Fated Hybrids

Chapter 3

I went out of the back door of the house and locked it behind me. I looked around making sure no one was watching me before I took my bike out. I loved that bike and I was damned if I was going to let someone try to take it from me.

I walked over to a thick patch of vines and bushes. We didn't have a garage so I had to leave it outside, but I made sure it was hidden from sight. I reached into my left coat pocket and took out some fingerless grip gloves. They were dark green and black, not my favorite color combination but they kept me from getting calluses. I leaned forward a little and started pulling the vines and bush twigs off of the bike. It was untouched, just the way I left it. I got a grip on the handles and walked it out of the bushes.

Instead of walking it out to the street like most people would, I hoped on, put the key in the ignition, and sped out of the backyard. There wasn't much grass back there, so it wasn't like I ruined anything.

The city streets looked deserted. The sun was bright and somewhat positioned about one o'clock so I knew it was after noon. I had to go to an old office building about a quarter of a mile away. I knew a man there who sold medical supplies and some household stuff. The building used to hold several companies within it, now it was just a run-down market place. Nowhere was one-hundred-percent safe but people had to make a living. The building was under an overpass among a plaza. There were a few cars in the parking lot but they were in no condition to be driven. The gas tanks had likely been emptied and the cars were devoid of anything useful. When the world went to hell, people looted anything they could.

I rode my bike all the way into the building, the doors were long gone. There was no safe place to put my bike but I could put it out of sight. The women's bathroom was as good a place as any. It looked as disgusting as it smelled so no one used it anymore.

As I was walking through the building I could hear people talking in some of the office spaces and in the hallways. The elevator no longer worked due to the fact no one wanted to spare their Beilajs to get it up and running. I only needed to get to the second floor so it didn't bother me at all.

The second floor was a little louder than I expected; it sounded like an auction was going on. The kind of auction like in the old days where people were waving money and yelling at the seller. There were mostly guys, a couple of teenage girls and two women who looked to be thirty-ish among the masses. I moved my way through them the best I could without having to shove anyone out of my way. There was an office that said, 'Louvina Financing' on the glass but it was just another vendor setup now. I pushed the glass door open and walked inside. There were a couple of lounge chairs against the wall near the door and a whole crap load of cardboard boxes stacked against the walls. Nothing else stood out except for the seller that stood behind the reception desk.

Renny was a short, kind of stocky guy well into his fifties. He was an Indian man and it was a little difficult trying to understand him with his accent sometimes. I walked up to the desk with a smile, he smiled but not like he meant it.

The desk was about chest level so I was able to lean on it and still stand up somewhat straight.

"Hey what's with that phony smile Renny?" He just shook his head and put a hand up as if to say don't bother asking. I left it at that.

"What can I do for you today, Miss Azarah?"

"I need a catheter, two if you have any extras." Renny made his way from behind the desk and went over to a cluster of open boxes not far from the desk. I watched him search but stayed near the door. Never knew when you would need a quick escape.

"Did you get any Vicodin this week?" I asked, sparing a glance back at the door, no one was there though.

"Ah, I believe I have...Three pills left. A lady came in and traded them to me." He said taking two catheter tubes out of one of the boxes. He returned to the desk and set them down. I looked at them making sure they were in an acceptable condition; by that I mean new and not used. I've run into sickos who tried to trade used catheters to me. Yeah, damn gross.

"Did you want the Vicodin?" He asked, sounding a little unsure.

"Yeah, I'll take all three."

I watched his eyes widen for a split second and I laughed a little.

"I know they are a rarity around here Renny so I don't expect you to give me a discount. My mom needs them a little more often now."

I didn't try to let my smile slip but it did. I couldn't help it when I spoke of her.

Renny finally gave me a real smile, but it was sympathetic.

"I admire what you're doing Azarah. Your mother is very lucky to have daughters like you and your sister."

"That's sweet Renny. What's my total then?" I sighed dramatically and that got a little laugh out of him.

"Three Beilajs, that will do fine." I gave him a suspicious stare and he raised his eyebrows.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"I don't want to find out you're treating me differently than anyone else because of my situation. You'll lose business."

I didn't mean to sound like his business partner, but it was the truth. I knew he was charging me way too little. One Vicodin pill alone was worth at least two Beilajs. Two more of them plus two catheters should have been ten Beilajs, easily. Then again, who was I to tell him how to run his business?

He shook his head and bagged the items in a cotton drawstring bag before setting them back down on the desk.

"You are my best customer Azarah. The least I can do is give you a bargain price. Besides, you don't go blabbing to everyone about it." He said with a smile. I took three Beilajs out from my inner pocket and handed them to him.

"Thank you, Renny."

"No young lady, thank you. Go on and get home now."

I wanted to say my day was just beginning, but I didn't. I put my mom's medical supplies in my rucksack and left.

Food was my next mission, but I had to go a little farther from home for that. I always went to look for my mom's medicine last because I had to hunt down more than one person to get it. When I found them, sometimes they were out of it or hadn't had any for a while and the search continued. The medicine was called Dyglosamine. It was rarer than anything else on the drug market because so many people needed it now. But for now, one worry at a time.

At this time of day, the downtown area was occupied with vendor stands and orphaned children trying to persuade the vendors to give them a free meal. I would help them when I could but I could only do so much, seeing as how I was trying to keep my own family fed. I parked my bike behind a dumpster near an old luggage store and continued on foot. My rucksack gently bumped my back with every step and it sort of annoyed me. It was distracting when I was trying to keep my focus on my surroundings. I slid it around one shoulder so that it was on my left side.

"Zara! Zara! Wait up!"

I stopped and turned around to look for the person calling me. I smiled when I saw my friend and reliable contact, Mont. He was what people used to refer to when they mentioned the words 'ginger kid'. Short, curly red hair, his pale face covered with freckles, and green eyes. We met during a Xerclan attack at a nightclub that used to be a hotspot. Now? It's just a sad looking museum.

"Hey I was wondering when you'd show up, late night again?" He asked, giving me a playful shove. I shoved him back before we started a slow walk down the street.

"You could say that. It's getting harder and harder for me to find Dyglosamine...'' My smile fell apart again just thinking about the tiresome nights I've had this week.

He nodded. "Yeah I know the feeling. No one I've come across even had one drop. I hate to be a downer, but the supplies might be starting to run out. There hasn't been anyone making anymore drugs for a long time. All of the pharmaceutical companies were looted years ago."

I ran my fingers through my now wind-dried hair before putting both hands in my coat pockets.

"True. The last medical supplies are probably in circulation right now. The question is; what are people going to do when it's all gone?

I mean, this can't be it Mont. Can it?"

He shook his head and I didn't have to ask what he was thinking. We were all screwed worse than we already were.

"The only thing we can do is what we've always done, survive by any means necessary. So to save you a few breaths, I'll tell you up front. I don't have what you need today."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Oh well, just means I have a little more traveling to do. The only other person I see for Dyglosamine is Zig. The problem is she never stays in one place for long because she's always stealing other people's shit."

I couldn't help but laugh and Mont started laughing too. Zig always had what you needed, but it likely belonged to someone else less than fifteen minutes before you asked for it.

"That girl is trouble, always will be. Why don't you stop wasting your time and fuel searching the city for her and just ask me for info? I sell more than just medications and tools you know."

I stopped walking, causing Mont to stop walking and look at me.

"What kind of information exactly?" I asked, looking up at him. Mont was well over six feet so I had no choice but to look up at him.

"Just tell me what you're looking for and I can collect the information on it the best that I can. I even help find people. If I can, arrange meetings." He said with a small smile.

I noticed a little blush in his pale cheeks and smiled back. Mont would never admit it to anyone out loud, but he was quite the humanitarian.

I took my right hand out of my pocket and touched the tip of my index finger to my chin, thinking.

"How quickly can you find this information?"

"It really just depends on what you're looking for. The sooner you tell me what you want, the sooner I can be out asking around." He said crossing his arms.

"I need to find my mother's medicine before the end of the day tomorrow. She has one dose left and I'm sure I don't need to explain what will happen if she doesn't continue taking it..."

His blush melted away from his face and his business face appeared. Focused and serious. I put my hand back into my pocket.

"You're the third person today who wants info for that, It's going to be tough. Since you are my friend I will give you a head start on any leads I get." He said with a wink. I raised an eyebrow.

"Flirting now? How unbecoming of a businessman."

The blush returned to Mont's cheeks with a vengeance this time. "No! No! I was just joking around Zara!" he said this while laughing so I knew he was lying, but I just smiled and took one Beilaj out of my pocket for him. We had a deal; no matter what I got from him it would only cost one Beilaj. I saved his life so he in turn wanted to make my life easier. It worked for me. I tossed it up in the space between us as one would a coin and he caught it.

"I'll have something for you by sunrise. Where should we meet up?"

There were a few places I met people for business. Morning meet-ups were hard because I usually slept in like today. Gotta do what I gotta do I suppose.

"Saint Mark's Chapel. It's only two blocks away from my place." Mont gave me a nod.

"Consider it done, Zara."

I always wondered how he managed to be out all night and live this long considering the risks. During the day, the Xerclanz don't appear unless you've stumbled upon one of their nests. At night, it's feeding time and you better not be caught in the wrong place at the right time.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. I know you've got places to go." He said before leaving me to my own company once again.