Chased

Jason stumbled on through the darkness, the echoes of his feet against the cobble stones breaking the silence of the night. With one hand pressed tightly against the wound in his side he ran, praying for his life that he would get away. But he knew that he was done for, and so did his pursuers. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. Even though he could not hear them, he knew that they were not far behind. It was only a matter of time before they would catch up with him. And when they did.. He shrugged, too scared to continue on his line of thought. There was no telling what they would do to him; no one had ever defied them as he had.

He was barely able to make out the ground he was running on in the darkness, and he prayed that he would not trip. He knew that if he did, he would definitely be done for. Every second mattered. Shifting his gaze from right to left, he desperately searched for an alley, or a side street, somewhere to hide. But the wide stone covered street was lined with buildings on both sides, towering into the sky as high prison walls, appearing as dark silhouettes against the night sky.

He tried loosening his grip on the wound as he ran, and immediately felt a stream of warm blood pour down his side. 'Great. An artery must be pierced', he thought, cursing his bad luck. Even if he did somehow manage to escape his pursuers, he would not make it far without medical assistance.

Then he heard them. Silent echoes in the distance at first, but as the seconds passed, the sounds grew to pounding footsteps. He realized that they would reach him within a minute; there was no way he could outrun them, not in his current condition. He knew there was only one thing left to do.

Reaching his free hand into his jacket, he gripped the cold handle of his gun and pulled it out, weighing it in his hand for a moment as he came to a stop. 'No more running,' he thought as he turned around to face his stalkers, his gun raised high in front of him.