Black Market Merchant

Earlier that same morning…

“Gah…” Nathan yawned as he addressed the scrawny man standing before him in the headquarters warehouse. “Why have you come here today?”

The scrawny man shuffled uncomfortably as he clutched the filthy hat in his hands. “W-well Mayor Dees, the last time we saw those RGS (River to Gulf Shipping) barges was when we loaded them with all the metal, and they haven’t come back yet. Weren’t we promised food and medicine in exchange for gathering the metal?”

Nathan rubbed his temples as he sat forwards in his chair. “Yes, for the hundredth time, yes we were promised those things under a contract. I have told the towns people everyday since that the RGS is coming back. Why can’t you all just be patient and wait?”

From behind the scrawny man came an incoherent mutter of complaints from the long line of townsfolk that trailed out into the warehouse’s parking lot. Lately, Nathan and the others on the ERM council had been taking complaints, questions, and dealing with civil issues to help maintain some from of government interactions with the people. They found that the people had many issues that need to be addressed, however, it was becoming clearer that the hasty formation of the ERM was unable to handle the tasks at hand. They simply lacked the power and resources to solve these growing problems with any tangible manner.

The scrawny man raised a gnarled hand and gave a shrug. “We are starving, the food is almost out and what is left is being kept here by you. We are coming to our wits end. Its you people that are making us suffer now, not the gangsters!”

Nathan slammed his fist onto the table between them, be it his frustration with how things were in fact going or the accusation just given, either way he too was frustrated. “You accuse me of holding food back from the people?”

The scrawny man blinked twice and took a nervous step back. Yet he made no reply. The murmurs from the line quieted too, though the looks of preconceived guilt did not go away.

Nathan stood up and lifted his shirt to reveal his own skinny torso and ribs poking sharply out from his skin. “Does this look like someone that’s taking advantage of you by eating more than my fair share?” Hmm, no answer? No, it doesn’t. We are no better off than any of you. Still don’t believe me?”

The crowd of people then watched as Nathan stomped across the warehouse floor towards a door on the right side.

Anthony was standing behind Nathan as all this unfolded but realizing what Nathan was going to do, Anthony tried to stop him. “Mayor Dees don’t open the door. If they see what’s in there they are going to riot!”

“Anthony, they are going to find out in three days anyway. Might as well do it now, so they are prepared.” Nathan said pressing on.

Anthony stopped pursuing Nathan and turned to look nervously at the gawking crowd and bit at his thumb nail. “Come on we still have time, we could…”

However, Nathans voice drowned him out as he slung open the door to reveal two pallets of unopened box’s. “We are about to run out of food in three days. I know this is terrible news, but it is inevitable. We are now being presented with three options to get through this. One, we do the right thing and wait for the promised goods to be delivered, which it will come. Two, you all can riot steal what you can and then starve because the RGS will likely not work with an unorganized mob. After all, the contract was with us, the ERM.”

“Or three, cross the river and re-subjugate yourselves under some other gang’s rule and maybe, just maybe, they will feed you. That is if they won’t kill you during the gang war they are clearly having right now. This is the price we must pay to be free from those kinds of people, starvation is no joke, and I am clearly aware of it. Yet we defeated the Black Rats to be free! So why should we give up all that effort now when all we need to do is wait just a little longer and food will come?”

There was an unsettling silence as Nathan surveyed to crowd as if expecting an answer. Yet no one made any motions of objection. Nathan sighed and closed the door.

“Do you have anything else to ask?” Nathan asked walking back to his seat. “Or will the next person come forwards for their question?”

The scrawny man put his at back on and turned to go as another equally as wretched looking man took his place at the head of the line. “Sir, may I ask what the plan will be for jobs and income after the deal with the RGS pulls through?”

“Ah, a good question, finally.” Nathan sighed sitting back down into his seat. “That is still in the works, however, we do have some connections across the river that are very promising. There is a woman called Queen that is rebuilding the dam and producing electricity to repower the town. We already have a contract with her and its only a matter of time before we can power businesses around here. As for what will still machines still work, what to make, and who to sell to, that remains unknown.”

The man was about to ask another question when there came a sudden commotion from the back of the line. A ERM militia member was forcing his way through the crowd and doing so not all to kindly. Nathan jumped up from his seat and hurried to intercept the militia member.

“What is going on?” Nathan called out. “Have the gangsters crossed the river? Or did the fire spread over here?”

Yet the man had apparently run here and was out of breath. He could only shake his head ‘no’ as he dropped to his knees to collect himself. The line of townsfolk gathered around curious as to what was going on.

“Well, what is the matter then?” Nathan asked patiently.

“T-there are monsters, T-twisted, at the southern end of town by the bridge!” The militia man panted.

“What are you talking about? There haven't been any Twisted sightings in years.” Nathan replied.

“W-well, they are there now!” The militia man insisted. “We were out on patrol keeping watch over the southern end of town for anything that might be happening beyond the smoke cloud. For the most part all we heard was the distant sounds of gunfire from the gang war and only seen a few Mad Dogs just past the docks. Then just as we reached the base of the broken bridge I and the three others with me heard an unfamiliar noise, like a herd of buffalo were approaching. We got excited, thinking our town might be saved if it were indeed a buffalo herd and the towns food supplies would be saved. So, we climbed up the embankment to peer over the bridges guard rail.”

The militia man paused and rubbed his mouth with one hand, as if he still couldn’t believe the word’s he was about to say next. “There were hundreds of monsters running together in a hoard, all being various shapes, sizes, and colors; the likes of which we had never seen before! The stories we had been told did not do them justice. They were running along the bridge road headed for the edge of the bombed-out area on the bridge. As for why, we were not sure and like idiots we waited around to see what they were doing.”

“Then, from the center of this hoard came this big, long necked creature that walked on six legs. From the way the others moved out of its way it had to be the dominate one. The lead monster approached the bridges hole and looked towards the other side of town and then it looked towards our side. There then came a heavy rumbling, that resonated so heavily that we felt it in our chests! We should have run then, but it was too late.”

The militia man paused for a moment and Nathan could feel the tension in the room grow. Everyone was feeling tense and whatever the man was about to say was bound not to be good news. Nathan did see that Mr. Flanagan had also joined them but the militia man continued and redirected Nathans attention.

“Three long armed, octopus looking monsters wriggled towards the bridges hole and then they reached across the hole with three arms each. Once they grabbed the other side, the smallest of the creatures with huge dagger like claws poured over to the other side. They were soon followed by various large monsters once the octopus monsters had a better grip. At least two thirds of the monsters crossed the river in this manner. It was quite a sight to see!”

“Then the lead monster let out another deep rumble and the remainder of the hoard turned back towards our direction. At this point we had seen enough and started running back here. However, we were spotted only moments late. We knew we were spotted too, because the lead monster let out a vicious rumbling noise which was followed by the hoards screams. Then the whole hoard started running after us! We tried warning everyone we came across, but many were unable to react fast enough. We split up and I came back here to warn you all, while the other three hopefully are still running the streets!”

“Are the monsters still after you!” Nathan shouted as he and most of the other townspeople looked up towards the warehouse entrance.

“I-I don’t think so.” The militia man replied struggling to stand back up. “At every street I passed the monsters kept splitting up. Its like they are trying to cover as much area as they can. What are they doing here?”

Nathan looked away from the entrance relieved to see no monsters had yet appeared. However, it was Mr. Flanagan that answered the man. “They are here to eat us. Its well known that the Twisted will destroy towns leaving not a single survivor.”

The townspeople all let out a collective outburst of fearful explicative words and others immediately started running from the warehouse.

Nathan seethed within himself. “The people are already panicking. I don’t blame them, even I want to run. But where to go?”

Nathan then asked the militia man a question, doing his best to sound calm. “Is there anyone else from the ERM out their fighting them?”

The militia man shrugged. “I passed Vice Commander Orin on the way here. I didn’t stop running but it sounded like he said he was going to try fighting them off. I only saw a dozen or more ERM militia members with him.”

“Then that probably why the monsters are not here yet.” Nathan said patting the mans shoulder. “This will give us enough time to com up with a plan.”

Nathan turned from the militia man and faced the panicking townspeople. “Everyone! Everyone calm down. We still have time to figure out what to do. We will need to split up from here and warn as many people as possible as we can. There are bound to be people that don’t know about the monsters yet.”

“Oh yah? And where are we supposed to go?” Someone shouted angrily.

“We have nowhere to hide!” Another voice followed. “I heard of a town that got wiped out after hiding in a prison. We all know how defendable those places can be! If that didn’t work, what hope do we have?”

Everyone all started clamoring in fear and several others started running for the exit. Where they were going was anyone’s guess. Things were getting out of hand.

Nathan clapped his hands together until he reigned in everyone’s attention once more. “We still have a chance to get through this! We haven’t lost yet. I need the fastest of you to run out into town and get as many people as possible to run for the new road we’re building on the cliff. From there we will have a height advantage and we can hold them off there. Anthony, you run ahead and warn Gillian of the situation. I want him to be ready to handle the people coming that way. Mr. Flanagan, you stay here and direct everyone that comes this way to the cliffs. The rest of you, those willing to fight, come with me! We are going to meet up with Vice Commander Orin and try to repel the hoard. I am not going to give up without a fight!”