I picked up the broken tin can and yelled “Jackpot!” But no one heard me through the anti-radiation gear I was wearing. That was good. Tin sold well so I wouldn’t want the other Scrappers to come looking. I tried to look for more tin in the rubble but none was found. It was past noon by the time I had decided to give up. All the Scrappers started heading back to camp before the radioactive night fog filled the riverbed again.

I walked back with the Scrappers but left them when we arrived at the camp. I decided to look for my dealer. He would have a field day with the tin I present to him. When I arrived at his tent, he was nowhere to be found. Instead, his wife greeted me with some soup.

“Tough day in the pit, Eto?” She asked while handing me a bowl.

I smiled at her and took a sip of the soup. Lee was a kind woman but her soup tasted terrible. I couldn’t complain much because she treated me with such hospitality every time I visited. “When is Del coming home?” I asked.

“Del won’t be back until tomorrow. His contractor in the city wanted a big haul yesterday. He’s been gone since.”

Well, that’s that I guess. I left for my own tent after finishing the soup. I had to walk through the dingy marketplace on my way home. The city seemed to be sending us less and less each week but kept asking us for more haul. Last month, the neighbouring Scrapper camp tried to increase the haul by digging in the riverbed at night while wearing two protective gears per person instead of just the one. None of them returned. The night fog claims all.

I walked into my tent and lay on my bed, worried. None of the other Scrappers saw me take the broken tin can, but what if they did? Tin is like gold around here. None of us need to lock our tents at night because all we get is plastic during the haul but if they knew what I was hiding…

I sat up on my bed and stared at the entrance of my tent. I thought of my mother who happened to turn up dead one day after she found an iron wrench in the rubble. I thought of my father who never returned from the city when he went to visit a big name dealer. I thought of my sister, who disappeared into the night fog.

Hours went by and I lay awake until the light of the morning peeked through the entrance. I have to find a way to sell the tin today. Del and Lee won’t betray me, will they? I was not sure.

Well, here I go. I thought as I walked out of the tent.

(Header/cover image done by Suvoshree Bhattacherjee, the author)