As AJ ran from the place which had been his home for years, he didn’t look back.  Instead he looked in every other direction, hoping to go undetected in the early hours of the morning.

“Shit” he muttered as he saw someone out of the corner of his eye.  He didn’t stop though and hoped whoever it had been hadn’t seen him or his hand, with the timer blinking like a beacon. 

He carried on going, glad it had begun its incessant flashing at such an unsociable time.  If it had been just a few hours later, he was sure he would’ve been caught and man-handled to the Luminary’s people within minutes of leaving his quarters.  People were greedy and would turn a red in for as little as a few extra credits, he couldn’t really blame them though, it was instilled in the citizens of Endwise to report everything out of place.

After ten minutes of fast paced running, he slowed down to more of a jog.  He was out of his zone and needed to get his bearings.  He was way past the purple and red living areas, he knew that for sure, but it took him a few moments to figure out where exactly he was.  Running in a blind panic had disorientated him.  He allowed himself a moment to stop and look around, soon realizing he was heading for the agriculture zone; the only place where natural light flooded in through tiny windows and was reflected around with mirrors, which enabled them to grow crops.

“This is no good” he said to himself.  People would be working in the fields there in just a few short hours.  He’d never be able to hide there in the daylight.  He’d stick out like a sore thumb!  He would have to make a detour.  But where?  Where did a person go when he didn’t want to be found?  He’d never in his life had to avoid anything or anyone…this was alien to him.  His life up until now had been relatively simple.  He hoped the blue girl wasn’t bullshitting when she said she knew a way out.  Punishment for evading the guards was likely to mean a more gruesome execution.  If he had to go through with an execution, he would prefer quick and easy…preferably painless too.

He considered hiding in the store room where harvested crops were kept; it was nice and dark in there, but he soon changed his mind.  People were likely to be in and out of there all day for one thing or another.  He’d have to do better than that.

 “Think Alex, think!” he mumbled and looked in all directions.  If he didn’t hurry up and move, someone was bound to find him. 

 And then a light bulb went off in his head.

Running back towards the living quarters, AJ took a right when he came to a narrow alley way.  If memory served him correctly, this would take him to the laundry room, the place where all the clothes, bedding, towels and everything else washable went.  He smiled smugly to himself, pleased that his brain had thought up such a thing at this time of the morning and without the boost of a coffee.

He had to act quickly though.  The laundry room would be buzzing with the citizens who worked there very soon.

For once luck was on his side.  The door to the laundry room was unlocked; he guessed that stealing dirty clothes wasn’t something the average citizen would do.  But AJ wasn’t the average citizen anymore…he was a man on borrowed time and would do anything to get himself out of the sad situation he’d found himself in.

Rummaging through the piles of clothes, he soon spotted what he was looking for; a purple shirt.  He quickly tore off his red one and tossed it to the ground; he had no need for it anymore, whatever the outcome.  He slid the purple one on but cursed when the buttons wouldn’t do up and the shirt was ridiculously short “stupid short-assed purple fucker” he muttered and cast the offending garment back to the pile of clothes from where it came.  He dug in again; surely there would be something to fit.  It’s not like he was anything other than average sized.

After what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a couple of minutes, AJ finally found a purple shirt which was a perfect fit.  He slipped out of the laundry room feeling a little more confident now that he was in a shirt which would cause no suspicion.  He just had to remember to keep his fist balled up tight so no one would see the never ending blinking of his damned timer.

As he rounded the corner leading out of the alley way, he ran straight into a couple of blues, obviously on their way to begin another day over a tub of soapy garments.  AJ held his breath in panic.  Would they see through his attempt at disguise?  Could he really pass for a purple still?  He felt beads of sweat begin to gather on his forehead but resisted the urge to wipe them away; it would only draw more attention to himself.  Thankfully the pair of them didn’t suspect a thing; one of them even apologized for not looking where she was going.  AJ just nodded his head in acknowledgment and carried on walking.

“Phew” he muttered when he’d got out of their hearing range.  He wiped his brow and took a deep and calming breath.  Things could’ve gone differently, but AJ now knew that the purple shirt had been a good idea.  He just had to get through the rest of the day.

He walked back towards the living area, forever watchful of his surroundings and listening out for footsteps.  If he could just get through the next couple of hours, he was confident he could last until evening.  He looked up at one of the many clocks which graced the city and saw that it was a little after five; it wouldn’t be long until the place was buzzing with activity.  People would be getting up to go for breakfast in their staggered time slots and when they did, AJ would be able to hide in one of the empty rooms for an hour or two.

He hid in the darkness down one of the corridors; the darkest one he could find.  He’d passed a few people but none of them had seemed to notice him.  At that time of the morning, people weren’t at their most talkative.  Crouching down, he went undetected as he watched the rooms emptying slowly.  He waited until the coast was clear and then edged his way into the nearest vacant room.  It was a female’s room, he could tell.  Whereas his and Nick’s room was devoid of personal possessions, this room seemed to be crammed full of them.  She either had a lot of extra credits or plenty of admirers.  He was sure not everyone’s living quarters were as nice as this one.

Taking advantage of the nice surroundings, AJ sat down on the bed, swung his legs up and took a lie down.  It was very rare that anyone returned to their home during the working day, so AJ relaxed and closed his eyes for a while.  He woke a couple of hours later feeling more relaxed and rested.  He would need the energy for the adventure ahead.

“I wonder if there’s anything to eat” he said to himself as he scanned the room.  There was nothing that he could see and he was starving.  Taking a chance, he opened the door a crack and looked out.  In the distance he saw a solitary guard running and quickly shut the door.  “Shit” he whispered.

There was nothing for it; he would have to go hungry for a little while longer.

Watching the clock on the wall opposite the bed was a boring task and after half an hour, AJ gave up and looked outside once more.  He decided to chance it when he saw that the coast was clear.  The eating area wasn’t far and although breakfast stopped being served a long time ago, lunch might still be available.  Of course he wouldn’t be able to get it in the usual way.  If he had his hand scanned then the game would be up and a swarm of guards would be onto him before he took his first mouthful.  No…he would have to resort to stealing leftovers or come up with some other plan.

The ‘some other plan’ came into operation when he spotted Nick at the other side of the room, eating his meager lunch.  There were other people around, but everyone was more interested in the food than some random guy in a purple shirt, so AJ quickly made his way to where Nick sat alone.

“Aje; what are you doing here?  I thought you’d be hiding” Nick asked, shocked to see his friend.

“I have been, but I can’t stay in the same place for too long in case I’m seen” AJ replied.

“Good thinking, and it’s good to see you in purple again”

“Feels good too, almost as if all this was just a bad dream” AJ briefly looked at his flashing palm before balling it up again.  “I was wondering if you could get me some food, you’ve got a couple of extra credits to use up and after tonight we won’t need them”

“Sure, but you can’t stay here.  Meet me in five minutes down the side of The Odyssey.  No one will be there at this time”

“Thanks” AJ said and was gone.

Nick finished his food and then purchased a sandwich with his extra credit.  No one questioned him as it was his credit to do as he pleased.  He took it to AJ who ate it hungrily and then told his friend he had to go back to work and would see him later.

“Don’t forget where we’re meeting”

“I’ll be there” AJ nodded and was gone.

AJ hid in various places over the next few hours; never relaxing for fear of getting caught.  In one place (behind a lose ventilation cover) he even saw the Luminary’s right hand man Howard – or Howie as he liked everyone to think of him – walk by.  This caused him to freeze with terror.  What if Howard knew where he was hiding?  What if they’d known exactly where he was all the time and were just playing with him?  He let out a silent sigh when Howie didn’t turn back.

As night approached, AJ made his way to the designated meeting point, hoping that the blue would be there.  He sighed with relief when he saw Nick was there already.

“Where is she?” AJ asked.

“She’s not here” Nick replied, disappointment in his voice.

“I don’t like this…it could be a set up…she could be telling the Luminary’s people that she caught a blinking red and collecting a reward”

“But she didn’t know you were a blinking red” Nick reasoned.

 “I would rather die than give someone up to that asshole” came a voice from out of nowhere “now let’s get moving before we’re found out”.