Black Market Merchant

Lisa unlocked the key lock to her darkly polished wood coffin. The lock was inlayed smoothly into the wood, allowing the coffins surface to remain sleek. She had the key tied around her neck on a small but strong metal chain, along with her military dog tags.

The shop owner noticed the tags and gestured towards them. "So, miss, you're a former soldier I assume?"

"Yes, I used to be. But that was many, many years ago." Lisa replied indifferently while glancing up at him. She tucked the tags and key back under her shirt as the shopkeeper continued the conversation.

"Oh please." The aging owner said giving a small smile. "You look so young; it couldn't have been all that long ago. You still look quite young."

Lisa chuckled softly and opened the lid revealing its contents. "Looks can be deceiving."

Hanna stood on her tiptoes to curiously peer over Lisa's shoulder. The inside of the coffin and its contents surprised her. She had imagined some kind of mummy or creepy artifact hidden inside. Yet it was far simpler than what she expected.

The coffin indeed was made of simple dark polished plywood, but its insides were lined with some kind of darkly colored metal. Hanna wondered how Lisa could manage to hold up something so heavy. Ignoring this discovery for the moment, she then eagerly looked at the other things inside. It was also far more organized than she had expected.

The inside of the coffin was separated into several smaller compartments like a bookshelf. At the very top portion were four rolls of toilet paper, triple-ply. Then below the toilet paper were two slightly larger compartments that were half filled with MREs. Both items were also super rare here in town. Hanna knew that Lisa had come from Salt Lake City, but she didn't anticipate that she was still this well off.

The next three compartments, below the MREs, were in the middle of the coffin and were much larger. The one on the left had a clear lid with various electrical wires and various tech parts piled in mass inside. The center compartment had some changes of clothing and a large box of matches on top. All of which was strapped down for travel convenience. The compartment on the right had soaps, perfume, and other grown up lady necessities in it. Just like the left side, this too had a clear lid covering.

Then Hanna watched Lisa as she fiddled with a locked safe, it was located on the bottom right of the last two equally sized compartments. There were also two ammo boxes stacked and wedged above it. The words on the ammo boxes were to large, faded and confusing for Hanna to read so she ignored them.

The last remaining compartment, on the left, surprised Hanna yet again. There were three guns and what looked like two others that were disassembled but bundled together. Two of them were black ones Hanna had never seen before, while the other was a .45 caliber pistol. The exact brand she had no clue. As for the two disassembled guns she couldn't distinguish what they were, but even she knew that they had to be huge based solely on their barrel sizes. Lastly, among those guns was a large medical supply of practically everything imaginable. From bandages and cotton swabs to a small cardiac defibrillator and cauterizing tool.

Just then Lisa opened the safes combination lock. Inside, Hanna could see many shiny objects, but there was too much paper money inside. Which ultimately obscured what they really were. There was so much that Hanna couldn't believe her eyes!

"How rich is Lisa?! There's more money here than I've ever seen!" Hanna thought in awe.

There was one thing out of place inside that safe. It was a large satellite phone. Though judging from its dark screen, it was unpowered.

Lisa's hand shifted through the money and she pulled out an expensive looking watch. Then she closed the safe and locked it. Next, she held the watch up to her ear. The tiny tic-tock sounds of the gears running inside proved it still worked. She held out the watch to the shop owner who took it and observed it closely.

"My, my." The shop owner said as he turned the watch over in his hands. "This is actually of particularly good quality. Though it will be difficult for me to resell, just as it is equally as difficult to sell the .50 caliber ammunition. So, I'll accept the watch for just this one box."

Lisa smiled. "Glad to hear it. By the way, may I ask, what is for all the secrecy? Is there any reason to be so cautious?"

"Naturally, this should not be a very difficult question to answer. Yet I cannot tell you for free." The owner said closing the lid to the ammo box and sliding it across the counter to Lisa. She grabbed it and put the ammo box into the last open space on the bottom of the coffin and closed the door. It automatically locked with an audible click upon closing.

"Oh, I think I do already know, but what's the harm in knowing the specifics." Lisa said effortlessly shouldering the coffin once again. "Consider this intel to be an investment. You tell me and I become a new customer for you in, how shall I say, more troublesome items?"

"Hmm, very well. Sales have been low." The owner mumbled thinking it over. "The Mad Dog gang declares that anyone that has guns or ammunition will be killed and the items will be property taken from them. Of course, this caused people to resist, but the gang was smarter than most suspected. They first decided to do this when they controlled only a small area. Then before taking over an area, they scouted potential new members that had such weapons or just the potential to join them. Then after they got them or learned where their opposition was, did they then take over and declare their rule."

"Very interesting." Lisa said thinking about this intel. Thinking to herself, "Simple gangsters couldn't have thought up something as cunning as this. They might either have an outside backer or the leader actually is smarter than I guessed." Then turning to go, she called over her shoulder, "Thank you very much Mr.…?"

"My name is Tyler Nakamura." The owner replied curtly back.

Lisa opened the front door for Hanna to exit first. "Well then Mr. Nakamura, thank you for your help. I will see you again sometime soon. I hope that I will have things worth trading to you sometime." Lisa said before walking out of the shop.

Once back outside, Lisa adjusted the coffins straps on her shoulders and looked down at little Hanna. "Well that was fun!" Lisa said with a small gleam in her grey eyes.

"I guess." Hanna replied casually. "We just bought bullets."

"Oh no, we did a bit more than that. This is one of the reasons I decided to let you come with me. Other than finally getting you out the house." Lisa said smiling at the little girl and taking a step down the road. "The real reason was to teach you about gathering intelligence. If you are going to get your revenge, you must first know your enemy. You're not very big or strong and with no special skills at the moment. So, gathering intelligence is the best thing for you to learn right now."

Hanna perked up hearing this. She quickened her steps to keep up with Lisa. "What do you mean?" Hanna asked.

"Simple." Lisa replied and started to explain. "We knew before who our enemies were. The Mad Dog gangsters and especially their boss. Just from getting the ammo, we found out that the gangsters are not only equipped with lots of guns, but lots of people, too. Also, that they are apparently rather careful. So, we can't just rush into the enemy's base and start fighting."

Hanna nodded thinking the information over. Lisa turned to walk back towards the way they had come, and Hanna followed closely behind. They soon got to the road where the big puddle was without much trouble. When they were halfway across, from the opposite side of the puddle, Lisa saw a familiar face entering the intersection. It was Jerry.

He wasn't alone either. There were four other guys with him. Like Vance, from their first fight, two of the men were just as big. Clearly, they were also Match Fighters. A sudden thought popped into Lisa's mind. "How were these guys so big and strong? Clearly their size was far larger than one could get from natural weightlifting. So, what tricks did they use?"

Lisa and Hanna were just a few meters from the end of the puddle, when Jerry noticed Lisa, thanks to her easy to spot coffin. He pointed to her and excitedly talked to the men with him.

"This isn't good." Lisa thought. "Alone this situation wouldn't be any issue, but I have Hanna now. I can't act rashly."

"Jackson, that's her! That's Queen." Jerry was nearly jumping in excitement saying this. The two fighters immediately tensed up hearing this. Jerry must have warned them that Queen was actually a dangerous opponent.

"I thought you were joking when you said she carried a big coffin on her back." Jackson said looking her way.

Now that Lisa could see who Jackson was, she was intrigued by his appearance. He looked nothing like a typical gangster. He wore a nice black suite and red tie; his shoes were polished and his black hair, with a white strip coming from his bangs, was combed over neatly. He even had a handkerchief tucked neatly in his front pocket.

The other man next to him, however, did look the part. He had a long white T-shirt, two sizes too big, sagging jean shorts and sun glass that looked like they were holding up his afro. In his hands was the modern example of the AK47, the AK97. Over his shoulder was strung a long chain of bullets. He had to be a personal bodyguard for Jackson.

Lisa sighed and stopped moving. Hanna nearly bumped into Lisa when she did and almost fell into the puddle. Luckily, she grabbed hold of the coffin and peaked around it to see what had happened.

"Who are they?" Hanna asked timidly.

"Trouble." Lisa replied quietly. "If they start shooting, jump behind my coffin. Immediately run home as fast as you can if I can't stop them."

Hanna looked afraid, but nodded and continued cling to the coffin.

"Well hello, Miss Queen." Jackson called out to Lisa. "I know you intended to meet with us tomorrow, but I couldn't wait that long, so we we're coming early. I hope this won't be an inconvenience to you." His voice was calm and sounded much younger than Lisa expected.

Lisa smiled showing she wasn't afraid. "Not at all. I only told Jerry that to give you guys time."

"Thank you for the consideration." Jackson replied. "Now, shall we get to the point? What do you want with my boss?"