There are plenty of other entertainment options at the Den. More than a few pubs that are packed full of customers saddle the main road.
In this day and age, even though there is an accepted currency model, trade is the name of the game. If you want beer and grub at the pub for example, you would go up to the owner, who is generally also the bartender and make an offer.
The offer could be anything, gold, monster parts, sex, favours, services. It simply depends on the establishments preferences as to what they accept.
The general rule of thumb is that resources of varying rarity are the go, as they can always be traded in with the military trade centre for food rations or other supplies.
The Den is also home to gambling rings which take much of the same trade economy. One place is called the Colosseum and is a favourite place for viewing and gambling. Entrance is free and there are weekly showing of starved monsters being made to fight one another in a large cage.
The military naturally applies various limits to the number and types of monsters they can bring into the city.
There are also more than a few shops which adopt old models of entertainment such as movie showings, libraries, gyms, theatre shows, nude shows, boxing and other fighting matches, etc. Most of the things which can be expected from a post-apocalyptic societies' entertainment interests can be found at the Den.
On my way I pass a nude showing of a fat lady inserting a decapitated monster horn where it does not belong to enter the library next door.
It's a quiet spot, as it should be, but its also reinforced by scrap metal on the walls for sound proofing and protection. The librarian, a retired soldier in his 30's with half a leg, says that he can't stand the constant moaning from next door, hence the metal reinforcements on all walls.
Guys a nut job, but I can understand his annoyance with his neighbours.
That place is strange even by apocalypse standards.
"Hi Nate", I say I enter the door, gesturing a hello to the man reading a book in the back corner.
"Ever the punctual one aren't you Mark".
"An agreement is an agreement", I say as I take off my cloak and fold it before laying it on the front desk.
The library only has four bookshelves which Vir and I practically archived ourselves. Best part about being scouts is that anything we find in old, abandoned buildings is ours to keep.
A librarian who values any and all literature is a valuable business partner for us. But not only because he pays for every book we find.
Being a librarian in dystopia isn't exactly a high paying profession. And being a cripple makes for many other limitations. So Nate here doubles as an information broker. That is why Vir and I hold him in very high esteem.
"We collected two books for you", I say as I pull them out of my waist bag and place them on the desk. The books are two textbooks from a university at Grafton. Grafton is an abandoned city about three quarters days walk from here. It's a common location for scouts which mean there are few things left to pick from it. But books aren't known to be a common choose for scouts to bring back so there are still plenty there for the picking.
Nate doesn't even look up as he asks, "what are they worth?"
"They're two textbooks. One is rather damaged, but the other is quality. I'd say they are worth 3 basic ration packs". A basic ration pack or burp back as many call them is an assortment of strange leafage, stale beans, and other crap mixed with a small sachet of animal fat gravy for seasoning. It's known for giving people gas.
"And?"
I smile as he knows what I want. "I have a quarter of the upper spine of a three tailed horse variant. You know… the good one." I say whilst grinning from ear to ear. That got his attention from his book.
My eyes remain locked on him whilst I flash the brightest grin possible for the librarian.
"How do I know its real."
"You know I'm good for it."
I am. Business is business and trade is a lifeline. I don't fuck about with my trades especially given how easy it is to hire assassination services around here. Make friend not enemies. Those that botch too many people the wrong way disappears.
The librarian's think was clearly the same as mine as that seemed to amend his suspicions. But I don't blame him for it, the spine piece is just that valuable. Even spending it on information seems wasteful but at the same time varying it around could prove deadly. And this man would undoubtably kill for it. He needs it bad. Which means his info will be good.
The three tailed horse is naturally a corrupted creature but what makes it special is that it's not entirely corrupted. It was discovered on accident that the creature's spinal fluid has immense healing capabilities, which explained why they always recovered if you didn't finish them off yourself.
It didn't matter what the injury was, as long as it was alive it would recover. It just required time. Since then it was discovered that drinking the spinal fluid or simply adding it to your soup would heal any wound you had suffered. Including missing limbs. Which is why my crippled friend here will hold this item in particularly high esteem.
"You're willing to sell that too me?" Nate wasn't going to beat around the bush with this. He usually speaks more open ended and act less interested so that he can get the best possible deal. But he is well aware that I'm aware how much he needs this. No one is willing to help a cripple out of the goodness of their hearts here.
"I am. And naturally I expect proper compensation and confidentiality."
"Of course." This deal has to remain confidential because this item is that sort after. Just knowing where one was can put someone in crosshairs and a man known to be missing a leg suddenly walking again will raise a lot of eyebrows. Nate will have to continue pretending to be a cripple for a while until he has an appropriate excuse for how he got the item before revealing his recovery. Otherwise, people will come knocking.
The details on how he does that are none of my concern. He's a hardened veteran and knows the game. He'll manage.
I'm more concerned about what he can offer me.
"What's on offer. And no lowballing."
"I wouldn't dream of it. I've got 10 lows, 5 mids, 5 high, and a game changer that's a month old. All are relevant for you and your girl."
Low, mid and high are the method Nate uses to classify his goods. As a rule of thumb, a low is worth a meal of varying quality. A mid is worth a monster part that's somewhat difficult to acquire. A high is worth about what a scout squad can rummage together in a full week. I'm not familiar with game changing information though.
"I don't know how to quantify this game changing info, but the other goods aren't up to spec. A spine, even a quarter of a spine, is worth at least 6 months of scout work".
"Yeah, I know. I'd say that game changer is worth about 3 highs but I get your speculation. How about I add on 1 high and 2 mids to that.
"Three more lows and another mid", I barter.
The librarian thinks on it and finds the terms agreeable before shaking my hand. Once the deal is made going back on it is worthy of a death sentence on these streets, so I know he's good.
I reach into my pack and pull the spine from the bottom. It's wrapped in the best material we could get our hands on for safe measure. I unwrap it and show it to the librarian before rewrapping it and putting it on the desk.
"You were carrying that on you!?", the librarian hurried in a hushed voice.
Laughing slight I ask, "and where else would suggest I keep it".
That stupefied him as he thought about it but then he quickly came to agree with my decision.
First of all, the only person who knows I have it is Vir. And in the entire city there are only a hundred or so soldiers who can face me in a one verse one. There is a reason Vir, and I are a two-man team instead of the usual four-man squad. We are among the best.
I wait as Nate thinks and slowly starts to relax as he remembers who he's making a deal with here. He can feel assured no one knows that this is here and as long as he drinks the fluid today and disposes of the spine properly no one will know it was here until he decides to reveal it.
Once he's come to the same conclusion he sits more up right and places the book he was reading on the desk beside him. Motioning for me to come closer I notice he's organising his goods properly to ensure I only get the best.
For an information broker writing information down is a risk so everything he has is kept in his head. Therefore, he needs a moment to collect his thoughts before divulging his goods.
Coming closer I take out my notepad and a pencil. These are items I'd traded for previously and are invaluable to a scout.
Setting the notepad and pencil beside him, I take a step back and let him work. It'll take some time for him to finish so I walk around the library as he does. I pretend I'm interested in the books but really, I'm checking for spies and busybodies. You can't be too careful in these situations.
After about 20 minutes of furious scribbling the librarian gives me a grunt which signifies it's done.
Taking the notepad, I give the info a glance over to memorise whatever I can before I leave the shop. It's not common but there are known cases of people stealing information moments after the customer leaves a known brokers shop.
Not that anyone has dared try it on me but given the value of the deal I intend to be vigilant.
After I've memorised the contents, I give the librarian a nod before heading for the door. Now that the deal is made, I want to get to Vir as quickly as possible. I just learnt more than I think I could handle. Nate called it a game changer, but I think catastrophic is a far more appropriate description.
I pulled my cloak on and covered my face as I moved quickly through the streets. Vir is out getting our equipment fixed so she likely is around Bog's armoury in the Market. We are long term clients of Bog's so it's a fair assumption.
Moving out of the streets in the Den I break into jog as I turn and weave through the alley ways and evening drunks.
The more I thought about it the quicker a moved. News like this could mean skipping town by sunrise. I'm not fucking about. What the fuck was Nate thinking sticking around with news like that.
I guess as a cripple he didn't really have a choice but now I think I know how he plans to keep his recovery a secret. It won't matter if he fucks off in the night.
As I ran I saw Bog's come into sight and I all but burst through the door. There I met a flying Bog as he nearly jumped into the ceiling in surprise.
"WHERE'S VIR" I order, forgetting I'm not a captain anymore.
Bog didn't fuck about. He usually cracks jokes and what not, but he can tell I'm frantic. "Mol's. She just left", he answers quickly.
I dash back out the door and turn for Mol's. It didn't take long to find Vir on the path. "VIR!"
She turned around startled realising it was me. This wasn't where we planned to meet. I slowed down to a brisk walk, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards our place.
"Forget the gear for now. Come with me."
She did exactly that but the confusion on her face was evident. I'm not usually this frantic but I don't know how much time we have.
She doesn't say a word as I pull her along, switching between a brisk walk and a jog. She follows my pace as I let her go.
Once we get back to our hovel of a house, I slam the door shut and turn to her, feeling every bit of panic that I should.
Shoving the notepad towards her I order, "The info. Read the last one."
She takes the it without a word and flicks the pages until she finds the last piece of information.
It read:
[Confirmed with various agents. Intelligence from military top brass – maximum level classified.
36 days ago, a transmission was received on mana wavelength 443-N-3FR46 declaring settlement Alpaca West, approximately 700km west of Wesker was under siege by a bipedal giant of unknown height and at least 100 meters of width. Full description unknown. No further transmission has been received from Alpaca West since the date of receipt.
Scout regiment Procto 6 was tasked with investigating the matter. Making use of a sequence of transportation abilities, the team identified the threat 465 kilometres SWW of Wesker 9 days ago. Transmissions over the following days classified the giant as built of stone, carrying a shield and a sword whilst seemingly wearing stone armour over its stone skin. Height remains unknown as creatures head touches the clouds. Procto 6 later reported the giant to have move 88 kilometres in the general direction of Wesker over the following 2 days. No further transmission has been received from Procto 6 since 0955 6 days ago.]
After finishing the passage Vir looked at me with her face pale as I felt.