Chapter Seventy-Four
Wallace came back to the warehouse in a foul mood. He refused to tell me what was wrong, and instead decided to pace the bedroom floor for most of the evening. It wasn't until dinner time that I finally got him talking. “Please Wal.” I said as I quickly heated up our meal. “Don't you think you'll feel better if you tell me what's on your mind?”
“Not this time, Alice. Sorry.”
“Oh come on. How can you expect us to get anywhere if we can't be honest with each other? Besides, it's not like I can go around telling anyone.”
“I realized today that you were right. I am a monster. This place has destroyed me, and I hate it. I hate what I've become.”
“Then let's leave.” I said, trying to hide the excitement in my voice.
“No. I can't, and neither can you.”
“Why not?”
“God-damn it, Alice! I said no!” Wallace slammed his fist down on the table so hard, I wondered if he broke his hand in the process.
“Okay.” I let that idea go, and latched onto the next one. “Have you thought about letting me into The Pit?”
“Do whatever you want down there. I don't care anymore. Just keep the money coming in, and you can run the God-damned place if you want.”
“Really? I mean, I don't . . but that's great! Thanks Wal. Do you mind if I get a couple of the guys to help me?”
“Why?” Wallace asked, but didn't sound like he was really all that interested in the answer.
“I need some muscle until my breaks heal up.”
“Yeah, alright then. Get whoever you want. Just be careful, Alice. I don't think everyone will be happy if you change too much.”
“That's their problem then. Not mine.” I said, taking my first bite of food as we began to eat. We sat in silence for the entire meal. Wallace seemed too deep in thought to hold a conversation, and I was too busy planning all the things I'd need to do to make life down there better for the girls.
Wallace excused himself the second he finished his soup, slipped his mask back on, and left. Now alone for the first time that night, I quickly headed back to the bedroom Wallace and I shared to find my suitcase. Tucked inside the front pocket sat the notebook that Blake had given to me so long ago. I hadn't written in it since last Christmas when Tess had given it back to me, and now I was thankful that there were still blank pages to use.
Carefully I tore out a page, then dug around my suitcase, and found my pen. And so my list began. It took me almost an hour, but I finally checked my list and knew it was complete. Smiling, I left the bedroom and headed back for the 'lounge.' Mr. Max seemed to make that his regular haunt, and I needed to find him so I could start my plans.
Just as before, Mr. Max and the doctor were sitting at the table, playing their card game. “Hi.” I said, almost in a sing-song voice. Mr. Max gave me a glace before excusing himself from the table. Pushing me back out to the hall, Mr. Max crouched down to my eye level before speaking.
“Alice, you're not supposed to talk. The Chairman said you could talk to me, but that's it.”
“Things are different now, Max. Don't worry.” I gave him a wink as best as I could. My face was still pretty swollen from my rape in The Pit. “Listen, I need your help. When is the next time you're going outside?”
“Alice, I don't live here. Nobody does. I'm going home to my wife and kids tonight, same as every other night. Why?” I immediately refused to allow myself to think about his family. It was just too creepy to think about it at the moment.
“I need some supplies. Here.” I passed Mr. Max my list, giving it to him for inspection. He read it, taking his time.
“Alice, what is all this stuff for?”
“The Pit. W . . . The Chairman told me I could go down and make some changes for him. And, I want to start as soon as possible. So, can you help me or not?”
“Um, yeah. I'll help. Can you give me a few days to get all this stuff? I might need to order some off the web.”
“The sooner the better Max, but yeah. Listen, do me one more favor.”
“What's that?” Mr. Max gave me a wry smile. Apparently, he was amused at my excitement.
“Get me a pair of those goggles, and take me down to The Pit, please.”
“What, now?”
“Yeah, now. What? I don't have all day. Come on.”
Mr. Max stood up slowly, stretching his back as he went. He popped his head back into the lounge, excusing himself politely from the card game. Not ten minutes later, I again sat face to face with the dreadful door that lead down to The Pit. I held my resolve, and pulled the night vision goggles over my eyes before nodding to Mr. Max to take me down.
Mr. Max carried me in his arms, taking me through the door like a bride on her wedding night. Strange that I was sort of married to this place. He ran back up the steps, leaving me to lean against the wall for a moment. His second trip down, he carried my wheelchair with him, and helped me back in once he had made it back to the floor of The Pit.
The smell was enough to make my insides roil. I hated that smell more than anything in the world, and now I had just willingly put myself in the middle of it. The goggles helped immensely, but made it all that much more scarier too. The hall we were in continued for a while, before splitting up into a maze, just like the set up on the floor above us. The only sound was that of Mr. Max's feet hitting the floor as he pushed me around.
I felt his breath on the back of my neck before I heard him whisper. “Where do you want to go?”
“To the boxes, please.” I whispered back, feeling the itch of dread creep up my entire body. I would have laughed at myself earlier if I had ever thought that I would willingly go back to my box. But, that was exactly where I was wanting to go now. Well, not my box exactly.
Mr. Max turned my wheelchair around a bend, and then down another before pointing his finger past my face to a door. Silently, I opened it and Mr. Max pushed me inside. Through the goggles, I could see more boxes than I wanted to count. I forced myself to, however, and came to the conclusion that there were twenty-seven of them. That meant twenty-six girls, if I subtracted myself. I flagged Mr. Max, and he lowered his head down to mine. “Are they all being used?” I whispered, already knowing I wasn't to make a sound.
“All but yours.” He whispered back. I sighed softly, now knowing my job was going to be a lot bigger than I had first thought.
“Can you stay for a while?” I made sure to keep my voice as quiet as possible.
“Yeah. I'll stay.”