Chapter 10: Another unexpected guest

Someone, in fact, had arrived, but it was not whom anyone expected.

The sounds outside the door had partially subsided. The humming of the refrigeration unit inside the cooler buzzed loudly, muffling most of the noises. The girls could hear the clamor of a few soldiers, the Captain's growl, and another voice, possibly male but it was hard to tell, shouting loudly overtop of the others. It sounded as if there was a confrontation. Morgan had readjusted, shifting her weight onto her feet in an attempt to stand and peak through the small pane of glass in the cooler door, but she faltered, a blast of pain from her ribs returning her to the floor. Elphaba reached out an arm, blocking her.

"No, don't do that," said the green girl. "Stay low."

The girls could hear shuffling, the sounds of something being pulled across the floor. There was more shouting, the fierce shriek of a sword becoming unsheathed, and then sudden silence. The footsteps returned, moving closer towards the door. There was a tap of skin on metal, the handle of the cooler turning towards, opening with a click. Elphaba tensed, still positioned between Morgan and the door, coiled as if ready to strike whoever dared enter. Morgan shivered, both from the cold and from apprehension.

The door swung open, and the body of a male was tossed onto the damp floor.

"We'll let the Wizard handle you as well," spat the familiar voice of the sergeant, glaring at the body and at the girls before slamming the door behind him.

The blonde man sat up, rubbing his head. His gray eyes bulged out of his head when he spotted Morgan.

"MORGAN?!

Morgan had the same bewildered expression on her voice. This was not who she expected to see at all. She had seen him just hours ago, when he waved goodbye and almost skipped out of the shop door.

"Jesse?" Morgan's jaw dropped, her head tilted in confusion. "What are you doing here? I thought you went home!"

"I did! I got my groceries, went home, and then I realized I forgot to get dog food, so I went back. I stopped at Taco Bell and was driving back when I saw that the light was still on even thought it was after seven, and I know you never, ever stay past seven. I parked the car, and when I saw a bunch of dudes in here and no sign of you, I had to come check it out and they freaking attacked me and…"

Jesse's sentence trailed off, the man finally taking in the marks that covered his younger coworker's face.

"Jesus Christ, Morgan, what happened to you? Did…did they do that?"

Morgan almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. She had no idea how to explain anything that happened in the past two hours.

"The answer is yes, but it's a long story."

"So who's this?"

Somehow, Jesse had not noticed the green-skinned witch sitting on the floor of the cooler not far from Morgan. Even though it seemed impossible, his eyes grew even wider, his mouth agape, one hand coming over his face.

"Holy shit, you're green."

Elphaba exhaled sharply, punctuating it with a swift eye roll. "Are all people in your world this easily stunned?"

"Well, Elphaba, if you could believe it, verdigris is even less of a common sight here than it is in Oz."

"OZ? Elphaba? What? Seriously, OZ? What in the actual hell is happening here? Who are these people? Why are we all in the cooler? " Jesse was so bewildered that his words came out in spurts, his face fully consumed by the shock of it all.

Morgan held out her arm, gesturing towards Elphaba.

"Elphaba, this is Jesse. He's one of my coworkers. Jesse, this is Elphaba, the infamous Wicked Witch of the West."

Jesse tentatively raised one shaky hand, flicking it side to side in an awkward wave.

"Hey."

Elphaba merely nodded, an amused smile on her lips.

"Are you just going to stare at me all night?" she asked the blond man. "Don't worry, if you look away, the green will still be here."

"So Jesse," Morgan ignored Elphaba's snarky comment, "what happened when you came in?"

Jesse snapped out of his trance, his face turned towards Morgan.

"Like I said, I saw that the lights were still on and there were people in the shop. I got out of the car and put my key in the lock, but the door was still unlocked. Now that I think about it, I should have called the cops or tried to be more inconspicuous, but let's be real, nobody expects a flower shop to be full of armed military. I just walked right in, and was then swarmed. Some guy with a ponytail was asking me a bunch of shit, but I don't remember. And now I'm here, and I have so. many. questions."

Morgan winced, a too-deep breath triggering the ache on her side. She wrapped her arms around herself, both to help with the pain and with the cold. Jesse noticed the expression of concern on Elphaba's face, and decided to cut down his questions to just one. He reached over, gently placing on hand on her knee.

"Morgan, what happened to you? What happened?"

Morgan took a deep breath, and then let the story flow out of her. She told Jesse everything; her hearing dinging of the doorbell when she was upstairs, her hiding, her hearing Elphaba being beaten, her decision to do something, her questioning of Sayer, her failed plan, her own savage beating. Elphaba chimed in occasionally, adding details and her own point of view of the events. Jesse said nothing during her story, but his facial expression changed constantly, portraying every emotion from sadness to anger or horror. When Morgan finished, the three stayed silent, the only noise being the humming of the unit above their heads.

"Two hours," Jesse broke the silence, speaking softly. "I was gone for two hours. All of this happened when I was freaking grocery shopping."

"I know," replied Morgan. "It's insane when you think about it. All of this is insane."

"I can't believe Oz is real," he continued. "Oz is real, the Wicked Witch is real, it's all real. And you…you stabbed a guy… you actually stabbed a guy with floral shears."

"I did tell you that I've always wanted to do that."

"Yeah, but…I never thought we'd see the day where we would have to do it. You stabbed a Gale Force soldier. A soldier from Oz. Which is real….this is all really confusing…"

"Trust me, I've already gone through this entire thought process multiple times over."

Jesse tapped his fingers on his lap, having a hard time sitting still.

"What made you finally believe?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe seeing a green person in front of me and then getting punched in the face?"

"Yep. That would do it."

"Did they say anything of importance to you?" Elphaba asked Jesse. "Did they mention anything about the Wizard?"

Jesse shrugged. "I kind of freaked out, honestly. A lot of what they said is a blur. But I do know the ponytail man said that they wanted to keep me here until the Wizard showed up. I don't know why, though."

"For future reference," stated Morgan. "Ponytail man is the Captain. He's in charge."

"Ponytail man is in charge?"

"You got it."

Jesse suddenly stopped moving, a look of horror on his face. He looked down at his feet, the white border of his sneakers stained with red.

"Oh sweet Jesus," he whispered, voice shaking. "I just realized that I stepped in your blood. Your blood is on my shoe."

Morgan snorted. "Maybe now you'll actually clean them." Elphaba appreciated the snark, stifling a laugh of her own.

"You two are ridiculous, you know that?"

Morgan and Jesse shared a look. "We've heard that before."

"Look, this little reunion is nice and all," Elphaba interrupted, "but it doesn't exactly help our predicament. Now we have one more person imprisoned by the Gale Force. It's going to be that much harder to get you two out of here."

"Oh no, not a 'you two'," said Morgan. "I'm getting you out as well. I'm not leaving you here with them, absolutely freaking not. Plan A may have not worked out the way I wanted it two, but there always is a Plan B."

"And, what, pray tell, is Plan B?"

"Well…"

The door flung open. Sayer was suddenly inside the cooler again.

"We have a problem!" the young soldier said, wide-eyed. "The other battalion is on their way here. The Wizard is with them!"

Jess tilted his head. "This is Sayer, right? The kid that beat the shit out of you?"

"Is that what you told him?"

"I mean, you did beat the shit out of me."

"Yeah, but…." Sayer stopped midsentence. "Oh nevermind, that doesn't matter. What matters is that the Wizard is on his way, and once he gets here, he is going to want to meet with you. I don't know what he'll want with you, Morgan, but I highly doubt he'll just have a chat and let you go home."

Morgan felt something squeezing her hand. She looked down, seeing green fingers wrapping overtop of her own. Elphaba had a very stern expression on her face, her eyes sparking with defiance.

"He won't do anything to her," the witch spat. "I'll make sure of that."

"I'm sorry, Miss Elphaba, I don't mean to doubt you," replied Sayer, "but unless we can get you out, there's not much you can do."

Jesse gave a very befuddled look to everyone in the cooler with him.

"Why haven't you just walked out?" he asked.

"That's obviously easier said than done," replied the witch sardonically, "or do you think that the Gale Force is that lenient?"

"No, seriously, why haven't you just walked out?" He turned to Morgan. "You do remember that the cooler door doesn't lock, right?"

Morgan could feel the three sets of eyes boring into her. She shrunk down, feeling the blood rise into her face. In that moment, she felt very, very stupid.

"Oh…." Morgan remembered now. "Right…there's no lock on it so that nobody gets stuck in here and freezes….right."

She felt a sting shoot across her left arm. Elphaba was glaring at her, eyes still blazing. The green girl had slapped her.

"You mean we haven't been locked in here at all and you knew?"

"I may have known that….but…" Morgan glanced up, a small sheepish smile on her face, her voice rising about an octave,"…with all the crazy going on…and everything hurting so bad…I just... didn't think."

"Well then," Jesse jumped off, brushing a few stray petals off of himself. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Sayer stepped back, blocking the door.

"No, bad idea. If you go out, they'll just throw you back in. No offense, but they'll take you down in a few seconds."

Jesse crossed his arms over his chest and glared.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Jesse, he's right," said Elphaba. She pointed towards Morgan, gesturing to the injuries on her face. "This is what happens when you try to fight them. You end up with a bruised face, a broken nose, and a cracked rib or two. She's lucky she got out with just those. I wouldn't risk it."

"So we just sit here then and wait?"

"For now."

Jesse audibly groaned. "This is what I get for checking on you, Morgan. This is what I get for caring about your safety?"

"Oh, you mean something unpleasant happened to you when you cared about someone else's safety?" Morgan's words were both sardonic and scathing. "Huh…you know, I have no idea what that's like."

"PRIVATE FORSMYTH!"

Sayer jumped, recoiling at the sound of his own naming booming over top the buzzing metal.

"Get going! We find formation in order to greet the Wizard!"

Sayer gave Morgan a very worried look, his eyes not leaving her face for some time. His expression triggered the fear in Morgan, fright now adding to the trembling that had already taken over her body. She swallowed hard, wishing the young soldier's eyes weren't so sad.

"Morgan, I'll do my best. I'll do my best to keep you safe, to keep you all safe." Sayer gripped the door handle, desperately not wanting to open it and leave. He had turned away from her to attempt to leave, but his eyes were back, staring at her as if it was the last time he would see her.

"If I…if I don't get to see you…after…" Sayer gulped. "….just know…just know that I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything. I really am."

"Sayer-" The boy had removed himself from the room before Morgan could finish her thought. His words terrified her, his speaking of not seeing her again triggering morbid scenarios in her brain. Images flashed through her mind, drowning her in memories of fists and blood and pain. She was lost in the horrid fantasies, suffocating on the idea of suffering and possible death, until she felt someone shaking her. For the second time, a green face welcomed her back to the reality of the freezing room.

"Morgan, it's going to be okay." Elphaba's voice was soft and gentle, reassuring. A green hand caressed Morgan's face, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "Don't cry, please. We're going to get you out, I promise."

Morgan didn't even realize she was crying. Jesse looked like he was going to cry as well, seeing and reacting to his young coworker. Morgan was completely overwhelmed. She was captured, freezing, in pain, and now terrified of what was going to happen to her once the Wizard arrived. She tried not to think about what the Wizard would do with her, and what he would do to make her act as he pleased. She tried not to think about what would happen if the Wizard decided he didn't need her, instead throwing her into the rabid mouths of the Gale Force. The threats they made to Elphaba wiggled themselves back into her ears, sending another set of tears dripping down her face. Morgan pulled her knees as far into her chest as she could, despite the fierce pain it created, and buried her head, not wanting them to see her falter.

Morgan felt the arms around her, holding onto tightly, the whisper touch of fingers running up and down her arm. She could feel a hard pressure on her head, the sensation of another head leaning onto her own.

"It's okay, you're okay," the witch's soothing voice returned. "You're allowed to be afraid. Just know that I'm here, and I will do whatever I can to keep you safe. You tried your best to help me, and I will now return the favor. It's okay, I have you now."

Morgan could hear footsteps in the room, the tapping echoing slightly in the small space. Jesse was up, pacing frantically muttering to himself. She could hear the boxes and buckets on the shelves sliding back and forth, the man shuffling them around. Jesse grumbled, looking for something.

"I know I left it here this morning…I couldn't find it in my damn drawer and this was the last place I had it before I left…Ah ha!"

A spark of excitement entered Jesse's voice.

"I knew it! I knew my forgetfulness would be an asset one day!"

Morgan lifted her head, blinking a few times to focus back with the light. Jesse was standing up, his right hand raised up, a long, silver knife casting a shadow onto the floor from the bright ceiling light. Jesse laughed gleefully, flipping the blade around in his hands.

"I couldn't get the freaking box of greens open so I went back and had to get my knife, and I must have sat it down and left without it. On a normal day, I'd be super pissed, but not now!"

"I had a weapon, too, you know," said Morgan solemnly. "It only got me so far."

"Yes, but it's better than being unarmed," replied Elphaba, releasing the girl from her embrace. "We stand a better chance with it, even if it's just a fraction of an advantage."

The normal sounds of boots and chattering outside the cooler had stopped. Only the humming of the system could be heard.

Morgan swallowed hard. She knew what the silence meant.

The Wizard had arrived.