Pride, Mates, and Past Mistakes

Blondie Battles the Living Incarnation of Snow

*Cody*

In case anyone happened to be wondering, it’s really awkward to go on a save-the-world mission with someone you met practically hours ago.

 But Blondie didn’t seem to have a problem with it.

 On the contrary, she seemed perfectly at ease getting on the bullet train, maneuvering the streets of New York, and finding the first Martinez store on our list—which we were currently standing in front of.

Doreen and I gazed through the glass walls of the crowded store, where people were bustling around.

 “It’s crowded,” she stated thoughtfully. “Which is good for us, I guess…but it’s also heavily guarded.”

 I followed her line of vision to the left corner of the store, where two security men stood on either side of two white doors.

 She frowned. “That’s obviously the back room. I wonder why it’s so guarded? It’s not going to be easy getting in there…”

 I frowned at the burly looking security guard men in black uniforms. Since when was the back room of a store guarded? Back rooms were never placed under so much security…unless they were hiding something.

Blondie stepped back from the glass window and started walking around the outside of the store. “Come on,” she called out to me when I didn’t immediately follow.

 I jogged to catch up with her. “Where are we going?”

 “We obviously can’t get inside the back room through the front doors, right? Well, the only way we can get in from is—”

 “The back room,” I finished for her, nodding. “Okay, cool. But how do we get in from there?”

 Doreen stopped suddenly by the edge of the building, causing me to almost run into her.

 She craned her neck around the corner, peeking into the back parking lot of the store, and I imitated her.

 There was a giant truck, emblazoned with the world famous trademark, ‘ɱαɍ╥ϊηΣζ ɖΣvϊcΣS’, in it’s big, fancy letters, like it always was. The back was open, and two men in dark blue Martinez uniforms were heaving cardboard boxes into the back of the store—into a door that was open.

 Doreen pulled back from the edge. “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “We don’t have much time, so just follow my lead.”

 I blinked at her.  Follow my lead?

 What was she going to do? Maybe it hadn't occurred to her, I don't know...but I wasn't exactly the most ideal person to improvise on the spot. I was new to this whole save-the-world-mission thing. “Wait,” I said quickly. “What are you going to—”

But she had already disappeared around the corner.

 Letting out a frustrated sigh, I followed her. She was crouched by the front of the truck, watching the two men unload silently. I ran forward when they weren’t looking and crouched beside her.

 It was disorienting, seeing Blondie like this. Now that she was in mission-mode, her naturally happy-go-lucky and peppiness attitude was gone, and she looked like a wolf ready to pounce on her prey.

 She turned her gray eyes on me. “Okay, when I give you the sign, come out.”

 “What are you going to do?” It wasn't like she could just run inside.