*Ominous laughter*
Oh, look! It's the Finale Arc!
Prepare yourselves
That is all I will say
A day had passed and Mei still hadn't come out of the office.
Aria's nose was slowly healing, although navigating around the store room safely with a swollen nose, cheek, and jaw was difficult. Roberto seemed to be hovering around her like a worried parent, always grabbing things for her and helping her out of her seat. It was endearing, sure, but Aria could still take care of herself.
After his snap at the group yesterday, everyone was wary of the once-quiet Roberto. Even Freddy, who once hung around Roberto and regularly chatted to him when Alec or Jun were absent, was keeping a good distance from him. Aria was certain she'd have to take care of that soon, but right now she needed to deal with the whole Mei business.
No sounds had come from the office, nor any signs of Mei moving from her spot under the desk. Wendy had walked past the door a few times, glancing inside, but Aria could never read her expression. She was too guarded, always cautious, and always made sure to go back to Iza's side when she left the door.
Thanks to all of this combined, Aria was reluctant to go back into the office. The bruising around her throat had started to show, and she was certain Mei would notice when she went in, but she couldn't let that stop her. (Although Aria was sure to wrap a makeshift scarf around her neck, which would still raise questions and assumptions anyway.)
She knocked on the door lightly, chip packet tucked safely under her arm, and waited a moment to see if she got a response. When none came, and a glance behind her displayed rather displeased group members, she let herself in and shut the door carefully behind her. It was time to confront Mei and make sure she was okay, as well as feed her and make sure she wouldn't starve herself to death. Aria carefully crept around the desk, seating herself once she saw Mei crouched under it, and opened the chips with a loud rattle of the plastic.
Mei looked up slowly, virtually all of her bite gone and replaced with hopelessness.
"Hungry?" Aria asked, ignoring the scent of crab wafting from the chips. Mei shook her head and kept her eyes on Aria. With a sigh, Aria scooped out some for herself before sliding the rest over to the younger girl. "Just in case, okay?"
More silence settled over them, filled only with the awkward crunches of chips every time Aria ate one.
Guilt nipped at Aria's mind, several sentences on the tip of her tongue, but all were lost as Mei watched her pitifully from under the desk. Aria groaned slightly, flopping back against the wall - only to then cringe as the pain in her head returned.
"Are you okay?"
She damn near jumped at the sound of the other girl's voice, hardly used to it being so quiet. "Uh, yeah," Aria said. "Not too bad - we put some ice on it last night so it's not gonna swell up or anything."
"I didn't, ah, damage it too bad?"
"Damage it?" Aria chuckled, waving a hand lightly. "Nah, just a mild concussion. Wendy fixed it right up."
The look Mei gave her was priceless: Eyes wide, face blank, head snapping up so fast that it hit the desk. Aria chuckled again, rubbed her head, and adjusted her scarf. Mei took notice, eyes casting down to the ugly thing.
"What's under the scarf?" she asked. Her voice held a hint of a demand, almost as though she were returning to her old self. Aria shrugged at her.
"Bruises," she said simply. "Thought I'd hide them so you wouldn't feel as guilty. That okay with you?"
Mei was silent for a moment, watching the canary yellow scarf with a frown. As she did, Aria took notice of the dark circles around her eyes. Had she even slept last night?
"Thanks," she finally said. As though to show she were okay with it, Mei finally reached out and took a chip from the bag. "And... 'M sorry I smacked you 'round yesterday."
"You were in the right." Aria yawned. She'd barely gotten any sleep the night before thanks to the headache that came with the damage. If only Mei knew just how destructive she'd been last night. According to Wendy, Aria wasn't allowed to sleep until the swelling went down. Little to no blood had been seeping from the wound, but it did require a delicate spray of water to clean it up before ice was applied. "I should've read your body language better and stopped assuming. I guess I was just used to you being, as you put it, a cunt. But hey, in the end it was the right choice. You made the decision we couldn't, and you even made sure Sora didn't suffer. I'm sure she's thankful for that."
A nod came from the younger girl, who shoved another chip into her mouth. "She was," she said. "She said to me, 'You're a good person, Mei. Thank you for doing this.' That's kinda why I lost it yesterday."
Ah, so that was why she'd screamed it at Aria. Mei was being antagonized and yet she was the only one who knew what Sora was thinking in those last moments. No wonder Mei was pushed to breaking point. "Well, you are - I mean-"
"Bullshit," Mei laughed. "I'm a shit and nothing will change that. I mean, I almost killed you in cold blood yesterday-"
"Oh, come on, gimmie some credit, Mei-"
"-and I've pretty much turned the whole group against me at the moment-"
"Hey, Roberto's done the same - they kinda fear him now because he raised his voice yesterday-"
"-on top of that, I've given you so much shit to put up with that I wouldn't be surprised if you left me behind like all the other families did."
That earned a confused stare. "What do you mean?"
With an easy shrug, Mei leaned back and sank in her spot, kicking her feet up against the top edge of the space. "All the other families that adopted me never had me for long," she explained. "I was too 'high maintenance' and caused a lot of trouble. Pretty sure I set one of my foster sisters' hair on fire at some point because she harassed me about me sleeping with her boyfriend - which I didn't do. It was his twin brother," she added fondly.
"Yeesh," Aria muttered. "Was she okay?"
Mei scoffed. "She bitched about her hair being burnt off and shit, but she was fine. No burns on her scalp and no scarring, aside from the mental scars I left her with. I learned that you couldn't cure bitchface with fire."
"Naturally."
"Oh, but they weren't the worst family!" Mei turned rapidly in her spot, scooting out and sitting in front of Aria with the chips between them. "There was this one family, and I swear to God I'm so glad I left within twenty-four hours. They had this uncle living with them - apparently there was something wrong with his house and he needed a place to stay, so his sister invited him over in the guest room - and he made life for the couple's kids hell. This was like a few weeks after this fight where some bitch decided to shank me" - she pointed to her stomach scar, tapping it twice - "and I'd begun carrying a pocket knife so I could get her back when I saw her again - y'know, eye for an eye and all that crap. So I'm staying in the room with the daughter, probably a couple of years older than me, and she keeps on asking me to help her find a hiding place. I didn't what the fuck was going on, so I ignored her. But oh, I found out soon after what she meant.
"Turned out, the uncle was a sick motherfucker-"
"Jesus Christ-"
"-and he snuck into the room while I was there, and went for my bed first. That shit chose the wrong day to do it, because I was sleeping with my knife under my pillow and I wasn't taking any shit from anyone after what that bitch pulled last time."
"What'd you do?"
"I stabbed the fucker through the hand and threatened to chop off his balls if he tried to come into that room ever again. Turns out the parents weren't heavy sleepers and came rushing in, confiscated my knife, and then got the daughter's side of the story. Next thing I know, the cops are coming down the street. So I ran, and I never looked back."
"But who'd they call the police on?"
"Don't know, don't care." Mei shrugged. "All I know is that they were the only family I was relieved to get away from."
Aria had no comment, deciding to lift her eyebrows in an impressed manner before leaning back against the wall lazily. "I think there's some apple juice or something in the storage room," she absently noted. "Should I go grab us a few boxes?"
With a shrug, Mei nodded to the door. "If you do, grab me some pocky. And a yo-yo. I got a bit bored last night."
"Aye, ma'am," Aria sighed. She heaved herself to her feet, groaning in the most exaggerated way possible, and laughed at Mei as she rolled her eyes in annoyance. Once she was out of Mei's line of sight, still inside the office, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
While Mei seemed to be doing better, despite not being completely back to her old self, the rest of the group needed to be sorted out. They were mostly angry with Mei more than anyone else, solely because she'd been the one to deliver the killing blow. It was time to change that, Aria decided. She unlocked her phone, opening her gallery, and selected the latest video. Letting out a breath, she opened the office door and strolled outside.
Everyone was still where they were earlier, in their own corners of the storage room and having their own conversations. Wendy, if it were possible after her recent attitude, looked somewhat hopeful after Aria came out. Iza, however, looked less than impressed.
Well, Aria wasn't there to impress her.
Taking in a deep breath, Aria walked past the sitting girls and dropped the phone into Iza's lap. She sent her a quick glance, blue eyes meeting lilac, before Aria continued on and announced to Roberto for good measure, "I'm gonna go look for some more snacks."
The snack hunt took around ten minutes in total, finding a six-pack of apple juice and a box of pocky surprisingly close together. By the time she returned to the office, Iza was pressing play on the video with a wary glance to the older girl. Aria let out another breath, closing the door behind her, and seated herself in front of Mei again.
"Pocky, milady," Aria announced with an extravagant tone. Mei snatched the pocky, frowning at the older girl, and impatiently opened the box. A few more minutes passed, barely as strained as earlier, before Aria announced that she was going to check up on the rest of the group. Mei nodded in understanding, scurrying back under the desk with three boxes of apple juice and her pocky packet. Once she was under, Aria yawned once more and began to leave the room.
Immediately she was met with Wendy holding tightly onto her phone. The smaller girl handed it to Aria without a word, slipped inside the office, and wasn't heard again until a few hours later, when she emerged for dinner. After dinner, it was Iza who entered the office. Aria barely questioned it, although asked Roberto a few times what his verdict was. Apparently everyone had heard Mei's speech from the video, but were unsure of what to do once they'd heard her side. Aria couldn't blame them.
And so another night passed in the gas station, with the group even more unsure of each other than before.
"I'm thinking maybe we raid the stuff inside the store, see if there's some keys for a small truck or something," Freddy suggested. "It'd be pretty handy if we could keep moving, just in case we come across something we can't handle as we are now. Plus, I hear road trips are good for strengthening bonds."
"They're good for testing them, Freddy," Aria grumbled, cracking her back as she stretched her arms in front of her. "But I can see where you're going with this."
Kit nodded confidently, poking Freddy on the shoulder with her pinkie finger. "Freddy suggested it last night and I agree with him. We covered a lot more ground in the minivan, so what's stopping us from doing it again? And we don't have to worry about a low fuel supply, since we're at the best place to find some."
"Again, fair points. I'm liking where this is going." The orange-haired girl leaned forward in her seat, pointing at the two younger teens sternly. "But is there even a car here we can use? And is it even big enough?"
The duo went silent, considering their answer. Roberto fidgeted beside the older girl, stirring from his sleep as Freddy let out a small groan.
"There should be, like, a delivery truck out back - I mean, I think there is one; I can't be too sure - and we could have you and Roberto drive while everyone else piles up in the back. There'd be plenty of room and we could even take other survivors with us."
Aria elbowed Roberto. "Hear that?" she said. "We might have a way out and a way to build up the group."
The boy yawned, stretching, and stood. "There's both strength and weakness in numbers," he reminded her. "We're better off with a small group, but a larger and more experienced group can be pretty useful, too." Before Aria could reply, he was off towards the bathroom. The two fourteen-year-olds hurriedly got Aria's attention again.
"So?" Freddy pressed. "Are we gonna do it?"
"What day?" Kit added. "What supplies?"
Aria held up a hand to silence them, sighing, and began to rise to her feet. It was too early in the morning for an interrogation. "I'll let you know later, but yes, I'm considering it," she said finally. "Just be sure you know what's in stock and that you'll be ready to fight off zombies when we get outside. And save your bullets!" she hastily added. "We don't pass gun shops and whatnot, so we can't go wasting them. Kit, you'll have to use those knives Iza said you have. Freddy... I dunno, do you have something on you?"
Without a word, Freddy a combat knife from his back pocket, most likely hidden by his jacket. Aria stared at him blankly, trying to figure out how the hell she never noticed, and merely gave him a thumbs up before turning away and hurrying for the office door. It had been open for a while, Mei still inside, and now it seemed that Iza and Wendy had taken refuge within. Aria wasn't sure what time in the night it had happened, but they were there and it meant progress.
She poked her head inside, unable to hold back her grin, and loudly announced, "Rise and shine, darlings!"
All at once, Iza sat up quicker than Aria had ever seen her move, Wendy jumped in surprise, and Mei hit the desk hard enough in her rude awakening that it moved an inch off of the ground.
"C'mon," she urged. "Breakfast time."
The three girls were reluctant to leave the office, but did so anyway when Aria mentioned the hot dogs in the store still being "good enough for even the Queen's corgis to eat". She was immediately asked what a corgi was, but didn't elaborate as she gleefully jogged towards the two teens discussing the possibility of a delivery truck being out back.
"Can you two do me a favour and just keep an eye on the storage room, maybe search for some useful things like medical supplies we could loot?" she asked. "I'll go raid the front of the store for some keys, maybe even some snacks for the road. If we can find proof there's a delivery truck out back, and enough space inside, we might have a chance."
Freddy saluted and was quick to search the area, Kit slowly trailing behind as she thanked Aria for considering their suggestion. Aria then turned around to face the trio who'd slept in the office, pointing to Iza with a grin. "And you, missy, are helping me choose the snacks," she announced. Iza barely argued, nodding in obedience, and looked to Wendy and Mei expectantly.
"You two behave while I'm out there," she ordered. The duo glanced at each other, the older scowling somewhat, and reluctantly agreed to be on their best behaviour. Once that was settled, Roberto emerged from the bathroom and joined them, starting a quick discussion on whether everyone was okay or not while the two girls went into the store.
They searched the aisles in silence, picking up packs of gum every so often and stuffing cans of meat and soup into bags. It was almost like they were back in the house on the hill, Aria noted, only this time she wasn't dealing with an idiot with tattoos bossing her around. She handed a filled bag to Iza, waiting as she slung it over her good shoulder, and then got started on the next bag.
Some time passed before Aria got a quick idea, grinning as she put down her bag for a moment. She hurried over towards the service desk, figuring the door was locked, and crawled over the desk. She just barely missed getting caught on the plastic window around the service desk, although regretted not trying the door as she tumbled to the ground unceremoniously.
A slight movement to her left caught her attention, the sound of metal moving against tile reaching her ears. Before she could register what was going on, even sit up properly, she heard a deep voice mutter, "Sorry, sweetie," before a hard force collided with her head.
It took a few moments for Aria to fully fade out, but in the midst of feeling her blood rush from her head and pooling around her, as well as the feeling of lightness, she heard Iza let out a short shout before she was cut off by something. Aria let out a breath, suddenly unable to take in another, and closed her eyes slowly.
She fucked up.
So have fun with that cliffhanger.