Kimberly Konquers 2 WIP

4: Just like everyone else...

Franklin shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, the floor sticking to his shoes with each movement. Sweaty flesh and odor pressed in on him from every side like a living wall. Suffocating. Choking. Burying him alive. Sickly neon shivered pale light onto the wretched crowd, illuminating the night just long enough for him to make out the twisted, forsaken faces that shared his fate. Misery and desperation curdled the air, a child wept from somewhere in the mass of bodies, and Franklin wondered if this torture would go on forever. But this wasn't Hell-it was the city bus on Halloween...

And he was going to die here.

"Is it at a night club? I didn't bring my fake ID," Kimberly quizzed.

Franklin couldn't see her face, but he could guess that she probably wasn't joking.

"No," he said tersely, not questioning the rest of her statement. He decided that he'd be happier not knowing if she really had a fake ID.

The bus shook as it picked up speed in between traffic lights; the jolt sent Franklin rocking back into Kimberly. But she had his back-literally, and she steadied him before he could fall. Not that there was any room to fall, Franklin observed. They were packed together in here way beyond the legal limit for sardines.

"Then is it on a riverboat?" Kimberly tried, continuing her game of guess the party. Of all the passengers on this bus ride of the damned, she alone seemed unaffected by their miserable surroundings. In fact, she almost sounded excited. Franklin couldn't decide if she was faking it to keep the mood up-they were going to a party after all-or if she was just insane.

"'A riverboat?' We don't live near a river," Franklin said, stupefied.

"Maybe it's on a lake," Kimberly countered, talking almost directly into his ear.

Franklin shuffled again, growing more uncomfortable every time she spoke. He could feel her breath tickling his neck, and it was making him extremely nervous. He couldn't decide if it was a good nervous or a bad nervous, but he did his best to ignore it.

At least he was standing in front, he thought. The tight quarters meant that Kimberly was practically pressed against him. He could feel her body heat on his back, and he just tried not to think about the awkwardness of her standing this close... in front of him.

Not that he'd ever thought about being close to Kimberly.

Because he hadn't.

Franklin scratched the back of his neck in frustration.

"Okay, give me a hint," Kimberly chirped. "It's not in Canada, is it?"

Franklin would've face palmed, but there was no room for him to raise his arm.

"Is Prince supposed to be here? Or is he meeting us?" Jann whined from the side, startling Franklin out of his thoughts.

He turned his head to the side-in the direction of her voice-and said, "Jann? Where'd you come from?" Then he waited, hoping the sound would find its target.

"I've been here this whole entire time," Jann squeaked.

"Oh," Franklin said.

"Prince was supposed to come with us, but... it wasn't meant to be," Kimberly began, like she was reciting a tragedy.

"Huh?" Jann said.

"He got pinched," Kimberly explained.

"Which means what?" Franklin asked.

"I went by his place right after we left the café. I had this plan to sneak him out of the mansion." She paused, running it over again in her head. "I... really thought he could make that jump. I wouldn't have told him to otherwise." She paused again. "And then we had to get his cousin to drive us to the emergency room-and his cousin is a total snitch!" she said angrily.