Day 3: Death by Vanity III

Lilly was again surprised by another case where humans behaved even worse than zombies. She was carefully trying to disinfect the wounds on the face of one of the women of the beauty salon while George made sure to apply a cloth with cold water to the other woman who had her face burned.

—Who did such an atrocity to you? —George felt very sorry for the woman he was treating. —I know it hurts, and you may want to scratch it, but there are too many blisters on your left cheek area. I will try to lessen the pain as much as possible.

The woman with the burned face hugged herself as she knew that the only person who could give her comfort was herself. Lilly took pity and told her not to speak unless it was necessary.

—Were there more women? —Lilly asked, frightened.

—Seven more were killed! All of them were killed and... that bitch finished torturing them by dyeing their hair, combing their hair and putting make-up on them. She didn't just humiliate the corpses! She went on saying her shit about how they should leave this world "beautiful" before a zombie ate them, that it was much more "dignified" to be killed by her than to be dismembered by the dead. What a stupidity! —The young woman with multiple cuts on her face responded aggressively. —That fucking bitch fucked up our faces, scarred us for life..... Her sick concept of beauty did this to us... I hope her fat ass rots in hell. I'm thankful the bald man showed up and shot the shit out of her!

—No one will hurt you anymore, ladies... uh... —George didn't know the women's names. Tennyson went to his medicine cabinet to get out some clean bandages. Making the rooftop office a new "infirmary" or checkpoint was useful, as he felt that having the civilians out in the open and examining them before bringing them into the shelter would be quite helpful.

—I'm Tanisha Johnson by the way. God, I'm so angry! I wish I'd had the chance to get my hands on that bitch and give her a real facial reconstruction... Good thing she got eaten by the dead, that fucking ho!

Tanisha began to cry with anger because when she looked at herself in the mirror she was disgusted to see her face, she felt that she was not her, that she was destroyed for life.

Tanisha Johnson—Janet... Brown... Brown... Bakery... —The woman with the burned face couldn't stop crying because of her face, besides she had that strange feeling of wanting to scratch her face but she knew she couldn't and shouldn't do it.

Janet Brown—Clark is talking to our leaders about some things he saw when he went down to the square. We are currently planning to wipe out the dead of Grand Mont Plaza and take over the whole site, but Clark thinks we should start focusing on removing the bodies, burning them preferably. —George replied ever so politely. —I'm almost done, Janet.

—My beautiful face! Ruined by a deranged whore... Will it leave a mark, nurse?

—With treatment the scars may be less... visible, though it will take a long time for them to heal. The one who should complain would be Janet, Tanisha, she can barely speak and we'll make sure that the marks the woman made on her face won't leave serious after-effects. —Lilly could only sigh tiredly at Tanisha's constant complaints.

—And what did you ladies do for a living? Before the outbreak. I was a paramedic at Vallimorth General Hospital. And you? —George wanted to start a topic of conversation to calm the situation.

—I was a waitress at the Booty Bar, a place located in the Tourist Center of the city. I used to tip well because people thought I was pretty... But now? —Tanisha was disappointed.

—Cakes... bakery... God... burn... scratch...

Janet was still crying. To soothe the feeling George went to his medicine cabinet to try to find a cream to treat the burns, especially relaxing the affected skin area. Soon this was applied to Janet who continued to tear up.

—What about help? The policemen, the army, I need to get out of this mall to get urgent help! —Tanisha expressed her discontent.

—The police will not come, nor the army. Vallimorth has succumbed and I honestly don't think we will get out of the mall for a long time. We have been trapped here for several days. I personally went out into the streets... there are some very bad people killing civilians and the streets are blocked by both vehicles and barricades —George replied rather despondently. —It's hell.

—I guess it's a little late to ask for the other emergency services, isn't it? —Tanisha could only laugh to show her discomfort.

—We actually have a fireman here. He said that when he tried to get out of the city the roads were blocked by cars, hundreds of cars... apparently people tried to escape by both routes, both inbound and outbound... it all went very wrong. We don't have an exact plan on how to escape from Vallimorth —George removed his latex gloves and deposited them in a specific trash can.

—And even the army hasn't been able to intervene? This is so stupid! Charlotte Hall always said we would be safe and promised us immediate action on any problems we might face as a community —Tanisha expressed her displeasure.

—Either she lied, or they had no Plan B for the dead to come back to life. Look, ladies, we have already checked that you have not been bitten and show no signs of infection. Go into the shelter, rest and try to talk to the other civilians about a possible plan to help each other. —George sighed tiredly, he had worked too hard in just one day.

—God... this couldn't be more disgusting. What about that place? A warehouse? Do you really expect us to feel comfortable in a fucking warehouse? This is humiliation!

—We're in no position to get demanding, Tanisha! It is what it is. If you want to stay alive you have to accept that the world is not like it used to be, you have to understand that your vanity died back there. Nobody cares if you're pretty or not, if you're a man or a woman, or whatever shit you are or were. Zombies care about your flesh and nothing else, so shut your mouth and stop whining. —George raised his voice the moment he heard another of the woman's complaints. —Did you understand or shall I explain it to you? Forget about your life of luxury! Forget about being the center of attention. Don't make the group uncomfortable if you don't want to go back there.

Tanisha remained silent and made a grimace of displeasure.

—I'm staying because I don't have a choice even if this place seems to be a real shithole. If I had known I would never have come to this mall... Fucking D'on, leaving me alone with a bunch of strangers.

—D'on?

—My boyfriend, doctor... ah... Tennyson. We got separated during the massacre and I haven't seen him since. I came with him to this stupid mall to see the fucking premiere of "Daughters of the Street", however we couldn't see the movie because the zombies ate people. Before going to the cinema we went to this restaurant... "Royale Velvet". D'on and I saw how some asshole ripped of the jaw of some waitress... It was fucking horrible!

—Royale Velvet you say?

—Yeah! Then D'on fucking let me to die... He decided to save his ass before his girlfriend's...

—I was at Royale Velvet since this started... with my... husband. We were too close of the incident you describe... it was much worse, the woman and the guy who ripped her jaw killed a guy close to us... then we escaped. Why I didn't see you, Tanisha? —Tennyson was surprised.

—I was at the second floor when it happened. Well, at least we have something in common, Doc... —Tanisha crossed her arms.

—Well, I have to go. I need things from the Infirmary to take care of Janet... Hey, Janet, come with me. And... Tanisha, you should think about the way you're going to introduce to the survivors... In this world first impressions are everything.

Tennyson left the checkpoint and left Lilly in Markus' hands to keep an eye on her and Tanisha.

—You must learn to cooperate, Tanisha. We're a group and groups don't like people who complain about everything. Look, I don't like this of living with strangers either, depending on them, I know you are an independent woman and you don't like to receive help, but you must understand... we are all in the same bag.

—It's not just that, Lilly! I have a life, I have a family, they must be waiting for me and... I can't waste time in this stupid mall. A bitch slashed my face and now... I feel humiliated, so angry because I couldn't defend myself... And I have to accept the epidemic so easily? I don't have the right to complain anymore about something that is happening?

—You can complain, Tanisha, but try not to take it out on people or opportunities. You will understand how lucky you are to have a group, a roof over your head, a bed and a plate of food. I'm not saying it will be easy, but at least... try.

Lilly put her hand on Tanisha's hand and smiled at her.

—Can you do that at least?

—Okay... but no promises.

The African-American woman nodded, for somehow the attending nurse was right.

Next Chapter

Chapter 3: Prayers for the Slayers Part V