It’s Not Easy Making Money In the Apocalypse - It’s Not Easy Making Money In the Apocalypse – V5 - Chapter 1

“Twin Elms is coming up.” Tom warned.

A lot had happened since we set out on our three-day journey to Twin Elms. Tom and his merchant crew might do this journey all of the time, but such a trip was extremely stressful for me. It helped me understand the value of a safe route to travel, as well as everything Katerina had done to remain safe. After my adventure in the underground military complex beneath the hospital, I was pretty much done with the exciting life. I looked forward to a future of hiring others to take the risk for me while I remained in the comfort and safety of my base.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite there yet, and I still had many steps to go before my safety was guaranteed in this world, and my money situation was stable in my world. In the meantime, I had to do whatever it took to get there. This wasn’t just for me, but it was for my family back home, and even for the slaves and friends I had made in the wastelands of Argos City. I didn’t want anyone close to me to live an uncomfortable life if I could help it.

I looked up ahead eagerly at Tom’s announcement, but I couldn’t see the mysterious colony. Argos City wasn’t a city in my world. I had even googled it, and I could not locate a city of that size by that name. I tried street names, business names, and even cross sections, but I failed to find the equivalent from my world. Argos City would have been a major city, so it shouldn’t have been hard to find something recognizable.

Cecelia, my artificial intelligence, even managed to locate Argos City on the USA map, and although the landmass was the same, there was no major where Argos City was located in the Midwest. Argos City was a unique midwestern city from an alternative world where the cold war had led to a world war, a technological boom, followed by a mass extinction event caused by the discovery of sorcery. In an attempt to harness the power of sorcery, scientists attempted to bioengineer animals to create the power source, which led to the creation of the Mutagenesis Virus. The MGV turned animals into monsters, humans into zombies or mutants, and vegetation into low-yield shriveled-up shrubs. Thus, the end of the world followed.

The shattered survivors clumped together into small colonies, few more than a couple of hundred people. Some of the mutants also retained their minds, and formed their colonies separate and sometimes in conflict with humans. Many mutants considered humans a type of food, which only made that divide worse. That didn’t even get into the humans who decided to become raiders, throwing away law and order to live a life of drugs and death.

“Why are you looking at me?” Raven shot me a glare.

“Ah! N-nothing!” I coughed. “Have you guys ever been to Twin Elms before?”

Raven and her group were former raiders. They had joined me after the fall of Ascension, but it mostly had to do with the fact that Raven and I were dating. Well, I think we were dating. At the very least, she tied me down a few times and had her way with me. Since the hospital, when I had met that revenant girl, she had become increasingly moodier. It was good that we were reaching a place of civilization and I could get some room from her for a bit.

Raven snorted. “Of course. I’ve been to Twin Elms. You do have to sacrifice your weapons to enter though, so I don’t like going there.”

“What’s wrong with that? It sounds peaceful.”

“The guards still have all of their weapons. They all work for the Twin Elm’s councilman. He’s the true ruler there. Everyone else is defenseless. What he says, goes. It’s the epidemy of authoritarianism.”

That seemed to be the major thing about this world. It was a tug-a-war between safety and freedom. Those like Raven were anarchists, believing in having the right to do whatever they wanted. The strong survived and the weak died. It was a dangerous life, but no one told you what to do. The colonies were much more controlled. Besides slavery, which was allowed in this world, there were also rules about having weapons, restrictions on behavior, taxes, and so on. It might be safe living under a councilman or a mayor, but it wasn’t necessarily easy.

Right after Raven had spoken, I heard a gunshot. My hand went to my back to pull around the rifle I had found from the military base, but I quickly noticed that everyone else had put their hands up. I quickly dropped the rifle back down and brought up my hands as well before I ended up getting shot. They could have told me!

It was at that point I was able to trace where everyone was looking and find the source of the shot. There was a large row of trees. Most of them were brown and gnarled without a single hint of green on them, even though they were technically considered still alive. That was still sufficient enough to obscure a large metal fence, which ran up to a metal gate a bit down the street. Hanging over the gate was a sign, Twin Elms.

“Twin Elms was a gated community?” I asked out loud.

“What else did you think it was?” Raven snorted. “Those gates might not look like much, but they had kept them safe during the initial breakout. Twin Elms has its factory, cistern, energy production, and farms. There is nowhere more stable and protected than the Twin Elms.”

She shut her mouth as the gate opened up, and a group of armed men came out. They approached the group of us, who had stopped walking forward and remained with our hands up as the armed guards approached us. I had to agree with the raider sentiment in this respect. I felt completely vulnerable. Rather than safe, I felt like I was giving myself to the mercy of these people. If one of them decided they wanted me dead, I’d be dead just like that.

“Identify yourselves!” One of the men in the lead snapped.

“Tom Roxford!” Tom declared. “Just the Roxford caravan passing through for more trading.”

“You’re late this week,” the man replied, still keeping his weapon up.

“Ah… something came up.” At least he kept from glancing my way as he pulled out some kind of card and passed it to the man.

The man looked at the card for a moment, nodded, and handed it back, but then turned to me. “And what about you! You’re not part of the Roxford group.”

I had hoped we’d be able to slide in, but what was the wasteland that a stranger could get by without being noticed?

“I’m from the Ascension Marketplace down south. I’ve come to establish trade relationships with the fine people of Twin Elms.” I tried to give as polite of a smile as I could.

“Ascension… hmmm… I seem to recall a raider group called that. You’re a marketplace? Never heard of such a thing.” He spoke dismissively.

“We’re establishing a permanent residence as a hub of trading in Argos City. We want to help people find everything they need, as long as they have something to trade.”

“Hmm…” He grunted. “Sounds dumb.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I helplessly held out my hands.

“They have been traveling with me the last days. This guy has a connection to a colony. He’s been the source of those supplies I traded the last time I was here.” Tom quickly cut in.

“Ohh!” His eyes brightened. “Why didn’t you just say so! Come right in!”

He gestured excitedly, but then when I took a step, forward, he put out a hand.

“What?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Sorry I have to do this, but since you’re not part of the Roxford group and have no special permissions, I have to charge you for entry. It’s five small crystals per person.”

“Five!” Raven spoke indignantly. “Last time I was here, it was two!”

He looked at Raven and his eyes darkened. “You have the look of a raider group on you.”

“They’re with me!” I quickly vouched for her for whatever that was worth.

“Hmm…” He gave another grunt. “The rules are still the same. Give up your weapons at the door, and 5 small crystals per head. If you want to save money, then some of you are welcome to stay out here. Well, not near the gate if you don’t want to get shot. There is a place over there somewhere that there aren’t too many ferals.”

He gestured casually down the street somewhere without any real concern. Raven looked angry, but she was smart enough to bite her lip rather than say something that we’d all regret.

“With Tom, I should be safe.” I tried to soothe her. “It’s probably best if I just go myself.”

Raven was a raider, after all. She might be intimidating for ferals and mutants, but in a city, she would have the opposite effect. Her presence would make people less likely to trade with me. They’d assume they were being swindled or double-crossed. Raiders did not have good reputations in the wasteland, after all.

Raven looked extremely displeased, but she didn’t appear offended. Pursing her lips for a moment, she looked me up and down and then shrugged.

“Do whatever you want.”

Without another word, she turned and started walking away. Her companions Heather, Husk, and Hunter followed behind. The head guard was still staring at me. I gave him a helpless shrug and then handed over the last bit of crystals I had left. If I couldn’t make a good trade in Twin Elms, then I’d be stuck in the wasteland until I could return to the Ascension headquarters. It was an uncomfortable feeling.