Part 12
"So, what are we doing in the middle of the desert?" Claudia asked.
Theresa slouched in her seat, gazing into her side view mirror.
"Waiting," she answered.
Claudia fumbled for the pack of cigarettes in her pocket. Finally she retrieved the pack and eagerly placed a cigarette between her lips. The tip glowed red and she took a drag, holding it in for a moment before releasing it into the air.
"Waiting for what?" Claudia asked, rolling down the passenger's side window.
"A shipment," Theresa replied.
Claudia exhaled smoke through her nostrils, "Why doesn't Eleven tell me this shit?"
Theresa shrugged, "He knows that I will tell you."
"Yeah, but you're so . . secretive. It's like pulling teeth," Claudia said.
"It has become a habit over the years, I apologize," Theresa said. "We are awaiting a truck carrying a weapon shipment. When it arrives we shall exit the car, commandeer the truck, and you will follow me to a safe house owned by Eleven."
"Are they special weapons or something?" Claudia asked after a moment.
Theresa reached over to Claudia, plucking the cigarette from her fingers. She placed it between her lips and took a puff.
"If it were trivial we would not be here," Theresa answered exhaling smoke.
Claudia sighed, "Why do you always do that?"
Theresa handed the cigarette back, "Because it is the only way that I may taste your lips."
Claudia tilted her head slightly, her eyebrow raised, "Seriously?"
Theresa peered into the rear-view mirror then answered, "No."
"Oh . ." Claudia mouthed as she pulled the cigarette from Theresa's fingers, returning it to her mouth.
Theresa pressed the blue button below the rear view mirror.
"Welcome to-"
"Dial, Eleven," Theresa said.
"Dialing," the pre-recorded voice replied.
A single ring came from the speakers before Eleven answered.
"Five minutes, Seven," he said.
There was a quiet click as he hung up the phone.
Theresa turned her key in the ignition and pulled the car across the road, parking diagonally to block off both lanes. Her hand slid down to unbuckle her seatbelt.
Claudia flicked her cigarette out of the window and pulled her black bandanna up over her mouth and nose. She pushed her pack of cigarettes back into her pocket and tugged at the door handle. She climbed out of the passenger seat and stepped out of the car. She slammed the door and leaned up against Theresa's black sedan.
Theresa twisted the key and the motor went silent. She pulled at the black plastic door handle and joined Claudia outside. Her feet padded across the asphalt, circling around the front of the car to the passenger's side.
Claudia took a deep breath and sighed softly.
"That's a really weird thing to say, you know," she said quietly.
"What is?" Theresa replied.
Claudia glanced back at the empty road behind her and said, "The thing about the cigarette."
Theresa folded her arms, "My facetiousness?"
Claudia nodded slightly, "Yeah, about that. It just seems weird that you'd say it."
"I was only attempting to make you laugh," Theresa said, reaching into her coat. "I did not anticipate that you would interpret it seriously. Especially since you seem to have a such a jocular outlook of things. I will not say such things if you prefer."
Claudia shook her head, "No, it's fine. I guess I'm just not used to you joking around."
"It seems my comedic skills are not satisfactory, I apologize," she said, pulling her handgun from the shoulder holster inside of her coat.
"No, I guess I just took it wrong," Claudia said quietly, staring down at her feet.
"You wanted it to be true," Theresa said.
She leaned against the car, resting her arms on the roof as she stared off into the distance.
"I didn't say that," Claudia answered.
Theresa scoffed, "You do not have to say it, it is quite obvious by your demeanor."
"How do you know me so well but you're still a fucking mystery to me?" Claudia asked, looking to Theresa.
"I am observant and secretive," Theresa said with a shrug. "You do not attempt to hide yourself from others the way that I do."
"I know that," Claudia said. "But why do you do it to me? Am I untrustworthy or something? We've known each other for a while now."
Theresa spotted a truck on the edge of the horizon, gradually it disappeared and reappeared as it rolled over the hills and through the valleys. Theresa cocked her pistol and slid down the side of the car, squatting behind it, hidden from view.
"You want to know a secret," she said quietly. "I am not human."
Claudia's eyebrow raised, "You are too."
Theresa shook her head.
"Then what are you?" Claudia asked as Theresa peered out at the truck through the windows of her parked car.
"That would be two secrets," Theresa replied.
Claudia smirked, "What so I only get one secret a day?"
Theresa stared into the distance, watching the truck gradually come closer with each passing moment. She nodded and ducked down, hiding herself behind the car. Claudia squatted down beside her, peering at the nearing truck through the rear windows.
The truck began to slow down, coming to a stop several yards away from the car parked across the road. The driver honked the horn several times and waited a few moments. Inside the cab he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door. He hopped down onto the step below the door and cautiously approached Theresa's empty car parked in the middle of the road.
"Hello?" He said as he peered into the car, his hand held against his brow. "Is anybody in there?"
Theresa crept silently around the side of the car, moving past Claudia and circling around to the back of the car. Suddenly she stood up and pointed her handgun at him.
"Hello," she said.
Immediately the trucker held up both his hands, "Oh God, who are you? Please, don't kill me."
Theresa stepped around to the driver's side of the car, "I have no intention of killing you, though I will if I must. I want your cargo."
"Take it!" He whimpered.
Theresa looked to her car, then back at the trucker.
"I believe I do not have enough space to simply take it," she said. "I need your truck."
"Take whatever you want!" The trucker said, reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wallet.
He handed it out to Theresa, "Here, take my money, just don't kill me."
Theresa sighed, "I told you that I will only kill you if I must. You and I are going to get back into your truck and you will drop off the cargo where I say and you may go on your way, do you understand?"
The trucker nodded in jerks. His breaths heavy and labored.
Claudia ducked down low and circled around the front of the car as Theresa made her way to his truck, keeping her gun trained on his chest.
He stood completely still with his arms up.
"Go," Claudia said, causing him to turn around and shiver in fright. "Get in the truck with her or I'll set your ass on fire."
He nodded and jogged back to his truck, hopping up the step and into the cabin. Theresa climbed into the passenger seat and buckled the seatbelt, her gun pointed at his side. The trucker buckled his seatbelt and watched as Claudia opened the driver's side door of Theresa's car and sat down in the seat, slamming the door behind her.
Claudia looked back to Theresa sitting in the cabin with the trucker and winked.