A Trio Of Tigers: Blood-arc Series, #1 - (BoyxBoyxBoyxBoy)

Chapter 1 - Running For His Life

Gunner felt the thump thump of his heartbeat loud and clear. Beads of sweat flowed freely down his face, trailing down and down. His breath was thick, heavy and erratic. He was tired, really damned tired. His legs were completely wobbly under his knees... But he loved this feeling. He absolutely loved every part of it. The way his muscles strained to their limits, pushing until they hurt with every movement. And the way he felt alive every time, made it even more worthwhile. 

This is amazing, Gunner thought in his head. If it was possible, he would run forever and never stop. Whenever he ran he felt free and invincible. It was like nothing could stop him, nothing could defeat him. 

"Slow down and stop running away!" A bang sounded through the air, Gunner fell forward onto his knees just as a bullet wizzed past his ear. "Shit, I missed again!"

He scrambled to his feet again, rounding to the side. A group of older boys all had weapons in their arms; guns, bats, sticks, steel bars, chains... and they were all pointed at him, ready to kill. 

"Go get your own things - stop taking from other people!" Gunner distanced himself, withdrawing back with small steps. The leader of the gang snarled a warning, clearly upset at him.

They stalked up. He took a step back.

"Give your things to us and we'll leave."

Gunner smiled. "Fuck. you."

A muzzle was raised high. Click, and zoom. In a second the bullet flew out. Gunner swore, angry that they had chaced him and angry that they had shot at him. He fell to the side, stunned into silence by the raw speed of the shot, and so it flew past him, fortunately just brushing past his cheek. There was no time for admiring the person's skills though because they were on him once again.

"Shit!" He seethed through his clenched teeth. Jumping, he ducked another bullet as this time it came right for his legs. If not for his superb instincts and reaction he would have long been dead already, and he was so thankful for it. 

Gunner's legs moved instantly off the bat. Gunner turned and ran. He had other choices of course, one; he could fight them back somehow if he used his wits and brain, or two; he needed to get away from them. Where option one seemed to be the more brave way and a more fun thing to do, option two definetely better ensured that he was going to get out of this breathing. Staying alive was more important than anything else, and giving his stolen goods weren't an option. Without them he would have no money.

The wind whipped past Gunner, swiping at his face and hair. In his head the scenery passed with blurred images, the broken down cars, old houses and litter-filled streets zooming away at breakneck speed. When his eyes drew out an alleyway, Gunner turned and estimated the distance between him and the gang. A smile broke into his face. The bag on his shoulders weighed down on his back but to him it felt as light as a feather.

He laughed and turned the corner, chuckling under his breath. 

They might have been a gang and they obviously out-numbered him. But running away was what Gunner had done his entire life, he'd had a whole lifetime to learn how to become good at it. As he spun around he knew they were still on him but they lagged behind. The weapons on their hands were weighing them down, they were struggling. And he was enjoying every part of it. 

Step one, the thought popped into his head. The art of of deception, or the art of seduction as he liked to call it. It might not work all the time but it worked almost every time he did try it. Men were easy to fool, especially the ones who seemed the hardest to trick. This was what he'd come to learn in all these years of stealing - the more it seemed impossible, the more it meant that it was worth it.