Two. Four. No, five.
Five people were scouring the area. They must have heard that this was where I hid my rations. Someone must have spotted me a few days before. Rationing Day was three days ago. It happened weekly, and we had to go to the Public Store in Zone A to pick up our weekly food and oxygen supplies.
These rascals must have thought I wouldn't guard this area in the middle of the week, as I usually didn't. But it was different this time. Since Rationing Day, I'd felt someone following me. Judging by their sloppy methods of hiding and stalking, I guessed they were just hungry commoners.
"Have you found it yet?" one of them asked in a muffled voice.
They were searching for my supplies - food or oxygen, both of which were essential.
In Zone E, where the poorest inhabitants resided, fighting for supplies was inevitable. With most households having over three individuals, the weekly rations supplied by the government were insufficient to satiate everyone's hunger. Consequently, thievery and robbery had become commonplace.
"No," replied another individual, who was further away from me. The rest echoed the same response.
They were growing impatient. "Darn it! Where did she hide it?"
I had to applaud their courage for putting a target on my back. Me, one of the Monsters in Genesis. I could sense their desperation. Just look at those flabby arms. Did they come from other zones? What were they doing here? Furthermore, they were holding the knife incorrectly. How could they even think of fighting against me, let alone winning?
"Are you sure she hid it here?"
"Yes! I risked my life following her. Do you think I would have come here if I wasn't 100% sure?"
"Alright."
They wouldn't be able to find my supplies. I grew up in this area and knew every nook and cranny. The farther from the Public Store, the worse the air became. Zone E was at the end of Genesis, where the dust was so thick that it was often called the Copper Zone.
But they didn't seem familiar with these conditions. They wouldn't even notice a giant door right under their feet.
"Hey, shouldn't we go back now? Let's return tomorrow. Maybe we'll have better luck."
"Are you kidding me? What about my kids at home? If my husband hadn't disappeared like that, I wouldn't even step into this crazy zone."
"Why are you acting so cocky, woman? You should be grateful that I even want to help you."
"Help me? You get 80% of the rations. How is that helping me? You're just using me to get better weapons, right?!"
"Stop! Guys, we're not here to fight. We have to find that girl's supplies."
The female in the group glared at the biggest man.
I learned something else from their conversation. She must have come from Zone A or B, which had access to advanced weapons, unlike other zones that didn't have legal access to them. We built our own.
"Why do we have to take Tesla's supplies, anyway? Aren't there a lot of other households we could rob?"
"Her mom is a medicine brewer. Rumor says she multiplied their rations, and now she had triple of what a normal household has."
"But her mom is weak, so she couldn't afford to hide the supplies at home. That would be an easy target every time she's away."
At first, I was planning to wait until they got tired and left on their own. But the talk about my mother irked me. I jumped out from behind an abandoned, rusty automobile.
My footsteps were light. Only top fighters could identify my position as I moved around. I swiftly paced to the left and right, drawing closer to the group. The first one I could reach was the biggest guy. I slid the knife built into my glove to the man's popliteal fossa.
"Ack!"
That sudden attack caught him off guard. He fell to the ground, and I took the chance to break his arms.
"What's that?" someone shouted.
THUD!
"Jule? Is that you? Are you okay?"
A skinny man appeared from the fog, falling down in surprise. I stepped on his shin hard, breaking it, while the commotion grew as more people wailed in fear.
Taking advantage of the chaos, I grabbed two people standing close to each other, one of them being the female, and wrapped my arms around their necks. I kicked the man's back and swung the female towards their automobile, knocking her down. Returning to the man on my arm, I punched his face several times, causing him to gush out blood inside the gas mask.
The last one was the fastest and most perceptive of them all.
"You're not a Monster, are you?" I dashed forward and extended my arm.
He dodged it well. "Nah. I'm just a kid. Let me go, please? I wouldn't dare fight one of the 10 strongest fighters in Genesis."
10 strongest fighters a.k.a the Monsters.
I stood still, trying to listen for his steps, but there was only silence. "Huh! You think you can fool me? I can spot talent when I see it."
He let out a short laugh. "Who, me? I'm flattered. But really, I just got involved with the wrong crowd. That's all."
"No way. You're trained." I took a wide step to the right and almost touched him, but I missed. "You should have been in charge of tailing me. You'd have done a much better job than the sucker you chose. I'd still be clueless if it were you."
When a part of the fog cleared, I saw his smiling eyes. What the heck?!
"Then that would be no fun, don't you think?"
And then he vanished. I searched the area for a long time but couldn't find him. I gave up and dragged the injured people away on a cart. While moving them, I gave them a piece of advice. "This is for your own good, alright? Don't ever go near that place again. Next time, I won't be so kind." Then I left them in the middle of the road.
If there was one good thing that came out of this incident, it was that I got spare parts from their automobile. Honestly, the vehicle had good parts, but the assembly was sloppy. My automobile could function much better with worse parts than theirs.
I walked home with a big question in my head. Who was that boy? The last thing he said, told me that he wasn't there for the supplies. There must be something else that he wanted.
I entered the residential gate, which was unreadable now because of the dust. Then I opened the door and took the manual elevator down. My home was on the twentieth floor under the ground. Houses in Zone E were cheap, but it was even cheaper for houses on lower grounds.
"I'm home," I announced myself as I unlocked the door.
But, as expected, my mom wasn't alone at this time of day. The twins were also there. I smiled at them both, happy to see their faces. They were the closest thing I had to family, and I cherished them deeply.
"Aidan. Nadia."
To be continued...