Chapter Nine: Hunger

  Here the duo was standing at a fuel station nearby.

  “So, just these things?” the cashier asked. He was a stout middle-aged man, with brown-transforming-into-grey hair.

  “Yes please!” Viktor said politely, holding two packaged egg-and-cress sandwiches.

  “Okay, that will be…”

  The cashier pressed some buttons on the till, and it responded with a beep.

  “...￡2.80. Cash or card?”

  “Uh… excuse us for a moment.” Xavier replied abruptly.

  Xavier and Viktor jogged to the back end of the shop.

  “What? Why are we going over here?” Viktor whispered.

  “Because…”

  The cashier eyed them suspiciously.

  “I may or may not have any money…” Xavier pronounced nervously.

  “What?! How are we going to eat?” Viktor exclaimed, shocked.

  “Because, something called robbery exists!” Xavier said with a grin.

  “What? Are you CRAZY–?”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Xavier interrupted him.

  “Hush now. I’m talking. Anyways, let’s get this bread!”

  Viktor glared at him confusedly.

  “Literally and figuratively. Do you get the pun–?”

  “Yeah, I do. Now shut up, I’ll distract him.” Viktor declared conspiringly.

  “Xavier sauntered off, whispering, “Crime. Yay!”

  Viktor marched up to the counter.

  “Hey, could you help me find the chewing gum?” Viktor questioned, in an innocent tone to not look conspicuous.

  “Uh… sure. Just follow me, it should be around the back…” the cashier answered, trundling off to the back of the shop, Viktor in his wake. Meanwhile, it was Xavier’s time to strike. He paced through the middle aisle of the small shop, bumping into trading cards, magazines, posters, novels and the like.

  “I’ll take one of these for my troubles.” Xavier whispered, snickering as he did so. He was now at the front counter, no security in sight. He walked behind it and tapped a few buttons on the till. The high-pitched beeping noises seemed to have alerted the cashier, who glanced back with confusion.

  “Uh… sir, where is the gum, exactly?” Viktor queried, making an attempt to distract him from Xavier’s shenanigans.

  “It should be over there,” the cashier replied, pointing to the back of the shop.

  “Okay, thanks!” Viktor thanked, attempting to masquerade what Xavier was about to do.

  The cash register opened, revealing stacks of ten and twenty pound notes.

  “I’ll take some of these while I’m at it,” Xavier thought mischievously.

  However, there was a problem: the cashier was creeping back towards the counter, as though he knew what Xavier was doing.

  “Viktor!” Xavier shouted.

  “Uh huh?”

  “RUN!!!” Xavier yelled.

  The two boys began to sprint out of the doors, Xavier handling hundreds of pounds in the process.

  “HEY! Get back here!” the cashier angrily exclaimed, his brown beard wobbling as he spoke.

  “Uh, I’ll think about it… NO!” Xavier shouted stubbornly, bolting out of the glass door, the bell pinging wildly.

  “You’ll go to jail for this! You’ll… you’ll…” the cashier panted, faltering and falling to his knees (he was not built for running).

  But the boys had already gotten away with this endeavour