Territory Dispute (6)

The grocery store’s mornings began early.

When the dark sun slowly emerged above the smog-shrouded sky, the vacant lot grew noisily crowded with people waiting for breakfast distribution.

Most of the homeless, naturally, did not have proper homes.

Their very name was homeless.

They kept warm by the flames in drums to escape the frigid dawn air, getting by while relying on one another in groups of three or four.

Of course, that was possible because this was the ‘grocery store vacant lot.’

In District 49, it was normally an ordinary sight for the homeless person right beside you to change professions and become a scavenger, robbing people of their possessions—mainly implants or internal organs.

No one had deliberately intended it, of course.

But something that could be called a sense of community was gradually beginning to take root among them.

“…Oh, it’s the boss!”...