It’s Not Easy Making Money In The Apocalypse

“I’m not a child. If you wish to restrain me, prepare yourself.” I responded darkly.

At first, the lead bodyguard chuckled, but when he saw the look in my eyes, he paused for a moment. I understood why he paused. I had been told this before, but there was a difference between someone who had killed and someone who hadn’t. It was an imperceptible difference, but a killed had a look in his eyes. It was the way he held himself. I had been told before that I had such a look. I wasn’t surprised. I had already killed several people, and I had done everything and anything to survive in that apocalyptic wasteland. Comparatively, these guys didn’t scare me much at all.

However, despite my look, the guy seemed to convince himself he had imagined it and shrugged it off. “Look, kid. We got a call from Mr. Mizuki. He told us you’re not to see his daughter under any circumstances. Don’t throw a tantrum and do what you’re told.”

I didn’t appreciate him belittling me. It reminded me a bit of how some people would look at me when they figured I was a colonist. It was dismissal from someone who was a none-threat in their eyes.

“You seem to misunderstand something. I don’t plan to follow you, or to do anything that old bastard suggests.”

“Kid, I’m a former soldier. I spent two tours in Iraq. Half of these men are decorated veterans. Mr. Mizuki doesn’t hire anyone cheap to work for him. You’re just a seventeen-year-old kid.” As he spoke, he pulled out his stun baton and then pressed a button, causing a bit of electricity to arch from the top. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Funny… I was going to say the same thing.”

My words seemed to trigger the men, who all took a step toward me. However, I had already accessed my Perco, pulling a certain item I had acquired from the mall. It looked like a grenade, which is what I would have thought it was if Cecelia hadn’t explained its use to me. It dropped with a click, and the men looked down at it for a moment. It didn’t seem to click with them what it was until it suddenly erupted.

A violent eruption of electricity shot out, looking much like the stun batons, but amplified by several hundred. The arcs shot around me, striking each of the shocked men and causing them all to collapse on the ground. This was a stun grenade, aimed at knocking out everyone in an area without killing anyone. It seemed extreme for a mall to possess such an item, but considering that same mall had live ammo, I figured this was pretty tame in comparison.

Normally, such a weapon would strike everyone. Like any grenade, it was suicide to drop it right at your feet and detonate it. However, every electrical arc avoided me, instead of aiming for one of the soldiers around me. They shook and shuttered in place as they were electrocuted on the spot. The reason I wasn’t being targeted by the grenade was because of my Perco. Rather, the shield mod that I had protected me from a single bullet strike.

Cecelia had informed me that this energy shield could be modified to push away the electrical current, affectively making me immune to such a grenade. I used it to the full effect, being at the center of the explosion while being untouched by it. Even with all of their soldier training, once the electrical grenade had run its course, they all collapsed to the ground at my feet.

That said, I knew once dropping that grenade that there would be more guards coming. Furthermore, while some of these guys were unconscious, a few were just numb and unable to move. There was no telling how quickly they’d be able to recover and then we’d be back in the same situation. I had to get moving, and I had to do it immediately. That didn’t stop me from leaning down and grabbing two batons first. I made sure I could activate them, and then I headed in through the front door.

Thankfully, it wasn’t locked. They had been so cocky that they could handle me that they didn’t even afford basic security. It suited me just fine, as I didn’t want to have to break any windows or go feeling around their pockets for a key. As soon as I was in the main foyer, I heard a scream. A maid turned and ran back into the kitchen. She had a tray of food. Was she taking it to Mizuki? I quickly considered following her to find out Mizuki’s location.

“Can you figure out where she’s located? Does she have a phone or anything on her?” I asked Cecelia.

“I’m not sure, there are a lot of signals in this place. It is a hospital, after all.” Cecelia answered.

I decided the most likely location would be up the large staircase that wrapped around the foyer. As I started up it, a man in white scrubs appeared at the top. He was large and had hairy arms. He held out his hands as if to block me.

“You’re not allowed here.” He declared in a deep voice. “This is a place for the sick. Please leave.”

For a second, his words almost caused me to hesitate. In the end, I was just rudely barging into a hospital. It was a rich people’s hospital and looked more like a mansion with private rooms than a place of health, but it was still a place full of sick people. I could cause people distress and cause many problems. However, I needed Mizuki, and ultimately, I couldn’t afford to give her up in the name of some man who decided far too late to act like a father.

As I approached him, he lunged for me, and I brought one of the stun batons into his stomach. He jerked before falling over. I winced as he started rolling down the stairs, but it was his fault for trying to confront me while on the stairway. If he didn’t want to get hurt, he should have picked a safer spot!

“He’s there!” As I reached the top, two other orderlies appeared, tried to catch me on either side.

Should I have gone the stealth route? No, I didn’t have a chance. They confronted me the moment I appeared outside, and if I chose to disappear now, it would be an event that wouldn’t go unseen. Furthermore, it’d be rich and powerful people seeing it. They would likely start to wonder about my technology, and I’d be placed in a hard place. I didn’t have the structure and resources at the moment to afford to make too many enemies.

These two also seemed to underestimate me, making lunges for me like I was just a child they could grab and drag to the principal’s office. I sent a baton into each gut. The two fell to the ground, thankfully away from the stairway. I could see the man at the bottom of the stairway rocking back and forth, so he was alive too.

“I got it!” Cecelia suddenly announced in my earpiece. “I hacked into the hospital’s wifi and accessed their patient registry. This place has a lot of security. Not much of a challenge for the likes of me.”

I knew that Cecelia was looking for praise. For a program, she sure did like to have her ego inflated. This hospital must have been truly tough though. Most of the stuff she hacked usually only took her a few seconds, yet this took a few minutes.

“Good job!” I breathed out. “Now, where is she?”

“Turn right,” Cecelia instructed me.

I left the main foyer and entered one of the hallways. I could see carts in the hall as well as room numbers. As I passed room after room, some had people in them, while most didn’t. A few were awake, looking at computers or watching television. Others were under ventilators or in some other position. I walked from room to room quickly. I could hear a commotion behind me, so I was pretty sure more people were coming.

“What room?” I demanded.

“Three doors down on the right.” She instructed.

I picked up the pace, jogging the last few steps before swinging the door open. I stepped into the room to see Mizuki lying there in her bed. She looked extremely pale and her eyes were closed. She had some tubes running up her arm and to a drip. Was she so sick? If she wasn’t awake, how was I going to get her to take the pill?

“Who the hell are you?”

There were three other people in the room. One of them was a woman. She had makeup on and she wore a fine dress. Her hair was long and black. If I had to guess, she would be Mizuki’s mother. She had an elegance to her, and her clothing didn’t match the environment she was sitting in. It also looked like she might have been crying, as her eyes were tinged just a bit red. The one who had spoken was a doctor in a white lab coat, and the third person was a bodyguard.

“I’m here for her.” I declared, pointing at Mizuki.

I wouldn’t have time to get the pill down her throat easily. I summoned one from my Perco, and then I slid it into my mouth. I had a feeling I’d only have one chance at this. As I spoke, I saw Mizuki’s eyes start to flutter. I started moving forward. The bodyguard moved to intercept me.

Mizuki didn’t usually travel with a bodyguard that I had seen. Was this the mother’s guard?

“Back off if you don’t…” The bodyguard spoke as he approached me.

I lunged first, attacking him with the stun batons. He was a bit more skilled than the orderlies, and he dodged out of it. That’s when I realized the doctor had grabbed one of the batons. I let him have it while using the second one to shock him. That’s when I got slammed to the side. The bodyguard had struck me, but I stumbled out of his grip, accidentally grabbing onto the woman in the dress. Rather, my hands ended up landing on her chest.

“G-get your hands off me!” The woman cried out in shock.

“D-daniel?” I heard a weak voice say.

This was my only shot. I grabbed the mother and then tossed her at the bodyguard, who was still trying to get around the bed. He tried to catch her more tactfully than I did, but I didn’t care about that. My eyes locked on Mizuki, who was looking in my direction with a drowsy face and confusion. I jumped to the bed, and my lips locked onto hers. As our lips touched, hers parted, and her eyes widened suddenly, all of the sleep leaving them at once.

Just as I felt the guard grab onto my arms from behind, I shoved the pill out of my mouth and into hers. I have pulled away, my tongue still out as it left her mouth. Mizuki’s eyes were as wide as teacups, but I saw her swallow. I had done it.