Footsteps. That unmistakable sound of impending capture reached the ears of a middle-aged man crouched on the balls of his feet with his back to a ragged brick wall. His legs exploded with power as he leapt to his feet. The rough red brick tore into his flesh as he ran to the window at the far end of the room. The muffled sounds of shouting men grew louder. Bang! A bullet missed the man by mere inches to his left, striking the red brick wall next to the window in a shower of shattered masonry.

The world slowed down, it seemed. He stared at the ground; the ground fifteen feet below stared right back. He crashed through the glass, and the ground rushed up to meet him. The man rolled forward to break the hard fall. As soon as he was on his feet again, he ran. The tree line was but a few hundred feet away, and he was sure he could make it. Bang! A sharp pain echoed through his right arm, rendering it useless. He kept running.

Nothing except fear crossed his mind. Those men, those hounds, they would track him until his execution day. Their noses never lied——they would find him. The man finally reached the safety and cover of the trees. He felt tired. Maybe from running, maybe from his wounded right arm, he didn’t know. He didn’t care. He knew he needed medical attention, and now.

With those hounds looking for him, he knew it wasn’t safe to venture out in the open for a while. The woods grew darker and thicker with each passing second the man kept moving. He could feel the blood snaking its way down his arm and dripping from the limp limb. Branches smacked his face in the impenetrable darkness he found himself in. Somewhere to his east was a road; but which way was east? Where was anything for that matter? He could only see a few feet in front of his face, and for all he knew, he might be running in a circle. He was lost——a sitting duck, an easy target.

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The man took a sharp right turn, hoping the road was that way. Several minutes of rushing through the forest yielded nothing more than a small clearing in the brush. The man paused. Looking up, he saw the moon’s light dancing on the trees. It gave the leaves an unearthly white glow. Red drops continued to fall from his motionless arm. The red drops splattered the rocks below. Bang!

The man fell forward onto his face. His breathing became ragged and painful almost immediately. Blood swelled and ran in a torrent down his back and sides. His body felt numb, and he could no longer think. He could only feel himself slipping away. The extreme pain was the only feeling strong enough to break through the dull and senseless world around him. The moonlight suddenly darkened. One of the hounds stood above him.

“You fuckin’ missed!” It shouted. “The son-of-a-bitch is still alive. I’ll take care of it though. Don’t worry, I won’t miss.”

The sound of something being moved reached the man’s ears. A click rang through his ears for an eternity. Bang!