Second Wind

Chapter 23: Hiding in Plain Sight

After Blake had her request involving the gangsters' dead bodies fulfilled, she was finally out of the motel as she drove around the streets of Warrendale on her bike. This time, however, she was now wearing something completely different - in fact, she was now donning the clothes of the female thug that threatened the motel owners with their lives last night. Apart from the attire, which was pretty much standard for every member of the Pathfinder, she was also wearing her panda mask instead. She knew that it would be suicide to go out there, especially after what she had done in Brightmoor. She needed to continue disguising herself here in Warrendale, just as she did last time.

Thankfully, her fresh disguise meant that very little attention was brought to her while she was on the move - sure, she may have gotten a few stares from a couple of stray goons that were on the streets, but as long as they were not firing at her or chasing after her, then she really could not complain. After spending about 10 to 15 minutes on the street, she finally arrived at Joy Road - the street that Jimmy had mentioned when it came to the approximate location of the thrift shop. Although she was unable to find anything at first, she did recall Brace Street being another option. After making her way there, which barely took a few seconds, she finally spotted the place that she was looking for as she noticed the copper green-painted building just down the street, at the very end of the intersection between the two roads.

Now that she had found the place that she was looking for, she quickly made her way there, with the vigilante parking her bike by the sidewalk before getting herself off her ride and onto the curb. Upon arriving at the front door of the thrift shop, the first thing she saw was a 'CLOSED' sign plastered on the glass pane which fitted into the door, with the glass essentially making up most of the door itself. Admittedly, seeing the sign had left her rather frustrated, but there was something else inscribed on the glass which caught her attention - the shop's operating hours.

This place was supposed to be open, but the place was completely locked up, given how she could not pull or push the door open by the handle despite her attempt to do so. Just how long was this place closed for? Perhaps the store had been abandoned. Well, there really was only one way to find out, and that was for her to investigate for herself. But first, she needed to get past the locked door, which really did not require much effort. She quickly took her pistol out which she had holstered to her side as always, and once she had her weapon drawn, she fired a few bullets into the glass as the pane cracked in response to the impact it had received. Strangely enough, the bullets themselves remained lodged into the pane when it came in contact with the glass - that must be some strong tempered glass...isn't that usually expensive to get?

Either way, it clearly was not strong enough.

Deciding to finish the job, she put her machine pistol away before launching a fist right into the pane, with the force from the punch proving to be enough for the already weakened glass to shatter in an instant, with fragments of glass falling down to the ground as some of them poured out from the door and into the sidewalk. Now that she had gained access into the building interior, she merely stepped through the gaping hole on the door as she made her way inside. After getting herself in, she took a moment to look around the store before deciding to explore the shop in its entirety to see if there was anything here that she could find useful - she was also looking for those clothes as well, so might as well kill two birds with one stone here.

Sure enough, this place really was a thrift shop - various kinds of things were once sold here, ranging from common to...unique. The shop itself was rather small, with the building itself only possessing one room, with that room being the one Blake was currently in. As far as she knew, there were no other doors anywhere within the area. She could find trinkets and relics piled up in a basket placed on a pedestal that was situated in the middle of the room, with a label pasted on the basket which said 'BARGAIN BUY'. Upon taking a closer look at what was in the basket, she found nothing more than just junk or things that would have zero usefulness to her. At most, it would catch the interest of some collector who is into hoarding useless stuff.

The store itself looked to be divided into four sections, excluding the heart of the room which hosted the pile of scrap in the basket. The northwest section possessed electronics, but it is hard to tell if they are even functional at all...if they have been abandoned for a long time, anyway. The chances of the tech being second-hand was very high as well - not like it mattered to her, anyway. The northeast section functioned as a pawn shop of sorts, where people could bring in their used things and sell them off for a price. There was a transparent case box functioning as a makeshift table there, similar to what the gun store had back in California, but there was virtually nothing inside the case, implying that it had been cleared out.

This place did not look like it was ransacked - after all, no one else had gotten inside other than the vigilante herself. Perhaps the former owners of this building simply took what they could before abandoning this place. Now she had to figure out what they did NOT take. Some of the electronics look to be left behind, so that was a start. After she was done investigating the northern part of the thrift shop, she now had her attention focused on the southern part of the store. The southwestern part of the room hosted the clothes that she was looking for, and when she noticed them, she let out a sigh of relief as she realized that her journey was, thankfully, not in vain. Most of them had been taken, but thankfully, there was at least some that she could take with her, which was always something that she could appreciate. Lastly, there was the southeastern section of the room.

That particular fraction of the store was completely empty, rendering her unable to figure out what that section was even for - did it really matter? Not really. At most, she was just mildly curious. Maybe that section was meant for food, or maybe it was meant for something else. Who knows? Certainly not her, and she was definitely not keen on changing that. Now that she had gotten herself accustomed to the store, she knew that she needed to get to work as she began browsing through the store's contents...or whatever is left of it, anyway. She knew that she should not stay here for long, or else she will risk suspicion from passersby.

From here on out, she began raiding the store, taking whatever was left within the building. She managed to get herself some shorts, sweatpants, graphic tees along with some collared buttoned shirts. It should be enough for her to last at least a week - provided she has some kind of laundry service to work with. She also got herself a rather old-fashioned phone - so old, in fact, that it still had a keypad, compared to most modern-day phones where they have these high-tech touchscreens, or even holographic projections if you had a bit more coin to spare. Once she had gotten everything she needed, she quickly stuffed everything into a tote bag that she had found collecting dust within the thrift store, and after she had everything stored, she made her way back to her dirt bike, feeling content with what she had stolen. Was it really, stealing though? Hard to say - either way, it did not matter to her.

She hung the bag onto one of the bike handles before getting on, and just as she was about to take off, she suddenly heard a voice behind her as she froze up in response to her being called out.

"Hey! Stop right there!"

After hearing those words, she really was tempted to just take off, but she knew that if she did that, then her identity would be exposed and she would be screwed. Because of this, she let out an irritated groan as she stared down at the ground while a pair of footsteps grew louder with each step made towards the vigilante. Upon hearing the sounds of panting right behind her, she glanced over to the side, wondering just what was going to happen now as she maintained her vigilance from here on out, knowing that she could definitely use every last bit of it.

"Okay, what's the-"

"W-Wait...give me...a moment...ugh..."

She just sat there on her motorcycle seat, completely dumbfounded as she watched this goon crouched over in front of her while he huffed and puffed in an attempt to catch their breath - they were so winded, in fact, that they even went so far as to take the rat mask that they were wearing off their head so that they could get some fresh air. Unbeknownst to them, however, this also revealed themselves to the vigilante.

He was a young man looked like someone who had just reached the stage of adulthood...maybe he had just approached his twenties or something. He had pitch black hair, and the same could be said for his eyes as well. He was white...though he might be more pale, if anything. He had a rather skinny build, but muscle means nothing when you have firearms freely circulating Detroit in this day and age. Once he managed to catch his breath, he shoved his hand into his pocket, shifting his hand about in place for a second or two before pulling out an inhaler - once after using it on himself, he let out a relieved sigh as he placed a hand to his chest before putting the rat mask back on and finally striking the conversation with Blake.

"...sorry you had to see that."

"Uhhh...uh huh. The hell do you want? I got places to be, you know."

"I-I wanted to ask you what you were doing. I'm...kinda new to this whole thing."

"...a rookie? You? I thought you would've been rejected just from the little asthma trip you had there."

"Hey, I managed to make it through regardless! What did you do to make it, huh?!"

"...ahem?"

Blake merely pointed towards the ransacked thrift store that was next to her, and when he looked over to the side to see just what she had wrought, his eyes widened a little, though she did not really know that given how both of their faces were masked right now. Either way, he quickly looked back at her as he exclaimed his surprise over what he had seen.

"You did all that? Was there even anyone inside?"

"Uh...no? Looks like that store got left behind ages ago. So I just stole practically everything inside. Not everything, but eh, I don't think you can find a lot in there now, even if you try looking through every nook and cranny."

"...damn. So there wasn't some super cool fighting that you did in there?"

"Is there any reason why you have to sound like some immature kid?"

"I'm not a kid, dammit! It's just that...well, I just wanna make the most of this job, ya know? It sucks to just go around and patrolling for that vigilante all the damn time...it's so boring! Besides, the faster this whole issue wraps up, the quicker I get to go home. I only really got involved with the gang because if I didn't, then my family would be in great danger..."

Blake could only remain silent in response to why he had even joined the gang in the first place. She was admittedly downtrodden to hear about his current fate, but she knew that there was little she could do about his current predicament.

"Huh, I see...I'm sure you'll get your chance, kid."

"Have you gotten your chance?"

"Me? Nah. I'm still looking forward to when that day arrives, though. I understand how you feel. The only difference was that I got involved too late...so this is the only life I have now."

"Damn...I'm sorry to hear about that, man."

"Eh, it's no big deal. I lost my parents when I was really young. I...don't really remember who they were anymore. It's kinda sad, honestly...I'm sure they were nice people..."

The rookie was not really expecting this conversation to suddenly have a dark turn - finding himself unable to respond to her, he attempted to change the conversation so that things could be a bit more lighthearted for a change.

"U-Um...so...how long have you been doing this?"

"Hm? Honestly, I've lost count. Probably years."

"Years? Damn...so you must be real good at this stuff, huh?"

"Mhm. You could ask the boss about it. Who knows, maybe she'll help you out herself, seeing how you're a new face around here."

"Eh...I really don't know if I should bother Madam Fleurie, though..."

"Won't know till you try, right? Anyways, you're taking up my time here. I gotta bounce."

"Where you off to?"

"Do I gotta report every detail of my life to you, kid?"

"...s-sorry."

Blake could only reply with a scoff before powering her motorcycle on, implying that she was ready to get a move on. However, before leaving him be, she left him with some parting words.

"Word of advice, kid. This gang requires you to work yourself to the bone...I hope you're ready for that kinda lifestyle. Until then, I hope you can make it here. Ciao."

With that out of the way, she stomped on the pedal as she stormed off, the disguised vigilante vanishing off into the distance in seconds while the rookie just stared at her until she was out of sight. In his mind, he really was considering Blake's idea of meeting with Fleurie personally and asking her for some guidance. He was rather scared about it, and for good reason - after all, the leader of the Pathfinder is very violent and can do some terrible things if she was not in the right mood.

But hey, it worth a shot, right? Anything it takes to be better than the rest.

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It did not take long for her to return back to the motel - this time, however, knowing how she was currently in disguise, she was aware of the fact that she must act a lot differently while out on the street in order to prevent herself from leaving behind a trail that could set her up for disaster. With that in mind, she decided to park a bit further away from the motel - far enough for any passing goon to not question its distance from the building, but close enough for her to make it there without having to spend much time walking. After getting herself off her bike, she briskly made her way towards the building, with the vigilante eventually arriving at the scene in merely a matter of minutes.

After walking through the front doors, she quickly went upstairs as she unlocked her room door, and after getting herself inside, she shut and locked the door behind her before dropping the bag of clothes down to the ground, letting out a rather tired groan afterward as she made her way towards her bed, sitting herself down on its edge whilst pulling her panda mask off before setting it down on the bed. There was a lot going through her mind, though she was definitely not thinking about the rookie that she had met just not too long ago. Instead, she was already thinking about her next course of action.

"Damn...where do I even start with this one...I don't know where to go to look for clues, and I don't know if I should be confrontational with this one again...I've been seeing more goons all over the streets as of late as well...how long will I be able to maintain this disguise? How long will it take for them to connect the pieces and trace my steps?"

It was obvious that she was unimaginably stressed due to how stuck she was involving this entire predicament, but she knew that, in due time, she will find the answers that she desperately needed. The only idea she could think of was to drag an unfortunate goon off the sidewalk and torture them for information - which does sound like a good plan in her head, but she knew that she had to think of other alternatives...alternatives that would not alert others on what she had done. Brightmoor, to the vigilante, seemed like a practice round now. Warrendale felt a lot different this time round...not to mention looked a lot different, too. This place was a lot bigger than Brightmoor, and thus, this particular neighborhood was going to be a lot more hostile. It certainly did not help that this place is the hub for weapon manufacturing for the Pathfinder, so who knew what kind of weapons the gangsters here would be possessing. All she knew was that it certainly will not be just a plain, standard pistol. There will definitely be more than that.

Which is probably why she ended up here in the first place - to deal with that by weakening their offensive strength via crippling their weapon circulation. If it makes her future confrontations a lot more manageable, then all the more reason for her to get it done. In an attempt to get her mind off her negative and stress-inducing thoughts, she pushed the blinds aside, allowing her to see what was behind the curtain as she looked out the window. All she saw was the barren streets before her as well as some parts of Warrendale as the neighborhood stretched out into the horizon. As she looked out into the quiet, almost lifeless streets, something came to her thoughts as she moved her head closer to the window, her mind now deep in thought.

"Back in Joy Road...it was pretty damn quiet there as well. Apart from that asthma kid. And in here...it's quiet too. I've only seen two goons in this part of the neighborhood so far, and they were inside the motel. When I move closer towards the center of the neighborhood, that's when I start seeing more gangsters out on the streets...surely that must mean something, right?"

Looks like she had finally gotten herself a lead which could assist her in her plans to destroy the weapon circulation that the Pathfinder had been propagating. She got herself off her bed as she quickly got out of her room, and after locking her door, she made her way back downstairs, where she noticed Marie downstairs once she was back at the lobby. She looked to be rather busy, with the woman vacuuming the resin carpet floor. When she noticed the vigilante having her eyes on her, she turned off the vacuum cleaner before addressing her once the noise died down.

"Um...you need me for something?"

"...quick question. Do you ever step out of this motel?"

"We...try not to. We stockpiled a lot of amenities within this building before everything around us collapsed, and for the sake of our own safety, we really don't want to go out there."

"This part of town...it's very quiet. You noticed that?"

"Yeah, you are not the only one. I don't know why it is quiet here, but it must have something to do with the lack of infrastructure here...lesser buildings, lesser attention."

"So if we were closer to the heart of the neighborhood..."

"...then it should be busier there, yes."

Blake cracked a smile before letting out a laugh in response to Marie's self-made conclusion, and with that, she quickly made her way back outside whilst saying a few parting words to the woman while she went out.

"That's all I needed to hear."