'Impulse Buys can have Disastrous Results'

“365 Gens, and that’s the highest I’ll pay for this old piece of junk.” Said the young woman with the burnt orange hood pulled so far over her head the merchant could hardly see her mouth.
“Done. Now take it, I want this thing off my hands, I’ve had it for too long.” The young woman flipped the card to the merchant, and gripped the cube that was as long as her forearm and impressively heavy.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you.” The young woman said, and walked away. She heard a mumbled response behind her but was already being pushed along by the crowd so didn’t stop to find out what had been said. She made it halfway down the street when her and the surrounding crowd were knocked to the ground by a deafening explosion, and the ground shook as stalls burst into flames. She swore, and joined the crowd sprinting away. She ducked down an alleyway and shoved the object in her pack, slung it over her shoulder, and started scaling one of the buildings. When she reached the top, she shaded her eyes and looked towards where the explosion had been. She almost stumbled back from the edge when she caught sight of the people clad in all black, with a half moon and broken star emblem across their chests and helmets, Aborlassans, all pointing their weapons at the weeping, injured, and kneeling stall holders. She looked for the merchant that had sold her the cube, and found them just as an Aborlassan discharged their weapon into the merchants chest. The young woman stumbled back from the edge, just as an Aborlassan looked up to her position, and didn’t wait to find out if they had seen her. 

She ran.

She jumped from roof to roof, scrambling up the shingles on the slanted roofs, and leaping across alleyways and crowded streets. She only stumbled once, she knew these roofs like the back of her hand, when an Aborlassan fire-weapon screamed past her head. She had heard it coming, and had thrown herself to the left, but slipped and almost fell over the edge of a roof. She caught herself in time, but dived over the edge and had to roll when she landed. 

“You there, stop!” She flinched as the voice sounded in her head. The Aborlassan’s didn’t speak, they communicated telepathically. They couldn’t hear other peoples thoughts, which was good for the young woman, because she had a whole manner of things going on in her head that would get her in more trouble than she was already in. She needed to get off the roof, she was exposed up here, but if she could just get into the crowd… there! She made a hard right and leapt off the building onto a metal stairwell, and jumped over the side of the railings. She rolled, but still felt one of her ankles pop. That would be a problem for later, she thought as she looked up. The Aborlassan was looking straight at her, and she knew if they jumped from the height they would not only not be injured, but would tackle her straight away. She bolted, down the alleyway, and into the crowd. She untied the string of her hood and stumbled, pulling it off and wrapping it in one smooth movement, and pushed her way to the other side of the street, and turned around. She slowed to a walk, her ankle starting to throb as she slowed her breathing and walked back the way she came. She could see the Aborlassan at the opening of the alley. There were two of them now. She was about to pass them. Their eyes locked onto her…

And moved away. She could see out of the corner of her eye that they were scanning the crowd over near where she’d come from, but with her cloak hidden in her pack, the one defining feature they were searching for was gone. She walked quickly, slipping in and out through gaps in the crowd, and soon she had left the market district far behind.

4/1/2017 - Word Count: 698

This might have to be a two or three part thing, this was really fun to write, and I'm already thinking of a part 2. 

This was inspired by a 30 Day Flash Fiction prompt challenge.

Meg