Ward Z: Revelation Read Online Free Page A

her various tubs and tubes. “You're not supposed to just outright ask someone like that. You're so gauche.”
    “It's not a secret,” Lizzie told her. “Seriously, we're not going to be precious about things, are we?”
    “Nobody touch anything over here,” the blonde girl continued. “Everything on this shelf is mine, okay? Some of it's medical stuff and some of it's just normal make-up, but all of it is mine and mine alone. Besides, there's an art to applying these products. If you want to test something, ask me nicely and I'll almost certainly say yes, although some of these products are very expensive and hard to get, so I'm afraid one or two are off-limits.”
    “No worries,” Lizzie told her. “What was your name again?”
    “Kirsty,” the blonde girl replied.
    “I like that name.”
    “Thank you,” Kirsty said with a broad, fake smile. “That means so much to me.”
    “I wonder where the other girl is,” Beth added, looking over at the empty bunk. “I'm pretty sure I heard them say that the place is fully booked.”
    “I guess,” Lizzie replied. She paused for a moment, wondering whether or not to admit to her own condition. Although she preferred to keep herself to herself, she figured she was among people with similar conditions and, besides, she wanted to at least try to make friends, even if she figured it was a hopeless quest. “Bowel cancer,” she said finally.
    Kirsty and Beth both looked at her.
    “That's me,” Lizzie added with a faint smile. “I have bowel cancer. Dukes' C, to be precise, which means it's grown through the muscle layer of my colon and spread to my lymph nodes. It's an aggressive little thing and right now I'm just waiting to find out if it's spread further, in which case... Well, I guess you know how it is, right?”
    The three of them stood in silence for a moment.
    “That's horrible,” Beth said eventually. “I'm so sorry.”
    “Don't worry,” Lizzie continued, “I take precautions and I have enough pills to keep me going for a while.”
    “Does it smell?” Kirsty asked.
    “No it doesn't smell,” Lizzie said firmly. “Thanks for asking, though. What about you? What do you have?”
    “None of your business.”
    “But Beth and I just -”
    “None of your business,” Kirsty said again.
    “I thought we were supposed to be best buddies here,” Lizzie continued. “I mean that's why we're all being packed into these little cabins like sardines, isn't it? To socialize and get to know each another? Shouldn't we start by finding out what's wrong with each of us? I mean, it can't be anything more embarrassing than bowel cancer, can it?” She waited for a reply. “ Can it?”
    “Let's not talk about it,” Kirsty told her. “Please? There's such a thing as too much sharing, you know.”
    “Just trying to be friendly,” Lizzie muttered, turning to Beth. “This is going to be -”
    Hearing a noise over on the other side of the cabin, she turned just in time to see the door open, and she saw the black-haired girl with the Ramones t-shirt limping in on crutches, dragging a hold-all behind her.
    “Hey,” Lizzie said, hurrying over and trying to take the bag for her, “I can get that.”
    “I'm fine,” the black-haired girl replied, keeping hold of the bag and barely making eye contact as she limped over to the final bunk. “I'm not a total cripple.” She tossed the bag down. “Yet.”
    “You're just in time for our little getting-to-know-you session,” Lizzie continued. “I'm Lizzie, I have... Well, to be honest, I have bowel cancer.”
    “I'm Beth,” Beth added, a little nervously. “Hairy cell leukemia.”
    “Do you have to call it that?” Kirsty asked.
    “That's Kirsty,” Lizzie continued, nodding toward the blonde girl. “She won't say what's going on with her. She's the mysterious one.”
    “Whatever,” Kirsty mouthed silently.
    “Laura,” the black-haired girl replied, wincing as she eased herself down onto the bed and propped