Ayda: The Explosive Girl

Freeze Up

Ayda took a deep breath in, and immediately wished she hadn't. The stench of spilled coffee long soured filled her nostrils. Her entire face scrunched in an expression of pure, momentary disgust, amplified by the knowledge she would have to take another breath. For a moment, the teenager weighed her options. Breathing through her nose would once again sample the smell, but inhaling through her mouth presented a threat of tasting the air. Neither appealed much. Ayda let out a long, exasperated exhale, then took a normal draught through her nose. Better to get used to a smell rather than a flavor.

In an attempt to distract herself, the girl shifted focus from one sense to another. She listened to the low rumble of the engine, turning in time with a quartet of wheels which slid over old asphalt just under foot. A smile crept across her face, as occasionally the motor would tick or clang in unhealthy fashion. She snickered to herself, but the merriment was cut off with another face scrunch. Giggling caused deeper breaths than normal, which brought on anew the stale coffee stink.

With an audible and overly obvious sigh, Ayda looked out the window. Her head came to rest against the glass at a lazy angle. It felt cool against her scalp, a brilliant contrast with the hot air outside. The famous Texas prairie lands sped through her field of vision, mostly flat and monotone, just slightly faded around the edges from the velocity by which it passed. A seemingly abandoned shack in the distance seemed to follow along as the car eked by it. Ayda watched it for a moment, wondering distantly what purpose it may have served in the past.

Many found this landscape boring, and for good reason. It was predictable and wide open with nothing to see or do. Ayda liked it, though, for precisely these reasons. There was a distinct beauty in the simple things. A lack of obstacles did not necessarily equal dreary. People often forgot that in the nonstop hustle of modern Western living. Ayda was no exception, of course. She often lost herself in the stress of the city. However, coming out to a place like this always reminded her how important it was to slow down, if only just for a little while.

Though she had to admit, the surrounding area was rather dull. The teenager spared a glance for the reason she was in this particular situation. Elliot sat behind the steering wheel, eyes on the road as he guided the old vehicle down the equally aged country blacktop. He'd picked her up from their apartment right after work. As such, he still wore his white lab coat and a gaudy green sweater which he could only get away with inside the heavily air conditioned halls of Belmont International.

His gaze remained fixed forward as he drove. Elliot didn't even notice his passenger looking at him. This was a good thing, of course. The last thing the driver of a vehicle needed as distraction. It just did nothing to satiate Ayda's boredom.

She tuned back into the music on the radio just in time to catch the tail end of a song. Elliot may have had questionable tastes in both fashion and transport, but at least his music was decent, if a bit unexpected. Classic East Coast hip hop; Wu-Tang Clan, Biggie, N.W.A, that kind of thing. This particular tune Ayda had never heard, but it had a solid beat and aggressive lyrics. As the song faded out, Ayda almost wished she'd paid attention to it sooner.

The melody was replaced immediately with another, one much more abrasive and in your face. A duo of loud symphonic notes with guitar distortion in the background blared over the speakers, a tune Ayda had heard many times before; the El Puerto syndicated local news program. Most stations in the city aired it, with the exception of college radio, which didn't seem to care about much of anything. The anchor—a deep-voiced man—introduced himself before continuing on to the top story.

"A small supply warehouse on the docks was robbed late last night. Security systems both in the target building as well as the surrounding area were remotely disabled, allowing the assailants to enter undisturbed. Guards around the warehouse were found knocked out by the use of a powerful tranquilizer, the same kind used by zookeepers to take down large animals. Detective Joe McMahon had this to say..."