Heroes Chapter 1

Picture, if you will, a boy hitch-hiking on a highway. He must be about fifteen, going into sixteen. He dressed warmly for the still cold, January weather. He doesn't know where the road will go, and he doesn't know when he'll get to his destination. He can only hope that its secluded, and that this time he won't bring attention to himself. Oh, yeah. That's me.

My name is Alexander, OK, actually, that's just a cover name. I'm not telling you my real name. If you knew my name, then you would understand. I recently ran away from home, as you can probably tell. I made a mistake back home, a big mistake. The plan was to lay low, not bring attention to me or my family. Those stupid.....terrorists.

According to these maps, I'm heading toward Ohio. Good. There are a lot of nobody towns in Ohio, right? Please, I'm not trying to put down a state or anything, I'm just trying to find a good place to hide. With my luck, I'm probably going to be--

"Hey kid! You lost?" --harassed before I can do anything. I folded my map and put it in my pocket. I turned to the van that pulled over. A man had his head out the window. "We could use a little help here!" he said. Great. He continued, "We're on the lam here and need some insurance. Know where to get some?" The side doors opened to some goons in ski masks. No other cars. No police officer around. Plus, its almost dark. Fantastic.

Within a few minutes they had me tied up and thrown in the back of their van. These bozos had gotten lucky. Then again, so did I, back in Virginia.

I tried to move, and one of them kicked me in the stomach, which knocked the wind out of me. "Shuddup!" He yelled, which, really, sounded intelligent, considering that I didn't say anything. We sat there in silence. I noticed big bags set off to one side. From the way they slid around on the floor I didn't have to guess what was in them. These are bank robbers, and judging from there accents, I'd say they're from Boston.

At some point, they'll have mess up, and I'll make my escape. After about two hours of silence someone opened the back doors, waking me from, what I guess you could call, sleep. They ripped me away from the van and threw me to the ground. It was dark outside. I could see the moonlight streaming through big windows. This must be an abandoned gas station. Someone was talking into a phone. "Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah, we grabbed a nobody from the road for insurance. Just some kid. OK. If you say so boss." He hung up and said, "Cops lost us. Boss said to waist the kid." He grinned through his mask. "Sorry, kid. Nothing personal. Wrong place, wrong time, ya know?"

I closed my eyes. I guess this is it. After everything I tried to do to hide who I am, it comes down to this--

"Berny? What're you doin'?"