***
“And this was a great idea because...?” Norm grunted as they struggled to push the wheelbarrow up the stairs.
Niko turned her face away from the Slither’s missing eyeball. “They’ll be too scared to bother us if we’re carting around one of these guys.”
“And,” Lo said from her envious position at the Slither's feet as she tugged the handcart up step by step. “It’ll disguise the smell.”
After placing all the items they wanted to bring to market in the barrow they lay down a blanket and draped the Slither on top. Now it was all a matter of hauling the whole thing out into the daylight as they avoided being sliced up by the thing’s claws and teeth.
“Okay, guys just one more step.” Lo called out ahead of them.
“Didn’t she say that ten minutes ago?” Norm groused breathlessly.
“I heard that.” Lo said. The wheelbarrow rose as it went over the final step. Niko placed her hand against the back of the Slither’s head to keep the whole body from tumbling down on them every time they moved the cart forward. Her stomach roiled every time her hand sank into the head of red hair. It wasn’t the congealed blood that squished beneath her palm that revolted her but how human the strands felt. It didn’t seem like something that should belong to a monster.
They got over the hump and rolled the wheelbarrow off to the side waiting while Norm camouflaged the entrance.
They headed for the market and like Lo had predicted, with a Slither in the cart no one bothered them on their journey there. In fact, most of the people who encountered three crazy girls hanging around a dead Slither gave them a wide berth. It probably didn't help that Norm would grin maniacally at them either.
Unfortunately, it didn’t deter everybody and just before they got to the market they were stopped by a small group of young men loitering around its perimeter. Niko grew tense as one of them, she assumed he was the leader, ambled toward the three of them. She glanced at Lo and Norm; they seemed relaxed, almost bored as if this particular encounter was a frequent and non-threatening occurrence. Still Niko cataloged the position of all five boys in case something unexpected happened.
The leader spat a stream of brown saliva out of the corner of his mouth. “So, Lo, got anything for me?”
He took them in with hooded blue eyes. He looked as if he was on the verge of sleep but there was a coldness in his pale irises that said he would allow very little to get past him and that it wasn’t a good idea to try.
“We found some light bulbs.” Lo said and Niko quickly understood why the two of them insisted on having some of their loot out in the open, it was to pay off guys like the ones right in front of them who demanded indemnification for the so-called protection they provided.
The leader’s lips split into a slow grin causing one side of his cheek to bulge larger than the other from all the chaw stuffed there. “Lola, I’m hurt. Why are you offering light bulbs when we can all see you have something better to give me.” He reached out and fingered the length of copper coil wrapped around her shoulder. “Don’t be greedy, Lola. You know I only want a third.”
Lo did a good job of looking reluctant as if they had only found a few items and he was demanding a percentage of their most expensive one. She began to uncoil it and one of the boys stepped forward with a pair of wire cutters.
“So, Norm,” The leader asked turning toward her and Niko. “Who’s your new friend?” He spat and Niko tried not to make a face, he was a good-looking guy but the habit was disgusting.
When she told him her name the infinitesimal raising of his eyelids was the only change in his expression. “Niko, as in a last name?”
“You’ve met my brother?” Niko said trying to keep her voice as bland as his had been though her heart pounded wildly in her chest. He shrugged. “You hear his name often, crazy little guy like that.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Brown spit had glossed his lower lip. “You crazy too?”
She wanted to ask him more about Jared, like where he was and if it was possible to get him back. But she said none of those things; looking into his cold lifeless eyes she knew it wasn’t a good idea to appear overeager. Like him, she shrugged. “It depends on who I’m with.” She said, and watched him as he took her in.
“That’s more than a third, Jason, don’t you dare cut it over there.”
Everyone turned toward the commotion. Lo and Jason stood by the wheelbarrow with the length of copper between them. Jason had the wire cutters in his hand and was trying to cut off a section while Lo did her best to prevent him. They stopped as the leader came toward them.
He took the length of wire, ignoring both their protests. He quickly examined it then cut off a piece much smaller than the amount Jason had tried. He shoved the smaller portion and wire cutter at Jason who stumbled back.
“Sorry about that Lola.” He said, a benign smile on his lips. “I don’t know what came over him; we don’t usually try to cheat people.” He glanced at Jason who paled visibly.
“Got anything else for me?” He asked and when Lo shook her head still glaring at Jason, he tsked. “Well, I hope you don’t come by with such a pitiable haul next time, we both got families to feed. Hate to think of anybody starving.”
He circled the wheelbarrow and Norm gave her one brief, frightened look. He prodded the dead Slither. “Don’t you want to give me its hand, Lola?”
Niko’s stomach dropped sure that their little ruse was about to be discovered but Lo appeared as unaffected as before as if there really was only a Slither in the wheelbarrow. “Take the whole thing if you want.”
He laughed easily. “No, I think I only want the hand.” He indicated to a different boy who came forward holding another pair of sharp looking shears.
After some effort the Slither’s hand was severed and he gazed at the white, bloodless, thing with a private smile. Then he gave the wheelbarrow a casual kick that made all three girls flinch. He raised his cold eyes toward Niko. “Have fun.”
“Do you think he knows?” Norm whispered once they were close enough to the noise of the market for their words to be disguised.
“If Phin knew,” Lo pointed out. “He wouldn’t have let us pass without taking more than that little bit of copper. Stop worrying.”
Niko snuck a quick glance over her shoulder. The little group had settled back on their perch waiting to demand tithe from another victim, but Phin was not watching the road that led to market. His head was turned toward Norm, Lola, and Niko; he smiled and waved as he caught her staring.
She faced forward again. He knew. The real question was why he had let them go.
Back at her old neighborhood she had gone to the market to trade and sometimes, when she had the money, buy things. This one was much bigger and more crowded than the one she used to go to. Wares filled the many stalls protected by brightly colored awnings and guarded by sellers who kept a careful eye out for thieves. The smells of different foods lingered in the air, as well as the sound of a thousand voices. With so many people in one spot Niko was amazed that there hadn’t been a Slither attack already. Maybe the gangs outside were actually living up to their claims and were protecting people from being carted off by monsters.
Lo suggested that they sell the copper first and they headed to an official looking stall with an official looking man behind it. He looked officially bored as he weighed and tested the metal, pronouncing it real and handed them their money.
They went around the market, trading and collecting new items in turn. Most of the people behind the stalls recognized Lo and Norm and chatted at length, asking about the Slither in the wheelbarrow. Only one person, a short old woman by the name of Mabel, actually dared to touch it. She deftly prodded the white flesh before she glanced up at the three girls. “How much you sellin’ him for?” She asked in a voice cracked with age.
They glanced at each other, completely surprised. No one wanted to get close to the Slither, dead or alive much less buy its carcass. “Forty
perhaps?” Lo ventured with a slow shrug. Mabel flashed them a toothless grin as she counted out the money, it indicated that they’d all but given away the Slither and their incompetent bargaining was to her gain.
She hefted the Slither out of the wheelbarrow, surprisingly strong for her size, and began to waddle away with it. They watched her leave.
“What do you think she wanted with the thing?” Niko asked, not really expecting an answer, but Norm gave her one. Looking slightly green, she said, “I’m never eating her food again.”
“I always thought it smelled a little strange.” Lo agreed.
They bought water before leaving the market, it was from a dealer a little more expensive than the rest but that was because he demonstrated the purity of his water by actually sampling some himself. When it came to supplementing their water rations Norm was more inclined to trust him than the people who tested their water with strips that were occasionally tampered with or who did no testing at all.
“Be careful,” The man said. “Heard it might rain today.”
Niko glanced at the sky; it was as blue as it had been yesterday with only a few wispy clouds brushing against the edge of her vision. It didn’t look like it was going to rain anytime soon.
Norm thanked him anyway and placed the gallons in the wheelbarrow. Now that the Slither was gone the only problem remaining was how to get everything out of the market without everyone knowing how much stuff they bought. Especially not Phin, who would easily figure out that they were coming back with way more items in comparison to the collection they had first passed him with.
Norm patted the wheelbarrow and the large blanket stained with patches of Slither blood. “Hop on, Niko.”
Hitching a ride on a cart was not the most comfortable mode of travel, her feet and head stuck out at odd angles and she could feel every bump, dip, and rock in her still tender back.
Through the smell of sulfuric blood she caught the faint scent of gasoline.
They passed by Phin and his group as they were extorting a third out of another scavenger’s haul.
“What happened to the Slither?” He asked as they rattled past. She wasn’t sure if his eyes were on her or the wheelbarrow, either way she didn’t like it.
“Don’t eat Mabel’s soup.” Lo called out and then they were gone.