We Feel Like Dead Ends

They set off driving again as the sun rose. Exhausted, sad, holding on to each other in the way Jack and Alex had back in the days before… before any of this.
“I think we’re almost there.” Jack whispered as they turned off the highway. He’d figured out where the institute was as soon as he had weaseled the name of the place out of one of his therapists. Jack didn’t fuck around. Back then, he had a lot more optimism about recovering his best friend. He had slowly lost that drive throughout the year since.
“Yeah.” Jenna nodded, eyes twinkling.
“Yeah.” He smiled.

It was 6 am, on Friday, January 5th. The pair parked next to a random McDonald’s and went inside with their bags bouncing on their shoulders. Jenna went up to get some nice greasy fast-food and left Jack to find a table. It was surprisingly busy for a Friday morning at a fast-food joint in a completely remote area. A gang of distressed looking teenagers took up three booths next to the windows, and a middle aged couple sat sipping McCafe coffees next to the restrooms. Three old men huddled around a table, whispering to each other in hushed tone and glancing around the restaurant nervously. Jack took a look around the room and chose one of the two empty tables. It was crammed in next to the condiment station, but the only other seat was next to the (rather shifty) old men; and to be perfectly honest, Jack was slightly frightened by them.
Jenna soon sat across from him and set the tray on the sticky surface of the table.
“We’re going to need a game plan, mate.” She said. “We can’t just wander into this mental hospital and ask to take Alex out.” Jack agreed. But he had no idea how else they could do it. He was fairly certain that the security there would be tough to get through, and the patients closely watched. From what he could tell from the website, South Baltimore Mental Rehabilitation Center guaranteed the safety of the people detained within. And Jack didn’t think that two 16 year olds trying to sneak in would go un-noticed.
“I don’t have any idea of what we should do.” He said truthfully. Jenna sighed as she picked at her fries.
“According to the cashier, the institute is just at the end of this road. Apparently, it’s surrounded by a lovely barbed wire fence, and is quite a large property. Closely guarded, of course.”
“We could… uh-“
Jack was distracted by a man approaching the table. He didn’t recognize him from any of the patrons he’d noticed before, and Jack thought he would remember this man’s face. He wasn’t exactly handsome, but he could definitely be seen as attractive. His hair was short and tinged orange; his beard was clipped. The way he walked and held himself gave off an air of self-assured confidence.
“Are you kids talking about the hospital?” The man asked rather gruffly. He leaned forwards on the table, fingers gripping the edge. Jenna recoiled a bit, but looked at the man with curious eyes. She appeared deep in thought for a second.
“…Yeah.” She finally answered. “We need to sneak in and get one of the patients out.” Jack wondered why she was telling this stranger about what they were planning to do; the man seemed harmless enough but you could never be too safe. Jack understood why Jenna’s mom wanted her to stay out of this ‘business’ of helping people.
“May I sit down?” the man asked as he drew up a chair without waiting for consent. He rested his elbows on the table and closed his eyes. “That institute has a bad rep up here. Recently, there have been a couple escapes and now they’re quite wary. It will be tough to get in there.” He opened his eyes to see the pair looking at him uncertainly. The man laughed.
“Oh, by the way. I’m Dan. But you can call me Soupy.” He grinned. “Everyone around here does.”
What the fuck. Jack thought. What the flying fuck. This guy is a wack job.
“Uh, okay, Soupy.” Jenna said. “But we really need to get in there.”
Dan seemed a shifty character. Dressed in a hunting jacket and ripped jeans, he could’ve been some crazy old homeless guy.
“I understand.” Dan said. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands together. Jack and Jenna exchanged glances; nervous glances.
Why did you tell him? Jack mouthed at her.
Jenna shrugged.
He seems cool. She mouthed back. It was true. After Jack had gotten over the initial surprise of the man sitting himself down with them, Soupy seemed like a good guy.
“I’m going to let you kids in on a secret.” He said quietly. Jenna raised her eyebrows.
“Spill.” She said as she crossed her arms.
“My cousin was in that mental hospital three years ago.” Soupy said. “She had extreme anxiety, and that place just made it worse. She was the first of the escapees. I mean, the number of patients attempting to get out has surged this past year, but she started it back then. No one had ever made it out before her. Says a lot about the security of the place, no?”
All Jack heard was ‘extreme anxiety’ and then ‘that place only made it worse’. The phrase echoed in his head and he was drawn away from the conversation by thoughts of Alex. Anxiety…. Extreme anxiety. And it only got worse.
“…I understand that you feel responsible for ‘rescuing’ whoever’s stuck in there, but it may be beyond your control. I sure wanted to help my cousin, but it was nearly impossible. She found her own way, maybe y’all should let things go on the way life means them to.” Soupy smiled, slightly melancholy. He really wanted to help these lost little souls find their friend, but he also knew much more about the institute than they did. Fuck it, he knew much more about life than they did, and he wanted to help them understand that sometimes things happen for a reason. Also, he could just tell that one of them, if not both of them, was at least a little messed up in the head. And if they ended up in that hospital to try to save their friend, well, they might end up being detained as well.