The sound of feet slapping the tarmac of the street outside drew the attention of the young male laying awake in the 3rd story of an abandoned apartment building. He checked his watch.

1:24 AM

The green digits flashed up as the male jumped to his feet and ran through the open doorway and into the stairwell. He jumped down the stairs two at a time as he tried to get to the bottom as fast as he could. Finally reaching the last flight of stairs he leapt down them all in one go and continued running. He made a sharp left and ran down the corridor that he found himself in, seeing the slightly open door at the end he pushed himself, running faster and faster until he felt like his feet were flying. His hands met the door and it swung open enough to let him through. His feet hit the grass covered ground and he continued running, pushing himself to his limits. The grassy area opened up onto a back street where he took a right. Up ahead was a park where there was a pretty dense forested area where he thought that he could get to somewhere where he would be safe.

He looked back briefly and saw several flashes of silver behind him and continued running. He was getting closer and closer to the forest where he hoped he could lose his pursuers. His legs pushing him closer and closer to the edge of the tree line, he started to feel a sense of relief wash over him as he thought he was going to make it.

Then they brought out the weapons.

A shot zipped over the males shoulder as he was nearly at the tree line.

'Oh for fucks sake. Alright then, I guess it's time to play.' He thought as he turned around and reached down to his hip where he kept his signature .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum and drew it. He aimed and fired once, the loud bang produced by the gun not fazing the person shooting it, his frequent use of it had dulled his ears to the sound. A grunt and a thud accompanied the shot and the male smiled. He had deliberately aimed for any non-lethal parts of the body, just and arm or a leg.

He fired again and again, each shot bringing down a different hunter. He emptied all six shots from the chamber and nodded before holstering the powerful weapon back on his hip. His grin grew wider as he finished off the small group that was following him and turned to enter the forest.

He took the first step and then he felt the air around him warping and being displaced in a very small area. He knew it was an arrow and that he would be lucky to get out of this. But then again, he could use the thing he promised himself he would never use again. No, it would have too many repercussions on the world. But then again there wouldn't be much of him left if he didn't.

A split second decision was made.

The bullet seemed to slow down until it came to a stop in the air. The trees slowed their swaying and the sound of animals in the forest slowly faded to a stop. The grass stopped moving and eventually everything stopped. Time and space stood still as the person who made it all happen was left standing.

This was the part that the male always liked about his power. The tranquillity and calm that he found himself in whenever he used it. However, that was the only good part about it, all the rest of it turned this whole peaceful space into shit. He would have to get this over and done with a fast as possible to minimise repercussions.

The male stepped to the side and continued to walk for a few paces before stopping. He let out a sigh of relief. At least that was over, now he only had to get away to his next safe house without his pursuers following him. Much, much easier said than done.

The world around him slowly started to restart as the male continued to walk into the tree line. He watched as the arrow that was intended for him ripped through the trunk of a tree only a few paces away.

Satisfied with his work he continued to walk further into the forest.

He was calmly stepping through the forest when his eyesight caught a glimpse of silver and at the same time his ears picked up on the sound of about twenty different footsteps. The male cursed out loud before starting to run again, this time in the opposite direction to his pursuers. He knew that he couldn't outrun them and they and they had more supplies than him so they could sustain this hunt for a lot longer than he could evade them. He was running out of time, and fast.

The male reached down to his hip and drew his .357 Magnum and checked that all the chambers were reloaded, the bronze bullets staring back at him, sleek and beautiful. He was just breaking into a sprint again when the tree next to him exploded in a shower of bark and splinters.

'What in the hell was that?' He thought as he was showered with debris

This time he really poured on the speed as he tried to out run the hunters hunting him. His head was locked straight as he started to get tunnel vision thanks to his brain activating its self-preservation section. He was running as fast as he could when he suddenly felt a blinding pain on his neck and he almost had to stop running to find out what it was. He reached up and felt blood trickling down his fingers.

'Damn. They fucking got me.' was all ran through his head when he felt the wound on his neck.

He could feel that the wound was a straight line running about two inches along the side of his neck and roughly a couple of millimetres deep. The wound hurt. A lot. He was almost tempted to stop and try and patch it up but he knew he had no time so he just pushed through the pain and continued to run. He just ran and he ran, occasionally changing direction to try and throw the hunters off his trail but they always managed to find him again.

They also didn't let up on the firing either. There were arrows zipping past his head and body as he ran. He would try to turn and retaliate fire with his Magnum but the wound on his neck was starting to take its toll on him now and most of the shots would just go wide or be a near miss.

His vision started to close in on him and he could see the edges starting to blacken. The male knew he couldn't sustain this pace for much longer. But if he did that then he knew that he would be caught and that would bring even more consequences than if he died. This in mind he poured on the speed and pushed himself to his limits, fleeing for his life now.

His vision was now almost totally black now and there was only a small circle of vision left. He knew he was going to fade soon. He was sorely tempted to accept the blackness and just collapse but that would hurt. He looked around him and saw that he was in an area with a much more dense coverage. He looked around for a tree that looked sturdy enough and sure enough there was one coming up on his right. He made a beeline for it and was just about to reach for it when a person clad all in silver stepped out from behind a tree and raised their gun. The male had no time to draw his in time. An arrow was fired and the male collapsed to the ground with a grunt and a thud, the shaft sticking out of his shoulder. He lay there in a pool of his own blood and felt the darkness close around him. He lay there and just accepted his fate and close his eyes in preparation for him to die.

The blackness was all consuming as it took him and dragged him down to its murky depths.