Ashes To Ashes

IV

The climb back down the access ladder was pretty hairy.
Mainly because climbing a ladder with the stress of a life threatening situation on your shoulders really sucks.
Really, really sucks.

Adelaide felt the weightlessness of fear as she descended further and further, all the while keeping her eyes trained on the edge of the roof.
The strange man's blurry face came into view as she got further and further away.
Slowly, delicately, he aimed his gun straight down the rungs.

Adelaide didn't waste any time.

She leapt from the last bars and stumbled to the ground below. Her ankle rolled beneath her and she felt a sickening twinge in the joint.
She bit her lip in frustration. She could taste something metal in her mouth as she pulled herself up and bolted from the narrow confines of the alleyway.
She barreled through an intersection, and several cars slammed hard on their brakes and blared their horns loudly.
"The hell is wrong with you, bitch?!"

There was no time to explain what the hell was wrong with this bitch.

Adelaide threw a nervous glance behind. She could just make out the grey coated figure as he climbed up onto the hood of a taxi and began leaping from the hoods of the other cars, gaining speed. Pedestrians shouted and drivers honked and screamed.
"Mommy, look! Look!" A small child cried.

Adelaide's head swam as she darted through a group of holiday shoppers, breaking them up down the middle. None of her thoughts were connecting up right, and she wasn't even sure where she was going.

"Move! Move!" She roared, waving her hands frantically as she came upon a road crew fixing a pothole.
One of the orange vested men turned to see her just in time. His eyes widened.
"Ma'am, slow down," he said. Adelaide spun past him, but he was pushed to the ground by her pursuer.
Adelaide hurdled the orange blockade and squeezed past the other workers, anxiously muttering apologies. The men just stood there, frowning.
One of them turned to another and said, "Gee, Ned. Y'think we should call the cops or somethin'?"

The chase continued.
If she was getting tired, then Adelaide hardly noticed it. She had other concerns.
The graffiti and buildings swam by in a wash of stark neon colors on a background of grey. Her ankle was throbbing and she was sweating profusely despite the bitter chill.
As she listened to her footsteps offset to the beat of those behind her, Adelaide began to wonder if she would ever shake him.

The world was spinning.
Then, she saw it.

Busy, beautiful, bright Times Square.
It was crammed with tourists and locals alike, hugging the sidewalks while traffic shuffled through the middle. Giant electronic signs advertised TV shows and musicals.
It was crowded. It was confusing. It was just what Adelaide needed.
And best of all? It was just a few short blocks away.

She could hear his breath. It was loud, and very hungry.
Desperate.
His footfalls seemed amplified.

Adelaide sailed through two more intersections and then got to work making herself lost.
She wove through throngs of people, occasionally throwing quick looks back over her shoulder.
The crowds of people moved back and forth like a great sea. She could just make out the man's head bobbing above the waves.
She breezed by a hot dog stand, knocking over a slew of tables.
One of the patrons lost his bratwurst, and it fell into his lap. He watched with a docile sort of sadness as it plopped to the ground and rolled away between the slats of a nearby grate.
His eyes became wet.
"That's the third time this week," he whispered.

Adelaide heard a woman behind her shout something.
"Look! A street performer!"
A series of Oh's and Ah's could be heard.
"I think he's from the Civil War!"
"Tell us about Gettysburg!"
"Which side were you on?"

Adelaide turned down another street and barreled into an empty alleyway.
There was nobody chasing her any longer, soldier or otherwise.

Relieved, she let out a little noise that wasn't quite a laugh or a sob.
She pressed her face into her hands and her lower lip began to tremble. She turned away from the alley's entrance and stared up at the sky.
Then, she heard a small explosion.
Her body lurched slightly forward, as if her hips were coming free from her legs.

Then, she felt a pain in her side unlike anything she'd ever felt before.
Slowly, she turned around.

There he stood, disheveled and panting. His dark hair was a wind blown mess.
For the first time since Adelaide had seen him, he spoke.
"You Yankee bastards just don't give up the ghost, do you?" He said.
His accent sounded like he was from somewhere further south.

Adelaide winced and held her side.
"What are you..." her voice trailed off. She couldn't think straight.
She clutched her waist, staggering slightly.

The distant sound of sirens could be heard.
He held her gaze for the longest time. The rage in his eyes gripped her tightly.
"They won't let you get away... with..." Adelaide turned around and slumped hard against the narrow wall.
She scanned the end of the alley for somewhere to hide.

The man turned his head and stared off to his right, swearing under his breath.
When he turned back to the alley, Adelaide was gone.

He glowered down the alley and bolted down the street in the other direction.
All the while, the sirens grew ever louder.