A truck sped through the rainy night, the water it splashed falling like a waterfall. The rumble of its tires crushing puddles was louder than the thunder rolling across the horizon.
Every child wore a terrified expression, clutching whatever they could grab as they crowded tightly together like sardines being carried along an assembly line.
Jason gripped a cushion with one hand and said, "You're crazy! Bruce, you're crazy! Not only did you break the rules, you might've hit a gang member! They'll kill us!"
"You haven't learned a damn thing!" Jason raised his voice. "You can leave here easily, but these people can't, and neither can I..."
"You think that as long as you take off your hood, no one will dare make things difficult for you, right? Even if you reveal your identity, no one will dare trouble us. They'll politely see us out..."
Jason closed his eyes, his voice trembling slightly. "But in Gotham, we can't survive on charity. You pity us and want to save these children, but in the end, that won't save anyone..."
Bruce drove in silence without saying a word. Jason looked at his face, but all he saw was the instant when streetlamp light slid across his hood, like a Gotham sunset.
Bruce tore down the street, driving the truck farther away. Just as Jason had expected, the rainstorm had come too suddenly, and many children had been driven out of their hideouts, crouching by the roadside and shivering.
The truck stopped again, and more children were pulled aboard. They looked in confusion at the terrified expressions of the children inside, but they soon fell into panic too, because the truck charged straight through the gang checkpoint on this street.
Thunder rumbled without pause. Like a bolt of lightning, the truck raced