Seeing all of these expensive-looking goods, William hesitantly asks. “Those shoes… How many credits for them?”
“8.” the owner of the shop gets the pair that William points to.
“So 18 for everything?”
“I can go as low as 14 credits for everything since the young man is new.”
William, stunned by his sudden generosity, looks at the old man.
“It is fine. I know how a lot of younger people are struggling for 10 credits. Does a young man have enough? If not, I will still reserve it for you when there will be enough credits.” The old man explains.
William sights and grabs a few credits that he got in the morning. “Hmmm… I have 11… I will take the clothes, if that is fine with you, sir?”
“Good. Has the young man had some other ideas in this case? Clothes are varied, and I have many sets for many preferences.”
“Heh… This old man is really good at this.” William laments within his mind. This old man changes the order of things, in the hope of getting better deals for himself.
“I don’t mind anything, as long as the shirt has long sleeves, and trousers that are not too tight.” William decides since he used to wear the same clothes where he was growing up for a year or two. Wearing too small clothes is uncomfortable, and it never left William’s mind.
As for the sleeves, the reason is obvious.
“Alright, that is a reasonable request.”
The owner leads him across the shop, into many corners with more clothing styles. There are sections for girls, for all genders and man clothes as well. Cloaks, hats, and all kinds of shirts, like tank tops, jerseys, and t-shirts.
Everything has the same good old functional design, where quality matters and style is quite good.
“Young man, which one is to your satisfaction?” The owner of the shop asks, with the exaggerated movement of hands, to show off his goods.
“I guess any kind of long sleeve shirt, with possible good fabric trousers? I don't like the feel of jeans. They must be quite uncomfortable in this weather.” William tells the owner after some thinking.
“Excellent thinking. The weather here is quite tropical. The young man should have no worries about tough winters, but the night could be colder with winds. I will take into consideration your credits and make the best deal. If a young man can wait I will deal with everything.”
William looks at the old man and is kind of surprised by his hospitality. This man is nice. Perhaps it is because of old age, which is rare in this world where death is more common than living past the sixties and over. This man is around the made-up limit, or over it with his wrinkles and hoarse old voice.
This does not bother William, since he has seen some older people as well in the multiple camps. Such people usually have the best kind of stories, or either are totally broken through the living. Usually nothing in-between.
William waits in the shop for a couple more minutes. The owner did not even ask his size or anything other than what he would like. Strolling around the alleys of clothes, the owner emerges behind a counter, with a pair of trousers and a long-sleeved shirt. All in beige colors, with black stitching.
“This is set what I have found. The best kind for the 11 credits.”
William takes them to his hand. The smooth, soft, and soothing feeling of the quality makes this rather nicer clothing to his standards. As for the price of 11 credits. He guesses the owner knows his businesses quite well since he previously said the price of 8 credits.
Going with more is quite a style, but William understands this.
“How about 10? I haven't eaten since the morning, and I want to eat out,” he says.
The owner ponders, with hesitation.
“Young man is in luck. I will sell this for 10 credits. It is a sports set which is popular with a young man like yourself. Take care of it, and it will last you at least a year, and beyond.”
“Great! Thank you very much, sir.” William says in a good mood with new clothes in his hands.
“If the young man has no issue, instead of throwing away your old clothes, I do recycling practice with them for the people Outside. is it fine if you will give them to me?” Owner offers.
“Outside? You are one of those people?”
“Does the young man know? Charity is important since the people Outside have a much harder life than here. Am I wrong?”
“I can vouch that you are not. I appreciate your services, good sir. It is helping a ton of people in the need and some who have nothing.” William gives him a slight bow and honest truth.
“I am thrilled to hear that. There is a changing alley further back in the shop. You can leave your clothes there while going out with a new set.” The owner points with his hand back, so William knows where to go.
With these old clothes that he has for who knows how long, William still chose to discard them without hesitation. They are, after all, the kind of clothes that the old man described. Donated to the people outside or exchanged for the goods in deals within the organizations and the camps.
It is, after all those troubles with the camps, hard to make them self-sustaining and the Federation knows about it.
Although the food and water supply is usually the most important thing to make sure is within the proximity of the new camp, there are still a lot of other issues to take care of.
Human needs a lot, so they would remain in good shape on the Outside, where the Dark could attack anytime. Provided clothing, spices that could not be made in America's climate, and precisely the one thing that is important. The salt, could not be found within inland camps. The reasoning is something that William knows.
Why is the case since the salt is mostly a seasoning? It is also one of the oldest cases of preserving food, meat, and so on. There was never enough salt, and William never knew why. Although he knew it usually came from the oceanic, or sea waters in the world. Such businesses of the resources are ever-year problems that many who survived the Dark Age must think about.
Tossing the old clothes within a private small room, William, with his average stature of 5 feet and 5 inches, change to a new set. Beige in color, the whole fabric feels incredibly nice to him. It is clear that this is fresh and no one ever wore this before him.
“W-wow... Is this.. how it feels?” William asks himself, while not knowing the full question or the answer to it.
Still, he feels happy and satisfied, and that at least matters for his new life here. Trousers have adjustable tightness around the waist area and each ankle. The shirt has a round cut for the neck, with adjustable sleeves like the trousers.
This makes it quite a comfortable and free piece of cloth while remaining secure.
“I feel like I could run as fast as I could, and nothing with budge. I don't regret it now. 10 credits... whatever.” William walks from the private changing room and is greeted by the owner, who has bulging eyes out of his sockets. He is pointing a hand at William with a voiceless moving mouth.
“S-sir?” William asks.
“Y-y-young man? W-walker?” the old man utters three words in his shaking voice.
William checks his forearm, which is exposed with a sleeve, which William pulled inwards a moment ago to try it out. Unknowingly, he hasn't changed it back.
“Oh... What is wrong? Is something... strange with me being a Walker?” William casually asks.
The old man looks at him uncertainly before sitting down beside the clothing rack. Rubbing his eyes and temples, he calms down in a couple of moments.
“My apologies. It is not every day that I see a walker. It is not common to see one in my shop.”
“This is a Federation. I thought the Walkers are much more common here.” William comments.
“They are... how to say it? Important?” the old man tries to find the correct reasoning amidst his surprise.
“I came here yesterday for the examination. I am still not a Walker. Not yet.”
“Oh, so I guess you spoke the truth. An outsider coming from there and trying to get to lengths of a Walker in the Federation? That must be quite a harsh life, young man.”
“That is what I plan to do. Sorry if I shocked you that much. It is not my intention.”
“No, young sir has no need to say that. You can take the set for yourself. Walkers deserve it since they have saved my life countless times over my life. I have plenty of credits myself because I am quite resilient. Heheh.” the old man insists while chuckling in awkwardness. He has a certain history with such figures while being old has already provided a lot of experience with dealing with and seeing such people.
William looks at him with the same old, unbothered expression that he mastered a long time ago. He could not really understand this, but he can try to.
And he does. Taking pieces of paper from his new pocket on his trousers, he shoves 10 credits into his hand.
“I don't care what is a problem with being a Walker or a regular person. I grew up in a camp, where I took care of the field, and animals for 10 years, so I don't take charity lightly, nor highly. It is a business.” William attempts to make himself more clear.
It worked, and the owner of the shop reluctantly accepts the credits.
“Young sir... is a good young Walker.” He says and gets up to his old feet. Walking to a counter, William follows, in a plan to leave the shop, before the old man has any new ideas. He no longer have anything that he could pay for.
To his disappointment, as he tries to leave, the owner shoves a box around his arms.
“Take this, at least. For a full set.” The old man grins in embarrassment and shoves William out of his shop before being given a chance to retaliate.
William glances back at the closed door while sighing and checking the wooden box. Inside is a pair of double-colored shoes. Not leather, nor fabric, but something between them. Above the ankles, they seem flexible and tough to touch. Very robust with a dark brown color.
“What an old man... Is this how a charity works? I swore to myself I would not push my status as a Walker in hopes they are seen as normal people in the Federation, but it seems like I am mistaken.” William laments his past promise and gives up on it at this moment.
After all, his experience while growing up as a Walker in the camp of regular people was not always nice. The general way some people who grew up on the Outside, with deaths around their lives, the motion of the Walkers could get into their heads.
With the statistics that prevailed since the start of the apocalypse, the mention of a Walker being born is a very strange occurrence. So, whether one keeps on living and growing in the camps, some stuff happens. In fact, the Walkers are not at all common.