It's Not Easy Making Money in the Apocalypse

"Boss!" I cringed as two arms wrapped around me and a snotty nose rubeed against me.

"What the hell? I'm not dying. I'm just going to another building." I shoved the person hugging me away.

"We know that Boss, but we'd still have nothing if not for you!" The man sniffled.

The other lackeys all shook their heads too.

"I still can't believe you've become an acolyte." One of the others declared. "I've never even hung out with one."

"As I said, I'm still going to be depending on you in the future. You're still running the business here, and if you run into trouble, I can help a bit more now."

"Of course, Boss! And if you need us for anything, we'll go get it!" The man thumped his chest.

I looked at the group one more time and gave a nod before leaving. I had set them up to be successful, but that didn't mean I didn't still need their support. That was the way of progressing in the bandit clan. You got subordinates, and then those subordinates worked for you, allowing you to worry about other things. Every acolyte had a group of subordinates that did their bidding. It was the same for lieutenants, who would instead have several acolytes. Like this, Cock and Balls worked from a top-down style of control.

Marsh ordered the lieutenants, the lieutenants commanded their group of acolytes, and the acolytes had their initiates. I had the initiates, but the offer to make me an acolyte came from Marsh directly. That meant that I didn't have a lieutenant to work under. Much like when I arrived, I was back on my own. Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way. If I was under a lieutenant and became an acolyte through them, then I would always be an underling with no chance to reach lieutenant.

"I wonder how Jacques is doing…" I muttered.

I didn't think about it any longer though. He was probably easily gaining ranks as part of his carefully laid plan. I felt annoyed contemplating it.

Instead, I went to a certain vendor. There was a long line of initiates waiting to be seen, but I passed them all by. As an acolyte, it was my right to be seen first. Many of these guys would wait all day only for them to never get called. This was why I had never bothered to trade any technology since I had arrived. I didn't have that kind of time to waste. The clock was ticking.

Things were a bit easier as an acolyte though, and the initiates could only silently grumble as I approached the front. The woman there was doing her nails, unconcerned about the initiate trying to get her to evaluate his tech. I could see from a glance why. The tech he had was a piece of scrap. It might have once belonged to a control panel, but it was completely useless now. Many of these people were desperate to get points though, and would try to pass off any trash they found as tech.

I put a few items on the table right next to him. "I'd like to submit some tech to the Cock and Balls."

The girl stopped doing her nails and then glanced up. This was the same feral girl I had seen the first day I had come. When she saw the items on the table, she leaned forward and pulled them toward her. She picked up the first item and spun it around in her hands. It looked like a pair of handcuffs, but it was much thicker.

"A functional pair of Allcuffs." She declared, clicking a button that caused it to snap shut. "Do you have the code?"

"I worked it out," I responded, flashing her my Perco.

She leaned forward, suddenly flashing a smile. She held out her wrist to me. It took me a second to realize what she wanted, but then I carefully grabbed the Perco she had. I made sure to avoid touching her scaley skin. I didn't want to accidentally damage her. I grabbed her adapter and plugged hers into mine and the code transferred a moment later thanks to Cecelia.

"I've never seen Marsh grant a Perco to a human before." She declared, testing the handcuffs and then nodding to herself once she confirmed that they opened.

"I found it before I joined," I responded quietly. "Ursa, right?"

She had allowed me to access her Perco so I wouldn't have to show mine. The pair of us were speaking close and quiet. She respected that I didn't want any of the other initiates to know about it. I hadn't known how rare Percos were. When I saw she had them, I thought they must be common, but then I realized that Marsh probably granted them to specific people.

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"That's right." She smiled in a way that looked a bit nauseating given her rotted skin. "I see you've also become an acolyte. That must be record time."

"Is it?" I responded, scratching the back of my head. "I was just trying to survive."

"More than survive. I hear a lot of women are living good lives thanks to you."

"Huh? I mean, they work for themselves. I just give them a space in exchange for a cut…"

She shook her head. "it's more than that. Most women in Cock and Balls are treated horribly. All the lieutenants are men, and very few women even make it to acolyte, and most of those are lovers of the lieutenants!"

"You're doing alright for yourself," I responded.

She let out a raspy chuckle, leaning over the table. Her breasts were on top, and she seemed to push them together as she leaned toward me. I could see her cleavage, but I would have rather not.

"I'm not exactly most the men here's type."

"What about Rex?" I asked.

"The feral who keeps bugging me?" She blinked and then made a face. "I don't like ferals at all. Just because I changed doesn't mean my taste in men changed at all."

"Um…"

"You know…" She reached out and touch my arm. "There could be a lot more points coming for you. I haven't gone on a day in a long while."

"Hey, are you guys going to stop flirting? There is a line!" The man I had stepped in front of earlier came pushing past me before I could answer.

The feral girl's expression turned ugly, and she looked passed up. "We're closed for the rest of the day!"

The entire line let out a collective groan, and several men shot threatening looks at the one in front.

"A-are you kidding me?" The frontman shouted. "I've been waiting here since before you were open! He doesn't have anything better than I have!"

He reached his hand out the grab the ghoul woman's wrist. I pulled Anwil's dagger from my Perco and sliced it. A single cut took all four of his fingers, which fell off with a sizzle. He looked down at his fingerless hand, which had been cauterized as it was cut, leaving not a single drop of blood behind. He lifted his hand and let out a scream. I kicked him, causing him to fly bag. He stumbled into a few of the men who were walking away from the line.

Bumping into them, they turned and ragefully began to thrash him. They already blamed him for costing them their spot, so they immediately took the pretense and began to beat him up. Suffice it to say the initiate was dragged away screaming. No one even looking in my direction. I was an acolyte, and most of them knew I had every authority, especially in a situation where he tried to touch one of Cock and Ball's vendors.

I heard another raspy giggle, and I turned back to see that desiccated face staring at me with pale, but intense eyes. "I didn't know you were a hero too. That blade, you wouldn't be chance be selling it?"

I made the blade disappear in an instant. "It was given to me as a gift."

Her eyes widened. "A digitizer too? I'm very impressed."

"I'm just selling the things I gave you," I responded, not liking her staring much at all.

"The Allcuffs and this Allco circuit board will net you 2000 points for now. You'll find where you can spend them once you go inside the main building" She declared, taking my badge and adding the points. "Oh, and the offer is still open. All you have to do is say the word. Everything in there requires points. Just staying a night is 200 points, so do consider my offer."

She pursed her lips at me in a way I had to believe was seductive. I smiled back, keeping myself from gagging. I tended to not be a particularly shallow person. I wasn't bothered by mutants for the most part either. However, ferals with their decaying skin were a lot to handle. They looked like zombies, and I couldn't find that attractive no matter what.

I left the vendor as she slammed the door behind her. It was time to see what it was like being an acolyte.