They arrived at the address. There was a large building with lots of windows, most of which were not transparent, and many of which were broken. Faded lettering on the side of the building could conceivably have read “Poppengale Manufacturing” at one time, but, clearly, that was a long time ago. The doors were chained from the outside. Edmond spoke up, “If he brought her here, he must know another way in.” Susan nodded, and drove around the building.
Every set of doors that they found was similarly chained. “Then again,” Susan said, “his car isn’t here, so maybe he has left her here, and chained the doors from the outside, as he was leaving.” Susan parked the car and got out. Edmond waited as she walked to the building and attempted to look inside through one of the broken panes of glass. Mostly she just saw darkness. She tried calling out, “Lena!” but there was only a silent response from the darkness. There was no indication that there was anyone in the building. Anyone alive, anyway. She tried to think that way. She walked back to the car with her head down. “There is no sign of her.”
“We need to find a way in,” Edmond responded. They drove around the building again, and noticed a section of aluminum wall that had been pulled back, like kids had been using the plant as a playhouse. Susan parked the car, and they maneuvered the wheelchair out of the back seat, and got Edmond situated in it. It took both of them, but they were able to pull back the aluminum enough to get the wheelchair through. Susan followed. Even on the inside, the most obvious thing was the darkness that filled the building, in spite of the numerous broken windows. After a few minutes though, as their eyes adjusted, the light coming in through the pulled back section where they had entered and the broken window panes made it possible to see. There were many places where it was clear equipment had been bolted down, but, evidently, when the manufacturing went to Singapore, all of the conveyers and other miscellaneous apparatus had been ripped out; either shipped to Singapore, or sold locally and replaced. For all intents and purposes, they were in a large, empty warehouse. They were partially frustrated, and partially relieved, when they realized that the building was empty. They hadn’t found Lena, but, at least they hadn’t found her corpse. That meant that there was still hope. In the back of Edmond’s mind that sparked a memory: He remembered hearing once, “Where there is breath, there is hope; where there is hope, there is God; where there is God, there is no need.” He pushed that out of his mind; dismissing it as silly optimism, even though he was aware that they needed some optimism at that point.
They went back to the place where they had come in. For some reason, it was much harder to push open the aluminum section from the inside than it was to pull it open from the outside. With both of them pushing, it opened just about enough for Edmond to roll the wheelchair through, but as soon as he tried to move forward, he lost his grip on the aluminum, and it started closing back up again. Edmond began to visualize himself being incarcerated for trespassing. That was not an appealing prospect. He had never been in jail before, but this weekend that thought seemed to just keep coming up. Susan looked around and saw a long pole that might give them some leverage. It turned out to be pretty heavy though, so she dragged it over to the opening. Pushing one end out through the opening, and then pushing up on the remaining end, they were able to get clearance for the wheelchair. Susan strained against the pole as Edmond wheeled out. Fortunately, she didn’t need anywhere near as much room to escape. After struggling with the pole, it seemed much harder to make the transition from Edmond sitting in the wheelchair outside the car, to Edmond sitting in the front seat of the car, and the wheelchair in the backseat of the car. They stopped to rest for a few minutes.
“Once we get out of here, then what? Do you have any other ideas?” she asked.
“Let’s go back, and do some more research on the Internet,” Edmond said. Susan nodded. Finally, they got in the car, with the wheelchair situated, and Susan started the car. She put the car in gear, and soon the Poppengale plant was just a speck in her rearview mirror.
Every set of doors that they found was similarly chained. “Then again,” Susan said, “his car isn’t here, so maybe he has left her here, and chained the doors from the outside, as he was leaving.” Susan parked the car and got out. Edmond waited as she walked to the building and attempted to look inside through one of the broken panes of glass. Mostly she just saw darkness. She tried calling out, “Lena!” but there was only a silent response from the darkness. There was no indication that there was anyone in the building. Anyone alive, anyway. She tried to think that way. She walked back to the car with her head down. “There is no sign of her.”
“We need to find a way in,” Edmond responded. They drove around the building again, and noticed a section of aluminum wall that had been pulled back, like kids had been using the plant as a playhouse. Susan parked the car, and they maneuvered the wheelchair out of the back seat, and got Edmond situated in it. It took both of them, but they were able to pull back the aluminum enough to get the wheelchair through. Susan followed. Even on the inside, the most obvious thing was the darkness that filled the building, in spite of the numerous broken windows. After a few minutes though, as their eyes adjusted, the light coming in through the pulled back section where they had entered and the broken window panes made it possible to see. There were many places where it was clear equipment had been bolted down, but, evidently, when the manufacturing went to Singapore, all of the conveyers and other miscellaneous apparatus had been ripped out; either shipped to Singapore, or sold locally and replaced. For all intents and purposes, they were in a large, empty warehouse. They were partially frustrated, and partially relieved, when they realized that the building was empty. They hadn’t found Lena, but, at least they hadn’t found her corpse. That meant that there was still hope. In the back of Edmond’s mind that sparked a memory: He remembered hearing once, “Where there is breath, there is hope; where there is hope, there is God; where there is God, there is no need.” He pushed that out of his mind; dismissing it as silly optimism, even though he was aware that they needed some optimism at that point.
They went back to the place where they had come in. For some reason, it was much harder to push open the aluminum section from the inside than it was to pull it open from the outside. With both of them pushing, it opened just about enough for Edmond to roll the wheelchair through, but as soon as he tried to move forward, he lost his grip on the aluminum, and it started closing back up again. Edmond began to visualize himself being incarcerated for trespassing. That was not an appealing prospect. He had never been in jail before, but this weekend that thought seemed to just keep coming up. Susan looked around and saw a long pole that might give them some leverage. It turned out to be pretty heavy though, so she dragged it over to the opening. Pushing one end out through the opening, and then pushing up on the remaining end, they were able to get clearance for the wheelchair. Susan strained against the pole as Edmond wheeled out. Fortunately, she didn’t need anywhere near as much room to escape. After struggling with the pole, it seemed much harder to make the transition from Edmond sitting in the wheelchair outside the car, to Edmond sitting in the front seat of the car, and the wheelchair in the backseat of the car. They stopped to rest for a few minutes.
“Once we get out of here, then what? Do you have any other ideas?” she asked.
“Let’s go back, and do some more research on the Internet,” Edmond said. Susan nodded. Finally, they got in the car, with the wheelchair situated, and Susan started the car. She put the car in gear, and soon the Poppengale plant was just a speck in her rearview mirror.
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