Bricks of Ash and Blood

Chapter 4: Traders

ALEX

"Hey guys." We all turned to Sarah. "Breakfast now? I'm getting hungry."

I looked around at the rest of the group. "You guys all want to eat now?" I was met with nods and shrugs. Breakfast time it was.

"There's smoke." We all turned to Sam, the quietest of the scavengers, as he looked into the distance. I turned to look, and he was right, not far from us, smoke rose above the buildings to our right. "It wasn't there before."

Jared looked to me. "Want to check it out first?"

"I guess." I shrugged. "Why not."

Sarah groaned, but we kept walking. We always made slow progress, checking corners and side streets before we advanced. The smoke was only a few hundred metres away, but it took us twenty minutes to approach.

Surrounded by buildings in the city, was a small park. This park was dotted with the bodies of children and parents alike, but siting on a park bench, were a couple huddled together. On the ground was a fire, an iron pot suspended above it. Sitting on the ground were two more people, one poking at the contents of the pot with a spoon. All four were dressed in coats, wearing gloves. Sitting next to each of them was a baseball bat, and leaning against the bench was a rifle.

They all looked up as we approached, and upon seeing the six of us, armed, they rushed to their feet, weapons at the ready. I stopped walking, we didn't want a fight. I smiled at them, pushing my axe into the hoop on my belt. "We're not looking for trouble."

None of them moved. The one with the rifle kept it pointed at my head. There were a few seconds of silence.

"We don't want no fight either. What are you doing in the city?" The one with a rifle was cautious. His voice was deep, threatening.

"We're looking for supplies. Food. Water. What about you? It's dangerous in the city, zombies lurking and all. Setting up a campsite in the middle of it isn't safe."

"We've been doing okay." He paused. "You raiders?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Just passing through." I point to his rifle. "And that's not loaded."

He frowned, and lowered the rifle. To be honest, I had no idea if the rifle was loaded, but with guns and bullets being as rare as they were, it was a good guess. "Alright." He decided. "You guys got anything to trade?"

I nodded. The scavengers beckoned us to the fire, where we sat, warming hands near the flames, beside the couple on the ground. On the bench sat the man with a rifle, a woman next to him, seemingly unnerved by the encounter. I assumed they were married. The woman opposite the fire poked at the pot with a spoon. "What do you folk looking for? We got a bit of everything, food, batteries, you name it."

I recalled what we found in the corner store. "We've got sugar, salt, chocolate, and beer."

The woman smiled at the man next to her. He looked to me. "It's been a while since we've had chocolate."

I peered into the pot, looking at a thick stew, potatoes and bacon swimming in thick liquid. I smelled delicious. It'd been ages since I'd had potatoes or bacon. "We'll take any kind of medicine you have, strong alcohol too."

The woman gave me a knowing smile. "I'll see what we've got hidden away." She reach behind her for a bag, larger than mine, it was a trekkers pack, almost as tall as Sarah. As she dug around, I peered back to the food bubbling away on the fire.

"We'll have some of that too, if you've got spare."

The scavengers started to relax, chatting to the couple on the bench, drinking from their canteens, and reaching into their bags for their food. Every scavenger was packed a cloth bag filled with food, for the day away from the school. Coarse bread, dried meat, dried fruit. Light food, packed by our cook, Chuck.