Redemption

Chapter 3

Unlike a consistent schedule on the dot, Tim's new schedule at the warehouse remained a mystery each passing day. There were days when he was called in at midnight while on other days at the crack of dawn. He was exhausted and frustrated with little to no proper routine. Lucy's minion always picked him up, never revealing the actual address at first. The first whole week they put a bag over his head every time he got in the car, before trusting him enough to let him see where he was being taken.

The whole experience was putting him on edge, on top of the task they put him on. There was an obvious divide amongst the men that was easily broken down to those who get away with doing very little vs those who do all the tasks - "the Boots." Tim was instantly humbled to start over as the Boot for once. On call, he was tasked from packaging and carrying thioxene in disguised herbal medicine boxes to cleaning the area spotlessly on all fours.

On call, Jackson is always present before everyone arrives, leading the group and watchful of everyone's performance. Tim quickly caught on the respect the men had for Jackson. His glare alone would enable a single person from slacking off. But things change when Stanton joins the mix. Not that he stays any longer close to a full shift, but just long enough to cause chaos.

While everyone else is at work, Stanton breaks up his favorites from their tasks, pulling up a table with bottles of beer and gambling with house cards. In a blink, some of the winnings are stashes of thioxene passed slyly under the table. Jackson's response is a poor attempt of verbally expressing his disapproval that simply goes past Stanton's head. If it does not leave a dent to Stanton, the rebels around him follow the same as their leader.

After a while, Stanton is gone and order is restored.

They receive one break throughout the day - one meal break. Tim hoped it would be an advantage for him to get closer to the Chemist. But she never joined the others. Most of the time, her break started after everyone else had theirs, or sometimes none at all. The time Tim sees her again is when she emerges from the sealed laboratory in her hazmat suit. She deliberately separates herself from the other men and returns back inside soon as possible after a handful of bathroom breaks.

Tim calculated each hour she would come out to see a short glimpse of her face. In his eyes, he observed how each time she looked more exhausted and strangely defeated. It was eerily pitiful for him to see her come in day in and day out doing the same thing that is feeding the cycle of all this madness.

~ A month has passed. Tim was finally able to arrange on his rare "day off" with Detective Harper. The meeting took place back in the police van disguised as a cleaning company.

The second Tim entered inside he was in shock to see Angela out of uniform sitting beside Harper. Angela gave him a proud wave, containing herself from talking to him first.

Tim explained his day to day duties and the location of the warehouse the Chemist runs her supplies. He did his best to inform all he could down to his brief opportunity to be with her away from the others. It all came to him like flowing water. But seeing Angela again reminded him who he really was and his old life as Tim Bradford. He was not always the most emotional person but he tried his best to focus hard on his report to hold back what was building up inside him.

"Well, the good thing is they're building some kind of trust with you. But in the end, you are still at the bottom of the food chain. Stick to it for now. The less you cause trouble, the more likely we can create some kind of underdog angle to get you to stick out," Harper said.

Harper eyed the way Angela and Tim failed to hide their hidden glimpses at each other. She put the headphones resting around her neck back to her ears. As she pulled back her wheeled chair to a small desk with her laptop, she winked to Angela as a signal.