The light tap of her footfall reverberated against the sheet metal structure of the slums' rooftops. Her rapid, soft breaths boomed in her ears; at this moment, there was Nicole, and there was her route ahead. She glanced back over her shoulder momentarily. The victim of her latest steal was drunkenly following her on the street below, taking potshots with his handgun. She wasn't worried; his shots were so off he was more likely to kill another bystander on the street. Nicole refocused towards the route ahead. She took rapid notes of her environment: street below on the left, alley on the opposing side. Four story brick building on the other side of the alley providing a series of fire escapes and catwalks mirroring her position atop a two story building. Up ahead, there was- [b]wall incoming! [/b]

Nicole took note of the wall a split second later than she should have. She kicked off the rooftop with her left, and also her off, foot. She planted the toe of her right on the wall in front, the pressure of the unexpected impact pulling at the muscle. It hurt, but there was no time for pain. She pushed herself backwards off the wall into a flip. Her landing was subpar; the toe injury had already thrown her off balance, and her faulty landing only added to the pain. Nicole winced, looking towards the fire escape across the alley. The jump wasn't far. Ten feet, give or take two, easily done with a running start. Nicole took off towards the alleyway to the right.

As she evaluated the jump, she slightly adjusted the length of her strides in order to place her left foot as her vault foot. She was less practiced with it, but accounting for the pain in her right foot and the distance of the jump, Nicole knew she could make it with her left foot but not with her right. The launch was solid. She kicked her legs forward and threw her arms out in front of her, gripping the railing of the fire escape. The impact was harder than she expected; she took a moment to catch her breath, then threw her body up and over the railing. Nicole ran up the staircase to the top floor, and pulled herself up onto the roof. From the streets below, she heard the drunk screams of a man who had lost his quarry. She smiled, reaching into her pocket. She pulled a slice of bread and silver watch from within, taking a bite from the bread. [i]Food for the day,[/i] she thought, taking another bite. Nicole moved towards the edge of the rooftop, hanging her legs over the side. As she ate, she looked down upon the streets below. It was by no means perfect, but it was home.