With no bodies to experiment on, no more of the magic elf powder, and no more drugs Norman needed to find something else to occupy his time. With Toby still out of town and Norman running low on funds, he decided to rectify that issue first.

　　The old rusty red wagon squeaked behind Norman as he pulled it down the sidewalk. The wagon had been left behind by one of his neighbors when they left for the safety of the wall. Norman supposed moving to a safer area if you had small kids made sense. Norman hadn`t touched anything on their property, but the scavengers had come through and taken any food left behind. Since they hadn`t come back to even check on the property in two years, Norman thought it was fine if he borrowed the wagon.

　　Passersby gave him odd looks as he rolled down the street but nobody said anything about a grown man pulling a children`s cart. Norman wasn`t surprised, he probably looked like a homeless person carting around a wagon full of who knew what.

　　Norman glanced back at the blanket-covered wagon to ensure the two milk crates full of his potions were still covered. It was currently his only means of income so he couldn`t afford for any of them to get broken. And despite his distaste for the Guild, it was the only place he knew that would buy them, so he was dragging them downtown to sell.

　　Soon the old industrial building that housed the Guild came into view down at the end of the street.

　　Back before the apocalypse, some rich couple had converted the old building into a chic bar and nightclub, some six years back. They called it an effort to "revive" the downtown. But Norman knew it was just an excuse to push more gentrification to the cities downtown.

　　Norman didn`t mind the posh assholes that came as tourists. When they came into town during the tourism season it meant more money in Norman`s pocket. But those types of people always went home after the season ended. The out-of-towners that stayed after the normal tourism season ended were the worst. They were never happy with the town and always tried to change it to fit what they wanted.

　　Money talked and these people had deep pockets. Since all the old spineless Mayor cared about was money for his re-election campaign, the man always fast-tracked these changes despite the complaints from locals. All that nonsense came to a screeching halt when the apocalypse happened.

　　The old Mayor vanished, and nobody really knew what happened to him. There were plenty of rumors and theories though. Norman figured someone finally decided to get rid of him permanently. Considering how many people the man pissed off, that was the most likely option.

　　The other reason the gentrification stopped was that those with money no longer had access to that money. With no more money to throw around, all their supposed power evaporated overnight. That and people had more important things to worry about than remodeling old buildings.

　　This new power vacuum didn`t last long, soon the physical classers replaced the rich as the new power in town. Honestly, it wasn`t much different than before. Norman kept out of their way and he was mostly ignored. Which was fine by him.

　　As Norman approached the front of the old red-brick building, someone came out the front door. Norman moved aside for the hulking adventurer, the man giving him a pitying look as he strode past. It brought back memories of the first time Norman had come here. Back when he had tried to sign up as an adventurer. They hadn`t exactly laughed him out of the building, but they might as well have. He still remembered the embarrassment of being called too weak to be in the Guild.

　　It didn`t matter to Norman that their reasoning was solid.

　　That led to him upgrading his potions with the special ingredient specifically for the gym bros.

　　Norman reached for the glass door and pulled it open. He had to struggle to get the wagon through the door, which made a huge racket. All of the conversations came to a pause as the people watched him struggle to get in the door. Norman did his best to ignore the stares even though he could feel his face heat in embarrassment.

　　The inside of the bottom floor was the bar slash restaurant done up in a bare industrial style that Norman hated. It was just too overused. Most of the tables had been cleared away and the bar was repurposed but it looked much the same as Norman remembered the place.

　　The wall behind the bar went up to a second floor with a railing that allowed the floor to overlook the first floor and where a stage used to be set in the far corner. He had never been up there but he knew that it was used for extra tables and could be converted to a dance floor for special events.

　　The sounds of dancing and people having fun were replaced by grunts and clangs. The second floor had been converted into a workout center for Guild personnel. Not that he would need to hear the noise to know this was a place people worked out, the smell of sweat and protein powder that permeated the building gave that away.

　　Looking around the bottom floor, Norman spotted the owner behind the bar speaking with a member. The owners salt and pepper hair was the only sign of his advancing age. He pulled the wagon towards the man, the squeak of the wheels echoing loudly around the room and drawing annoyed looks his way. Norman ignored them as he finally drew close to the owner.

　　Unlike most of the people on the bottom floor, this man wasn`t hulked out. He was still muscled but it was more like a sprinter`s physique than a weight lifter. But there were all kinds of physical classers, not just the strength-based ones. Those were just the easiest to see.

　　The owner crossed his arms and looked sullenly at Norman. That wasn`t a good start. But Norman soldiered on.

　　"I thought I told you not to come back after your last outburst," the man stated in a gravelly voice.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

　　Norman cleared his throat. "You did, but hear me out. I`m not here to make a scene this time. I`m also not here to try and sign up again. You made your point last time. I`m just to sell some potions." Norman pulled the blanket off the two cartons of potions for the man to see.

　　The owner eyed the boxes before turning his gaze to Norman. "Toby usually sells to us. Where is he?"

　　"He`s out of town at the moment besides, he gets them all from me anyway."

　　"You?" The man looked skeptical. And who could blame him? Norman hadn`t really told anyone he was the one who made the potions.

　　The owner uncrossed his arms and walked over to the wagon and pulled one of the bottles out to inspect it.

　　"Why is it in an old alcohol bottle?"

　　"It`s not exactly easy to get bottles and your people never return any of the old ones." Norman had been forced to use those hotel-sized alcohol bottles as replacements for the original ones he had used.

　　The owner twisted the top off and sniffed the bottle, jerking his head back. "Smells just as awful." After sniffing the bottle, the owner reached down and pulled a knife from his belt.

　　Norman took a step back, thinking the man was going to attack him. The man snorted at Norman before taking the knife and gouging a small cut in his arm, then he sucked down the bottle and waited. Norman just stood there in shock. The man, with a knife in one hand and a small trickle of blood trailing down the other, just waited quietly. After a tense five minutes, the blood stopped flowing and you could see the wound visibly start to scab over.

　　The man glanced at the wound and grunted. "Seems like the same stuff. Fine, I`ll take it." The man reached into his back pocket after putting the knife away. When his hand came back out he was holding a billfold stuffed with hundreds. The man pulled two of the bills out and slapped them against Norman`s chest before he grabbed both crates from the cart.

　　Norman looked at the cash, it seemed a bit low. "Um, this many bottles should be three hundred."

　　Without turning, the man replied. "That`s the deal I made with Toby. Besides, these don`t sell very fast. In fact, I think I`ll have to renegotiate my deal with Toby when he gets back." That comment earned a round of chuckles from the peanut gallery.

　　Norman grumbled under his breath but there was nothing he could do to stop the man. Everyone in here was a classer and in this new reality might made right.

　　"Assholes," Norman muttered as he exited the building. At least he got the satisfaction of watching the owner drink a bottle. That put a slight smile on his face. Now that Norman had a bit of spending money, he made his way to the other side of downtown.

　　There were a few businesses with help wanted` signs up and he checked them out to see if he could get a job. Despite how packed downtown was, quite a few businesses were still looking for employees, but not employees like him.

　　Most places turned him away as soon as they found out what he wanted. Some even kicked him out, which wasn`t much of a surprise. Despite knowing this was the likely outcome, it soured his mood. He hadn`t broken into any businesses since before the collapse, you would think people would have forgiven him by now. But apparently not.

　　Norman tried not to let this get him down.

　　At least he got to enjoy the architecture of downtown. These buildings were still well maintained despite their age and dated styling. Not that Norman minded, he missed the 1950s vibe that the city used to have before people started moving in to change it.

　　Redstone Springs had always been a bit of a tourist destination for as long as he could remember. It was just far enough off the beaten path that it became a niche destination for people who wanted to get away but didn`t want to go to one of the larger tourist spots in Colorado. The air of quaintness that the small restaurants and boutiques maintained was one of the biggest draws for tourists. That`s one of the reasons Norman thought the old Mayor`s choices to gentrify the city were extremely short-sighted.

　　You could already see the reduction in tourism in the last few years before the apocalypse due to these choices. Less money meant more businesses had to close. Then the Mayor turned around and sold them to outsiders. Norman didn`t understand how that was legal, but apparently, there was some local law that allowed it to continue.

　　But with the Mayor gone, most of these outside influences were shoved aside or died during the last few years as the new power structures took place. Very few people in town lifted a hand to help those people due to their prior actions.

　　Norman couldn`t feel bad for them either, most died doing something stupid. Either trying to flaunt their previous power in front of someone who had actual power now or trying their hand at magic.

　　Magic was not a safe or fast endeavor, which is why so few people actively practiced it and why the physical classers managed to control everything. Although that might change with time.

　　Shaking his head, Norman got back to the task at hand and entered a local eatery, leaving his borrowed` wagon outside. The place was called Mabel`s and it had been around since the forties with only the name changing. Norman hadn`t been here since before the apocalypse. The place was packed with customers and Norman had to squeeze through to find an unoccupied stool.

　　"What can I get ya, Hun?" The plump motherly woman behind the counter asked.

　　Norman smiled and took off his mirrored shades, "Long time no see, Mabel."

　　The woman looked at him in confusion for a moment before her eyes lit up and she smiled warmly back at him. "Well, I`ll be, if it ain`t little Norman. I haven`t seen you in years, it seems you`ve grown up since then. Although I`ve been hearing some nasty rumors about you, you best be staying out of trouble," she admonished him.

　　"Don`t believe everything you hear," Norman chuckled.

　　"Uh, huh," she tapped her pencil against the order pad, her chestnut ponytail bobbing with the motion.

　　Norman swallowed uncomfortably at the woman`s piercing gaze. Mabel had been a bit of a mother figure for him after his parents skipped town, although, it hadn`t started like that. The first time they had met, Norman had tried to hit on the older woman, only for her to pull him aside by the ear and reprimand him. Despite that, he still found the mature woman to be attractive. She had all the right curves in all the right places and looked good in the 1950`s style waitress outfit. The few grey hairs only seemed to accentuate her beauty.

　　"Well?"

　　"Oh, um, yeah," Norman focused on the menu and ordered a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast with a large glass of orange juice. He would have loved a rootbeer float but it was too early in the day for something like that.

　　When Mabel brought the food out, Norman asked. "You don`t have any openings do you?"

　　"Sorry, Hun, we are full up at the moment and I got more resumes than I know what to do with."

　　"Ok, well, thanks anyway." Norman believed the woman. If she said she didn`t have any openings, she didn`t. Mabel had been one of the good ones, never banning him despite his past actions.

　　She smiled consolingly at him before hurrying off to another customer. Norman watched her go, her hips swaying seductively as she walked. Unlike the merchant, Mabel knew how to move.

　　The drone of noise in the restaurant was almost enough to drown out his thoughts as he ate his meal in silence. Mabel didn`t have another opportunity to chat with him but she did give him a kind smile as she dropped off the check. "Don`t be a stranger," She added before hurrying off.

　　Norman picked up the check but found another piece of paper underneath it. He had to blink a few times before the words written on the paper truly sunk in. He smiled widely and put his mirrored shades back on. Norman stuffed the letter in his pocket and headed out. The words on the paper remained at the forefront of his thoughts as he headed toward home.

　　I get off at 10, meet me out back.

　　Things were starting to look up.