OK, Meatsacks, listen up. You might have strolled down the block with a couple C-notes in your wallet before the Rising, but now, those notes ain’t nuthin’ but pretty butt-wipe. Credit Cards? Use ‘em to shim the weapon tripod or something along those lines. The old world is dead, most of it is staggering around looking to take a bite out of your yuppy butt, so all of your sharp dealing won’t matter when Mr. Hungry takes a bite out of you.
You need to get it through your head. Money. Is. Worthless. Now. If you have something I want, and bargain too hard, I may just decide to kill you for it. You have to have something I want, and I have to have something you want, and we’ve got to trust each other enough to make a trade.
The main things that are going to be of the most worth will be guns, ammo, food, and sexual favors. Hate to tell you this, but homophobia is a thing of the past, most Traders don’t care if you’re male or female, they’ll hump either, and they’ll take oral sex from a goat if it feels good and they can get it cheaply enough. Services work too, if you have a skill that someone else needs. That’s why gunsmiths are virtually untouchable - nobody attacks a gunsmith. Bridge-Keepers and Ferrymen are also well-paying services, getting as much as 2 cans of beef stew and a clip of 9 mm ammunition per person.
When stopping at a barter community, things need to be looked at before trades can begin: how “rich” is the community, how big they are, what their room for expansion is, and if they are a colony or just a waystop. You should also take a look at their defenses. Often assisting in reworking their defenses against both Risers and raiders can be worth a warm bed and a willing body, as well as all you can stuff into your gut. If you can, see how they treat other Traders, so you know if they are trustworthy.
When trading ammo,one needs to think about how common the ammo is. Regular rounds will not be worth as much as special rounds, and common calibers are worth far more than the exotic calibers. Anti-personnel landmines are very valuable, as is the odd flamethrower or two you may come across. Heavy ammunition for military crew-served weapons can bring a premium, but only if the community possesses those weapons.
Types of ammo that can be traded are bullets, grenades, rockets, mines, etc., but never discount such things as high-quality cross-head hunting arrows, bowstrings, crossbow quarrels, or even paintballs and CO2 cartridges. Many communities have been known to use frozen paintballs on Risers, since a well-aimed burst from a high-quality paintball gun can kill a Riser.
Sex always works. For one thing, what a woman has is a renewable resource that doesn’t normally go bad… with a bit of precaution. Some communities are hard up enough for sex that it is not uncommon for a Riser to be bound to a table and used sexually by those who either don’t care, or are excited by such a prospect. Those communities will pay premium for sex, but on the bad side, they might decide to hold you prisoner and take what they want from you.
When trading sexual favors one has to look at what is desired. If you are an unscrupulous type and have no morals, (pre) adolescent children will be worth more to some of the more unsavory elements, especially if they are virgins, both male and female. Fleshmongers of this sort are looked down upon by nearly everyone, including many Slaver bands, and it’s almost an unwritten law that sooner or later, someone is going to kill you. If my friends and I catch you, you can bet it’s going to be hard. We’ve got a nailgun with your name on it, scumbag.
If it is just a trading outpost and you just want a tumble, most women are willing to trade ammo for oral sex. When going for a deeper, more intimate encounter, more must be traded, as the act, and length of time, with the women increases. This, too, will also depend on the women. If the woman is just horny and just wants to provide sex, the price will be lower than, say, for a woman of skill and apparent class. If a woman is good at what she does and has a reputation as such she will be sought out for her skills, and thus a higher price will be paid, and it will not necessarily be ammo or weapons - food, brass casings, gunpowder, gun oil, clothing, water, etc. can also be exchanged for sexual favors. Same goes for men in the profession.
Skill counts more than just looks and willingness. Everyone out there has at least one hole to poke it into, and if you are really desperate, there are always the Risers to get your jollies off on. Someone who is good at sex can nearly name their own price. Make no mistake, however, that looks do have a major affect upon the price.
If you find a settlement looking to expand their DNA pool, women and men who are virile and strong will be sought after more than someone who is sick or weak. Drifter colonies looking for new brides or men to bring into the fold will have the same outlook upon the deal. The wider the spread in the gene pool, the better the chances for building a healthy, stable, civilization again. It is not uncommon for Drifter Packs to pay strong, healthy men in food or ammunition to impregnate certain women within their group for a healthy baby.
Everything will have a price, and the price will vary from location to location and availability of the items. The further away from a town or city that is easily scavenged, the more highly priced and valued things will become. Items such as food, ammo, weapons, generators, gasoline, oil, hydraulic fluid, water purification systems, and blankets will catch a premium. The lesser items such as clothing, shoes, fiction books and possibly untested water might not be in high demand, but there may still be a market.
As always, medical equipment will garner the highest price of anything out there, including gasoline and weapons. A few vials of penicillin or especially morphine could get the trader a brand-new M-4 assault rifle and ten clips of 5.56 ammunition, even if the Trader doling out the medical supplies was so drunk he couldn’t stand.
Gardening will only be prevalent in well-guarded and -fortified areas, so fresh fruits and vegetables will be considered a delicacy and sought after, as will staples such as rice and flour. Fresh meat, eggs, and dairy products could be extremely hard to come by as most of the cattle, while unmolested by the Risers, still seem to have a large following of deaders for some reason yet unknown. Getting close enough to a herd of cattle to get a nice juicy steak without becoming a nice juicy meal for a deader is tough.
Tools, building supplies, metals such as lead, iron, and copper, cooking utensils, pots and pans, rope, yarn, twine, wire, and condoms will be other items of value. Textiles such as raw wool, hemp, or handmade fabrics will also be hard to come by, as will women’s sanitary items, paper, writing utensils, or gathered foods are highly prized.
When trading weapons, the type of weapon and whether or not it is loaded and with what will come into play. A shotgun is worth a lot more than a G-11 assault rifle, since repairs and reloading are much easier for the shotgun. Knives always sell well. Surprisingly, replicas of medieval swords, axes, and maces sell particularly well.
Types of weapons that can be traded are pistols, rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, military grade weapons, civilian weapons, knives, and swords. This all depends, of course, on the care that was taken with the weapons. A rusty uncared-for blade or gun will have a lower value as it is less likely to work or more likely to break easily,whereas a well-cared-for weapon will get a higher price in trade goods.
Starting to understand? Good.
Good luck, sucker, and don’t try to rip anyone off with more firepower than you.
--Buck
