Second Wind

Chapter 22: A New Home

It took a while for Blake to tell them her experiences from start to finish, and when the couple was completely up to speed, it was safe to assume that they were rather surprised by what they had heard - not only was the vigilante known in the streets back in action, she was out doing what needed to be done a long time ago. In fact, they could not believe it themselves. All they could do was just stare at her, looking all wide-eyed as she wrapped everything up by repeating her request.

"So yeah, now you know why I gotta stay here for a while. I need a place that won't bring much attention to me, and if anyone tries to harass you guys again, I'll be sure to make short work of them. That sound good?"

She was met with nothing but silence from the two as they continued staring at her with stunned expressions, causing her to let out a rather frustrated groan before snapping her fingers at them, causing them to blink a few times as they snapped back into reality, with the husband expressing their confusion after being zoned out for that long.

"W-What?"

"I hope to god you listened to everything I said earlier..."

"Y-Yeah! That we heard! But it's honestly very...extreme..."

"No kidding. I still need a room, though. I don't know how many times I gotta repeat that."

"...oh, right! Your room! Marie, head over to the desk drawer and get a key for a first floor room...as for you, write your name in the book on the countertop. I'll head upstairs so that I can help you settle in your room once you're in."

With that, he got himself off the couch before making his way towards the staircase - once he was out of sight, Marie followed suit as she pulled herself back up to her feet, gesturing the vigilante to do the same as she moved herself behind the desk before arching forward and pulling out a drawer that was situated under the countertop.

"Head over to the desk, please."

She quickly followed her instructions as she made her way to the desk, and once she picked up the pen, she took one good look at the notebook as she silently stared at the many names that lined up the rows of the notebook. Once Marie got the key that she was looking for, she got herself back into an upright position, and from there, she noticed the solemn look that Blake had as she raised an eyebrow for a brief moment, wondering what was going through her mind. Deciding that it was best to ask, she took a deep breath before attempting to speak to her, with Marie maintaining her calm demeanor once again.

"Is there something bothering you, ma'am?"

"...it kinda sucks that I still don't know what my real name is. I've been living with this damn amnesia for a while, and I don't know why I wanted to do this whole thing in the first place. I'm only doing this because the gang had done something terrible to me..."

"I...I'm sorry to hear that. But hey, you are here now...there is no point dwelling in the past. You must focus on the now, so that in the future, you can find solace in what happened yesterday."

"...heh. Some words."

With that, she wrote her temporary name on the notebook along with her number before setting the pen down - once that was out of the way, Marie handed the vigilante her room key, which had a tag hanging on it which displayed 'Room 101'. Now that she got her hands on her key, she made her way towards the first floor, but not before giving the woman a wave goodbye, with her doing the same in response. Upon arriving at the first floor, the first thing she saw was Marie's husband, who was standing in the middle of the hallway as he immediately noticed her before directly addressing Blake.

"Well, that was quick. What is your room number?"

"Hold on, I got it..."

The vigilante gave him her assurance as she displayed her insistence by walking over to the room door that had the number '101' labeled on it, and once she unlocked the door using the key, she twisted the doorknob before pushing the door open - with the duo now having access to the vigilante's room, the two of them walked through the opened door, with the man behind Blake as she took one good look at her new temporary home. It did possess a rather homely feel, actually.

The room had a simple twin-sized bed situated at the very corner of the room, and above that bed was a window that currently had its curtains drawn, covering it in the process. On the opposite end of the bed was a wardrobe which she could use to store her clothes and other things if she wanted to. On the other side of the room was a kitchenette which housed a kettle as well as a small stove which was more than sufficient for one person to use. Above the kitchenette was a bunch of cupboards which had been integrated into the wall - again, if she ever wanted to keep some of her things there, she was very much welcome to do so. Finally, on the final corner of the room was another door which would lead the vigilante into the bathroom.

After managing to get herself accustomed to her room, she walked over to the bed before sitting herself down on it, letting out a sigh afterward as she stared down into the ground whilst rubbing the back of her neck - she was feeling insanely tired, especially after such a taxing day that she had went through. While she remained there, the man merely stood in the middle of the room, his gaze fixated on the vigilante as he posed a simple question to her.

"Is there anything else you need? Or maybe you'd like to ask us a question? We'd be more than welcome to assist you."

"Ugh...if I need anything, I'll let you guys know. And as for the questions...maybe I'll ask them tomorrow, when the night is over...I'm sure you two must be tired. Hell, I'm tired myself...I could seriously use a good night's sleep for a change."

"Very well. You are more than welcome to contact us if you require our presence. We'll be in the second floor if you need us."

After he said those words, he suddenly grew teary-eyed as he gave her a few words of gratitude.

"...thank you again for everything. I really mean it..."

"Ehh...don't mention it. It's the least I can do, after all...before you go, lemme ask you something real quick."

"A-And that is...?"

"...I haven't gotten your name yet. I already know the name of your woman, but I ain't know you yet. Not keen on calling you by a title or something, mister."

"...t-the name's Jimmy."

"Right...I'll call you Jimbo, just for the hell of it. You ain't insulted by that, right?"

"N-Not at all! You're...welcome to call me what you find convenient, really!"

"Gotcha...now get outta here. I gotta take a shower."

The man merely responded with a nod before turning away from her and swiftly leaving the room, with Jimmy closing the door behind him once he was back out at the hallway. Now that she finally got the privacy that she was looking for, she quickly pulled herself back up to her feet before heading making her way towards the bathroom. Once she opened the door, she took one good look at what was waiting for her on the other side. The bathroom itself looked decent enough, with the floor consisting of these tiny square-shaped tiles that covered the whole ground. The walls had a similar tiling as well. There was a sink with a mirror above it, and beside that sink was a standard toilet. Just past that was a shower head which was fitted up against the wall. Nothing too special here.

Without any further waiting, she quickly stripped herself of all her clothes before stepping into the bathroom - she had been waiting for this moment for a while now. It had been a while since she had a nice, hot shower. Before she did anything else, she quickly shut the door behind her, locking it soon afterward before the sound of running water could soon be heard along with a clearly relieved groan following suit, coming from the vigilante. She really was tempted on staying in there forever...the hot water running down her body was a feeling she had never felt in such a long time - in fact, the only warmth she probably felt was the heat that exuded from the explosions back at Brightmoor. And...maybe from her spilled blood as well that came from her unnaturally healed wound. She really needed to figure out how that even happened, but for now, that was the least of her worries. She indulged in the heat that the water had gifted her with, and after spending a good amount of time cleaning herself up in the shower, she finally stepped out as a gust of steam flowed out from the bathroom.

She had already dried herself with a towel that she currently had wrapped around her entire body, though her hair could be a bit drier. She took one good look at the pile of clothes that she had taken off her prior to her shower, and upon realizing that they had been worn for days on end, she could not help but grimace a little as she soon came to the realization that she really needed some extra clothes - enough for her to last the duration of her stay here, anyway. That was something that she needed to rectify tomorrow, if there even are any stores still operational here at all. With the vigilante not exactly keen on reusing her signature, yet clearly dirty attire right now, she merely kicked it aside as the clothes slid against the floor before hitting against the wall, just next to the bathroom door. Looks she planned on sleeping without wearing anything - a first for her, but hey, it was worth a shot.

She got the towel off her once she had made the decision in her head, doing a little stretch to loosen herself up before walking over to the entrance door - she flipped a switch that she had seen next to aforementioned door, which was revealed to be the switch for the air-conditioning. The last thing she needed was for her to roast to death under her blanket during the dead of night. Once the AC was turned on, she quickly turned off the lights before immediately rushing towards the bed as she jumped onto it, feeling the bed recoil in response to the impact caused by her jump. Once she was on her bed, she immediately pulled the blanket over her whilst moving about in place so that she could make herself comfortable.

She had not felt something like this in a long time...the bartender was not kidding when he said that she needed to take a rest. This was something that was long overdue now...after spending so many sleepless nights trying to keep herself on top of the Pathfinder, she finally found herself here...completely calm and serene. And more importantly, away from all the tension in her life. Sure, she had a presumably long day ahead of her tomorrow, but now? This was her moment to relax.

Feeling her lethargy overcome her in a split second, she immediately passed out on the spot as she snored off on her bed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The night went by rather quickly for her - when she felt the light of the morning sun shine through the window curtains, she let out a rather irritated groan as she attempted to shield herself from the sunshine by covering her entire head with her blanket. However, this ultimately woke her up as she threw the blanket off her body in a fit of frustration before pulling herself up into a seating position. Her hair was now unkempt and completely all over the place...then again, she did twist and turn constantly while she was fast asleep. While she sat there, still feeling the effects of being woken up from such an utterly satisfying slumber, she began rubbing her tired eyes before letting out a yawn. After she stretched her arms out whilst doing the same for her toes, she finally got herself off her bed as she made her way towards the bathroom so that she could take her morning shower.

Unlike last night, she finished her shower rather quickly as she came in and out of the bathroom in a matter of minutes. Thankfully, her shower allowed her to shake off whatever grogginess she had left in her, meaning that she was mostly back to her normal mood now. After putting her usual clothes on, she let out a sigh as she looked at herself in the mirror which was integrated with the wardrobe. She REALLY needed some new duds...she cannot keep wearing this forever. With this in mind, she quickly made her way towards her room door, but when she opened it, the first thing she saw was a tray on the ground with a cover over it. She raised an eyebrow upon seeing the tray, and when she poked her head out the door, she did not see anybody. Did the couple leave it there for her? How nice of them...she was not one to eat properly to begin with.

Time for her to do the complete opposite of that.

Without wasting a second, she quickly picked the tray off the ground before backing off into the room and closing the door once again - after setting the tray on the kitchenette countertop, she took the cover off it so that she could see what was lying underneath.

Good lord, it looked beautiful...

She found herself staring at two pieces of lightly toasted bread, and next to that bread were three sausages, two pieces of ham, and some cranberry salad. There was a glass of orange juice at the edge of the tray as well.

Hell. Yes.

If she was not feeling hungry before, she certainly was now. In fact, she was basically drooling over her food now. Finding herself unable to contain herself any longer, she immediately helped herself as she basically wolfed down everything that was on the plate...except for the salad, which she chose to eat last. Even in her moment of weakness, she still had enough of her consciousness to be a picky eater. Once she basically cleared everything on her plate down to the crumb, she let out a content a sigh as she wiped her mouth with her sleeve before clearing her throat by downing the orange juice that was provided for her.

"Damn...when was the last time I've had something like this..."

She could definitely recall a time where this was something that she would eat on a regular basis...but despite her attempts to remember, her mind would not allow her access to that memory, which admittedly left her solemn for a brief moment. Nevertheless, she pulled herself together before making her way towards the entrance yet again - this time, she was planning on leaving the motel for a while so that she could get accustomed to Warrendale's streets. She also needed those fresh duds that she had been lacking, too. After locking her room door with the key, she slid it into her pocket before walking downstairs. When she arrived at the lobby, she noticed Marie and Jimmy mostly minding their business, with the two of them sitting on the couch. Upon spotting her, the couple coolly got themselves off the couch before they addressed the vigilante with a warm greeting.

"Morning, Blake. How was your breakfast?"

"Oooh boy, let me tell ya...you got it bang on. I could eat that thing for an eternity...but I'll fantasize about that later. How much does the breakfast cost?"

"Well, seeing how you're staying with us, the breakfast is complementary. The room will also set you back $50 a night. I hope it is not too expensive for you."

"Nah, that won't burn a hole through my wallet. I should be fine. Okay, so...remember when I said that I'll ask my questions and requests tomorrow, Jimbo?"

"Mhm. I'm assuming you have your questions or requests now?"

"Sure do. But just questions, though. First question - is there other stores that are still open here? I was thinking that...well, since you're still here and open, there has to be other shops that are open too, right?"

"Well, if you are lucky, then yes, you might be able to find a shop or two that is still operation despite the rather terrible situation at the moment...why do you ask, though?"

"...I need clothes. I can't keep wearing this attire forever. You know a clothes shop around here which I can get to? I don't know if my phone can give me any reliable information right now...you know how it is. They'll tell you it's open, when in reality the place got condemned some centuries ago."

"Um...there is one place I recall. I don't know if it is still open yet, though. I have not been to that place in a long time..."

"How long are we talking about?"

"I'd say weeks, if not months."

Admittedly, hearing such a response made the vigilante momentarily cringe - this was not a good sign. However, seeing how he was uncertain of the shop's fate, she figured that she could at least check the place and find out for herself.

"...okay. Doesn't matter, I guess. Just tell me where the place is."

"If I remember correctly, it should be at Joy Road or Brace Street...somewhere around there. They're basically connected, so it's definitely either one or the other. You should find a thrift store there."

"A thrift store, huh? That store got a name?"

"I...don't really remember. But the building's painted copper green. It's difficult to miss it, seeing how it basically sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the other buildings here, which look really dreary in comparison."

"Thrift store, copper green paint job. That all I need to know?"

"Well, that's all I know, so..."

"Okay, perfect. Thanks for the help. I gotta get going now, I'll be back later. And if you think about getting worried over my well-being, forget it. I'll be fine - besides, I can't be dying without paying up, you know."

That remark was topped off with a wink before she made her way towards the glass doors, but just as she gripped on the door handle, she stopped herself for a brief moment. Looks like there was something on her mind that came to her at the last second. Wanting to clear that one final doubt in her head, she shifted her attention back to the couple, who were still standing there by the couch, implying that they were going to wait until she was gone. Not wanting to waste time, she quickly posed a question to them.

"By the way, the two bodies of those gangsters that harassed you...where are they right now?"

"Um...we moved them to one of the rooms in the motel. We don't know how to dispose of them, and we can't really bury them either, since there's no soil surrounding them, either...why do you ask, though? What are you thinking of?"

"Hmm...you think you could show me the corpses? I have something in mind involving those two nitwits. They have something which I could use to my advantage..."