17.  YEAGER HARDWARE AND RENOVATIONS

This store is one of the better employers for semi honest work in the Zone.  They are primarily a hardware store, selling used tools, reclaimed lumber and appliances, and on rare occasions they even get in shipments of brand new merchandise.  The store owner, James Yeager, pays crews to go to burnt out or falling apart buildings, and reclaim as much from the building as possible.  Yeager also employs other crews to come in and make renovations and repairs to buildings, for those who lack the skill or means to do it themselves.  He charges nominal fees, and works mostly in trade, but his services have made the store popular to the people of the Zone, and made Yeager a respected figure in the community.

However it’s not all sunshine and roses at the store .  It’s been rumored that Yeager’s crews sometimes speed up the process of decay, or pay off thugs to wreak havoc on a building, making it unlivable even for the squatters.  It's also rumored that Yeager is looking for something in the Zone, and that his crews are a front for the search.  No one agrees on what he could be looking for, but popular opinion is that it must be priceless.  (The truth is, Yeager is looking for the body of his daughter who was kidnapped 2 years ago.  No body was ever found, but he is sure she never left the Zone.) 

Using almost exclusively reclaimed materials and supplies, and heavily bused tools, Yeager’s renovation crews perform their tasks admirably.  Their repairs are usually not very pretty, but they will keep a building standing, bullet and explosion holes will be adequately patched, and even fire damage can be repaired. 

While Yeager has made several contracts outside the Zone for supplies and materials, most of them are very wary about sending shipments into the Zone.  It used to be a bit easier, but now that 2-3 has moved into the Zone and taken over the block, no one seems willing to brave the Zone to make the deliveries.  Anyone who can move new lumber or tools to Yeager will be handsomely rewarded; as such things are some of the most valuable assets in the Zone.

Written By Deric Bernier, Image from Interface Magazine

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