Ch.2

Mac watched in honest amusement as the girl struggled to pull herself into the truck. The sleeves on his shirt were far too long for her short arms and kept getting in the way of her hands, which caused her to lose her grip and have to start all over. When he finally got tired of watching her fail-or when her inability began to cut into his work time-Mac reached out, once again banding her forearm with his large hand, and pulled her slight weight into the cab of the truck. She gave him a small, hesitating smile. Looking at her plush lips, he couldn't help but wonder what they would feel like wrapped around his dick. She was most likely a virgin. Which meant that when she turned sixteen…or when he decided he was done listening to Walter, he would be the one to teach her how to do everything. And damn, that would be a good day. Mac started his truck, focusing on navigating into the canyons, rather than his hardening dick and what he wanted to do with it.

"You ever been in a cave?" he snapped. The last thing he needed was the girl to go hysterical or be claustrophobic when he was working with acid. She looked up at him shaking her head, her blue-grey eyes-the pair that matched his perfectly- flashed in the bright morning sun making them a brighter blue. "You know how to talk?" Mac barked, getting frustrated with her silence. Charlotte blinked, nodding slowly like she didn't understand why he would ask.

"Well, yeah," she said deliberately, "You just don't seem the idle conversation type." Mac smirked at the desert.

"Damn right." They were silent for a beat, Mac's mind returning to the canyon path as the road narrowed and the wheel got harder to control. Charlotte stared out at the barren landscape surrounding the truck, taking in the bright, hot sun and the red, canyon walls. She'd only been there a day and only been outside a few moments, but already she felt grimy and covered in sand. It was beautiful though, even if the air conditioning of Mac's truck didn't seem to work.

"Thank you, for the shirt. I probably would already be burned." She tried, turning her head to look at him. Mac grunted in reply, keeping his eyes on the road and not on her appreciative smile. When it didn't seem his mood would change, Charlotte scooted around in her seat, making herself comfortable to lean her head against the window and continue watching the scenery for the rest of the ride.

It only took about fifteen minutes to get to the cave. Most of the ride had been silent…well actually the whole last twelve minutes of the trip were silent. But now the truck was parked outside a cave mouth and Mac was navigating them through the darkness of the tunnel. Charlotte, after nearly tripping several times, put her hand out and grappled onto Mac's shirt. He stopped suddenly; Charlotte ran into his back. She huffed out a breath, Mac turned his head to look over his shoulder, she couldn't see his eyes but she had a feeling that he was glaring at her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She dropped her hand at his harsh tone, taking a step back and tripping on the uneven floor. Mac let her fall, grunting as she gasped in pain. "Stupid bitch, get off your ass and come on. I don't have time for your shit." Charlotte stood, ready to start following him again, but Mac didn't move. He grabbed her arm, again, pulling her in front of him, "walk," he growled, pushing her forward. His hands stayed on her forearms, leading her none-to-gently through the darkness and into an open cavern. Charlotte was almost positive that she would have awkward bruises on her arms from his grip. When they were in the dimly lit cavern Mac let go of her, shoving her down on a dirty mattress. "Stay" he ordered as he moved to the work table. Charlotte took her time inspecting the cavern from her place on the floor. The air was moist, she could hear water dripping somewhere far off sounding, and it smelled something like sulfur. There were oil drums everywhere along the curved walls rock walls of the cave and a long work table with equipment you'd find in a chemistry lab near the middle of the cavern. Then there were random things like lawn chairs and folding tables and the mattress she was sitting on. Alcohol was also a prominent thing in the cavern, cases stacked high where ever there wasn't oil drums, which gave her the distinct impression that this place was used for other things than Mac's…work.

"What are those brick looking things?" Charlotte asked, looking at the pyramid of what looked like plastic wrapped, baking flour. Mac glanced at her, picking up a gas mask.

"Meth." His short answer made her mind process more slowly. When she didn't say anything, Mac looked up, watching the wheels turn. He counted backward, slowly in his head, from five, at two, her pewter eyes snapped to his and the light bulb flickered on.

"Meth?" her voice was a little higher, not panic-y, but a slight hysteric. Mac grunted, pulling the gas mask on and resuming his work, as she was no longer amusing. "Meth, like Meth the drug?" he rolled his eyes at the stupid question, but noted that her voice was deliberately slower. She took a few deep breaths, like she was trying to make the new knowledge acceptable, letting the nervousness edge away. His grunt was muffled by the gas mask, there was a pregnant pause, and then, "Do you do drugs?" all frantic emotion was gone, replaced with child-like curiosity. With an exaggerated sigh, Mac lifted his mask again, if I answer, she'll be quiet, he reminded himself. Her head was cocked to the side, like a dog.

"No. Now, be a good girl, and shut up." He snapped. Again he went to pull down his mask, his eyes falling on the table covered in different dangerous acids and random other household cleaners. Then he thought about his mask, he realized that the fumes would get to her too. They'd make her dizzy, maybe even sick, that would suck for him. Walter would beat him black if he let her get sick cause he didn't take care of her. Mac pulled a half-way clean bandana from his pocket, he moved around the worktable, kneeling down in front of her. There was a twinge of hurt in her eyes; Mac figured it was because he snapped at her. "Put this on," he ordered with a sigh, "over your mouth and nose." Charlotte took the cloth with a shaking hand, doing as he said. When she was done, Mac returned to his worktable, Charlotte's eyes on him the whole time.