25

The road they were on was in between lots of houses, most looking very run down. Some lights were on, which made the trio very uneasy. "I really hope no one decides for now to be the time they look out the window." Junior said. The walk was a little inclined, which made his legs ache. Along with his nervousness, and the extra heat from his jacket, he wasn't feeling very good.

Joseph was for once glad that he had his hat the right way. It gave him some extra shade from the sun, which was nice. His legs were starting to ache as well, but his shorts and t-shirt at least kept him more cool. He couldn't believe they made it out of their previous situation. If he was alone he would've bailed. 'I guess Chef PeePee has more sense than me.' He thought. It felt weird for him to not be cowardice, but nicely enough it was the right choice. Maybe the way wasn't always running?

The chef saw that there were a few stores up ahead, which worried him. Though they were small, there was a chance that the employees wouldn't see anything, or even care. He hoped they wouldn't care. He really did.

They didn't care that the trio had walked past them. They didn't bat an eye, or move.

But one thing did.

A fucking cop car.

It had snuck up on the three from the side. Junior had almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of it, shrieking in fear. Chef PeePee's head snapped at the direction of where Junior was looking, and he saw it too.

He made direct eye-contact with the officer. They had definitely recognized them now. The officer narrowed his eyes as he pulled up closer. The chef thought fast. "RUN!" He shouted, bounding the opposite direction followed by Junior and Joseph. They ran past a shop or two before they heard the sirens turn on.

Chef PeePee turned sharply around some brick-built store and continued sprinting. He turned his head for a moment to check if the boys had made it. They were a little bit behind him, running at the same pace as the Chef. The chef thought about slowing down a tiny bit to let Junior and Joseph catch up, but that thought immediately left his head when he heard the cop car getting closer. He grunted in anger and annoyance as he continued running. "FASTER! THEY'RE GONNA CATCH US! THEY'RE GETTING CLOSER!" Chef PeePee shouted to the boys.

Junior never knew he could run as fast as he was, but he was starting to get tired and out of breath. Joseph saw this, and faced Junior. "I'LL BUY YOU SOME TIME DUDE! I'M GONNA DISTRACT THEM! JUST KEEP RUNNING!" He shouted to Junior.

Junior looked even more concerned, but nodded. "BE SAFE!" He shouted back. Joseph nodded, and slowed down. He saw the cop car was far enough away for them to stop in time, and so he jumped in front of it and spread out his arms and legs, staring the driver in the face. The driver let out a yell before slamming on the breaks. Joseph then took out the slingshot Chef PeePee had made, along with a walnut he had kept.

"FUCK DA POLICE!" He yelled as loud as he could, before pulling back the walnut as far as he could and shooting it straight at the windshield. It shattered, but didnt break through. He turned back to where Junior and Chef PeePee were running and saw they were mostly out of sight. He turned back to see the officer inside glaring at him. He started running away towards the other two runaways as the officer angrily shouted behind him.

Chef PeePee rounded another corner and ran more before turning back to see only Junior. He slowed down in a panic, letting Junior run closer to him. "WHERE'S JOSEPH?!"

"HES DISTRACTING THE OFFICER! KEEP RUNNING!" Junior yelled back in a hoarse voice.

Chef PeePee was surprised, but also very proud. "He kept his word..." He said to himself with a slight proud smile before focusing on running once again. He turned another corner and saw a road that went into a neighborhood. This would make for an easy getaway. They could actually evade the police! Joseph sadly wouldn't be with them, but they could at least be safe and possibly find him later. Chef PeePee felt a surge of more adrenaline run through him. No, not adrenaline, hope. "You can hop fences, right?!" He shouted to Junior.

"I think!' Junior yelled back. He looked ahead to the neighborhood and instantly knew what the chef was talking about. He smiled with determination as he continued running, hope coursing through him as well. His tiredness disappeared for a moment, which allowed him to speed up to Chef PeePee's pace.

Chef PeePee could hear the previous cop car approaching once again, but he knew if he could get into the neighborhood then there'd be more places to run. More places to hide. He saw Junior's happy look, and felt happy himself. Happy, not because they were in danger, but because they could be out of it. He felt like the day he had been adopted from that orphanage. Sure, it was by a weird pirate/car salesman, but it was something.

But that feeling completely diminished when they had just gotten into the neighborhood. Because a cop car had pulled right in front of them,

Effectively cornering them.