Expendables- Devil's Ax

Chapter 10

Several days had passed by since Lee's visit. Rose saw Lee around the shop along with everyone else. She was finally able to look Gunner in the eyes and be able to talk to him without feeling bad.The nights seemed to be harder to get through, but sometimes she was able to get a full three hours in before waking up in a cold sweat.

"So you fixed this old thing up." Rose said to Barney as buffed some scratches out of the side of his old truck. "It's been awhile since I've seen it."

"Yeah." Barney said standing up and placing a hand on his back. "Last time, you got a metal plate put in your head from the accident." He pushed his hand into the back of Rose's head, feeling the bump of the scar from her surgery as a kid when the two of them had gotten into a car wreck in that very old black truck. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Rose said leaning up against the workbench and crossing her arms. "I wanted to ask you something." She said her voice was hard to read. "That old storage unit, didn't dad leave that to you?" She asked looking down at the floor.

"I think so." Barney said looking over at her. "I guess it's your's now. Seems how your 18. Why do you ask? You want something from inside?"

"Yeah. Kind of." Rose said, she still didn't look up at Barney.

"I haven't seen what was in it. I have the key somewhere. We'll go and check it out this afternoon." Barney said leaning up against the table next to her. He looked back at the truck and then at her.

"It'll get better." He said in a low voice. Rose looked up at him confused. "I can hear you at night. When you wake up. I live right below you." Rose looked away sighed.

"Sorry." She said in a low voice.

"IT's alright. Don't worry about it." Barney said looking at her. "When your father passed, I had trouble sleeping at night too."

That evening, Barney and Rose returned from the storage unit with a surprise like no other. Lee sat watching the TV in the tattoo parlor when he heard the rumble of two vehicles pull into the garage. Gunner and Tool had heard the same thing as well and walked out into the garage with Lee. Barney had pulled in first with a trailer hooked up to his truck. Next, came an unfamiliar car with Rose in the front seat. A shinny black 1969 Dodge Charger pulled into the garage and Rose parked it next to Barney's truck. Everyone watched as Rose stepped out from the driver's seat and shut the door. The trim of the car was silver along with the rims.

"I really thought your dad had sold that thing." Barney said to Rose as she walked over to him.

"Really?" Rose asked cocking her head to the side. Some dirt was smudged on her face from lifting dirty boxes up and down.

"I thought you said you were going to a storage unit." Tool said to Barney. "Not car shopping."

"We did. That's Rose's Dad's car that he left for her." Barney pointed at it. "I need some help moving some of this stuff upstairs." Barney said looking at the boxes. Gunner shrugged his shoulders and sighed as he approached the trailer. Lee looked over at Rose who had a strange look on her face. She seemed to be lost in thought.

"Ah!" Rose sat up in her bed breathing heavily and sweating hard. Her heartbeat raced and she took several breaths to calm herself down, but nothing worked. With shaking hands, she leaned over to the right and grabbed the orange pill bottle on her night stand. Opening the bottle, she dumped four pills into her hands and threw them in her mouth. A few moments later, she took four more. Her heart still raced as her mind began to crack here and there. The visions wouldn't leave her eyes. The sounds pierced her ears as her blood ran cold. Grabbing her knees and pulling them close to her, she held herself and waited for it to end. But the hollowness she felt inside of herself haunted her. Why? Why was it that dream?