Her breathing was growing ragged and she knew she'd have to stop sooner or later…hopefully later. Her lungs were sore and oxygen starved. Every breath she took was dry and shallow. Still, Joyce Kaufman pushed through it, thinking back to boot camp. Certainly she'd been forced to run further than this during her time spent training for the Navy, and that had been beneath a blazing sun, not beneath the cool, night sky. The difference here, though, was that in this situation there was more at stake than there had been back then.

It had only been by chance that she'd even walked by the window in the first place. It was her first night in New York and the next day they would begin filming. She'd chosen to spend the evening seeing as much of the city as she could. She'd ended up in Chinatown for a late bite to eat when she'd passed the hole-in-the-wall restaurant and just happened to glance inside.

Why? Why had she gone out around the city by herself that night? Why had she gone to Chinatown to grab a bite? Why had she walked down that street, walked past that restaurant, and looked into that window? More importantly, why was every local establishment closed for the night, leaving the streets eerily empty?

Joyce skidded as she turned the corner and lost her footing momentarily. Her knee slammed into the ground and she bit back a yelp as the gravel tore into her skin. Her muscles were beginning to liquefy, feeling more like jelly than muscles. She heard the footsteps that had been running behind her start to close in and it lit the fire beneath her. Pushing aside the pain in her chest and the cramp that was beginning to form in her leg, she continued down the street, feebly calling out to anyone who might hear her. How could no one hear her?

It was at the cross-section where Joyce slipped and fell flat on her back, smacking her head on the damp pavement. Her muscles, recognizing that she was no longer exerting them, instantly tightened and her body refused to move. Her attempts to sit up ended with her torso falling back down against the concrete.

The footsteps were still behind her, pounding into the pavement with sickening thuds. As the throbbing set in, she was acutely aware of a shadow looming closer to her. She simply lay there, praying.

When a gun shot rang out moments later, the only witnesses to the sound – other than the shooter – were the pigeons who were pecking about for leftover food. As the bang echoed in the air, they took off into the night sky, not seeing the lifeless body that lay below.

AN: This is already finished. I'll be posting a chapter per day.