"The doors are open! Get in!" Toivo shouted at the other two when he opened the door of the empty police car that the officers arrived with to arrest them all.
"Can you even drive this thing?" Ella shouted from behind as she was running towards the car with her father following behind.
"Let me drive it!" Mr. Nyman shouted while getting closer to the car.
"Get on the wheel then and let's get out of here!" Toivo shouted back.
"I'm getting there, damn it!" Mr. Nyman shouted back.
He got to the car and got on the driver's seat. Ella got on the backseat and Toivo got on the passenger's seat.
"There's no key in the switch! Do they have it?" Mr. Nyman said frantically.
"It's on the cupholder. Take it!" Ella shouted from the backseat.
Mr. Nyman did as told and started the car and got it moving.
All the screens inside the car turned on and nobody knew what they were for so they decided not to touch them.
"What happened there? Did they lower their weapons and let us go?" Mr. Nyman asked.
"They weren't about to lower anything. You got lucky." Toivo answered.
"Lucky? What are you talking about? What happened?"
"Toivo is just really good at shooting." Ella explained.
"Shooting? What did you shoot them with?" Mr. Nyman asked.
"I took a gun from one of them." Toivo answered.
"So now we're shooting at the police? Great. Like we weren't in enough trouble already." Mr. Nyman complained.
"They were about to blow up our house! How much more trouble could we get in? We had to fight back!" Ella argued back.
"If they catch us, we'll go to jail. If I hadn't done anything, we'd be in jail already because of your business." Toivo also argued.
"Let's not waste time arguing. That doesn't make this easier. Let me get this car far away from this place and far away from the town. They expect us to go there, so let's go the opposite direction." Mr. Nyman said and steered the car to the main road but Toivo grabbed his wrist and stopped him from moving his hand.
"Hey! What are you doing? Do you want to make this harder?" Mr. Nyman asked.
"You're driving this thing into the town. I need to get my family from there, and we're not going anywhere before I've gotten them out." Toivo said seriously.
"Go get them yourself! I'm not making my criminal record longer than it already is." Mr. Nyman argued back but then he felt immense pain in his wrist right where Toivo was holding it.
"Either we're going to the town or we're not going anywhere because your wrist will be shattered and useless." Toivo threatened.
"Ngh! Let go!" Mr. Nyman shouted and was about to punch Toivo before the window on his side shattered and spooked him.
"Were you about to do something? We're going to the town or that window won't be the only thing that breaks." Toivo threatened again.
"What the Hell is happening around you? Fine, fine. We're going to the town but you're busting out your people on your own once we get there!" Mr. Nyman said in pain.
"You're hurting him! Toivo! Stop that!" Ella shouted from the backseat, worried for her father.
Toivo let go, realising what he was doing.
"Good. Make you sure you stay on the right path." Toivo said seriously.
"Crazy man." Mr. Nyman said and steered the car towards the town while Ella was looking at them both with concern.
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As usual there was next to no traffic leading to the town so driving there didn't take long. When the lights of the town came to their field of view, the screens inside the car flashed red and the car slowed down by itself.
"What the Hell is happening now? Can't anything go right?" Mr. Nyman shouted while trying to hit the gas.
"This car is not under authorized use." Toivo read from one of the screens and they all heard the doors lock and the car stopped.
"Did they find out?" Ella asked.
"Well, obviously!" Mr. Nyman replied.
"They must have told the others that their car was stolen." Ella guessed.
"You should have just killed them." Mr. Nyman said to Toivo.
"No more people will be killed by me." Toivo replied.
"No more people? What have you been up to?" Ella asked horrified.
"No time. We need to get out." Toivo said.
"How?" Nyman shouted
Toivo looked at the windshield and made it shatter into thousands of pieces.
"How did you..." Mr. Nyman was about to say but Toivo was already climbing out.
"Be careful with the shards around." Toivo just said while getting out.
"He worries me." Mr. Nyman said to Ella.
"Me too but getting you arrested worries me more so let's get out." Ella said and got from the backseat to the front and started climbing out.
Toivo was already walking along the highway towards the town when the others got their feet on the asphalt. He didn't look behind him to see if they got out because he simply didn't care at his state of mind.
"You won't get in the town! You have no papers or passport or anything!" Mr. Nyman shouted at Toivo.
"I know a way!" He shouted back as he turned around and then turned his sight back to the town.
"Let's get away from this car. The police will be here soon." Mr. Nyman said to Ella.
"Should we follow Toivo?"
"Unlike him, we have a way to get into the town. Let him go where he goes." Nyman said and started walking towards the town too.
"You coming?" He asked Ella who stayed behind for a few seconds and then followed too.
Once they got closer to the town, they saw red and blue flashing lights at the town's entrance and Mr. Nyman came to a harsh realisation.
"We can't get in. The police is already looking for me." Mr. Nyman stated while looking into the town entrance.
"Where do we go now then?" Ella asked.
"And where did that friend of yours go?"
"I'm here!" Toivo's voice called angrily from the distant off-road.
Ella and her father looked to where the sound came from and they saw him walking in the snow far away from the road and going towards the fence at the edge of the town.
"Where are you going?" Ella shouted back at him.
"I know a way in!" He shouted back.
The two others got off the road and followed his footsteps on the snow.
"How did he break that windshield like that? And how did he break that car window while he was holding my wrist. I don't understand." Mr. Nyman asked his daughter.
"He uses one of those silenced pistols." Ella tried to explain.
"I've been around those and they're not that silent. What is really the deal with him?"
"I don't really understand either. You'll have to ask him." Ella replied while walking ahead.
"Not worth it. We'll follow him until he finds the way in. Then he's alone."
"Yeah. Maybe that's for the best." Ella replied uncertainly.
"Do you disagree?"
"I'm just not sure. I don't want him to get in trouble. But he also scares me."
"Better let him get himself in trouble than let him get us in trouble." Mr. Nyman said and kept walking in the snow.
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Toivo got to the opening in the fence that Sampo showed him earlier. He turned his head to where the others were following.
"It's here! Just squeeze through and you're in!" He shouted at them, and then squeezed through without waiting for them.
After squeezing through the opening, he stopped himself from going any further because he realised something. The other two caught up to him and stayed a few steps back.
"So is this how Sampo, Elias and Aino get to town?" Ella asked but got no response.
"Well. Are you going to do what you came to do?" Mr. Nyman asked Toivo.
"I don't know where the police station even is." Toivo said.
"Well. Good luck. Me and Ella are going to lay low with one accomplice who lives in this town. Good luck to you." Mr. Nyman said to Toivo and was ready to grab Ella's wrist.
"But you know where the police station is! We can at least take him there and then let him do the rest." Ella said to her father.
"You said that he scares you. Why do you still want to help him?" Nyman asked his daughter.
"You know where the station is?" Toivo turned around to ask, but more politely this time.
"I do." Nyman replied and was ready to stand his ground.
"Can you take me there?" Toivo asked desperately.
"Will you be a little more humble now that you need my help?"
"Just take me there!"
"I might take you there if you apologize to my girl for scaring her."
"What?"
"You heard right." Nyman said smugly.
Toivo looked at Ella who was a little nervous but also embarassed.
"You don't need to apaologize." Ella said.
"Yes he does." Nyman said.
"I'm sorry that I scared you." Toivo said humbly.
"It's fine. You're angry." Ella said back.
"Very good. Now let's get to the station, but don't be seen! They saw you with your beanie on, so take it off. Give it to Ella because they saw her hatless. That might work for a moment." Nyman said.
Toivo did as told and was about to put the beanie on Ella's head himself until she just took it herself.
"Now follow me and keep your ears ready." Mr. Nyman said and led the way.
All of them were cold, as none of them could get a moment to even put a jacket on back home. Mr. Nyman led the way as the two others followed him on the suburban sidewalk on their way into the center of the town. Then in the distance they again saw red and blue flashing lights.
"Hide! We got cops here!" Mr. Nyman said to the others and ran behind a house into somebody's back yard.
While hiding and hoping not to get noticed, they didn't hear any sound getting closer to them.
"I don't thnk they're coming." Ella pointed out.
"I swear to God if you don't stop sneaking around people's backyards, I'll call the police on you." A voice said from somewhere.
It was an old man standing on a porch. The same one who saw Toivo, 32A and Sampo leave the town the last time they were there, and he was looking at Toivo specifically.
"I have a good reason." Toivo explained.
He got the idea of scaring the man into silence by using his ability to break something, but then stopped himself, not wanting to scare Ella.
"If I see you here one more time, I'm reporting you. You're suspicious." The man said to Toivo.
"Fine, fine! We're going!" Toivo replied and went back to the main street but the police in the distance had went elsewhere already.
"They knew that we'd come here. We can't get anywhere here!" Ella said worriedly.
"Just be careful. Like I said." Her father replied.
"Why do I need to be careful? I haven't even done anything! It's you two who they're looking for." Ella said.
"Okay then! Go on ahead. They'll arrest you for being guilty by association and they'll keep you locked up until you tell them where we are." Her father said back.
"Would it go like that?"
"Go try. I'm not stopping you." Mr. Nyman said and Ella didn't go test the theory.
"Where is that damn station?" Toivo asked.
"I know where it is. But there is no way we'll get there. It's in the town square. Before we get there we need to disguise ourselves." Nyman explained.
"And where do we do that?" Toivo asked and was getting frustrated.
"The guy who I buy most things from." Nyman answered.
"Wait, I thought you bought most things from the supermarket." Ella said.
"In the supermarket they only sell poison and low quality goods. I buy everything from this guy in the town."
"Everything?" Ella asked.
"Just about. He orders everything from abroad or buys them from independent producers."
"And would he help us?" Toivo asked.
"He owes me a favor. Don't ask why. He'll help us out and make us look a little different."
"Do we have to waste time there now?" Toivo asked.
"You think you can just march into the police station and take your buddies home? And besides I need a place to lay low." Nyman explained.
"I do believe I could just get there and come back. I don't need to make this a planned out bank heist." Toivo replied.
"Then go do it alone. The town square is not too far away now. Just go straight there for a bit and turn right and you're there. But I'm not joining you. And neither is my girl. We'll go hide with my associate and then think about what we'll do." Nyman said.
"Gladly." Toivo simply said and went to where he was pointed to.
When he took the right turn and saw the town square, he saw the town hall straight ahead, a supermarket on the right and the police station on the left. On the town square were groups of people milling about, and people were going in and coming out.
"There it is. Now to bring them all home and be done with this." Toivo said to himself and walked towards the police station.
As he walked towards the police station, two officers stepped out and leaned on a guardrail and lit up cigarettes. Toivo stopped for a moment, but then decided to keep going. He got to the steps at the front of the station and the officers weren't paying attention to him.
"They'll try to stop me, and I'll just break their arms, their weapons and their radios. It'll be easy." He thought to himself and tried to gather the courage to make his move.
He listened to the officers talking and heard some of what they said.
"I'm one injury away from being sacked and now we have a case of someone blowing up their neighbor's home with a rocket and we have to find these guys? I'm one injury away from being sacked and a case like this comes up now?" One officer said to the other.
"I can't really afford to take time off either right now. We had to let my sister move in with us after her house was robbed and the insurance didn't cover it. They better give me a raise for dealing with this case so I can afford to feed all of us now." The other officer said.
Toivo heard it and felt a sudden sting of empathy.
"Why did they have to say that?" He quietly and angrily said to himself and couldn't take the next step after what he heard.
"I'll just come back at night and do it when nobody's around." He said and was ready to turn back.
"Hey, you there? What's your business here?" One of the officers shouted at Toivo who didn't respond.
"Hey! That's one of the three people who stole the fuel the other day! You! Stop!" The other officer shouted, recognizing Toivo from earlier.
Toivo looked at the windows at the side of the station and made them all shatter, triggering an alarm that distracted the officers. He then turned around and ran. People on the square turned their heads to the ringing alarm and Toivo got a quick idea.
"It's an escape! The criminals are escaping!" He shouted while running away from the station.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VcCxMh6Rc
Most of the few people on the square seemed to believe it and started running away from the square too, while others stayed to watch. The officers noticed that Toivo was running away and tried to chase him, but all the people looking at the station and the people making their way out slowed them down just enough that Toivo made it to the corner where he came from and was back on the street that leads to the square. He kept running along the street that was surrounded by small commercial buildings and streetlights. As he was running, a door from one of the low buildings opened and almost smacked him in the face. He looked at who opened the door and it was Ella, who then took his hand and pulled him inside.
"What did you do in there? I can hear that alarm from here? Did you get them all out?" Ella asked.
"I changed my mind. I'm going there at night. I caused the alarm before I turned around because somebody recognized me. I ran away and you have no idea how much it hurts to run with this foot." Toivo answered.
"That's not good. Come to the backroom and hide there." Ella said and pulled Toivo by the hand and led him into the backroom.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTG6mMUUDCK
In the backroom Ella's father and some man that Toivo hadn't seen before were negotiating with each other. On the wall was a wall of knives and guns, and in the room was also a freezer, a clothes rack and a shelf of ammunition boxes.
"What is this place?" Toivo asked and Mr. Nyman noticed who had come in.
"This is where I trade my loot for the things that we need. Meat and ammunition. All of the clothes that I gave your family throughout the years were bought from here." Mr. Nyman explained and then turned to the man who appeared to own the place and said: "And you'll get us some different clothes as a favor for earlier!"
"I can't do that. Either you lay low here or you get free clothes from me. Not both! I won't budge." The owner replied.
"Well I've made my choice then. I don't need a new look if I'm staying here anyway." Nyman said.
"Let me just lay low here until midnight and you'll never see me again." Toivo said to the owner.
"You? You haven't done me a favor of any kind. If you want a favor, you have to earn it too. And so does the young lady." The owner said.
Toivo knew that he could have just used his ability to get anything he wants but he didn't want to harm anyone unless necessary, and he didn't want to scare Ella again either.
"What's the favor that you need?" Toivo asked.
"My dog needs a walk, and my laundry needs to be picked up from the cleaning shop." The owner said.
"What? That's it?" Toivo asked.
"Oh, do you want to do more?" The owner asked.
"I want to walk the dog! I love dogs!" Ella said excitedly and gasped when she heard a dog mentioned.
"You're excited about that when we're in this situation?" Toivo asked.
"Just let me have a moment of something nice!" Ella said back.
"So where is the cleaner?" Toivo asked and the owner handed him a note with an address.
"It's there." The owner said.
"I have no idea where that is." Toivo said, but the owner just shrugged his shoulders.
"Where's the dog?" Ella asked excitedly.
"In my front yard. My house is along the way to the cleaner. You'll know the dog when you see it." The owner explained.
"I know that street where the cleaner is!" Ella said when looking at the note on Toivo's hand.
"How?" Her father asked.
"Uhh, I guess it's fine to admit it now, but some years ago me and some friends from the town went to get drunk in her house that's on that street. I still hate myself for that." Ella answered nervously and tried to force an awkward laugh.
"Were you of drinking age back then?" Her father asked.
"Okay, Toivo. Let's go together. See you soon!" Ella said and grabbed Toivo by the hand and ran out of the building.
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"So here we are again. In the cold where they're looking for us." Toivo said to Ella.
"And after your stunt at the police station, they'll recognize you instantly."
"Maybe we should keep some distance. If they get me, at least you can run away." Toivo suggested.
"Okay. That's a good idea. Be careful. Stay still and I'll take some distance to you. Follow me. I know where we're going." Ella said.
Toivo stopped and let Ella take some distance and after that, he started following her from a distance. Both were looking around and looking suspicious. Ella saw a poster warning of armed criminals on the run. She ripped it off and read it properly. After she read it she crumbled it up into a ball and threw it away.
The two of them got into no trouble on their walk to their destination, and they came to a street of residential houses. Ella looked at the front yards of all the houses and saw nothing really interesting on any of them.
"He could have at least told me his home address so I could know which house his dog is at. I don't want to accidentally take somebody else's." Ella said to herself, but to her luck none of the houses had any signs of a dog.
At the very end of the street was a house where the front yard had a dog house.
"This might be it. Hey! Uhh... Dog! Come out!" Ella shouted to the direction of the doghouse but nothing came out, not even a sound.
"You sure this is the one?" Toivo asked her once he caught up with Ella.
"I can't know for sure. I don't want to step on anyone's yard if this isn't the right one." She replied.
Toivo just sighed and hopped over the chainlink fence and got into the yard. Ella didn't say anything but just watched. Toivo peeked behind the flap on the entrance of the dog house and then shouted in fear and took a step back. A large and fat mastiff with a burn mark on its face came out of the dog house and jumped on Toivo who fell back on the snow.
"Ella! Get it off me!" He shouted while looking at Ella as the mastiff was on top of him and drooling on his face.
Ella just calmly walked over to him and tried to push the dog a little, and it politely got off Toivo. Toivo crawled farther away from the dog and rubbed the dog drool out of his face with some snow.
"Look at this wise old man!" Ella said sweetly with hearts in her eyes while petting the peaceful dog's head.
"What happened to its face?" Toivo asked worriedly and looked at the massive burn mark on the dog's face.
"Who knows? Battle scars from its numerous adventures maybe. He's seen some things, I bet. And you sure got spooked by it." Ella replied.
"Well, sorry if I'm a little scared of canine creatures after my previous experience with them." Toivo complained and Ella just laughed.
"Alright, wise man. Let's get you for a walk like your owner ordered. Where's your leash?" Ella said to the dog.
"Why are you asking the dog? It's not going to answer."
"Oh, quiet now." Ella said and looked into the doghouse where the leash was on the ground.
She took it and clipped it on the dog's collar.
"Okay, wise man. Off we go." Ella said but the dog just sat on the ground.
"It doesn't trust you. Animals care about that." Toivo said, remembering the horse he once rode at ten years old.
"Well, how do I earn his trust right here?" Ella asked.
Toivo gave the dog the little paper that its owner gave him. The dog smelled it and recognized the smell, and figured that these two are all right. When Ella pulled the leash, the dog got up and walked with her.
"There you go, wise man. Let's get you for a walk." Ella said kindly to the dog and guided it to the street where they all walked together.
"I feel so stupid just walking a dog while the police are looking for me." Toivo pointed out.
"Even if they see us, do they really think that armed criminals on the run would be walking a dog? Just act normal and they won't even notice us." Ella assured.
"I guess. So now we should find the cleaner's shop or whatever that place is. You know the street. Lead the way." Toivo said to Ella.
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As they quietly walked on the idyllic neighborhood, Ella got a question on her mind that she needed answered.
"Back there you said that no more people will die by your hand. What did you mean by no more?" Ella asked.
"You don't need to know." Toivo answered.
"I think I do need to know. Have you killed somebody? That would be something that I should know about."
"I have. I had to."
"When? Who?" Ella asked worriedly and purposefully took a step away from Toivo.
"When me and Three and Sampo crossed the gulf, some man there threatened Three. I had to defend her."
"Oh. What happened?"
"We thought that he was reliable. He wasn't. He grabbed Three and told us to hand everything over or he'd kill her. We didn't believe him. Even then, I tried to find a spot where I could hurt him without killing him. I didn't want to use my ability on his hands because I was worried I might accidentally hurt Three as well. I couldn't take the risk. I went for his head." Toivo explained.
"Oh." Ella simply said and put a hand over her mouth.
"Like I said, I had to."
"There's nothing wrong with that. You did what you had to do. I'm sure Three was grateful for that." Ella said.
"She clearly wasn't." Toivo said back Ella couldn't think of anything to say to that.
"A little cold to be out on a walk with just shirts, is it not?" Somebody shouted from a distance.
Both Ella and Toivo turned to where the voice came from. It was just some local trying to be polite.
"That's why we're on our way to pick them up from the cleaner!" Ella shouted back in a friendly way and noticed that right next to the person was another poster warning of the armed criminals on the run.
"Thank you for caring anyway!" Toivo added, hoping that the person wasn't aware.
The person kept walking and Toivo kept looking at the ground while Ella walked with more confidence in her chances of not being spotted.
While walking, Ella kept a constant eye on the streets that they were on. Once they arrived on the street where the right address was, Ella kept a closer eye.
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Not long after that, they arrived at the correct address. It was a surprisingly professional looking cleaner shop in an area of nothing as fancy looking as that building.
"Okay. We're here. You go get the correct laundry while I wait here." Ella said to Toivo.
"How do I even know what laundry is his? Could this guy not have given us any more unclear instructions?" Toivo asked and complained.
"What would an outlaw trader of weapons and unregulated products wear? Just go based on that." Ella said back.
"How do I know? I'll just ask." Toivo said and got the courage to step inside.
In the shop were several washing machines and dryers. Toivo kept looking at all the washing machines. Some of them were on, some were empty and some were turned off.
"Looking for something?" The lady at the counter shouted at Toivo.
"Uhh. A friend sent me to pick up his laundry, but I don't know which are his."
"Who was it that sent you?"
"I... I don't know his name."
"You don't know your friend's name?"
"He's... The guy."
"Which... Guy?"
"The uhh... Guy who owns the bike repair shop." Toivo answered, remembering seeing some bicycle parts at the front of the shop.
"Ohh, that guy."
"Yeah. You know. That guy."
"His laundry is in the third machine from the left corner." The lady said.
Toivo went to that washing machine and took a wet pile of clothes from there.
"Guess I should dry them too, even if he didn't specify that." Toivo thought to himself.
He dumped the pile in a dryer and leaned on a washing machine, enjoying the warmth of the indoors. He then looked out of the window and saw Ella freezing out there while holding the dog's leash. He went to talk to her.
"Get inside too. You'll just freeze out here." Toivo said to Ella after opening the door out.
"Good idea actually." Ella said and was ready to come indoors.
"No animals in the shop!" The lady at the counter shouted.
"But..." Ella was about to say.
"No animals! That huge dog would just destroy everything here!"
"Fine then! Let's just tie it outside." Toivo said and took the leash from Ella.
"I suppose nobody here would steal it." Ella added.
Toivo tied the leash into a lamp post and went back inside. Ella kept a constant eye on the dog, making sure that it won't run away or get stolen.
"It's nice to just do mundane things. Makes you forget about everything else that's going on." Ella said while they were both sitting on some washing machines and waiting for the dryer to do its job.
"I can't stand this. Every moment that my family is being held captive is too much." Toivo said and was noticeably getting impatient.
"Remember that this is necessary. We need to do this in order to have a hiding place until the night, and then we have a better chance of doing the job. So don't lose your patience." Ella lectured.
"First of all, lower your voice. And I'm starting to question if this is even worth it. I could just wait somewhere else easily."
"Well, at least we made a friend along the way."
"You did. And you'll probably never see it after this."
"Don't say that. After this is all dealt with, I might just be a dog walker when I'm not needed at home."
"Good for you then. I don't think I'll return home once I've freed my family. I heard that officer who came to get us use the word "Disease carriers" and I think he meant us who came from the so called no-contact zone. So that doesn't sound like a good time if we have to avoid the law constantly."
"Can't you just prove to them that you're not diseased or sick or anything?"
"I saw an interesting article. People from the "no-contact zone" are being arrested and quarantined every time they're caught here. I bet none of them are actual disease carriers either. These people don't care. I'm a public menace according to them."
"You can't know if you don't try."
"I will never again be in a cell. I will not take that risk. I'd rather spend my life hiding and running, maybe getting a fake name and papers."
"Well, I hope we can all return home after this. We'll fix your house that you broke and this day will just be a memory." Ella tried to cheer her friend up.
"That'll be the first place where they'll look for us. I have to find a new home for my family. You can return home. You haven't done anything. Your father has. He'll have to go somewhere else too. You'll probably go with him."
"Or maybe we'll all go somewhere else."
"Hmph. Maybe. Do you really want to live like that though?"
"I'm willing to live like that for dad's sake." Ella answered, and after pause she added: "And yours."
"Heh. I appreciate that." Toivo quietly said.
After the quiet conversation was over, it didn't take too long for the dryer to finish up the job.
"It's done now. Let's get this over with." Toivo said and opened the dryer, letting the hot air out.
He took the pile of dry clothes from the machine and put them atop another machine and then realised something.
"He didn't give us a bag to carry these in." He said straightly.
"There's not that much of them. You can carry them while I walk the wise man." Ella suggested and Toivo just sighed.
"And besides, since you need to disguise yourself anyway, you can maybe wear something from that pile. Get yourself warmer too." Ella added and smiled.
Toivo dug through the neat stack of clothes he had put down and took a brown leather jacket that had warm padding on the inside. He tried it on and it was two sizes too large, but he kept it on anyway.
"Well, look at this hero. Definitely doesn't stick out." Ella said and laughed a little.
"I'm keeping it. It feels nice." Toivo said.
"You choose. I'll need something warmer for out there too." Ella said found a hoodie from the stack.
When she was done putting it on, she looked out the window and gasped. Toivo also turned his head to look outside. A police officer had found the dog and was bothering it.
"That is one ugly dog. Whoever owns you may need to be charged for animal abuse. This thing shouldn't even be allowed to be here making the street uglier." The officer said while looking at the burn mark on the dog's face.
Ella really wanted to intervene but she knew that she shouldn't. The officer put his hand on the dog's face and pushed it with disgust. The dog didn't like that. It bit the hand and the officer screamed in pain. The dog wouldn't let go of the hand but just kept shaking its own head while biting the hand. Both Toivo and Ella were worried about what the dog was doing. The officer pulled a stun gun from his belt and was ready to use it. Toivo noticed this and made the cleaner shop's large front window shatter to pieces. This got the attention of the officer for a second, and then his stun gun also got shattered. Ella ran first outside to the dog, with Toivo following behind empty handed.
"Wise man! Let go of him!" Ella commanded and gently pulled the dog's head away from the officer's hand.
"What the Hell just happened?" The officer asked, looking at the broken window and the broken stun gun on the ground.
"I'm sorry, officer. Our dog gets a little scared around people. We had to intervene before you could hurt it. We'll pay for the property damage." Ella lied to the officer.
"Wait just a minute! I saw you two in the body camera footage! You two are under arrest for assault of several police officers and harboring disease carriers!" The officer said after recognizing who the two are.
He tried to pull his weapon out but his hand was so damaged and hurt that he couldn't even move his fingers.
"I didn't want to hurt you but now you forced me to." Toivo said with disappointment and then shattered the officer's gun and also his knee.
The officer once again screamed and then sat down holding his knee. Ella untied the dog.
"Go pick up the clothes, Toivo! We're going straight back!"
"What? Forget about them!" He replied.
"That's your way to get shelter today so just get them!" Ella insisted, so Toivo did as told and ran back inside to pick up the stack of clothes from where he left them.
"Sorry for the broken the window!" He shouted towards counter as he left, but the lady at the counter didn't even see him, as she had been crouched under the counter since the window broke.
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Without looking back, Ella and Toivo ran back the same way that they came along with the dog and the stack of clothes.
"Oh yes. We sure didn't get noticed on this trip." Toivo said sarcastically while panting between words and feeling the pain on his foot.
"You can complain about that later." Ella replied, also exhausted.
They ran past the bike shop's owner's house without stopping, as Ella figured that there was no time to slow down. To the surprise of both of them, they saw no signs of the police anywhere, and once Ella spotted the bike shop where they came from, she had to stop Toivo who was about to run further as he didn't notice that they were at the destination. They along with the dog stepped inside the bike shop where there was nobody. They then walked through the curtain that leads to the backroom and the shop's owner looked horrified as soon as they came in.
"Why did you bring the dog here? Oh no!" The owner said when he saw his dog run to the clothes rack and bite into the products.
"You stupid dog! Get off my merchandise!" The owner shouted and wrestled his dog away from the clothes.
He slapped the dog's nose, which made it calm down and sit down. Then he turned his attention to Ella and Toivo who knew that they had goofed.
"When did I tell you to bring the dog here?" The owner asked.
"You didn't." Ella answered humbly.
"Then why did you bring it here?" The owner shouted at them.
"We were in a hurry."
"And why were you in a hurry?"
"The police saw us."
"Hmm. That's a good reason. Now why are you wearing my clothes?"
"To make it harder for the police to recognize us."
"And did that work?"
"Not really."
"Idiots. Give them all back. Put them on the table. I'll sort out the rest."
"So now that we've done the favors to you, can we get what we asked for?" Ella asked.
"You want a reward for this? For getting my merchandise destroyed? You're lucky I didn't beat your asses for that! Get out!" The owner yelled at them.
"So we did all of that for nothing?" Toivo complained.
"Get out! You did more harm than good here!" The owner kept shouting and got closer to them, backing them through the curtain.
"Dad! Are you okay with this?" Ella shouted and her father intervened and got on the face of the place's owner.
"You're not going to just throw her out like that. She did what you asked, so you'll give her what you promised." Nyman said to the owner seriously.
"She took the job of walking the dog. She botched that job. She's not getting anything." The owner said back.
"We actually switched the jobs. She retrived your laundry and it was my idea to bring the dog here. She wanted to leave it by your house but I insisted that we didn't have time." Toivo lied to the owner and Ella didn't correct him.
"Oh. In that case, I guess she can stay here until the night, as we agreed. But you, young man are leaving." The owner said to Toivo.
"Works for me." He simply said back and turned around to leave without putting up a fight.
The owner didn't even watch him leave before going back to the back room. Toivo stole a can of air spray on his way out and put it in the pocket of the leather jacket that he never returned just to be petty, and then he stepped out of the shop and out to the street with his shin in immense pain from the running.
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