The Lone Wolf

Chapter 2: Stealing, followed by Kidnapping

"Were those gun shots I heard, dear?" the woman in the hotel questioned. She must be the innkeepers wife or something.

"Uh, yeah. There are a group of mercenaries chasing m-... A man down the street." I stuttered. Luckily she took my panic as fear of the scary men with big guns. Stupid bitch. Forget what I said about not being rude.

"Oh dearie, come closer, you don't want to be walking home with that going on. Would you like a room? Free of charge of course! But one night is all I can give you." she smiled kindly. She was totally buying my 'poor little girl' act! Even at the age of 22, I can still pass as a vulnerable teenager. Its probably because I don't exactly get fed well when I'm constantly on the run.

"Yes, thank you so much!" I grovelled, coming closer as she had asked. She gasped as my face came into the light and I winced at the brightness offending my eyes. I slid my goggles on quickly, covering my eyes.

"Y-your eyes! Oh my..." she squeaked, backing away from me slowly.

"I am so sorry for scaring you, ma'am. I was born with a rare eye defect called... opticus convictuous and my eyes often scare people. I'm so sorry." I gushed, spewing out utter bullshit to silence her. Opticus Covictuous my arse, I just made that up on the spot! I payed a prison doctor 50 menthol kools to do a surgical shine job on my eyes. But I wasn't gonna tell this old hag that if I still wanted that free room. Most hotels around here have no-felon policies and family friendly reputations to uphold.

"Oh you poor girl! I'm sorry if I have upset you, here take this and you can stay until morning!" she cried, handing me a small key with the number '15' printed on a keying next to it.

"Thank you so very very much!" I smiled sweetly, snarling as soon as I turned my back on her to bound up the narrow staircase towards my room for the night.

The room was small, a single bedroom with an en suite bathroom. Not amazing, but clean and free of charge. It also included a jug of water, a basket of fruit, two loaves of bread and a some salted, preserved meat. I ate an apple to settle my hunger, transferred the water into my two flasks, the small one on my hip and the large one in my bag.

I also wrapped up the bread and meat in large napkins and stuffed all of the food into my bag. Before I slept, I made a quick inventory of the weapons I had on me. 4 shivs, each around 5 inches long. One hand pistol but no shells - this I stole. Ten razor blades. One Tru Blu and two Ulaks. Next, I counted my money: 3,450 UDs - this I kept in a small hidden compartment in the inner left side of the bag. I repacked my bag, with so much in it, it nearly burst. 

I was just about to sleep, when a last minute impulse made me grab a spare solar heat blanket from under the bed, slice some chord from the curtains and tie the blanket in a roll to the bottom of my bag. You never know when you're gonna need some warmth. I finally settled in my bed and drifted into a long dreamless, sleep...

******

I woke early, grabbing my things and packing my belt ready to go. I waited a few seconds to ensure no one was coming down the hallway. I slipped my goggles on and opened the curtains. I gripped the doorknob and as soon as the footsteps stopped I pushed it open. There, directly outside my door stood Samuel Drike, the burliest merc you will ever see.

"Hello, sweetheart." he smirked, stabbing me in the neck with a tranquilliser dart. The last thing I remember was being slung over his shoulder and marched into the hallway, with the screams of protest from the innkeepers wife echoing sharply in my ears.