While the patrons around her sipped on their drinks, Ally Garcia was studying the last planned date in her diary. A month of job hunting, still nothing. But today she was going to meet up with a lady that had offered to help her few weeks ago. As she tapped her pen against the hard edge of the notebook, she sulked over the fact that she might not be hired, like the outcome always was for her.

As she sat inside the local diner, she felt a wave of hopelessness rush over her. It was the most crushing feeling in the whole word to keep working so hard for something, and getting rejected on multiple occasions, it was discouraging for sure, but she was determined to keep going. A month of getting her hopes up somehow had strengthened her into doing better. She closed her diary shut, took a deep breath and tried her best to turn her frown upside down.

That’s when she sensed movement in front of her. She glanced up, drawn by the woman’s smile. She wasn’t sure if this was the lady she was supposed to meet that day as it had been a while since the meeting was planned, but Ally smiled anyway. “Hi, are you-,” Ally paused as she take a second look at the information she wrote in her diary, “…Kaya?”

Ally called over the waitress who took her order from before inviting the lady to have a seat. The waiter approached and raised a brow with a pen in her hand, a mini notepad in the other. “Two cups of coffee please.” She turned to Kaya and with another smile asked if she’d like something to eat. It doesn’t cost anything to be kind. After all the orders had been said, the waiter acknowledged them with a nod of the head and walked away to prepare their food.

Anwayys, the crazy thing was that Ally had NO idea what kind of job this lady was going to offer to her. Actually, when they had first met Ally was given no hint of what the job might entail as she was only given a brief description. Something about delivering cartels… whatever that meant.

But Ally wasn’t one to run away from an opportunity, especially if it was the last one being presented to her. If Ally couldn’t ace this interview, she wouldn’t know what else to do. She had already applied to so many places that she was afraid there might not be any places left to apply to after today. She was CONVINCED that her face was well known in the streets now just because of how many people she’s met while handing in her application.

Ally lifted her face to Kaya’s, eager for whatever she had to say.

Diligence, perseverance, resilience, respect -- if Kaya had to sit down and list all of the desirable qualities she looked for in an associate, a few hours wouldn't be nearly enough. As much as possible, she kept her circle small but filled with quality people -- individuals with potential, who are willing to learn, and most of all, those who have grit. At the end of the day, grit was all that really mattered to her -- enough courage and resolve to power through the harshest of circumstances and the ability to pick one's self up after a nasty fall. It's knowing that nothing in this life will ever be just handed to you and that you will always have to work for what you want; knowing that no matter who you are and what your stature is, you will always have to get your hands dirty at some point... that was grit.

She had first noticed AllyGarcia in a random South Side coffee shop. Kaya remembered that it was pouring outside that day -- she normally had her coffee to go, but on that day, she found herself stranded inside the small cafe as she waited for the rain to let up. She pulled up a chair and tapped her fingers impatiently against the table -- with no book and no one to talk to, Kaya found herself bored and watching the hands of the clock move as the rain continued to rage outside. It was then that she unintentionally overheard the conversation going on in the next table. She tried tuning it out as she didn't want to eavesdrop, but she caught bits and pieces nonetheless.

"Thank you for your time but..."

"I'm sure you'll find something soon..."

"...you're just not the right fit for the job..."

As the older woman left the table next to her, Kaya looked over and locked eyes with Ally who looked defeated and lost, as anyone would be after a rejection like that. Figuring she had nothing better to do, Kaya flashed her a kind smile as she rested her chin on her palm. "Tough break. Was that your first rejection?" She listened as Ally detailed her barrage of interviews in the past week and raised an eyebrow in response. There it was. That little glimmer she looked for... grit. "Hmm, have you ever considered working in... delivery?"

Fast forward a few weeks and there they were, sitting across from each other in a dingy diner. "Yup, Kaya. And I'm good, but thank you." She waited for the waitress to leave with their order before she spoke again. It was always a difficult thing, introducing someone to the life she led. It wasn't exactly the most conventional lifestyle, and definitely not the safest. "How have you been?" Kaya asked meekly, as if it would soften the blow of asking Ally to basically be a criminal.

Clearing her throat, she straightened in her seat and took a sip of the coffee placed in front of her. "I suppose there's no use beating around the bush now, is there? This interview is for an... odd job I'll be doing tomorrow. I'm one man short and I think you'd fit the bill well. If you do well on this, we can talk about long-term employment."

"Have you ever been to New York, and what do you know about driving cars... fast?"

Ally cleared her throat, and tried to look as serious as she could. "Oh yeah, sure ma'am. I mean... I can drive? Not sure about fast though, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes," she gave a nod as a signal that she was already ready for whatever tough circumstances was to come. The conversation was flowing good so far, Ally thought to herself. Still not fully sure about what they were delivering and to WHO they'll be delivering, she did get the hint that the job was not the usual job. That was okay with Ally. She pursed her lips, legs unable to stay still. That was excitement, mixed with a little bit of anxiety. 

Meanwhile, the waitress came back with the cups of coffee, handing it over to Ally and Kaya, as it let out a stream of smoke. She sipped on her coffee as she honed in on what the job really was. And then… after all the information was let out a plan was dropped and Ally wanted to make sure that it would be executed FLAWLESSLY. Besides wanting to impress the lady that offered her the job, she also wanted to exercise her limits. To see how much grit she really had in her.

When the word ‘cocaine’ was mentioned, it was like… totally crazy. A billion thoughts ran through Ally’s head. One of them she accidentally blurted out. “How are we possibly going to drive back with all the cocaine AND get past all the checkpoints without getting stopped…” And then Ally stopped herself, with the next word sort of frozen halfway out of her lips. “I-I’m sorry. It’s just that in the past I did have a little bit of experience working as a toll booth attendant and I remember that there would always be a few cops hanging around as they would check the vehicles as well to see if they can detect anything suspicious.”

Ally knew she probably looked super uneasy and panicked. She finished her coffee already. “But… it’s not like I’ve never told a few ‘believable’ lies in my life before,” she said, hinting at her great acting skills.

Ally understood that they were going to take a road trip to New York to pick up a few cans of the illegal white substance. She stood up from her chair, smiled and shook hands with Kaya.

It had been a pretty bad past few weeks, but today just got a WHOLE lot better.

"Ma'am," Kaya repeated silently as she watched AllyGarcia squirm around in her seat like an excited schoolgirl. She had never been called ma'am or any form of formal address before -- she was used to being just Kaya. But somehow, she made a string of decisions that put her in a prominent position in one of Chicago's most esteemed mobs, so she supposed she might as well just get used to all the formalities and rules. After all, deep inside, she knew she was still that simple girl from Seattle thirsting to prove herself to the world -- something which she also saw in the woman in front of her. She could see the drive in Ally's eyes, the determination to win even though the odds were stacked against her... and that was all Kaya needed to see.

It was rather amusing watching Ally react to the plan, watching her teeter back and forth between uncontrollable fear and a facade of strength and fearlessness. In truth, Kaya still walked that line every single day, she had just learned how to hide the hesitance better, which she was sure Ally will learn to do as well in time. "Toll booth attendant? You really have tried out all the jobs this country has to offer, haven't you?" Kaya asked with a giggle as she took another sip of the almost pitch-black coffee. 

"As for your more pressing concern about raising the police's suspicion... well, that's your job, Ally. Our job, actually. We need to be model citizens, two young women in the prime of their life, driving around in a sleek red convertible with our hair flowing with the wind and all that bullshit," she said with a slight roll of her eyes. "Being a woman in this day and age has a lot of downsides, but if anything were to be a silver lining, it would be the fact that we're always underestimated and overlooked. They wouldn't expect we had guns under our petticoats and knives in our stockings."

The plan was ironed out and the night drew to a close with the two women exchanging addresses. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 6 AM sharp. Red convertible, hard to miss it."

The following day, Kaya arrived at Ally's bright and early with two cups of coffee and some bagels in the car, prepared for the grueling 12-hour drive ahead of them. "Sleep well?" Kaya asked with a smirk, guessing Ally probably didn't sleep a wink knowing what they were about to do. "I'll driev for 6 hours and then you for the next 6 hours. We make the deal, pick up the package, and drive back home through the night. If all goes well, we should be back here by tomorrow around the same time. Scratch 'if' -- everything has to go well."

Kaya drove in silence for a few minutes before she decided she might as well get to know Ally -- after all, she was going to spend the next 24 hours or so in her company. "Err, so Ally, are you a Chicago local or from out of town? You don't look like you're from around here..." Could she be any more awkward? Making friends wasn't exactly Kaya's forte, but at least now, no one can say she didn't try.

Ally had an unimaginable feeling of determination inside her. She had flicked a switch that she didn’t even know she had. Most importantly though, she didn’t want to get ahead of herself, so she decided to stop all the rambling and get to what they needed to do. Both her eyes twinkled with amusement though when Kaya inquired about her work experience. “Hah, I guess you could say that ma’am! I like to try out new things.”

That day ended swiftly as they parted ways and agreed on meeting up, at 6am SHARP apparently, which worked perfectly for Ally because she was used to those early wake ups now. Waking up early… going job hunting… quick lunch at a diner…. Etc. As Ally was having her morning coffee at 5:30 AM, Kaya said something to her yesterday that stuck in her mind all night. The fact that women are so undermined these days, and maybe this job wouldn’t be so difficult after all, because who would ever believe that two ‘innocent-looking’ girls would be strapped with guns while making a drug delivery? It sounded… doable.

Basically, Ally was going to treat this job seriously, but it almost sounded like just a typical girls trip. She finished up the rest of her coffee, placing the mug in her sink as she didn’t have time now to wash up. She looked out of her living room window and saw the red convertible Kaya told her about. Yep. Pretty damn noticeable. Ally gawked for a moment at the car before she headed out with her hoodie and a backpack.

Ally sat in the passenger seat of Kaya’s convertible, enjoying the cool breeze as it lightly hit her face. She saw a second cup of coffee in one of the cup holders and drank from it, then took a bite of a bagel. “Somewhat. I think I was just way too excited for today though. Sweet ride by the way,” Ally calmly responded.

She went through the plan with Kaya again, memorizing every little thing that had to be done without mistakes. Ally nodded, but a gut feeling inside of her told her that she needed to be more cautious now. This was her new reality. “Okay.” Ally wanted to mentally slap herself. She reminded herself to keep the same energy that she had when they were talking at the café. There was no chickening out now.

Ally stretched her arms out a bit to ease the tension in her lower back before she answered her question. “What makes you say that? Do Chicago locals dress differently than I do?” She smiled funnily before continuing. “Nah, in all seriousness though, if it makes things clearer, I’ve only been staying in Chicago for three months. Before that I lived in the smaller quieter towns. Not so used to all these concrete buildings so still trying to adjust. How about you though? Did you grow up here?” Ally was keen to talk about anything with her, might as well since the drive was long as hell. “I kind of make you out to be a city girl. I don’t know. Probs because of the red convertible?”  

The drive was super chill, and luckily the weather wasn’t so bad either. Ally checked the time on her wristwatch and nodded. They were right on time when they arrived at the first checkpoint. Ally side eyed Kaya. A man had inspected the vehicle while another seemed to analyse her facial expressions. Was that meant to intimidate her? Ally looked away, pretending to wipe off dust from the hem of her shirt. The man who was checking the vehicle tapped on the roof of the car and gave a signal to the other guy. “Good to go,” he said boldly. Ally breathed a sigh of relief that she felt like she had been holding in for years. Cleared her throat. “That was um… scary.” With a smile, she shrugged. “Nailed it though!”

While the sun was still out and shining above their heads, Ally stuffed another bagel in her mouth. After a while, she started to feel sleepy and she distracted herself by sparking up another conversation with Kaya. Uncensored. “Who do you.. work for?” Ally twisted her head around to catch what she had to say. She didn’t expect to ask so soon, but fuck it… Ally was curious. And she wanted to explore her decision more on if she really wanted to keep doing more jobs like this. It felt normal for Ally, who was still just a newcomer to the city life, to be hesitant about all this.

Ally waits for Kaya to finish talking, before nodding. “I hope after this you are able to see my ability and determination. Of course, you can see that I don’t have much experience doing ‘dirty jobs’ like this, but I’m easy to talk to and I’ll do what it takes to make a living for myself.” All that doubt and insecurities in herself was released now. She slid a hand through her hair and told Kaya how glad she was to finally start working despite the multiple rejections in the past.

All of a sudden, the car jerked forward. Ally almost hit her head against the top surface of the glove compartment in front of her. She held tightly on the roof handle above her as the car started to drastically move on the road till the car stopped. Ally turned to Kaya, wide-eyed and flushed. “I’ll check the bonnet, ma’am.” She rushed outside quickly and opened up the hood as a cloud of smoke erupted from the engine. It smelt like burnt rubber. “Ma’am-“ Ally coughed a few times before covering her mouth with her elbow.

She looked around her. Not a car repair store in sight…

Kaya chuckled lightly at the girl's response but kept her eyes on the road. "It's nothing about your clothes or how you look. I just figured you're new around these parts since you've been having trouble pinning down a job. You seem competent and eager, I figured the only reason why you haven't been hired is because you don't have the rights connection in the city yet." The woman relaxed slightly in her seat as the buildings blurred into the background and they hit the highway. She let her foot grow heavier on the accelator as they zipped by the empty roads, the trees whizzing past them outside. At this pace, they might even make it back before the sun rose tomorrow.

Hesitating for a moment, Kaya was unsure how to answer AllyGarcia's question. She disliked talking about where she came from but figured if she was going to be asking Ally about her past then it's only fair she divulge a little bit of hers. "City girl... not at all." Kaya said with a scoff. "I grew up in a small town near Seattle. Never would have left but my dad made me. Said he couldn't bear looking at the monster who killed his wife -- my mom died giving birth to me. Dad said the next time he saw me, he'd kill me, so..." Kaya trailed off, grip tightening around the steering wheel and involuntarily clenching her jaw. It was best to change the topic now before it got too weird. "Err, the convertible isn't mine. I would never drive something like this. I drive a black Primus. The antithesis of this red convertible -- the most boring car you could ever find."

Before things could get even worse following Kaya's unloading about her past, they thankfully passed by a checkpoint. It was pretty routine stuff and Kaya wasn't too bothered, but she noticed Ally fidgeting nervously in the corner of her eye. As soon as they were let go, Kaya flashed Ally a look to make sure she was okay before smirking at the girl. "Scary? We don't even have the cocaine yet. We can't have you having a nervous breakdown once we're actually moving the product." Kaya said it playfully but there was a slight menacing tone in her voice. If they mess this up, they'd probably be looking at a minimum of 20 years to life.

Shaking the grim thought off, the two continued on the drive and a few hours had passed in silence, which Kaya didn't mind. The next question Ally posed, however, made Kaya raise an eyebrow. "Her name is Dawn. She runs South Side and is part of a bigger operation in Chicago. Amazing woman -- gave me a chance to prove myself. I think I'm doing a good job at that. I mean, I hope I am." Kaya turned to meet Ally's gaze again, flashing her a stern look. "If there's one thing I've learned in this life is to take a chance on people the way Dawn did with me, and that's what I'm doing with you. As long as we don't die or get jailed on this mission, consider yourself hired into the easiest and hardest job you'll ever find. Easy money yes, but hard when your conscience comes a-knocking. Don't worry -- you'll learn to silence that soon en--."

A loud thud cut her off, and the car sputtered a few moments before screeching to a halt. Before Kaya could even process what was happening, Ally was already out the door and popping the hood open, which made Kaya smile despite the circumstances. Grit. She stepped out the car as smoke billowed everywhere... it didn't look good. "Motherf... Emerson must have used this and went drag racing without telling me again. I swear to god..." 

"Get your stuff," Kaya said as she went back inside and retrieved her purse and a heavy duffel bag from the trunk. "There should be a town about half an hour's walk away from here. Do you know what's wrong with the car? Maybe we can get someone to help us there and get back on the road soon. " It was high noon at this point and they were in the middle of nowhere, but they had to soldier on. Not getting to that drug drop was not an option. She lugged the duffel bag with a sigh and started walking alongside Ally, half-hoping she knew where they were going and half-hoping she was wrong about where she thinks they were.

If her calculations were correct, the next town over should be Brady Lake, the town with the highest crime rate in all of Ohio. Kaya took a look at the both of them and really wished they didn't look so helpless, especially not since she had half a million dollars stuffed in the bag she was carrying around. "We need to be really careful in this town, Ally... lots of gangs run around here and we can't have them slowing us down. If we're lucky, we can avoid them altogether." The two of them continued walking when the sound of a car horn made Kaya whip around.

"Hey ladies, you two own that sweet ride abandoned in the middle of the road back there? Need a ride back into town to get some help?" A balding man hollered from the passenger seat of a red pickup truck. Kaya looked at Ally for a moment before turning to the man, turning on whatever charm she had and speaking in a voice one octave higher than she usually would. "Oh wow, that would be awesome, sir. We're so tired walking in these heels! But only if it isn't too much trouble..."

"Hop in. We're headed to Brady Lake anyway. Shouldn't be too far." Kaya knew it was a risk but the heat was blistering and they were already running out of time. She clutched the duffel bag tightly and with her other hand pulled Ally's wrist as they entered the vehicle in the backseat. The man in the driver's seat seemed stoic while the balding man turned around and flashed them a toothless smile. "I'm Kenny and this is my boy John. What's your name?" He asked, looking straight at Ally and ignoring Kaya completely.

It wasn't until Ally introduced herself that Kenny addressed Kaya again... he looked so familiar now, seeing him up close... "Oh and you... we don't need introductions... Kaya. Remember when your crew killed our brother over a gram of crack cocaine?"

Kaya heard the doors lock all around them as memories of how she knew the man came crashing down on her. They were in trouble now.

When Kaya had gone over to get her duffel bag, Ally did the same. She swallowed nervously. It was heavy, the weather was stuffy and Ally wasn’t really in the correct shoes to be walking for the next half hour. However, walking to get someone to help with the car sounded like a far better solution than waiting around and end up getting attacked by a bunch of nobodies. Ally nodded sternly as she held onto her duffel bag for dear life. “I’m not really sure what’s happened. I swear we had checked the engine before we left for this trip. Kind of wish I had ‘car repair girl’ in my history of work experience,” Ally joked to lighten the mood, but didn’t really seem to do much, and things were bad now because they were on a time crunch. She drew out a deep breath, telling herself to keep on moving.

Ally walked with Kaya for a while, carrying her bag with her. It was heavy as bricks but Ally knew better than to complain. Even after this, she was still grateful for getting the job opportunity. She looked up meanwhile Kaya started to address the gang prevalence. Ally kept on walking, even while knowing that a great danger was ahead. She just had to hold steady and hope that nothing bad would happen. She prayed silently in her head for some high power to transport them to their destination. Ally looked up to find a few buildings ahead but before Ally could take another step, Kaya’s sudden movements made her red flags go off. “Shit, what happ-“ Ally turned around now as well to face two seemingly friendly looking guys. She hopped in with Kaya, but admitted to herself that it may have not been the best idea.

“Shit, you guys know each other?” Ally’s eyes jumped between Kenny and Kaya. This day was just full of unlucky surprises. John was still driving but Ally caught his stare in the rear-view mirror. She looked away quickly, clearing her throat, silently hoping that he didn’t recognise her from anywhere. She was holding onto Kaya’s wrist but hadn’t even noticed until after a few minutes when she looked down. Ally didn’t pull away. There really was no escape now. The doors were locked and if they could scream, it wouldn’t be heard by anyone anyway. “What are we going to do?” Ally whispered inaudibly to Kaya. Ally had this sudden urge to convince Kenny and John to let them out, but it would be like taking blood from a stone. Impossible. Especially if they had some bad history with Kaya.

John had stopped the car in front of some laundromat. Ally looked out the window and noticed that they had entered the town now. Brady Lake. She watched as John get out of the car, and it was also when Kenny turned around to speak whatever it was that had been on his mind the whole drive. “Look, I gotta admit that I regret not having you killed earlier when you killed my brother. But I was held back by the crew because it would have turned into a huge mess. I’m not going to kill you right now, alright?” He took out a pack of cigarettes, casually lighting one of them up and blowing smoke into the air. “Not in broad daylight, at least.” Well fucking hell, Ally thought to herself. She wasn’t afraid as she was before though. If anything, she felt suddenly hopeful that maybe there was a way out to this. By the time she could think of something, John had already come back with a gun in his hands, duct tape and.. a pair of handcuffs. Ally squeezed Kaya’s wrist more tightly now.

“How much you give ‘em?” Kenny asked John as he took the items.

“Wasn’t difficult to negotiate with them when I mentioned who we were working for.”

Kenny gave a nod then chucked his cigarette out his open window. He focused on Ally and Kaya again. “No, I won’t kill you. But you ladies are going to do something special for me. Think of it as… compensation for what you did to my brother,” he said through a phoney laugh. Ally knew that Kaya was no lummox, that she would figure something out, but she hoped that whatever they needed to do didn’t have to involve killing someone.

Kenny spoke slowly. “You are going to give us the cocaine you’re after, on this job you are doing. ALL of it. Then, maybe after that, we’ll kill you.” He grabbed the back of Ally’s head with a sharp movement, her hair all bunched up in his palm. “And maybe I can take this one for a trip to the warehouse.” Ally got annoyed with his intimidating techniques and spat in his face, her face twisted in an expression of anger. Her chest rose with every breath. She knew she only seconds away from getting backhanded, but she wasn’t going to let some nobody threaten her life like that, though it was probably not that bad from what they were going to do to her and Kaya later. Like a raging alcoholic who just lost all his gambling money in a casino, Kenny pistol whipped her in a violent rage, the hair in his hands getting aggressively pulled from the roots.

“Better think twice before doing something like that again, kitten.”

Ally bit down on her lip hard, blood starting to trickle out from a slit she had made. She held still, as if it would make the pain in her head hurt less than it did in that moment.

“Leave her alone Kenny.” John seemed to have tentative interest in what he was doing to Ally, he seemed a bit annoyed.

“What?” Kenny jerked his head in John’s direction, looking furious.

John still kept his eyes on the road, ignoring the frustrated stare he received from him. “We’re wasting time. Gotta go now. Ask them where they’re picking up the cocaine.”

Ally shut her eyelids tight as a tear had slid down from the corners of her eyes, her hand finally letting go of Kaya’s wrist and massaging the back of her head when Kenny let go.

The rest of the car ride went by engulfed in tense silence, as Kaya looked out the window with two fingers massaging her temple in attempt to calm down the raging headache she was getting. Her other hand's wrist had AllyGarcia's grip around it, and when she felt the other woman squeeze it tighter to get her attention, Kaya found herself unable to answer the question she posed. "What are we going to do now?" Ally mouthed, a question that Kaya herself had been asking for the past few minutes.

She looked into Ally's eyes which were filled with frantic concern and fear before feeling a lump in her throat which forced her to look away. Ally shouldn't be paying the price of something she and her crew did before. All this girl wanted was a nice payday and yet, Kaya got both of their lives into danger by being so reckless and stupid. She should have recognized Kenny from the get go and shot him right there and then... but you see, after a while, the people you kill start being faceless and blurred into one another. If Kaya dwelled on all of her victims' faces as the life drained from their eyes, she wouldn't be able to sleep at night. It was easier to forget... but this time around, forgetting came back to bite her in the ass.

All she could do in response to Ally's question was shake her head and let out a sigh -- there was no plan right now. Even if they did manage to overpower the two men in the car, they were already in Brady Lake... the lion's den, if you will. People would know right off the bat that the pickup truck wasn't theirs and they'd be dead in a minute. As the car slowed to a stop, Kaya held her breath as she listened to what Kenny had to say, looking him square in the eye as he did but not really understanding anything. She felt numb and her mind was blank for some reason... she was starting to give up. She started thinking that maybe she deserved what was coming to her, after every evil thing she'd done leading up to this point. Kaya felt defeated... up until she watched Kenny pistol whip Ally and saw the blood trickle down her face. Fear and guilt woke up her up and knew she had to do something to save Ally if not herself.

"Yeah, I'll get the coke for you, no problem. But let her go. She isn't even part of the crew and never will be," Kaya said, adding as much venom to her words as possible. She knew it might hurt Ally but she needed to make it as convincing as possible. "Look at her -- she wouldn't survive a day in the life we lead. I just needed someone to split the drive with and she was the only one available... she's just an inconvenience. Let her go, I don't want her blood on my hands. Let her go and I'll tell you where the drug drop is."

Kenny seemed to consider this for a moment before smiling cruelly at her, shaking his head. "That makes sense... but sadly, it's a no-can-do. We can't have your little friend here going back to Chicago and raising the alarm about this, princess. This will inevitably end in both of you dead." He brought his gun up and aimed it right in the middle of Kaya's eyes. "Also, I think you're forgetting that you're not the one in charge here. Tell me what to do one more time and I'll blow your brains out and then send your friend right after you."

"Enough theatrics, Kenny. We're losing daylight." John said impatiently as he turned around for the first time and looked at the two women. "Give me your weapons and tell us where we're headed. Kenny, cuff them."

Kaya handed over her gun and knife with no hesitation, not wanting to trigger Kenny even more as he seemed unhinged. "Manhattan, a place called Cafe Colombian. And I don't think the girl has anything on her. As I said, she's just here to split the drive with me," Kaya added gently, hoping not to set Kenny off. She wasn't sure if Ally was armed or not, but she just didn't want her getting felt up by the two men. Thankfully, it seemed like it worked.

"Alright, less work for me." Kenny said as he snapped on the handcuffs on them and covered their torsos with a blanket that smelled like death. "You know the drill, no funny business at checkpoints -- we're just four friends on a happy road trip to New York. Capisce?"

Kaya nodded and began formulating a plan. Getting the attention of the police wasn't an option, not with the duffel bag full of money lying beneath her feet and when she was wanted in about thirty states. They needed to make their move in New York, during the drug drop. They would be dealing with Roots, one of Dawn's associates who Kaya had met once before. They needed to find a way to covertly alarm Roots about the situation and hopefully get her to sneak in a weapon inside the bag of cocaine. It won't guarantee their survival, but it was the element of surprise that they needed to get the upper hand.

She took note of the tentative plan but knew it wasn't set in stone. They still had a few hours to go before New York and a lot of things could happen before then. What was more pressing now is their safety -- Kaya turned to Ally for the first time since Brady Lake and offered her a look of concern. She wished she could tell her about the plan to ease her mind, but the car was too small and she didn't want the men to hear so all she could do was whisper meekly. "How are you?"

Ally turned to Kaya when she asked if she was okay, a look of worry and perhaps guilt plastered on her face. She wanted to tell Kaya desperately that it wasn’t her fault that she got involved. She was the one who agreed to do the job in the first place, and shit happens. It’s normal. John and Kenny kept talking over each other as the drive continued which made Ally wish that she had some earmuffs. As she stared between the two of them, she wondered why they even work together, they were kind of complete opposites. John was more about.. getting things done, while the other dirtbag just liked to rile people up. Ally shook her head, then frowned when she was reminded of her predicament. When Kenny had mentioned ‘friends’ and ‘happy’, Ally rolled her eyes because every second that passed with the two men, a fire of rage in her mind kept on expanding.

Ally contemplated on asking for a toilet break. But that was after they had already passed four gas stations. She suspected that if she’d ask now, they’d just think she was playing them. She fixed her eyes on Kaya and she looked like she was planning an intricate plan in her head, then raised a brow. They had needed directions earlier, but now they were focused on the road and talking about random shit. They had lost their attention on Ally and Kaya a while ago, so Ally had time to whisper very quietly to Kaya a little bit. “I hadn’t noticed it immediately, but when John was walking back from the pawn shop, he had a bit of a limp. Honestly, from the way he was walking, we could outrun him… And there’s a cardboard cutter in the open storage compartment between them.” Ally was talking quickly; she didn’t want them to suddenly turn around and see them talking. She also didn’t know if her plan was completely reliable as it wasn’t every day that she was taken hostage in a car.

Ally started to get fatigued. She only wanted to close her eyes for ten seconds, but when she woke up, two hours had already passed. Their location had completely changed now. A city of wide looking buildings and taxi cabs zooming across the roads. But it wasn’t the buildings specifically that got her attention, it was more so the fact that John had stopped next to an isolated park few seconds before Kenny pulled out his gun and pointed it in the direction of Ally and Kaya. “Ladies, it’s been a pleasure working with you, but unfortunately your time is up. We know the way from here. You’re no use to us now. And killing you is justice for my brother.”

Was that it? Was that the end? Getting murdered in a car, the result of everything that Ally had done in her life, did it really have to come to this? Ally tried to mask her fear, and it seemed easy enough from the backseat, but Kenny’s eyes were stabbing into her soul. She knew about the cardboard cutter, but it was from her reach and she wasn’t going to risk trying to grab it especially while hand cuffed. There was NO way out of this. Ally wasn’t completely hopeless though because it was only a matter of seconds before Kenny got smoked by John. Blood trickled down the side of his head with his arms stretched out against the seat. Silence as John threw the gun at his feet and sighed. It all happened so quickly that Ally was still trying to process what had happened.

“My partner got lousy,” John started to say as he massaged a sore area on his forehead. “Our asses got busted for the last two jobs we did together because either he didn’t do something right or he disobeyed the plan. I wasn’t going to let him fuck this one up.” He stifled a laugh. It was so bizarre to Ally how he could kill someone like that and still be so casual afterwards. Ally thought that he had trained himself somehow to be that way. The sky had grown dark and he was itching to get back home in one piece. He paused for a moment as if waiting for some kind of response from the two ladies, but all Ally could do was sit back in shock. She had never seen a killing up close, and it was so real, not like something she’d seen at the movie theatres. She looked at Kaya with wide eyes and shrugged slowly while mouthing ‘the fuck’. John didn’t notice. “Just gonna call a friend to let me know a place I can dump the body,” John remarked before stepping out of the car.

When morning came, the bright sun and clear skies gave Ally a special kind of hope. She was surprised to see that John was still driving, though his eyes were bloodshot. The passenger seat was still slightly stained with blood even after John had tried to rub the blood stains with a bottle of bleach that he conveniently had in his boot. Ally had woken up from a deep sleep and she asked John how long to go before they could arrive to the pick-up spot for the cocaine. “We just passed the last checkpoint. Very close now.” John replied bluntly. She nodded slowly, pursing her lips. Since last night, he hadn’t uttered another word about killing Kenny. When she spoke she had something else on her mind. “When we get there, um…”

“I came all this way. And didn’t go on such a long road trip just to kill my pal here,” he glanced blankly at the passenger seat before turning his attention to the road again. “So let’s split the cash and cocaine. I’ve got some other jobs today so I’m not going to waste any more time on making a decision.”

The pick up spot was at the Port of New York, and when John arrived he was met with one of Dawn’s associates. Ally didn’t know their name, but whoever it was, they were shocked to see the complete stranger standing beside Ally and Kaya attached together with handcuffs.