced the shoestring from my left boot. I positioned the trash can lids in the front and back of my vest, looping the string in between the handles and tightly tying the ends together. I felt like a robot, stiff and irregular in my movements. Every step made a noise, alerted the enemy. But I just stifled a laugh at myself and waddled down the alley. In one hand, I held my gun, but it was useless and limp since my arm movements were so limited.

I inhaled, then exhaled, then walked down the side alley. One more step and I'd be a target, setting my plan into action. The scopes of guns would be focused and zeroed in on any part of my vest that I neglected to cover. In just one more step.

It was like in the stories Debbie used to tell us, where a singer or an actress or someone famous steps into the light. They walk out of the darkness, dip their head against the harsh spotlight, and raise their heads towards the audience with amazed or anxious expressions. The stories always described it as a dramatic appearance, a visual that was impossible to forget.

That was how I felt, stepping one loose and unlaced shoe out from the alley onto the main street. The sun's harsh light beamed down in an intimidating interrogation. I blinked into the light, blinded by the sudden contrast of the dark shadows to the dominating brightness of the sun. As my eyes adjusted, I could see the buildings and their dark shapes in the foreground which interrupted the sun's rude and abrupt confrontation. If I looked down, I knew that I would be able to see the blanks beating against my chest in an angry fury. But I didn't look down because one more doubting thought and I knew that I would just run right back into the shadows where I knew I belonged.

Somewhere cool and dark. Somewhere to observe and sneak. Somewhere to analyze then confront. Not this. Not out in the open. Not in the spotlight.

My palms were slick, forming beads of a nervous sweat. My gun slipped from the wet rivers but I managed to catch the weapon before it clattered to the ground.

I focused on my feet. Right foot. Left foot. I started out at a walking pace, then broke out into a jog, before quickly advancing to a sprint.

My mouth was suddenly a desert, dust and sand caking the sides of my throat so I couldn't swallow down the nerves pressuring me to drown in this plan, in this test.