XG 4 - Calendar friends

 

Rubbing her face roughly with her palm to keep her alert, she fought to grasp her frayed emotions. Her effort to contain her trembles failed, even if she firmly believed she did not owe her friends anything that would require her to sacrifice her life for them. She could not even protect herself. She did not call their phone to avoid distracting them or being the one that exposed their hiding place. There was no knowing whether their mobiles were in silent mode or not.

 

With shaking fingers, she spammed the chat room with her mother with glaring spelling errors, asking where she was and telling her about the zombie outbreak. 

 

"Don't die, mother," Wong Xue Guo whispered, clutching tightly onto her phone that was still on the chat page, without any response from her mother. 

 

Should I go out and run to the entrance? 

 

But she was afraid her mother would be coming from a different direction. Unfortunately, this was the first time Wong Xue Guo came to this new shopping mall to play and does not know all the exits. Her driver had dropped them off earlier at the main entrance, which was the only exit she knew of. 

 

Anxious about the danger her mother will meet when she arrives, she browses the social media after searching for the news of Diamond mall, this building’s name. Indeed, there were some people that shared the same mind-set as Low Lin Ya and recorded videos of this rare incident in disregard for their safety. 

 

But they also provided news on the current situation to her.

 

She clicked the latest video shared by a user and her pupils dilated when she noticed the antagonist of this video. She recognized the predator was that girl eaten in Low Lin Ya's live stream! She was no longer the victim and had joined the enemy camp!

 

Shit, the turning speed was too fast! It was not even fifteen minutes!

 

Her phone vibrated under her hand and she quickly looked at it. Her mother replied!

 

Mother: Stay hiding inside the toilet. Don't go anywhere. No matter what you hear, don't go out. I'm coming.

 

Well, staying here does not sound bad at all! But how does her mother plan to enter the shopping mall, bypass the danger and make her way to the highest floor? 

 

Wong Xue Guo does not know how many people had been bitten, or eaten, by that zombie-like woman. There should be many that had been infected and joined in to bite other people. At this rate, she does not know how many zombies have been created.

 

This shopping mall had entered the red alert zone, which was reported in the news a few seconds ago. The police were making their way here and intended to seal the exit, where no one was allowed to enter or leave the building.

 

How will her mother get in?

 

Her mother was only a rich housewife that was good at socializing, leading the trend, and doing charities. Her main concern was her appearance which she obsessively maintained 24/7, just in case her husband would return home at the drop of a hat, or accept video calls from him.

 

Towards her husband that seldom came home, her mother was truly dedicated to him. If her father had not shown his love towards her mother, Wong Xue Guo would have long ago thought her mother was blinded by one-sided love, or blinded by her father's handsome face.

 

Sincerely, Wong Xue Guo had nothing to complain about her parents who were still a loving couple even after eighteen years of marriage. She had only hoped they would show genuine concern for their only child.

 

Wong Xue Guo does not know whether she hoped her mother could arrive before the police blockade or not. She does not want to die, yet she does not want her mother to get into danger either.

 

She could only hope her mother intends to rescue her by ordering her bodyguards… wait!

 

As if being electrocuted, her whole body trembled once her mind connected pieces of clues from the conversation with her parents.

 

Her mother had been anxious and told her to hide.

 

Her father was telling her to find a weapon and to stab the 'enemies' through their hearts.

 

Could it be they know about the outbreak way earlier from their own channel? Or were they involved with the source of this disease? 

 

Was her father, the pharmacy chain owner, the boss behind the scene over a group of kidnapped scientists and forced them to create a strange drug that led to this disease?

 

Wong Xue Guo scolded herself for thinking too much. She had been watching too many apocalypse movies that made her think up a plot, with her father starring as the main villain in it, way too easily. 

 

But she could not just ignore her doubts. The most positive, decent reason she could think of was her parents were notified by the government insider, likely about one of the infected had run out or escaped to this shopping mall. 

 

There had to be a reason.

 

The peaceful environment inside the washroom was immediately shattered when the entrance door swung open loudly. Her heart immediately flew and stuck in her throat in panic.

 

She was instantly relieved when the newcomers were two women with high heels who made a lot of noise. But what was even louder than their clacking high heels were their panicking cries and the repeated questions of 'why' and 'what's going on' as if answers would fall from the sky.

 

Ding! Pig teammates entered your team! ∑d(°∀°d)

 

Rubbing her temple, Wong Xue Guo regretted that she should have locked the main door. 

 

Sitting still, she used her hearing and imagination to gauge the two women's movements. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard a pair of footsteps walking deeper into the washroom, accompanied by the sound of cubicle doors opening. 

 

It was her own survival instinct that had her pulling her legs up so that the people outside did not discover there was someone in this last cubicle. It was cruel of her to think that she would die by accident if they teamed up, but they had not bothered to keep the noise down after entering the washroom.

 

Will those zombies be attracted by sound? Could they see?

 

It was better for her to pretend she was not here and obey her mother's instructions. No matter what happened, unless a zombie destroyed her cubicle, she would not make it difficult for her mother to locate her.

 

Ahhhhh! Of all the types of apocalypses, oh great world, why do you choose zombies?!  (╬ Ò﹏Ó)

 

Her head really hurts. 

 

Wong Xue Guo's cubicle door shook, including her own heart, as the woman outside tried to push open the door. "Is someone in there?"

 

"Stop looking, May," the other female called out anxiously. "We need to hide quickly!"

 

If May had gone down on her knee and peered into the wide gap under the cubicle door, she could have seen Wong Xue Guo, but alas, her friend had called her away and she lost the opportunity. 

 

Also, if Wong Xue Guo was a locked-in zombie, they would be in trouble for trying to pry open the door. She does not understand what made them choose to hide inside the toilet instead of running to the exit.

 

Did they think the army or police force would come to rescue them soon? Sorry to disappoint, but from what the news stated, it was rather unlikely. 

 

Wong Xue Guo flinched when the cubicle door a few doors away banged open, which was then accompanied by May's soft scolding of, "June!"

 

So they are calendar friends.

 

"Let's pick this cubicle," May suggested and June agreed by action. Both of them choose to hide together and fortunately, the cubicle was designed with more space. 

 

There were a total of nine cubicles in the washroom, designed to accommodate a large number of customers and even have the same number of basins without needing to queue. Did her mother tell her to hide in the last cubicle hoping that the danger would visit her last?