World of Monsters

7. Going Shopping

     The dinner at Gregor's was everything Alyssa thought it might be. Fresh venison from the wild was nothing short of delicious. The people in New Lycan were all very courteous and went out of their way to be friendly. To see werewolves and other creatures laughing and chatting in the same venue seemed so odd to her. It was almost as if they actually liked the new world. She let the idea pass and chose to instead enjoy herself. As she was eating her venison, she couldn't help but notice that Gabriel was having a goblet that was a redish liquid.

     "Is that what I think it is?" She calmly asked.

     "It is," Gabriel answered.

     "If you can buy blood here, then why do you need me?" Alyssa asked.

     "For two very good reasons," Gabriel calmly started. "One, the quality here is piss poor because some of these bags have been in a fridge for years. Fresh blood is almost unheard of in these parts, and because of that blood is also very expensive. Just this mug alone costs three times as much than everything we're going to buy on your list combined."

     "Wow," Alyssa replied as she kept eating her meat. "So not only is my blood cheaper, but it's also high quality."

     "Exactly," Gabriel said, "I hope you're not offended by this?"

     "No," Alyssa said as she paused for a moment. "I'm actually enjoying the chance to see more of the world."

     "I thought you might," Gabriel said, taking another sip. "Finish up and we'll do some shopping before for dawn."

     After dinner was finished, Gabriel took Alyssa to what looked like a super sized department store. The place was enormous and looked very similar to the department store that she and her crew had attempted to clean out a few weeks ago. The only difference was this one was lit up and fully operational.

     "What is in here?" Alyssa asked.

     "Everything we're looking for." Gabriel said as he walked up gate and grabbed a cart. "You should find this very interesting; shopping without having to worry about an undead lurking around every corner."

     "Yes, for a change." Alyssa said as she put a hand on the cart. "Can I push?"

     Gabriel let out a hearty chuckle as he released the cart. "Of course you can."

     "Are we on a budget?" Alyssa asked.

     "Not exactly," Gabriel answered, "But we do have to carry this stuff home, so try to be careful. Remember that we can always come back again for more."

     "Of course," Alyssa said as she eagerly pushed the cart inside. "But I also don't want to get everything on the list, or it would set high expectations for future trips."

     "That's a good point too," Gabriel agreed, "But we'll get a good bit of it."

     Alyssa was shocked by the view of everything inside. Instead of stuff tossed all over the place, every shelf was packed with new items, neatly organized and ready to be taken by eager customers. "Where did they get all this stuff?"

     "It's produced in the other cities." Gabriel answered. "New Lycan has some very big trade deals with the human cities as well as their own productions made here in the city for their own needs. For example, you don't want any of that. It's canned zombie meat."

     "Ewww." Alyssa said as she walked past it.

     "The wolves love it." Gabriel said as he started to grab a few things off the shelves. "This will be more to your liking. Tuna and salmon are good when you're low on blood, so keep some of that for yourself."