by McKay, Faith
"Hurry," Dee called after them. They may not have been very intuitive, but they were helpful.
She rubbed Gerri's arm and told her nice things, like that when she woke up she'd be in a clean room, on drugs, with no zombies or blood or anything bad at all. She promised to bring her chocolate and flowers, and made a mental note to look up what else was appropriate for hospital visits.
It felt like forever, but was obviously less time than that, when the medics jogged over with those two same soldiers and carefully helped get Gerri onto the stretcher.
"All things considered, you girls did a great thing today," the guy soldier said.
Dee wasn't sure if he was being serious or sarcastic, but didn't really care, not with Gerri knocked out and blood everywhere and, just, everything else.
Sadie said, "Okay, buh-bye now," and Dee almost smiled at the way she had blown him off.
Gerri's body bobbed all around while they hurried back across the stadium and up onto the stage. The medics said the fastest way to the hospital was through the exit they'd broken open, and it wasn't like Gerri was aware of it anyway. The girls and Noah jogged alongside the stretcher, waiting for an opportunity to be helpful.
Jo and Noah and Carrie—the tall people—helped the medics hoist the stretcher up to the stage. There were stairs off to the side blocked by a gate for security, but a pile of bodies blocked the way. Letting Noah and Carrie boost Dee up was everyone's preference.
While she stood on the stage and waited for the others to climb up, Dee looked out over her audience. They'd all been so happy and excited to be there, to see her, and now, they were dead. The soldiers were standing around behind her, organizing their efforts to stop the bodies from getting up again. That was the most that could be offered them: the privilege of staying dead. It was just so much waste.
Dee asked, "Why did this happen?" mostly to herself, but then looked to see if anyone had heard her.
"I don't know," Sadie said.
"I can't even make sense of what happened," Carrie said, "let alone why."
"Same," Jo said. She was out of breath and looked a little like she could fall over any second. It was weird to see her not in control of herself. Carrie, too. She hated to imagine what she, herself, looked like.
The medics were having a hard time maneuvering Gerri around all the bodies on the stage. It was a good thing Gerri was passed out, with all the jostling and lack of progress. If Gerri had been awake, she'd have been pissed. Or possibly making rude jokes. It was hard to say with Gerri.
A group of soldiers exited the hall, shouting to the others that the rooms had all been cleared. Teegan was in the center of their group, saying, "And my mom said it was completely useless to learn, but I guess I showed her, huh?"
She waved to Dee when she saw her.
Carrie let out a sigh of relief. "I really thought she wouldn't make it."
"Oh my god!" Dee cried. "Then why'd we leave her there?"
Carrie tipped her head to the side, as if it wasn't a big deal, and said, "I was scared we'd all die."
"Well, I wasn't," Dee said.
Sadie smiled. "Of course not. You're too small to die, right?"
"Too fabulous," Dee corrected.
Carrie pointed. "Who's that?"
A man in a pristine blue suit with a bright green skinny tie strolled toward them, stepping over bodies without giving them a second glance. Dee thought he looked familiar, but couldn't quite place him.
“Damien Dixon,” Noah whispered. “Board of executives."
"He was at my auditions, I think,” Sadie said.
Damien stopped in front of them and asked, "And what's happened here?" like he was looking at spilled milk, instead of an unthinkable disaster.
The medics stopped walking, and Dee told them, "Hos-pi-tal." They started moving again, but slower, like they weren't sure what they should be doing.
"Gerri's been hurt," Sadie told him, like it was any of his business.
He pulled out a handkerchief in that same bright fabric and wrapped it around his fingers. He raised a hand, signaling for the medics to stop. They did.
"Hospital!" Dee yelled at the medics, and then to the suit, she said, "What are you doing?"
He gingerly rolled Gerri's head to the other side. "Well, it's not her face," he noted. To the medics, he asked, "Will she be ready for a meeting with the press tomorrow morning?"
"Get the hell away from her!” Carrie yelled, swatting the guy's hand away. “And you! Medical people! Get our friend out of here! Now!" Dee had never liked Carrie better.
The medics were at a complete loss for what to do until Damien gestured for them to go ahead and leave.
"Oh good. Your attitude is in tact." He looked over his shoulder, where Willa was staring into one of the holes in the stage floor where the platforms should have been.
"Good luck with them, Willa." He pulled out his phone and started talking into it, so maybe his phone was given special priority in the system and worked, or maybe he was a nutcase. Whatever the case, Dee didn't like him. He walked away from them, luckily before Carrie decided to chop off his head. Dee wouldn't put it past her. She was still carrying her machete.
The four of them, and Noah, were rushing after the still slow moving medics. Willa called after them. They ignored her.
"The doctors can take care of Gerri," Willa said. "We have work to do!"
Sadie grumbled, "I can't even believe this."
"After tonight, you wouldn't think anything could surprise us,” Carrie said.
"Noah!" Willa yelled. "I will fire you. Stop them!”
Noah shook his head but didn't turn around.
The girls climbed up into the back of the ambulance. It was a tight fit, and Dee crammed against the wall to avoid getting in the way. The medics said something about not enough room, or rules, or some nonsense like that, but none of them paid them any mind. Dee was still too jittery to feel safe, and she couldn't stand the thought of leaving Gerri alone, even if she hadn't been unconscious with her insides sticking out. No. They weren't leaving Gerri alone for a second.
Willa grabbed one of the ambulance doors just as it was closing. She said, "Get out here right now Divas, or else!"
"Um, no?" Dee said.
Carrie got up and ripped Willa's hand off the door. "Meghan's dead, by the way." Carrie closed the door and yelled out for them to get to the hospital already.
A few minutes before, Dee had been sure that Gerri was going to recover in a hospital room with chocolate and cute nurses. Now she was watching medics stick needles in her while they sped over bumpy roads. She couldn't stop thinking about all the people she'd seen die. The night was catching up to her, and it was a night for dead people. "Gerri's going to be okay, right?"
"Gerri's going to be fine," Noah said.
"How do you know?" Jo asked.
Noah just shrugged. Dee wished Jo hadn't asked.
But then, the best thing happened. The voice she most needed to hear croaked up at her and said, “Because.” Gerri swatted a medic's hand away. “Assholes like me never die first.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Faith McKay is a thoughtful scribbler. She lives to write and only has bad days when she forgets that fact. When she’s not writing she can be found enjoying horror and comedy with equal abandon. She spends a lot of time looking for amazing horror-comedy works. When she’s found a good one you can hear her shouting things like “Ha! Right in the eye!” while giggling uncontrollably.
She grows a little weirder every day.
You can find out more about Faith and her books at www.McKayManor.com
Blood & Glitter (Deadly Divas, #2)
COMING SOON
TEEGAN
She didn't know what to do with hers
elf. She couldn't go to work because the band was out of commission with Gerri in the hospital. Her mom was hovering. She'd been in the middle of a huge zombie attack, so it was hard to tell her that it wasn't that big of a deal, but it really wasn't. She was fine. She'd killed a couple zombies, right in the thick of it with the Deadly Divas themselves! Teegan was better than fine. Teegan was a badass.
Her mom really didn't like the word badass. Even more than she disliked that Teegan had killed zombies. What did her mom want her to do? Let them kill her? Moms.
When Gerri texted Teegan about the awful hospital food, Teegan jumped at the chance to get back to work.
“You can't go!” Her mother was really putting her foot down.
“But Mom! I'll bring my crossbow!”
Her mom looked a little sick. “Leave the crossbow,” she said. “I still can't believe that man let you have his crossbow.”
“I defended his office! Of course he let me keep it.” Sometimes her mom made no sense at all.
Teegan was going to borrow her neighbor's bicycle to get there faster, but wasn't sure she'd be able to carry all the food and balance the strawberry lemonades while riding. It was only a mile to the hospital, anyway. She ran.
The place across the street didn't have strawberry lemonade, but Gerri said that was okay. She was cool like that.
Carrie greeted her in the hospital waiting room and led her past security to their room. Nobody was allowed in that whole hallway for Gerri's security. Nobody, except Teegan. Badass.
The hospital room looked like any other hospital room, really. That was one of the things Teegan was learning while working with the Deadly Divas. Their lives weren't all glamorous all the time, they were where the glamour came from.
Gerri's leg was in a cast. It was propped up on her bed. Teegan felt awful that Gerri had broken her leg. It was amazing how the Divas had all gone out on that field to defend all those people like that. Teegan still wished they would have let her go with. Someday, she promised herself.
The rest of the girls had chairs pulled up around the bed. They all had fresh clothes and makeup on, except Gerri, who wore a hospital gown. Dee had a makeup kit organized on one of the doctor's trays and was hard at work on Gerri's foundation. Jo pushed the tray out of her way when she saw Teegan's arms full of food.
“Teegan!” Dee yelled. “It's so great to see you. And with food!”
“Thanks Teegan,” Carrie said. Her eyes were wide as she unwrapped the burrito she'd taken from the pile.
“Yes, thank you, Teegan,” Dee said.
Her arms emptied, Teegan twisted her fingers together. She didn't want to go, but she wasn't sure if it was weird for her to stay any longer. They all had their food now. “Well,” she said. “I'm glad I could help. If you need anything else...” She took a step away.
“Do you wanna stay?” Dee asked. She wiped her mouth with the napkin, and frowned at the makeup she'd just wiped off.
“Really?” Teegan asked. “You don't mind?”
“Of course,” Sadie said.
“Yeah, hon,” Gerri said. “You're more than a drink minion, you scary little thing, you.”
“What'd you call me?” Teegan asked.
“Scary,” Gerri said. “It's a compliment, kid. Take it. Where's your crossbow?”
Teegan rolled her eyes, embarrassed. “Mom made me leave it at home.”
“Probably for the best,” Gerri said. “I don't think they'd let you bring it into the hospital.”
“I didn't think about that,” Teegan said. They were so smart. Teegan focused on not saying all of the things that came into her head, like, I think your concert outfits were so great, and I can't wait to get back to work, and I never knew how weird it was going to be to see someone I know die. It was weird to miss Meghan. Meghan wasn't very nice, in fact, Teegan was scared of her. It was weird to miss someone she was scared of. She wished she knew somebody she could talk about stuff like that to.
Gerri crumpled up the wrapper to her burrito and tossed it at the bouquet of flowers across the room. “Who brought me those?”
Sadie coughed and answered, “Last Chance Records.”
“Teegan?” Gerri asked. Teegan jumped up. “Can you grab those flowers for me and drop them out the window?”
“What?” Carrie asked. “Don't tell her to do that.” Teegan was already doing it. “Just because you broke your leg doesn't mean you can just go back to being grouchy and weird, you know.”
“I love you, too, Carrie,” Gerri said. “Remind me to talk to you like this if you're ever in the hospital, honey.”
The flowers dropped the four floors to the sidewalk below. The vase burst apart, tossing the flowers everywhere. Teegan wished she'd thought to record it.
“So Gerri,” Sadie said, “why'd you throw your flowers out the window?”
Gerri sighed. She looked right at Teegan, and for a second, Teegan thought she was in trouble for throwing the flowers out like she'd told her. Had she not been serious? But then Gerri looked over at the rest of the divas, and Teegan went back to being a part of the background. A very happy, eager to be there, part of the background.
“She can throw her flowers out the window if she wants to,” Dee said. “I mean, like, she almost died!”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “She broke her leg!”
“There were zombies,” Dee said.
“We all faced zombies,” Carrie said. “We all almost died.”
“Well, if someone sends you flowers you can throw them out the window, then,” Dee said. Teegan thought it was a fair argument, but knew she wasn't supposed to voice her opinion on the matter.
“No one's letting Gerri talk,” Jo said.
“What is it, Gerri?” Dee asked. “Do you need more drugs? More food? An excuse to call the cute nurse in? Do you want more flowers to throw out the window?”
“You need to stop babying her,” Sadie said.
“Guys,” Jo said again.
Everyone turned to look at Jo. When she pointedly looked at Gerri, the rest of them looked her way and went quiet. Gerri took a deep breath. She didn't look scared—none of them ever looked scared—but her lips were pinched together and Teegan had the idea that Gerri didn't want to say whatever she was about to say. Teegan couldn't believe no one was kicking her out of the room.
“Noah said something to me before this all happened,” Gerri said. She leaned forward and whispered, “I think we have a problem with the record company, divas.”
