Jaded

By SarahFish

Chapter 4

He wished he hadn't left his coat. Sure, it had been thin, but the night was growing colder as it wore on, and his mild Zydrate buzz had worn off hours ago. Not like the dead girl really needed it, anyway. An icy wind whipped through the alley, cutting through his shirt. Even Jadie, with her thick wool coat, was shivering.

"Hey, we're almost done, kiddo," he said, reaching down to brush her hair out of her eyes.

"Can't believe Cyrus left us to finish up the deliveries by ourselves. The hell is this place?" Jadie asked, teeth chattering. She shifted her bag to her other shoulder, huddled close to Zeb's side.

"Right here," he replied, stopping in front of a warehouse door. The oversized metal facing was pockmarked with rust, remnants of old posters still clinging to the frame. Someone had spray painted a white dove in the bottom right-hand corner. It should have been comforting. Instead it was just sinister. Zeb banged on the door, metallic clang echoing in the alley.

After a few seconds of silence, a peephole slid open. "Yes?"

"Just praying for Mercy," he replied. The peephole clattered shut. There was a rattle of chains, and the door groaned open. As he stepped inside, the dark entryway erupted in bright light. He clamped his eyes shut against the sensory assault.

"Hey, it's the delivery boy!" He cracked his eyes open to find a tall woman latching the door back in place. Easily six foot without her three inch boots, with dark hair was slicked back into a high pony tail, she was almost pretty in a severe sort of way. He caught sight of the gun on her hip, decided she was not someone to mess with. Ever.

"Follow me," she said, clapping a hand on his back. "Mercy's with a patient, but you'll at least be in out of the cold. I have a pot of coffee if you want some. Or hot chocolate, if the young lady prefers."

The waiting room was a surprise. Small - almost cozy - with a cluster of oversized sofas lining the walls. The only light came from a cluster of lamps perched on couple endtables, their warm glow a welcome change from the harsh fluorescent in the entryway. Zeb wasn't entirely sure what he'd expected. Something cold, industrial, or perhaps mildly terrifying to match the exterior of the building. Definitely not this. Weren't back alley surgery practices supposed to be horrifying hell-pits?

On the corner sofa, a man was stretched out, apparently asleep, a cowboy hat covering his face to block out the light. The tote bag on the floor beside him had fallen over, allowing a faint blue glow to radiate out into the room. Zeb picked the sofa the furthest away. Wondered why there was another dealer there. Especially one who, judging by the weak glow emanating from the bag, was peddling such a mediocre product.

The door guard was back, pressing steaming mugs into their hands. "You look like you're about ready to collapse, little one," she said to Jade. The little girl nodded, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "Curl up, take a nap. I'll get you a blanket. Mercy just stepped back with a patient. She should only be about an hour," she said, the last directed at Zeb.

By the time she had returned with the blanket, Jadie was asleep, curled up with her head in Zeb's lap. The guard tucked the blanket in around her. "So…Zeb, is it?" she asked, sitting down beside him. He nodded. "I've heard amazing things about your product. Mercy's always sworn by Cyrus' stuff…but I understand that you're playing around with things that are….something special."

Zeb shifted uncomfortably. It was true that he'd been playing around with different formulas. Trying different refining procedures, mixing different compounds with the Zydrate to produce unique effects. Some, like the Lonexiel mixture, were wildly successful. That particular concoction produced an odd full-bodied euphoria, during which he felt almost sure that he was, in fact, God. A Universe sized deity, who laughed everything into existence out of an act of pure love and joy.

Others…like Zaivalol…were the stuff of nightmares. His mother's rotting corpse came crawling out of a crack in the wall piece by piece after that one, reassembling itself at the foot of his bed before pulling up a chair to discuss the flaws and fallacies of string theory, and why the whole idea of a Grand Unification Theory was improbable at best.

"Yeah," he said finally. "I've been playing around with a few things."

"So…" the guard said, laying her hand on his arm, "What's a girl have to do to get a sample of that stuff?"

"I…uh…" he stuttered. Forming cohesive thoughts was quite suddenly too much of an effort. "I don't have any on me right now." A lie. 90% of the supply he was delivering to Mercy was of his own craft.

She pursed her lips in a mock frown. Traced a manicured finger over his jawline. "That's a shame…I could make it worth your while…"

"I…I….um…." Sentences! Damn it all, he needed sentences!

The guard laughed, patted his cheek as she stood. "No worries, kid. Just keep me in mind next time." She winked at him as she ducked out of the waiting room, the entryway door slamming shut behind her. Zeb sank back against the sofa, let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Well that was fucking stupid."

Zeb started, spilling coffee over his hands. Shit. He set the mug down, wiping his scalded fingers on his pants. Glared across the room at the man who he'd assumed was asleep. The man was peering out at him from under his hat, laughing.

"Sorry about that kid, didn't mean to scare you." He sat up, set his cowboy hat back on top of his shaggy blonde head. "But goddamn. You may be a talented little fuck, but you don't know shit about salesmanship. They call me Mawkin," he added.

"Zeb," he replied, nodding at the man. Mawkin grinned back at him.

"I already know who you are. Shit, we all know who you are. And you don't know this yet, kid, but I'm….well, I'm your new best friend."

A/N - Apologies for the minor cliffie. Between being sick and trying to move apartments, it was all I could do to get something posted today. Figured it'd be better to go ahead and post the first half of this chapter since I had it done. More on Thursday or Friday at the latest. Many thanks to all who have reviewed. Glad ya'll are enjoying my stab at exploratory psychology. :-)