Denny was a good passenger; he hadn’t pushed for more. In fact he was quiet for a long time, hopefully mulling over options for a new life, like a new avenue of revenue perhaps.
“What are you mulling over?”
Hey, I can’t help myself and honestly it was a bloody long drive, and if we were going to be quiet, it would be even longer. We left the city behind, and I felt a bit naked and exposed. I was a city girl, born and bred. The great outdoors was a bit too great for my liking.
“Who sent you Eliza? Whom did I piss off so badly that it came to this?”
“Go for the big ones don’t you Denny?” I said.
“Rule of the con, score big, and you don’t have to score again.” He leaned over and smiled, “or at least not for a while.”
I laughed and shook my head, I knew it wasn’t necessarily about the money to him. The money helped but as I was sitting outside the morgue, I thought about it. Things were easy for a man like Denny, his looks and smarts made things accessible. He found challenge in the con, how to trick people without hurting anyone.
“Not someone that appreciates the con, unfortunately,” I said gripping the steering wheel tightly, “They suck up the best of you and spit out the chewed up remains.”
A soft whistle broke through my grim thoughts, “And you work for them?”
That I did, at least, up until I fucked things up last night with Ben. My thoughts drifted so much that I wasn't looking at the road anymore. A stream of horns sounding jerked me back.
“Whoa, there! No need to get us into an accident. Do you want me to drive rather?”
I looked over at Denny, his hands in the air ready to grab the wheel. I shook my head and relaxed my grip and focused on the road again. We were straddling lanes; I put us back on the proper one and sighed.
“Sorry, I ok now,” I sat back a bit and rolled my shoulders into a more comfortable position.
“If you say so Eliza, but please warn me if you are going to do something like that again ok?”
“No worries Denny, won’t happen again. You just made me realize that I don’t, in fact, work for them anymore. As of last night, I am out of their employ.”
I felt a bit giddy, “Today is my first day of freedom, and like you I can now do whatever I want.”
Well, at least until tomorrow when I might die if we don’t find any Shi at the end of our journey. But one worry at a time.
“Wow, was that your appointment last night then?”
“Not really, it has been a daily appointment for a very long time. But I slipped up, and it ended up being my resignation.”
“Oh yeah? How so? Did you threaten the boss?” He laughed when he said that, probably wondering how big the boss was.
“Not exactly, I have never met the boss. Apparently he or she is, in fact, the stuff of nightmares, a meeting with the boss means that you are about to die.”
“Really? Damn, how the hell did you end up in a situation like that?”
“Maybe someday I will tell you the very long story of that. But for now, you need to know that everything as you know it is a lie. We believe in the farce of governments and led by people with our best intentions at heart. Blah, blah, blah.”
I looked his direction quickly; I could see he was skeptical. I couldn’t blame him; I was the same. No entity or company could be so big and all-consuming. The kicker, the Man, had taken a long time to set it up that people believed exactly that.
“The truth is that the world belongs to one entity, one group. I only know them as the Manufacturers. I have never had a company name, so I ended up calling them the Man. It seemed appropriate since they control everything.”
“That’s not possible, governments and countries are vast. It takes more people to run a country than it does to run a company. Surely?”
“Ah, indeed Denny it does. But the Man is huge, how huge I can’t even begin to tell you. I have worked for them for a long time and only know that I am part of a small portion of clean up and control.”
“Shit, this is crazy. How is this even possible? How does something like this happen?”
“That I am not entirely sure of Denny, but I know that we have plenty of time to figure it out. If you want, that is.” Damn, I hoped. I hoped for eternity to be at the end of the next turn. If I didn’t think I’d get my ass smote, I would pray for success.
Silence descended; a glum feeling settled around us. Yesterday was all petty drama in comparison. Today was potentially my second last day of life, tomorrow night I would die if we didn’t find anything worthwhile at the site.
I sped up, I needed to get there quickly and see for myself if freedom was in fact at hand. Denny grunted but didn’t say anything. I knew I was making him nervous but at that moment nothing else mattered.
Another hour’s drive brought us to the GPS location; I stopped on the exact spot and looked in the still of the dessert. There was a rock to our left and sand dunes in the distance. Not another freaking thing in sight. I got out and walked to the rock and turned around a few times. The air was dry and crackly.
Denny joined me and looked around, “Which direction did you see it, Denny?” I whispered, afraid to raise my voice. I was scared that loud noises would make the truth jump out at me. That this was a pipe dream and only death waited for me tomorrow night.
“Just past the rocks, to the south.” Denny pointed while squinting.
I peered south; there was nothing except sand and the shimmer of heat. Panic started filling my chest, bitter bile that rose and threatened to spill over. Disappointment like I had never felt before, Tears burned behind my eyelids and not only due to the heat.
Breathe deeply Eliza, breathe, and don’t lose it now. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to not to let the tears push their way to the surface.
“There! Do you see it?” Denny shouted, and blood thrummed in my ears.
I opened my eyes and gasped, in the distance a glorious mirage appeared. A building much larger than I had thought possible stood in the shimmer and beyond it plants as far as the eye could see. As odd as these things were the air was even stranger.
“What is with the air Denny? Is it just part of the heat wave?”
“No clue, but I am sure you’ll suggest we find out,” He said.