City of Fire and Ink

You Always Cheat

"If you don't pass me that energy drink, then I'm going to crack open your skull and eat your brains on toast."

"It's coming, it's coming." Rowan stifled a yawn. The lack of sleep was getting to all of us. We'd been patrolling for several days straight, without breaks. We'd successfully protected the safehouse, but that just meant that the Cobras could focus their strategy elsewhere. Once they'd realized that they couldn't destroy the cure at the source, they'd decided to make it as difficult as possible for us to distribute it.

Crammed in the back of the armored transport with us was fifteen crates of yeonghan extract. There was never enough to go around. We'd brought as much as we could with us, and everytime, we ran out.

The Nostras were in charge of setting up emergency clinics. Mostly, we chose the poorer areas. Pardahna prided itself on economic equity, but there were still some areas that fell through the cracks. Anyone was welcome to show up at the clinics, but they had to make it through Cobra attacks first.

That's where the catacombs came in. In addition to the aboveground clinics, the light rails became safe havens for underground clinics. Aisha and a select team of Nostas began diverting light rail routes so that they led to extra lines where we set up the makeshift clinics. I didn't even realize that it was legal. The gangs had been using light rails for as long as they'd been around. The only stipulation in Pardahnan law was that any gang use of light rails could not interfere or endanger the daily routes of ordinary citizens.

Aisha circumvented that problem easily enough through the Notstra's main information hub. For those who wanted the cure, we'd send them a link to a clinic or for those who were too scared to leave the house, we went to their home and delivered the cure ourselves. We'd installed emergancy implants in major light rail stations. The implants would direct people to the train they needed to get on, often changing the route if it interfered with one of the lightrails switched to bring people to the emergency clinics.

The difficult part had been making sure that transport time stayed the same. If the transport time was altered in any significant way, then we were in trouble. Luckily, Dominic had been using alternate routes to smuggle liquor for years, so we were able to use some of those prearranged networks. Aisha had friends in the Consulate- I knew that she had a background in politics, but I had yet to need someone important that she wasn't connected to, at least indirectly.

The last problem was security. For people who were too scared to go to an aboveground clinic, they could just ask for an underground one. That would be an easy way for Cobras to sneak in and just blow the entire operation. Orion was in charge of security, screening dozens of people a day and so far, it seemed to be working.

Right now, we were on our way to Edna Guzman's house. As a show of goodwill, the Presiding Leader of the Consulate had donated her private residence to be used as a clinic. For the time being, she'd taken up residence in a nearby hotel, which she still insisted on paying for. Naturally, when the Cobras found out about it, they were furious. Dominic himself lent Edna his personal security team to ensure the Cobras didn't try anything. I know that they'd already threatened the primary school where she grew up, her mother, and the residence hall she'd lived in in university. Thanks to Dominic, none of those threats had come to fruition.

Or maybe they were just threats, I wasn't sure. Gang warfare was commonplace, and even though Edna tehcnially represented the Nostras, as presiding leader of the Consulate, she was untouchable. The Cobras could threaten all they wanted, but if they assassinated her, then it would just be the final nail in their coffin.

"Everyone's been screened. No word from the Cobras just yet. What do you think they'll try today?" Orion rubbed his eyes.

"I don't care." Ayofemi's head dropped between his legs. He was already on his third energy drink of the day and from the looks of him, he'd probably need a fourth. "Being a doctor is hard enough when there isn't a raging pandemic. I can't focus on saving my patient's lives if I'm focused on staying alive."