Raina gently tucked the phone into her pocket as she glanced back at the apartment, a voice urging at her to take them up on their offer and stay to enjoy the warmth of the Jones whilst another voice pulled her away to focus on why she was here in the first place.
Taking on final glance, Raina decided to head towards the area a few blocks away where Mr Jones had witnessed the kidnapping. The streets were bare and barren as usual, the houses empty except for the light source which shone through each window. The concrete pavements were all slightly cracked as Raina walked past each building, her eyes scanning for any movements as she caught sight of an intact dark blue car parked across the street, right in front of the sliding glass door of a convenience store. The engine of the car was turned off, but the strange thing was that it was the only vehicle she had seen since she first arrived in Richard Wilson's territory.
Turning her attention to the convenience store instead, Raina quickly crossed the road, silently kneeling at the corner of the building, away from the sight of anyone wanting to go in or out.
Two voices slightly audible echoed out from behind the wall,
"Dude, that sandwich's mouldy. Get something else,"
"What else is there? It's all been raided."
"Is there any more of that tinned stuff?"
"Nah. All gone."
"Fuck. Can't we just buy some from The Market?"
"No dude. We've already agreed to this. We're saving our money for the auction."
"Fine. Fine. How about that last can of Coke then? It's in the fridge. Should be fine, right?"
"Just take it... We'll go check out another territory after the auction's over."
Raina slowly stood up as she heard them mention the auction, an idea flashed in her mind.
Stepping out, she pressed the phone on her ear as she walked towards the entrance,
"Yes, I'm at the store. Just tell me what you need," Raina said, entering and heading towards a random row of shelves, "It's like you said. Most of it's gone."
"Dude," The two men suddenly whispered and nudged each other, quickly hid behind the shelf, quietly staring at Raina, "Dude, Dude,"
"I know!" The other whispered back excitedly,
"Alright, I'll call you back later," Raina said, putting away the phone as she took out the single box of band-aids from the shelf,
"Go do your thing," one of the men whispered,
"I know. I know," the other one grumbled back, turning around and walking straight to Raina, "Hey Lady, today's just not your luck,"
He raised his hand as it glowed a light orange, "[Hold]"
A slight pressure suddenly fell upon her as she felt something weighing her body, not enough to actually stop her from moving, but Raina's eyes widened as she dropped the box, pretending to be paralysed,
"What-? What are you doing!? Stop!" She shouted, desperately attempting to mace her arms.
"Dude, get her in," The guy quickly called over to his associate, grabbing a string of rope to bind her hands behind her back as they dragged and threw her into the back of the car parked outside,
"Dude! Dude! We got our jackpot!" They screamed as they hopped into the front, "Come on! To the auction house! Let's go!"
The engine growled alive as they slammed the gas pedal, sending the vehicle flying forward with Raina at the back.
"How far is it?"
"10 more minutes. Give or take."
"Alright. Just drive faster,"
"Stop rushing me, dude. We've already secured our prize."
The roaring of the wind rushed past and the voices of the two amateur kidnappers rang out as Raina slowly drifted to sleep.
"I think this is it," A voice finally said after a few more minutes of driving, the car slowing down, stopping a few metres away from a giant grey and red building, "How much was the registration free again?"
"Uh, $550,"
"Damn. Alright," one of them sucked in a breath of cold air as he counted through his cash, "We've just got enough,"
"Think of it as an investment,"
"I know, I know. Get the girl out of the boot. We're heading in,"
The boot door swung open as Raina let out a small yawn, looking around her as she felt herself being picked up and thrown over one of the men's shoulders. To her dismay, she watched her new phone fall out of her pocket and drop back into the boot as they shut it.
"What are you doing? Let go of me!" Raina flailed around, wiggling around as she tried to free herself,
"[Hold]," The man cast once more as Raina stopped moving, is if a pressure was forcing her muscles to stay still.
"H-Hello sir, a-are you here to buy or sell?" A nervous young girl in her mid-teens, wearing a formal black dress welcomed them to the building, a small black collar around her neck.
"Selling," They replied, the girl directed her attention to Raina with a hint of pity before looking away and pointing to her right.
"That way please," Heading down the golden hallway with bright crimson carpet, a large white double door with glass windows presented itself at the end,
"Hello, gentleman," A low voice suddenly called out as a young man wearing an expensive black and red accented tuxedo stepped out from behind the door,
"Hey, we came to sell," They tossed Raina to the ground as they handed the wad of cash to the man,
"Perfect," He smiled, taking and quickly counting the cash before walking over to Raina for a quick examination, "Has she been trained?"
"Yes," They lied, hoping to increase her profitability,
"I see," The man said as he glanced at the two nervous men in front of him with a look clearly knowing they were lying, "The auction shares the profit of each sale, 7 to 3. We take the 3 of course, is that alright with you?" He continued anyway,
"Perfect," They nodded
"In that case, please sign this contract and come back in 2 days when the auction begins. As a seller, you each receive a free ticket to sit in during the auction. Just come back after the auction concludes to receive your profits." He handed them a clipboard with a piece of paper and two tickets clipped on.
"Awesome!" They quickly signed with a grin, ripping the tickets right off as they basically skipped out the door with glee.
"Please, come inside," The man then turned to Raina, opening one side of the giant white double door,
"Where am I?" Raina whispered as she continued to sit on the floor with a confused expression,
"Please, come inside," He repeated, articulating his words without acknowledging her question, his face not expressing a single emotion.
With no choice but to comply, Raina stood up and entered,
"What-?" Her mouth widened as she glanced around.
The previous pristine white marble walls decorated with red and gold had completely disappeared as if walking straight out of an illusion. Instead, the cracked and moss inhabiting cobblestone walls surrounded her, the small dangling light flickering on the ceiling as the feeble strings which held it up looked centuries old, threatening to snap at any minute. But the most important were the giant human-sized cages scattered around the room. Each was filled with skeletal-like girls of all ages.
"Get in," The man suddenly spoke, a loud creaking sound as he opened a cage door with an old janky wooden sign with the hand labelled words 'Unprocessed' hung on the cage bars.
Raina did as she was told, crawling through the small gap in the cage door as she heard it bang shut behind her.
5 others sat huddled around her, all ranging from the ages of 11 to their late twenties, their clothes ragged and patched with their face sunken in from malnutrition. Their lips were chipped from dehydration.
"Hey," Raina suddenly shuffled over to the girl closest to her, "What's exactly going on here?"
The girl slowly turned to face her, her age seemed similar to Raina's albeit her appearance seemed to have aged her 20 years. Her long, dry brunette hair draped over her shoulder as her eyes slightly sunk into its socket,
"We're going to be killed, that's what," She croaked out, the light in her eyes completely dead as all hopes had long faded.
Raina slightly frowned, but before she could be asked any more questions, a door slammed open. An old man wearing a white lab coat walked out from a small room adjacent to the cage, grabbing a girl around 18 years of age by the wrist, and throwing her into a different metal cage marked with a hand-drawn 'D' above it. He then turned to Raina's cage, opening the cage door opposite where she entered,
"Let's hope you'll do better than the previous one," He muttered, grabbing the brunette by her hair and pulling her out without much resistance from the former.
The two then disappeared into the room, the door slamming shut behind them as silence once again filled the air.
Within 10 minutes, the door opened once again as the man in the lab coat walked out, the brunette in one hand as she was also thrown into the cage marked 'D'.
"Kile!" The man shouted as the one in the tuxedo peered over the corner,
"What is it?"
"I need higher quality than this. Not some dead doll-like mannequins!"
"Dr Evans," Kile, the man in the tuxedo sighed, "There's nothing I can do. There's a shortage already,"
"If every single one of them are just normal sluts with loose pussies, none of the customers and bidders are going to be satisfied with the products!"
"Dr Evan, I understand what you're saying, but it's already been 5 years into the apocalypse. I doubt there are any women that are still 'pure' out there," Kile rebutted,
"Aghh!" Dr Evan groaned in frustration grabbing his hair, "What in the world are we going to show for the final show then? I promised everyone it'll be a product of rarity!"
"There's still two more days," Kile walked over, attempting to calm Dr Evan down,
"One more day," He scowled, pointing a finger up with annoyance, "There's word that the Richard bastard knows about the auction. The sponsor wants us to get the auction done before he makes his move,"
"Damn... We'll think of something" Kile's eyebrows came closer together as he lowered his head and frowned. Suddenly his eyes widened, glancing back up and over at the 'Unprocessed' cage, "We did get a new one today, might be our lucky charm," His eyes froze on Raina and her shining blonde hair and large blue eyes, "She looks top quality. Have a check if she's final-show worthy,"
Dr Evan's eyebrows rose as he directed his attention to where Kile was staring, his eyes widened as they focused on the beauty before him, the comparison between Raina and the others around her made her look like a princess surrounded by a crowd of witches,
"She looks absolutely...perfect!" He whispered, walking over and staring at her more carefully, "Let's get you processed, why don't we."