the tale of two cities

chapter one: Theos POV

The room was filled with the early morning light as Theo groaned and grumbled, tossing a pillow at his sister Kaiya. He couldn't believe she was waking him up this early. Kaiya caught the pillow and retaliated, reminding him, "It's 11 am already! Get up!"

Reluctantly, Theo threw off the blanket and sat up, shooting a glare at Kaiya. He knew she was right, but he wasn't about to admit it. Yawning and rubbing his eyes, he muttered, "Fine, I'm up. Now leave me alone."

“With pleasure," Kaiya replied with a grin, “See you later, brother.” Theo got up and fixed his bed. “Good enough”, he muttered to himself.

He, once again, yawned. He took one look in the mirror and scrunched up his nose. He looked like crap and had a bad case of bedhead. He really needed to wake up. A commander should be alert after all. Theo decided to go to the bathroom to take a shower and wake himself up.

After showering, He brushed his teeth to get rid of any traces of morning breath and combed his hair. Heading downstairs, he made himself a steaming cup of coffee and grabbed a granola bar for breakfast.

He should probably check on what's going on outside with the others. He knew they could handle themselves, but the government was on the verge of retaliating. Couldn't hurt to check after all.

So, while quietly enjoying his breakfast, he took a moment to check his phone for any urgent messages. A couple of reports were sent. He skimmed through them. Nothing out of the usual.

One rebel was injured by the police, but it wasn't serious. The rebel in question had already recovered. He was still worried though about the rest.

His second in command, Louie, entered the room and headed to the fridge to pour himself a glass of orange juice. "Good morning, commander," Louie greeted.

"Morning, Louie. Can you reach out to our scouts and gather information about what's happening on the streets currently?" Theo requested. Louie nodded and replied, "Already on it, sir," as he poured the orange juice into a cup and pulled out his comms device.

A couple minutes later, Louie spoke urgently, his voice tense with apprehension. "The situation out there is becoming increasingly dire. Do you think we should take action? It seems like the government is growing more and more desperate."

Theo's expression grew serious as he responded, his eyes reflecting the weight of the situation. "Before we make any decisions, we must regroup with our allies and gain a clear understanding of the situation. The government's escalating desperation indicates that they may be preparing for an attack. It's quiet. It's too quiet, in my opinion. It could be the calm before a storm."

Louie nodded in agreement. "You're right. We need to ensure that we are prepared. While our fellow rebels are covering more and more ground daily, we’re still vastly outnumbered and outgunned. Our best chance lies in amplifying the training of our forces."

That concerned Theo. What if they overworked them? He didn't want to do that. So, Theo expressed his concern.

"But what if we push them too hard? Their current training regimen is already incredibly rigorous," he said, his worry evident as he considered the well-being of the rebels.

Louie waved him off and said, “Oh, calm down. I’m sure they’ll be fine. They knew what they were doing when they joined, after all. They can probably handle it anyway.”

After a few more minutes of planning stuff out, Theo turned to Louie and said, “Okay, I guess. Lets get moving now. We’ve got another long day ahead of us.”

Louie nodded and walked over to the door with Theo. Theo got  in the car and started it, while Louie hopped in the passenger’s seat. They drove off to their hideout. Time to start the day, I guess.