The Waitress

2 - Stacey and the Hospital

           

Kaely parted her lips to shout, but all that came out was a squeak of anticipation as the gun was thrust closer towards her head. Her lips trembled shut, her arms forming goose-bumps already. She didn't know what was going on. This kind of thing; it didn't happen in Australia. And if it did, it never happened to her. It was always someone else. So why now, out of the twenty three million others in Australia? Why was she the one facing death?

"P- Please don't hurt me," she whispered, her face one of absolute terror and shock. All of a sudden, she didn't have control over herself because her hands and legs started shaking and her cheeks already had streams of water running down them.

"We don't want to hurt you," the gruff voice of a man replied from behind the gun, and Kaely began to sob.

"H- Here," she said, not even trying to act in control. "Take my car- take my money, take whatever you want, p- please. I won't tell anyone, I promise!"

"We believe you," a second voice replied, lighter than the first. This one was from behind her, so she whirled around, only to find herself facing another gun. A feeling of lost-hope and fear washed over Kaely as she moved her head from one gun to the other.

"We don't want your money or your car," the first man assured Kaely, as if he'd done this many times before. "We don't want to hurt you either, so we're going to put our guns away if you agree to cooperate with us. Do you understand?"

Kaely nodded her head quickly, no hesitation needed as she straightened her body as much as she could while she wiped the tears from her eyes quickly. In her mind, she was telling herself over and over again that she was going to be okay.

So, the two men put their guns back in the holsters by their waists, which gave Kaely a moment to study their features. The man she had seen first had dark hair with dark eyes, and his face was kind of square-shaped and rosy-coloured. His body was as healthy as it needed to be, but Kaely could tell he didn't exercise much, which gave her the advantage if she needed to run, given they were bad shots with their firearms.

The second man was a little healthier with a shaved head and black stubble on his dark skin. His cheekbones were fairly distinguished, but he had a deadly look in his dark, dark eyes that Kaely really didn't like. She made sure to take note of their appearances in case she needed to report them later, but other than that she tried to concentrate on her breathing. Both men came together to stand in front of Kaely now; they seemed calm, but also aggravated. Like they had better things to do than bully a young woman by her car.

"My name is Peter McMillan," the first man told Kaely, "and this is my partner Gregory O'Connor. Who are you?"

"Bethany," Kaely lied in time, swallowing nervously. It would be stupid to give her real name to people who had guns. "W- Why have you got guns at me?"

"We're with the FBI, Bethany."

Kaely held her eyes to avoid rolling them. "That doesn't answer my question," she shot back, her eyes still slightly wet. "That just tells me you can get away with killing me."

"We use guns as a warning," O'Connor snapped. "If you lie, we will use them. The men you talked to today; the four you served. What did they want?"

Kaely's frown disappeared. "Why do you want to- know that?" she demanded, but O'Connor's hand on his gun made her flinch.

"Does it matter?" he growled, and Kaely's eyes widened as she took a step back, now flattened against her car.

"N- No," she managed to choke out. "They, um- they wanted directions. Yes, directions. They said- they said they were from Perth–"