Bodega Cat (System Apocalypse, Deck Builder, Litrpg)

If there is one thing that Ashley didn't want to do, it was sit at the hospital.

She'd been to the hospital before.

It hadn't been to her tastes.

Before she came to New York city for the promise of an acting gig or at least a chance at one, they at least felt smaller. This one felt massive. Large doors and walls that kept going all the way to to what had to be the third floor made the space feel like a waiting room at the human warehouse.

Things we're not nearly as good as they could be. They never were.

The world had ended. Because that's how things happened. However it looked like people still somehow had to go to work?

That's why she asked the cat at the register for a bottle of liquor. That's why she wasn't surprised that the cat was running the store. The bottle that the talking cat gave her went down smooth, it was the only thing that felt real now.

What kind of cat talked anyway?

It was like the universe was conspiring to keep her drunk.

The bottle was almost empty as she walked in. Just like the subway, there were no trash cans inside. The triage nurse grudgingly let her in despite her clear and present misgivings about being present at work. She was after all, bleeding from a head wound.

It was probably the worst time to go on a bender, but these things couldn't have been predicted.

She'd arrived in the late morning, but as the clock continued it's march until the late September evening, she was still waiting.

The nurse ​​​had told them that they would call her. But with so many people getting caught up in pizza rat electrocutions, it wasn't like she was critical. Well, their definition of critical. She wasn't coding out from a rat attack.

People outside were battling against monsters that had just started appearing. She wasn't sure what was really actually happening or not. There has been some official news but apparently the channel they left on was playing reruns while they tried to figure out something. A woman who clearly hasn't been in front of a camera before was reading about Mayor Jenkins plan to work through this.

Covid proved that New Yorkers could be resilient.

She didn't feel resilient and in the back of her mind she could feel that there was something inside of her that wanted to get out.

Everyone that was fighting the monsters, either had some sort of baseball bat. Or in some cases a cane. Or one guy just hit those pizza rats with a fist.

Those weren't the only enemies she'd seen. She'd also seen several turtles and other small animals that had just been absolutely destroyed by New Yorkers who lined up for the opportunity for a rare drop, like it was a designer shoe.

That was what they were calling them now.

"Oh, do you see the guy in front," one of the nurses said pointing. "He got a rare card. I hope no one tries to fight him for it."

Ashley turned to look. It wasn't due to the shiny card that had floated out in front of the man with the bloody baseball bat. At once the glow disappeared and the bat which had previously been covered in what you could only assume to be rat blood had also disappeared.

"You see, the girl behind them is kind of pushy. But at least the police officers are keeping the line. Unless they're trying to steal that rat card."

There was so many rat cards that Ashley wasn't really sure why they'd come out that often. In fact, she had a few in her deck, although her deck was more aligned towards tokens and she'd only picked up the back cards because she got in between a rat and a hard place.

But after being in the hospital for so long she was thinking that maybe she should probably go out there and hit up the spawning pizza rats. There had to be a reason why they were spawning so often right out front. It was like a clock you would set.

Every fifteen minutes, at least by her watch, another rat would populate. The next person in line would destroy it and take their card. There were several people in line and what they did was move from one rat to the next. From the large open waiting room, they could see four spawn locations on first avenue next to all of the NYU Langone signage.

In essence, it was a beat down line. She started to think of what would happen if the rats got free and were able to go out and over on the city. Some people use cars but a lot of them just used whatever they could find. Only once has she seen a spawned rat roaming around and someone had quickly dispatched it.

Ashley wondered if her comic book shop was still going to be open. When she got back to it. The hospital was still running so somebody was doing something. But healthcare workers were crazy. They'd been here through covid and having refrigerating morgues outside and now they were living through some sort of apocalypse event.

What even was the purpose of all these rats if most of them couldn't survive a swing from a baseball bat?

Ashley thought about where she might get her own baseball bat. That would be a walk and they would probably be out at any sporting goods store. Bah.

At least her apartment seemed to still have power. Or at least the buildings around them had power. And no rats had spawned inside the hospital so far as she knew. Maybe they were looking for places outside?

It was going to be one of those things where she didn't know what she didn't know.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

If the NYPD could keep people circling through the line so they can get their own cards, then maybe eventually things might calm down. Maybe things might approximate normal once again.

A man was walking around, she recognized him as triage nurse who had interviewed her. A man in his mid-thirties, his scrubs looked immaculate. He paused in front of her.

"Hey do you mind if I try a card power on you Miss?" He asked. "I see that you have waited... This is the wrong sheet. What are you here for again?"

Ashley checked to make sure that he was wearing a hospital ID badge which he was.

"I am just having a little bit of a menty b right now," she said, pointing to her head. "Oh and this old thing."

"All right. I think we're all having a menty bee right now. Let me see if this can help," he pulled out a card from his hand and both he and she were enveloped in white light.

For about 5 seconds, Ashley felt content as if she were a cat being petted and this was everything in the world and nothing to compete with that and everything was right with the world.

Then she came back into reality and she felt slightly better. Taking a second, she examined her fingers. Her arms and looks back to the nurse.

"Is that better? He said it's supposed to make you feel better. Oh God, I didn't make you feel worse did I?" Terror flashed across his face.

"No, you're fine. I think I'm good now."

"Look, we're supposed to have the admins come and check you out and fill your health insurance. But shit's crazy right now so why don't you just sneak out?"

Ashley gave him a smile and did exactly that. "Thanks."

Free healthcare was free healthcare. She expected to have to sign something but he just all but kicked her out before heading to someone else to do the same thing.

Refreshed, she started walking back uptown.

In between forty second street and thirty eight street on first avenue, there was a big wide open lot south of the United Nations compound. For years, it lay empty, waiting for some New York City developer to lay claim to it with how expensive it could possibly be. At that moment, all of a couple dozen people were inside of it, dispatching groups of pizza rats for their cards. she saw a few turtles there but it was almost all rats, concentrated in one large area

She looked on trying to remain as detached as possible. It was one of those areas that had yet to be developed but had a lot of open space.

She always forgot how big a city block was until she could see that little location right next to the East River on the other side of the lot was the beltway where cars zipped past. Every so often, a car would pass by that had some sort of technological add-on that she'd never seen before. One had something close to a cow catcher, and she supposed that they were cleaning up any spawns on the roads.

It had to be a card power. Either that or some feat of redneck engineering.

She waved a hand and kept going back up. When she got to forty second street she stopped, then went in a block and then continued up second avenue.

A lot of the stores are closed which miffed her. She was a lot hungrier than she thought she would be in the apocalypse. Her little apartment on forty fifth street was adequate for her needs and it was close enough to first avenue that she use it for a walking path. But she'd hope that perhaps a couple businesses would have stuck open.

When she finally got to her corner, she realized that her Bodega was actually open. Cars flew down second avenue all headed downtown. A line of people were slaying pizza rats periodically. She blinked several times. Is trying to make sure that what she was seen was real. For sure, she hoped that one of the organic groceries behind there had been open but she would take this.

She wasn't a complicated girl. She just needed a couple things to nosh on.

The middle eastern place across from Penny Lane happened to still be open. The smells were inviting and they still took cash somehow. She got herself a drink and they all but shoved a Bak Lava into her mouth. They gave her a bag and told her to return frequently.

Ashley still needed a couple things so she would be able to cook, so she headed to the Bodega on the corner. It was open, after all.

She pushed open the glass door and was treated to the full dramatic reproduction of the lion king, but with lasers. A cat was chasing a laser that a fist-sized drone projected.

The cat would catch the laser or put his paws with a laser was. Then the drone would find another spot and the cycle would continue.

Ashley's eye twitched.

She gawked for a moment then regained her composure. A lady didn't let a little pussy cat acting up make her lose her composure.

The cat paused, his fur rustling back and forth. He sniffed in her general direction. Where the condoms had been behind the counter a neat row of cards was displayed. "Are those for sale?"

The cat jumped from the floor up to the counter and then gave her his full attention. The cat purred intentionally. "These cards are for sale."

She didn't expect the male voice. "Thanks, uh how much for one?"

The cat conferred with the drone for a moment. Satisfied, the drone did a little loop.

"The current going rate is ten credits or one hundred bucks for one card. It would help to have a sign saying that. Though, this simple drone would never ever imply that this business could be improved in any way."

"Perish the thought," Ashley said. "Credits. How the heck do I even get credits?"

She directed the question to the crowd at large. Further in, there was someone working the grill with a couple of people waiting for prepared food. Her stomach grumbled.

A small chair sat unoccupied. All of a sudden, Ashley felt tired. The walk had been long and she needed a minute.

"Chicken Parm?"

The cook behind the counter nodded. She relaxed into her chair.

---

The human has the perfect set of thighs beneath her short shorts. Bagel was a connoisseur of these types of things. Temptation raised his head in his domain. He threw caution into the wind, approaching her. He's talked up to her and she looked really tired. He almost felt sympathetic but then he realized how much humans done it to make their own problems and all of a sudden he didn't. He just eyed the lap that beckoned him. Before he knew it, he was curled up in her lap.

It was glorious.

There was a time before now when he sat on the laps of the many people that came and went, working at his Bodega. Mostly they had been the men that worked here. Sometimes it was the guy that worked outside and did the flowers. Sometimes it had been Raul. Was he sad that he didn't know their names? He could guess. He might be able to if they ever showed up again.

The only thing that really banged his head was the name of the owner, but even then, he was reasonably certain that the owner was dead. He was also certain that the people that worked here were not showing up because they didn't think that it was going to be open. Not that he would be able to pay them. So they didn't know where the money went and how. But as long as Janet told him that they were solvent, he would keep going.

What was his other option?

Leaving into an uncertain world?

He would take his chances here where he could restock the shelves with card powers daily. It was the way.

"Uh, excuse me, aren't you a talking cat?" Ashley asked.