I remembered when I was child and the world seemed so unfair. Every time I would need new clothes, I was always given whatever my parents could afford. Things which didn’t fit or smelled strange. I always wanted clothes which were mine, just mine. If I wasn’t going to get that, then nobody else was either. It had been six months since the economy crashed. Bazar was in the back seat. He still hadn’t gotten used to riding up front. Ten minutes ago, we had fled the gas station with our tails between our legs. Bazar didn’t like it whenever I mad that comparison, but I think it’s pretty apt. Who would have thought that having made that one wish back then would have caused all of this? I looked down at the gas reading. It was low. We hadn’t had enough time to fill the tank before the police had surprised us. Every time we stopped they seemed to be getting closer and closer. I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it to the next one. I had two wishes left, I didn’t want to waste one on trying to avoid them. “Right, we’re going on foot.” I said as I slammed my foot on the break. “There’s nothing out there.” said Bazar, looking at the vast emptiness before us. I pulled the keys from the ignition as the car stopped and put them in my pocket. It was habit. “We’re going.” I pulled open the car door and got out. It was a Mustang, practically brand new. I had bought it a few days before the markets crashed. I paid cash. The car salesman was too happy to even consider its source. “You can’t expect me to follow.” I heard Bazar’s voice as I walked into the seemingly endless desert. “I don’t think you have a chance.” Without turning, the sound of the car door swinging open and slamming shut gave away that Bazar knew I was right. I could picture him in my mind, trudging along through the sand behind me. His face one of resentment. I tripped on a rock and remembered back to 6 months ago when this had all happened. The markets had crashed a few days after I had made my wish. “Money is useless”, went a lot of the news channels. People panicked. It had all happened quite quickly. A couple of hours after the deposits started to appear, the market tried to adjust by inflating the value of everything else. Prices went from $1 for a couple of toilet rolls to $3 overnight. It startled people. They started buying up property left, right, and center. Ghost towns had become investment centers by about 3pm. By 5, small businesses started to declare bankruptcy. Banks adjusted debt, trying to keep up. It was useless. It seemed like the more they adjusted, the more appeared. The rest of the world decided that it would abandon US markets. They thought that if they separated themselves from it then they wouldn’t be affected. They were wrong. “A clerical error” is what a lot of the bigwigs said, as they sipped on glasses of champagne and hid behind quickly escalating security costs. It was on the third day that they finally admitted money was useless. On that day, things change immeasurably. The sudden anarchy which rose up after what had happened settled months ago, but the world had changed. It was like we had gone back in time and society was all about brute strength and who could dominate the most people. Government organizations still existed, but they were fueled by new powers and new forces. We were running from them; the group which used to call themselves the FBI. We had been for 6 months now, since they first tracked us down in Maine. I spotted a small town in the distance. It reminded me of where my parents had ended up taking me when I was 12. It looked horrible, but at least they would have water. “We’re going that way.” I said. It was the same as most other small towns. There was one main road running through the place, as though it were the setting for a modern western. Dust and sand had collected on it, the cleaners having given up their jobs long ago. On either side, the buildings had their windows smashed out, a few stripped mannequins and smashed electronics remained, but not much else. I could hear music at the other end of the street. My eyes darted in that direction. A thick red light made its way out between two large metal doors. “This way,” I said to Bazar behind me. He followed silently. As the music grew louder, I could tell that the door led to some kind of bar. Music and the sounds of one hundred different parties erupted from inside. Bazar opened one of the doors first and was pushed back against the dirt. I swiveled, turning to flee. A man confronted me. He was wearing a suit. Black. “Sto…” I heard, before a gunshot drowned everything out. I looked around myself trying to figure out where it was coming from. Bazar grabbed my shirt and pulled me forward. It felt like he wasn’t doing so with as much urgency as he could. “The old Authorities, here to ruin the party again.” I heard a voice say behind me, before it was drowned out behind a building. Bazar’s breath was heavy. “Are you ok?” I asked, looking up at him as he continued to almost drag me. He nodded. I suddenly felt a pain in my side. I put my hand down to touch it, feeling the area wet. When I looked at my hand, I confirmed it. I had been shot. I stumbled and fell. Bazar stood over the top of me, silent. “What should I do?” I asked him. He made no sounds. He just stared at me as though I were a spoilt child. I’m not sure if I had started to sob at that point, but I think I had. “I wish that I wasn’t here and I wasn’t dying.” In an instant, I was ok, looking ahead of myself at a car. An old Mustang. Not quite as new as the one I had left on the road. “You’ve got one wish left.” Bazar said behind me. I spun to greet his gaze. One wish. I had told him I would use that on him. I had told him that I would free him. “You said.” Came his voice, as though he were reading my mind. I looked at the ground. My wound had healed completely. It felt as if it had never even been there. “What if I get shot again?” “I guess you will have to seek a hospital.” His reply was quick and cold. I pulled myself off the ground and walked over to the car. He didn’t say anything, but I knew what he was thinking. I knew because I was thinking it too. I couldn’t afford to waste my last wish on him. It was all I had left. This one wish. I moved to the back of the car and popped the trunk, looking for water or food. All that greeted me was money. It must have been millions. Just lying there in the trunk of a car which had been abandoned. Useless. It wasn’t even worth burning, the amount of effort it took to keep that fire going. Six months ago, people would have killed for this kind of money, betrayed friends and family. Now it was useless. I signed. “I wish you were free.” I thought something would happened, but nothing did. He just stood there, silent, a semi-grin forming on his face. I closed the trunk and moved around to the side of the car, preparing to get in. I asked him what he was going to do next. He shrugged his shoulders. “Want a lift?” I asked, nodding my head down towards the car. He shrugged again, this time in a way which said “yeah, sure”. A few moments later we were back on the road. We would have to be quick if we were going to make it to the next gas station before the FBI. I pressed the pedal straight to the floor. I could feel that this Mustang wasn’t as new as the last model I had, but then, nothing in this world was anymore.