When I woke up, Eden was gone, already. I'll have to make sure to thank her later. What time is it? I looked around and saw a digital clock on the nightstand next to the bed. It read "3:47 pm" Still a few hours of daylight left. I should go have a look around, learn some more about this place.
I hopped out of bed and stretched before heading out and into the plaza. I looked around and honestly had no idea where to start. It was all kinda overwhelming. It was the first time in years I had been surrounded by so many people at once.
All the voices were drowning out my thoughts, and causing my heart to practically jump out my chest. The more I looked around, it seemed like the more people popped up. I felt surrounded.
I was starting to panic as a voice called out to me "Hey Carly!" Immediately I snapped back and turned around to see Toro coming towards me with a smile on his face
"Well if it isn't my favorite outsider. Not an outsider anymore, though. Right? Congratulations on your new home, you'll love it here. Hey, are you okay? You look kinda, I don't know, out of it."
I took a deep breath before giving a soft smile back "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. I was just, uh, just taking a look around. No idea where to start, though. There's so much. I haven't seen this kinda environment since before the incident. I just got used to being alone, I guess. Bit overwhelming."
He looked at me for a second before smiling and putting his hand on my shoulder "Don't you worry, I know this place like the back of my hand. I'll happily show you around. Come on, I'll show you the food spots. Which we're conveniently pretty much already standing in the middle of. Alright, check this out. To your immediate left is Mr. Chang's spot, Hun Xing. I'm a thousand percent sure I said that wrong, but you get the idea, Chinese food, and next to him is my Uncle Hector, he's got the best mexican food you could dream of. To the right is Vinny and his wife Carmen. Vinny is, as I'm sure you guessed, italian, but Carmen is black, so they've got this cool ass Italian, soul food, theme. It's so good, man. Fuck I want a cannoli. They've got a sweet potato filled one. My mouths watering thinking about it."
"Well I guess I know your favorite place to eat." I said, and we both laughed a bit "You caught me. Guilty as charged. Next to them you got JD's Donuts. It says donuts, but it's actually like a cafe, slash bakery. Dope place, always has music going on in the background. And then there's Doughboy. He runs the grocery store right on the corner there. That's it at the moment for the food court, but we're always expanding, so within the next couple years I'm willing to bet there's gonna be at least three more places. But hey, maybe I can take you on a date sometime."
And he likes me. Great. I awkwardly smiled at him and said "Uh, yeah. Sure thing. What, uh, what else is there around here. Where's that black smoke coming from, over there?" I asked, trying to move on from the subject fast as I could.
Toro whipped his head around and replied "Ahh. That's the weapon Smith, Will. He's busy at work I'm sure, but I can go show you his place. Follow me."
The closer we got, the more I could hear the battle between metal, as his hammer hit hot steel. Embers filled the air, passing by me, as we arrived at the weapon Smith. It was a grisly looking man. A long beard, with dreads tied to the back, down his back, skin like bronze, and muscles of a warrior. He was absorbed in his work, not even acknowleding us as we walked up.
"Yeah, I figured he'd be busy. He's building something for David, right now. Some kinda sword or something.
Well, I can take you to see Sarge, she provides the guns around here. Before all this she was a Sergeant in the military, retired, and got into arms dealing. She was the number one provider, selling to people like the police, and even the military. Oh, and she's kinda a nut job, so be ready."
As we walked I noticed Toro's hands were shaking, and I could hear him mumbling something under his breath When we arrived, Toro stopped at the door and took a deep breath, like he was trying to compose himself. Once again he said to himself, a bit clearer now "You've got this. Don't let her push you around. You're the big dog. Alright, let's do this."
Toro burst through the door and bellowed out "Hey Sarge. Got someone new in town, figured you'd like to meet her. Maybe. I don't know. Don't kill me." The last part was said under his breath so I could barely hear him.
Another voice, from the back yelled back, with much more authority, and assertiveness "We're still just letting any old yellow belly, wet ear, inside!? I've told David a million times he's gonna get someone seriously hurt doing that!"
A woman walked from out back. She was dressed down in combat boots, camouflage pants, and a tank top. Her hair was fiery red, and tied back in a ponytail, falling just past her shoulders. She had a demanding demeanor, that I could feel even from all the way over there. I felt like standing at attention and saluting her.
We locked eyes and I could feel my body freeze up. As she stormed towards me I tried my best to remain composed, in the face of what felt like sure death.
She stopped right on front of me and said "And who do we have here? A pretty little thing like yourself was living out in the shit, huh?" She circled around me as she talked, looking me up and down. It was pretty uncomfortable. "How long were you out there, huh? You know how to protect yourself, or do you just weasel your way by, getting lucky? Just from the looks of you, I'm not giving you much credit. I know looks can be deceiving, though. So tell me why I should give a rats ass, about you. What makes you worth my time?"
I started to wonder if she was right. Was I worth it? I still didn't think too much of myself, really. Honestly I still felt like I was just lucky.
Then I remembered what David said, and repeated it back to her, with my eyes shut tight and fist balled up at my sides "Luck runs out in about a year. Look, I don't think I'm some hot shot, but I can get by on my own. I've been doing it for five years. If it's any consolation, David himself asked me to try out for the MKE'S." At that moment, they both whipped their heads towards me, with shocked looks on their faces.