Stay...Alive

Chapter 3

 Victorine introduced Timothy and Horace to Anita in front of the line for rations. As Victorine had warned, she was quite the character.

"Didn't a crazy girl punch through your door?" Anita asked, way too loudly. Squeezing his eyes shut, he nodded in response.

"Is this another girl you picked up along the way?" Horace asked.

"Well, technically I found them," Anita explained, hands on her hips. "My dad works here, and once his refugee-boat-thing left without me, and I was wandering 'round and I saw all them. Lemme tell ya, they all looked like a hot mess!"

"I can imagine," Horace blankly stated.

"How long were you guys walking for? Weeks?' Timothy asked. Victorine nodded in response. "Must've been scary."

Victorine nodded again, eyes wide.

"Damn," Timothy muttered. Feeling like the interaction was complete, Victorine scanned the area, looking for other people she knew. Luckily, Gina was standing with Frankie outside of Frankie's living quarters. Grabbing Horace and Timothy's wrists, she dragged them into the two girls' direction. Anita chuckled and followed close behind.

Frankie had long black hair that she kept in tight braids. She wore tight jeans and a had lipstick so bright it could be seen from the other end of the courtyard. Her eyebrows were thick, but her eyeliner distracted from that. Also, she wore a pink t-shirt that said: "don't be fooled by the pink" in black and white text.

Horace raised his eyebrows at Gina. "Who're you?"

"Gina...don't you remember me? We were at the house together."

"We were?"

"Yeah, Horace...remember?"

"Not really, babe."

"I was there with my friend Opal..."

"Oh, the Asian one with the weird smile? You were with her?"

"Yep..." Frankie raised an eyebrow at Gina, and Gina raised one back. Gina hardly ever mentioned Opal anymore. It wasn't that much of surprise. They didn't exactly leave on good terms. But with Gina out of Opal's shadow, Victorine really got to see Gina as...just Gina. On the other hand, Gina still lost a friend.

"What happened to that other girl, though. She dead?"

"No...she just left," Gina responded.

"Left? That's stupid."

"Yep." Gina bit her lip a little.

"Speaking of which, that lovely lady next to her is Frankie," Anita called out, trying to change the subject. Horace squinted at Frankie.

"That's not a girl," he stated. Frankie squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath and uttered, "I got enough of that at home."

"Yeah, it is," Gina corrected, a little defensive. "I mean, a trans girl is still a girl."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"Where're the tits?'

"I don't have any and you never question my fem-en-in-ity," Victorine chimed in.

"Where's your junk?"

"Where's yours?" Frankie shot back.

Inhaling sharply, Horace responded, "Touchè."

Timothy, through his grief, quipped, "I don't think you've been bested that hard since you challenged a senior to an arm-wrestling contest."