Y Sunday, February 15, 2009
12:26 am
Happy friendship day.Okay I've never held any fancy for this day. For starters, it ain't a school holiday. Second, everywhere seems exceptionally crowded. Third, certain things are insanely, exorbitantly priced. Read: Roses, flowers. Mum's birthday was on the 8th, so I decided to buy her flowers! What a coincidence eh? If it was just 2 days earlier I wouldn't have had to pay a premium.
Great day to milk cash from the people I say. I'd say it's good this time, because well, people need to spend money.
I'm not going to bother to describe the day. It was underwhelming. On with the delayed chapter IV.
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"Used to wad?" She asked dully as she leveled her large eyes to mine and met my gaze.
I couldn't believe it. Here I am scared shitless and here is this random girl crying on the street as if she owned the damn place. It's a zombie infestation, not a Hollywood movie, for Christ's sakes.
Christ's sakes? Yeah well, so much for God smiting evil eh? Oh hell, Jesus did rise from the dead, maybe this is all part of the divine plan. Judgment day. Great, and there was still so many things I had to do.
"Nevermind. Just look alive, we have to move, get to the police station. There could be someone, or at the very least, something useful there. Come on." I muttered as I stretched my hand out and extended my palms.
"Hah.. k lor. Your gun carefool abit ah."
She sounded almost resigned, it was cute. Not that she had a choice. I was the one with the gun.
Somehow, I couldn't shake off this feeling that we're running out of time, a ticking clock at the back of my head. It's as if something's watching us, and once the time's up, we're done. Whatever it is, we definitely have to move.
Her fingers curled around my palms softly, but her grip was surprisingly firm, perhaps even more so than mine. I had to admit, I was still pretty shaken. I mean, god, fancy telling this story to the news. Yeah. It'd sound incredible alright, incredibly stupid.
"My name is Ka mei, wad your name?" She volunteered.
"Ian. Wait what was that? Ka-wha? Ah geez, nevermind. You have a new name now, it's Kate."
Wasn't that I had anything against her name. It was just a pain to remember any name that wasn't in English. Besides, Kate's good. Short, sweet. Her brows knitted and she frowned. Looks like Kate doesn't like her new name.
"Wad new name?! Can anyhow giv one meh! Is Ka mei!"
"Alrighty Kate. Sorry Kate. Won't happen again Kate. Can we go now, Kate?" I really didn't have time for this. Shifting my weight to another foot, I turned around and walked briskly towards the neighbourhood police post.
Hmm, odd, she wasn't keeping up.
It wasn't that I cared, but I couldn't leave her behind. I craned my neck and I saw Kate doubled over, apparently wincing in pain.
Shit, was she infected? No, I couldn't take any chances
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It was as if time had stopped. The two figures paused, with one hunched over. Ever so slowly and hesitantly, Ian raised his pistol and lined up the sights.
"Kate? Hey girl you alright?"
No reply.
"C'mon girl, this is not funny."
The pounding in Ian's head grew heavier and louder as he inched towards the female figure. He could feel the adrenaline levels in his body spiking with each successive step. If she even so much as moved an inch...
"Who Kate sia? You call who! K la, my leg pain, cannot wa.." she looked up to a gun trained on her and paused in shock.
"Oh.. alrigh.. what?" Ian hesitated. The sight was something that any man would stop at.
------
Are those tears? Oh come on, seriously. Jesus. Why the hell is she crying? Oh shit, the gun.
"Uhh oh right umm, sorry bout that, got worried you know." Damn that was lame. Didn't look like she bought it either. I thumbed off the safety and holstered the gun before raising both hands up.
"No gun, see?" No go. Unfortunately for me, no tears didn't come with it.
"Can you please don point that thing at me anymore, please? I really don like it.." Kate said weakly. Her breathing was staccato and her chest heaved slightly. Okay, she's really spooked. My bad.
------
"I'm sorry, I should have trusted you." Ian moved close and whispered.
"Let's have a look at those feet, alright? Sit down."
Kate nodded slowly and sat gingerly on the concrete floor, smoothening her skirt and clasping her thighs. Ian appreciated the sense of proprietary, but thought it odd coming from a girl like her.
"Left or right?" He asked softly. He was really sorry about it, but truth be told, he was stretching his patience to its limits. Still, it was his fault. You break it, you fix it.
She pointed to her right feet and swayed it slightly.
Extreme care was an understatement to describe the way he removed the heels, but Kate winced and sniffed anyway, wiping the tears from her eyes. Her eyeliner on the right eye formed a short gash as it smeared towards her nose.
Ian frowned. She had been trying to run with these heels, and the skin around her ankles were badly scraped, glowering with angry red streaks.She needs to change out of these.
"You're going to need something more comfortable." He asserted and glanced back up.
"Ya.." Kate croaked.
"Hey, close your eyes for a second." And she did. Ian used his thumb and wiped the smudge off. Kate opened her eyes and looked at him quizzically.
Ian smiled. "Your eyeliner ran. No more crying alright? Give me a smile."
Her lips curled upwards as she gave an affirmative nod. Ian crouched and beckoned her onto his back.
"Let's get you some shoes. Come on, I know just the place."
Climbing onto his back, the two made their way under the cover of night.