[Kelly]
"We have to go to the supermarket," Hilde said, pacing back and forth, voice low but urgent. "The supermarket has everything we need. Not this . . ."
Hilde paused, took a breath, and sighed as she rolled her eyes at the PWD toilet. ". . . this stuffy hole that stench of manure and urine."
Jennie's eyes found Hilde's. They were full of poison. "And how are you going to do that when there are hundreds of those . . . ," her voice was failing, and fear took hold over her hard face for a second, "those things roaming these halls. We wouldn't last a minute out there, genius."
"We'll die in here," stressed Hilde. "We have no food. We have no signal. We're trapped!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down," Kelly reprimanded, fear had made her insolent. But right at this moment, Jennie and Hilde's bullying was far from her mind.
"They might hear us . . . ," Kelly whispered, pressing her ear on the metal door while the others caught their breath. Their breathing ceased.
They went still, sensing their surroundings. When they didn't hear anything in the hallway outside, they let out a breath.
Hilde sat in the water closet, clutched her hair, and sobbed. "What are we going to do? We're going to die. Dead. I'm too young to die."
Jennie peered at Hilde with the same expression of faint distaste she had worn since the day she was born. "I have a tracking device on my watch. My father would know by now, and he would definitely send a rescue team for me."
Her voice was so sure, but Kelly doubted it. Signals were down. Everyone was in danger. There was chaos outside. She doubted that they would rescue a teenage girl than the most important people in the world – if not, rescue their selves first.
They were stuck here whether they liked it or not. And worse, they didn't have food with them.
At least there's water, Kelly thought, comforting herself from the dire situation they were in.
"What are those things?" Hilde questioned no one. Fingers still clutching her hair. "They're zombies, right? The ones in movies. Did a virus break out or something?"
"Stop your yapping. Your screeching voice is only adding to the heat. It's not helping our situation," Jenny spat with icy disdain.
But Hilde was deaf with her own fears. "I can't die. I'm too young to die. I can't. I have soo many things I wanted to do!" She stared over at Kelly with a half-desperate, half-crazed looked on her face. "Do something."
Kelly fought to keep the scorn out of her voice and failed, "What do you want me to do?"
Hilde shot to her feet, and her tone was a whip when she spoke, "I don't know. You're the brainy one here. Figure something out!"
Jennie stifled a laugh, wearing her customary mocking smile. "Her genius of a brain is the one who brought us here in the first place. Trap in this stinky place."
Kelly could do nothing but nurse her resentment, so nurse she did. Her mood grew blacker by the minute at each insult to her person.
If it wasn't for her, Jennie and Hilde might have turned into zombies long ago. Now she was trapped here, teetering in regret for saving them. It was her chance to get rid of them, but then she had to act like a good girl at the wrong time.
She really thought that it was a stroke of luck that they had come into an empty PWD toilet and locked themselves inside. It was significantly cooler in the small space. They have a water closet and shower and, best of all, water.
The heat was still there, even when electricity was out, and it would only be a matter of time before the generators were out too. There was also that concern about food, and she knew that they couldn't possibly stay in here forever. Kelly knew that. She knew that, but . . .
Looking at the metal door, it was the only thing that separated them and the undead out there. If she opened it now, she didn't know what she would find outside.
"What are we going to do now?" Hilde wiped her tears and sobbed before she snapped at Kelly. "This is all your fault!"
Kelly didn't deign to reply. Hilde was thin of body and thin of face with prominent ears, a sharp nose, and the faintest hint of a mustache on her upper lip. She plucked it daily and cursed it regularly, yet it never failed to return. Right now, it seemed to be darker in her distress.
"You got us in here," Hilde accused, "You will get us out."
Talking with her was exhausting, but Kelly had to reply to keep her from being hysterical.
"Keep your mouth down, idiot," Jennie hissed. She pulled a cigarette from her bag, lit it, took a long drag, and blew it over the ceiling.
Jennie was stressed. Kelly took note. She was lightning one whenever something was bothering her. Little stuff like if she was having a bad hair day, she could empty a cart within minutes.
Jennie's mouth twisted in a terrible mockery of a smile. "Gods. I swear your boobs are bigger than your brain."
They were both idiots. Kelly thought. Jennie's unwanted derision would only edge Hilde to her breaking point.
What did I get myself into? Kelly lamented. She had to take care of two spoiled brats. One with an anger issue and could explode at any moment, while the other was a hysterical bitch that had replaced her brains with silicones and fillers.
Hilde was deaf to the edge of Jennie's voice. "How can I keep calm? Do you know what situation where are in? Do you know that we can die at any moment? How can you even sit there and light your cigarettes like this doesn't concern you?"
Jennie ran her eyes over at Hilde, slow and deliberate. Her face then changed to one of wonderment when she locked her gaze on Hilde's arm. "What's that?"
Kelly spun over at Hilde's hand while the latter looked at Jennie in horror, bolting up to her feet.
"W-what? What? WHAT?!"
Jennie eyed Hilde warily, and she took a step back. "On your arm, you IDIOT!"
Hilde's face contorted in fear as she quickly checked her arm. On her smooth skin, there were patches of blisters dotting her hand. They were not easily recognizable.
Hilde almost slumped on the floor with relief. "Oh. It's only that. Don't scare me like that. I thought that I was bitten there for a moment without me knowing."
She looked at Jennie with a scowl. "What? Don't look at me like I have a disease. Your hands are blistering too."
Jennie's cigarette fell on the floor when she quickly checked her hands, and just like with Hilde, there were tiny spotted blisters over her arm.
Kelly checked hers too, and found that these blisters were in her hands as well, and when she knew of it, the itching started.
"Shit. What is this?" Jennie's brows furrowed deep.
Hilde was panicking as well and Kelly had to do something if she didn't want two wailing hysterical girls in this room together with her.
"Calm down," Kelly said, wishing that her voice was believable. "It must be the heat. Our body is responding to the heat, so the blisters."
Kelly sounded like she was convincing herself more than the others. If this was a virus and airborne and this was the first symptom, then they were in deep shit.
Without even being bitten by those undead, they would turn into zombies sooner or later by just simply breathing.
But her strategy worked as Jennie and Hilde calmed down . . . somewhat.
"I don't know. I don't want to trust this bitch. Her brain might have fallen off when we were running, and she didn't notice that she got bitten," Jennie said under her wounded pride. She didn't like to be proven wrong with her initial thought.
"What?" Hilde was quick to protest her claims. "What are you talking about? We were together the whole time. If I got bitten, then you get bitten as well. For all we know, you're the one with the wound and is turning into a zombie right now."
Jennie's eyes turned to stone. "What did you say? Dare say it again."
"I said, you're turning into those mindless flesh eaters with how rude you've become. You're no longer human. You're worse than a zombie!"
Jennie was ready to bolt towards Hilde when Kelly got between and made them see reason.
"This isn't the time to fight amongst ourselves."
"Maybe it is the right time. We have to get rid of that bitch before it's too late and she eat us all," Jennie said, each word like a whip.
Hilde sneered. "Even if I turned into a zombie, I would never eat someone as rotten as you."
"You!" Jennie's temper burst. She was quick to anger in the first place.
Her hands clawed the air, trying to grab Hilde's hair. Hilde was adding fuel to the fire by edging Jennie on. Kelly was the one suffering the brunt. She was between the two and trying her best to get them away so they wouldn't kill each other even before the zombies do.
"How about this? We both go butt naked and check each other for signs of a bite or wound. How about that?" Kelly proposed. They couldn't be arguing like this forever. It would be torture more than the heat and entrapment in this stinky place. She had to suggest a solution to make their mind at ease and bring back trust between the group if they wanted to survive here.
Jennie was the first to pull back. Catching her breath, she pulled off her clothes in one swift motion. Her eyes never lift Hilde while her lips turned up into a challenging smirk.
"Fine. I'll show you perfect skin." Hilde unbuttoned her clothes and removed her skirt as well.
"Heh. Perfect?" Jennie sneered. "Without those bloody injections, do you think you would even look human?"
The two glared and bicker at each other in their underwear while Kelly pursed her lips and stayed silent when she undressed.
Jennie paraded her white porcelain skin, very fair, with a slightly pinkish or peachy undertone. Her skin was smooth, creamy complexion that looked almost translucent. It was taken care off daily by her money, that was for sure.
Hilde's skin was different. Hers were tanned. Tanned glossy skin with a golden-brown hue. It was radiant and glowing, with a shiny, healthy-looking finish. Her Tanned skin was the result of exposure to the sun or artificial tanning methods. Another thing that money bought her.
While Kelly was . . . she had uneven skin, mostly light brown with rough texture, and visible blemishes and discoloration. Dry and flaky on the elbows and knees and oily and patchy on her face. Hers were taken care of by cheap lotions that didn't do anything but give her false promises of porcelain skin.
The three of them then began inspecting each other for bite marks. Except for the occasional blisters and Hilde's unnatural big breasts, there was nothing unusual.
Without care, Jennie lit another cigarette while Hilde went back to the water closet and clutched her hair. Kelly put on her clothes back in silent. She didn't want to be caught surprised in her underwear even though the release of her dump cloth felt heavenly.
"This really is just the heat . . . ," muttered Hilde, inspecting the blisters on her arm.
Jennie rolled her eyes." Of course, they are. What else could they be?!" she spat and scratched the blisters on her hand without thought. It popped, reddened, and blood oozed from the wound.
"Agh!" Hilde flinched from her seat, eyes wide at Jennie's arm.
"What?" Jennie snapped, her mouth in a sour line, still scratching her arm without care, her fingers covered with blood.
"Y-your arm," Kelly heard herself telling her.
Jennie frowned, stared at her hand, and shrieked so loud Kelly was so sure that the mirror would break.
Within a heartbeat, footsteps rushed into the hallway, and soon there were numerous pounding on their door.