Fighting Back

Chapter One

"Uhh get the crackers too!" Bram said excitedly as he continued to keep watch over the abandoned store.

"Like I could forget it, it's literally the only thing you talk about," I whispered to the raccoon, who flipped me off with his tiny hand. Most of the stores in the city had become desolate, as people had run out of town. Though on the other hand that made it possible for hungry people like me, to steal whatever was leftover when the owners fled out of the city. I stuffed the box of crackers inside my backpack with the rest of the food we had scored, before closing it up and throwing it over my shoulder. "Is the coast clear?" I asked, knowing just how easily Bram got distracted whenever food was involved.

"Don't you think I can keep lookout at a window without you checking up on me, I swear to God-" Bram suddenly stopped talking, and I knew that I was right. "Fuck, West Side looters are entering at the bottom level." I somehow managed to keep in an angry outburst and instead ran to the window where Bram was sitting, in the process getting my can of spray paint out. I tagged the wall next to the window with the seal of illusion. If the looters didn't know that there was a window, then they wouldn't know where I had run to, or who was taking what they saw as theirs.

Looters weren't usually dangerous, most just wanting to be left in peace. When it came to groups that was usually a different story. Specifically, when it came to the good people from the West Side I knew where I stood. Meaning they wanted me to pay for having fucked them over on a previous agreement. To be fair, they were the ones dumb enough to trust me. You should never trust someone from the Lower East End, everybody knows that.

I jumped out of the window and onto the slightly unstable scaffolding outside, using it to get over to the next building, before grabbing the drainpipe there, and using it to slide down to the ground. "One of these days you're going to get yourself killed," Bram piped in, preferring to cling to my head instead of actually moving himself. I was now safely on the ground and immediately began to make my way through the city.

"Trust me, my climbing skills are the least likely to get me killed in this city." I was unfortunately right about that sentiment, New York had become increasingly dangerous over the last few years after the war. Those with common sense and the finances to act on it, had moved far away a long time ago. Leaving behind those who didn't have any other choice but to stay.

"Aggie! Could I interest you in any of these gorgeous charms?" Ricky yelled as I passed him on the street corner, where he had had his shop for the past thirty years, though I had only been around for twenty-two to see it. "It's quality stuff!" I could practically hear Bram roll his eyes above me, and I just kept on walking, mumbling a:

"I'm sure it is."

Turning the corner, I got into the thick of the market place. A lot of the streets had shut down, no one could afford cars any way. People turned to illegal activity to survive, meaning that wherever you looked, something shady was going on. Whether it was prostitution, illegal animals, weapons, drugs or potions, you could find it in a New York market. "Simone!" I called as soon as I saw the messy looking blonde, who was in the middle of an argument with some man.

"Now you get out of here you piece of shit!" She yelled as the man threw his hands up in frustration before walking off. "Thinks he can come here and steal my stuff, motherfucker," she grumbled before turning back to me.

"Everything alright?" I asked taking my backpack off to grab her order, mean whilst Bram crawled off me and got onto the display table where he began looking through the variety of weapons Simone offered.

"Just some dipshit who thinks he can get some now and pay me off later, what? Do I look like a fucking library?" Even I had to admit that that man must have been a complete moron to think that anyone here would fall for that. Guess desperate times calls for desperate measures.