MARLI WIPES HER TEARS QUICKLY – there's no time to lose. She's flummoxed EJ enough to have him leave the door unlocked, and judging by the sound of his footfall, he should've been gone by now. Here's her chance. It's now or never.
She takes a deep breath and does an awkward shimmy-roll onto the next mattress. Ha. Getting to the door should be easy enough. Not very graceful, but hey, it works.
She bumps into the trailer wall, crawling along it, dragging on her elbow and patting blindly around until her hand fumbles upon the latch. Gotcha. The metal door begrudging yields under her force, and the girl tumbles outside with a muffled yelp.
The door swings back on its hinges, and with swimming vision Marli can just make out the words painted on it in fancy cursive:
The Amazin' Mattress Company, Ltd
Her head is spinning, her knees badly scratched from the fall, but she couldn't believe it - Marli made it outside. Was it really that easy?
"Ah!"
Marli jolts, snapping around. Fifty feet away, illuminated by stark fluorescent lights, two figures loom - a ratty brunet boy in yellow safety goggles and a suit-wearing androgynous redhead whose ponytail reaches their lower back.
Marli was about to cry for help when she sees the third figure, tied up, squirming beneath their feet.
The man is wearing a uniform jacket. It reads, "The Amazin' Mattress Company, Ltd".
"Fuck!" Marli thinks, and the redhead says it out loud. They take one step forward. She scoots two back.
The redhead open their mouth. "Wait, miss! You don't understan-"
"Get away from me!" Marli yells hoarsely, scooting under the shadow of the semi. Her heart is drumming up her throat again, her skin sticky from cold sweat, and her head aches something vicious. Her entire system is hyperventilating.
Outside the truck bed, gravel crunches tentatively. The stranger crouches down in a swoop, their long, gaunt face half-eaten by shadows, bright yellow eyes glinting in the dark—
Marli flings a fistful of hard gravel at their face.
"Ow!!!"
The redhead stranger staggers backward, clutching their eyes. In the distance, their partner yells, conking on his hard plastic goggles, "I told you Wendy, always protect the eyes!"
"Not the time, Teddy! Holy mother of Jesus that hurts-"
The redhead let go of their face, a single red droplet trickles down their scratched, bloodshot eyeball."Fuck! What'd you do that for?"
"Stay back!" Marli warns, brandishing a metal pipe she found underneath the truck. Her voice is dry and cracking, like eggshells. Within the span of eight hours, Marli's been kidnapped, dug a tracking device out of a dead guy's flesh, fell out of a window, fell out of a truck, and now she's about to get front row seat to a possible axe murder. It's like playing slasher bingo. "Stay back or I'll fuck you up! Both of you!"
"What'd I do?" The axe-swinging guy yells from afar.
The redhead groans, and to Marli's surprise, plops down to sit cross-legged at the edge of the truck. When they speak, their voice is assuring but serious.
"Okay. We clearly got off on the wrong foot here, Marli. Allow me to start this over."
They take a deep breath, and begin. "Right. My name is Wendy, she/her pronouns, and that there," she gestures defeatedly at the brunette boy, who waves his fire axe in response, "is my partner, Teddy. He and I are tasked with bringing you into S—into our protection."
Marli lowers her pipe by an inch.
"Miss Morris-Vu, you're a person of interest to a dangerous and highly lethal cult of the supernatural. As of now you're currently being transported out of state to their safehouse, where their mercenary will keep you captive until they send someone to pick you up—"
"Who do you work for?" Marli interrupts. "A name. Give me a name."
"Sorry, we can't tell you. Now, about the—"
"Then I'm not coming with you. End of discussion."
"What?" Wendy's brows shoot up to her hairline. "What do you mean you're not coming with us? You'd rather go with the undead eyeless murder machine?"
"Hey, don't judge!" Teddy calls out.
"Teddy, please stop talking. Marli, listen to me—"
Marli glowers, nostrils flaring. "No, you listen to me, Wendy. I've just been chased down by a zombie, a cyborg, and now you and your little friend. Between you and me? You aren't that intimidating, buddy, and I sure as hell am not looking forward to get kidnapped twice in one day. So unless you tell me the name of your employer, then both of you can take a hike – I'll go with the one who at least makes sure I live until he gets what he wants."
Marli finishes her speech, uncomfortably aware of the fact that her entire face is burning up. No longer scared – all she can feel now was anger, red-hot, and frustration. God, Marli hates it when people keep her in the dark. Lies and secrets, it's all she's ever been told, isn't it?
Wendy throws her arms into the air, exasperated. "You—" She paces about, agitated footsteps kicking up dust clouds. It was a full minute before she crouches down again, this time on her knees, leaning her full weight onto the body of the truck.
"Fine. A parlay." She holds up two long-fingered palms. "I can't tell you who I'm working for, but there's something else I can interest you in."
She leans in closer, her lanky body blocking part of the streetlight, casting a long, ominous shadow.
"I know who killed your mother."
☾
"Wendy!"
The redhead snaps around. Teddy gawks, near a bushel of wild brambles, where he'd hid the unconscious driver after stripping him of his uniform and matching trucker hat. "Eyeless is coming back!"
"Fuck," Wendy mutters under her breath. "Okay. Grab my hand and I'll pull you out of here."
Marli stares, wide-eyed, hand empty – the metal pipe has fallen out of her stunned palms.
"What do you mean my mom was killed—"
"Now! We don't have much time!"
Marli reaches out dazedly, and with a firm yank Wendy pulls her out from under the truck. Teddy runs up to them, sneaking along the length.
"He's the parking lot. We need to move, like, five minutes ago."
"Okay, fuck! Plan B!" Wendy says, exasperated. She hoists Marli up in surprisingly strong arms and books it to the compartment doors, which stand dangerously ajar and within sight of Eyeless Jack.
"Don't walk around the doors. Slip under them. The metal should be thick enough to block Jackieboy's heat vision." Teddy whispers, and Marli sees a smile growing on Wendy's lips.
"Got it, chief."
Teddy pulls the trucker hat over his partner's head. "Now go!" He gives them both a thumbs up and bolts to the driver's seat.
Wendy breathes in bodily, and in an awkward maneuver, manages to limbo her way under the insulated steel door, with a dazed Marli still in her arms. In a second, Marli is staring at the inside of the mattress-filled compartment again, back to where she started.
"Okay, get in."
Marli blinks. "Get in? I thought you were going to take me with you!"
"Miss Morris, that offer expired five minutes ago. Your zombie security is closing in on us, and as much as I'd love to beat the shit out of him all epic battle-like, keeping a low profile is our top priority. No, listen– we're not giving you to them, Marli. We're going to hijack this truck and take you to our safe house. He will let his guard down, and we'll come back to rescue you. Got it? Marli, did you get what I just said? Good – now, hold on to this."
Wendy plops Marli back onto the closest mattress. Open your hand, she says quietly, and not knowing any better Marli complies. The redhead drops something circular into her palms. She had to look twice before she was certain what it is.
"A Kinder egg," Marli says, voice monotone.
"With more surprise than regular ones," Wendy says offhandedly, then her tone immediately changes. "Listen to me carefully. Do not open it until you get to the safehouse. When you do, keep it open and hidden away. Bide as much time as you can for us. When the jig's up, close it immediately. We will come and get you out of harm's way. You have my word, Marli Morris-Vu. That is your mother's full last name, isn't it?"
Marli nods, but something in her heart squeezes and it manifests in the smallest quiver of her lips. Wendy's eyes soften, if just for a moment.
"I'm really sorry this happened to you. See you on the flip side."
The redhead closes the compartment door, and steel-cold darkness swallows Marli yet again.