Sam, Queen of the Gutter Rats, felt a flicker of irritation toward Scat, though she knew he wasn’t to blame. She hadn’t warned him what the pharmacist might demand in trade. The man was unpredictable, sometimes picky, other times needlessly cruel. Scat, unaware of the risks, had laid everything he owned on the counter: every last coin and a battered old pocket watch, his hands trembling slightly as he hoped it would be enough.
Scat was desperate to find medicine for Tony. The old mall was a ruin, collapsed ceilings, shattered glass, and the smell of rot hanging in the air. No one went there anymore, not unless they were out of options or out of their mind. People said only the desperate or the doomed walked through its doors. But Sam insisted it would be fine. They were going through the back way, a more direct route to the pharmacist.
Scat was desperate. Tony was burning up, barely able to move, and antibiotics were his only hope.
There was only one person he could turn to and that person was Sam.
Sam, known on the streets as the “Queen of the Gutter Rats”, had more than earned her title. If something needed to be found, bartered for, or quietly lifted, Sam was the one who could make it happen.
She listened to Scat’s story in silence, arms crossed, one brow raised.
“I can help you get medicine,” she said finally. “I know a guy… but it’s gonna cost you.”
She hesitated, then added, “He’s inside the mall. Meet me there in two hours, I’ve got an errand to run first.”
Scat choked. “Inside the mall?” He stared at her. “You want to go into the mall?”
Everyone had heard the scary stories. People who went into the mall didn’t come out the same… if they came out at all. Sane people stayed far away from that place.
But Sam just shrugged, already turning away.
“Two hours,” she said over her shoulder, then vanished down the alley.
We moved Tony from the basement up to the admin hallway. He is not doing well. His eye seems to be better, but his stomach is extremely bloated and painful to the touch. He isn’t holding any food done but we are insisting that he drink water. I honestly don’t know if this is doing any good or if it is doing harm, but I heard once that you shouldn’t let people get dehydrated.
Marty, Gretchen and Cecilia have headed out to the main library to do some research on Tony’s condition. With any luck they will come back with some answers on what we should do to help him. In the meantime, the kids are taking turns sitting with Tony and trying to keep him comfortable.
Madie
I went to the market plaza today to see if I could find a pair of new shoes (old shoes). The ones I have are coming apart at the seams. I couldn’t find any I could fit my feet into. I guess I will wear these a little longer.
Madie
I Dreamt about being home again last night. I swear I could almost feel and smell the clean sheets. It felt like a weekend. One of those mornings when you had a great nights sleep. A familiar smell wakes you. My mom was in the kitchen making her famous biscuits. I miss those biscuits. I miss the strawberry jam. I don’t know what woke me from my dream but it was a let down when I realized it wasn’t real.
Madie
I take back the “I’m bored” thing. We held a meeting tonight to discuss what could be done about our missing fuel. The consensus was nothing. Asking for the fuel back wasn’t an option, taking the fuel back wasn’t an option, although two people who shall remain nameless thought, we should storm central and take it back. Can you say Matt and Jonas. This was voted down because of the possibility of casualties, on our side. We decided to install a security detail during the night hours. Everyone over the age of 12 would be required to keep watch at two-hour intervals. Our resources are few and we don’t need to be losing anything else. We have strength in numbers, and we can protect ourselves when necessary.
At the meeting we also discussed the up-and-coming festival. Like last year we plan to have a feast, music and games. The Journal club will be putting up fliers to announce the event to the community. Everyone is invited, except for central of course. With luck they won’t grace us with their presence at this year’s event.
Madie
There’s trouble in bear country.
Scat came running down the admin hall before sunup this morning yelling at the top of his lungs. “Get up, Get up. They took our fuel. They took our fuel. “
I jumped off the couch and tackled him in the hallway. “Ok, Ok, Ok, we get the point.” I yelled back.
By this time everyone residing in the admin hall was awake and standing in the hallway. Sleepy eyes everywhere and no one was in a very joyful mood.
Scat tried to squirm out of my hold. “Tony, …Tony’s hurt. They beat him up.”
Tony is our engineer. He lives in the basement. He has been my friend (sort of) since before the world turned upside down. We didn’t run in the same circles, but we had several classes together. He always asked my opinions on homework assignments. I used to wish he would ask me out on a date. Unfortunately, he was dating a cheerleader. He isn’t very socialable these days, but he is very good at fixing and maintaining whatever we break.
I ordered Scat to stay put in the admin hallway and grabbed some muscle. When I say muscle, I am referring to Matt and Jonas. We headed toward the basement.
The basement was a mess, and Tony was slumped against the far wall holding his stomach, bleeding from his head, and his left eye was swollen shut. Tony made an attempt to open his good eye as soon as he heard us coming. He adjusted the way he was leaning against the wall and let out a cry of pain.
“I tried to reason with them.” Tony spit out a mouth full of blood. “They took all of our fuel. Oh Geez! I hurt.”
Tony said it was Central. I honestly was not surprised. They have been giving us trouble for ages.
The Central Bobcats were from the East end of Lafayette Blvd we lived on the west. We were rivals in football, basketball and volleyball. Our bands competed against each other in competitions before the world was turned upside down. The big difference between central and us is that we are not a bunch of thieves and bullies. The leader of the Central bobcats is a former high school wrestling champ. He is mean and leads by fear and regularly has his goons beat up people for fun. The kids call him the hulk after the comic book character. He doesn’t barter for what he needs. He has his goons take what he wants.
Scat is such a tiny little guy. I yelled at him for leaving the admin hallway. He gets into more trouble.
Scat glared back at me. “Tony didn’t try to stop them. They beat him up afterwards.”
I looked at Tony and he just nodded in agreement.
At that moment, Matt and Jonas both blew a gasket and started ranting a raving about getting even. Love these guys but they get hot under the collar fast and don’t always think things thru…
We have some big guys in Bear Country, but we are not a match for the goons at Central.
I finally found a new journal to write in. I found it at the plaza. I paid a hefty price. But I desperately needed something to write my thoughts down in. You would think that a person living inside a school building would have access to paper. Not in this school. Except for the stash the journal club keeps under lock and key, the only paper in this school is the student records. This paper of course is already written on and serves no useful purpose to me.
Madie
I woke up early this morning. I didn’t sleep very well last night. I kept thinking about what Tony said to me yesterday. By the way he is now avoiding me. I tried to talk to him this morning but he wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. To get my mind off things I went to the plaza to see if I could find another pair of shoes. No shoes, but I did run in to a kid with a very well trained dog. They were doing some amazing tricks and entertaining the crowd. The dog listened so well. And then a couple of central goons showed up. They enjoy causing trouble and as usual they did. They started tossing trash at the dog and pushing around his owner. I wanted to see the dog eat one of them. They would have deserved it. Unfortunately, the dog was well trained and didn’t attack but he did display an impressive display of I am going to eat your heart out if you don’t leave my owner alone. With help from the crowd the central goons crawled away in disgrace.
I can feel trouble in the air. The Central Bobcats continue to make life difficult. I heard that the hulk is recruiting goons. I need to organize a meeting with the town leaders to see if we can do something about Central. Unfortunately, people are getting more and more afraid. People like to look the other way when it doesn’t involve them. I have a feeling this is going to involve the whole town soon.
Madie