Up A Corpses Nose And Around The Corner

"Girl, what happened in there!" A news reporter yelled to me and held out a microphone. I ignored it and ran down the alley behind the GeneCo building. I pressed my back against a grimy wall and sank to the ground, reality finally hitting. My father's dead. My godmom's dead. Everyone I know is dead. Wait, not everyone. I thought and looked around; spotting a trash can I knew he'd be in. I walked over to it and lightly banged on the lid. He snorted and grumbled something before opening the lid slightly and holding a vial of Zydrate.

"No money, no 'Z'". Graverobber grumbled and yawned.

"I don't want any Zydrate." I said quietly.

"I'm not in the mood to bang anybody right now, you just woke me up." He said, obviously getting irritated.

"I don't want… 'that' either." I said softly. He pulled the Zydrate back into the garbage can and opened the lid fully.

"Then why are you wasting my ti-! Kid?!" He said, bewildered. "What are you doing in a place like this? This isn't a safe place, creeps always hang around here." He swung his legs over the trash can and stood in front of me.

"Something happened at the opera." I kept my eyes trained to the ground.

"What happened?"

"My dad and Blind Mag died." I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes. He pulled me to him and hugged me. I breathed in his scent; sweat, death and old hair dye never smelled so comforting. He stroked my hair, comforting me as tears streamed down my face in hot rivers.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could say.

"They're gonna take my house. It was property of GeneCo, and now that my father's dead, they're gonna take it back. So I have nowhere to stay." I looked at him with hopeful eyes, and he stared back, trying to figure out what I was asking. His eyes widened as he realized what I was asking.

"Kid-"

"My name's Shilo."

"Shilo, you don't know what you're asking! My job takes me everywhere around the city, I never stay in one place for more than 2 days because once a Scalpel Slut finds me, they all come swarming. So if you're willing to follow me, sleep on the streets, and help me sell 'Z', then get in the can." He opened the lid and I crawled in, the stench of garbage sticking to me like a wet blanket. Graverobber climbed in after me and sat down on the other end of the garbage can.

"We have to leave in a few hours to harvest some 'Z' and then I can teach you how to sell it." He said and closed his eyes, trying to find a comfortable position. I did the same and finally found a semi-comfortable position and dozed off.

When I woke up, I had one arm draped around Graverobber's chest and my face buried into the crook of his neck. Apparently I 'slept crawled' over to him last night and decided he was a suitable pillow! I softly crawled off of him and pressed myself against the opposite wall and had just started to doze off when Graverobber shook me awake.

"Time to get to work." He said and opened the lid, moonlight streaming in. I groaned and obediently got out of the garbage can. I looked back into the can and a small blue glow caught my attention. I crawled back in and duh through the trash. I picked up the small vial of Zydrate and held it up to Graverobber. He snorted and snatched it from my outstretched hand.

"Come on, we gotta go." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the garbage can with ease. "First I have to make a stop by a graveyard to get some fresh 'Z'." He said and walked off, producing a large needle from his coat pocket.

"Will I learn how to harvest 'Z'?" I asked.

"You'll have to learn how if you're gonna stick with me." He said and walked into the graveyard, handing me a needle of my own. He pushed the top from a grave off and lifted the body out just like when I first met him. He stuck the long needle into the corpses nose and extracted the Zydrate from her. He pulled the needle out and detached the vial from the needle, stuffing the needle back into his coat pocket and putting the vial into the opposite pocket. He threw the corpse back into the tomb and slid the lid back into place. He found another tomb and took the body out.

"Your turn" He said, gesturing to the body. I slowly pushed the needle up the corpses nose and extracted the Zydrate. I quickly pulled it out and handed the needle to Graverobber. He detached the vial and put them away.

"Where are we going next?" I asked.

"Up a corpses nose and around the corner." He smirked and laughed lightly. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"Now it's time to learn how to sell it." He smirked and put the body away. I followed him out of the graveyard and down the alley towards the 'Zydrate Support Group Meeting'.

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Author's note: Sorry this chapter is short XD I hope to update soon!