Blood Supermoon

7. Emerald

If I could just turn off my thoughts, will that make me feel better?

Ten miles towards the west, they come to the town of Emerald. It was a bright, commercial area that was busy with all kinds of people. There were many stands on each of the sidewalks, many markets and stores. Josandra couldn't wait to explore them all. She followed Lue's move and dismounted Buffalo.

As they passed the large, white sign with Emerald written in bold, green letters, they noticed a few men dressed in black. All of them were wearing bulletproof vests and holding armed rifles.

"Who do you think they could be?" Josandra whispered.

"They look official," Lue replied.

"Police? But that's impossible," Josandra said.

"I don't think so. I've heard of Emerald before. It's a pretty well-known town. Many people come here to do their shopping," Lue explained.

"So it brings in a lot of money for Mara?"

Lue nodded as they neared the men.

"What's in the sacks?" one of the men asked.

Before Josandra and Lue could respond, they grabbed their belongings from them and began to look through them. Josandra was about to object, but Lue stopped her with a hand. When the men were done looking, they threw it to the floor. The girls  bent down to pack their things back into their sheets. The man in front pulled out a notepad.

"State your business here," he demanded.

"We're looking for art supplies," Lue said.

"Art supplies?" the man said and his friends laughed.

"Yeah and food," Lue said.

"Do you have money?" he asked and she nodded. "How much?"

Lue only stared at him. Her expression unwavering.

"Tch, whatever. Just don't make no trouble while you're here. There's an entrance fee of $5.00 each," he said.

Josandra's shoulders drooped, "Really? An entrance fee?"

"Pay it or fuck off," he said.

Josandra jumped at his hostility. Hurriedly, she reached into her pocket and handed over a ten.

Once inside, Josandra noticed the colorful residential buildings. Many were aqua green, yellow or peach-colored with vines decorating the bottoms and roses all over the balconies. There were many art galleries and live music which fascinated Josandra. It was as though the town of Emerald was not affected by the recession at all.

"It's not fair," she said.

"What?"

"We get raided and our town is destroyed, but Emerald is doing fine because they have cops on their side. If we still had cops in Ingrich, they'd be good for nothing but abusing us. I hate the palace and this government," Josandra said.

Lue paused, looking at her strangely. It was as though she was trying to see if Josandra meant what she said.

"...I hate the palace, too," she said.  "Anyway, let's go find an art store."

After getting the high-quality paper and pens that Josandra needed, they bought bullets at one of the local markets. Discreetly, Lue filled up the cylinder and handed the pistol to Josandra, who tucked it into her hip.

"This place is loaded with troublemakers," Lue said.

"How'd you know?" Josandra asked.

"I can feel it. Plus, those cops didn't pat us down. I bet everyone in here is carrying," Lue said.