Episode 81: Coins Flowing In!

"God damn, Azra! …this is really good!".

"Well, I told you… The meat was filled with spice, and I used Mustard and Ketchup sauce as well… now that 2 sauces were really hard to find these days…"

"Damn… this is a luxury right here…".

As soon as Rooney took his first bite, his reaction was nothing short of spectacular. He devoured the burger and hotdog in record time, his eyes wide with astonishment. The crowd watched in stunned silence as he licked his fingers and immediately ordered another set. That was all it took. The skepticism in the crowd evaporated in an instant, replaced by eager excitement.

One by one, customers began calling out their orders, their voices overlapping in a chaotic yet thrilling melody.

"I'll take a burger set!"

"Give me two hotdog sets!"

"Four burger sets over here!"

"Order coming right up!".

I smiled, keeping my cool despite the flood of orders. Thankfully, I had been cooking non-stop since the stall opened, anticipating a rush like this. I knew that once someone tasted it, everyone would go crazy for it, it was tasty after all, people mostly just wanted a taster, worried if the food were good or bad. Now all I had to do now was assemble the burgers and hotdogs, pack them up, and collect the coins. The rhythm was fast, but I thrived in it, my hands working automatically as I stacked patties, drizzled sauces, and wrapped the food with precision.

Rooney, seeing how hectic things were becoming, took it upon himself to maintain order. Secretly on the inside he felt happy that his friends were doing just fine, so at the very least he had to do something to help me at the very least. He called over two of his guards, his voice booming with authority.

"Alright, everyone! Form an orderly line! No pushing or shoving, there's enough for everyone!"

The guards helped organize the crowd, ensuring that no one got rowdy or tried to cut in line. It was a necessity, especially since we were stationed outside the Rat Town gate, where security was laxer. Troublemaker can come as they pleased and just terrorize anything, also Rat Town isn't that strong to defend the area outside their gate, and just like any other settlement, they were quick to just defend their town rather than taking a risk to defend anything outside of their safety wall.

Selene and Scarlett, watching the sheer madness unfold, looked both thrilled and astonished. This is something that they never thought they would be apart of, to be really honest they never seen any business that raking in coins so fast that no one can really grasp how that happened.

"Azra, this is insane, there' so many customers flocking in"

Selene said as she witnessed the constant stream of coins exchanging hands.

"Well, better strap in then… hahahaha"

I jokingly said, so that both Selene and Scarlett were able relax a little bit, things are moving so fast now. Scarlett, her sharp eyes counting the rapidly accumulating wealth, whistled.

"We're making a fortune out here."

The coins poured in non-stop, and with every transaction, our stock visibly dwindled. By 3 PM, we had sold out completely. The last loaf of sourdough bread, the final bottle of clean water, and even my prized burgers and hotdogs—all gone. Some latecomers arrived, hoping to snag a meal, only to be turned away.

"Sorry, we're completely sold out,"

Natasha told them apologetically.

"No way! Already?"

one man groaned.

"We'll be back tomorrow,"

I reassured them. Thankfully all of them walked away peacefully, I am sure that these people would be the first one that would be here waiting for me tomorrow. Today they all had to hear the others speaking about our product, this is what happened in Station Ail and Wail before, we got free marketing and soon we would become popular. Despite the exhaustion, there was a deep sense of satisfaction in all of us. It had been a relentless day, but an incredibly rewarding one. As we finished closing up, I turned to Selene and Scarlett.

"You two did amazing today,"

I praised them. When the business started to kick off, things would just snowballed from there, I can see that they were not used to doing this sort of work, after all the 2 of them usually only used to hold weapons, and now they had to deal with customers and be polite about it, although there were time their service was a bit rough, but granting that this is a post-apocalyptic world, good customer service never really a concept that would ever take off. Selene wiped her forehead, still catching her breath.

"Is it always like this?"

she asked, incredulously.

Natasha chuckled.

"Yes, though back when it was just the two of us, we were the ones slowing things down. We could never handle a rush like this alone."

We finally took a breather, sitting down for a brief moment. Alfred, ever efficient, began packing everything up into the truck. The moment he was done, there was no trace left of our stall—it was as if we had never been there.

Selene, noticing our urgency, frowned.

"Why are we leaving so fast? Shouldn't we relax for a bit?"

Before I could answer, Scarlett spoke up.

"For our safety,"

she explained.

"We're sitting on thousands of coins right now. That kind of money makes people do stupid things."

I nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. The longer we linger, the greater the risk. Even though Rat Town is relatively safe, I trust my own walls more than theirs."

Selene pursed her lips, glancing at the gathered townsfolk.

"I guess that makes sense,"

she admitted.

With that, we all climbed into the truck, ready to head home. The day had been a massive success, but we weren't about to take unnecessary risks. As I started the engine, I glanced in the rearview mirror at Rat Town fading into the distance. This was only the beginning. Tomorrow, we'd do it all over again.