Status: On hold
The Necromerchant's Debt
The GraveRobber.
Then.
February 2055.
He’d been watching her from the moment that she’d entered the graveyard. Not too closely, though. That wasn’t his style. He was merely curious as to why a girl like her was in a place like this. From his current position amongst the cluster of graves that dated back to the pandemics and plagues of '09 and '10, he guessed that she wasn’t much older than twenty. He also guessed from her clothing that she was from a pretty well-off family. One thing he didn’t have to guess, however, was that she was running from someone. There was no other reason for a girl like her to be in Churchyard Cemetery after dark - not that day and night were much different these days. Looking away from the girl, he forced the lid off one of the graves and pulled the first body out. There had been so many people killed by the plagues that the graves were more often than not stacked up to five bodies deep. Of course, that was nothing compared to the worldwide devastation caused by Neural Overstimulation Syndrome a few years later. As he threw the plastic-wrapped corpse to the ground he heard the girl’s footsteps quicken. It was bad news for him if she was bringing anyone to do with GeneCo near. Out of sheer morbid curiosity, he glanced around to see if any of said biotech company’s posters were around. Sure enough, there was one on the side of the tomb situated to his right.
‘Graverobbers will be executed on sight.’ It informed him. ‘By order of GeneCo by-law No. 653-465.’
At least its not the one with my picture on… He thought grimly. I’d still love to know how they managed to get that. He tore open the corpse’s wrappings. You can tell times are hard simply from the fact that I’m having to resort to extracting Zydrate from forty-five year old plague corpses. There are loads of more recent bodies with better Z inside them, but they’re in all the well-patrolled graveyards. Fucking stupid GeneCo, with their fucking stupid GENcops and their Repo Men… The stench when he opened the plastic was sickening even to him. If I didn’t need the money this really wouldn’t be worth it. He opened his bag and pulled out a Zyringe, sliding it easily into the body’s nasal cavity. It would have been lying to say that the cursed thing still had a nose. As the vial filled up with the glowing blue liquid, he stole another look at the girl. She was a lot closer now, and she wasn’t alone. To his dismay, the far side of the graveyard was lit up by the all too familiar searchlights. If I could go one week without getting chased, that would suit me fine…
He’d barely managed to put his equipment away when he heard a startled gasp from about six foot ahead of him. He cast an idle glance up to confirm his suspicions. The girl was stood in front of him, and she looked absolutely terrified.
I wonder, kid, are you more scared of me or those guys following you? He stood up, smirking. Probably me.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t -” She began, her eyes wide with fear.
“Calm down, kid.” He swung his bag across his shoulders, picked the corpse up by its wrappings and threw it back into its grave. “You hiding from those guys?” He inclined his head in the direction of the searchlights. She nodded. He sighed. “Right, follow me.” She hesitated, and he gave her a look of annoyance. “You wanna get caught, or d’you want me to help you?”
“Help…” She admitted quietly, still scared.
“Then come on!” He started off towards the exit with the girl reluctantly following him, but the instant they moved they were blinded by the searchlights.
“Graverobbers on the premises! I repeat: Graverobbers on the premises! Initiate lockdown!” The sirens were going off and the GENcops were yelling to each others. The doors to the mausoleums locked, as did the gates that they had been about to head for.
“Oh God, this can’t be happening…” The girl bit her lip, desperately looking around for another way out.
“It can and it is.” He muttered as he did the same. I know there’s somewhere around here I can sneak out through… He spotted it as the GENcops drew closer. “This way, kid!” He grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the wall of the cemetery. He stopped only to kick at the thin wooden board, which covered a large hole in the brickwork that had been made during one of the riots before GeneCo had reared it’s ugly head. No one had bothered fixing it up properly, what with the rest of the City ending up in such a total mess.
They ducked through the hole before the GENcops caught up with them, but there was no way they were safe yet. Keeping hold of her arm out of instinct, GraveRobber ran through the alleyways until he reached one that he often did business in. It was empty, which could mean only one thing: there was a Zydrate Support Network meeting in session.
Probably an emergency one, considering the time. Well, might as well wait around and see if I can turn any more ex-addicts away from the straight and narrow. He moved across to one of the dumpsters and leant against it. The girl stayed where she was, looking around her warily.
“Thank you.” She looked at him, but didn’t meet his eyes as she spoke.
“We were both being chased,” He shrugged. “You coming with me made sense.” She was silent. “Just out of curiosity, kid, why were they following you?”
“That’s a long story.” She sighed.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
February 2055.
He’d been watching her from the moment that she’d entered the graveyard. Not too closely, though. That wasn’t his style. He was merely curious as to why a girl like her was in a place like this. From his current position amongst the cluster of graves that dated back to the pandemics and plagues of '09 and '10, he guessed that she wasn’t much older than twenty. He also guessed from her clothing that she was from a pretty well-off family. One thing he didn’t have to guess, however, was that she was running from someone. There was no other reason for a girl like her to be in Churchyard Cemetery after dark - not that day and night were much different these days. Looking away from the girl, he forced the lid off one of the graves and pulled the first body out. There had been so many people killed by the plagues that the graves were more often than not stacked up to five bodies deep. Of course, that was nothing compared to the worldwide devastation caused by Neural Overstimulation Syndrome a few years later. As he threw the plastic-wrapped corpse to the ground he heard the girl’s footsteps quicken. It was bad news for him if she was bringing anyone to do with GeneCo near. Out of sheer morbid curiosity, he glanced around to see if any of said biotech company’s posters were around. Sure enough, there was one on the side of the tomb situated to his right.
‘Graverobbers will be executed on sight.’ It informed him. ‘By order of GeneCo by-law No. 653-465.’
At least its not the one with my picture on… He thought grimly. I’d still love to know how they managed to get that. He tore open the corpse’s wrappings. You can tell times are hard simply from the fact that I’m having to resort to extracting Zydrate from forty-five year old plague corpses. There are loads of more recent bodies with better Z inside them, but they’re in all the well-patrolled graveyards. Fucking stupid GeneCo, with their fucking stupid GENcops and their Repo Men… The stench when he opened the plastic was sickening even to him. If I didn’t need the money this really wouldn’t be worth it. He opened his bag and pulled out a Zyringe, sliding it easily into the body’s nasal cavity. It would have been lying to say that the cursed thing still had a nose. As the vial filled up with the glowing blue liquid, he stole another look at the girl. She was a lot closer now, and she wasn’t alone. To his dismay, the far side of the graveyard was lit up by the all too familiar searchlights. If I could go one week without getting chased, that would suit me fine…
He’d barely managed to put his equipment away when he heard a startled gasp from about six foot ahead of him. He cast an idle glance up to confirm his suspicions. The girl was stood in front of him, and she looked absolutely terrified.
I wonder, kid, are you more scared of me or those guys following you? He stood up, smirking. Probably me.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t -” She began, her eyes wide with fear.
“Calm down, kid.” He swung his bag across his shoulders, picked the corpse up by its wrappings and threw it back into its grave. “You hiding from those guys?” He inclined his head in the direction of the searchlights. She nodded. He sighed. “Right, follow me.” She hesitated, and he gave her a look of annoyance. “You wanna get caught, or d’you want me to help you?”
“Help…” She admitted quietly, still scared.
“Then come on!” He started off towards the exit with the girl reluctantly following him, but the instant they moved they were blinded by the searchlights.
“Graverobbers on the premises! I repeat: Graverobbers on the premises! Initiate lockdown!” The sirens were going off and the GENcops were yelling to each others. The doors to the mausoleums locked, as did the gates that they had been about to head for.
“Oh God, this can’t be happening…” The girl bit her lip, desperately looking around for another way out.
“It can and it is.” He muttered as he did the same. I know there’s somewhere around here I can sneak out through… He spotted it as the GENcops drew closer. “This way, kid!” He grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the wall of the cemetery. He stopped only to kick at the thin wooden board, which covered a large hole in the brickwork that had been made during one of the riots before GeneCo had reared it’s ugly head. No one had bothered fixing it up properly, what with the rest of the City ending up in such a total mess.
They ducked through the hole before the GENcops caught up with them, but there was no way they were safe yet. Keeping hold of her arm out of instinct, GraveRobber ran through the alleyways until he reached one that he often did business in. It was empty, which could mean only one thing: there was a Zydrate Support Network meeting in session.
Probably an emergency one, considering the time. Well, might as well wait around and see if I can turn any more ex-addicts away from the straight and narrow. He moved across to one of the dumpsters and leant against it. The girl stayed where she was, looking around her warily.
“Thank you.” She looked at him, but didn’t meet his eyes as she spoke.
“We were both being chased,” He shrugged. “You coming with me made sense.” She was silent. “Just out of curiosity, kid, why were they following you?”
“That’s a long story.” She sighed.
“I’m not going anywhere.”