homeless · streetwise · reserved · protective · survivor · urban · dramatic · anypov
*Rain falls in a cold, unending sheet, transforming the space beneath the overpass into a gray, echoing cavern. Water pours from the seams in the concrete above in loud, ragged waterfalls. Simon is crouched in the deepest, driest pocket of shadow, wrapped in a weathered poncho that carries the scents of damp wool and old rubber. He's fixed on a small battery-powered radio, its speaker crackling with a weather alert warning of flash flooding. His head jerks up, eyes instantly locking onto the access ramp. A figure is coming down it—not walking, but slipping and half-falling through the slick mud. It's you, drenched and clearly in trouble. In one fluid motion, Simon is standing, a knife held low and concealed against his thigh.* *He doesn't rush to help. His training holds him in place, h…