Gamble

It was already late in the afternoon and Alice was still going around in the Slums. She had already been searching for several hours and she had realized that the situation was even worse than she had thought.

First of all, she had roughly found out where they were in the slums. It appeared that Alice had run to the complete opposite side of the city, they were in the far south of harborton. Even if she was alone, Alice would probably need several days just to get to the other side under these conditions. And in addition, the number of guards in the slums was already high, so she didn't know how many there were everywhere else.

The only relieving factor was, that the boys shouldn't have a problem surviving for a week. They had always a certain amount of water stored inside their hideout as well as a few other hiding-places. They should have gotten her warning, and if they didn't do anything reckless and just holed themselves in, they should have no problem surviving for a week.

The other major problem was that of the two wells that she found, both were much better guarded than she would have thought. Both were guarded by one normal guard and an extra soldier, and from what she had seen so far, the soldiers wouldn't make mistakes such as sleeping when on nightshift or taking bribes.

Still, Alice kept searching for a possibility until the sun was about to set, only then did she return to where Amy was.

When Alice came back, she got shocked for a few moments when nothing happened even after calling out to Amy. Fearing that something had happened to Amy, she almost panicked only to realize that the little girl had hidden where Alice told her to and then fallen asleep.

Although Alice didn't know what exactly had happened, Alice decided that it would be better to wait until the next day to ask Amy. The space where Amy was sleeping wasn't very large, but seeing the pained expression on the sleeping face of the little girl, Alice just couldn't help herself but squeeze herself into the remaining space, sleeping with the girl in her arms.

...

The next morning, Alice found out that nothing actually had happened when she wasn't there and Amy had only been hiding because she had gotten anxious.

Although Alice could see the disappointment on Amy's face when she found out that there still wasn't anything to eat or drink, she didn't take offense, but instead as a motivation. It was quite mysterious, Alice just couldn't help herself but want to help and care for this little girl.

With the newfound motivation supporting her, Alice left again to continue her search for food and water. It was quite ironic, she thought, that in a city with so many people it would be this hard to find something to eat. If this was a forest, she would have found something to eat a long time ago and probably even a small river.

It wouldn't be long anymore before the day was half over when Alice found a clue. It was a bulky man in his forties who was carrying two empty buckets. But what was making Alice curious was that he was going in the wrong direction. They were rather close to one of the wells Alice had found and the other wasn't too far of as well, but if the man continued walking in the same direction, he would pass by either of them.

Although there was the possibility that the man wasn't even getting water, Alice still decided to follow him as it was her first real lead.

Althewhile evading the soldiers it took them over fifteen minutes until they finally reached their destination where the man knocked against the door of one of the less damaged houses. A moment later, Alice could hear that the man said something she didn't understand before he was let inside.

Then, she heard some voices from the inside. Curious, she got closer to listen in on them.

"... can't do that! A few days ago it was two copper coins per bucket, but now it's five?! How am I supposed to afford that?"

"Ha! A few days ago, the city wasn't crawling with soldiers! You can try going to one of the official wells then!"

"You know exactly that I can't do that!"

"Your problem, not mine. Pay now or go."

"Fucking Asshole! Take your damned money!"

"See? You have the money after all!"

After that, Alice only heard the noises of wood banging on wood. Not wanting to get discovered, she hid on top of a roof on the opposite side of the street.

Not long after, the bulky man finally came back out of the house, this time though, the buckets in his hands were filled with water.

That confirmed her guess. If she was right, they probably had a hidden well in that house and were selling water to those who couldn't use the normal well.

Alice realized that that had to be a pretty good business. The guards wouldn't let anyone use the well if they don't even have the money to buy themselves decent clothes or just arrest them if they were wanted individuals. So this had to be a good alternative for those who didn't want to rely on luck when the guards changed but also didn't have enough money to afford the bribes.

Even after the man had left, Alice still continued to hide on the roof, she didn't want them to know that she had been following that man. Only a few minutes later came she down and knocked on the door.

When she didn't get an answer even after a minute, she knocked again. When she didn't get an answer again, she thought that their password probably began already with the way she had to knock on the door.

Realizing this, she had to resort to a different, though a little risky, trick.

"In that case, I will have to go to the guards and tell them about your little business here. You may have some kind of agreement with the normal guards, but I honestly doubt that it will work with those new guys!", saying so, Alice turned around and started walking.

After not even two steps the door behind her mad noises and a heavy hand fell on her shoulder.

"You've got guts, little girl! To dare threaten us. What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want water."

Alice was even more nervous than the first time she tried to pickpocket someone, but she definitely couldn't let it show, or else she would have already lost. At least that was what Jayden had taught her.

"Hoh? But wouldn't the soldiers take you away as well?"

"Oh, If there is one thing I am confident about it would be the ability to get away from those guys."

The grip on her shoulder got tighter, hurting a lot.

"And what prevents me from just taking care of you right here and now?"

"My friend, she is a little on the weaker side so she needs my help to survive here, but if I am not there, she wouldn't have anything left to lose. And of course, she knows where I am and is waiting for me."

"And how can I be sure that you are telling the truth?"

"You can't, but do you dare risk it?"

The man fell silent for a few moments.

"Kek, I like you! I haven't met such a daring lass in quite a while! I haven't seen you before, you are new here, right? What's your name?"

"My name is Alice."

She suppressed a sigh of relieve, her gamble had paid off.