Animals

Day 13

Tuesday, May 22nd

"Remember to stay calm, no matter what you see in there," Mitch said, not meeting my eyes as he strapped a thin protective vest onto me. He made sure it was tight enough to stay just under uncomfortable. He noticed my confused gaze and said, "You know what they've done before. There's no telling what you'll hear or see when you go in there. The important thing is to act like it doesn't faze you. Don't blow your cover."

"Right." I nodded. I had no idea what I was walking into, and I was nervous. Perhaps more nervous than I'd ever been, but I knew this had to be done. I was the only one who could do this.

Before, I always knew what I was getting into. Things were simple and child's play compared to what I was doing now. I had to take a moment to remind myself how I had gotten here in the first place. Oh, that's right. I asked for it. I wondered if I would change anything if I could go back, then I looked up at Mitch. He was giving me a once over to make sure the vest was on right.

The answer was yes. I would definitely do things differently.

"Everything looks set. Take this." He pulled out a watch that looked nothing extravagant. He attached the leather strap around my wrist then pressed a button on the side. The time on it matched the current time, but I had a feeling it wasn't intended for that.

"What's this for?" I looked for any differences between normal watches and this one, but I didn't see any.

"If you press this button-." He pointed the to button next to the dial to change the hands on the face. "-it'll send a warning to my phone. Press it twice so I know it wasn't an accident, and Stan and I will come get you out of there."

"Oh..." It was good to know I had a backup plan, even though I couldn't imagine what they'd be able to do to save me. "Thanks."

His eyes flicked to me once then he turned his back to me. "Don't thank me. I'm only giving that to you because Stan told me to."

I frowned as I slid a shirt on over my vest. It looked normal, no bulkier than usual. "Oh." I checked the watch, noting that it was a quarter past 8. I needed to get going if I was going to make it in time. I grabbed my phone and slid it into my pocket.

"Walker." I stopped by the door at the sound of Mitch's voice, looking over my shoulder at him for any last-minute advice he had. "Don't fuck this up."

I couldn't believe what I'd heard from his mouth, and it took my mind a few seconds to comprehend it. Even as I went out to risk my life for this thing yet AGAIN, he was still a dick. Unbelievable. I shook my head as I closed the door behind me. Was there any way I could stop being his partner now?

I took in a deep breath, mentally preparing myself to step out of my car. The address belonged to a warehouse a few miles from nowhere. It had taken half an hour to get here, and now that I was here, I wished I wasn't.

On the outside, the inconspicuous building traveled at least the length of a football field. Under the light of the sun, it wasn't a place anybody would deem chilling, but I had a feeling that it was a different story in the night. There were no windows, and from what I could see, few doors. Most of the doors were barred from the outside.

"Because that's not creepy," I muttered. The parking lot was filled with large white vans because it was impossible to be a villain without a large white van. Or 20. I had no idea what they could possibly use those vans for, and I was sure knowing would be worse than my own imagination.

The door that I would be entering through was one of the few unblocked doors, but oddly it was glass. Inside looked like a small convenience store. A strangely placed convenience store, but nonetheless... The size of the store didn't nearly reflect the size of the building, so it was clear there was more to it.