Chapter 7
They stalked silently through the shadows of the cemetery. Graverobber led the way. He'd dart ahead from mausoleum to mausoleum, tombstone to tombstone and scan the area for GeneCops. When the coast was clear he waved her to join him and then darted on ahead again. It didn't take long for him to find the area he was looking for. He shoved the list of locations back into his pocket where he'd found it and crouched beside the mausoleum. He signaled for Shilo to join him and watched as the remainder of the funeral procession left. When they'd gone he made his way to the gravesite and assessed the situation. It was a lucky catch for him. This area of the cemetery was full, at least below the soil. The new body had been buried in a small above ground granite sarcophagus. All he had to do was shove the heavy top stone away and the hard part was done. If he got really lucky the body would've been buried with something of value. He wouldn't hold his breath on that one however. These days whatever wealth a person had when they died was unceremoniously split between the surviving relatives. It was a rare occasion when a valuable wedding band or pocket watch or anything like that was put into the ground... or the tomb, to rot or be stolen when it could be sold.
Shilo knelt in the dirt beside Graverobber. She looked around nervously before her eyes settled expectantly on him. "This is it kid," he whispered. "Keep an eye out." She said nothing but instead rose up a little and glanced around. Her heart was racing with fear and excitement. Seeing no GeneCops she ducked back down and glanced side to side between the headstones as Graverobber put his shoulder to the granite slab and pushed. It didn't move. He gritted his teeth and braced himself and jammed his shoulder into the lid hard enough to jar him. He grunted as the slab moved about three inches before it was once again immobile. He slid back down to a sitting position and panted for a moment before putting his shoulder to the stone one last time. He pushed hard and stone began to slide off. He looked over at Shilo. She grunted as she put all of her weight behind the heavy slab and pushed with all her might. He gave a lopsided grin when he saw that she was attempting to help. It worked though, and the stone slid free. It made a muffled thudding noise as it hit the packed dirt. Graverobber paused and made a quick scan of the area to make sure they hadn't attracted any attention. Satisfied that the coast was clear, he opened the coffin lying within and tugged the corpse out and dropped it at his feet.
Shilo looked over at it and felt the blood drain from her face. She remembered the first time she'd met Graverobber. She'd run into him in this very situation and followed him when he'd stupidly alerted the GeneCops with his singing. "Make yourself useful and look out kid," He said and went to work. He knelt by the corpse and hummed a tune as he set to work. He carefully unfolded his tool kit and removed the extracting needle and collected vial and a half of Zydrate. He replaced the extractor back in its place and inserted the vials into the holster on his thigh. "All right kid, we're done with this one. Lets go." He crouched down and made his way back to the shadows. The list for new graves that he'd gotten was sadly short. He frowned at it. Fewer and fewer people were willing to pay the price for actual burials anymore. He would have to stop by the mass graves. He led the way to the building where the bodies poured in constantly.
It took a bit longer to get there than he figured it would. They made a few stops on the way at a couple other fresh grave sites. He'd had to break out his shovel and dig in one case. Luckily for him it had been a family plot, each generation buried on top of the other until the most recent occupant was no more than a couple feet beneath the surface. At one point they'd had to jump behind the nearest monument to hide themselves from GeneCops patrolling the area. But, they managed to get where they were going without being discovered. Luckily for Graverobber the night had been rather uneventful thus far, bar the near run in with the GeneCops, and his Zydrate supply was nearly stocked. He crawled through a jagged hole in the side of the crypt, quickly followed by Shilo.
Shilo gagged as she entered the burial chamber. The smell of decomposing corpses assailed her. She stuck her head out of the hole they'd come in through and vomited. She tried to gulp in the fresher air outside of the burial building, but the stench of decaying corpses and rotting flesh was all she could smell. Graverobber laid a hand on her shoulder and held out a faded wrinkled bandanna. Shilo looked at it. The corner of Graverobber's mouth curled upward and he wrapped the cloth tightly around her mouth and nose. "The trick is not to breathe through your nose. This oughta help a little. Just breathe through your mouth and do your best to ignore the taste." He tied the cloth in a tight knot at the back of her head.
Shilo took a shallow breath as Graverobber had instructed. She understood what he meant about the taste. It wasn't as bad, she didn't have the urge to throw up, but she still gagged at first. The taste of death filled her mouth and she tried her best to ignore the taste coating her tongue and watched Graverobber instead. He waded through the sea of bodies without flinching, kneeling by this body or that, trying to decipher which most likely held the best quality glow. Shilo was grossly aware of the flesh beneath her feet. With ever shift of her weight she felt and heard the crunch and snap of bones. She tried her best not to move. Every time she did, she slipped as flesh sloughed off of bones and slid beneath her feet. She focused her attention on Graverobber so she didn't have to look into the faces of the dead. She didn't like the blank cloudy stares, the rotten maggot filled sockets, they made her sick. He moved gracefully among the dead. He never slipped or lost his footing, he seemed to move with ease stooping here or there to take a closer look at this body or that then moving on. Finally, he found what he'd been looking for. He straddled the young womans body and rummaged through his tools. As he did so he looked back at Shilo, who was watching him intently. An evil thought crossed his mind. He looked her straight in the eyes in the dim light, "You know what necrophilia is kid?"
Shilo looked at him across the room with visibe disgust. "Uugh," she cringed, "that's illegal."
Graverobber smirked, slipping the needle into the skull of the body beneath him as he registered her response. "So is selling drugs, but that doesn't bother me either." Satisfied to see that he'd gotten a rise out of the girl, he pocketed the Zydrate and packed up his tools. As a final touch he bent down, knowing that Shilo could see him well enough in the darkness, and kissed the corpse's forehead. "Looks like I can't play tonight luv," he said loud enough that he knew Shilo would hear. He started back toward the entrance.
Shilo was disgusted. He'd just. Kissed. A corpse. She started to back up, edging closer to the hole in the wall, unsure whether to stay or run. As she got closer a pair of arms shot through the hole and grabbed her. She let out a choked scream before a gloved hand clamped down over her cloth covered mouth. She tried to scream even though all that came out were muffled squeals. She thrashed and squirmed against the arms holding her, but she couldn't get free. With every move she made their grip seemed only to get tighter.
Graverobber hurried toward Shilo as fast as he could taking care not to stumble over the corpses beneath his feet. He could hear her struggling just out of sight. Was it possible that that was a good sign? After all, had it been GeneCops, they would have just shot her already wouldn't they? Especially since there wasn't a chance of them being told to back down now. The only other possibility that crossed his mind was that someone had noticed Shilo with him and had followed them intending to rape her. He burst out of the crypt to see Shilo being held by a GeneCop. His gloved hand was clamped firmly over her mouth and he was holding her to him tightly, arms pinned to her sides while she kicked at him to no avail. There was another GeneCop on either side of her, guns aimed at her tiny form. Graverobber ran toward her but was stopped. Amber's valets stepped in before he could reach her. Each of them grabbed an arm and held him firmly in place. Two more GeneCops stepped up and took their places beside the valets. Graverobber was more than pissed at this point. He wasn't about to let anything happen to her, but at the same time there wasn't anything he could do. He could struggle against his captors all he wanted but they were stronger than him and held him where he stood.
Amber stepped from the shadows and stood in front of Graverobber. She looked at the man that she was both secretly infatuated with and hated. He had denied her affection except when it suited him and even then he'd made her beg for it. She loathed the idea of someone having power over her, especially him. She stood tall in front of Graverobber, chin thrust out haughtily. Graverobber lunged forward only to be pulled forcefully back by the valets. The GeneCops raised their weapons and aimed them at Graverobbers chest. "If you hurt her I swear I'll fucking kill you!" He growled.
Amber gave him a sickly sweet smile. "I heard you'd been acting strange lately. What's wrong, tired of robbing graves thought you'd start robbing cradles?"
His face twisted up in a sneer of fury. "Go to hell Amber."
Amber gritted her teeth and glared at him. "I'd watch it if I were you Graverobber. I hold a lot of power in this city and I can have you taken out like that," she snapped her fingers for emphasis. "But... something tells me it'd be even better punishment to take care of the little bitch over there." She glanced at Shilo and back at Graverobber and sneered. Graverobber was silent, but his expression said more than words ever could. It cautioned Amber to watch her step. It said You're lucky your goons are holding me back or I'd tear you to shreds where you stand just for laying a hand on her.
Amber was very aware that she was playing with fire and if she didn't watch it she would get burned. That was the precise reason she'd brought back up in the first place. She knew that with enough firepower and muscle Graverobber wouldn't be a match at all. The hardest part of her plan had been trying to find a way to capture the Zydrate King in the first place. He seemed to have an annoying habit of disappearing and evading her guards when he wanted to. But then one of her sources told her that he'd been seen hanging out with the Wallace brat. After that, she'd taken a special interest in their relationship. It had only taken the few days since Graverobber had found the girl for Amber to realize that if she were to grab Shilo and use her as bait Graverobber would fall right into her trap... and she'd been right. It had been sheer luck that the cameras in the cemetery had picked up Graverobber sneaking along with the girl in tow. She'd been planning to grab her at the cathouse after Graverobber had left, but it was just as easy this way.
Her sneer turned into a smile. She turned her back on Graverobber and turned her attentions to the girl. She strutted over to her like she owned the world and trailed a perfectly manicured nail along the side of Shilo's face. "Don't worry your pretty little face. You'll be fine, that is, as long as this Graverobber here doesn't cross me." She pinched Shilo's cheek hard and refocused her attention on the drug peddler. She stopped in front of him, head held high. "It's simple Graverobber. You help me, work for GeneCo, and I don't have my guards here fuck up your little whore, deal?" She arched her brow expectantly.
Graverobber attempted to lunge at her again. The guards aimed their weapons and cocked them. He was helpless against her and he loathed it. "Fuck yourself Amber," he growled and spit in her face. Her face twisted in anger. She wiped the saliva off and landed a kick with a spike heeled boot to his groin. His vision turned black for a split second before it clouded over with stars and he doubled over in agony. The pain was so intense that his legs gave out and Amber's thugs had to hold him up.
Amber grabbed his face in one hand so hard that her nails dug into his cheek. "Consider this your only warning Graverobber," She hissed. "I don't need you anymore, but I'm willing to pardon your criminal ways if you'll just work for me. You have a week to decide what you're going to do. I'd think carefully if I were you. One more fuck up and that little bitch gets it, and I'll make damn sure its not quick and painless. I'll lock her in a room and let my brothers throw her a little welcome to the family party." Tears had begun to drip down Shilo's face, partially out of fear for her own safety, but mostly from Amber's brutality. "One more thing," She reached out and removed the Zydrate vials from his holster. "I believe that this," She said holding up a vial of the glowing liquid, "is illegal contraband. I'm going to have to confiscate it." With that being said, Amber signaled to her guards and they threw Graverobber to the ground. He jarred his shoulder on a head stone and a fresh jolt of pain stabbed through him. It faded much too quickly and was once again replaced by the searing throb between his legs. Graverobber curled into a fetal position on the ground. The guards that had been training their weapons on both him and Shilo backed down and the GeneCop holding Shilo relinquished his hold, sending Shilo tumbling to the dirt. Shilo immediately stumbled to her feet and rushed to Graverobber's side. Amber and her thugs left them and disappeared into the night.
