((My first review is a good one! Thank you so much, ladyzydrate!))
Sanitarium Square was a rather new place back when I was younger, and its first use was for actual surgeries since there weren't actually enough rooms to operate in GeneCo's tower. When people tell you that the organ was fucking terrible back then, they're underestimating. However, there were some tents used for skin grafts and stuff, so the whole fashion was just taking off. Hen was disgusted by it all. Sometimes I like to think that she was the only one with morals left in the world.
Then again, she sold Zydrate to the world's more trashy people. So I think you can see why I was a bit confused at first. It's kind of funny, thinking back to the first time I had to sell. I wasn't as freaked out as you. (Yeah, I saw the way you wanted to get the hell outta that alley, kid. You're so cute.) I suppose the term "scalpel slut" wasn't quite coined yet, so these were more like...extreme cokeheads, I suppose. I can't exactly describe to you what Zydrate feels like because...okay, allow me to sidetrack for a moment.
Hen made a few rules about being a Graverobber. I'll tell you the rest later, but this is Rule #3: Do not EVER use the product you're selling. You will get hooked to it and eventually wind up not wanting to share really quickly. No product for the people, no profit.
Okay. Back to the story. Since there were more of us back in the day, we could split up and take different alleys. I stuck with Hen of course, and she seemed different when she sold. She was cocky, didn't take any bullshit. And it was obvious she was very outgoing about this. It was a big part of the job. So I took a deep breath and walked up to my first customer; a twentysomething curvy broad with her eyes half-lidded and drooling for the stuff on my belt. She reached for it, and I just smacked her hand away. "Pay up." I demanded.
"Aww, you're a young one, aren't you? Listen, cutie. How 'bout I trade you the Z for some candy, eh?" she offered in a patronizing tone.
I admit it did piss me off. I might have been just a boy, but I had to make a living. I looked over at Hen for a moment, but she paid no attention to me. I pushed the customer back a few steps. "Listen, bitch!" I shouted at her, "You're gonna give me my money or you don't get shit. Got it?"
She put her hands on her hips with a scoff. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" she asked.
"My mother's dead." I retorted, holding out my hand. "Pay up."
It looked like she was done trying to barter, so she just reached into her purse and gave me the money, and so I loaded up my gun and she lifted up her skirt. I didn't expect that at first, but then I heard Hen in the background. "Look for the vein, kid." she told me. And so I did just that, holding onto her thigh with one hand and inserting the needle with the other. When the gun went off, she threw her head back with a moan and fell over.
"Is...is she-" I was about to ask, but Hen interrupted as she approached me.
"Don't worry, that's supposed to happen." she assured me. "How much did you get?" When I showed her, she just shook her head. "You gotta demand more. That's only a quarter of what I usually get."
I frowned. "This is more difficult than I expected..." I muttered, looking down at the money in my hand.
"Really? Kid, you're twelve goddamn years old."
"Eleven."
"My point exactly. You're a brand new seller, you're a goddamn child, do you really think people are gonna respect you? You're gonna have to work harder than all of us combined, so man up. You've got a long way to go. But it seems our alley isn't very busy tonight, so we'll try again when they come crawlin' back to us. Let's go see how everyone else did."
We met up with Bullet and Red, but one was missing. And Bullet was drenched in blood, which made Hen roll her eyes and smack him upside the head. "Again?!" she scolded him.
"Wh-what happened to you?" I asked, keeping my distance from him.
"They weren't givin' me what I asked for..." he tried to argue, avoiding eye contact.
"How many did you kill?" Hen said with obvious annoyance in her voice.
"You killed people?!" I almost cried out, but Hen quickly clapped a hand over my mouth.
"Kid, shut the fuck up. Are you trying to get us caught?" she whispered to me, and I nodded with a shaky sigh through my nose.
Bullet frowned. "Just three. But they brought a lot with them." He showed her his pay, but Hen wasn't impressed.
Rule #3.5: If you kill all your customers, you'll stop getting profit.
After everyone was calmed down, we went to go find Bullet some new clothes that weren't covered in other people's blood. Atom joined us as well, and we were all a bit surprised. "Where've you been?" Hen asked with a raised eyebrow.
Atom just adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. "Discussing methods of payment..." he answered. His clothes were messy and there was a a little bead of sweat rolling down his neck, which made me curious. But it seemed that Hen knew what he was doing, and they didn't talk any further about it. I would only find out later what he was doing.
Afterwards, we climbed up a fire escape and sat on top of a building with some food we scrounged up and watched as the big floating screen floated by, advertising the New Genetic Opera, featuring the world's best singer, Blind Mag.
I don't know why, but Hen looked...sad. In a way I couldn't really describe. I wanted to ask, but I doubt she was going to say anything about it.
