Episode Ten- The Garage of Ghosts

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There were dozens of other cars parked inside the spacious room they pulled to a stop in. Just as Alex had predicted. As much as she wished she'd been wrong, she was encouraged to know she could trust her gut—and sense of smell.

The peculiar garage at the end of the tunnel reminded Alex of the garages in the city from when she was younger. They were always a silent and eerie abandoned gathering of cars that either no longer worked or no longer had an owner. The other children Alex grew up with called them garages of ghosts, because it was a myth that the dead still roamed where they had left their vehicles. Unlike the stories of her childhood, the cars in front of her were anything but abandoned. There was an unsettling unknown waiting for them.

Nothing else was inside the room they entered but the other cars. The truck pulled to a stop in a space marked with the number '12'.

Alex took the halt in their movements to inhale a deep breath. Desperately, she tried to calm her nerves; her hands were shaking in their ties. She wished one of her companions would do something, anything. If they put up enough of a fight, maybe Edric and the others wouldn't waste too much time on them.

Edric hopped out and dropped the tailgate, stretching and puffing on his cigarette before motioning for them to get out. Ace climbed out first, followed by Alex and Rollo. Cicero took his time to obey the instruction, but once his feet touched the ground, he swung a fist at Edric.

The attack happened so quickly, Alex barely even had time to register what was going on. She stumbled back, and in an instant watched all hopes of escaping disappear.

Edric dodged the punch with ease and grabbed Cicero around the wrist. He used Cicero's own momentum to swing him around, nearly knocking him off his feet, and slammed him into the side of the truck. Cicero's cheek pressed against the glass of the passenger window, and he struggled to get out of Edric's grip. He had his arm twisted up and toward his shoulder blades, gaining an unavoidable squirm from Cicero.

"Let him go!" Alex managed out after shaking away a paralysis that had taken over her. She wanted to intervene, but she was well aware of how little help she offered.

Surprisingly, Edric let Cicero go.

"We're just trying to help you," Edric said. He sounded irritated as he straightened out the hat on his head. "Now you made me crack the damn window." He motioned toward the passenger door he had thrown Cicero into seconds ago.

"You're the one that threw me into the window," Cicero shot back. He rubbed the side of his jaw with one hand and shook out his other arm.

"I don't understand," Rollo stuttered out.

They were all stunned into place, not even moving when their bindings were cut by Greg and Daniel.

"If you're on our side in any way, you have a sick way of offering a helping hand," Rollo added.

"I've met a lot of Keepers in my life. None of you will trust a stranger. If I hadn't knocked all of you out, you would have died out there in the desert from pure distrust alone."

"You could have told us on the way here!" Alex shouted. Her voice echoed up and down the concrete walls. She shuffled back a step, as if moving away from her own voice.

"What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good twist," Edric said.

"You knew what we were this whole time? All of us?" Ace questioned.

Edric nodded in reply. "We knew, yes. We had a guy in the city you were in. He knew about some raised suspicions of a Designation being in the city and caused a distraction hoping to flush you guys out into the desert. A bit of a risk, admittedly, but it was the only way we could think of getting you away from the Achilles."

"It was a bigger risk for your guy. We watched him get killed," Ace stated.

"He knew the risks, too." Edric appeared callous as he took one last look between the four of them. His expression was cool, collected. He barely even flinched at what Ace had said.

He must have known he was dead already. Or, he just doesn't really care. Alex studied Edric thoughtfully.

"Just follow me before anything else gets broken," Edric snapped after noticing he was being watched like an animal behind glass.

"We don't trust you," Cicero said, planting himself firmly where he stood.

"I would be a little disappointed if you did. However, even you have to admit there's not a lot of places left for you to go. If it makes you feel any better," Edric paused and pulled out a knife from a bag in the back of the truck, "you can have this. Can't give you your guns back right now, for obvious reasons."

"It's a start." Cicero didn't look convinced, and neither did the others.

They all wore unblinking expressions.

"I don't understand, why do you have the mark of an Avoider if you're not one?" Alex folded her arms tightly as she followed the others. Her question held a tone of suspicion.

The supposition snagged Edric. He twirled around on the heel of his boot and halted the small group in front of a metal door. "You all ask a lot of questions." He pointed his cigarette in Alex's face. "Particularly you. I don't like a lot of questions."

"How can you blame any of us for asking questions? You kidnapped us, asshole," Ace grumbled.

"And you're all acting a lot like kids who can't follow instructions. Stop asking questions. Be as untrusting as you want to be. I don't care. Just keep it to yourselves right now. I'm sure you'll all change your minds soon enough."

Alex looked uneasily at Cicero. She could read his thoughts as easily as a book. At that moment, Alex shared his thoughts. She didn't want to follow these strangers into the beyond, but there was no choice.

They had confiscated their weapons, they were trapped, and they didn't know how many others were lurking around them. All they could do was follow helplessly along; so they did.

All of them walked through a bleak, metal-lined passage, and stopped at a door at the end. Painful, fluorescent lights flickered overhead. A high-pitched noise screamed in the narrow space. Alex felt an urge to cover her ears.

I wonder if they use this hallway as some form of torture, she thought.

Edric pulled off his worn cowboy hat and tucked it neatly under one arm. He held his wrist in front of a scanner to the right of the door. A loud click sounded, followed by the sound of a dozen gears grinding as the door lurched back then slid to the side, and a gust of cold air blasted over everyone crowded in the corridor.

One right after another, overhead lights turned on until they disappeared beyond view. The room must have spanned hundreds of feet in all directions. Alex looked around in awe as she unconsciously followed the others down a small flight of stairs.

Shelves upon shelves towered nearly three stories overhead. All fully stocked with an array of crates and boxes.

"What is this place?" Ace spun around in a complete circle. He swung his arms out and up, hands flattening his somehow still perfectly styled hair. It was almost as if he couldn't take in the surrounding sights fast enough.

Edric shrugged his shoulders and put his hat back on. "I think it used to be some kind of end of the world bunker and training facility. It was a useful find for us not too long ago."

"What is it now, though?" Rollo pushed. Her eyebrows raised as she looked expectantly at the man.

"It's better if you just follow me," Edric said. He strode off with Greg and Daniel close beside him.

The others passed a look of question between each other before silently agreeing to follow.


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