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I was too focused on the fact that I had gotten inside whatever the hell this place was.
My excitement slightly waned as I reminded myself that getting inside was supposed to be the easy part. Nothing about what I just went through was a cakewalk. The hidden obstacles before me were slowly but surely making themselves visible.
I studied my reflection in the mirror above the sink, frowning at the woman staring back at me. My blonde locks were a tangled, bed-headed mess, and I had a few colorful bruises from my recent escapade that harshly stood out against my skin. I didn’t like this mirror very much. There weren’t any cracks in it.
Skimming my fingers along the hem of the t-shirt, I lifted it up and examined my puncture wound. Romero had done a surprisingly good job of stitching me up. Bits of crusted blood and scab still clung to me, but that was to be expected. The area was still tender to the touch, on top of being an ugly reddish color.
Letting the t-shirt fall back into place just above my knees, I turned the faucet on and finally peered inside the cardboard box on the counter. It contained various sizes of men and women’s clothes, and a few pairs of shoes. Unless Romero and his buddies were gathering clothing up for a rainy day, I could only assume it all belonged to some poor, dead, unfortunate souls.
I pulled out a long-sleeved plaid shirt that was about two sizes too big and set it to the side. After a few more seconds of digging, I had a pair of black boots and someone’s lacy bralet. I held the peach number up and shrugged. It would be a little snug on the girls but it looked clean and it wasn’t like the original owner could object.
After pulling Romero’s shirt off, I quickly washed my face the best I could with the corner of a balled-up bandana, sparing a few seconds to drink from the tap.
The end result was far from perfect, but I wasn’t trying to win any beauty competitions.
Tiptoeing toward the door, I tried to see if I could hear anything. Only the silence remained. With every second counting and a clock ticking, I tried to get my thoughts back in order.
David would not be in the same spot for long. If Romero knew where he was, he would have to make some kind of move soon. That is, if they weren’t working together. This had the potential to get all kinds of messy. I took a good look around and asked myself the game changing question: What the fuck now?
Heading back towards the toilet, I shut the lid and used it as a stepping-stone to the upper tank. Gripping the barely-existent window rim, I stood on my tiptoes and stretched up as far as my side allowed me, squinting from the sunlight. “What the hell?”
Narrowing my eyes, stretching a tad bit more, I tried to pinpoint where I was, but all I could see was wasteland.
Looking as far left as I could, slightly leaning in the process, I saw little black specs floating in the air above a circular pit full of visible corpses.
To the right was nothing but a view of the building I was in: some kind of refurbished warehouse. Old boxcars were stacked on top of one another and served as a fence that connected to a large pair of chain-link gates. They were secured together by what I was guessing was a manual lock. Clearly, they had two objectives: keep people out, and keep people in.
So much for running if things went south.
Dammit.
“Tryna find an escape route?”
Yes. “No, I’m trying to figure out where the hell I am.” Not letting on to the fact that he had just caught me completely off guard and that my side now hurt like a sonofabitch, I slowly lowered my booted heels and climbed off the toilet.
I turned around and crossed my arms, openly perusing him from head to toe. He was enigmatic and sinewy, leaning against the door jam with an unreadable expression on his pretty face.
The skull ring on his index finger looked familiar but I couldn’t place it. When my eyes drifted back up to his face, there was a cocky little smirk waiting for me.
“I’ve found many women outside those gates before, and none of them have been anything like you.”
“You didn’t find me, I found you, and I’d appreciate it if you let me leave now.” I tossed out a partial lie, readying my arsenal of false pretenses.
“Leave? Why would you want to leave when you just got here?” He pushed away from the door and took two steps towards me. “Do you think I saved you out of the kindness of my heart?” His voice turned serious. If possible, his eyes got a little darker.
It didn’t take me long to conclude that it was best to tread carefully with this man, but where was the fun in t
hat?
It also didn’t take me long to conclude that I’d made the right decision earlier. Tito and Grady’s plan was shit. I could not pretend to be weak or helpless in front of these people; they would eat me alive. Yet being too headstrong, being myself, could get me killed. It was a crossroad I really didn’t want to be at, so I chose the most logical path to take.
“Didn’t we already go over this? I never needed your help. You didn’t have to save me.” Boldly mimicking his actions, I took two steps forward.
“See, that thing you just did has me wondering if you were really lost in the first place.” His eyes traveled up and down me in a way that had goose flesh spreading across my skin.
“You think I purposely went off into the woods so I could meet a cannibal?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe. Why don’t we find out?”
