This was supposed to be a two part, buttttt… I got carried away. If I were to post the whole thing it would be more than 10k words. So, for your sake, Wulfy's, and mine, I'm splitting it up. Next chapter should be the last one. Unless I feel like writing another one.
And I must thank Wulfy for the beta and some other friends for helping with ideas and opinions. You guys rock lol
I woke up late, very late; as in the sun was high in the sky already - and I felt groggy because of last night. The lantern reflecting the sun's light into my eyes didn't help either. I crawled out of Emily's arms and opened the window to let in some fresh air. Feeling the cold air hit my sweaty body was so refreshing and helped to get rid of that damn moldy smell. This house had a constant stuffy smell of wet wood and mold, even though I made a point of keeping the place mold free. I was sweating the whole night, partially due to Emily's warm body and the constant nightmares I've been having. Nightmares about going back to that city. It's been a few months since I last showed my face in those parts. Not like going there is a vacation or anything. Even though I was stressed out and anxious, looking down at my sleeping Zoroark companion helped bright back a smile to my face. It's those simple things in life I enjoy. Gotta enjoy them while I have them, y'know.
Getting back on topic...
You see, I don't want to go back there, it's that I need to. There's a large group, or community - whatever they call themselves, that established a large trade city inside an older city and I need to trade some of my things for books, chemicals, and bullets. The problem is, they're on the far side of the older city from me and going around would force me to drive back in the dark. Driving anywhere near that city at night is absolute suicide. I'd rather go through the city during day time as the stalkers are slow and weak in the light. At night it's a different story, that's when they all wake up.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked out the window when I realized there was a slight complication. What do I do about this Zoroark? If I bring her my chances of dying would be smaller… but I'd be putting her in danger. I'd rather her not see the things I have or deal with the phonies that live in that trading city, but it's that or leave her behind. And I couldn't just leave her…
Two arms wrapped around my waist as I held my head in my hands while in deep thought. "Is something wrong?" The Zoroark's sweet voice spoke.
"Oh... I'm fine, just thinking a little bit."
"You think too much..." Emily moved closer and wrapped her body around me, snuggling up to me.
She's right though, I'm a very pensive guy. When you're lonely and all you do is survive, thinking keeps you alive. It keeps you sane. Almost killed myself a few times from how lonely I get, it really does suck. It's a feeling beyond depression or loneliness, out here it's a paranoid isolation that eats away at the 'you' part of you. Maybe Emily could change that. Or maybe I'm being too hopeful.
I scratched her head and stood up, leaving her lazily strewn on the edge of the bed begging for more attention. "I going to shower. I suggest you get ready for today... We're going to the trade city of Bhritzameno to get some items."
It's a habit of mine to take a nice shower before heading into that dreaded city. If I were to die - which I almost have multiple times, I'd rather look and smell nice. On these days I used only the best stuff, like the shower stuff I got from trading with those high class inner-city people. It was quite nice to wash off, to clean my hair.
As I turned on the water the door creaked open, "Mind if I join?" I jumped in my skin as Emily invited herself into my shower. "I thought we could share to save some water."
"S-sure, I guess…? Heh." I nervously laughed and made space for her. The shower wasn't that big, so we were up against each other with barely enough space to share the water. Still, she insisted in taking a shower with me - not that I didn't like it, it's just, well... Y'know. I had to turn around a few times. I shared some of my toiletries as we washed each other's body. Being naked around anyone was awkward to say the least, but having her around wasn't that awkward anymore; I… enjoyed it. It was nice having someone to share the burdens of life, knowing someone would take care of you. But she made me feel kind of self-conscious when she inspected my scars while washing my back. I also caught her looking away when she saw my missing pinky.
We dried ourselves and I helped dry her hair. I had two towels at the ready just for her. Being naked in front of her wasn't that bad; she couldn't care less, and I felt comfortable enough around her, but it still bothered me a little. Though, I swear I caught a glimpse of her eyeing me down in a more-than-suggestive way, but I didn't put much thought into it since that wasn't something she'd do. Probably just my dumb imagination. I dressed myself 'nicely' and playfully showed off how well I was dressed to Emily, getting a cute giggle and smile from her. My definition of nicely was cargo pants, a white T-shirt, and heavy-duty boots. I would've put on a jacket, but it was particularly warm that day.
When I walked down stairs I found out my front windows had all been cracked and the tree I used to have in my front yard had split down the middle and burnt to a crisp. It annoyed me, the mess of broke branches and all that, but I didn't have time to clean it. What really made me mad was the broken windows, those are hard to get and expensive to fix. If I live to see tomorrow, it'll take me the entire day to clean the mess that cock-blocking lightning bolt caused me. Boy, leaving a mess behind when I die always got on my nerves. It's just one of those things that get to you the more you think about it.
I managed to quickly cook up a lousy looking breakfast, the type of thing you make when you're late and just want something to eat. It still tasted pretty good though, and Emily seemed to like it so I guess it wasn't that bad. After eating we had to clear half of the tree off the driveway and some glass shards off the car. The truck bed was filled with branches, wet leaves and other crap the storm brought with it. Once everything was cleaned and ready - about 30 minutes later - we started loading the truck.
Judging from where the sun was, I guessed that it was around high-noon and I haven't left the house - not even close to ready. The drive to the markets was about 3 hours, then I have the drive back. At this rate I might have to rent a room there.
Thankfully, Emily helped me moved my stuff into the car. Nothing special, some food, a few gallons of clean water, explosive chemicals, acids for cleaning I made, cut wood, and three cans of gas. All those things go for quite some money in the inner-city trade markets, I just need to find the right buyers. Though, most of them are phony liars that'll rip me off or try to sell me snake oil. So, that might be hard. I threw a black tarp over my items and tied it down with rope, then closed the back.
Since I might encounter stalkers I made sure to bring a pistol and my injection knife. The injection knife was definitely the most important weapon against those things, could kill them in one press of a button. Sadly, as fun as it was to blow out the inside of a stalker, the gas canisters were expensive and rare. I'd have to buy more. Well, if I could find any - those city scavengers always had what you'd be looking for, so maybe.
Emily and I got into my janky, rusted truck and did a last-minute check. I reach into my leather pouch to see how much money I had. I pulled out about five amethysts crystals, a small topaz shard, and a lot of average quartz. More than enough to get a room for the night and dinner. It was nice having an economy based on gem stones 'cause my area had a bunch of geodes. If I had the equipment to grow those high-quality crystals I'd be set.
Finally, we headed out. The day was great with a light breeze, not too cold, and the air felt crisp with a hint of autumn's sunburnt leaves. There couldn't be a better day for a road trip.
...
We've been on the road for about an hour now. My neck was basically stone-stiff from how rugged the road was and Emily had fallen asleep, resting on the door with her head halfway out the window. The identical pine trees that lined the narrow road and the bright sun made it feel like no progress was made, like looking at a photo while driving. My eyes were tired of looking at the same damn scenery and the harsh sun wasn't helping either. I needed to chat with someone before I pass out from boredom.
Looking over to the resting Pokémon I considered whether to bother her or not… Well, I still had two hours to go and I've been needing to talk to Emily about surviving the city, so I really had no choice.
Gently, I shook her, "Hey. Wake up, Emi."
With a big yawn, Emily slowly sat up and looked around, seeming confused. "Where are we?" she asked while stretching her arms out.
"We're about halfway there." I don't blame her for being a little lost, I would too if halfway looked like the start. "Sorry about waking you up, but I've been meaning to talk with you." She's kinda airheaded - I like that about her, but Emily isn't ready to live like I do. I need to at least prepare her. "Where we're going isn't a nice place. I might die or get hurt and so could you. There will be lots of monsters hiding about - some will look like me and some will be actual monsters. If we get attacked by a stalker go for their neck, best way to kill them, and once we're in the city just stay close and stay quiet."
"What's a stalker?"
"I'mma guess you're too young to have seen one..." Boy, I had no idea she was this lost… bringing her along might've been a mistake. "Stalkers are these ugly things that live inside buildings that come out at night to hunt. They walk on all fours, have sharp claws, and all they have on their faces is a nasty mouth full of sharp teeth and a bunch of holes for sensing stuff." I showed her my missing pinky, "One of those things bit my damn finger off, so don't hesitate killing one."
"Oh..." Emily looked off to the road ahead of us and went silent.
I wanted to say something, maybe ask why she got so quiet, but I didn't want to push my luck. I don't know her well enough to do that. We stayed on this awkward silence for a few minutes before I opened my mouth to say something dumb. "So... What about your family? Do you know where they are?"
She stayed quiet, looking uncomfortable and somewhat sad.
There was no saving my ass from such a dumb question, so I dropped the conversation all together.
We went on like this for about another hour before she broke the silence. "My mom used to say to stay away from humans because they're bad and want to hurt me and use me... I guess she was wrong."
It took me a few seconds to realize what she meant by that. "Oh, you're talkin' about me?" I guess we're both clueless at times.
"Yes, you!" She let out one of those heartwarming giggles. The type of giggle parents give when you fall on your ass while learning how to walk.
"I don't know about that... You might be thinking of someone else." I joked, but not really; that joke had some honesty to it. Never saw myself as a 'good guy', just did what had to be done. To stay alive I had to lie, cheat, steal, and kill, and I don't think good guys do that. At least that's what the story books told me. Though, I guess saving her was a good guy thing to do. Maybe I should call this my road to redemption, heh.
"You are a great person! If my mom was here she would've loved to meet you!" Her expression changed from one of playful chatter to downtrodden. "I wish she could meet you... She hated being wrong and I loved proving her wrong..." The smile she gave felt forced, like in a pitiful, melancholic way. I saw her eyes get misty as she swallowed down the sadness. She turned around and rested her head on the window, staring at the now technicolor blur of autumn trees.
It killed me to see her down like that. I wanted to make her happy, but I seem to ruin everything somehow. For the rest of the ride we drove in silence, making small talk from time to time just to keep me awake.
…
When arriving at Bhritzameno the first view would come from the top of a steep hill. At the peak you could see miles of decrepit buildings and overgrowth, if you squint you could even see the glint of the trade markets off in the distance. From a distance it looked peaceful, the large trees splitting the pavement, warm colored leaves decorated the streets, and vines lined the power lines that stretched from roof top to roof top. During spring when the flowers bloomed and streets became emerald, that's when this view became breathtaking. But this city was very much a rose that only glittered in the sun.
I stopped the car and took in the sight, Emily seeming to be enamored with the city's overgrown glamor. "Woah!" That's all she could say. I let Emily have her fun - that feeling of wonder is something you only get once in a lifetime, so I kept my thoughts to myself.
I offered her some food I packed last minute, just some baked potatoes and cut fruits. "Want some food?" She was more than happy to eat almost all the fresh fruits and half my potatoes. "Hey… do you like the nickname of Emi?" With half a potato in her mouth she tilted her head. Probably didn't know what a nickname was. "A nickname is a second, normally shorter name you give to a close friend." Her eyes lit up as she vigorously nodded.
In one bite Emi swallowed half a potato – which was quite impressive, not gonna lie. "I love that nickname! Sounds really cute!"
We ate, laughed, and listened to some classic rock on a cassette tape while looking out at the city. After all the food was gone, I turned on the whining truck engine and headed out. Emily and I enjoying the scenery on the drive down.
The deeper we went the darker it became, both because the sun was setting and the building grew taller. The trees growing thicker and taller, too. Their shadows throwing the streets into a constant dusk. The smell of mold, feces, and rotting flesh also grew stronger, and by Emily's face I could tell the smell was much worse for her. Those were all signs of a stalker hive, but as long as the sun was out we'd be safe.
From the corner of my eye something caught my attention. A radio sitting by a dusty window. I stomped on the brake, scaring Emily – and teaching us the importance of seatbelts. I stuck my head out the window and looked back. Thankfully, I hadn't lost my mind just yet. Sitting in front of a dusty, half-broken window was one of those old-fashioned military radios; the bulky kind you'd see in those black and white movies. Those things had extremely pure quartz in them, I could make a fortune!
I hastily parked my car, grabbed my 1911 and injection knife, and holstered them on my belt. Emily jumped out the car and followed me down the street.
"Where are we going?!" She chased after me, jumping over fallen trees and thick roots that split the pavement.
"I just found the jackpot!" I pointed to the second-floor window where the radio rested. "That radio can make us a lot of money!"
Emily grabbed my hand to slow down my march. "You said there were stalkers in the buildings. Money is not worth your life!"
Pulling her aside into an alley, I held both her hands and reassured her. "You're right, but money can also be the difference between life or death in this world. It'll be fine, I promise. We'll climb a fire escape ladder to the second floor, run in there, and get out with the radio. It's simple, see?" She sighed and nodded to my, admittedly, completely insane idea.
Further down the alley there were some really rusted fire escapes with vines weaving through the ladders and metal structure. As we approach the ladder the smell of rotten flesh became nauseating. The light patters of stalkers running inside the building also becoming audible. Emily stuck close to me as I unholstered my pistol. Luckily, the ladder was already brought down, so climbing to the second floor was easy. Though, it was scary how tenuous the whole fire escape was. Walking through a broken window, I kept my pistol held up and at the ready, the broken glass crackled under my heavy boots.
"I-It smells horrible in here," Emily coughed out, gagging on the thick smell that poisoned the air. I threw her a rag from my pocket and she quickly covered her snout. I was used to this smell, even if it made my eyes water and nose burn. Even now, the heavy air was nauseating to me; I could feel the floating haze sting my skin, I can't imagine how Emily feels.
Covering my nose with my shirt, I careful closed the wooden door behind us and walked out into the hallway, Emily following my every step close behind. The sounds of stalkers scampering above only made my heart beat faster, drops of cold sweat forming on my forehead as my pulse beat throughout my body. The only reassurance I had was Emily tightly holding onto my shoulder. Both watching our steps to not make any loud noise. This was, by far, the dumbest thing I've ever done... While sober.
It was a massive relief walking into the brightly lit room with the radio sitting by the window. The room looked like some sort of run-down, last minute military coms installation. A lot of old, dusty military stuff but nothing of much value. I handed Emily the radio and we both let out a small sigh for the slight victory. Now, we needed to get back. Our exit was down a long hallway to an apartment opposite of us. It was only about twenty meters or so, but those felt like the longest damned meters I've ever walked.
Emily followed with radio in hand as I walked out the room, my gun held at the ready. Out of goddamn nowhere, as I stepped out the apartment, a stalker tackled me to the ground. My gun was thrown out of my hand as I nearly got my head bitten off. Its disgusting face dripped pus from the dozens of holes that marked its face, its screeches and clicking echoed throughout the halls. I fought for a grasp on the large claws attempting to mutilate me as the deformed mouth snapped a breaths width from my face, saliva dripping on me. The humanoid impaled a claw into the wooden floor next to my head as I managed to get a hold of the other arm while pushing its mouth away. Wounds all over its grey, dried body leaked a stinging fluid on my hands.
In reality, this all happened in a span of a few second, but for me it felt like minutes. Damn minutes!
A black blur swooped in and ripped the stalker off me, throwing it against the wall with such force the entire wall cracked. With no time to spare, I pulled out my knife and lunged at the stalker's neck, jamming the knife down its throat while it screamed and squirmed. In on press of a button all noise ceased as the walls, my face, and the floors where coated in blood.
I stammered backwards into Emily's arms as I held my knife firm in my trembling hand. We caught our breaths, looking at the still twitching stalker body. My face was plastered in thick blood that slightly burned the nose, lips, eyes, and cheeks. It gurgled and choked on its blood as the head hung onto its body by a shred of flesh that uses to be the neck. The compressed gas the knife injected had also frozen the affected area, making the blood on my face cool to the touch.
Our break was short lived, though, more screaming and clicks could be heard coming down the stairs and elevator shaft. Emily grabbed the radio as I picked up my pistol and we both ran full sprint towards our exit. I could see at least four more deformed monstrosities running down the hallway. Emily body slammed the door open and jumped out the window, landing in the alley two stories down. I didn't have the luxury of being a Pokémon, so I had to slide down the ladder. One of the stalkers followed me through the window and from the fire escape jumped at me. That time I was ready, and with a quick draw of my pistol, I put a bullet through the base of its neck midair. Its limp body collapsed behind me as Emily and I made a quick escape to my car.
I turned on my piece of shit truck and nailed down on the gas, getting the fuck out of there. A mile or two down the road I park the car under a tree. Then, and only then, could we finally take a break.
"Fuck me!" I screamed, on the brink of a complete mental breakdown. "Fuck this city and fuck these stalkers!" I punched the steering wheel a few times and calmly leaned back in my seat, letting out a long sigh. "Okay... I'm fine. I'm fine now..."
Regaining my composure, I looked over to Emily. She was crying, silently weeping into her blood covered hands. I regained my thoughts, then grabbed a clean rag from the glove compartment to clean her claws. I tried to get her attention by placing a hand on her shoulder, but she lashed out, smacking my hand away and throwing the heavy metal radio onto my lap. It hurt, but not too bad.
"Take this stupid thing! Have your damn radio, are you happy now?!" Things went silent again as we just stared at each other, her breath ragged. She leaned out the window and started crying again.
I placed the radio on the floor and pulled her into a tight embrace. At first, she weakly tried pushing me away, but soon gave in and hugged back, crying into my shirt. "I'm sorry, it wasn't supposed end like that... But we're safe now. We're safe…" I whispered into her ears and caressed her head.
She hugged me tighter, "I can't lose you! Not the same way I lost my mom!" She started bawling, even bringing a tear to my eyes seeing her like this.
We stayed like this for a few minutes before she calmed down. I pulled away and with the rag I wiped the tears and blood off her face, then cleaned her claws. I hadn't realized this, but when Emily pulled the stalker off me she actually impaled her claws into it- which is undeniably awesome. With a meek smile she used the rag I gave her to clean my face and hands. We looked at each other awkwardly and just… timidly smiled. I cleared my throat and started the engine, turning on the head lights as the sun was setting behind the city skyline.
"What... What Happened to your mom? Y-you don't have to answer if you don't want to."
No answer was given, she stayed quiet, possibly just ignoring me since that was none of my business. So I kept driving, the lights of the markets could be seen on the horizon as we drove closer to the city entrance.
"I was young... I don't remember much. I guess we got too close to this city and it was getting dark outside..." Emily shifted in her seat while resting her head against the door frame. "Those things you call stalkers attacked us while we rested by a stream. My mom stayed behind fighting them while I ran away... I still have hope she's out there. Somewhere."
"Oh." After that we stayed quiet all the way to the gates of the trade city. I'm just really bad at handling these type of things... Not like I could make things better.
...
We entered a rusty makeshift garage-type entrance with bright florescent tubes lighting the inside. An armed guard walked up my window, "Welcome to the trade city of Bhritzameno, what's ya business with us?" The guard asked. By his voice I could only assume he smoked a lot. Very raspy and dry, yet he looked quite young. Real shame, it really was.
I handed the guard a quartz shard as an entry fee, "Just here to trade and rest up."
"Really? You look a little rustled up there."
Normally, I'd have a short temper for a dumb question like that - like can't he see all the cargo I'm carrying? But then again, if a guy came up to you in a rusty, old truck covered in blood you'd be suspicious. "Oh, y'know, just had to deal with a few stalkers." I gave him a friendly, convincing smile and showed him the bloody knife.
"O-oh... Huh. Well, enjoy yourselves at our fine city." The guard pulled a red lever, closing the rusty door behind us and raising a light green door marked with an N for the north entrance of the city. "Take a left out the entrance and go straight to a three-story garage with a big 'ol three on it. Park anywhere there." He instructed us on where to park and gave us a friendly wave as we drove off.
I drove all the way up to the last floor and parked facing inwards to the markets. What a great view of the markets and all the other businesses around the place. The founder of this place decided to call it Bhritzameno after the city it was built in. Though, that seemed to confuse a lot of the newcomers. So, we just call it the trade city to avoid confusion. Although, this city was much more than just for trade.
A large clan fought off the stalkers and established the biggest trade markets around. A total of 8 square miles are fenced off and guarded with four main entrances, one to the South, East, West, and North - the one I came in from. They also had multiple hotels, neighborhoods, factories, parking garages, banks, restaurants, and a hospital inside these walls. Not counting the massive stadium to the far west, which was the center of politics of this region. By far, this was the most advanced, well organized city a traveler could find on this side of the planet. They even had a police force and a central government.
From our car, Emily and I watched the lights start to turn on as the sun set behind the skyline. The people shopping and trading looked so small compared to the actual city, just colorful dots moving through the pathways. Some had the company of Pokémon and some were of the scummier type. Freshly cooked food and deep-fried batter could be smelled, carried along by the crisp breeze of autumn. And thinking about all the food I'd buy later, I reached for the radio.
"Let's open this thing up!" Using my knife, I jammed the blade between two metal plates then pried off the top. I dug inside and ripped out a tiny metal box. The small metal box with wires hanging out was the frequency controller and inside was my treasure. Using the knife point, I managed to unscrew a few rusty screws and pull off the back. And from inside I pulled out an almost invisibly clear piece of crystal. It was about an inch of precisely cut, pure quartz shining in the orange light of a setting sun, casting a rainbow on Emi's face.
"It's a beauty, ain't it?" I showed our fortune to Emily. "I hope you're hungry, 'cause I'm getting us all the food you can eat!" Emily seemed to like that idea just as much as I did.
"I want fish; I love anything with fish!" Emi said with such enthusiasm, jumping in her seat under the rainbow casted upon her. Boy, she's just so cute when she gets excited like that. Eating fish... Such a small thing to get excited over. It was quite charming.
I wrapped up the gem in a rag and placed it in my pocket along with the rest of my money. I unsheathed my knife and cleaned the blood on my pants. Not like it'll make a difference anyways. "Can't forget about this. Gotta buy more canisters, this is my last one." I mentioned while unscrewing the handle and throwing out the used gas canister, putting in a fresh one.
Walking out the car Emily asked, "Why don't you lock your car? Someone might steal your things."
"Why would I lock a car with no widows? Look at this shitty truck of mine." We both chuckled. "I'm not worried about my stuff. Guards keep a constant watch over this parking lot, and the punishment for stealing is harsh so stealing from random cars really isn't worth it." I reached into my car and pulled out a small medical satchel and an oversized, worn-down leather jacket, throwing it to Emily. "Wear that... And remember what I told you; keep quiet and stay low. Don't trust the people in this city."
"Got it..." Surprisingly, the jacket slipped right on, fitting to her curves just right while still being a little too big. The mane on her chest looking like a fancy scarf. Damn, only a beautiful Zoroark like Emily can make such an ugly-brown jacket look nice. "Why are you looking at me like that? Do I look bad in this?"
Nervously, I laughed and averted my gaze. "N-no, it looks great on you! I'm just surprised it fit you so well. That's all."
"Thanks! It makes me feel warm and comfy!" She giggled and hugged herself.
"Yeah... Well, let's get going, I'm starving, and I know this great noodle stand I'm sure you'd love!" And with that we headed out into the crowded paths of that vast trading city.
I'm sorry I took so long to write this. I like to make things the best possible and I have a busy life, so stories take some time to make. I hope the quality can compensate for the lack of quantity :p