VL) Chapter 3 Part 1

And so, despite all my protests, I was forced to wear the light blue dress. I was now standing in front of what is called an escalator. It was a set of stairs that moved on their own. You were supposed to step up on to them, but for me, this was a novel experience. The slums did not have such things, we had to walk, run, climb. They were so packed and condensed that to even think about having a mode of transportation there was unthinkable.

You would only be able to use a flying vehicle, but then again, no rooftops were unclaimed except for the outer rim near the barrier. And even then, if they could land, they would need to climb down the sides of the buildings since there was no roof top access. I had a hell of a time transporting what things I could to my little rooftop. The metal I used for my tin can house was heavy. I had to pull it up with a rope after tying the rope off to a pipe and then throwing it off to the side. And by rope, I mean a bunch of dirty old sheets I found and tied together. I do not even know how many times the rope broke and I was forced to climb back down to get the pieces, climb back up to fix the rope again before climbing back down all over again to secure the metal again. It took me almost four days to get five pieces up onto the roof.

It was really a struggle. Not something I wish to deal with ever again. But now that I seem to have become a player, with all these benefits and even a warm place with comfy couches and bed, I do not think I could ever go back to how I was before. I would prefer to go kill these virus things and get stronger so I can continue to live this new life that had suddenly fallen into my lap.

“Alicia?” Elara’s voice entered my ears. I turned to see her looking at me in confusion. Even the people walking by me were giving me strange looks.

I rubbed my nose and said: “Sorry, I was worried someone would try to look up my skirt if I got on to this thing.” My words seemed to make a young man who was about to step onto the escalator almost miss step, causing him to stumble a few steps.

“Hehe, this is why you take one hand and place it behind you to hold your skirt in place, so no one can glance up,” Elara explained, which made me frown. See, skirts were no good! You exposed so much! Drafty, windy things that let people below you see your panties.

“Let’s go someplace where I can buy pants or at least shorts.” I pursed my lips as I covered my butt with my hands and got on the escalator. It was weird to use one of these things. It moved slowly but steadily. Luckily, I could turn sideways to keep myself protected even though there was not a single person behind me at this time. Elara was also giggling away as if I was making a big fuss out of nothing. I chose to stay quiet.

The mall was actually quite amazing. They seemed to have a store for everything. Shoes, socks, underwear. Why they would need separate stores for these things, I do not know but there were many people walking in and out of them. I even poked my head inside to look at the prices, and I must say, paying over a hundred credits for a single pair of socks was a bit… how many cockroach skewers can I buy with that? One + one… let’s just say it’s a lot!

After seeing that, I couldn’t help but whisper to Elara: “You know… I can just grab some clothes from the trash bin…”

“No!” Elara cried out, attracting a lot of attention, making me feel slightly embarrassed. But they only looked for a few seconds before quickly looking away. One thing I noticed was that the people here avoided us like the plague. I can see why Elara seemed to be so excited. She probably dealt with this all the time. Not that I mind since I do not want people getting too close to me, but still. Elara was the type that seemed to crave kinship and skinship on top of that.

But right now she was giving me a stern look as she said: “You will wear new clothes. Why would you go through the trash? My mother has plenty of money, so do not worry. We can spend money all day and never run out!”

I suddenly wanted to punch this girl. Did she have to rub it in that I was poor!? Sadly, even if she were really angering me, I would not touch her. Nina would get mad, and then a rift would form between us, and I might even end up getting kicked out.

“Let’s just go find something not so breezy…”