It took me several seconds to react, and the only thing I could do afterward was to think about the fact that, according to the sign, I was in the city of Hopeless—and that meant Elitesburg and possibly Dark were very close by. I just had to cross the border.
The trouble was that I definitely wasn't in any condition to do it. I needed to rest and regain my strength.
"Come," she said, and we moved on. We soon came across an old park where a hundred or so migrants had set up makeshift tents using blankets and whatever they could find. There, they rested, cooked, chatted with one another, and let the children play.
The curious thing was that almost all of them had a phoenix tattoo on their faces, whether they were men, women, or children.
Those gang members I had confronted on the train or those we had seen around the city had his tattoo on their arms or shoulders. Furthermore, the auras of these migrants were the same as any other, so he doubted that they could use magic.
Or perhaps the gang members had marked them with those tattoos to distinguish them from the others—because they had already paid an extortion fee or levy, or because they had been bought from the officers to be trafficked.
The important thing was that, one way or another, they were connected to Ash.
"Let's go," she said, and we left. As we moved away, I felt several pairs of eyes fixed on our backs. We turned into an alley and ran a short distance to lose sight of them. I immediately felt my wounds reopening, and within a few meters, my lungs were already burning.
A little further on, I fell to my knees and vomited what seemed to be a mixture of bile and blood.
"You're in really bad shape, aren't you?" She was further ahead and only stopped when she heard me retching. Perhaps at that moment she regretted choosing me as her protector. But there was no turning back.
Fortunately, no one had followed us.
It took a couple of minutes for me to finish vomiting up practically everything in my body. Both my throat and my nostrils were burning. My head was spinning, and my wounds continued to torment me.
She then handed me a $20 bill and a sheet of paper, both folded and worn.
"I think there's a pharmacy just around the corner. Can you get this for me?" she asked. I struggled to my feet and slowly headed in the direction she had pointed out. She stayed behind in the alley, and I was almost certain I wouldn't find her there when I returned. Given my condition, I was nothing but a burden to her.
Out of curiosity, I unfolded the paper, and the only thing written on it was the word "levonorgestrel." If I recall correctly, that is the active ingredient in the morning-after pill. Assuming she hadn't already abandoned me, I thought she might need that medication because she didn't fully trust me—despite my having made it clear that I had no interest in her, let alone in that regard. Later, I surmised that she wanted the medication just in case I wasn't able to protect her and someone—likely a gang member—managed to assault her.
Given my condition at the time, there wasn't much I could do about it, so it wasn't a bad idea for her to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
The mere thought of it made me feel powerless and pathetic. I definitely had to do something to heal and regain my energy—not just for myself, but for her.
Anyway, as I was thinking all this, I reached the end of the alley. I turned the corner and, just as she had indicated, there was a pharmacy. I went inside. There were several aisles stocked with various food items and household goods, and at the back, a thin, elderly man was watching me sternly. Behind him stood some shelves filled with medicines. He likely suspected I was there to rob him, so I approached him and handed over the slip of paper and the $20 bill without saying a word, fearing my breath smelled of vomit. He snatched them from me grudgingly, read the note, held the bill out with trembling hands, and examined it against the light to verify its authenticity. Satisfied, he went to the shelves at the back to fetch the medicine.
While I waited, I glanced around. In the back aisle, there were a couple of coolers stocked with water and soft drinks, and on the other side were bags of potato chips—though some shelves had empty spots, and the products there were covered in a light layer of dust. Some of them had likely already passed their expiration date.
I glanced at the next aisle and was surprised to see her hunched over, grabbing bags of sweet bread with excessive speed and silence. She was already carrying a couple of water bottles and other items I couldn't quite make out. At that moment, I didn't even think twice. The hunger, the thirst, and all the discomforts that had plagued me for so long outweighed my morals; so, just like that time in the cell, I positioned myself right in front of the aisle where she was to block the clerk's view, who was still checking medications on the shelves at the back.
She moved to another aisle, and the clerk, after finding what he was looking for, turned toward me.
"Say, can I also buy a bottle of water with the money I gave you?" I asked, heading toward the coolers to distract him. He kept his eyes fixed on me, so he didn't notice her presence.
I opened a cooler and grabbed the nearest bottle of water.
"How much would that all come to, sir? I want to see if I could pick up a bag of chips too, but I'm not sure..." I pretended to browse the shelves to buy some time. I glanced toward the other aisles, but she was gone. "No, the medicine and the water are more than enough." I went back to the clerk and handed him the water. He punched some numbers into an old calculator, opened the register, put away the bill I'd given him, and took out a couple of coins. Meanwhile, I scanned the store, and after confirming she had left, I said, "Keep the change. Thanks for everything."
I left the pharmacy and went back to the alley. I was almost certain I wouldn't find her—that she had simply used me as a distraction to steal—so it took me by surprise to see her there, waiting for me.
Some time later, I realized that he never had any intention of abandoning me, since otherwise he wouldn't have given me that $20 bill.
I went over to her and handed her the medication and the bottle of water. She looked at the latter with a puzzled expression and showed me the two bottles she had stolen.
"Well," I said, "we can save it for later."
She then handed me one of her bottles and a package of sweet bread. I opened it and ate. At that moment, I paid no attention to the dust covering the wrapper, and honestly, I wouldn't have cared less if the product was expired. I simply ate the most delicious bread I had ever tasted.
Then I opened the bottle and drank until I finished it. Never before had I drunk water so cold and refreshing.
I enjoyed my food so much that I completely forgot about the rest of my ailments.
"I also grabbed this," she showed me a sealed bag containing bandages, alcohol, and other first-aid kit supplies. "Take off your shirt."
I obeyed, and she proceeded to remove the bandages and treat my wounds.
As I did it, I couldn't stop thinking about the pharmacy clerk. It was one of the few businesses left in Hopeless, and we robbed him. Ash was probably extorting him to take almost all his profits, and he also had to watch out for thefts and muggings. No wonder he kept such a close eye on me.
What a Hero I was.
I never deserved that title in the first place.
Perhaps I had more than deserved everything that had happened to me up to that moment.
"All done," she said after bandaging me, then sat down and leaned against the wall. It wasn't long before she began to nod off and soon fell asleep. Meanwhile, I thought about Flirty. Despite having been with him just a short while ago, his face was a blur in my memory. I couldn't even recall with certainty which eye or arm he had lost. His dark, short hair and swarthy skin remained in my memory, but those were general, rather common features.
He probably never made it to Hopeless, since he was the one who tried to dissuade me from going to that town.
I hope he managed to reunite with his family.
Not everyone would be as lucky as those the officers took away, however. If she was right, they were at the mercy of Ash—or perhaps had already been trafficked to another country to live a life of abuse and suffering.
Or perhaps they still had them there in Hopeless, where they would undergo a similar hell.
So many businesses closed, so many people gone. What a single gang can do to an entire city.
And the police were nowhere to be seen. Not a single officer, not a police car—we hadn't seen any all day.
The worst part of all is that they were almost certainly working with them.
When a city is unsafe, in the vast majority of cases it is because the government allows it—or even desires it. It wouldn't surprise me if they received a share of the money the gang took from people through extortion.
Perhaps they were also colluded in the rest of Ash's illicit businesses.
As if the politician's extremely-high wages were not enough.
As if the millions they were surely stealing from the public coffers weren't enough.
How many people had to die for them to be satisfied? How many lives had to be destroyed?
The worst part of it all is that those bastards know full well the harm they're causing people, but they don't care.
At that moment, rage coursed through my entire body, accompanied by a rather powerful aura.
And I realized my mistake immediately. I concealed it as best I could at that moment, but it was already too late: several auras were rapidly heading towards our direction.
"We've been discovered. Let's go." I woke her up and took her by the arm to flee as far away as possible. She followed me, still groggy, without understanding what was happening.
But just as we were about to leave the alley, a gang member appeared in front of me, and four others appeared behind. One of them grabbed her from behind, placed his fingers on her head, and prepared a spell powerful enough to kill her if I tried anything.
The only thing I could do at that moment was raise my arms and surrender.