"Why do you gotta kill yourself?" The girl asked while trying to stand up.

Juniper ignored her and walked into the convenience store. It had been twelve hours or more since her last meal. The candy bars, bags of chips, and soda looked like a spread fit for a king. She tore into a chocolate bar one-handed without further acknowledging the girl behind her. However, she kept a tight grip on the shotgun.

"Hey, if you're gonna eat ma food, answer ma question. Why're you gonna kill yourself?"

Juniper chewed as she answered, "I already told you. We're infected. And there's no cure; not in this shitty world. The only cure I could think of would be falling in love," Juniper laughed at that, "or finding some hope. Hope would be equally as impossible to find in a world full of killer fairy-freaks, werewolves, or assholes who mercy-kill husbands."

"Infected with what? How?"

The girl took several steps back from Juniper, as if Juniper might be emitting radioactive particles.

"Oh infected with the majors like hate, rage, and violence. Sooner rather than later, we're going to transform into fucked up monsters." Her sentences came out between bites of chips. "I want to worry about one time bomb, not two."

"I don't understand what you're talking about..."

Finally, Juniper turned away from her snacking to face the girl. "How long have you been hiding out here? Couple of weeks?" Nod. "Well, you've missed an important world fucking development, one which you're bound to find out about first hand. See ya."

Quick as her words, Juniper walked out of the store and back to her car. After gaping, the girl followed her again.

"Wait."

But Juniper wasn't waiting. She was putting up the gas pump and climbing into the sedan. When she started the car, the girl yelled.

"Please don't leave me here alone, miss! Please!"

"I've already saved a girl like you. And it didn't even matter in the end. Have a nice, short life."

Juniper drove away.