Folly
Chapter 7: Monster Zero
Gustavo looked up from Amanda's concerned face when a loud vibration sounded from his pocket. He flipped open the phone and discovered that the caller was Gabriella, one of the two employees guarding the entrance to the safe house.
"Yes?" he answered gruffly, already irritated by the intrusion.
"The DEA just drove up," Gabriella replied, her normally surly voice laced with worry.
Gustavo immediately hung up the phone and surveyed his employees. "The DEA is here," he announced, already turning towards the back of the house.
"What?" Jesse asked into the bustling silence that filled the air. Mike and Amanda had immediately burst into the process of removing every trace of their existence from the room while Gustavo had calmly walked down the hallway. He couldn't help but be irritated as the man removed his jacket, completely anal as he always was.
"Shut up," Amanda grunted, moving around in an odd hunched position, "and for the love of the gods, duck down below window level."
Jesse immediately obeyed, switching his attention to Mike Ehrmantraut. He was surprised to find those hard eyes boring back into his own. "Amanda," he spoke, never taking his eyes from Jesse, "Take the kid and make sure Gustavo gets away clean. It's been a long time since anyone has been in those tunnels."
"No, I'm not leaving you to get snapped up by those savage hounds," Amanda immediately responded in a fierce, indignant whisper.
"That's an order, now go!" Mike commanded.
"Dad!" Amanda hissed, eyes dark.
"Go." Mike's tone was so cold it make the hairs on the back of Jesse's neck stand up. This time, he knew Mike was speaking directly to him. The old man continued to watch as, stunned, Jesse turned on his heels and grabbed Amanda, pulling her into the depths of the house.
"When were you gonna tell me that Mike is your father?" Jesse asked angrily as the two began a light jog down the main hallway, past the bathroom and into a closet.
"This is neither the time, nor the place," Amanda replied, seemingly calm as her tiny fingers ran nimble circles across the carpet of the floor. "Aha," she breathed, pressing hard on one particular spot. Then she stood, pressing a screw that held the coat rack in place. With a grating noise, a false panel revealed itself and the dark passage beyond.
"It doesn't look safe in there," Jesse commented, taking notice of the rotting wood timbers that kept the walls in place.
"How much information do you think the DEA has right now? Do you want to find out?" Amanda replied, grabbing the young man's arm and forcing him inside.
"It doesn't seem like I have a choice."
"No, you don't. Besides, there is only one answer." Amanda laughed darkly, yet laced her fingers reassuringly through Jesse's left hand. "Everything is going to be okay, no matter what. Understand?"
Jesse took a deep breath as Amanda flipped a switch that closed the false wall, sealing them into an impenetrable darkness. "How are we supposed to find our way out?" he asked.
"I grew up in these tunnels. Even though the electric is bad, I should be able to feel our way out. More or less; it has been some years since I've been down here." Amanda began to pull Jesse along, slowly, only stumbling once or twice.
After a while, she began to softly call Gustavo's name, reminding Jesse of a dog searching for its master. He practically raised me...Amanda's words echoed in his head. Jesse couldn't help but feel uneasy in the quiet of the tunnels, knowing he was the odd man out.
"I'm here, Amanda," Gustavo finally replied, his voice an octave above a whisper.
"Good. How are you faring?" Amanda asked.
"I could be better. This darkness is damnable, at best," the kingpin replied casually, as if this were a mere hike.
"I'll see you safely out," Amanda assured, "Take Jesse's hand for now, we're almost finished."
"Amanda?" Mike's gruff voice called from the shadows.
"I'm here!" Amanda immediately replied, letting go of Jesse's hand. She scurried down the musty corridor, following the sound of her father's voice until her hand made contact with his bald head. "Oh, sorry. Is everything alright?"
"No, it damn well isn't. Someone took a picture of you and the kid back at the motel," Mike replied, sighing deeply, "Take a guess where it ended up."
"The news or a rival gang. Those are my guesses," Amanda responded dryly. Sometimes her father's sarcasm wore greatly on her nerves.
"You got it the first time," Mike replied, following Amanda's lead until she thrust his hand into the warm palm of his boss.
After a few moments the wall became wet and slimy, causing Amanda to put an arm out and try to stay in the center of the tunnel. This idea turned out to go horribly awry when she reached the last fork in the tunnels, bumping head first into the dividing wall.
Jesse's heart began to beat rapidly as he heard the earth shift, a fine mist of dust and pebbles falling into his short hair.
"Everyone grab hold of Jesse!" Amanda screamed, pulling the mass of bodies away from the larger rock that was starting to fall. That was not enough, as section after section of tunnel began to collapse all around them. Through the falling rock, Amanda ran as fast as she could. If she could just make it to the last intersection that they had passed, they could reach the old room Gustavo had built for her when she was a teen.
"Gus is hurt!" Jesse called out, pulling hard on Amanda's arm to slow.
"Mike, can you carry him?" she immediately asked.
"Jesse, help me lift him," the elder Ehrmantraut commanded, fumbling in the dark with his employer's limp body.
Once Gustavo was mobile, the group began to make slow progress underneath the shaking structure. Jesse felt as if Amanda was leading them through an endless maze as water began to drip on his head and strange textures crumbled under his feet. He felt her trip, landing hard on her knees.
"Hey, I found an old flashlight!" the young woman exclaimed, illuminating a metal door painted beautifully with an autumn sunset over a small valley.
"What is that?" Jesse asked, taken aback by the fading mural in the weak light.
"That would be my old room. Welcome home to me!" Amanda pushed the door open and motioned the others into the inky blackness. She went straight for the back corner and began blowing dust off of an old generator.
"You just happen to have a generator in here?" Jesse huffed.
"Duh. Even back in the day the power was faulty. I just couldn't let that get in the way of a good pillow fight," Amanda replied evenly.
"You don't seem like the type," Jesse replied hotly. He wasn't one to tolerate patronization.
Amanda groaned as the old generator came sputtering to life. "We only have a few hours of fuel."
"That's enough time," Mike interjected as he hefted Gus to the bed. "It's just a concussion, he should be fine."
"Will there be anyone looking for us?" Amanda asked tactfully.
Mike took a long glance over his shoulder before nodding his head, "If I don't report in by midnight."
"What are we supposed to do for two hours?" Jesse asked.
"Entertain yourself," Amanda replied, pulling a moth eaten blanket from a dusty dresser and curling up into an oversized chair.
0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*
The white walls and crude plastic partitions of the make-shift hospital gave Jesse the shivers. He watched numbly as Amanda stared blankly at the wall, allowing the doctor to take her blood pressure and peer down her throat. She seemed not to notice when he shined a small light into each eye, gaze still fixed on the blank wall.
"Everything okay?" Mike asked shortly from the bed beside her, having also taken notice to this new strange behavior.
"I really need some rest," Amanda replied, the strain in her voice emphasizing her words.
"Well, you're in pretty good shape so you can go home any time," Dr. Hellsburn chimed in, rolling his chair back to Gustavo.
"Is he okay?" Amanda asked weakly.
"He will be back to one hundred percent by morning," Hellsburn confirmed.
"Cool. You ready to go, Jesse?" the woman continued, looking back to her charge.
"Not so fast," Mike interrupted, "Don't forget that you both are the prime targets of the local police and possibly the DEA. If anyone sees you there is a good chance you'll wind up behind bars."
"Damn, I guess I did forget about that. What can Saul do?" Amanda mused.
"Saul? You've got to be kidding me," Jesse exclaimed.
"Why not?" Amanda replied.
Jesse fidgeted under her scrutiny, "Hasn't he, like, done enough for us already? I mean, it seems like every time we call him things get worse."
"Oh, the lawyer isn't the problem," Mike laughed, earning a glare from Jesse.
"Think of Saul as a genie," Amanda interrupted in a polite tone, "You have to be careful what you wish for, lest it backfire on you."
"How does that make sense?" Jesse responded grumpily.
"I don't know, Jesse! I'm really tired, hungover, and dehydrated. Thinking hurts, can't you just let me be numb?"
Jesse's body stilled as her voice awakened buried emotions. Can't you just let me be numb? Those were the same words that thundered in his head as Walter White had pulled him from tragedy to tragedy. Despite this, Jesse could only guess at Amanda's feelings. It was obvious she bore a decent amount of responsibility; more than Jesse could ever say he had owned up to.
"I'll call him," Jesse offered, wanting to be useful in some way.
Mike gave him an amused expression from his place beside Gus. "Go for it, the phone is over there," he allowed, nodding to a nightstand containing an ancient land line.
The young man picked up the receiver, fumbling with the strange rotating dial pad. After three unsuccessful attempts he finally got through.
"You've reached the office of Saul Goodman," a familiar female voice answered.
"It's Jesse Pinkman, put me through to Saul," Jesse announced harshly.
"Right away, Mr. Pinkman."