Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Scheming

Theo had a heavy book tucked underneath one arm while her other arm was extended, swatting people out of her way as she ran through the street. Glancing back, she saw the notes of red and gold from the soldier's uniforms peek through the crowd. They were gaining on her. She dug deep and started going faster, her feet hitting the ground and kicking up dust behind her. She bobbed and weaved, ducking under workers carrying planks of wood and pushing innocent citizens out of her way. Her antics gained her many angry shouts and stares from the townspeople but she had to keep running.

Sparing a glance behind her once again, she caught the moment that one of the soldiers ran straight into a wooden frame that she had managed to avoid. She couldn't help but laugh as she turned around to focus on the crowd ahead. A wild grin had been plastered on her face since running out of the dock master's office with the manifest, the riskier the mission the happier she was. Theo kept her eyes scanning the crowd for a familiar face but nothing caught her eye. It took her two more minutes of running before she caught a glimpse of the tattooed figure she was looking for.

"Cook!" Theo yelled and Cooker's head snapped over to her direction, "Run!"

Cooker needed no further instruction and Theo saw her begin to take off in the direction of safety. They had to get back to the docks and hide if they wanted to get away with their little heist. It was Theo's turn to steal and Cooker's turn to keep watch on the main guard outpost to make sure no units were sent out that Theo hadn't accounted for. Theo heard people behind her yelling and causing a commotion, glancing back she could see that the two guards still after her were beginning to gain ground. When she faced forward again, any sign of Cooker bolting through the crowd was gone. Losing Cooker was not in the plan.

She dug deep and pushed herself to go faster; she just had to get to the dock with a bit of a lead on the men chasing her. Once she was at the dock, it would be easier to find Cooker. Her breath was becoming more labored and her body's energy was slowly depleting. the run back was longer than she had been expecting. As Theo pushed past a gathering of people, she saw the streets finally open up to the docks. She took only a few seconds to scan the area, people were more spread out there which meant that she could look for Cooker more easily, but it also meant the soldiers would be able to find her just as easily. She only allowed herself a few seconds to look, any more and she would give up the lead she had on those chasing her. Cooker was lost so Theo had to resort to just continuing on and hoping she would find Cooker at some point. They both knew the way back to the boat they had taken the shore and knew to go there if things went awry, it wasn't the first time they got split up on a mission.

Theo took off once again, sparing a glance back showed her that the soldiers had yet to clear the busy street and arrive at the docks. With her lead still intact she took off running again, all she had to do was lose them somewhere in between where she was and where the boat was and she would be fine. Her movement was pulled to an abrupt halt as someone pulled her coat. Theo turned around, fist flying and ready to strike, just for her punch to be caught mid-air by Cooker.

"Cook," Theo laughed and shook out her hand that was tingling from the impact, "I would say sorry about almost decking you but I am more sorry that it didn't connect."

Cooker rolled her eyes and dragged them between two merchant stalls and into an alleyway. Both of them pressed their bodies as close to the edges of the alley as possible as they lingered right in its shadow. Theo could hear the deep, heavy, recovering breaths she was taking in the silence that they created. She focused out on the street until she saw two uniformed men run past their alleyway. Theo let out a sigh of relief with a smile on her face and she held up the book in front of Cooker.

"Mission accomplished," Theo wiggled her eyebrows up and down, "that is three successful solo missions for me and two for you."

"You call this a success?"