Chapter 4: Wendy's Arrival
While the drugstore-robbing trio carried on, Wendy gazed in silence as they drove alongside a tall metal fence with rusting barbed wire around the top that spanned for miles as far as the eye could see (or as far as the Ford Explorer headlights could reach).
She fought hard against the temptation to give in to sleep. The story of Daphne kept replaying in her mind. They killed her, Wendy thought. She felt sick as she imagined the trio dragging the poor girl out of the Explorer as she kicked and screamed, leaving her to die in the Mojave Desert. Murderers! Wendy saw a woman alone and afraid, without her phone to call for help, starving and dehydrated, and slowly and painfully succumbing to the elements of the desert.
After an hour of thinking it thoroughly, she decided: Fuck Ash's word. Putting faith in him or any of these psychos was a fool's choice. After that nerve-wracking interrogation she endured, followed by a thinly veiled threat from Blair, Wendy knew she had to get away from these people as soon as possible. She just had to act natural until the chance came.
"Here we are," announced Ash, pulling in through the open gate and onto the gravel road.
On the horizon, Wendy could see the shadow of what appeared to be an abandoned building, which kept growing as they drew closer. The place was so remote, completely hidden. It loomed above them like a menacing, ancient giant.
Wendy felt an unsettling chill run through her body.
The structure finally came into view after passing through the second gate. Wendy immediately recognized it as a cotton mill, like the one her mother used to work. This property wasn't as deserted as it looked from a distance. A few lamps glowed near the back entrance, and several automobiles filled the parking lot.
"Finally!" Margalo gasped in relief. "I really need to pee."
"Oh, trust me, you don't want to go here," Ash replied as he searched the area for a space to park. "You're better off waiting."
Margalo furrowed her eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"
"The bathrooms here are like walking into a shit-thick swamp. You really don't want to go there. Plus, there's no running water. Pete's not paying for any of this. So you can't wash that shit off if you get it on you."
"Are you fucking serious?" Margalo was aghast. "What am I supposed to do? I'm on the verge of pissing all over myself."
"Well, if you really need to go that bad, then to the woods, then!" Ash answered as he found a space to park and carefully positioned the Explorer. "There's one behind the building," he added as he pointed in its direction.
Wendy remained silent as she put her belongings in her backpack and stepped out of the vehicle. As soon as her feet made contact with the gravel road, her legs began to shake—a consequence of sitting for more than three hours, combined with the anxiety and tension weighing in on her mind. To help her regain her composure, she held onto the door handle for support. Her nose was overwhelmed by the stench of burnt plastic and cleaning agents that emanated from the mill. She didn't know on earth what it was, but it caused her face to squint.
While Margalo tore for the bushes to take an urgent pee, Ash and Margalo opened the trunk and took out two portable toolboxes. Only they didn't have tools, but all of Angelwing's stolen medicines.
"Hey, Wendy?" Ash called out as he grabbed the third toolbox before closing the trunk. "Could you give us a hand with this?"
"Oh, sure," she said as she reached for it.
They came in through the back door. Not a shred of light; it was pitch-black. Wendy felt as if she had stumbled into a tomb. The stench of deteriorating materials was stronger in this space. The floor shook as the music above reverberated throughout the building.
Suddenly, a brilliant white light appeared. It sprang from Ash's angle-head flashlight, cutting through the darkness. "C'mon, let's not keep Pete waiting for his goodies," he said as he pointed the light down the narrow tunnel.
"You heard him!" Blair barked at Wendy. "Let's go!"
Wendy was ready to lash out, but she held back her rage. Her heart pounded, her breathing became heavier.
As they traversed the narrow tunnels, the toolboxes screeched from being dragged across the broken tiles that made up the checkered floor, echoing in the darkness. With what little light Ash's flashlight could provide, Wendy glanced around. The ceiling riddled with cracks gave the impression that it could fall through at any moment. They ducked through a hole in the wall leading to an empty chamber with grime and graffiti-covered pillars. On one of the pillars, Wendy noticed dried blood and what appeared to be a bullet hole.
"Get your ass moving!" Blair hissed.
"Fuck you, bitch!" muttered Wendy.
Blair stopped in her tracks. "What did you say?" she asked. Wendy didn't answer but remained defiant—her body tense and her fists clenched. "Oh, you think you're funny, huh?" Blair remarked as she turned her head.
Wendy stood firm as Blair stepped toward her. They exchanged piercing stares. Wendy saw the eyes of an evil creature who would destroy anybody standing in the way of her addiction and the goals she wanted to achieve.
Blair reached into her pocket and pulled out a switchblade. Wendy wanted to pull hers out too, but something inside told her not to (though it was times like these that she wished she brought her ax). With a push of a button, Blair released the blade. "Now, do you want to repeat what said back there?" she continued in a low voice, bringing the switchblade to Wendy's cheek. "Bitch don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! I want to hear you fucking say—"
"Hey, will you two calm the fuck down?!" Ash hissed from the end of the tunnel, pointing his flashlight at the girls. "And Blair, put that shit away before Pete sees it!" he commanded, pointing at the switchblade. "You know what he's like!"
"But this bitch disrespected me!"
"You can have your catfight after we deliver the goods. Now come the fuck on!"
After that brief interruption, Blair returned her gaze to Wendy. "You… just… wait," she warned in a low voice before pulling the blade away.
SLAM!
Someone else burst through the back door. "Hey, wait up for me, guys!" the person shouted. It sounded like Margalo. She was gasping for air after sprinting all the way here from the woods she peed. She ran like hell on wheels to where Blair and Wendy stood. "Gimme that!" she shouted as she rudely snatched the toolbox of pharmaceuticals away from Wendy's hand.
After making their way through the tunnels, Ash, Blair, Margalo, and Wendy arrived at the staircase where Jericho and his partner stood guard on the second floor.
"Hey, Jericho!" Ash greeted him as he climbed up the stairs.
"What do you want?" Jericho asked, gripping his rifle.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy with that thing!" Ash immediately raised his hands, letting the toolbox land on the step. "Come on, man! You seriously don't remember me?"
"I know who you are, druggie. Do you have an appointment with Pete?"
"Yeah, that's right! Inside these toolboxes are like the strongest, most cutting-edge drugs on God's green earth! We're here to deliver to Pete as he asked for."
For a moment, Jericho put down the rifle and gave Ash a curious look. He remembered that earlier that day, Pete mentioned that he was obtaining drugs from an outside source but never the name of who was delivering. "Alright then, pass them over," he ordered.
"Dude, I just told you what they are!"
"And I'm telling you to pass them over!"
Ash reluctantly obliged, as did Blair and Margalo. Jericho sifted through the containers filled with orange bottles containing pills of varying sizes, colors, and shapes; they were all scattered around and piled on top of one another like toys in a toy box.
Wendy suddenly realized she was carrying a switchblade in her pocket. It occurred to her that if Jericho was so highly distrustful of Ash's crew despite knowing them well, he might try to conduct a body search next. While the others were distracted with Jericho, she quietly pulled it out and tucked it away in one of her socks.
"There, you see? What did I tell ya?" Ash was so self-assured. "Now, will you let us through?"
"Not so fast!" Jericho exclaimed. "I need to check all of you."
As it turned out, Wendy's prediction was correct.
"Oh, come the fuck on, man!" Ash shouted. "We're on the same side here!"
"Either all of you get with the program or get fucked!" Jericho yelled back, losing all remaining patience.
They begrudgingly complied. Jericho inspected each and every member of the crew, beginning with Ash, who fortunately remembered to leave his pistol in the Explorer. On the other hand, Blair had her switchblade confiscated by Jericho, much to her anger. "What do we have here?" he remarked, treating this discovery like he had caught a big fish.
Blair was seething, gritting her teeth.
After clearing Margalo for entry, Jericho finally turned to Wendy. "Hand it over," he ordered, pointing at her backpack.
Wendy let out a sigh as she passed her bag. He preceded to dump her bag's contents and sift through them—another pair of clothes, a few dollars, a phone charger, deodorant, a bottle of Gatorade, underwear, and tampons. Her cheeks turned a bright red after those last two.
"Alright, you're good," Jericho declared.