The next day came earlier than wanted, waking him from his usual dreamless sleep.
Looking around, Graves's eyes fell on his mother's still figure, lying there asleep. He heaved a sigh and went to make soup with the meat. First, he washed the blood out of it with water before boiling it and adding some leaves. Today there was no salt, so they had to go with the usual bland flavor.
After cooking, he dished out his own portion and quietly ate before getting up to leave.
"Be careful, Graves. Come back home on time," his mom murmured. She seemed to have woken up a bit, her tired eyes trying to project an emotion of love.
"I will, mom. Just hold tight. I'll get you some supplements," Graves replied, bending down to gently stroke her hair until she drifted back to sleep.
Graves sighed, stepping out into the polluted air. He let out a dry cough as he made his way through the busy streets.
He reached the market about half an hour later. Weaving through tight corners and dodging sprawling gang members—cautious enough never to lock eyes with them—Graves finally reached a specific stall.
A man in his late fifties or sixties sat there, looking absentminded with his palm resting on his jaw. His short black hair was heavily betrayed by streaks of gray. Seeing Graves, the man smiled from ear to ear, showing a brownish set of teeth.
"Hey, my boy!" he exclaimed, widening his arms for a hug.
Graves gestured for him to stop his advance. Graves half-jokingly always told him he hated physical touch, but the old man was too stubborn to listen.
"Are you here for the normal packages?" Lee asked, smiling a little bit as he gestured for Graves to enter his stall.
Graves sat on a wooden stool, looking around. "Yeah, that's why I'm here, Old Man Lee."
"Oh, come on! How many times have I told you that I'm not old? I'm just thirty-five years old. Just wait till I start pulling the girls," Lee replied mischievously.
Of all the people Graves had come across in his pathetic existence, Old Man Lee and his mom were the only two who genuinely smiled. The other smiles he saw in the outskirts were dangerous—the kind people wore right before they stole from you, misled you, or deceived you.
Graves nodded. "Yeah, I know, but you seem to have gray hair and there are visible wrinkles on your face," Graves replied, half-mocking.
"Says someone whose entire hair is white... or is it brown?" Old Man Lee fired back, still smiling.
Graves's hair was naturally white, but it had been covered by so much accumulated dirt over the years that one could hardly distinguish its true color. Graves just shook his head.
"Now, back to business. What supplements do you want?" Lee asked, his face turning serious.
"The usual for my mom and myself. She's getting worse every day," Graves replied.
"Oh... is that so? Sorry, Graves, but we haven't been getting many supplies lately. Getting supplements is very hard these days," Lee said, dropping his voice low.
Graves's posture stiffened. "How much do you want for it?"
Old Man Lee studied Graves for a moment before shaking his head. "Not all things can be bought with money. People inside the Great Wall are being stingy with supplements these days."
Graves sighed internally. Traders like Old Man Lee usually got their goods from the dumpsites that came from the Wall. A pack of supplements might expire in the following week, or the following month if they were lucky, and those discarded items were then smuggled and sold to people outside the wall for exorbitant prices. Even then, they usually sold out immediately because everyone outside the wall was sick. Lately, the supply had ceased. The ones that did manage to reach traders were almost entirely expired, but no one had a choice. They bought and used them regardless.
Graves felt completely helpless.
Old Man Lee stood up, went into the deep corners of his shade, and brought back a packet and a liquid solution of supplements. Sitting back down beside Graves, he quietly handed them over.
"These are one of the last supplements I have remaining. They'll expire in two days," he said quietly.
Graves clutched them tightly in his hand. "Thank you so much. How much will I pay?"
"Aha, now we are talking. You owed me five NHF coins before, but I'll suspend your debt for now. Just give me five NHF coins for these."
Graves quickly handed the coins over, leaving himself with only one single NHF coin. Supplement prices were strictly based on expiry dates. A pack that had a month left usually sold for twenty-five NHF coins or even higher. Getting these two for just five coins was an incredibly generous deal; plenty of desperate people would have paid triple without looking back.
Old Man Lee patted him on the back. "You should get going. I don't want you scaring away my precious customers," he said with a wink.
"Thank you, OLD MAN LEE!" Graves shouted back.
The corner of Old Man Lee's mouth twitched, but before he could reprimand the boy, Graves had already dashed out of the store.
Old Man Lee's expression softened into a smile. "Just a young boy trying to survive." Shaking his head, he went back to work.