Black Market Merchant

Sadie managed to get the smoldering fire lit again. It took her a few tries, and she nearly put out the embers by accident, but in the end the fire was burning just fine. After refilling the pot with water, she placed it over the fire and waited for it to boil.

Watching the motionless water in the pot she grumbled to herself. "Well, this sucks! I am stuck out here in the middle of nowhere, living in this crappy building with someone I barely even know. I got no warm water, no snacks and nothing to do."

Sadie sighed and looked around the area. From where she was sitting all she could see were the rusting, decrepit buildings, old rusting cars and the ruined town beyond.

"Why did I ever get sent to this horrible place?" Sadie continued thinking. "If the Association didn't offer a signing bonus to come here, I wouldn't have. Also, if the Arena were out there in town I would have quit. This place is a dump!"

The water in the pot now had some tiny bubbles rising from the bottom. She watched them slowly grow and rise with a glazed over expression. "At least this is more relaxing than working in that stuffy office. No one ever took me seriously. Always running papers around or making coffee…"

She went to scratch her head and realized she hadn't bradded her hair yet. It was getting all jumbled up in the soft wind churning as it bounced off the Powerhouse building. Quickly she grabbed her brush from her backpack and started brushing. Luckily, the damage was minimal, and she was able to straighten it out.

The water was soon boiling after she finished brushing and she mentally started counting to three minutes. While waiting she started to braid her long brown hair into her signature single braid. Even without a mirror her nimble fingers knew just what to do and even before the boil time was up, she had finished the braid.

"Hmm, it would probably be best to take the pot down into the tunnel. It's cooler there." Sadie though to herself as she took the pot off the fire. "Better let it cool off here a bit before I do take it. Don't want to splash myself."

Leaving the firepit and pot to cool, Sadie started to wander around the power station grounds. There really wasn't much to see, just ruins. The only thing that she though odd was all the metal objects piled up by the big sliding door.

"Why is are those piled like that? I better ask Lisa about them." Sadie thought leaving a mental note.

Eventually she wandered closer to the dam. She hadn't looked over the edge yet and she felt her curiosity drawing her to the edge. Giving in she leaned against the concrete railing and peeked over. It was far higher than she thought!

The sight of the huge flat wall of the dam, standing tall over the muddy river below was fascinating. The water came out from three pipes, but mainly from the spillway right in its middle. The broad spillway had a tenge of green algae mixed under the muddy water and this added to the dam’s bland tan color making it less boring. There were two additional places water was flowing out from the dam. One was a pipe, one of many, far below, just above the river’s surface. The other water flow location was an old fish ladder, where fish would travel upriver to migrate. The water falls and pools of the fish ladder gave a lazy feel to the scene.

The river itself dazzled in the bright sunlight. Several large sailboats dotted its surface leaving long foamy white V-shaped trails behind them in the water. Others were docked and loading or unloading cargo. Even though this town seemed dead, the dock showed that life was still being brought here.

The wind picked up briefly, coming from down river and climbing up the dam’s walled surface. The faint sound of lots of booms flittered into Sadie's ears as it did.

"Are those… gun shots?" Sadie murmured. She strained to hear the booms better. "They sound like they are coming from the eastern part of town on the other side of the river."

Though interested, she knew that there was no way for her to find out. As far as she could tell there was no easy way across. Also, why would she go towards gunshots? Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she turned to head back to get the water and take it to Lisa.

…

"Quick, get some bandages! We need to stop the bleeding!" The first sailor called out.

They had roused the crew of the modest sailboat and fished Zane's limp body from the water. They did what they could to stop up the bleeding, but that was all they could do. Zane was still unconscious, so they had no idea what had happened. However, they had a suspicion.

The eastern part of town to their right had broken out into a frenzy of gunfire for a long time as they were traveling upriver. It was likely the man they found was a victim of whatever was going on over there. Yet the wounded man didn't look like he had been shot, but rather mauled by some animal.

"Let's take him to shore with us." The Sailboat Captain said to the crew. "We can find a doctor or someone and leave him there. Whatever happened to him is not our concern. If we get caught with him, we to might get wrapped up in whatever is going on over there."

The crew members agreed. They were all simple river boat traders. Only a few of them had weapons for just in case bandits or creatures might attack the sailboat. This man ultimately wasn't worth the trouble. Saving his life was the right thing to do, but that was all they were concerned with.

They were headed for the last main dock that anyone could travel to on the river. Any further was the dam. No boats traveled north past the dam. At least as far as they knew.

They were transporting food goods and soaps to sell to the Mad Dog gangsters and locals in the area. How the gang had the money to keep them coming to sell more, they never asked. As long as they got money it didn't matter.

They wouldn't be much longer before they arrived. The second sailor patted the unconscious Zane's chest. "Don't worry. We are almost there, buddy. Don't die on us yet. It's bad luck to die after being saved from the river you know."

…

Sadie had brought the now cooler pot down into the dam’s tunnel. She found Lisa, filthy, and surrounded by various metal parts that were scattered all over the floor. What they were or where they came from Sadie was totally clueless.

"I boiled the water and brought it back." Sadie called out to Lisa. Lisa was banging on a rusty bolt and its noise echoed annoyingly in the concrete tunnel.

Lisa's head popped up hearing Sadie's voice. "Oh, that was fast. Didn't think you would be back so soon." Lisa replied. She wiped at some sweet on her cheek and left a gross black smear behind.

Sadie saw it and cringed. "You just took a bath in the river and now your absolutely filthy! Do you have any idea what that stuff even is?"

"Ya, it's lubricant." Lisa said giving a shrug. "I can always wash of again. Something like this isn't all that bad. I have been in much worse."

"I'll just take your word for it." Sadie replied giving a sigh while putting to pot off to the side to continue cooling.

"Well since you’re back grab that notebook. I have a few things to list." Lisa said pointing at the notebook on the table surrounded by the manuals.

Giving an audible sigh Sadie picked up the notebook. Lisa immediately started naming various things she needed. "Let's see, I need Dry Ice Cleaner, lubricants for the shaft and Rotor, then I need…"

It took several minutes for Lisa to finally list off all the parts and issues that needed to be fixed. Several times Sadie had to stop her so she could get the spelling right or ask what exactly the things were. Lisa was happy to explain them and all Sadie could do was nod her head as if she was comprehending what Lisa was prattling on about.

"Good Lord, this is what I must sound like when I am talking about the MFA to people." Sadie thought slightly embarrassed.

Before Lisa could go on, Sadie interrupted, "I saw several boats bringing stuff on shore. Do you think they might have some of this stuff you need?"

"I doubt it." Lisa said thinking briefly. Then she looked around at the mess surrounding her. "But I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a break and check. I might be able to find someone to order the stuff from."

Sadie had also brought two thermoses before coming down into the dam. She filled them up with the still cooling water for the two of them to drink. Even though the water was warm, in the chilly tunnel it wasn't all that bad. They were even able to warm their chilled hands on them at the same time.

After getting everything ready they headed back up top. Lisa quickly washed off her face and arms best she could in the river. Her face ended up looking fine, but her forearms and hands had been lightly stained black. Though it didn’t bother Lisa one bit. Then once Lisa had put on her coffin backpack, the two were ready to go.

It wasn't a very long walk to the docks closest to the dam. Leaving the facility behind, they went down the road past two blocks of storage units, before turning down to the river. There were several dozen people already coming and going from the docks by the time they arrived.

Just as Lisa had expected there was nothing worth her time to look over. It was all simple items and necessities for people to survive on in the dismal town. Additionally, none of the boat Captains she spoke with dealt in the kinds of things she needed for the dam’s reconstruction. She needed to probably find some connection that would be willing to trade those rare materials out here to the middle of nowhere. That was going to cost money. Something she had far too little of.

"I guess Frank Sellers is my only bet at this point." Lisa thought to herself. Then speaking to Sadie, who was looking at some fancy looking reed baskets, "You ready to go back? I don't see anything we need for the moment."

"We can't go just yet. Let's find some beds to buy. No offense, but I want to sleep separately tonight." Sadie said apologetically, but still serious.

"Ha-ha, alright fair enough. I am already tired of those old couches anyway." Lisa said as the two turned to keep looking. Then some commotion ahead caught her attention. "What going on over there?"

There was a large crowd starting to form around a sailboat that had just arrived at the dock. From here Lisa could hear several people calling out for help and a doctor.

"Let's hurry." Lisa said picking up the pace. "Sounds like there is trouble up ahead."

"Alright, I am coming. Slow down some." Sadie complained while trying to keep up.

When Lisa pushed her way through the crowd, she saw what was going on. There was a man being carried off the boat on a stretcher. His shirt had been removed revealing a nasty looking wound and fearsome bruises wrapping across his torso. From what she could see no one was able to come forward and help the sailors out.

"Well, looks like I need to put my field training to work." Lisa thought to herself. Taking off her coffin she opened it to pull out her medical kit.

"What are you going to do now?" Sadie asked watching Lisa.

"I am going to try and help out. No one else seems capable." Lisa replied re-shouldering the coffin. "Hey, I have some medical things. Let me take a look at him." Lisa shouted and headed towards the injured man.