Writing Competition #2

"Give it back!" I heard a girl yell.
I followed the voice around a corner and into an alleyway, there I saw a teenage girl with long blood red hair, running after a large, mean looking man, at least 27.
I watched as the girl scooped down to pick up a rock. She tossed it up and caught it before hurling it at him. It hit him square in the back, causing him to double over and cry out in pain. She ran up behind him and kicked him in the behind, toppling him to the ground.
She crouched down next to him and took something back from him.
"Keep in mind for next time, pal" she whispered and I had to strain to hear "You'll always pay, one way or another"
Then she stood up and started towards me... Not that she'd seen me, just going in my direction. She walked past and curiosity got the better of me.
"What was that about?" I asked following behind her. She jumped as I appeared and stopped in her tracks.
"Nothin' you wanna get involved in" she replied with a chuckle, turning around a corner, forcing me to speed up.
"And what if I do?" I asked, easily keeping up. Sighing and turning to face me, she asked my name.
"Eric..."
"...Reina" she smiled and started walking again, twisting and turning through more alleyways.
After a little she stopped by a dumpster, only then realizing I was still following her.
"So, what was it all about then?"
She smiled at me, and my heart beat that little bit faster. She dug around in her pocket for a moment, pulling out something small and glowing.
"This" she replied simply, holding it in front of me.
"What is that?" I asked taking step closer and reaching out, only to have my hand slapped away.
"My mother called it 'Z'..." she replied slipping the little glass vial back into her pocket. I smiled.
"And you call it?" she hesitates, and then looks me in the eye. "Zydrate..." she says it softly, as though saying the word itself would make hell rise into the city. Though, in total honesty, that would be an improvement.
It took a moment to remember what that was, but then my eyes went wide and my mouth hung open.
"Zydrate!?" I realized I'd yelled and clapped my hand over my own mouth, as Reina walked past me to look around the corner.
"Why do you have Zydrate?" I asked, lowering my hand. "I sell it" she replied still peering into the next ally. "Sell it?"
She looked back at me with a smile "Sell it!" she repeated before walking back to me.
"It's illegal, it's dangerous, and honestly, I wouldn't want to do anything else!"
"It sounds like something, I'd be interested in" I muttered with a smirk.
"Don't joke about this sort of thing" she told me sternly, and I cocked my head. "Who says I'm joking?" I asked, tilting my head even further.
She looked at my like I was insane and smiled. "Because, this is the sort of 'career' that would make you leave everything behind... Your family, friends... Even your name!" I thought about exactly what she was saying for a moment "I'm in..."
Smiling widely, she climbed onto the dumpster and jumped in. "Come on, then" I heard her call to me. I quickly shrug and follow, landing somewhat ungracefully beside her.
I looked around, surprised by the fact that it was actually, rather clean. I looked over to Reina, who by now, had a few pieces of surgical looking equipment lined up.
"First things first..." she said, pulling the vial back out and adding it to the line. "Zydrate is manufactured at GeneCo, but thankfully, that's not the only way to get it" she picks up what looks like a vaccination needle "It can also be extracted from the dead" her lips quirk upwards and she looks at me "Don't say I didn't warn you, Eric..."
She places the needle carefully back in place.
"And that brings us to the next part, uhmmm... You're going to need to pick out a new name for yourself. For instance, I’m known by my customers as 'Reina Z'... Reina meaning 'clean, pure' and Z being self explanatory"
I thought for a moment and shrugged "I don't know... Graverobber?" she smiled and I smiled with her "Graverobber it is, then" I said when she gave me the thumbs up.
"Right then, Graverobber... I'm gonna break this down for ya" she picks up the 'Z' and twirls it around her fingers.
"Zydrate comes in a little glass vial..." she said holding it to eye level, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"A little glass vial?" I asked teasingly.
"A little glass vial!" she replied, dead serious, with a gleam in her eye.
"-and the little glass vial goes into the gun like a battery" she suddenly picks up a gun shaped needle machine and inserts the vial into place "Right... Right..." I murmur watching closely.
"-and the Zydrate gun goes somewhere against your anatomy" she continues and suddenly there's a lot less of a gap between us and she has the gun pressed to my throat and my heart is pounding "Right... Right..." I manage to choke out, and her lips are about an inch from mine, so close I can feel her breath.
"-and when the gun goes off it sparks and you're ready for surgery" she pulls away suddenly, busying herself with her tools.
"Surgery..." I repeat, unable to think of anything else.