Turning the bottle up and draining the rest, it suddenly occurred to her that excrement didn’t stink like that. Dropping the empty bottle, she turned to Gloria’s bed and saw Gloria lying back on the bed. Her skin was gray and her eyes were staring at the ceiling.
A small cough erupted from her chest and Wendy felt slicing pain in her throat and tasted fresh blood.
Slowly, she moved and flexed her legs as she glanced around, but didn’t see any more water bottles on the bed. Afraid to take a deep breath because it would make her cough, Wendy pulled her body out of the loop that had been holding her up. Holding the loop, she rotated her body slowly until her feet slid off the bed.
When her feet hit the floor, tingling pain shot up as blood flowed back into her legs. Seeing a bottle of water on Gloria’s bed, Wendy leaned over to grab it and opened it up. Bracing her body and mind, she turned it up to drink and felt the searing pain again.
This time, she didn’t stop drinking until the bottle was empty. Dropping it on the floor, Wendy reached over and grabbed another bottle of water from Gloria’s bed. Opening it up, she just dumped it over her head. Dropping the bottle and holding onto her loop, Wendy struggled to stand up on her wobbly legs.
The sharp, stabbing tingles slowly abated from her legs and she was able to lessen the amount of weight she was having to support. Slowly letting the loop go, Wendy leaned over and felt Gloria’s wrist. Gloria’s skin was ice cold and her wrist moved freely with no rigor mortis.
Bringing her left wrist up, Wendy blinked her eyes trying to see the date and time. “Over eighty hours,” she said, but only heard a coarse whisper. Then her throat informed her that it wasn’t ready for that by unleashing a wave of sharp pain that made her waver on her feet.
Pushing off Gloria’s bed, Wendy stumbled to the cart and snatched another bottle of water. This one she sipped, wanting the cake of funk in her mouth to wash away. Very slowly, she shuffled to the door to the balcony and opened it up.
She gave a sigh as she stepped outside and looked at Miami, or what she hoped was Miami. Studying the skyline for a second, Wendy was certain it was Miami. Turning toward the front of the ship, Wendy could see the anchor line out and then realized that they were parked about a mile off the coast. Looking back at Miami, Wendy saw columns of smoke dotting the horizon across the city.
Feeling the afternoon breeze as she sipped the water, Wendy realized there were gunshots coming from the shore. Shading her eyes with her hand, she glanced at the shore but couldn’t see anything. Looking to her right and left, she didn’t see anyone else on their balcony. Looking down, she saw the lifeboats and then she noticed at least two were missing. Very gently, Wendy turned around and headed back into the room, leaving the door open.
Stopping just inside the door, she looked at Gloria and felt very bad that she hadn’t stayed awake and forced Gloria to remain upright. But Wendy slowly realized that if she had tried sitting at Gloria’s bedside, she too would be dead. Sluggishly, Wendy shuffled into the bathroom and gave a shiver at seeing her pants lying in front of the commode, looking like a dirty diaper. Dried blood was sprayed across the wall in front of the commode and the floor was a mess.
Turning to the mirror, Wendy gave a startle when she saw her reflection. Her eyes were sunken in and her skin had a pasty cast, not to mention the blood over her face and chest. Opening her mouth, she could see thick crusty pieces of dried blood on her teeth and tongue.
Stepping closer, Wendy opened her mouth as wide as she could and felt the pain in her throat increase. Tilting her head back, she could see scabs at the back of her throat and spots where it was bleeding. Closing her mouth, Wendy reached down and turned on the faucet. Grabbing a washcloth, she dropped it in the sink and took her shirt off.
Throwing her shirt over her jeans, Wendy picked up the washcloth and wiped her face off. Then she noticed how boney her shoulders looked. Dropping her gaze in the mirror to her chest, Wendy gasped at seeing her ribs. ‘I look like a stick figure model’, she thought, not wanting to talk.
Turning the faucet off, Wendy opened the shower and turned it on, not caring if the water would be hot or cold. Stepping in, she just stood under the water before wanting hotter water. Adjusting the handles, she grabbed the soap and washed as well as she could while struggling to maintain her balance.
When she stepped out, Wendy felt better and moved to the sink and grabbed her toothbrush. Brushing her teeth, Wendy gave a sigh of contentment, imagining the toothbrush scraping the fur off her teeth. Almost dry by the time she’d finished brushing her teeth, Wendy brushed her hair out and then studied her reflection again.
She was still skinny and pale with sunken eyes, but she didn’t look like a zombie.
Moving back into the room, she dug in her suitcase to pull out some jogging pants and t-shirt. After she was dressed in clean clothes, again she felt better. Avoiding looking at Gloria’s body, Wendy moved to the cart and grabbed several Jell-O containers. She opened them up and grabbed a plastic spoon and carefully ate, grimacing with each
