Ward Z: Revelation by Amy Cross Page B

going to cause problems. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again.”
    “You'd better,” Lizzie replied. “I was put on toilet duty. Do you have any idea how gross it was to even go near those cubicles?” Hearing a noise at the door, she looked over just in time to see Kirsty entering the cabin. Before she could say anything, however, she felt a hand on her belly, and she looked down to see that Beth had reached out and placed a hand on her, just above the waistline of her jeans. “What are you doing?” she asked cautiously.
    A faint smile crossed Beth's lips.
    “You're being creepy,” Lizzie told her, gently taking her hand and moving it away. “Creepy's not good.”
    “It's not creepy,” Beth replied, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on Lizzie's abdomen. “It's beautiful.”
    “Double-creepy,” Lizzie muttered, before swatting Beth's hand away as it came closer. “Seriously, stop touching my gut like I'm some kind of expectant mother.”
    “You shouldn't be ashamed,” Beth said softly, with tears in her eyes. “You should embrace it instead of using all those chemicals and pills to try to kill it.”
    “Are you taking about my cancer?” Lizzie asked, horrified by the idea.
    “You guys are seriously gross,” Kirsty said from the other side of the cabin as she applied some lip-gloss. “Oh hey, Beth, sorry about going on ahead without you last night, but I knew you'd make it back okay. Unlike some people here, I didn't have you down as some dip-shit who couldn't even navigate her way through a fucking forest without someone to hold her hand.”
    “I'm fine,” Beth said, turning to her. “Really.”
    “So Todd and I are going down to the lake again tonight,” Kirsty continued. “This time, though, we'd appreciate a little privacy. It's a couple thing, okay? I don't really expect you gals to understand, but we don't want eyeballs on us, if you know what I mean.” Turning to Lizzie, she winked. “Grown-up stuff.”
    “You shouldn't go down there,” Lizzie told her. “Something's not right.”
    “What's up? Jealous? There's other guys around, although I admit none of them are as hot as Todd. Have you seen his abs?”
    “I don't like the forest here,” Lizzie continued, trying to bring up the website with her video but finding that her connection was down. “Laura and I found something out there. Something weird and... wrong.”
    “Was it your sense of style?” Kirsty asked. “Because that's weird and wrong.”
    “Don't listen to them,” Beth said suddenly. “There's nothing wrong with the forest. You should go to the lake with your boyfriend.”
    “I wouldn't say he's my boyfriend exactly,” Kirsty replied, with a broad smile that suggested she was already infatuated, “just... You know, we like hanging out together, and we definitely don't want any company tonight, okay?” She checked her make-up in a compact mirror. “Also, girls, I need your help. We won't be leaving until midnight, so it shouldn't be hard to get away without being spotted, but if anyone asks if you've seen us, just say we're not feeling well. Be really non-specific and make sure you cover our asses, because the last thing we want is someone coming down and catching us while we're...” She paused for a moment. “Holding hands,” she added with a grin. “I'll owe you big-time, okay? Deal? Girls help other girls out, don't they?”
    “Hang on,” Lizzie replied, “we -”
    “Sure,” Beth said, with a smile. “Don't worry about it. You just go and have fun.”
    “Thanks, creeps,” Kirsty said, heading back to the door. “I'll pay you back later. If you want, I can give each of you an exclusive, one-on-one make-up and fashion session for half an hour. I'm really good at stuff like that, I'll totally make you look a hundred times better.” She glanced at Lizzie. “Most of you, anyway. There's a limit to my powers, even though I'm a goddamn wizard with blush. I promise I'll do my best.”
    As she headed