CHAPTER 119: OPEN MARKET.

Hades did not bother sitting down for breakfast. In Sunshine’s absence, he was the leader of the base, and he was more focused than usual. There was much to do and many places to check on.

Fortress four had been expanding steadily and building continued despite the challenges and hard ships. The newest additions apart from more stone houses had been stalls in mostly the third wall where most civilians stayed.

It was better to set up the market there as many people had come with their own supplies which they wanted to sell or exchange by bartering.

The plan was to open up another market outside the wall, at the base of the mountain. But it would have to wait for the acid rain to stop falling. That market would sell everything from food and clothes to weapons.

But Sunshine wanted to first find a way to create another barricade that would prevent people from traveling from the base of the mountain to Fortress Four.

Hades’s first task that morning was chairing a meeting of those who wished to acquire licenses to operate shops that would be outside the wall. The meeting was held in the information center of the second wall.

More people had showed up than Hades expected and they were all clamoring to share their opinions at the tops of their voices. The crowd was a mixture of bakers, clothing designers, tailors, black smiths, lawyers, chefs.

Whether their business was suitable or not, people had turned up massively. Every five minutes, Lisha had to press a horn and torture everyone’s ears in order to get some order.

Even Helena the troublemaker was in the meeting. She had yet to be taken to Jon’s base as Hades did not want anyone going outside before Sunshine returned. The presence of six watchers poking at the wall and bubble was disturbing.

Before his wife returned and decided on what should be done, he was keeping the base locked.

Helena did not have a voice, but she was holding up a paper on which she had written her suspicions in bold ink.

I WAS THE FIRST, WHO IS NEXT?

Everyone was ignoring her as her matters were not as important as their survival and livelihood.

"Alright everyone settle down." Hades called for order, parchment licenses in his hand. "Before anyone gets a license, there will be vetting of all applicants. Why? Because we need to verify your trade.

Not every business is suitable in the apocalypse, this is a fact that you should accept. Cosmetic salons for example, there is no water to waste on such luxuries now. Jewelry stores are not relevant. I don’t think anyone will choose to buy earrings over grain."

"There is no season on beauty." A woman shouted.

"You say that because you are safe behind these walls. Be realistic for a moment. Nobody is going to care about aesthetic appeal when they are being chased by monsters, or their child is crying for food." Lisha shouted back.

Hades continued. "We will allocate stall placements according to necessity of the business and finally stamp and issue the licenses when we have confirmed the necessary facts.

No one in fortress four will be allowed to trade without a license. Illegal trade of any kind on base area will get you expelled from the base. Products like weapons need even more verification.

We don’t want to arm ungrateful people that will use the same weapons we sell them to attack us. Not everyone will be allowed to trade weapons for this reason because some people will sell to anyone out of greed and end up bringing disaster to our base."

His words were welcomed by the majority; there were a few however that did like them for they believed that nothing brought in money more than weapons during an apocalypse. Who cared who the buyer was?

Lisha pressed the horn again and everyone winced.

Hades raised something that Sunshine had told him to emphasize during this meeting. "I would like to sound this warning once. Slave trade is illegal."

The room went still.

Hades looked around, piercing the residents with his gray eyes. "If anybody on this base participates in the selling or buying of other humans we will expel them from the base."

Most people looked lost, like they did not understand what he was talking about.

Hades sighed and leaned forward. "Times are tough and they are going to get even tougher. As horrific as this sounds, some people will fall to cannibalism to survive. Others will sell family members or strangers that they capture. I hope that nobody here will deal in such foul trade."

More silence reigned in the room. The residents digested what he was saying slowly. His words were a reminder to them that life outside the base was tough.

"We are all lucky to be here and we have enough food to sustain ourselves for years. Do not think of selling your loved ones for any reason. If we find out what you did, the penalty is death." Lisha warned them.

A woman raised her hand and asked, "What if I have a relative being sold and want to buy them back?"

"You are allowed to buy them back as we cannot stop you but if you hope to bring them into the base, that is a very different story. We will come up with steps to take in such a situation and anyone that encounters it will have to go to the information center and find out how to proceed." Hades answered.

Lisha decided to a word of caution before people’s hopes could be raised. "Just because they are your relatives does not mean they will be given residency automatically. We turned away our own relatives for the sake of the safety of the base.

We will not hesitate to do the same with yours. Anybody that does not like this decision will be free to pack up and leave the base."

Curious and disgruntled mumbles rose in the room. Some people did have relatives outside, and they hoped these relatives would be allowed into the base.

Molly Gadriel even whispered to her husband that the rules were too strict and harsh.

Hades quickly jumped in and said, "We need to come up with an exchange rate today. Be it silver, gold, cash or food, how much can be exchanged for which product. The exchange rate needs to be uniform to avoid clashes in the market."

The air buzzed with cautious excitement, immediately traders began to discuss the rates for different items. The activity took the whole day.

By dusk, some of the stalls in the third wall were occupied and a market had come alive. Those that dealt in food stuffs had worked fast after getting stalls in the inside market and smoke curled from cooking fires already.

The scent of baked bread mingled with fruity aromas filled the air easing the pungent smell of the glue. There was also laughter spilling over the market area.

Residents were already touring the stalls, purchasing what they could afford and what they desired. Fresh baked bread was the most popular food being sold, closely followed by roasted meat.

As Hades looked at the budding night life, he smiled. This was the new normal Sunshine had told him about. He took some pictures which he could not wait to show her when she returned.

The smile turned into a grimace when he returned to the first wall and received surprising news. Five sheep on the base appeared to have mutated!