Dream: On The Run

Date: 1/21/2020

I was raised in an orphanage full of boys and girls who were likely to be on the america's most wanted list as they got older. I had learned to fight to survive. For myself and my best friend, Alex. I'd get beat up and he'd tend my wounds. We had begun to rely on each other. Then one day… we had to run away from that place. Alex and I were thirteen at the time. We ran far away as I had woken up to find one of the matrons trying to smother Alex. I bit her wrist till she let go of him, grabbed Alex, stole some of their money, and ran. With him doing all he could to keep up. Years passed. We were both seventeen now. I had been training Alex to fight so he could defend himself. He hated it. Preferred being my medic over inflicting harm on someone. But he learned it all the same. By the game we'd both turned 18 we had gotten our own place. A small studio apartment with bare minimum living in it. A few nicer dishes, lots of paper and plastic disposable ones, some quick fix foods, medical supplies, two cellphones, and a laptop we shared. The matrons seemed to have forgotten us but I was certain that some of the other orphans hadn't. I kept tabs on all of them with the laptop. Alex didn't like it but he understood why I did it. We needed to know if we were safe. We'd been flying under the radar for quite some time now. We'd both barely passed our GED tests because we were nervous about using legal names. "Alex, I think we're good tonight." I told him as I noted the surveillance cameras. "No one's come here and no record of any of them nearby." "Good. Because you need to sleep too." He told me, "C'mon Clyde, you need your rest." I nodded at that. "It is getting kinda late."  We headed to bed and it seemed like we'd be able to rest… but he still tossed about in his sleep. The night we left still haunting his dreams. I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. He calmed and opened his eyes. There was an unnatural blue glow to them. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep, keeping hold of my hand the whole time. I, however, was now trying to figure out that glow. It felt like I'd seen something like that before. I awoke with a start. I didn't remember falling asleep. All I knew was someone was pounding loudly on our apartment door. I could see Alex trembling in the bed. I opened the laptop and pulled up the camera feeds. Police at our door. "Keep calm, take the laptop and hide." I told him quietly. He did so. I tossed on some clothes and headed to the front door. I checked out the peephole and saw they were definitely cops. I unlocked the door but kept the chain lock in place, opening it only slightly. "Show me your badges." I told them. Both officers complied and held them up long enough to be read. "Sorry for the disturbance. Clyde Sanders, right?" One cop stated. She seemed to be a bit older than her male counterpart. Probably been in the field longer. I watched for any possible signs of hostility, "Yes. What is this about?" "We're here to talk with you and your partner, Alex Carmichael, about a disturbance that was called in last night." The woman stated. "If it happened anytime after 8pm then we wouldn't know about it. We were home sleeping. At least until you two showed up." I told them. "And you can prove this?" The younger cop questioned, annoyance rolling off him. "I can. Look next to my door. I keep this apartment, it's front door, and it's balcony all monitored by surveillance." I told him sternly. The guy saw my sign explaining what is just stated. He looked ready to growl something but the woman stopped him. "Can you send us a copy of these files?" The woman asked. "For the outside, sure. The inside is more personal. I'd rather talk it over with my partner." I told her as she held out a business card. "Please do. Email what you can to that address." The woman stated. I nodded, "Your partner could learn a lot from you." With that I shut and relocked the door. I headed to Alex' main hiding spot, opened it, and kissed his forehead. He calmed and came back to our room. I set the laptop back up on the dresser and pulled him back to bed. Both of us getting some rest. We ended up on the run again a couple years later. Our laptop and phones both our only way to keep info for security. We had completely reinvented ourselves this time. Alex decided to say we were a gay couple and thus turned me into a blushing stuttering fool at those words. He and I looked out for each other as best we could but I knew the others from the orphanage would come for us sooner or later. I also knew there was more to Alex than he told me. Otherwise I'd know why his eyes would gain that glow right before bad shit happened. Then I woke up.