Flashback 3

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The lights faded behind us about half an hour later. April and I had ducked into an alleyway to catch our breath, and were now trying to get in touch with Wills.

"He won't answer his walkie," April groaned. "Yet he yells at us to always keep them on. Bloody hypocrite."

"Right?" I added with a smile. "You should tell him."

April snickered, shoving the walkie back into her pocket. "I'll let him know when we find him. How're we gonna get out of this?"

I looked further up the alleyway. Beyond the several shadowy doorways leading to god knows what, there was a highway. No doubt the police were already scanning it, but we had no other choice. It was either trust our luck with the open road, or go back the way we came and run straight into them.

"C'mon." I nodded towards the highway. "We're gonna have to move fast."

April kept pace with my stride, her eyes gazing uneasily over the dark doorways. I wasn't feeling too good about them myself. After about the fourth one passed, something made the both of us jump out of our skins. The fifth doorknob rattled loudly for a second, then the whole door swung open violently. A man shrouded in shadows slowly descended down his stairway and stood in the middle of the alleyway. I cast a glance at April, who shrugged in response.

"Should we just go around him?" I whispered. "We need to move."

"I don't know..." April whispered back, keeping her eyes glued to the man.

Cautiously, I took a few steps towards the man, brushing my fingers on the edge of the gun in my pocket. Nothing should have bothered us about a random stranger standing in an alleyway, but there was definitely something off about this one. The way the shadows seemed to stretch along the pavement in his direction. The sudden drop in temperature as he turned to face us. The dim red glow emanating from within his shadowy robes.

"Children." The man spoke out of nowhere, his voice raspy and cold. "You should not be up this late."

April walked up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "C'mon, we don't have time for this."

I narrowed my eyes at the man. "We're here on business. Sorry if we woke you."

Without waiting to hear another word, April and I slid past him and continued jogging towards the highway.

"That was weird." I said, once I was sure we were out of earshot. "Creepy old men shouldn't be allowed out at night."

April giggled. "I'm sure that's exactly what he thinks about rebellious teenagers!"

"What!? Where!?" I looked around wildly. "I don't see any-"

BANG!

After spending enough time working in a zoo, you get pretty used to hearing a lion roar. The sound eventually causes no reaction from you. And no matter where you're standing in the park, no matter what you're doing, you still recognise the sound.

So, as someone who grew up in Woongarrah, I knew exactly what a gunshot sounded like.

I stumbled at first because I wasn't expecting it, but then instinct took over and I crouched in the shadow of a garbage bin. I couldn't see April, but I was assuming that she was hiding in another patch of darkness nearby. I cast a quick look back down the alleyway, where the same shadowy man was standing in the same spot with his arm outstretched. There was no doubt in my mind that he fired the gun. It wasn't until I looked a second time that I noticed another major detail about the alleyway.

April's body was lying in the middle of it. Face down. Unmoving.

I didn't assume the worst, at least not right away, because I'd witnessed several shootings before where the outcome wasn't expected. So instead of rushing out to her, I kept myself hidden from the man's view. After about ten long seconds, the man appeared to somehow dissolve into the surrounding shadows. At that point, however, I couldn't care less.

I dashed out the shadows and knelt beside April. "Hey! C'mon, we gotta go! We've already lost enough time!" She didn't respond, so I shook her shoulders lightly. "Hey, April? April!" Still nothing. That's when I noticed the circle of blood expanding across her back. I pressed my fingers gently against her neck. My own blood ran cold when I couldn't find a pulse.

My heart began hammering loudly in my chest. This couldn't be happening. Not like this. "C'mon, April! Get up! We have to go!"

I slid my arms underneath her back and scooped her into my lap. Her eyes were closed, so she looked like she was just asleep. Apart from the blood soaking the front and back of her mid-drift, I might've believed it. As I brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek, several raindrops splashed across my shoulder. A few seconds later, it was pouring.

The next couple of hours drifted by as if someone had pressed the pause button on the world. We lay there together, side by side, letting the rain soak us to oblivion. Lightning flashed far above, but I couldn't hear any thunder. I couldn't hear the sirens either, not that I would've reacted. My eyes burned from the mixture of tears and rain, but I didn't make a sound. My whole body was numb, paralysed by a contradictory mixture of panic, grief and calmness. My mind was aware that April was dead; that I'd have to move or someone would find us, but my arms and legs protested. I was tired. So, so tired. Not just physically, either. I was tired of pretending that there was some place better; that by killing and stealing and running, I'd escape some day. The world didn't care, I'd decided. April was proof of just that. If the world had any shred of kindness, it would've spared the only precious thing to ever happen in this dump. But now, it was gone. She was gone.

I was dimly aware of a series of flashing blue and red lights growing ever brighter by the minute, but I didn't care. They could take me if they wanted. I'd already lost the most beautiful thing in my life, which was destined for crap anyway. Better now than later, I thought to myself.

But then something was yanking my arm. Someone. Wills, I think, I couldn't quite tell through the haze of tears and rain. He was shouting something that I couldn't hear. Just let me lay here, I thought. Just leave me alone to fall asleep and never wake up. But Wills was persistent. He managed to sit me upright, where I was met with the same blue and red lights as before. Only now, they were just outside the alleyway. As I was lifted to my feet, I noticed the shadowy man had reappeared on his doorstep as well. A very small, inferior part of my consciousness ached to sprint back down the alleyway and have the man meet the same fate as April, but Wills didn't give me the chance. My senses slowly came back as I ran with Wills away from the lights, until finally I could hear again. Wills had been shouting something about being irresponsible, but I barely noticed.

Because as I turned back to check on the police, I quickly noticed that both the shadowy man and April's body were gone.

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