Gunner's Paradise

New Beginning 1.2

Two hours had passed before Natalya came back alone. His stomach growled again, even louder than the last time. Natalya couldn't help but laugh. Something seemed off to Sheldon but before he could ask.

"Here." She handed him some of the food she was able to sneak away. "We have to eat and walk." She did not wait for his response as she walked forward.

At the entrance of the school, there was an old man with gray hair like a mane, extremely unkempt. He sat down covered with flies; at least that's what they appeared to be. He looked utterly filthy even compared to those who weren't clean either. His clothes were completely covered in dirt and he looked on the verge of dying.

They tried to pass him,  but he called to Sheldon.

 "Hey Kid, anything you could spare for me to eat?" the man said with just enough effort to grab his attention.

Sheldon ignored him and kept walking but Natalya couldn't help but look back at the old man.

They walked for a long while, hands tightly gripped. The streets that they passed were flooded with people, wares, and services. Sheldon's eyes went left and right, catching the attention of a young scantily clad woman. She smiled at Sheldon as Natalya lead him away.

It was dangerous to linger long, looters stalked buildings, disorderly conflicts broke out. People waited and watched to prey like vultures upon weakness. They finally settled themselves upon the Pantry Isles, it was not crowded and hardly ever was. The problem they faced was no guarantee they would make money today it was all on chance. They looked around to see if there were others in the same area, knowing the conflict of interest when too many groups work together. Sheldon remembered what he had seen firsthand, being honest, and begging for spare change. They had asked over and over again in the beginning, but no one paid them any mind, and acted like they didn't exist. It only led them to be hoarser than ever before so they developed a new strategy.

They had decided that after a successful robbery the meeting spot would be the old Cinema which was passed two streets back. Sheldon and Natalya developed a code of whistles through the whistlers they carried. They would use it to alert the other when they had reached the area or in the case of any danger.

Natalya was beautiful and she would use that to distract a person that seemed capable of having money. Then, Sheldon would sneak in to take whatever he could grab from their pockets. It was dangerous if they got caught, but they had no more options left to provide for themselves.

They stopped by an old bench, which used to be a bus stop. His feet were tired causing Sheldon to immediately sit down. Natalya placed the bag down on it as well. She then took out a bottle of water and slowly poured enough to wash the dirt that had started to cake on to her face.

"No Swidleys are here that I can see," Sheldon said as he double-checked again.

Natalya nodded.

He looked around for somewhere close-by to hide and found an alleyway that he could use to watch for the signal from Natalya. He moved in that direction as she sat on the bench and mentally got herself into character.

She scanned the people as they walked by. The first few looked like they were barely surviving. They were on the verge of giving up hope, but then a decently dressed gentleman began to approach them, walking with confidence as he came closer.

People used this route to travel to work and this was the best area to get lucky. It was also very risky, as people took the law into their own hands. Natalya got up and while he was about to pass she fell on him, causing him to instinctively catch her.

The gentleman turned her over and saw her face He instinctively asked, "Are you okay?"

Withdrawing herself slightly from him, "Yes."

Sheldon used this opportunity to get behind the man and snatched his wallet from his back pocket as it was protruding. When he turned to face Sheldon, he already gained a significant distance from him. He shouted at him to stop. When he turned to face the girl, she was gone.

Back at their meeting spot, Sheldon and Natalya checked through what they were able to snag. It was enough money to last them a month if they rationed it out. Sheldon grinned to Natalya. Things were beginning to look up. She took the bread that she had in the bag since this morning and broke it in half.

"Lunch," she said as they both ate quietly.

He was glad they hadn't bumped into any roaming Swidleys as things could have turned ugly. People marked certain sections as their own and demanded money or p*****t of absurd amounts when other people used that area. He was able to learn from rumours and other people resorting to methods like him where would be best to avoid them.

Few people sold anything to the homeless as they were always suspicious of criminal activities. Showing up with large amounts of money signaled red flags and those too willing to accept we're not always doing so with the best interest.

"Let's do something different today," Sheldon said as he looked over at Natalya.

"Hmmm," she said playfully, "something different like what Sheldon?" Knowing full well what he wanted to say.

"Well..." he stuttered, "you said you wanted new clothes for a while and we haven't had a bath in a long time, so I was thinking maybe we could...we could."

"We could what?" she said, smiling and gloating

"We could do that for a change," he said, looking away from her.

She hugged him and said, "Yes, I would like that."

Sheldon smiled to himself that was what he was hoping to hear.

Even baths cost money in this area which they found themselves. Desolation was the poorest city. It was so poor that the majority of people living here were homeless. Those with homes did not fare much better. Water had to be bought; there was no other way to get a clean supply. The lakes were filled with sewage and poison that could kill an adult with just a sip.

For those that couldn't afford a home with a bath, public baths and private baths were in place. These also cost money for them to be used with zero comforts. It was mostly an open up area divided with men and women bathing naked next to each other. They were hardly any stores in the city and the few that were opened were the first anyone went to when stolen goods were missing. Because of this, these stores didn't bother to buy anything from anyone who seemed suspicious or poor.

The infrastructure of Desolation was a complete letdown. It looked like a city that the government had given up on. Work was hard to come by and even if you did get a job, in most cases, crime paid far more. Police only maintained a certain area and those were the once key areas that showed the difference of life within this city. Everything was left to the citizens to figure out. Crimes were hardly ever reported, there was no news coverage and gangs were common and persistent all over the city.

Natalya was always friendly, he liked that about her, but Sheldon saw everything as a threat. How could he not after what had happened to them and because of this they were mostly always alone. Being friendly had its uses as where they were headed now to buy clothes; Natalya had made friends with the owner. Somehow, when they had first gotten here he had been and remained one of the nicer people towards them.

She pushed open the door.

 "Hey Natalya," Ralph said, "It's been a while since I saw you."

Natalya cheerfully looked around the store, "Good day Mr. Ralph, yes, it has been, we have been busy."

"Oh," he said as  Sheldon came  trailing behind her, "And what have you been up to I hope not getting into trouble." he continued on without waiting for a response, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes," she said, "We would like to buy new clothes."

Ralph smiled, "Good. It's about time you got rid of those old ones that I gave you, but you have to try not to stand out too much, okay? Otherwise, you will draw unwanted attention."

"Here follow me, I will make sure to give you the best deal that I can," he said.

He pulled out clothes that rested on the rack for them to look through. They both choose their clothes separate from each other to keep it as a surprise.

Natalya had selected a floral casual button-down shirt with navy blue jeans. Sheldon on the other hand, clothes were a grey T-shirt and light blue jeans. They both choose a pair of boots.

Sheldon knew Ralph always liked to see Natalya, smile as he had told them her face reminded him of his daughter.  He was always talking about wanting to do more as if he could believe that in this hellish place. He however did take the time to teach them about the city and even Natalya with books he had read. It seemed to stick with her every now and then she would say something that he would not expect from her.

After paying, they placed the clothes in their backpack and they left. Natalya waved to Ralph as he waved back and Sheldon gave a silent nod and stepped outside. The streets were completely empty and the surrounding buildings seemed to have been closed from before the time he was born. How Ralph had managed to stay in business here for so long was a mystery to him.

"To the baths, we go!" Natalya shouted enthusiastically as she marched ahead of Sheldon spinning in excitement.

Sheldon's gaze lifted towards the sun, it would be a long while before they got there.